An Identified 19th Birthday Wish

"what do you want for your 19th birthday?"

I've been musing over this question for quite some time, because honestly, i don't really know what I really want to get right now. And now that my Junior Term Abroad (JTA) dream is soon to be fulfilled (2 months left!) makes it even a bit more harder for me to think of something that I want for my 19th birthday. I'm not really crazy about gadgets, like i'm not a bit interested in upgrading my 2-yr old cellphone nor dumping my old laptop which is quite a b*tch if you ask me yet has been with me through all these years, helping me write all those A papers (HAHA) and letting me watch TV series (yes, one of my guilty pleasures) online.

so after months of observing my friends, people and everybody around me, thinking about what could possibly be missing in my life right now, I have figured it out. well, I think this is what i want at the moment.

a camera <3

no no i'm not a photographer to begin with but realizing that in 2 months i will be all by myself in Korea, and that i have this lust to explore and travel the world someday, (Asia first, then Europe, then USA haha), i guess a decent camera would be a good company.

if ever i do get one, then these three things would seem enough to sum up the scenes/things i would like to preserve on an image: motion, nature and art.

on a side note, i actually envy my other friends since they seem to know what they actually want in life and definitely never runs out things on their wish list while here i am still struggling for at least one potential wish, haha :))

but whether i would get this for my birthday or not, either way's fine with me. but i would also love to get myself my own camera with my own savings hehe well that's malabo since i don't really know how to save well :D

yeah, ONE DAY TO GO TILL MY 18TH YEAR ENDS :O NICE.

Birthday Surprise Fail

two days before my actual birthday, my sister caught me by surprise.

though not exactly, since my mother already let it slip that my sister's kinda working on some video thing lately.

for some reasons, my sister forgot that I was subscribed to her Youtube channel and tadda! i found her birthday gift in my Youtube homepage when i am supposed to find out about it on my birthday. FAIL :)))

well, i was supposed to close the tab and wait for June 1 to watch the vid, but yeah, curiosity got the better of me and well ..nothing seem to stop me from clicking that PLAY button. I'm sure my sister's pretty disappointed at this time since the surprise was spoiled (well yeah, I'm such a surprise spoiler :D), and she's wishing to get hold of Dastan's Dagger (Prince of Persia) to turn back time HAHA. but one thing I learned today: you don't really need to wait for the clock to strike "it's your birthday!" to know that there are people who sincerely love and care for you :)

To my sister Yanyan, whom i personally call Igit, THANK YOU :) and i miss you haha. dang sad i don't get to slap you on my birthday :P

BTW, here's the video, featuring Jang Geun Suk! one of my 18th yr highlights haha :P.

FOODGASM: Wicked Oreos

WICKED OREOS <3
picture from Foodspotting.com

Heya :) Just wanna share one of my favorite desserts, Wicked Oreos of Flaming Wings!

Though at first you'll feel a little bit resentful spending P75 for this instead of going for the cheaper Mcdonald's McFlurry or Jollibee's Ice Craze. but wehhh, it's worth it :D The Oreos cookies trapped inside a pancake mix, coupled with vanilla ice cream and some sprinkles and chocolate syrup ..YUM YUM.

So if you happen to be studying or living near Katipunan, then I say you visit Flaming Wings and try out their signature dessert! and yeah, their chicken meals also really good.

if you wanna know how to make your own Wicked Oreos, here's the trick!

And if food tripping's one of your guilty pleasures, then this one's for you :)

Facebook Hiatus. Or Not.

Few months before elections, people were busily campaigning for their candidates. They either Join or Like a Group pertaining to their candidate, status their candidate's color or attach Twibbons or any distinguishing paraphernalia into their profile pictures.


Weeks before elections, posts became more competitive, offensive and unfriendly. Hater Group pages appear out of nowhere and my news feed would be flooded of notifications of people joining this group and that until it came to a point when I can clearly distinguish who among the people in my friends' lists are supporters of green, red and seldom but still present, yellow.

