The following day I got up at three and took off for the Lantern Parade an hour later. It has already begun and just as we arrived at the oval, our institution (or whatever you call it) was nearing by. I was spotted by my classmates so we eagerly joined. Watching one lantern after another didn’t bore me at all, especially when the Fine Arts studs entered the scene. Fate exhibited its cruelty on me as my battery emptied just as I was planning to take pictures ’til the end. And oh-ho-ho! The fireworks display made me realize that I can die already. Hail to the sponsors!

After watching the magnificent display I accompanied my classmate in meeting her roommates. After she left, I wanted to be alone and perhaps just take a few steps away from everyone’s happy faces. But no, I still found myself mingling with some classmates and even having dinner with them. Even so, the despicable and mysterious melancholy was somehow lifted. We left KFC around two. No beers for tonight, boys (which is good, since my throat spells a capital N and O). 😎

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• 11: Went to the Japanese Embassy and drank at Marina in MOA
• 14: Explored SM Manila, Luneta Park, and Intramuros
• 18: ITTC Sem-Ender at Pork Barrel
• 21: Met a boardmate’s friend who’s also from my province
• XX: Pulled a classmate away from a rampaging car
• 25: Had fun at Gerardo’s and Khuya’s with a classmate’s friend
• 27: Reviewed for the JLPT at Garahe 25
• 29: Watched New Moon with three college classmates
• Today: Dinner at Grill Queen and met Alex at Philcoa (…again)

It seems this blog is turning into a photo blog.

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I’m just curious and I want to hear it straight from the devil’s mouth. How many people did you kill in order to get into Google?

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Seriously, this made my day. Haha!

Here are a few shots from yesterday’s TriNoma escapade with Candy and Kenneth.

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Thankfully, as planned, I was able to meet up with my college friends who’re already earning. TriNoma was the meeting place. After rounding the mall to find somewhere to eat, we ended up at the same spot — Tokyo Tokyo. The rest of us were teasing the one with the highest pay, as he uses a cellphone with no Bluetooth capability.

Goy, Uj, Tin, and Duy

On our way to the next place to go, we stopped by the Big Brother House in ABS-CBN. Gerardo’s was only a few steps away. The place was crawling with people and we were stuck at a corner, directly being fumed by the aroma from the kitchen. Aside from the free pulutan, we had a bucket of unconsumed lights and sisig. It’s really annoying when orders are no longer accommodated because of too much occupied tables; you have to repeatedly call any waiter.

On our way home, two guys who hurriedly alighted the bus were pursued by another with a gunshot. I was watching curiously by the window but when the shot was made I immediately went back to my seat. Later people were saying it was a cop. What’s the story, morning glory?

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Was my undergrad course really meant for me? WTF.

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While we waited for lunch, we had a “Pinoy Henyo” game. The item on me was UP Diliman. I managed to guess it right on time. Compared to the others, it was relatively easy. Others included ulap, kuko, kili-kili, muta, and alipunga. The one I gave was niyog. Lunch came, and another game followed while we waited for further announcements regarding the delivery of the goods — charades. Our topic was movies. Soon we divided ourselves into two, those from Luzon and those from Visayas and Mindanao. The movie title that hit me was “Lintik Lang Ang Walang Ganti”. Since it was kind of hard, I decided to let my mates guess the middle word first. Then, I went down to the last by hitting my palm with my index finger. The motion’s “Pitik”, and I gestured that it sounds like the word. Immediately after, my efforts were paid off. Our team lost though.

Everybody was so eager to go play Basketball in Timezone in technoHUB. As for me, I was already feeling tired and sleepy (not to mention that I wasn’t able to take a bath in the morning because I slept almost six in the morning already). This has been the second time in which I missed a sort of “gathering” between us. If it’s to happen a third time, I should try to evade it.

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Sensei: Akuran-san, Nihon no uta o shitte imasu ka.
Watashi: Hai, shitte imasu.
Sensei: Taiteru wa nan desu ka.
Watashi: Himitsu desu.
Sensei: Taiteru wa “Himitsu” desu ka.
Watashi: Iie. Himitsu desu.
Sensei: Sou…

(Sensei indicates that I sing in class one of these days and a classmate points out the presence of a karaoke machine in the classroom.)

Watashi: Jodan desu.
Sensei: Iie, jodan janai.
Watashi: Jodan desu yo…

Later I was murdered by my classmates when we had a drawing activity where we work in pairs and one tries to guess the person his/her partner is thinking and drawing it out on paper. In any case, I’ll see them in court. Haha.

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All the grades, as promised yesterday, were not released today. In fact, only one was provided. As usual, they presented the list with only the students’ student numbers. But how the heck will it promote privacy when the list is actually still sorted alphabetically? Give me a break. Stuff in college is the same as here. Guys with last names such as mine have no escape at all. In any case, I was really hoping for a hard copy of grades, but apparently they’ll only be provided online.

So what do I have in mind for the next five days? Let’s see… play Tennis, extract PNG’s, update sites here and there, party (oh, yes), and err, study in advance? Yeah, right. Talk to the dead, mister.

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Today, after our proctor checked my answer sheet…

Proctor: Who’s Aclan?
Me: *raises left hand*
Proctor: You didn’t apply for <Company A>?
Me: *shakes head*

I was dumbstruck after the swift conversation. What was that about? In the beginning, I only planned on proceeding to the Applications Development track. Then a classmate of mine, after knowing my undergraduate major, was surprised that I’ll be taking the specialization when I already have the background in programming and suggested that I take Embedded Systems instead. From that day on, my mind never rested on the matter. There were other indirect instances which made me think about it more and more. My classmate has a point, but based on an experience on working with hardware, I can say that I really suck at it. I never weighed things heavily then, and now I am being haunted by them.

• Company A: monthly stipend, more challenging (just another way of expressing “difficult”), perhaps cool facilities to use
• Company B: usually hires fresh grads (as stated in their company presentation), software development and not hardware, might probably give me the chance to work in Cebu (which I actually don’t want to happen)

If only I had applied to both companies in the first place…

Edit: In Japanese Business today our teacher said about him being hired in Company B. Was it a sign?

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