Because I don't feel like writing a lab report that's due a week from now, here's a list of manga I've read or browsed through.

( I wish I had the time (and money) to be a manga freak )

Stolen from _chimoms  . Because I'm bored as heck and I don't have class until 6 pm tomorrow.

( I am an anime addict and proud of it! )

Thank you to ozymandias.com and Youtube for being so entertaining.

SO VERY TRUE. No offense :P

( youtube spree (cut for politeness) )

In case you haven't noticed, don't I have the cutest moodtheme ever? :D

*goes back to being lazy self-imposed hiatus*

Oh look, I'm still alive. But this was just too blog-worthy to pass up.

I saw an ad at the bus stop today for a new TV show. Unfortunately, I couldn't really see what the show was about because it was almost completely covered by another poster, visibly labeled as "PUBLIC ADVISORY". It read as follows: "Since this show does not conform with our moral standards, viewers are discouraged from watching 'Californication'. From the Department of Appropriate Behaviour".

I have no idea if this is just a joke or part of the TV show's gimmick to attract more viewers, but I honestly doubt it. It's Singapore. Enough said. And it'd have to be a pretty elaborate prank, since I saw it in more than one bus stop. But still, even though I've been here for close to 4 years now, which means that I'm used to how repressed the people here are, I never would have expected something like a Department of Appropriate Behaviour. I can't even think of an analogy that does justice to the complete and utter control that Singapore has over the lives of its citizens. But you have to admit that it works pretty well.

As amusing as this is, it doesn't make me any more enthusiastic about living here.

From melatariel and half_elven17 (aka Festine):

1. If you could push one person off a mountain, who would it be?
No one. Too much hassle :P

2. Where did you get the shirt you're wearing?
Abercrombie and Fitch, when I was in the U.S. with my family a few years ago.

3. Do you still have clothes that belong to your ex?
I don’t think so. I hope he didn’t leave his jacket again :P

4. Do you get attached to people easily?
Not really. (Ice Queen!)

5. Have you ever been to the USA?
See above.

6. Churchgoer?
When I was young and naive.

7. Do you like roller coasters?
Hell no.

8. Did you cut class?
Strictly speaking, you can’t cut class in NUS because no one checks attendance. But yes, I have skipped class before. Not this sem, though.

9. Favorite TV shows?
Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (I haven’t seen the second season though), Will & Grace, Whose Line Is It Anyway

10. Do you know the show, Goonies?
No.

11. How many times have you been in love?
If you use a very loose definition, then 3 times.

12. Pets?
None. I miss my (dead) kitty.

13. Do you smoke?
No. Whatever, Justin :P

14. What is the first thing you do when you wake up?
Ignore the alarm and go back to sleep for around half an hour.

15. What's your favorite season?
Winter. (Ice Queen!)

16. Have you been on a date in the last 2 weeks?
Nope. I have no life.

17. Are Chuck Norris jokes funny?
Some of them are.

18. Favorite food?
Italian (pasta and pizza), Japanese

19. Last movie you saw in the theater?
WALL-E = cutest movie ever

20. Computer-dependent?
I think the correct term is “addicted.”

21. Do you hide?
All the time.

22. Favorite movie?
That’s a tough one. But Lord of the Rings would definitely be one of them. Abby and Justin, you can borrow my copy if you want :D

23. Did you have a prom date?
Just for the first JS prom.

24. Did you give a corsage?
Lol, I don’t remember if I gave my date a boutonniere. But I probably did.

25. Who was the last person you were in a moving vehicle with?
The bus driver?

26. Favorite pizza?
It’s a tie between four cheese and pepperoni.

27. Would you take care of your friends while they're sick?
I’d probably just get the relevant medicine from my dad and make them drink it.

28. What was the last CD you purchased?
Do they still use those? Haha.

29. Ever dyed your hair?
Once. My sister made me do it!

30. Do you want to be/or stay in a relationship?
Nope. I don’t have time for that.

31. Favorite band/singer?
Lately, I’ve been addicted to ABBA (because of the Mamma Mia soundtrack).

32. Have you ever watched a movie drunk?
I’ve never been drunk.

33. Do you wish upon a star?
I can’t even see any stars here. Stupid light pollution.

34. Do you have any piercings?
Both ears.

35. Last person you hugged?
I don’t remember. Maybe Cassy.

36. What are you doing today?
Resting after a hectic week.

37. What should you be doing?
My take-home test.

38. What are you wearing on your feet?
Purple flipflops.

39. Who was the last person you slept in the same bed with?
My mom.

40. What is your natural hair color?
Black.

41. How many people have you texted today?
No one, but I did call someone.

42. Who made the latest comment in your blog?
This blog has been dead for so long that I don’t even know anymore.

43. What is your current conversation on your chat window?
Cassy, about going to some Christian service on Sunday. Long story, bottom line is I’m not going (duh).

