Corner Visions

Childhood Movies

2010-11-01T22:25:00.000-07:00

What have I been up to lately? Well, I've been downloading Disney movies that I grew up with, which, according to my dear brother, is a waste of internet bandwidth. I've been having this urge to re-watch those movies.

I watched Lady & The Tramp the other night and I just found out that the The Tramp was sort of a player. Yeah, with a thousand girlfriends. Well, maybe not a thousand, but a lot. Re-watching the movies I grew up with makes me understand what I didn't back when I was 2. Hell, I only understood two cute dogs eating spaghetti and meatballs together with a bunch of Italian guys singing in the background for them. I didn't even care if Lady and The Tramp were in love with each other. I only liked the spaghetti part, as far as I can remember.

Point is, I think it's nice to re-watch the movies you grew up with. You might discover an amazing part of the story you didn't see the first time you watched it. Okay, I'ma go download The Emperor's New Groove now.

What? Inception hasn't come out on DVD yet and I ain't downloading the cinema copy.

Ciao.

Mar ♥

OH RIGHT!

2010-10-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

It's my brother's birthday today!

HAPPY 22ND BIRTHDAY, DOUCHEBAG!!!

I know you're reading this so don't pretend you're not smiling.

I love you! ♥♥♥

P.S. Douchebag is a term of endearment to me.

Back to school?!

2010-05-29T01:21:00.000-07:00

Today is a good day. Why?

Because my best friend and her teammates are going to the UBD-BSP Debate Finals; which means they won today's debate against Katok. And, I just made some C loud Puffs (click for recipe). Jacques Torres, I love you; you're a genius.

I'm going to start college in a couple of days now, and I'm sort of thinking that I'm not ready to go back to school yet. I've wondered about the things I have been doing the past 6 months I've been vacant, and I found out I've been doing nothing but going online and waking up late. Apathetic.

But (yes, there's a but), I have also learned and done a lot of things.

I learned how to make lasagna (so that one day, Garfield will come to me). I learned new Photoshop tricks, which I've used to spam my highschool classmates' Facebook Walls. I made a video for my best friend for her 18th Birthday. I learned how to c lone myself using Windows Movie Maker. I learned how to do magic ;)

I taught my dog how to smile :D Okay, no; that's just actually how my dog really is. I went on road trips to Tagaytay, Laguna and Pampanga. I overcame my fear of heights by sliding down frickin' high, frickin' scary water slide.

I attempted to decorate my room; which is an epic fail at the moment. I'm sure once school starts my walls are gonna fill up.

Here's the wall beside my bed. Yes, I can see that it's still empty. Our printer's out of ink so I can't print anything to paste on the wall. Sometimes, I draw instead, like that Deathly Hallows. And next to the Deathly Hallows are the movie tickets I bought in Brunei. I always knew keeping them weren't such a bad idea. I have watched 29 movies in 5 years and spent B$159.00, on movies alone (popcorn not included). This wall of tickets is inspired by Charlie McDonnel's wall of train tickets. (for Charlie McDonnel's Channel, click here.)

Suffice to say, I have done pretty much the things I've wanted to do; and a dessert helped me realise that. Desserts are awesome. I am now ready to go back to school. I just hope I didn't forget everything I learned in high school. I have 2 orientations: Institutional Orientation on June 1 and School Orientation on June 3. Wish me luck :)

Lots of love,
Mar ♥

A Beautiful Nightmare

2010-04-29T01:02:00.000-07:00

I dreamt about "chicken hugs" last night. I have no idea what it means, but i think it's a cross between a chicken nugget and a hug..

A chicken nugget giving me a hug? A hug giving me a chicken nugget? My brain works weirdly..

What do you think?

Trickster/Gabriel

2010-04-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

Gabriel: Okay. So I have wings; like Kotex.
[Supernatural 5 x 19]

This line is funny xD It's too bad he won't be appearing anymore in the series. I was starting to like him. I wish he could've stayed on much longer.

Supernatural

2010-04-24T05:08:00.000-07:00

[This post contains spoilers for those who have not watched Supernatural Season 5 Ep. 19]

Some of the episodes of Supernatural's new season (Season 5) have become predictable. Supernatural fans, you know what I'm talking about. So, Sam and Dean are in a weird place. Okay, obviously it's a trap and something's bound to go haywire. Oh look, someone's going to kill Sam and Dean; no doubt the angels would bring them back to life, because they need the both of them to start the apocalypse.

Despite all these, I continue to watch the new episodes. Its new episode, episode 19, has gotten me excited for next week's episode. Why? Well, finally, the story started to get more interesting. Turns out, they could send Lucifer back to eternal damnation, without barbecuing the entire planet. The rings of the 4 horsemen happen to act as keys to Lucifer's cage. The 4 horsemen are basically War, Death, Famine, and I'm not exactly sure about the last horseman, but he carries a bow and rides a white horse. Anyway, since they already have Famine's and War's rings, they now need the other two's. Surprisingly, Lucifer nor the other high and mighty angels know about this; except for Gabriel. Archangel Gabriel had finally developed a soft spot for the Winchester brothers and excruciatingly accepted to help kill his own brother (Lucifer). But unfortunately, his older brother was too quick and smart for him; he died.

Lucifer: Brother, don’t make me do this.
Gabriel: No one makes us do anything.
Lucifer: I know you think you’re doing the right thing, Gabriel. But I know where your heart truly lies.
[Lucifer turns around sharply and impales Gabriel with his own sword.]
Lucifer: Here.
[The duplicate of Gabriel dissipates.]
Lucifer: Amateur hocus-pocus. And don’t forget; you learned all your tricks from me, little brother.

- from http://fuckyeahtvpicspam.tumblr.com

At this point, who knows what's going to happen. Would Sam and Dean get all the rings or would they duel with each other as Lucifer and Michael as was written?

We'll have to wait and see next week ;)

Live Like We're Dying

2010-04-23T05:36:00.001-07:00

Did you know that the song "Live Like We're Dying" is an original song by The Script, not Kris Allen. It was only re-sang and popularised by the latter. Both versions actually almost sound similar, to be honest. Too bad most people recognise it as Kris Allen's, because The Script is a pretty awesome band. And they're Irish :3 Can't go wrong with that in my book.

Epiphany

2010-04-17T05:26:00.000-07:00

I was just going through my wall posts in Facebook and I came across my birthday greetings from my friends. I didn't have a home internet connection back then, so I got to read them at least 2-3 days later at an internet cafe. And I wished I could've replied every one of their greetings because I don't want them to think that I was ungrateful. The effort of writing the 13-letter word that is "Happy Birthday" is thoughtful. So, if most of you who greeted me happens to read this: I thank you very much for the thought of greeting me :)

P.S.
Congratulations to Green House! You guys did it! Again :D
HHHIIIJJJOOOOUUUU!!!

What's happening?

2010-04-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

Haiti, Chile, China, California and now China again. At 7:49 a.m. on Wednesday, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook the rural province of Qinghai, cracking a hospital, toppling schools and pulling mud and wood houses to the ground. At least 600 people were killed and 10,000 injured, according to state media reports.

Do you think these earthquakes are somehow connected? Are we experiencing more earthquakes, or are these earthquakes frequently happening in urban and populated areas so that's why we get the news?

Here's another event you probably aren't aware of:

A volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH'-plah-yer-kuh-duhl) glacier, in Iceland, erupted Wednesday for the second time in less than a month causing an ash cloud of 20,000 feet to 36,000 feet to rise above the Atlantic Ocean. Hence, causing thousands of flights to be cancelled in the European continent. No fatalities.

And this just in: Meteors light up the night sky from Iowa to Central Michigan causing sonic booms, waking the sleeping community. Imagine that; sonic booms. That's pretty loud. The meteors might have reached the atmosphere to make that loud a noise. A lot of 911 calls were made as everyone thought it was the end of the world. Scientists say it's a meteor shower and skeptics say it's a conspiracy act. Who knows. Video link here.

What is going on? Is our planet trying to tell us something?

