Taking the heat: Manila Zoo and Visita Iglesia, Part Two

And here’s part two!

Yesterday, we did Visita Iglesia around Manila. Honestly, in all my 19 years on Earth, this was the first time I’ve done this (well at least, from what I recall). I’m not a particularly devout Catholic and I grew up in public co-ed schools, but I do think traditions like these are fascinating. I came along with the family with my camera, not knowing what to expect.

We visited five out seven churches. I can’t seem to recall all the names, but we visited the Malate Church, the church near SM MOA, Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church and a parish in Timog Avenue. We weren’t able to finish since the three kids were already dead tired, and the heat was taking everybody else’s energies away.

I was particularly fascinated with the scene around Intramuros, so I have more photos there.

And now, the photos.

Exterior of Malate Church

La famille praying at the first station of the cross at Malate Church

Some kids selling paraphernalia resting for a while

Sellers selling church paraphernalia

A puppy hiding in the shade at Malate Church

Exterior of that church near SM MOA

Tito and Iana

Station of the Cross at Manila Cathedral

Iana twisting her arms on the barricade at Manila Cathedral

Exterior of Manila Cathedral

A blind man singing for alms on his banjo

A beggar with an askal

San Agustin

Station of the Cross outside San Agustin Church. Hello mother and Les!

More merchandise: puppies. Are these legally sold?

Some dried pusit sold around Intramuros

Cotton candy!

An interesting Rizal sticker on a post box

Some blown up balloon things sold outside the Manila Cathedral

And right after the Visita, Iana, Gia, Gelo, and Arielle were craving for Magnum. Yep, Magnum ice cream. So after five 7-11 branches from Intramuros until Commenwealth, we were able to find some at the 7-11 at Pearl Drive.

Tito's obligatory Magnum shot.

Taking the heat: Manila Zoo and Visita Iglesia, Part One

Spent the day with the family roaming around Manila. We visited Manila Zoo upon mother’s insistence (since Gia, my sister, and Iana, my cousin, haven’t had the chance to visit it yet), then went around the churches for Visita Iglesia amidst the scorching heat in Manila.

The fake elephant by the entrance

And the real, filthy and unkept elephant.

The smell of poop and years’ accumulation of unsanitation greeted us upon entry of Manila Zoo. Disappointing, but hey, at least the animals looked okay (with okay being a relative term). I’ve seen better zoos in Davao, Montalban, etc. I think Manila Zoo has so much potential as a tourist spot in Manila. Meh.

And now, photos of the animals in Manila Zoo:

Hello from the cassowary

A line of lizards

I'm terrified of lizards, but this little guy I found kinda cute. Emphasis on the 'kinda'.

I forgot what this little guy is called.

Wishing rabbit? But all I see are guinea pigs!

To end this photo dump post, here’s a photo of some snake skin hanging on the rails. I was kind of disturbed when I saw this. There were a lot of tigers, eagles, and snakes in the zoo, but I would’ve wanted more variety.

Snake skin. Lots of it.

What Science 10 class has got me thinking

The funny thing is, I didn’t like Sci10 very much. I blame it all because of my absentee teacher. It could have been a great class, but you can never get to have all-great teachers every semester. There’s always this one teacher who’s not-so-great. (BTW: Sci10, or Science 10 is like a synthesis class of the Natural Science classes we had in freshmen year.)

But the plenaries that Sci10 had were enough to convince me that I must be in the wrong course.

I graduated from a science high school, so logically, I should be taking a science course. But because I was so active in the school paper, and the last few science classes I took were, well for the lack of better term, not-so-great, I chose my current course.

If I were an astronaut

While I was watching that Stephen Hawking documentary, I found myself crying because it was just too beautiful. I honestly think I could’ve done really well in a science course. It’s just that I’m too chicken to do the things that science majors do. And lately I’ve been finding myself watching too many shows in National Geographic. Just recently, I found myself mesmerized by a show in Nat Geo about the mantis shrimp. Oh, what I’d give to swim in the ocean and study those fascinating animals.

I do think I could’ve taken this course, but the truth is, I know myself too much – meaning, if I did take Biology or some other science course, I’d probably rely on my stock knowledge and not study so hard. I’d probably be slacking off studies, or worse, do what I did in high school and focus on my extra-co (but then again, what’s new?). The truth is, I’m also terrified that I might fail. I’m too used to getting what I want, and getting good results. I’m also too insecure of the people who are a lot smarter and more diligent that I am.

