Fieldwork in Ilocos

A couple of weeks ago, my batchmates and I went to Ilocos Norte for our fieldwork in Bio115 (Taxonomy of Higher Plants). We were tasked to visit various biomes of the province and get a couple of specimens to be preserved as our herbarium specimens (project). It really sounded as if it's all about study, work, and get tanned under the sun, but then I was definitely wrong about that assumption! :D Not only did we learn more about nature, but my batchmates and I also got the opportunity to bond to make up for that toxic college life. I guess this served as a complementary to make up for the summer vacation we were deprived to have. LOL!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Batchmates and I had dinner first at KFC at 6PM"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Day 1: Botanical Garden of Northwestern University in Ilocos"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption=""DormGirls" at Momaay's Crib! :))"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Day 2: Had a tour of Diff. Biomes; Taking a Lil Rest with Bea and Jeuz"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Saw the Bangui Windmills (Energy Source) as well!"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Toured known places in Ilocos for Day 3 as a "reward"(?) :))"][/caption]

Definitely one of the best memories I've had for summer class! One more thing is the surprise of our batchmates during our 2nd night for us, three girls, Liezel, Anya and I! We have our birthdays on 3 consecutive days of May (May 1-3). We weren't expecting anything at all. I was actually already asleep that time and yet they woke me up, called Liezel and Anya as well, who were outside because they were being "entertained" by my batchmates I guess so that they won't get suspicious or something. We were all awake in the middle of dawn! :))

They even ordered pizzas and colas for us to eat. They're the best college batchmates ever! :) #trulyblessed.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Look how surprised they were and how "bangag" I was that time after they've woken me up! :))"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Birthday Pizza with Happy Bday Initials. :)"][/caption]

Bonding with Mom and Defending the Caveman

This day was absolutely one of the best summer weekend getaways I've had considering the fact that most of my weekends for summer are spoiled by academically-related stuff. My group and I have this project in Bio 115 Course (Taxonomy of Higher Plants) needed to be passed by the end of classes and so we decided to do it awhile ago. Thanks to mom for accompanying me there though! If it weren't for her, surely I wouldn't be able to go there easily. :D I was surprised to hear that the gardeners of the place knew a LOT about the plants they take care of. They really know what varieties they've been caring, their scientific names, and even the distinct characteristics and families the plants belong to! Nature really has its ways to amuse us, especially for aspiring biologists like us. :D So anyway, mom and I had lunch at Caramia, ATG and ate chicken & pasta.

On another note, our Comm III Class, together with Professor Anna, watched Defending the Caveman at RCBC Theatre this evening.  The monologue focused on how men and women have been made different in so many ways. From the beginning of time, being cavemen & women in the jungle, up to this present time in this modern world, there are these differences in culture, opinions, and way of understanding things which are inevitable. It is there and will always be there; however, the challenge starts in a relationship when one questions: how will you manage these differences? :)

It is directed by Mr. Michael Williams and Ms. Cathy Azanza-Dy, two award-winning veterans in the field of theater play. The role of the caveman is played by Mr. Joel Trinidad -- an actor, director, and playwright. It's a one and a half hour monologue. It was supposed to be for those who are in relationships, but if you are single, just like me, yet would want to know more about how relationships work despite the differences of sexes, then you better watch this show. Joel Trinidad is a very effective actor. The show had an impact on me; I cannot explain the feeling but all I know is, now I know more, if not all, about how men would act and why they are like this and that in a couple of situations. Same goes for men who would want to know about their women! ;) I highly recommend you to watch it. They have two more shows for this month -- on May 20 and 21, 2011 8PM at RCBC Theater. Email them [cteshows@gmail.com] for ticket inquiries. You can also check their website for upcoming shows if you're interested. :)

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="299" caption="Joel Trinidad, monologue actor, and I after his successful show at RCBC Theater"][/caption]