I've just watched 2012 the other day and watching it has definitely made me think about so many things. A lot of people have certainly taken the movie on a serious note believing that the Mayans have indeed predicted the end of times. The famous philosopher Nostradamus has also included this belief into his prophecies. It's in the bible; Matthew 24:1-8. Don't give me that look; I got all these from watching Supernatural, okay. So, what now? Is the world really going to end on 21st December 2012? Is our future going to make history?

Armageddon or not, this epic movie is not trying to tell us that the prophecies made by our ancestors are going to come true. The movie itself could be a "what-if" scenario. What we can do now, is be prepared for the worse and try to save as much people as we can. How? That's a good question I don't know the answer to. Right now, though, I'm wondering what the leaders of the world talk about in the G-Summits. I hope it's nothing about building steel ships and saving only a limited number of people. Then again, can we save everybody?

Hollywood's Rom-Coms

2010-04-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I have just finished watching "Leap Year". It's a pretty good movie; if you're into clichés. The movie was predictable at first; but the cinematography is brilliant. I have to say, I bloody love Ireland.

Let's start from the beginning, shall we? Anna Brady(played by Amy Adams) decides to fly off to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend of 4 years, who was having a meeting in Dublin, after he surprised her with diamond stud earrings on a dinner-date that she thought was the night he was going to propose. Got everything so far? She also found out that on a Leap Year, Irish women propose to their fellas, sort of like an Irish tradition. She saw this as an opportunity and started packing her bags.

Here's what I think: It's movies like this that generalise women as desperate of getting married. There's nothing wrong with women proposing. The thing is, these movies program our minds to think that unmarried women above the age of 32 are failures, and that our sole purpose in life is to walk down the aisle. And because of this, we act like total idjets during the bouquet tosses at weddings.

I am just tired of cutesy and desperate portrayals of women. Bride Wars, 27 Dresses; have you seen the look on the bride's-maids faces as the bouquet is tossed into the air, arms stretched out hoping they could grab it before the next girl does? Come on, we're more than just that. And the movie that insults women in every way possible: Wedding Crashers; it highlights this stereotypical attribute entirely.

To think that women are willing to sleep with any man, any stranger at a wedding because they become teary-eyed, weepy and depressed with their single selves is degrading. I speak for every woman out there. Wow. Strong words for little ol' me xD

In the end, it is, after all, JUST a movie. But it's the messages they send out. Everybody loves a (well-done) romantic comedy once in a while. Even if it did sucked, we'd still get tickets to see it anyway, right? Because if we didn't, these kind of movies would die out. I definitely enjoyed this one, being the die-hard romantic that I am. But it's about time Hollywood stopped the desperate-female-longing-for-marriage clichés in romantic comedies.

How come we never have an issue on generalising men? Won't somebody think of the men?

Oh, and Matthew Goode is gorgeous :3

~ RAWR

Livin' La Vida Loca

2010-03-30T23:42:00.000-07:00

Today, I asked my brother something:

Me: Is it okay if I called you "bro" instead of "kuya"?

Him (annoyed): You can call me "sis".

xD

Speaking of this, have you heard Ricky Martin has finally come out of the closet? "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man," Ricky said in a message posted on his offical Web site. "I am very blessed to be who I am."

Kudos to that. I am so happy for him. He showed the world a thing or two that it IS okay to be who you are. And if people have a problem with that, it's their problem, not yours. And there are ALWAYS people who got your back and who'll support you every step of the way. You just need to know where to look.

His twin sons, fathered through a surrogate mother in 2008, were a factor in his decision to come out. "This is just what I need especially now that I am the father of two beautiful boys that are so full of light and who with their outlook teach me new things every day.To keep living as I did up until today would be to indirectly diminish the glow that my kids where born with." (ABC News)

On the other hand, I am a pretty religious person, and I know some churches are against this. But I also believe that if they're happy, the whole world might as well be.

The word "happiness" takes on a new meaning for me as of today.
- Ricky Martin

Memoirs

2010-03-19T00:36:00.001-07:00

I really like this pictrure; I just thought I'd let you guys know :) This was taken last year on Cynthia's birthday. Everyone here looked like they were having a great time, and whenever I look at this picture, I feel like I'm having a great time as well.

Nigel's so relaxed and happy up on the bouncer while Kim drowns. Joey's having a good time soaking Kim's brain cells, and Cynthia's probably thinking, "Why do I hang out with these people?"

Just kidding.

I miss... a lot of things.

Take care Brunei

Love,
Mar

Mar#07

2010-03-15T00:27:00.001-07:00

Dear readers,

The most wonderful thing happened. The 8GB pendrive that I won from Inforama last 2008 and the one that broke after I saved 4GB of pictures dating back to 2004 finally and miraculously worked again. I'm so happy. I would like to take this opportunity to express this bliss with you: WOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

After plugging in the once broken pendrive, I didn't wait any further to start transferring every folder into my memory-lacking laptop. Luckily, I had cleared 3GB of crap the other day to increase performance speed. Looks like now I'm back to square-one; but who cares, I got my pictures back :D

I remember the day when I asked Mr. Steve if he could fix it and told me that it's completely and hopelessly unfixable. If 'unfixable' is not a word, then it is now.

That completely took my mood away. It's like McDonald's trying to take away Happy Meals and the cute toys that go with it. But now,thankfully, my pendrive has resurrected from pendrive cemetery :D

I found some pictures that I've always wanted to show you guys. Back then, I'd protect my pictures with "Mar#07". Please ignore some of the meaningless words I put in some of the pictures. They were, in all fairness, made at least 3 years ago. For more pictures and to download, please visit my Flickr page.

Enjoy :)

Au revoir

Lots of love,
Mar

Spongebob Squarepants

2010-03-09T23:14:00.000-08:00

Hello, faithful readers :)

For years, I have been photoshopping.. and not so good, I have to say. Every now and then, I get ideas from tutorials and sometimes, on a good day, the ideas come to me.

I have always loved Spongebob. Maybe because the person who gives voice to Spongebob (Tom Keny) also played the character of Carl Chryniszzswics from Johny Bravo (which is also one of my favourite cartoons)

At times when I had nothing else to do, and Adobe Photoshop happened to be running on my laptop, I'd insert Spongebob into pictures where I thought would seem funny.

I love how incorporated Spongebob's shadow is with the others'. That, of course, I got from a tutorial.

Here, unfortunately, I got the shadows wrongly. I have bad sense of angles. But I like Geometry xD

For more pictures, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/cornervisions/

I hope you guys have a great week :)

Lots of love,
Mar

Cartoons I grew up with

2010-02-28T23:28:00.000-08:00

Hello world :)

I'm sorry for the delays in updates. I've been really lazy lately. I guess it's because it's, like, 100degrees here in the Philippines. I mean, I sweat when I dress up. Yes, it's that hot here. They call it El Niño.

I thought I'd blog just to let you know that I am indeed alive, but I'm afraid on the verge of having a heat stroke. Just kidding. The other day, I was thinking about the cartoons I grew up with when I was younger.

Back then, we didn't have Disney Channel yet, so Kim Possible was just a funny name to me. My favourite TV destination at that time was Cartoon Network. I have to admit, they have some of the most absurd shows I have ever watched.

Remember Sheep in The Big City? It's about a runaway sheep, in a big city, who's in love with a poodle, and who's constantly being chased by 2 army officials: General Specific and Private Public. Notice how the 2 words of their names are complete opposites of each other.

I never knew what pollution meant when I was a child until I started watching Captain Planet. I'd always use it as an excuse to dress up for school a bit later as I told my mom that I was learning about how to save the planet xD Anyway, here's a list of my favourite cartoons that I would watch everyday.

#10: Cow and Chicken

The idea that a cow and a chicken can be siblings with human parents whose lower half of the body is only shown amazes me. It actually reminds me of my brother and I, except that my brother doesn't have a feathers.