On the election day itself, well I think you could imagine what everyone's news feed will contain :D

On the days of the partial announcement of election results, people were more active in terms of expressing their sentiments about the elections: the number of hours they lined up in their precincts and how it was all worth it, their praise and thanks for the country's successful automated elections, their congratulations and blessings to their supported candidates and never to forget, their disappointment -some violent and some well, civil.

I'm not writing to say I'm pissed or disappointed. Rather I'm impressed with the hype of elections in online networking sites which clearly says that the youth, which I assume are the most active users of these sites, are not at all indifferent to the world outside their comfort zones. This means that we are not only joining a group or liking a page to express our cheesiest trivias about ourselves (like how we like Glee, food, etc.) yet through this virtual world, we are also able to voice out our say about the elections and most especially the candidates. This clearly magnifies everyone's freedom to expression and opinion. To be free from inhibitions and not being scared to say what's on our mind is a good way to exercise our right to democracy :)

And yeah, I was right all along that Gibo is indeed my generation's bet :)) here are some of the fan pages I found in my news feed after the unofficial partial results:

• GIBO would have been president if "our" generation voted
• GIBO Teodoro for Senator 2013

What did Gibo do to win the hearts of my generation! :))

But after all these hype about the elections, what do you think would happen a year later (or even months later)?

Users could be back to their non-political lives, which means:

• Farmville, Horoscope, God Wants You To Know would once again flood everyone's news feed
• People's statuses would less likely be about their hated or beloved candidates but more likely be about their usual daily routines, school rants and subtle messages to someone special.
• People would be back to liking ridiculous and funny pages such as this one.
• Lots and lots of tagged pictures, who's friend with who, etc.

Well that was just a prediction, which I'm hoping they'll prove me wrong. (I'm hoping to prove myself wrong too haha)

With this, I really don't mind if I'll see 6 months later people liking political fan pages or even statuses about the new president's performance or what.

So much for Glee. or Gossip Girl. Gay :)))

Electoral Virgins and Outliers

MAY 10, 2010 | 10am

I just officially cast my vote for the national and local Philippine elections.

The stain of indelible ink on my right index finger shows that I'm not only done voting but I am now responsible for whatever happens to my country in the next 6 years. Whether my vote helped the rightful candidate for the position, or my vote could have been one of the votes wasted on Candidate A when Candidate B supposed to have been the most deserving candidate to win. Nevertheless, my vote itself, whether it be for Candidate A, B or C, is not a wasted vote since it is a vote not recklessly done, not chosen out of randomness but rather it is a vote backed up by reasons and a rational belief for that candidate -that I have fully exercised by democratic right to vote. I remembered these past days when I couldn't seem to focus on my subjects for the upcoming long tests since I was itching to watch presidential forums, read articles of journalists that backed up their chosen candidates and browse through each of the candidates' websites for their platforms, views and other issues. Unfortunately, one weekend wasn't really enough to prepare myself for my 1st participation of the elections. I could have started way back, then I could have covered more articles and watched more debates and forums. If I had done it, I should have been able to study for my Finance long test this upcoming Friday. Bless me.

Being an active Facebook user myself, I could see the passion of my friends for their prospective candidates. They are using their online profiles to make their voices heard to the virtual / online community. Either they attach a Twibbon on their profile photos so people could visibly see their chosen candidates with ease or they simply make their candidates' names their statuses for the day. And without doubt, it is clear as glass that Facebook users -the teen, the tech-savvy and the young adults born in the digital generation -that they favor Gibo Teodoro over other candidates. Next to him is Dick Gordon and unfortunately but expected, Noynoy Aquino in the 3rd place. He doesn't seem to be appealing to the online community. The SWS and outside surveys scream for Aquino's name, but not in the online community.

I honestly have no problem with these candidates - Aquino, Gordon and Teodoro -since out of all the candidates these three are the most promising and most fit for the job. But since Philippines doesn't use the preferential voting type of ballot (where you rank your candidates) nor can you choose 3 candidates for a position, then here comes the stress and pressure of narrowing down your choice into one.