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's to your moms! I hope you had a great day celebrating it together with your beloved mothers. We ate lunch at Yellow Cab after attending Mass. It was a simple celebration with only the three of us left at home -- my mom, dad and I. My two sisters are now married and are living with their own families already. We regretted not bringing our own radio at YC though since t'was Pacquiao's fight during that time. XD  Nonetheless, we're so happy knowing that he won after we've eaten our scrumptious lunch! :)) Since it was raining really hard that time, we decided to just have a continuation of our celebration this weekend, and hopefully by that time we can go places! :D

I know I've been missing in blogging action since the middle of April. There are just a lot of things to do in the offline world that I have somehow lost my way in the blogging world. I just want to grab this moment to thank you all for the greetings you've sent me last May 3 in celebration of my 19th birthday. I feel so blessed and loved by you guys. I can't help but smile when I see your greetings in facebook, twitter, or even personal messages. It's my first time to keep track of the facebook wall posts I get for my birthday and I'm really happy to see the continuous flow of greetings for a day or two in my profile! THANK YOU SO MUCH. ♥

I've been living this life for 19 years now and I must say it's an accomplishment to live it in the best way I can. Right now, I know I have more to experience in this world. I don't know how many lifetimes I've lived but I'm grateful that somehow I've managed to really experience my life being the Sandra I am today. Expressive much? But seriously, I am very  happy to live a life surrounded by people who I would cherish through a lifetime. Love y'all!  :]

On another note, just want to share you what I'm drinking now. A Serenitea Wintermelon! The other two are for my sister. She has a craving for milk teas right now, eh? :))

 

Oh~ m'Eye Lash Curling and Clean

A quick review of my current favorite product from Etude House! It's the Oh~ m'Eye Lash Curling & Clean Mascara. When I was years younger,  I really didn't put much attention on using mascaras whenever I go to occasions. I used to have them on only when applied by the make-up artists; so,the usual foundation, make-up bases, blush-ons, lipsticks, glosses, and eyeshadows & liners were my only interests way back then!  :D  So, this would actually mean my very first, intentionally bought, eye mascara. Yehey! :))

This is the mascara applicator. As most of you may know, Etude House offers a couple of types of Oh~ m'Eye Lash Mascaras, but this one has gotten my attention most than the rest because of this really lovable wand! I thought I needed something that would give full coverage of my eyelashes. It has this regular thickness basally and a little bend over there at the end. What I like about this brush is the fact that it holds on to my eyelashes the way I wanted. The bent end makes it easy for me to make the tip of my eyelashes be emphasized more by going over them for a couple of times, like three times or so. Managing the lower lashes is easy for me as well. :)

I swiped it twice in this photo, but if you want to make it more emphasized, try swiping it for three times or so. Its duration is long enough and the effect hasn't changed after the party I attended to! It has some minimal tendency to be worn out though, but for its price, this really is a good buy!

BioNight 2011 - Lignified

We had this annual send-off party for the Seniors last Friday. In addition to that, a testimonial dinner was given to one of our professors in UPM. I would have not gone there though if it weren't for the UP Manila Biorhythm's song & dance numbers which I am a part of. LOL sounding bitchy! So here are a couple of pictures from the said event.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="373" caption="With my Biorhythm Loves! :)"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="336" caption="Biorhythm (L-R): Miguel, Me, and Vincent "][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="336" caption="A Time when Everyone's yet to be Intoxicated :))"][/caption]

Over-all, it was fun! The only downside is that I'm not feeling really well right now :)) I didn't realize how much alcohol I consumed that night. I was really okay afterwards since I knew I was still in control of myself. YES SERIOUSLY! :D What I didn't like was the aftermath the next morning 'coz I've drank too much coffee with a LOT of sugar then! How stupid can I get for not remembering that consumption of too much alcohol + caffeine + sugar aggravates the release of stress hormones in the body? So there, I can't help but feel really bad.  So all my coffee consumption is at halt for the moment. I'm trying to recover, LMAO.