#9: Popeye

My dad and I would always watch this together. And this show made me eat my vegetables. So, in a way, it's kind of evil. Tricking kids into eating their vegetables in cruel xD
#8: The Addams Family
The cartoon and the movie were my favourites and they still are. I'd have to say my favourite character is Thing; he's the hand. And the children's toys look dangerous but they have a hell of a good time playing.

#7: Casper
I like the idea that there's a friendly ghost out there.

#6: Yogi Bear

It starts with "Picnic" and ends with "Basket". This show also taught me that bears hibernate and not only like fish and honey, but also picnic baskets :P And I find Boo-Boo Bear adorable.

#5: Tom & Jerry
Whether it's the show when they're kids or adults, I'd watch them anytime. Even now.

#4: Ed, Edd n' Eddy

I watched this when I was a bit older. I think this is also one of the absurd shows I watched.

#3: Dexter's Laboratory
Again, a cartoon that reminds me of my brother and I. In all fairness, I did destroy a lot of my brother's things. Gosh, I bet little sisters are difficult.

#2: The Powerpuff Girls
The show with the narrator that always starts with "The city of Townsville." They have interesting ways of defeating Mojo Jojo all the time, and the way that monkey speaks in unique.

#1: Scooby Doo

I can watch this anytime. I'd always stay up late to watch this. I think this is where the love for horror-adventures started. So, thank you Scooby-Doo.

These cartoons, I think, made me who I am now; a little childish, a little scary, and a little absurd xD

I hope you guys have an awesome day :)

Lots of love,
Mar

Are we near an airport? 'Cause my heart just took off

2010-02-08T23:10:00.000-08:00

Greetings to what's left of my readers. Hello. Konichiwa. Aloha.

In case you failed to notice, Valentine's Day is just right around the corner. 4 days, to be specific. There are 2 types of people on this day of love. One, the type that celebrates a romantic evening with their better half and two, the type that spends the night at home alone watching a marathon of romance movies compiled by HBO while shoving handfuls of junk food into their mouths and wishing they had someone special to spend a good evening with; sort of like what I usually do every year-- and for good reasons: they're, like, awesome movies that don't make you feel bad at all after watching. Okay, that's not completely true.

Anyway, a long, long time ago (3 months), I asked people at Yahoo! Ask on what they thought love is. I thought I'd share their answers seeing that Valentine's is drawing near:

"Love is a gift ..sometimes we hold it in our hands and dont even understand it..love is what comes from heart ..love is when u r ready to give everything for that person even ur life..love is even when yrs pass and that person is not in ur life anymore and suddenly needs u ,u run to help them..love is when u look at that person in the eyes and see their eyes screaming I LOVE U..n love is when u cant imagine a single minute without that person like u breath for them."

"Love, people caring about each other loving the personality not the Body, cant stand being apart, a simple word with 4 letters can mean millions of sentences."

"For most people, self delusion."

"Love to me, is having family."

"Unconditional devotion to one another."

"Love is when you are devoted to someone for a long time, and you still kiss them when they get old and wrinkly :P"

"Something people search for desperately so much so that they blind themselves from the one that they truly love."

"It's poop 'cuz someone always gets hurt. LOL"

"Can't explain it, it's just "that" feeling."

"Love. it's not school approved, but more complex than quantum physics... love can be two things. an action and a feeling. as an action love is simple. you do as much as you can to make the other person happy. now as a feeling, that is where the complexity begins. love as a feeling can range from getting the urge to put a smile on your face to feeling like your floating. love can be sharing a moment intimately to making eye contact. love is an emotion that you feel towards someone that you know there's something bonding you two and that you were made for each other. saying i love you to that special someone means that you have deep emotions of caring for them. it means tat you feel more comfortable with them than a friend. love... its been used so many times and i don't think there's really one exact definition for it."

This proves that everybody has a different thing to say about love. That or, they were just trying to mess with me.

I'm no love expert, but I hear it's good for you. It's been proven that love stimulates the release of endorphins into the blood system. I'm not really sure what endorphins are but they're like tiny elves, that run through your veins and arteries, and tell your brain a joke and make you happy. So, I suggest we all get our doses of love.

You'll get it anywhere; family, friends, and even enemies. Hey, you HAVE to love thy enemies-- nothing annoys them more.

Valentine's Day isn't a day just for couples. Don't let cliché movies misguide you. Valentine's Day is a day of love, or for love; whichever you prefer.

All we need is love.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lots of love,
Mar

God is love; so love will save the world.

2010-01-21T23:38:00.000-08:00

Hello, Brunei :)

My aunt and uncle just got back from the states and they got me a poster, of a mountain lion, from Wyoming so that I can paste it in my room. It's a nice touch, isn't it? I mean, not everyone gets to wake up and see a hungry, hunting mountain lion first thing in the moring. They don't eat humans, right?

Anyway, my aunt showed us some pictures of their road trips across the states. They live in LA, California, so Universal Studios and Disneyland are, like, a 30-minute drive. Those aren't the only places they've been to; San Diego, Grand Canyon West, Lake Taho, the Hover Dam (where Megatron was kept hidden in Transformers 1), Reno, NYC, Yellow Stone and Alaska. Alaska (I just love saying that).

Alaska. They've been to Alaska and experienced 24 hours of daylight during the winter solstice in June. Her stories were very interesting and I wish I had seen what they had, until we were at the 120th photo out of 220. Every picture told a different story. I love my aunt, she's family, but 100 pictures more? I just nod and smiled away, as if I were high. She has my mom to talk to anyway.

For a moment there, I did doze off a little. By then they were talking about the Aurora Borealis. And then for some reason they started talking about brown rice. And then nothing. Usually this is the part where Barney Stinson would get up and say, "Awkward silence! Whuddup!" I'd say something but it's not like I've visited places such as Alaska. So I asked what I usually ask people from the other side of the globe: "What time do you think it is in Alaska?"

My recent skill in starting up a conversation is like my past skill in starting up a conversation: absolute crap xD I don't elaborate; I simple "yes" or "no" is all I got.

I miss you SO SO much, Brunei. I haven't made any new friends here yet. My first friend here is my dog, Ondoy. He's named after Typhoon Ondoy because he was born that time. His fur is a caramel colour. His paws are white, except for his front left paw. He has a patch of white fur on his forehead and throughout his abdomen. He's very playful and I just found out that he likes socks xD He's still afraid of cats and he does not like cold water. He hates taking a bath and he likes chewing on plastic slippers.

Take care, Brunei

Lots of hugs and kisses,
Mar

Update

2010-01-16T00:33:00.000-08:00

This is to all of you at dear--maria.blogspot.com:

I honestly have no idea what to say. It's terrible that I have nothing and you all have so much to say. All I have is a genuine thank you.

Thank you for the kind words, thank you for reminding me memories I thought I forgot, like that unfortunate 'HOT' incident with Joel. And thank you for helping me see myself through your eyes. Wow, cheesy, I know.

You're all probably sick of my' thank you's. I just want you all to know how eternally grateful I am for everything you all have done for me. I'm lucky to have you as my friends.

Okay, so, let's get past this. It's not like I'm six feet under or anything. I am very much breathing and kicking. Probably not kicking since I gained a few pounds and am too lazy to move a muscle. Okay, no; a lot of pounds. Did I mention I got darker? It's all this walking under the blazing sun.

I'll update to you soon, Brunei. I miss you

Lots of love,
Mar

Hello

2010-01-13T21:55:00.000-08:00

Hello, Brunei. I miss you.

I've been dreaming about Brunei almost every night since I moved to the Philippines. Philippines is definitely a lot more different than Brunei.

The malls here are always overcrowded. Brunei has only one recognized mall, The Mall, and Philippines has a lot more than the number of its islands. Okay, I'm exaggerating. Traffic here increases your blood pressure. Most drivers are douches. Some public transportation vehicles have naked women painted on their sides. The fees are less than B$0.50. A meal for 3 people costs, like, B$2.00.

