I'm aliiiiiveeee!

A year after my last post here and I'm still alive, after 10 excruciating months in the college. Life hasn't changed much -- the year was spent studying, and taking little breaks in between for movies and other things. I actually have not spent a lot of time with my friends the past months because of the hellish schedule and workload, so I guess I have a lot of catching up to do.

Funny enough, I don't even know how to "hang out" anymore. Long conversations make me fidgety, like I'm supposed to be doing something else. Yesterday I had coffee at Starbucks while waiting for Joy and it felt really weird having no study materials with me. It felt empty, having no bookstand, not having my pecilcase out and not having anything to read. I ended up playing Quiz Up (New app! Download this, so amaaazing!) for like 40 minutes or so.

Anyway, I'll keep this short. I'll probably post like a list of things I want to do this 4 month break. (Yes, 4 months! We're in the middle of an academic schoolyear shift. Haha.) Gotta figure them out first, and more importantly, gotta figure out to how to earn money so that I can do all of them! :)

Last of Summer

So, today is officially the last day of my summer vacation. Tomorrow, I go back to the echoing halls of Malcolm Hall, where I will learn more about the law, in a grand manner. I have mixed feelings -- I am sad that I will no longer have so much time at my disposal, yet I am excited. I am excited at the thought of being a sophomore, having officially gotten over my hellish freshman year.

Oh yeah, I forgot to update you -- I got back in. :) Yay, me! The Appeals Committee decided that the 0.03 difference was negligible enough to merit my coming back into the College. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for the other 70+ students to appealed just like I did. Some of them are still in limbo, with pending appeals to whoever has jurisdiction over their cases, and some just opted not to go back at all anymore. Sad to say, I have a few friends in both lists.

My takeaway from this whole part of my summer vacation? Trust in God, and hope in the gods. Trust God, with a capital G, and hope that the gods of Malcolm (aka the professors and the dean) listen to their hearts and treat the students with humanity.

Anyway, this being my last entry for the summer (and most likely in a long, loooong time), I shall go back and check my summer checklist!

Beach, get a tan! 
Aside from the Boracay trip, I also went to Subic with my friends from the show. Unfortunately, because of the lack of beach trips this summer (wala na akong makaladkad, plus, wala na akong pera! hahaha!), I am back to my pasty-white complexion. :(

The Subic trip meant going to Pampanga to visit the Razons. We spent the whole weekend with the house to ourselves, just acting like we were inside the Biggest Loser Camp again. Hahaha. Well, with more food and less exercise. :)

Ryan, Raffy, Haze and me

Labor Day was also spent lounging at the pool area of Dusit with my high school barkada. :)  I honestly don't spend enough time with them!

Diet! Workout!
You've probably read about my mastercleanse thing here. Well, I lost 4lbs in the three days that I did it. Good enough, for a cleansing thing. I haven't gained it back since then, which is a good thing, considering I haven't been exactly disciplined with my food. Hahaha. :)

I've also done workouts with different groups of people -- from Metafit, to T90, and of course, the Milo APEX Running School. I'm far from my goal, but at least I got to sweat just like I used to do. Oh, I've also tried out Insanity, which was totally INSANE!

MOVE T90 Fitness Camp
 MWF 7-9pm, Track 30th, Bonifacio High Street

Metafit Fitness Boot Camp

Angara ng Kabataang Pinoy

I am happy to say that Sonny Angara, is now Senator-elect Edgardo "Sonny" Angara! I really hope he does everything that he has promised. :)

Get rid of old clothes. Free up closet space. 

Well, I'm not entirely done with this. Separation anxiety with my clothes, seriously. :( Plus, I'm getting really sad that apparently, I have a lot of clothes missing. Huhuhu. 

Get a part time job thing.

..which I already have, and am trying to finish frantically before class officially starts.