Our next project -- to sing in the UP CAS Graduation for the Seniors. I love you Biorhythm! :)

No Worries Sunday

I present to you the almost 8-inch tall pile of reviewers/photocopied thingamajigs I used for the past semester. Those were my so-called essentials at that moment; and you know what, they're all going down the drain! >:D HAHA.  Kidding aside, my summer classes will start on April 14. Yes, unfortunately I only have at least a week to relax and not think of anything academic-related during this period. I'm hoping I'd surpass this coming summer classes with flying colors not like when we had Organic Chem and SocSci last time. I'll be studying Plant Taxonomy and CommIII (Public Speaking) and I'm hoping these subjects would not be too boring to be appreciated by me. :]

This seemed to be the first Sunday of the year that I did not worry about what's gonna happen the following day for school! My parents and I had lunch at Yellowcab then went to Church to participate in the Mass. We also had grocery shopping and I was really in the mood to take a lot of pictures of myself on our way home! HAHA Vanity strikes in an instant for us sometimes, right? LOL. Okay, so here are just a couple of pictures awhile ago. That pizza goodness and my picture on our way to Yellowcab. :)) I always put that no-make-up look on me all the time! It's actually the only make-up I am into lately. HAHA I reserve pigmented make-ups for parties. Until next time!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="263" caption="Manhattan Meat Lovers Goodness!"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="My No Make-Up Look"][/caption]

Instincts save lives

I was on my way to UPM yesterday around 11:30AM for a choir practice. I needed to ride an FX from SM North to Taft then; so there, I was the first passenger and I sat at the front, the row where the driver is. Not even a second after, there's this man who asked if he could sit beside me so I said okay. He had this big, scary voice too, trying to sound like he was so manly... then he asked me where I'd go. I know it was actually stupid for me to answer back and tell him my destination, then he said "Ahh.. Sa Faura". From then on, I just knew there's something fishy going on. I don't know if I were too paranoid though but I know myself well that once I feel something bad would happen, I know it would really be bad or even worse! Talk about ESP. My ESP's pretty accurate based on my experiences especially during examination/quizzes. Haha (e.g. Whenever I don't feel like studying or wasn't able to study and not feel like worrying a bit, quizzes get cancelled! FTW! :)) Or there was this time when I woke up at 8AM when my Physics class would start at 8:30, I didn't worry much about it and so decided to skip that class and the next thing I know the professor didn't show up at all! So I didn't miss the quiz that day) LOL!

Fast forwarding and not putting too much of the details of my perception with regard to the driver and that man I suspected... so I waited for other people to pay their fare. Most of the passengers were heading to Quiapo for the First Friday Mass I guess (Fare is Php30.00) so I thought of the same thing. I paid 30 bucks but didn't tell the driver where I was heading to. I just kept silent. Then there he went! After I paid my fare, he decided to pay his. He was really creepy since he kept on looking everywhere! Really scary... He had a lot of 5 Peso coins with him and he counted 7 of 'em. That was Php35.00 (and is actually the fare going to Padre Faura where I should go) He didn't tell the driver where he was heading to as well, but all along that image of paying 35 bucks was the only thing in my mind. MAYBE MY ESP'S FOR REAL. So I know right? I was really paranoid; nonetheless maybe you can't blame me for being like that since I was making sure that nothing would happen to me and hopefully get to Faura safely. :s

So I was already determined to say "Para" for the FX to stop. (Okay that sounded like Dora the Explorer haha!) I just waited a couple of minutes and decided to stop at Rotonda, before España. He actually was resistant to open the door though! Hmmm... So there, I was able to get out of that FX and felt relieved after. Thank goodness!

So yea, just want to share this to y'all. Let's keep ourselves safe always!  :] Sometimes, it's okay to exaggerate things if we know it's for our safety. Instincts can save you.