44. Do you have a crush on someone?
Not anymore.

45. Where were you two days ago at this time?
Wednesday night, 9:40 pm. I was in my room, of course.

I am annoyed. My thesis adviser will be away all week and will only be back next Monday, which means I might have no thesis work to do until then. My initial reaction of “yay, I won’t have to wake up early for the next few days” was quickly overshadowed by “what the hell am I doing here one week early then??” So even though having to wake up early (yes, 10 am is early) is not my idea of fun, I refuse to have my time wasted like this. As workaholic as it sounds, I actually emailed my prof and asked her to give me something to work on. Besides, I need to keep myself busy while I’m here or I’ll go insane.

I made a new friend today. Well, more of an acquaintance really. There was a guy at the bus stop who was having trouble figuring out the campus map so I gave him directions. We talked for a bit while I was waiting for my bus. He’s a postgraduate student from China who’s doing his PhD in civil engineering. Being the socially inept person that I am, I only realized halfway through the conversation that I didn’t know his name (well, he didn’t ask for mine either). We introduced ourselves and then he gave me his email address, even though I have absolutely no intention of emailing him. I hope he doesn’t really expect me to.

It’s really a good thing that we’re playing DotA later. I need to destress. And to think, I’ve only been here a day. I just want school to start already so I can forget everything else.

From Jason:

[One] Who was/were your last 3 texts from?
Louie, my sister, my mom

[Two] Where was your default picture taken?
Referring to my Multiply pic, it was taken during the International Fiesta in NUS.

[Three] What's your middle name?
Pagaduan.

[Four] Your current relationship status?
Single and loving it. --> I agree wholeheartedly.

[Five] Does your crush like you back?
By the looks of it, don't think so. --> Ditto.

[Six] What is your current mood?
Amused.

[Seven] What color shirt are you wearing?
Orange.

[Eight] What's the color of your nail polish?
My nails aren't long enough for nail polish.

[Nine] If you could go back in time and change something, what would you change?
The way I treated certain people in high school.

[Ten] Where was the last place out of town that you went to?
Antipolo.

[Eleven] Ever had a near death experience?
Not really near-death, but I got badly burned when a Roman Candle backfired on me when I was 6 or 7.

[Twelve] Things you do a lot?
Sleep, chat, play PS2, read, watch TV.

[Thirteen] Do you have a fondness for gnomes?
Not really?

[Fourteen] Who can you tell anything to?
There are a few things I keep to myself, but my mom would probably know the most.

[Fifteen] Name someone with the same birthday as you?
I have no idea, actually. I've never met anyone with the same birthday as me.

[Sixteen] When was the last time you cried?
The day before I came back here.

[Seventeen] Are you for or against capital punishment?
Against. Death isn't enough punishment for me :P

[Eighteen] If you could have one super power what would it be?
Teleportation.

[Nineteen] What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
Face. Then ability to conduct an intellectual conversation :P

[Twenty] Who is your favorite celebrity?
Angelina Jolie.

[Twenty-one] What is a theory that you believe?
Evolution.

[Twenty-two] Favorite color?
Violet.

[Twenty-three] What is one thing that annoys you on TV?
Commercials that make no sense and have no relevance to the product they're selling.

[Twenty-four] Do you still watch kiddie movies or TV shows?
Some of them, yes.

[Twenty-five] What are you eating or drinking at the moment?
Nothing.

[Twenty-six] Do you speak any other language?
English and Filipino, plus a little Chinese and Japanese.

[Twenty-seven] What's your favorite food?
Pasta.

[Twenty-eight] Describe your life in one word?
Ironic?

[Twenty-nine] Have any tattoos?
Nope.

[Thirty] What are you looking forward to the most?
Watching The Dark Knight on Thursday :D

[Thirty-one] What are you thinking about right now?
The fact that I should be reading papers for my thesis, but I'm not yet bored enough to do so.

[Thirty-two] What should you be doing?
See above.

[Thirty-three] Who was the last person that made you upset/angry?
My mom.

[Thirty-four] What are you listening to?
The neighbor's kids dribbling a basketball outside.

[Thirty-five] Do you like working in the yard?
I've never really tried.

[Thirty-six] If you could have any last name in the world, what would it be?
I like my last name. It sounds rich and famous :P

[Thirty-seven] Do you act differently around the person you like?
I try not to.