Go partying again! 
Unfortunately, I have not gone partying at all. I still have not gone to URBN, or Hyve, or whatever new club there is in Fort, and have not gone tugs-tugs the whooole summer. (I feel so uncool now. Hahaha.) Even if I have gone out drinking with my friends, I dunno if that counts as partying. :s

Read new books. Download and watch new movies. 
I totally suck for not reading new books. I still haven't finished Illustrado and JPE's Memoir.
However, I have downloaded quite a few movies and have watched them. I'm currently downloading "Paper Chase," which is an old movie from the 70s. I'm not exactly sure what its about, but since professors loooove quoting from the movie, well, I figured, I should at least watch the movie to get motivated!

Be cultured again!
Hmm. Aside from "Sa Wakas," I haven't really done anything remotely cultured. I was planning on going to the Mind Museum, but then being the only person I know in the vicinity who is on summer vacation, well, I really didn't have anyone to drag alone. So lonely. :( I was also supposed to get tickets to "Dirty Dancing," but they cancelled their Manila leg.

Makeover!
Got new blonde highlights, and a haircut that I don't really like that much. :s I wish they had left the length of my hair as it was.

Thank you, Azta Urban Salon Katipunan

There you go. :) Not bad, right? I wish I could've done more though. Like, clean my room, and start a new sport or something. I wish I had gone on more trips too!

Anyway, I guess this is goodbye for now. I really don't know when I'll have time to write again, or when I'll have something worthy enough of a blog entry to write about. You know how it is, Malcolm Hall is a black hole.

One with the 110

Tomorrow I march (not really march, but more of.. sit? What do people do in a vigil anyway?) with my fellow UP Law students to protest the unfair implementation of the College's academic delinquency rules. As it stands, 110 students are in danger. That's 110 dreams that the College intends to shatter. 110 futures that will be put in limbo.

I side with my co-students not only because I am part of this number, but because I cannot stand that the institution that prides itself in teaching the law in a grand manner, also treat its students this way. Surely, this is n't the "grand manner" of Justice Holmes' making. The College taught us a greater appreciation for our rights and for due process. Here we are, calling for the exact same thing -- due process and respect for our rights as students.

Why I Want to be a Lawyer

First of all, hello Andy. I know you're reading this. This entry will be boring for you because this will have nothing to do with my lovelife. Hahaha.

That being said, with all the hullabaloo going on now in the College, I am left to thinking why I believe I am worthy to remain there. After all, with all the resistance going on, the easy thing to do would be to just give up and conform to whatever the College says, even if it means agreeing to something that's in violation of due process. (Okay, enough legal jargon. Hahaha.) But no. Just this one time I am willing to go through the dirty, messy road, just because I know this is meant for me. After all, you gotta fight for the the best things in life, right?

My whole life has been a series of missed opportunities, second chances and meant to be's. I know that I'm meant to be where I am right now. I would have passed the LAE the first time, if I weren't. This is my second chance, and I'm willing to fight for it.

Why? One, I've never fought for anything my whole life. I've lived a relatively sheltered life and my only "hardship," if you could even call it that, is the 6 months I spent on television, losing weight in front of the whole Philippines. This whole law school thing is my defining moment -- my mind, my body, my willpower and my spirit will be tested, and I plan to succeed.

Second, call me idealistic, but I do want to help my country and give back. No, I don't want to be a politician. I just wanna clear that out as early as now. Seeing all the injustice around me (okay fine, on TV,)  I can't help but feel like I need to do something about it. It takes one person to fight for you, to make you believe that you're worth fighting for. Which is why I plan on working for the Public Attorney's Office, eventually.

Third, even if life in law school is like hell on earth, there's really nowhere I'd rather be.

That is why I'm fighting for this, as hard as I can. One way or another, I will get to graduate with a Sablay with that purple thing on it, to add to my existing collection.

Top, L-R: Grade School and High School CSA Graduation Pictures
Bottom, L-R: Ateneo Toga Grad Pic, Ateneo Graduation Creative Shot

Balik Alindog, Summer Edition

Because I've been giving myself too many cheat days these past couple of weeks (actually, my whole March-April- early May was a whole cheating extravaganza!), I finally decided to get back on track with my diet and lose all the pounds I gained in those months. First step was for me to go back to working out with my Biggest Loser friends, Joy, Hazel and Raffy.

