SURPRISE!

tonight, we had our secret santa/ december babies party in the rooftop.

BUT, they also surprised me with a scrapbook full of memories and i just want to share the poem that they made for me:

we once met a girl from Manila,
who grew up with maids in a villa,
through all the good times,
and bottles of wine,
we found she was more like Gozilla.


THANK YOU GUYS SOOOO MUCH! i truly appreciate it!

Quality Time

Ive never been that kind of person who was shy. i can pretty much find a group of people who i can instantly click with and enjoy myself with. i was pretty lucky that by the 3rd week of living here in Sydney, i found those people. we are very much like my "barkada" in Poveda.

all of us are very six different individuals, all coming from different parts of the world. we grew up in different cultures, believe in different things, but in some weird reason, all of us just get along well. and today, i wanted to spend the whole day with them. although Yuka failed to wake up for our Glebe Market trip this morning, she caught up with us in the rooftop for wine and some never-hav-i-ever moments... and maybe the last of it for the year.

if you're wondering if im going to miss them, i would be lying if i said i wouldnt. Annette, Kjersti, Yuka, Laura, and Ellen are my girls. they are the people who ive spent most of my time with living here in Sydney, they are the people who i tell my secrets to, they are the people who i run to when im bored or in trouble, and they are not just my friends, but my family. : )

its hard to believe that within a year, ive opened up with a hipster from Sweden, a sucker for weird movies and pork from Singapore, a very kind and gullible girl from Orange, a nature-lover and a blessed (you know what you're blessed of) from Norway, and our very own easy-to-laugh-easy-to-get-drunk future vet from Japan. i love all of them and i love how we all get along even if our opinions clash or our conversations get so intense. i love how we compliment each other in the weirdest ways and how we take care of each other when one or two people need to puke. haha

oh the good times we've had. but yes, im honestly sad that im leaving, BUT i am also very excited that we will all meet in our own little countries one day. (we can now crossout ORANGE from our list). But yeah, having this perfect Saturday was truly a day that i will cherish. especially when we were at the rooftop. and nobody, and i mean NOBODY, will ever know what we did or talked about tonight. oh the good times. let's keep it coming.

Starting my Summer Right

For the past five days that I’ve spent my summer here in Australia, I was able to:

1. go to Coogee Beach with my Friend Shay

2. cook cupcakes (with no measuring cups whatsoever) with Kjersti, which where delicious according to our bias friends, Ellen, Yuka, and Annette. haha we were able to make two batches of cupcakes. the first one were cappuccino cupcakes with peppermint cream on top, and the second
one were choco-pepermint cupcakes with peppermint cream on top.

3. cook Filipino food—without any help from mama or yaya—that tasted like I’ve been cooking for years. i cooked binagoongan and Tanco cooked adobo. YUM.

4. manage to make a “The top 10 by 10 years” deal with Josef. i must win this trip. with my plus one. hahaha in 2021.

5. and to have the courage to pack up (well, starting to) all my LIFE here in Australia in 2.5 balikbayan boxes. its amazing how much crap ive created within a span of 10 months. haha


6. drink wine at the rooftop and not thinking about any school work.

7. billed out my coins for the year and managed to get $259 out of it. hahaha : )

life is pretty good. and summer is just starting...

What I'm Thinking about RIGHT now

as i forced myself to relax and stay under the sun today, it seems like the weather is telling me to go home and study. like it was telling me that i didnt deserve the beach, just yet.

my last exam EVER as a postgrad student is on Tuesday, November 8. am i done studying? NO. have i studied well? SO SO. for the past five days, ive been procastinating more on the things i want to do when i get home list than actually reading a whole book of theoies. i know im not done yet, but i cant help but think of the things i can and want to do when im done.

anyway, i will study tomorrow. i promise.

back to this list that ive been reciting in my head for the past week, today, my lsit is about what fruits i miss and would want to eat when i get back. and here's the list:

1. star apple
2. BANANA-- all varieties
3. mango-- green and yellow
4. rambutan
5. lansones
6. mangosteen
7. duhat-- with asin
8. papaya
9. langka
10. pomelo


ugh. i can taste it.

i mean, dont get me wrong, having grapes and strawberries everyday is quite nice, but the fact that im allergic to both (only in australia) makes me miss tropical fruits more.

and, i think i wont be eating apples and oranges, except if its mandarin, anytime soon.

Ending the Year with Mario and Luigi

Last Friday, October 28, it was our last foundation day dinner and IHMA disco. i was a little bit sad knowing that the end is near. but, it was also the day when we launched our yearbook. my baby for the past 5 weeks... the journey was over and that night was the night where everybody would see what i have created.

we had are normal cocktails at the wool room, and annette and i presented a short speech about our creation and made ellen sing her OH IH song to everyone. thank you ellen for doing it even though your throat was throbbing. then, we gave out 25 copies that night. i was very happy with their reaction because they were totally amazed by what we did. someone even said, "its the BEST yearbook of IH!" i practically melted when i heard that.

anyway, it was a good thing that our dinner was amaze-balls cause i was super hungry. jessica, our director, said thanks to everyone and so did the IHMA execs, tanco, su-wen, and renee. it's weird how they acknowledge all your hard work for the year, but i gladly accepted the gifts that they gave me. hahaha as dinner ended, we all went back to our rooms and started dressing up for our last IHMA disco which was also our Halloween party. annette and i dressed up as mario and luigi (girl versions). we had the matching hat, mustache and gloves. we even added mushrooms to our accessories. what we didnt have was the overalls, clearly, we did not want to wast money on something we will not wear EVER in public. haha so we just called ourselves Maria and Luisa with a mustache. we danced with pikachu, pirates, snow white, a witch, sexy secretary, french maid,superman, batman, wonder woman... and the list goes on. overall, it was a good end of the year party. : )