"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  -Isaiah 9:6

Here's my family, greeting you a Merry Christmas. From: Leo, Nancy, Dane, Casey, Clyde, and Doughnut

It's been weeks and I haven't realized, I've been in hiatus for long. I allotted a month of silence in respect to the tragedy that recently affected our fellow countrymen in Visayas region and as a quiet phase for myself as well. I got really absorbed with reading the past few days that putting down a book for meals or bathroom breaks had been that hard for me. I guess my nerdy side had taken over me, again. Sighs. Anyway, December is here! The season to be jolly, and thankful, and feel grateful, and be extra clingy to our family members. Now, isn't that something we've all been looking forward to?

And now, as I defrost, I shall update this blog regarding the adventure I haven't reported yet and hopefully, something new to share with you, guys.

Looking forward to running back in the arms of my writing side. See you ze next post!

Happy Birthday, Mom! Your birthday message will be up, soon as well.

Hugs! Cheerios to everyone!

I am back in Manila but I would like to take this opportunity to delay any travel updates I have and have this certain entry entirely for my fellow countrymen who are in need right now.

The Philippines recently had an encounter with a typhoon which was locally named as Yolanda (and internationally known as Haiyan). It is considered as one of the strongest typhoon having gusts of up to 235mph. It is not usual for our country to raise storm signals up to 4 and most of the areas that the typhoon met on its way was truly combed- scattering house parts, uprooting trees, destroying homes, and livelihood, not even a single structure endured the strong rains and winds.

And I can't help but cry and feel extremely devastated with all the pictures taken and posted. It is only through these that we'll be able to know what happened with our fellow countrymen. It breaks my heart seeing them desperately looking for food to feed their families, people standing beneath their deceased relatives gazing at them in prayers that they're in a safer place now, children clinging to their parents with eyes full of questions, families in evacuation areas holding their family members nearer to them because they know that they may only be the ones they have left after the storm passes.

And now thousands of people lost their loved ones, families brought apart by the storm are looking for their other members in hopes that they're still breathing. A lot of people in other parts of the country's desperately posting names of their relatives in hopes that someone who has a connection near the area could be a bridge for their reconciliation.

It breaks my heart to see the aftermath of the storm and being one of those who happened to live farther from the path the storm has taken (we live in Manila and experienced light rains), I know I should do something to help them even in my own small way. Our family has decided to sort out our clothes and share it. It's the least we could do aside from prayers and I guess this is one of the best times to show to our fellow brother and sisters the meaning of the word "family".

You could also help and send your love to them by donating or pledging through these groups and websites:

• UNICEF
• VICTORY
• OPERATION BLESSING - PHILIPPINES
• SAGIP KAPAMILYA
• KAPUSO FOUNDATION
• PHILIPPINE RED CROSS

If in wonders why I haven't updated the blog lately, Chickee and Ermingarde are off to an adventure. *wink wink*

I've gone up north once again and enjoying the La Union sun and surroundings. It's been two weeks and counting. I've been enjoying too much that it deserves a blog once I get back to my lair. So, cheerio for now and see you soon! I shall reward thee with blogs and pictures and the adventures I've been doing lately.

So, how's your day so far? I hope you're enjoying it as well.

God bless you!

A moment of silence for my broken heart.

So, the game 3 for the 76th UAAP Men's Basketball (USTvsDLSU) happened today. Sorry, I was not able to blog about the game 2. I promise to write about it sometime later.

Back to the topic, there was an overtime and sadly, the championship was not ours to have this season. *runs in a corner to hug knees, rocking back and forth while facing the wall, talking to no one*

So, yes, I am heart broken right now. *cue All By Myself by Eric Carmen*

Now, allow me to put myself back together with the help of this tub of ice cream. *continues weeping*

It's been a long time since the last I watched a UAAP basketball game, live. And I am so happy because I was able to get a ticket (thank you so much, Philly! Really!) and support my college team (Go USTe!) in the first game of the UAAP Season 76th Finals against the De La Salle Green Archers. Yep, I am a Thomasian, an alumna of University of Sto. Tomas and ever since I got in the university, I've never fell out of love of the university's men's basketball team, the Growling Tigers. 

It felt good seating there, cheering for your college team (even though we're seated in the midst of the opposing team's side) just like the old times. It felt good seeing Coach Pido (which we call Tatay Coach) doing his thing as the teams Tatay and the players may it be the alumni, those I was able to meet and cheer for when I was still a student, and those who are new on the team. I missed it. I missed the loud cheer, the school spirit, the never-ending cheers to support the teams, the nerve-racking shots, the adrenaline rush, the hope of winning this game, the crowd fighting along side with the teams. I missed them.

Well, it was an awesome game earlier. It was full of surprises, seeing the Teng siblings play head to head with each other, defending their respective teams (Jeric Teng plays for UST while his younger brother Jeron Teng plays for DLSU). I've been wondering, what would it be like to go against the team of your own sibling? And, and, on their parents' part, what was it like seeing your children in that situation?

The first half of the game, UST dominated over DLSU but much to their surprise, DLSU claimed themselves back by owning the third quarter. But fourth quarter is the most interesting one amongst the four. Especially the last two minutes of the game. 

At around one minute something (or less. I'm a bad blogger, I can't even remember when that happened due to all the craziness and extreme, note: EXTREME cheering. I whole-heartedly apologize. Please, forgive me.) DLSU scored a three which brings the score to 72-73 in favor of UST. Last nine seconds or so, the ball slipped from Aljon Mariano's hands, DLSU got it and yes, they tried for another three (which missed) and a rebound (which also missed). It was so full of action, I've never even realized the buzzer that signaled the end of the game. And to be honest, it took me around five seconds (looking to the score board, checking the game time, and seeing the hard court action) before I realized that indeed, UST won the game. And just by then did I allowed myself to go bananas and keep telling myself that what I am seeing is real. We won the first game.

And with that, Congratulations my dear UST Growling Tigers and kudos to the DLSU Green Archers! You fought well, earlier. I admire your way of playing as well (clean and not extremely physical).

They've been asking, "So who will win the game? The Heart of UST or the Height of DLSU?". And even though I know the games hasn't reached the end yet, all I could say is that it was the heart that won on the first game. And that I am hoping that the heart would still fight its best on the next games to come.

The Happy, sleepy Tiger w/ her ticket & a photo of the official score after the game. Oh, look! There's Captain Jeric!

**Got 'em details about the scores.
1st Quarter - 13-23, in favor of UST
2nd Quarter - 31-38, in favor of UST
3rd Quarter - 54-50, in favor of DLSU
4th Quarter - 72-73, in favor of UST

** The shot that brought the score to 72-73 happened at 29.1 seconds on the clock.
On a totally unrelated note:
I asked Phil to accompany me to this Korean convenience store near the Araneta Coliseum to buy some Korean goods. And, I was able to practice respecting the elderlies: the Korean way, earlier! (the owner's a Korean and he was the one manning the store) Yay!

I bought this really yummy Watermelon Ice Cream. It's soft, has this peanut-like tasting seeds, and it taste REALLY good!

I'll try this by tomorrow since my sister would like to taste it. So, we'll do it together! Photo from: seoulcolors.com