[Thirty-eight] What is your natural hair color?
Black.

[Thirty-nine] Why did you cry last time?
It's a long story. Anyone who wants to know can just ask me on YM or something.

The past few weeks have been a bit hellish, but once again finals are over. Not without some mishaps, unfortunately. I never thought it'd get so blown out of proportion though. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So, last Saturday I had my most difficult exam (on Protein Structure and Function). I wasn't particularly stressed about it (not because I was feeling confident or anything; it just takes a lot to stress me out), and I went to sleep on Friday night not expecting anything unusual to happen. Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting to sleep that night because, frankly, it was hot as hell and I was (and still am) too stingy to turn on the aircon. I apparently still managed to get some sleep, because I woke up feeling like the end of the world was coming. I couldn't breathe very well and I felt really tense, but I decided to ignore it and went to school thinking that it would pass. An hour before my exam, while I was eating lunch, I still felt like crap and I had to consciously stop myself from hyperventilating; I remembered enough of my Psych class to recognize it as something like an anxiety attack. Obviously, I needed to do something about it before my exam so I did the first thing that came to mind - I called my mom. I described what I was going through and she said it was an anxiety attack, but I told her that I wasn't stressed enough for that. Then she asked if I had gotten enough sleep and I said I hadn't because of the heat. Apparently, not getting enough sleep can sometimes cause a level of stress that can lead to anxiety attacks. So basically she just told me to take deep breaths, try to find a place with airconditioning, and meditate. I swear, my mom can be such a hippie sometimes. Anyway, I managed two out of those three things and felt reasonably better (although my breathing still wasn't normal yet) by the time my exam started. I thought I was in the clear when suddenly, an hour into the exam, I started to feel nauseated. As in I really thought I was going to throw up on my test paper. Fortunately (although I don't know how I did it) I managed to finish the exam. Which is funny, because apparently a lot of my classmates couldn't finish it (and the expression on their faces when they found out that I managed to finish even though I was sick made me feel a bit better).

So that hellish day eventually came to an end. At least I thought so. And then I emailed my dad today to let him know that my exams were done and to update him on various things such as the Bangkok trip Cassy and I have been planning. He replied pretty quickly, and I wouldn't have been surprised if he had scolded me about not emailing sooner or something. I certainly wasn't expecting him to say how relieved he was that my "ordeals" were over and that he'd heard from my sister that I'd "overstressed" myself and had "panic attacks". And then he scolded me for not telling him! It's funny (and annoying) how easily information can be mangled when it's transmitted secondhand. First of all, a panic attack is very different from an anxiety attack. A panic attack is what you see in movies, when a person suddenly collapses and curls up into a little ball and can't move and goes all hysterical. That's obviously not what happened to me. And that's the reason why I didn't bother to tell him - because it was nothing. I hadn't "overstressed" myself, nothing was wrong with me, so what's there to tell? Then I thought, maybe he's miffed at the fact that I called my mom instead of him. But if you take a moment to think about it, it was the logical thing to do. My mom is a psychiatrist. My dad is a brain surgeon. If I happen to have an anxiety attack, who would be able to help me the most? And if I understood his email correctly and he really can't tell the difference between a panic attack and an anxiety attack, it was a good thing I didn't call him. But still, my sister should know better; she's a Psych grad. And she should know how calm my mom was about it (she was telling me to meditate, for crying out loud), which means that it really wasn't a big deal. *sigh* My family is so weird.

In case anyone's wondering, I'm not really annoyed at my family for overreacting. I just needed something to rant about, and given that nothing ever happens in this excitement-forsaken place (I think Singapore exceeded its excitement quota when they let that terrorist escape), this was all I could come up with. Oh well, only two more days until our Bangkok trip. At least that's something to look forward to (I hope).

I know it's finals week, but I just finished two tests (yesterday and today) so I'm resting :P Stolen from Ma'am Vea.

My mom emailed me this Youtube video so, since I have nothing to do anyway, I might as well just spread it around.

I don't know how authentic this is, and the guy could very well just be making everything up. But I don't see a reason why he would. If this is real, I wonder what the government is doing about it.

Stolen from Ma'am Vea. Because obviously I have nothing better to do except 2 lab reports that are due next week.

Why are all the anime I'm watching so damn depressing?? Granted, they're still great shows and all, but now I'm depressed for no good reason :( Oh well, at least I'll have something to watch when I'm actually down in the dumps. If you're curious, the anime I'm talking about are Gundam 00 and Shounen Onmyouji (I suppose you could count Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle: Tokyo Revelations to the list, but I read the manga ages ago so I didn't get depressed  much this time around).  Dammit, I feel awful -_- I need something completely angst-free to lighten myself up. So... I'm going to go play Pokemon now.