This little guy just got me to doubt my life choices again for the nth time

So maybe in an alternate universe, Gett Baladad may have been taking Biology and literally swimming with the fishes. Gett Baladad may have studied so hard in high school that she’s taking Physics or Chemistry. Maybe Gett Baladad in another alternate universe has dreams of exploring the universe and maybe cosntruct her own time machine to prove Einstein’s theories.

For now, I guess I’m just happy where I am. I may not be able to get into science, but I will always love it. Maybe I can even manifest my love for it in other ways that I can.

Day Seven: Cher étoile

Cher étoile,

Je t’aime beaucoup.

Well, in an alternate universe, I would have shamelessly said that. But alas, we are in this world, and society dictates what we should and should not do.

Yes, alternate.

You have made me reach for heights beyond my imagination. And I’d like to thank you for inspiring my sophomore year. I think I’ve really tried my hardest to not swoon over you while we conducted business meetings [aka interviews]. Because of you, I tried my best to show my professional side so people would take me seriously. It’s kind of hard for me since I really like to goof around. But because of you, I tried to show my more ‘mature’ side.

Also because of you, I’ve appreciated the simplicity of the simple. You walk around school in your most laid-back outfit, and the occasional slippers, as if you’re just one of the students.

But despite this simplicity you have, I really think you’re still a star. You’re really nice to look at, but you’re never too certain with stars since they’re light years away and you know how light travels. I’ll never know if you’re still shining or not.

You are my star

Even if we’re still galaxies apart, I’m really thankful to have met you. So I do hope you’d continue to reach for the stars [as I have tried to reach you. #emo]. Good luck with your everything.

Your fan,

Gett

Day Six: How Do You Say Goodbye To Special People?

I’m adaptable to change. Change has been in my life for as long as I can remember. I’ve watched my parents change jobs, our family change zip codes, pet dogs come and go. I’ve switched schools about twice and my teachers change every year. So, change? It’s a normal thing.

But I’ve never really been able to figure out how to say goodbye to the special people in my heart.

Like, my friend Rachel. We’ve been friends since Grade Four. Our friendship has had ups and downs, but I think we’ve turned out to be very good friends. She was one of the people I totally trusted, especially when we came to high school. When I learned that she would transfer away to Surigao after freshmen year, I was totally devastated. I didn’t want to say goodbye to a special friend – I wanted her to stay in Butuan with us.

But she had to go. She kept in touch. I still miss her everyday. When we came to college (she in CDO, and me in MNL), I learned that she would be going away to New Zealand during the first part of sophie year. I wanted to cry. I haven’t seen her in the longest time (save for the time when we had an outing during one of our kabarkada’s birthdays before we all went away to college), and then I won’t be seeing her for a long time again because she’s miles away. It’s hard. So Rach, I want to let you know how much I miss you. And that when you’re here in the country, you and I NEED to see each other. Yes, need.

I now wonder how I had been able to cope up with college without my high school buddies with me.

Anyways, sophomore year is about to end [but not before going through the storm of final exams!], and I have to say goodbye to a bunch of special people who made my sophomore year extra special – the seniors of my three orgs.

REGCOM

I was dead terrified of you all but I guess that’s usually the first impressions you get with taller people who have poker faces during meetings. But eventually, you guys opened up to us and made us feel welcome. And you guys will always be the first people whom I consider my family in  Ateneo. I’ve written you all letters to show you how much I am grateful to have met you all, and I hope that you guys will do your best in the world beyond Ateneo.

The GUIDON (To Kai, Jee, Jem and Mayel)

If you guys are reading this, you should know upfront that when I read Kai’s post about the News staff now having a new editor, I cried. I’ve been tweeting Kai about letting go of the things you love so others can love it too, but lol. I have to listen to my own advise. I don’t want you guys to go. You’ve been so kind and hardworking and helpful. When I thought I was going to change careers [lolz], you guys have reminded me why I wanted to be a journalist in the first place. I should let you know that I am crying again. It really is hard to say goodbye to you people. You guys made Guidon home to me.

ACOMM 9

Idge posted a thank you picture in behalf of the seniors. And that triggered me to cry. ACOMM 9 officers are visionaries, in my opinion. So how will we, the next batch of officers, top that? It’s actually Culm night later, and I feel like I’m going to cry some more. I may not be as close to the EB as others are, but Idge, Mela, Javi, Rica, Berns and Lauren [Marielle, Doza, Rach and Roxy too!] have been of great inspiration to me. It’ll be hard to watch them go. They’ve made me get into things I never thought I would do. So thank you ACOMM, for making me challenge myself and for making me do things I never though I can do.