The roads here are dusty, and if you step out of your house and into the streets with just slippers on, within 3 minutes your feet will get dark and dusty. For some reason, your fingernails get dirty all the time, even if you've been holding a bar of soap. I find the toilet bowls here extremely small. Yes, I have a ginormous bottom. The tap water here is white. Yes, you read that right; white, not transparent. My dad says it's because of the vitamins.

My neighbour's rooster wakes up at 3 in the morning and starts his cackle-doodle-doo speech. I get motion sickness here because travelling takes at least 5 hours due to traffic. My parents still get confused where the driver's seat is. Since, we're in Philippines now, the driver's seat is on the left.

Of all the hot guys my parents talk about, I haven't seen any. Hehe. And all the shirtless men here have bellies the size of basketballs. AND my dad smokes twice as much as he did in Brunei.

This is Philippines. It may be corrupt, overpopulated, and polluted, but it's going to be home for the next coming years. I have to accept the fact that, this is where I live now. New chapters.

I live near the mountains. It's a mountain range, actually. The Sierra Madre familiar to you? It's the longest mountain range in the Philippines and she's gorgeous. I'm doing fine here; still adapting to the filipino lifestyle. I miss you, Brunei.

Lots of love,
Maria

You're My Brunei

2009-12-10T22:38:00.000-08:00

11th Dec. 2009
Now Playing: Home by Michael Bublé

Dear Brunei,

I'm leaving on the 15th.. for good. 4 days left.. I was thinking about everything and everyone the other night, while looking at old pictures.

Imagine, all of us, all grown up heading to college.

Imagine, all of us, married, with kids and jobs.

I wonder how we'll look like when we're all older, comparing pictures from high school. Gosh, that'll be hilarious. Will I get any taller? I feel a combination of sadness and bliss whenever I think about all of this. I just hope I'll be there to see everyone age. Haha..

And invite me to your graduations, weddings, christening ceremonies, birthdays.. Don't forget to remember me.

Please, please, Brunei, promise me a reunion..

Buenos Dias

2009-12-02T09:25:00.000-08:00

Dear blogger,

It is now 1.30am, 3rd Dec. 2009. I just spent an awesome day at Cynthia's, celebrating her 17th birthday. My quest for a Christmas template is becoming less fruitful. You know, I've always wondered, why do people say phrases like "become less fruitful". Do they mean fruitless?

Anyway, I'm having trouble sleeping. Maybe it's the buckets of ice-cream I ate at Cynthia's. Trust me, the flavours are delicious. I've never tasted cempedak ice-cream before, nor lychee. That's what I like about Brunei. You can't find anything like that in the Philippines. Well, you do see a lot of ice-cream vendors at every street corner. And don't get me started about Jollibee. You see their branches, like, every 3 km of your destination.

Speaking of Philippines, I'm kind of excited going back. I think of it as a new adventure. A whole new chapter. That doesn't mean I'm happy leaving. Are going back and leaving the same things, anyway? Sooner or later, I'll have to leave, right? I have dreams I want to live, I have goals I want to accomplish; don't you? And in order to do that, I'm afraid the solution is going in my own path. I'm bummed out about leaving the people I know how to have a good time with, but I had plenty of time being crazy and letting loose with them, and I'm glad and thankful that I did.

I know I won't forget the times, because the existence of forgetting has never been proved. We only know that some things don't come to mind when we want them to. And therefore, the memory lives on forever; I say FOREVER. So, this is not the end. And this is not goodbye as in I'll never see you again; this is the goodbye as in I'll see you soon. Unless the 2012 armageddon is really true, then we're all screwed :P

Here's to a new adventure, everyone. I hope we all stay on the right track.

I'm going to count sheep now.

Goodnight

Lots of love,
Maria ♥

Feliz Navidad

2009-11-30T04:33:00.000-08:00

It's the season to be jolly. So, I thought I'd dress up my blog with a Christmas template; but unfortunately I can't find any that I like, so I decided to put holiday icons instead, to convince myself that everyone else would notice how christmas-y it is.

Truth is, things haven't been so merry. This is my first Christmas without a Christmas tree. Come on, it's not Christmas without a Christmas tree. It's practically why I love Christmas. Then there's the Christmas songs; ahh, screaming my lungs out and startling the jingle bells out of everyone. That's Christmas for me :)

Every time my mom sees me sulking about Christmas, she tends to say that Christmas would be more fun once we get back to the Philippines. I don't like it when she says that. Speaking of that, I bring you good news; well, it depends I think. I am happy to say that I won't be leaving for Philippines this week. So, that means I'll be able to make it to Cynthia's birthday. Hurrah!

Anyway, the last Monday, Niks, Jasmine, Andy, Joey, Mei Yi and I went bowling at Seri, then we spent almost 2 hours at Jollibee. Then, all of us, except for Jasmine, went and crashed at my place to watch (500)Days of Summer. Unfortunately, Jasmine had to go home early.

Then on Tuesday, Niks came by to my place and we watched Confessions of a Shopaholic. I'm sorry, Niks. I know it's boring at my place. I'm not as fun as you are, and my place isn't so merry as yours. But I enjoyed watching clips of Ian Somerhalder and then falling in love with him, until of course, I finally got to watch Vamp Diaries and saw Paul Wesley :D

Then on Wednesday, I forgot what I did on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, Niks, Jasmine, Joey, Mei Yi, Andy, Joel, Nicholas and I watched A Christmas Carol at Q-lap Mall. In my opinion, it was an okay movie. I still prefer the other adaptations of the classic Charles Dickens story.

Then on Saturday, Jas and I spent the afternoon at Niks' place colouring (mind you), singing Christmas Songs and making videos. I had a fun day. Oh, and Niks got a new phone. I can't wait to see it. Mazel tov, Niks :)

Ciao.

Love,
Mar

Who Says

2009-11-21T03:36:00.000-08:00

Who says I can't get stoned
Turn off the lights and the telephone
Me in my house alone
Who says I can't get stoned

Who says I can't be free
From all of the things that I used to be
Rewrite my history
Who says I can't be free

- Who Says by John Mayer

If someone comes up to you and says you can't go do something or anything at all, go prove them wrong :D
... then rub it in their faces xD
... if you have to.

Who Says is a single from John Mayer's new album, Battle Studies.

"Battle Studies is a dark journey for the listener but it gives us all hope by the end of the album. that we are not alone with our own personal battles."
- Crossroads Music Weekly

The Entertainment Industry

2009-11-19T06:41:00.000-08:00

The names Johnny Depp, Nicholas Cage and Jake Gyllenhaal are not unfamiliar. They are one of the world's renowned actors of our time. You might have seen them in movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure and the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I'd be lying if I said they weren't awesomely hot on screen; but what goes on behind the scenes matters too.

We see these actors playing the bad boy, looking good, toned, shirtless; you name it. And that's all it takes to grab a girl's attention. As for the guys, action, blood, guns, girls and lots of explosions make a good movie. Then again, this would be a stereotype's idea of what girls and guys want in a movie. I think that everyone loves a good story. And if it weren't for writers, producers and directors, we would have never gotten to watch these movies. And here we are praising the actors much more than the people who actually gave them employment.

Jerry Bruckheimer produced movies and tv shows like CSI, Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure, Bad Boys, Confessions of a Shopaholic, and G-Force. Without him, Johnny Depp would probably end up being a has-been and Orlando Bloom would be forever known as the long-haired-almost-looking-like-a-girl Legolas from Lord of the Rings.

Without the astounding directorial skills of Michael Bay, I would've not discovered His Royal Hotness Shia LaBeouf and Josh Duhamel from Transformers, and of course, Megan Fox, Scarlett Johansson from The Island and Bruce Willis from Armageddon. Not only was he the director of Transformers, he was also one of the producers. He also produced the new Friday the 13th, in which Jared Padalecki (a.k.a. my future boyfriend) starred in.

Eric Kripke; he produced, directed and wrote one of my favourite tv shows, Supernatural. He manages to drive viewers to the edges of their seats after every episode. His genre, horror, also led him to write The Boogeyman.