I know, this was a complete and utter waste of your time. I did tell you to ignore it.

New mood theme, new icons, new obsession. Phoenix Wright is definitely one of the best games EVER (I would have said THE best game EVER but nothing can take the place of Final Fantasy in my gamer heart). It's a good thing I didn't have class for the past week because of our midterm break; I've been sleeping at 6:30 am almost everyday because I've been playing the latest installment in the Phoenix Wright series. The game is just too addictive and it has nothing to do with the fact that I have a crush on the gorgeous new prosecutor. But alas, midterm break is now officially over and I have an 8 am class tomorrow. Here's hoping that I'll actually wake up.

I suddenly found myself with some unexpected free time, so here's a little something for you bored people out there.

1. Pick 15 of your favourite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search or other search functions.
IN ADDITION: Bonus points if you can name the character who said the line!

I just got back from my triple treat party together with Robs and Joseph. Lots of food (pizza, carbonara by Robs, various Chinese New Year treats, ice cream, and two cakes), lots of friends (I don't know the total number of people who came, but I think it was around 20-25), and lots of card games and alcohol FUN :D Since Cassy is abstaining from playing bridge as her Lenten sacrifice, we played Uno cards instead. I never thought that game could be so much fun, but it's hilarious when someone is unlucky enough to be at the end of a Draw Two or Wild Draw Four combo (unless it actually happens to you). And catching someone before he/she can say "Uno!" is really satisfying. In a way, Uno is more fun than normal card games (e.g. Pusoy Dos, Bridge) because so many people can play at the same time, and it gets really rowdy.

I really don't have anything else to say, so I'll just spout off some random thoughts.

• Absolut Vodka Pear tastes AWFUL. It's like rubbing alcohol with pears. Bailey's is still as yummy as ever.
  
• I've started my Honours' Year Project (my thesis thing) already. I spent the whole day last Wednesday in the lab and I was even late for my 4 pm class because my supervisor suddenly dumped a truckload of lab work on me. I had to dissect 2 mice, get their thymus and spleen, mash up those organs into a cell suspension, do hypotonic lysis on the spleen cells, count the cells, make sure they're viable, plate them on 96-well plates, activate them with concavalin-A, and then incubate. Too much information, I know, but you get the picture. In the end, my supervisor ended up doing half of the work. Thus, she made me come back to the lab yesterday so that she could tell me everything she did.
  
• My mom and my sister didn't greet me today. I'm hurt :P

Well that's about it. Midterm break is the week after next (yay). Okay, I'll stop now.

Due to bullying encouragement from zen_jase05, here's this meme thing that I wasn't planning to post. For the record, I didn't cheat even though I REALLY wanted to.

Hell month is finally over. Yes, the semester has only just begun but hell came early this year. And it didn't even consist of homework or essays or tests or other academic frivolities. In short, extracurriculars are eating my life. Well, technically, they WERE. Hopefully, February will be a lot more sane. I'd like to have a nice, non-hectic birthday, thank you very much. I'm not too miffed that I have classes all day (10 am to 6 pm) on Valentines' Day; it's fun to watch random guys popping into the lab to shower bouquets on unsuspecting girls who just happen to be busy trying to finish the lab and thus end up being disturbed and not-so-pleased. I wonder if my lab partner (female, FYI) is planning to get me anything. It's probably better if she doesn't; her boyfriend might get the wrong idea and I'd have to think of something to give her in return.

Now that I've survived Hell Month January, I have a wonderful five-day weekend to look forward to. I'd like to sincerely thank the Chinese for inventing a calendar that is so out-of-sync with the Gregorian calendar that we get to celebrate New Year twice. And thank you to my Philo prof who so kindly decided to cancel classes tomorrow despite the fact that it's only Chinese New Year's Eve and is thus not a national holiday. I fully intend on sleeping until noon (or later) tomorrow to destress. Yes, life is good (for now).