Okay, now that’s done, I’ll go in a corner and cry my eyes out. You don’t really say goodbye to special people. Goodbye isn’t the right word. Until next time, seniors. You will all be missed.

Hell Weeks Mode On

Why hello there

When the going gets tough, MAN UP.

What I Think About When I Have Murakami and Hawking in One Afternoon

Whenever something presents itself I always try to take the opportunity. Carpe Diem, I’d say. But sometimes, I tend to dive head first without really thinking about it properly.

During Sci10 class, we had the film viewing on the origins of the Universe in its awesome, nerdy glory. I was sitting in the auditorium thinking, why didn’t I take a science course? I wanted to be a marine biologist. Or an astronaut. Or maybe even an astronomer. I could be like Steven Hawking. I could get the chance to go study in Harvard or MIT or some equally prestigious university abroad.

At the same time, I was thinking about the consultation I had with Javi, since he was officially turning over the reigns of the Documentation and Publication Department to Camila (the new VP), Chessy (my co-AVP), and me. After that consultation, I started to ask myself, “What did you get yourself into this time, Gett?” Javi was talking about our creative cycle or something like that. Truth be told, I don’t think I’m the most creative person in the world. I think I know what looks good or what in pictures, but the thing is, I’m my biggest ever critic and I think that all my outputs are crap, period. But because I will be working with a team, I don’t want my performance  to affect my new co-officers.

Back then, we think that science and other courses that fall under the BS courses are the toughest courses because it requires a lot of memorization, stamina and patience to get through. Science is no work in the park. But I realized today, AB courses are equally as hard too. At least BS courses have a framework students can use to work on. We don’t. We have to come up with our own cycles and mull processes over unconventionally. So yes, BS courses take a while, but AB courses aren’t a walk in the park either. Even if I took up Biology or some other science course, it’s still not going to be easy for me. In any case, I still love science.

The truth is, I’m terrified. Sometimes I don’t know what I get myself into. But I also like getting into the unknown – I don’t know what to expect, so I get to test out my creativity on how to tread unknown waters. I’m used to following processes, so I think taking on the AVP job is a test for me. I’m in this for a reason. So, chin up, and suck it in. I’m surrounded by great people. I’ll be fine, hopefully.

 

The First of March

Lately, all I’ve been posting are my Letters To My Love posts. I guess I’ve got a lot to say to a lot of people. Writing letters to people has calmed me a lot in the middle of all the hoohah that is college. Sophomore year’s about to end, and I must say, this has been one of the most productive, albeit busiest years I’ve had.  No regrets really, just a lot of love.

ACOMM 9 and 10 <3 I love you guys

Mellers and me <3 ohai there Doza

'Cause Pau and I are the next Timmie and Janna

Regcom2011. You guys will be missed

Clearly, I am photo dumping to break the monotony of purely written blog posts.

So, it’s March – the first day of March to be exact.  I’ve been missing people. After all, the people I miss are those who made my life what it is now. I have finals and farewells to worry about. I guess that’s how it is.

Day Five: To The One With The Strong Personality

Dear Strong Personality,

You may be the type of person who likes to sit idly by and well, relax to your heart’s content, but what may work for you doesn’t necessarily work for others. I know you mean well, especially to those who you care about, but you should loosen your leash and let them go.

Like a puppy to its master, sometimes we need to loosen our grip to those who we love the most, even if sometimes it may hurt. Sometimes we may lose the ones we love, but have the confidence that the puppy will come running back to you to give you its love.

Have faith. You may have had hard times before when it comes to friends, but know that not all people are the same.  Give ‘em a chance. Open up a bit.

Love,

Gett

Day Four: To Julienne

Dear Julienne,

I know we usually talk about the most nonsensical stuff during French class (including me teasing you about a certain someone), but you know something? I think you’re a really swell kid.

I used to think that you’re such a smarty-pants (and you still are! <3) but I really respect and admire how you're so passionate about loving God and being a good person and being a good kid and a good student. I'm glad that you and I have majority of our classes together. You're a really swell kid. And it's nice to have someone who shares a lot of interests with you, like having the same type of guy, the same interest in writing and story telling, and dreaming big.

Jules, I want you to know how grateful I am to have met you, and to have become your friend. I know sometimes that I can be such a pain in the head (and in the ears and… wherever else you want me to be a pain in hehe), but I want you to know that I always mean well. I believe that you deserve the best, and I want you to keep dreaming big. Like what Donald Trump, If you dream, dream BIG.

I love you girl! Reach for the stars!

Love,
Getty