George Lucas with Stars Wars, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for How I Met Your Mother, Mark Schwahn for One Tree Hill, and Shonda Rimes for Grey's Anatomy; thank you.

Not only do I want to thank the above mentioned, but also to the other crew members who have made my life much more interesting xD

You bored already? Go watch some tv :D

Mar :)

Someday

2009-11-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

Someday I'm finally gonna let go
'cause I know there's a better way
and I wanna know what's over that rainbow
I'm gonna get out of here someday.

- Someday by Steve Earle

Liberated

2009-11-14T07:01:00.000-08:00

Wow. What a great way to spend my first day of being OLevel- free. I think I just had one of the most fun nights in a very long time. I was happy to see most of my classmates again; probably, and I hope not, the last time I will ever get to see them.

My classmates and I celebrated our freedom at Hawaii's place. Hawaii's awesome xD He prepared EVERYTHING for all of us. I'm so grateful that he hosted the party. It was almost like our "prom" -thing; or whatever you call it. Speaking of prom, I can't help but feel responsible for not making it happen for our class. Believe me, I feel terrible; and now, in the midst of its season, every school is having one, except for us. I wish I could've done more. Just thinking about prom brings me down. And at the top of that, I am even more dejected by the fact that I'm leaving Brunei.

Anyway, substitutes for prom night were our Graduation Dinner at Pizza Hut, the gathering suggested by Mr. Eugene on our last day of school and Hawaii's BBQ Party. I bet none of the schools did that :D The main thing is, we got to spend a lot of time together and not just for one night at the prom. I think we can survive without prom. Right?

Did you know Mr. Eugene lives near Hawaii's? Yeah, just a doorbell away. So, he happened to come over and started this bizzare game called "Black Magic", which until now I still cannot quite get. The game is that someone has to guess what something is from a list of choices. How does it work? "It's black magic." I don't know how long we played that game but Andy, Rahat and Haziq got the idea of how the game works, and Hawaii figured it out much quicker than any of us. Dang, I feel dumb xD

When it was time for me to leave, I felt like I was going to leave behind everything. The car ride back home was quiet without me singing to the tunes of Usher. Don't give me that look; I like Usher, okay. My mind was filled with the thoughts of leaving. I knew I had to leave someday, I've thought about it eversince I started my freshman year at SGS, and I thought I was prepared; it turns out I'm not. The bbq party was bittersweet; me leaving the party was the bitter part :P

Overall, I had a good night :)

Sweet dreams, everyone.

Mar.

Goodbye High School, Hello World

2009-09-16T03:51:00.000-07:00

As we enter the stage that is our last saga, we will be facing with yet another tribulation in our lives—universities, higher studies, getting a job, etc. Before my final year of high school, my classmates and I were already talking about life after high school. Some were glad because they would finally get to say goodbye to the subjects that caused them brain damage. Some were also jovial as they would no longer suffer detention. Still, others, such as myself, are sad by the thought of leaving the place that became almost like home.

St. George’s School is the place where I got to meet a lot people from different walks of life. St. George’s School is the place where I learned to be a useful and respected citizen of the world and, it is where I met the amazingly crazy people whom I am proud to call my friends. Even though St. George’s School isn’t a big, prestigious learning institute, she has moulded me into the person I am now (who, if I may add, isn’t that at all bad) and has given me a lot of memories to cherish.

I can remember everything from the times my classmates and I had, down to the smallest details—making fun of teachers (I’m sorry), celebrating a teacher’s birthday, tossing slices of birthday cake after that, and finding new ways of cheating in a test (relax, they always end up being a malfunction). I relive those times and realize that when I do, I feel a strange combination of sadness and joy. I don’t want to leave high school yet, simply because I want to make more memories, even if that means I have to sit for 2 hours every day listening to Tr. Victoriah's never-ending lectures.

But life goes on. Sooner or later, we will be receiving our diplomas and a feeling of accomplishment washes over you once you have that piece of parchment in your hand. University –life isn’t so bad; terror-professors, thesis papers, extra research and a large dosage of caffeine everyday sound promising. It’s another roller-coaster ride, new and exhilarating. Yes, I am depressed, but at the same time, happy and forever grateful that high school happened. With this I am proud to call myself a St. Georgian, but more extremely proud to be from this year's senior class of 2009.

You can retake a class, but you can't relive a party.

Love,
Mar :)

Just Do It

2009-08-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

"Let the beauty we love be what we do."
- Rumi

The class and I had our career talks pretty much the entire school hour today; and this got the whole class talking about their futures -- contemplating on what courses to take, what kind of career path they should take, etc. Most of us aren't really sure yet of what we want to be in the future, and 2 months of thinking isn't really a lot time.

It's hard deciding what you want for the future. You want to earn big and at the same time enjoy what you do. Nothing comes easy anymore and the hardest thing is not having a career at all. Trust me, it took me a long, long time trying to decide what I want to do. Ever since I was 6 years old, I've always wanted to be a doctor. I was actually trying to copy my brother, who at that time, wanted to be a doctor as well; until, that is, my gynecologist of an aunt took my brother to the delivery room. He obviously did not like what he saw, hence, causing a career change from doctor to lawyer.

I, on the contrary, remained with the doctor-path for 10 years, until 2008. I've been hearing news of demands for nurses in the United States and this produced a change in mind-set. I wanted to work abroad and earn some US dollars; I wanted to be successful and rich and happy-- I wanted to be a nurse. My dad kind of approved of this idea, but was this really what I wanted? My mom, who by the way is a nurse too, didn't want me to take that path. I was so engrossed with the idea of making a living abroad until I was convinced that doctors in The Philippines weren't financially benefiting from their careers.

As of June 2009, I was reminded of the reasons why I wanted to be a doctor. It's not about the money anymore, it's about the millions of sick children in need of medical attention. All along, the answer was right in front of me; I just wasn't looking close enough. Money and greed clouded my vision (sounds cheesy, I know), but all this while, I only needed to be reminded. I want to make a difference by serving humanity-- I want to cure sick children.

" Money doesn't entirely buy you happiness, because happiness isn't for sale. "

If you're still thinking of what you want to do in the future, I hope you'll remind yourselves and find the answer you're looking for. And it doesn't matter whether you went to a prestigious or low-class university because towards the end of everything, you're educated and you made a difference.

Love,
Maria :)

P.S. I dare you to be different.

Jack

2009-08-09T22:21:00.000-07:00

" As we come to the end of our school years, we find ourselves remembering the good times, and trying to forget the bad ties. And as we start to look ahead, we start to worry. We think "What am I going to do? Where am I going to be in ten years?" But I say to you, "Hey, look at me!" Please, don't worry so much. Because when you get right down to it, none of us have very long on this earth. Life is fleeting, like a shooting star in the sky. Whenever you see a shooting star light up the sky with its brilliance, think of me, and try to make each and every moment of our lives as spectacular as possible. I know I did. "

- Jack.

Jack is the story of a boy with Werner Syndrome, an aging disease. Jack Powell ages 4 times his current age; so if he's 10, he's actually 40 years old. The spectacular thing about Jack is that, eventhough he's 40 or 68, deep down inside he's still a fun, free-spirited, down-to-earth kid. And when I grow up, I hope to be just like that.

Mar.

Colours of the World: Hong Kong Disneyland

2009-07-31T02:16:00.000-07:00

So I found some pictures that you'll like... or not. It's from our trip to Hong Kong last December.
Anyway, I'm going away for a bit, so that means you'll rarely see me updating; but I'll drop by whenever I can :)

My brother and I with Timon

Donald Duck

I was told this is where Tarzan lives

Asian pirates from the Carribean

Look closer; they're piranhas

I didn't get to ride on one of these

My mom actually thought they were real
after we developed the pictures

The Entertainment

I got bored?

2009-07-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

This is my desktop picture. I think Ralph Waldo Emerson is smart and wise. He has a compilation of inspiring quotes. Go Google him :)

Have a nice day :)

Love,
Maria

Here's the photoblog you've been looking for

2009-07-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

Hello world :)

I pretty much covered the "blog" part; so here's the "photo" part.