I'm still trying not to remind myself that I might not have a summer vacation this year. I applied for a summer research fellowship in Caltech so, if I get accepted, I'll be in California for 10 weeks (June to August). I had my interview earlier today and I think it went well, i.e. I think I completely fooled them with my haphazard research proposal that I had to conjure up in two days. It certainly helped that the guy who interviewed me (the vice dean of something) apparently knows little or nothing about biology. In any case, this whole thing is a win-win situation for me anyway. If I get in, then I get to go to the almighty Caltech (scyphs, I know you'd want to argue the "almighty" thing but you might as well just let it go :P) and rub shoulders with all their world-class researchers. If I don't get in, I get to loaf around at home for 2 months, and of course I'll be able to celebrate _chimoms' and Cassy's and everyone else's birthdays with them. And I'll have the option of going back to Singapore a few weeks early to work on my thesis, which I'm actually starting next week. I think it's obvious which outcome I actually prefer. But this was too good an opportunity to pass up, especially since it's an invitation-only thing. There are only 10 applicants in total, and NUS is only sending one. If nothing else, this would add considerable icing to my CV.

I'm sleepy, but I don't want to go to sleep yet so I'll play Warcraft instead. Let's pretend that made sense.

EDIT: I changed my layout just for the heck of it. Here's hoping that I'll eventually have the time to just stare at a sky as blue as this.

Survey from half_elven17. It's fun to reminisce, even on things that really sucked at the time they happened, because now I just find them funny.

Christmas Wishlist

Books:
• Star Wars Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice by Karen Traviss
• Star Wars Legacy of the Force: Inferno by Troy Denning (preferably with or after Sacrifice)
• Star Wars: Death Star by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry (I bought it for myself)
• Star Wars Darth Bane: Path of Destruction by Drew Karpyshyn (Thanks, Melly :D)
• A War of Gifts: An Ender Story by Orson Scott Card
• Invasive Procedures by Orson Scott Card
• The His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman

PS2 Games (syempre pirated):
• Lego Star Wars (any or both of the two currently available)
• Magna Carta: Tears of Blood
• Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra

Miscellaneous:
• An R4 for my Nintendo DS Lite (It might seem like this should be under "Expensive stuff", but it's only P2500 :D)
• A new alarm clock, preferably with anime or video game designs from somewhere like Comic Alley (sorry, _chimoms, I broke the one you gave me)
• Any cute shirts (Despite purple being my favorite color, I seem to be deficient in purple clothes)
• Denim pants
• A pair of slippers/step-in shoes (Not Havaianas or any thong-type ones. My feet chafe easily. I'm a size 4.5 or 34 btw)
• A decent-sized purse/schoolbag (like a Crumpler but not so insanely expensive)
• A deck of playing cards (the plastic kind, not paper/cardboard)

Expensive stuff:
• A PSP Slim (Nangangarap lang naman. I already have a DS so my dad probably won't get me one)
• A Sony Ericson Z610i (My dad's getting me one. Yay)
• A PS3 (Actually, I don't know if I should buy one yet)
• A Crumpler bag (augh I didn't know these things cost an arm and a leg)

Finally, after being stuck at home (mostly) for 2 weeks, I got to visit UP yesterday and today. _chimoms  and I went early yesterday and I got to hang out with people I haven't seen in a while, like alvintang , zen_jase05 , and Gino. While Momz was at her Optics workshop, I met up with Patag and Din at Eng'g, where the various eng'g orgs were competing in mattress stuffing. As usual, IE Club won that and became overall champion for the 19th (?) time. After that, we walked around the oval and had the first ever (although incomplete) W.H.O.R.E.S. studio pic taken at one of the kiosks. Then, we just sat around in Quezon Hall and watched the Lantern Parade and the fireworks display. I would have been tempted to watch Miss Eng'g, but I didn't know any of the contestants. Besides, my feet were killing me and I was dead tired from walking around UP all day.

Nina planned for all of us W.H.O.R.E.S. (with the exception of Cassy, who was off "teaching education" in Montalban, Rizal aka "the gubat place") to have brunch at Chocolate Kiss today, so we had a sort-of reunion. Eya had just come back from Korea, and of course Cassy and I have been in Singapore for the past few months, and the UP Manila people rarely get to visit Diliman, so it was great to see everyone together. After stuffing ourselves, we walked to Bio (we saw PauPau on the way), where the Bio Christmas party was being held, and watched Carlos Cuaño sing (I don't know the title of the song, although I think it's pretty famous). We also saw melatariel  and finally got to meet the famous Scott, the first Bio major in a long time (if not in the entire history of UP) to have a flat 1.0 average. After some time, Patag, Eya, and Me-an went home while the rest of us decided to wait for Cielo to arrive. We walked to the sunken garden and just sat there for a while. The weather was very nice today, so hanging out at the sunken garden was actually pretty comfortable. As it turned out, Cielo was very busy with her research so eventually all of us except Nina just went home.

Pictures can be found on my Multiply :P Cassy, don't worry, I'll try to plan a party thing at my house so you can still see the Possie :D