MANNY VILLAR. Look at his scandals (C-5 extensions) and blooming businesses - Villar is the richest among all the candidates in terms of net worth. Does he really want to be a politician? He can just quit and focus on being a businessman., just so he knows. Conflict of interests. Businessmen only care about profits and politicians, well, they're supposed to care for their people. Also, seeing how he spent millions for his ads already cost him to lose my vote. Rich boy, huh?

JOSEPH ESTRADA. DUH. Even though I find his answers to the presidential forums amusing, with the wit of a comedian, (not of a politician) he still ain't worth it.

GIBO TEODORO. If being the president is all about being smart and being the one with the best academic credentials, then my vote undoubtedly goes to him. Bar topnotcher, Harvard graduate --whoah these words ring a bell. Which is why I don't blame majority of the teen community if ever they go for him. He is every student's benchmark, the epitome of academic excellence. I also admire him, if you ask me. He has good platforms and his facade alone is everyone's idea of an effective president. As they say, "marunong din siyang pumorma." Yet despite this outstanding record, his ties with PGMA and his reaction to the Maguindanao Massacre and Ondoy doesn't seem appealing to me. I think this is enough for me to rule him out of my choice for this elections.

DICK GORDON. If Gibo's academic achievement made his name "mabango" to the voting community (especially the youth), then Gordon's "extra-curricular" achievements would be his great asset. Compare his credentials to other candidates and you would say Gordon gets your vote. But boy, this guy's got attitude -which kinda discouraged me from giving my vote to him. If you compare this to a high school setting, Gordon would be the kind of class president who is most qualified yet who is such a bitch and a show-off that you end up not voting for him, no matter how qualified he is. His name says it all :)))

NOYNOY AQUINO. I feel bad for him every time I open my Facebook account and see almost all of my friends' negative statuses for Noynoy, not to mention the Facebook pages Noynoy haters created. I'm disappointed with my friends who bash him because he doesn't deserve to win, being a "bummer" in the Senate and all. Not to mention my friends attacking the polls and surveys, saying that it was manipulated just because Aquino led the polls while their popular bets, Gordon and Gibo, were way behind. But one thing that actually kind of pissed me off is when they say that people vote for him because they are swayed by the statistics that it isn't true and not because of him as a qualified person for the job -which make them unwise voters. And yeah, I know some close unwise voters in this case. To begin with, I'm still undecided and I had no inclinations to one person or another, not even to the "Yellow King". Yet the way how my generation reacts to the candidates, and especially to Aquino, makes me wanna know more about them, especially Aquino.

And yeah, as I come to think of it, only Gibo and Gordon don't seem to have any Haters' Facebook page :)) Friends, are they really that good enough?

The person who gets my vote is someone who has the personal qualities and virtue that screams that one way or another, corruption is not his thing. The person who gets my vote is someone who doesn't strut in the streets like an ideal curriculum vitae yet deep inside his persona got the better of him which makes you wanna think twice. The person who gets my vote is someone whom I'm confident won't taint the legacy and reputation of his parents who happen to be historical figures and thus he would make sure that he won't perform just like any other stereotypical Philippine president. Almost all presidents aim to uphold themselves and their achievements, but it isn't everyday that you see a candidate aiming to uphold his values and to keep his moral compass clean.

FYI, the person who gets my vote also did something. I'm not stupid enough to vote someone just because he has awesome parents :|

Yes, I'm willing to be the outlier of my generation for this year's elections. (together with the few but good portion of the youth. Making my candidate's name my status for the day? Save it, if only there was a dislike button :))

Three things are sure:

1. Facebook users and the online community love Gibo and Gordon. I CAN'T SEE A SINGLE HATERS' PAGE OF THEM :))))

2. After 6 years, either Noynoy Aquino have successfully uphold his name and his values or my generation was right all along. btw, i have no problem with Gibo and Gordon winning.

3. For 2010, my vote goes to the Yellow King.

Cool beans from 7/11 which also serve as surveys:D