These are the few pictures I found I haven't shown you guys. Enjoy :)

God Bless

Love,
Maria

This is what I do at 3 in the morning

I, uhm, sorry Joel xD

Rudi, Niks, Jim and I

Pizzas in The Philippines are this big, and yummy

Meet my family, mommy's side

And these are my cousins, except the one in yellow
is my brother, whom I miss so much.
See you soon :)

Yours and mine

2009-06-29T22:59:00.000-07:00

Take a carrot, an egg and a handful of coffee beans. Mix them up, and what do you get-- a beautiful story that would inspire you to do great.

Here's an incredible lesson I learned from Mr. Coach Bay.

It takes the form of a story, so I hope you'll read it and change your perspectives on life.

...

" A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," the daughter replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity - boiling water. Each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?" "

...

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hour is darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity?
Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

2009-06-28T10:52:00.001-07:00

PPPPPFFFFFFF. Some "Photo"blog I have here, huh?
xD

Hello world, I'm Maria

2009-06-28T09:58:00.000-07:00

You know what; I am a sad person. You know why?
: Any kind of emotion I'm feeling, I don't know how to describe them.

I don't know how people like Shakespeare create poems and sonnets like "Should I compare thee to a hot summer's day...". To me that's creative. For a person who's pretty good in English, I kind of suck at describing my feelings. You might have noticed that a lot in my previous entries, like this one.

You see me writing sentences like "words cannot express bla bla bla" or "the feeling seemed absolutely foreign bla bla bla". I usually stick with what's simple, like, "I'm alright" or "I'm happy". I don't elaborate; I don't know why. Maybe because I find it unnecessary or I don't want to talk about it.

Here's my confession; and I dare say it's going to take some guts for me to be open.

...
everybody has problems; that doesn't exclude me. I don't usually talk about them because when I do, sometimes I don't like the answers people are giving me. It's, like, they don't fully understand what's going on; or maybe that's just me, or maybe I just don't like hearing the truth.

Another reason why I don't like talking about me is because I'm uncomfortable and I don't really know how. I'm a closed book, I can't help it. The basics, yes, that I can talk about, like, my name, birthday, age, occupation. The more personal stuff becomes kind of tough.

So there you have it. This is why I like to keep things simple and easy. I am sorry for not being so open like you hoped I would be. But this is a good start-- writing this for the world to read.

Now you know a little bit more about me.

Hello world, I'm Maria.

Heads Up!

2009-06-13T06:55:00.000-07:00

Alright, I have just scarred myself for the rest of my Bahasa Melayu tuition classes. I have made a new reputation: Maria screams and runs like a sissy.

So this cockroach just decided to waltz into the room during my Bahasa Melayu class, and decided to rest beside my foot. I don't like cockroaches. Sure, they might be the first inhabitants on the face of the Earth and I respect that, but there's something about them that produces a sick feeling in the pits of my stomach. I'm sorry, cockroaches.

The moment I saw it, guess what happened. I have unleashed my inner-sissy. Yes, all eyes were on me and I ran away from it, sort of screaming at the same time, and ended up sitting at the teacher's seat. At least someone got up and stood up on their seat; that at least saved me a little from embarrassment.

The boys' toilet is almost right beside our room, so I guess that explains everything xD

Here's another incident that just happened 3 minutes ago. You know how your folks sometimes finish their sentences slow, forcing you to finish it for them?? Yeah. The conversation:

*Dad watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations on Travel&Living, eating Dried Mangoes at the same time, paying no attention to anything else*

Me: Ma, you think he's hot? (He=Anthony Bourdain)
Mom: Yes. It's just his age that puts him off a little.
Me: How old do you think he is?
Mom: Probably 40 something.
Me: But he has more wrinkles than daddy.
Mom: Well, that's the deal wwiiitthhh....withh...
[2 seconds later]
Me: Smokers??
*Dad looks away from t.v. and gives me the look*

Mom: No. Americans. They wrinkle a lot.

=.= Great.

My dad doesn't like me lecturing him about smoking and he especially doesn't like it when I call him one xP
There goes my night, I hope you guys had a more awesome one :D

Good night, readers :)

Love,
Maria

It changed my life.

2009-06-12T23:05:00.001-07:00

Ola, readers! I bet you're curious. Hold on to your underwear, I'll get to that soon.

I just finished watching season 4 of Supernatural, and I can't wait for the last season. If you haven't heard of Supernatural, get a TV. If you haven't heard of Supernatural, stop reading this; but if you want to, I can't stop you. Supernatural is a story about 2 brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, whose mother was murdered by something supernaturally evil when they were young. The boys, now in their 20s, grow up to be hunters the way their dad trained them how to be, hunting figures of the paranormal. End.
Wouldn't want to spoil the entire show for you.

Now, when I watch any horror movie that involves Werewolves or Vampires, I lose interest. For example, John Carpenter's Vampires: Los Muertos, starring Jon Bon Jovi. Don't get me wrong, Bon Jovi's hot, but the movie not so. You don't kill a vampire with a sharp stick, or a stake if you prefer. You have to cut their heads off, like in Supernatural.

Anything horror, I think Supernatural. Anthing supernatural, I think Sam and Dean Winchester. Anything Sam and Dean, I think awesome bods. How they have greatly influenced my life, I cannot put down in words. And all that leads back to Supernatural. So, you didn't have to hold on to your underwear after all. Supernatural changed my life; and if that's lame, then I am proud to be lame.

Love,
your lame-ass blogger, Maria :)

One year, One time

2009-06-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

"What did zero say to eight?
- Nice belt!"

However lame you think this joke is, it certainly helped me get up and go to school this morning. Well, I had to pee from the roll-on-the-floor-laughing experience I was having, so yeah; good morning Maria!

To be honest, I didn't want to go to school this morning finding out how bad I did in my Mid-Terms, that is, until I read that joke in this month's issue of Reader's Digest. After a good laugh, I decided not to miss school, I might miss something good. Tell you what; something did happen, and it's far from good.

First off:
Jas, Andy, Joel, Joey, Mei Yi and I got lectured for wearing shorts to school. Not just that, we had to stand in front of the school during the assembly. As far as I know, he said sports/PE attire. Nothing about "No shorts. No slippers" or whatever of that sort. I'm not mad or pissed off, but maybe next time they should've given CLEARER instructions. Sure, we're Form 5s and we should know better, but better safe than sorry, right? I have much more to say, but I think this will do.

Numero Dos:
A few pictures got leaked out by accident into the school's system, and now some of the teachers are poking their heads in. I'm not sure if I'm against it but the pictures don't look wrong. The pictures are meant to be private and the students ended up getting scolded anyway.

Numbah Three:
Someone's wallet got stolen today, along with $200. After searching pocket after pocket, the prefects found the wallet, but the money was gone. Well, duhh~
At least they found the person already, but they're not telling us who. Yea, sure, like I'll post his/her name up in here too.

And the good days just keep coming by... One day, we'll think back and we'll be laughing about it; but I doubt I'll be laughing about missing $200.

oh, well; One year, one time...

Love,
Maria :)

09th May 2009: Cikgu Mawar & Tr. Annie Birthday Bash

2009-05-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Cikgu Mawar, Tr. Annie!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRE-PARTY PREPARATIONS

The Birthday Card

The Birthday Card Cut-Out

Cikgu Mawar's Cake

Tr. Annie's Cake

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE PARTY

The Lovely Cikgu Mawar

The witty Tr. Annie

The pretty girls of Form 5B

The pair who won't admit that they're together xD

2 shorties and 2 tall persons?

We will, we will... CREAM YOU!

