Fun, fun, fun... under the sun!

I've been to 4 different places in 8 days. ^_^

April 3, Saturday:

We went to Laguna with my cousins from my mom's side. We were supposed to hitch a ride with my cousin, Kuya Edong. Unfortunately he miscalculated the number of people coming with him so we ended up using our old car. I finished packing my things at 3am so I only had an hour of sleep, I easily got mad at my cousin because he made us wait 3 hours for nothing. -_- Anyway, when we got to the place my uncles and aunts were already preparing the food. I immediately changed into my swimsuit and went into the pool. The water was cold, but it was okay because the weather was hot. I was in the water from 9am up to 4pm. :D (Of course there were a few breaks in between for lunch and snacks.) I "tried" diving. Notice the word, "tried" because I still can't dive. :P It was fun trying though, my cousins were patient enough to teach me. ^_^ Oh! And there was so much food! Barbecues, grilled corn, grilled fish, etc. (I don't know what the other stuff were called but they all tasted good! :D) We were not able to eat everything, eventhough more than 30 people came. ^^; On the way back home, I was able to sleep from Laguna up to Bicutan. When I woke up, my arms were sore from all that swimming. My brother got off at QC City Hall because he was going to Valenzuela with his friends. When I got home, I took some painkillers and went to sleep. ^_^

April 5-6, Monday and Tuesday:

After an hour of sleep (I was packing until 3am. :P), we (my parents, 3 cousins and me) went off to go to Nueva Ecija. My cousin's husband dropped us off at the bus station and then we got our tickets. I sat beside Ate Lai and then I went to sleep. I woke up when we were in Tarlac, and then I took out one bag of chips and started eating. (I didn't eat any breakfast.) There was a tv in the bus so I was able to catch a movie. I think the title was "Patriot Games". So there I was, munching in my seat and watching the movie when I suddenly felt queasy and sick. Not to mention that the sunlight was directly our side of the bus that I felt hot. I felt horrible, my head was spinning and my stomach was turning. Luckily Ate Lai brought a barf bag and I threw up all the chips I ate. ^^; Then I started feeling a lot better. It was already noon when we got there. They prepared lunch and we ate outside. It was like a picnic, only we had it just outside their homes. You see, there are 5 houses there and they're in one big family lot. We stayed with my Aunt Nieves since they have the biggest house. After lunch, I helped out in preparing for my cousin's wedding. I thought that peeling a sack of potatoes only happened in cartoons, but I was tasked to peel a sack of potatoes. ^^; My right thumb and index finger got sore from all that peeling, but I still felt good because I was able to help out. I also took care of the kids while their parents were preparing the food for the wedding. My little nephews and niece were so adorable, but they were also very active. I had a hard time taming those kids... especially my niece who was always calling her mom. ^^; After a long, grueling day I took a bath and went to bed. It was kind-of weird while I was sleeping because someone kept poking my arm until I woke up. I told my mom about it but she said she was just shaking me to wake up but she didn't poke me. I think it was my grandmother's ghost that was trying to wake me up. *is scared of ghosts* ^^;; I got up at 4am and took a bath. Then I dressed up for the wedding and helped my cousins prepare. At 8am we were already at the church, I was ready to take pictures. (I had two cameras. ^^;) The wedding started at 9:30am, and ended around 12noon. We went to the reception, and it was so hot there. My face was dripping with sweat. Ate Lai's sandals got broken and we forgot to bring the gifts so we went back to get another pair of sandals and the gifts. When we went back, we ate for a while then we quickly went back to my tita's house. When we got home, I went to sleep after changing my clothes. I woke up when my cousins got home because they were so noisy. ^^ Then my mom announced that we'll be going back to Manila that evening instead of taking the early morning bus the next day. I was quite disappointed because I wanted to stay longer, but my dad's waiting for an important call at home. So we packed our bags, ate dinner and went to the bus terminal. I got sad when I was saying goodbye, especially when my niece wanted to come with us. I wanted to bring her home with me. ^_^ Anyway, we got a bus around 6pm and took off. But there was a construction going on at the North Diversion Road so we were only able to go home around 12 midnight. I was tired but I had to watch "Patch Adams", I bought it the week before. So I was only able to sleep around 3am. ^^;

April 8, Thursday:

We went to a resort in Marikina together with my cousins from my Dad's side. It was the first time I saw all my cousins from his side, they're pretty cool. ^_^ I wasn't able to swim because I had my period, but it was okay... we played cards until it was time to go home. Uncle Ansing tried to cheat, but one of my cousins caught him. :P After they finished swimming and taking pictures, we went to Uncle Max's house. It was a nice home. Very tidy. We shared more stories there and bonded with our cousins. When it was really late, we decided to go home. ^_^

April 10, Saturday:

After going to Camp Aguinaldo for a recollection, I went with my parents to Cavite. Actually, I have never my dad's cousins in Cavite. He told us some stories about them while we were on the way. When they were kids, my dad and his brother used to go there riding a bike. They leave in the morning and arrive there around noon. ^^; I can't really believe that they could ride all the way there using only a bike but when we got to the place (it was near the bay... ^_^), my uncle told us that my dad used to ride their bikes going there. That's a long way... ^^; Well, we gave them some cake and they showed us around. I met more cousins, aunts and uncles. After talking, with them and exchanging addresses (we almost got lost because my dad forgot their address... -_-;) we went back home. I was able to buy some sweets on the way and we stopped by Baclaran church to pray before going home.

Coming home...

Last night was the UP EEE Alumni Homecoming. Like last year, I became an usherette. I came there at 3:35pm, just in time for the briefing. I was a bit late because I had exam in ES 12. The exam was hard... I didn't manage to get at least one problem correct. T_T

Anyway, the briefing only lasted for 10 minutes. At 3:45pm, an alumnus already came. He thought that it would start at 4pm, but only the registration was supposed to start at 4pm. ^^; Carl, one of the organizers, panicked! The registration forms were not yet finished, tickets and other paraphernalias were not yet there, and we lacked registration assistants. He asked me to stay at the registration table while we were waiting for the others to come. But at 5pm, Gidz was the only one who came from ERG to be a reg. assistant. We had to bug Nas to help us out with the registration booth. Tin was able to convince her, so she went home and changed clothes. She came back around 7pm. ^__^

Being an usher is not an easy job. We had to assist the guests and tour them around the building. We had to check for labs that are available for presentations. We had to go up and down 5 flights of stairs. We had to keep smiling the whole time ( I felt the stress on my face when I came home. *rubs cheeks*) We had to wait for 5 hours without food and water because the guests have to eat first before us. The good bit: food was great. I tried the creamy beef, sweet and sour fish, and the chicken fillet plus the carrot cake and sushi! Yummy!

I was also able to convince a couple of alumni to check out our booth and buy some cds. Yay! ^__^ Then I went home with Nas at 11pm.

All in all, I'd say it was a great experience. I was able to talk to a lot of alumni and help out. It was tiring but fulfilling. :)

It also made me wonder... after we graduate, will we be like them? Successful in their professions, willing to help out the department and their old organization, and still in touch with their college friends.

I hope so... :)