Form 5B with Cikgu Mawar

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POST-PARTY SYNDROME

INSANITY

RETARDED-NESS

EXTRA RETARDED-NESS

Green House: Champions of 2009

2009-04-25T05:53:00.000-07:00

What an amazing way to end my final sports day at St. George's School. After EIGHT years, GREEN HOUSE finally emerged as the CHAMPIONS. Let me take this moment to say:

HHHIIIIJJOOOUUUU!!!
Apparently, that's Green in Indonesian xD

Words cannot express the depth of how happy and proud I am of Green House. For the first time, I saw my fellow Green House cheering and screaming without being asked to. Every single member had smiles on their faces, the ones you see when, for the first time, they actually got what they have been reaching for after 8 long years. You'll hear them saying "FINALLY!!" with a breath of relief, expressing that this year, Green House wouldn't be last.

To see them so happy like that, unlike previous years when they would just stay quiet while other houses cheered for their respective teams, made me want to cry, honestly. It's a different feeling, you know. Other houses might have taken the title every year, and the feeling might get old for them. For Green House, it's almost like a once in a lifetime experience. It's that first-time- feeling, the ones where you know it might not happen ever again.

So,

CONGRATULATIONS, GREEN HOUSE!!!
WE ROCKED THIS YEAR
SO LET'S ROCK THE NEXT

To end this post, I leave you with a picture of the Green House Cheer Squad. Although we did not get the Team Spirit title, we're still happy because we know we did AWESOME :)

Time

2009-04-17T05:40:00.001-07:00

Colours of the World: Philippines

2009-04-17T04:50:00.001-07:00

MABUHAY PHILIPPINES!

MARIKINA
This is my favourite picture of Philippines.
The blue vehicle is called a jeep.
The drivers (owners) paint them in any way they want.
They even paint naked women on it, sometimes.

PHILIPPINE LANDSCAPE
This was taken from SM Marikina, the newest SM in
Philippines. SM stands for Shoe Mart, and it has branches all
over Philippines.

STREETS
This was taken when I was in the car. I wouldn't dare stepping
out of the car with a camera in my hand. Someone might snatch it from me.
Paranoia.

MONTALBAN
This is where I live; Montalban, Rizal. It's a hilly place (I think that's
why it's called Montalban-- mountainous) and
it has an awesome valley, complete with a waterfall.
The picture is of the public market in San Mateo, a place in Montalban.
AND I do not understand what the slogan means.

J. Ramos Street
This is the street to my grandma's place. The streets are so narrow
and yet this is a 2-way street.

CONCERT
No, I did not attend Craig David's concert :(
This is my brother's Pre-Graduation Party,
more like concert,
held at the Ateneo Campus.
(The campus is HUGE!)

ROOFTOPS
This was taken in my grandma's house. Most of
the houses in Philippines are still made up of wood,
remains from the Spanish Era.

COLOURISE
This picture looks like it's just made up of one colour.
Rusty roofs.

DRIVE
In Philippines, we drive on the right side of the road, or
if you're in Brunei, the wrong side of the road.

Goodbye, Brunei

2009-03-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

I am leaving Brunei

to visit another country

to see my obnoxious brother

graduate.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday :)
lots of love from Maria

Arrivederci

Aimi's 16th Birthday: 18th March 2009

2009-03-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

[click photo to enlarge]

Happy Birthday, Aimi :)
Love, Maria

SGS Futsal Tournament: 18th March 2009

2009-03-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

[click photo to enlarge]

REACH
Location: SGS Car Park
Event: SGS Futsal Tournament 2009

BLUE vs. RED
Location: SGS Car Park

BRIGHT
Location: SGS Car Park
I did not add any effects to this image
and I love how it turned out :)

GO!
Model: Hidayat, Izzi and Haziq

PASS
Model: Haziq

WAIT
Location: SGS Car Park

BOUNCE
Location: SGS Car Park

SENUSSI

READY

AMUSEMENT
Model: Habib, Hafizuddin, Haziq, Hidayat
Location: Form 5B Classroom
They were so hooked up to the PSP

Photographs taken by IZA:

Used

2009-03-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

SGS Cross Country 2009 was alright. At least this time, I didn't fall on any one of my butt cheeks; I fell on both. Yea, quite funny actually. I slid down a step and ended up sitting down instead of falling flat on my back.

Congratulations to Green House; you guys did an amazing job :]

This afternoon, my mom and I went to Gadong for some female bonding. We were looking for a place to park the car near HuaHo. We finally found one and just as I was about to step out of the car, there was this lady standing there. She wasn't even there when we parked the car.

Lady: Are you Filipino?
Mom: Yes.
Lady: Oh okay. Do you know how much is the bus fee from Brunei to Miri? Because I asked the Filipino ladies at HuaHo and they said about $20. And I went to Centrepoint Hotel, and they also said below $20. But I don't have enough money, Centrepoint already gave me $4, but still not enough. Can you help me? I came from Miri and I come here to look for job. I am planning to go back to Miri tomorrow. Can you help me, please?

[Mom took her purse and I asked my mom to give her $10]

My only question now, is there a bus from Miri to Brunei? And would the bus fare be at least $20? Maybe for covering costs for food; is $20 too much? When my mom told my dad about what happened, he ended up scolding my mom and I. How awesome.

According to him, that was a scam. The reason why she asked if we were Filipinos was because, chances are, Filipinos don't usually report stuff like these to the police. But then, she sounded to me like she was telling the truth. And what would happen if we didn't give her any money?

I only have one word: Damn. If she was telling the truth then I hope she'll have a pleasant trip back to Miri; but, if she wasn't, then God help her. Honestly, how does one sleep at night after doing things like that? Is an empty stomach one with no laws? Sounds like it.

The reason why I'm posting this is so that this thing won't happen to you, so be VERY careful. No one wants to feel used. After this, I don't know what I'd do if this repeats; but you guys, do what you have to do.

Love,
maria :)

OTH Art

2009-03-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

I think I need to work out the proportions of the body...and ass.

So, is one tree hill finally ending its show? Is Leyton going to die? I think not. Is Leyton having a kid? Probably.

Readymix Concrete Company Dinner: 22nd March 2009

2009-03-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

Location: Orchid Garden Hotel

[click photos to enlarge]

CURIOSITY
This little girl, who I think will
grow up to be a pretty woman,
was looking at what her big sis was doing. Hence,
curiosity.

GOT HONEY?
Another adorable little girl at the dinner party.
She was watching the performance on stage, which to me
was pretty entertaining
[watching almost drunk people having fun]

APPETIZERS?
My dad wanted to leave the house early so we
arrived pretty early. And I got bored.

BOYS
I like this compilation. If you look closely, at one of the pictures,
you'll see one of them grabbing the other's butt.
Boys will be boys.

WHISPER
I bet they were wondering why I kept taking their picture.

LAUGH
I bet these two will grow up hot and break some hearts :P

RUN
Before the dinner started, the kids were making use of
the huge room by running here and there knocking every guest. I wish
I did that too XP

READYMIX CONCRETE COMPANY

And here's my daddy :]

DINNER
The dinner was an 9-course meal.
1. Appetizer: Selected Four Hot & Cold Precious Delight
2. Soup: Braised Shark Fin with Shredded Chicken and Crabmeat Soup
MAIN COURSES
3. Stuffed Chicken with Almonds
4. Steamed Seabass Fish with Soy Sauce
5. Baked Prawns with Butter Cream "Western Style"
6. Braised Fish with Black Mushroom and Broccoli
7. Fried Rice in Lotus Leaf
DESSERT
8. Honeydew with Sago Cream
9. Selected Duo of Chinese Pastries [picture not shown]

Aime and Andy: 7th March 2009

2009-03-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

[click photo to enlarge]
Enjoy
Young Love

[Pictures are quite blur due to the unsteadiness of my phone]

DOUCHE, featuring Maria

2009-03-18T01:23:00.000-07:00

You know, just before exams would start, I get these good ideas to write about to you and then just as soon the exams were over, I forget them. Do you get that?? Enough about that, the only thing that's driving me up the wall right now is my camera.

After waiting for 30 minutes for my laptop to upload 131 pictures, my camera decided that it should go battery-dead. It was already on the 129th picture. The 129th picture! I wish it would've waited to download 2 more pictures. At least I have 129 pictures right now, right? On the contrary, after cancelling the download of the 2 other pictures, who knew I'd cancel the entire download as well? I have no idea how that happened but the point is, I used half an hour to download nothing.

Now that I've cleared that up, I just realized it's not my camera's fault; it made sense that it should run out of battery judging it had 2 bars left. I was the one who clicked 'Cancel' therefore, I'm the douche. Great. I just wrote a post about me being a douche. Speaking of extremely retardedness, how do you spell 'douche' ?

Alright, I'll try to post some pictures up tomorrow, if I won't be too tired after cross-country.

Have a douche-free day :]

-douche out-

February: Picture of The Month

2009-02-28T07:07:00.000-08:00

Alright people, you've seen and you've voted,
The Picture Of The Month is:

LOST

Sister Love

2009-02-27T07:05:00.001-08:00

To end my post for the month, I present to you:

SISTER LOVE

A sister:

sis.ter
-noun

Definition: Rule makers and power brokers, peace-makers and warriors.
Long-term friendship. They are the ship and the safe harbour.

"To keep it real or hidden. To shop until you drop.
Never the wrong size or the wrong color; never too early or late, but always right on time."

Andy at 17: 21st Feb 2009

2009-02-27T06:25:00.001-08:00

[click photos to enlarge]
You have probably seen these pictures in Niks' blog

Happy Birthday, Andy!

ANA
ANA = Andy Niks Aime

Who knew we'd see Brian there :P

AIME
Model: Aime
Photographed by: Me

This was Aime's idea. She became my model that day xP

LAUGHTER
Model: Haziq, Dayat and Rahat

I have no idea what the were laughing about (probably me),
but I still like this picture

SK8ER BOY
Model: Joel Laplap
Location: SGS Carpark

I couldn't take a picture of Joel doing his 'stunt' so instead,
I compiled pictures of the process of doing the stunt

RAFIE
Model: Rafie
Location: SGS Compound

Meet my smiley friend Rafie. I honestly think he has the best smile.

CONVERSE
Model: Aime with Ella's converse

This is alsoAime's idea-- taking a picture
of her leg and Ella's converse.

Cornervisions: February

2009-02-27T05:52:00.000-08:00

Since tomorrow's the last day of the month (tomorrow's the 28th, right?), I've come to conclude how slightly horrible February turned out to be. The only highlight of the month was Andy's birthday, of course :)

Pictures of that coming up.
And then more and more pictures coming up.

Aime ended up modeling for me and directing ideas and poses; so credit goes to her as well :)

Alright, moving on to next month, I'll probably won't be updating much because of upcoming exams and activities. I'm sorry [insert Maria's sad face here]

That's why I'm leaving you with pictures to minimize the pain of me gone.

arrivederci
Maria :]

Random 2

2009-02-19T07:24:00.000-08:00

But wait, there's more...

2009-02-15T07:14:00.000-08:00

RECESS!
Location: SGS Compound
This was taken during the kid's break time. It reminds of how I used to be
when I was younger.

DRIVE
This was taken when I was on my way to
Niks' place

LIGHT
Model: Aqilah (she's in the background)
Location: SGS Science Lab
We were doing our Physics Practicals on Light

PATIENCE
If I'm not mistaken, this little girl was in a wheelchair
a month ago. And now she has progressed on to using a walking aid.
Hence, patience-- she waited for about a month or longer to
walk again and she never gave up. How inspirational

LEFT BEHIND
This was taken a few days back when I heard this little boy
screaming for his friends to come back

Valentine's Day 2009

2009-02-14T20:12:00.000-08:00

Please be patient in viewing the pictures
Photos are from my Flickr account
[click photo to enlarge]

ROSES
These are the roses I received from amazing people. I love you guys :]
Oh, and this was taken by accident with the flash on. What a great
little accident this turned out to be

VALENTINE'S DAY!
Model: Ella and Joel
I like this picture very much, especially the poses and expressions

PLAYFUL
This is a picture of an adorable little girl I see every afternoon at school.
She was shy at first, then she started to Hi-5 me

MR. JASON
Model: Mr Jason
I think Mr. Jason looks sexy here

NIKS
Model: Niks R.
This was taken at Niks' place. Just out of the blue we
started to fool around.

LOOK!
Model: Niks R.
This was taken in the car on our way back to school
for practicals

YOUTH
Sadly, I don't know the name of this little girl; but doesn't she look adorable?

Random

2009-02-10T04:41:00.000-08:00

This is just a random edit of JM, Tyrone and James (and Spongebob)
about a month ago.

My brother would kill me if he ever sees this. He
told me not to post this up, but then again, since
when did I listen to him

This is another picture from Damuan

Colours of the World

2009-02-07T06:24:00.000-08:00

[click photos to enlarge]

LOST
Model: Toffey
Location: Yayasan
This is a picture of my brother. Well, my brother's
butt. I guess it's one of his ideas of modeling.
This is obviously an edit and to be
honest, I'm satisfied with how it turned out.

THE WATER VILLAGE
Location: Kg. Ayer
This is a photo taken last year at the jetty
near Yayasan. My parents and I
were giving my brother a tour of Brunei; not
that it's his first time in Brunei. He just
hasn't seen places. I love this picture.

BEAUTIFUL
Location: Damuan Park
This was again taken last year, when I was
giving my brother a tour. My camera has functions that enables
it to prioritize colors of red, hence this sunset.
It made me love my camera even more :]

IRMA
Traditional Art
This is a drawing I made when I was in Year 7, if I'm
not mistaken. I took a picture of the drawing and edited
its hue/saturation and added some effects to make it look nice.
The drawing is Irma, from W.I.T.C.H.
Yeah, I was so very bored back when Wi-Fi
hasn't been invented.

DRAWINGS
This is a set of drawings I did back when dinosaurs roamed
the Earth. I didn't manage to take pictures of the rest
of my drawings because the battery ran low.

DISNEY!
Location: HK Disneyland
I think this is a bad idea of compiling a group of
pictures vertically. But at least I know that now.

More pictures found here.
Enjoy :]

Arrivederci

Maria

SGS CCA - 30th January 2009

2009-02-05T23:14:00.000-08:00

[click photos to enlarge]

HUG-A-TREE DAY
Ann Dominique a.k.a. Chaddy
This was taken after Photography Club
[notice the camera in her hand]

BASKETBALL CARTOON
This is an edit, obviously. The original picture was sort
of blur so I tried to enhance it t a better one
but it ended up like this.

STEAL

This is another edit. I wanted something different, hence
this picture.

DUNK
This isn't exactly a dunk. The ball was stuck to
the edge of the ring so they were just trying
to get their ball back.

HAZIQ
Honestly, I think this is a bad edit. I
have no idea what was in my head, but Haziq looks good here.

BASKETBALL!
Location: St. George's School Carpark
This was taken during basketball try-outs, if I'm not mistaken.

BADMINTON
I like this picture. The person here looks
funny, but Funny = Good

YAO MING SING
This is my favourite... so far. I've always wanted to take
pictures like this; and I did. Hurray!

More pictures coming up, hopefully, soon. For now, I have some homework to do.

Ciao

Maria :]

Corner Visions Launch

2009-02-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

It's Friday, 6th February, 12.37 a.m.
You shall remember this day as the day Maria finally opened her *bleep*-ing blog.

If you don't know me, my name's Maria. I'm a girl who eats cereals and watches her cartoons in the morning. And I like to take pictures-- I'll capture anything from you picking your nose, that is, if I get to see you doing that in public, to simple yet amazing still-images. I'm into portrait formats. Somehow, shooting in landscape is difficult for me, I don't understand it yet, but I'm learning.

I'm not a professional or anything of that sort, eventhough the logo seems to be. I like what I take and it stings me seeing my work in other people's name, hence, the logo. Be aware that I may not be updating every now and then due to my hectic schedule of review classes and after-school activities. Yes, I am still in high school, in fact, it's my senior year. Hurray!

So, I therefore declare today the launch of Corner Visions Photography.

I hope you'll like what I do

Love,
Maria :]