I've forgotten how fun it was to work out with them, and in a group! Not only is it more fun, but more motivational in a way, because we did it together for so long and there's a sense of comfort and familiarity in how we do the things we need to do.

But more than that, today is my first day doing the Master Cleanse. Now, if you know me, you probably know that I don't usually go for thing like these. But because I just wanted to go on a detox thing to rid myself of the remnants of my cheat months, I'm going on this liquid diet of sea salt flush and lemonade.

Master Cleanse Ingredients!

The lemonade in itself tastes kinda good. Like normal lemonade but with a kick, thanks to the Cayenne Pepper. What really, really, really is challenging is the sea salt flush. It tastes exactly like salt water, (duh.) which isn't easy to take in. Hello, gag reflex.

I don't know if its just because today was my first day, but I felt really... woozy today. Woozy in the sense that I wasn't my normal happy and energetic self. I spent most of the day sleeping, both because I wanted to conserve energy and to stop myself from eating throughout the day. Hahaha. When I worked out in the evening, I could not muster enough energy to finish everything, which I guess is understandable.

Anyway, I've got like around 4 more days to go. Wish me luck! :)

For more info regarding the Master Cleanse, this was what I read: http://themastercleanse.org/

A Letter for You.

Maybe I'm just bored. Or maybe not.

Ever since Law School started, I've been kinda out of it in the love life department (not that I was totally IN it anyway.) Maybe this is just boredom, but now that I'm not doing anything, I find myself thinking about you more often and why I can't seem to treat you like just any other normal friend. Honestly, I hate that I'm even thinking about this. Heck. I can't even believe that I'm writing about this. Maybe you'll see this one day, and you'll finally know where I'm coming from, because honestly, there is no way you'll get this out of me personally.

It's been two years. Two years of me trying to convince myself that I'm over you and that you're just a good friend to me now. Well, a friend that I spend so much money on (not what you're thinking), so much effort and so much patience on. People who have known me longer cannot believe I do all those things for you. It's very unlike me to be spending this much effort on someone, and yet I do, for you. All so that you'll forget whatever it is that ails you, and so that you feel better about yourself.

You have your issues. I have mine. I was and still am willing to forego all of mine just to help you with yours. Call it the Jesus Christ syndrome, but in my head, because I knew I was the stronger person, I felt like I needed to be there for you, to help you pull yourself up. I'm even willing to go to the extent of pulling you up myself, if only you'll let me. I don't know why I'm like this. I can't even emphasize enough how much I am annoyed at myself for this.

I should have moved on by now. Hello, it's been two years. Two years of my ego being shot down each time I see you because you can't or won't realize that I'm the right person for you. Can you blame me for hoping that one day, you'll realize that? Because I know that I am. I can feel it deep inside. Two years ago, I felt this underneath all my aching muscles. I still feel it now. You may not be the right person for me, but I know I'm the right person for you. I hate that even at your age, you're still so preoccupied with the shallow things in life. I hate that you fail to see the obvious just because you prefer to remain blinded by what you think is important in life. And yes, I hate that you dropped me, just like that, because of ONE thing that I would have been willing to give up, had you asked me to.

Well, whatever. Not that it matters now. You do whatever you want.

This is my new thing -- I'm really trying not to care. I hope though that you're not too self-obsessed to not notice. Or else.. I don't know.

2013 Summer Checklist

I've never appreciated summer vacation more than I do now. Apart from the unreasonable heat everyday, I relish the idea of not having to study every single moment. Yay. :) But then, it kinda takes a little getting used to, now having to study all the time, which is why I'm listing down the stuff that I need/want/plan to do this summer --

Beach, get a tan!  - Done! First thing I did after I finished with the dreaded Oblicon Orals was to jump on a plane and go to Boracay with Virlynn. Spent four days sleeping, eating, swimming, and just lounging on the beach. Kulang pa, so I'm hoping for another trip before June. :)

Diet! Workout!
Angara ng Kabataang Pinoy! - Already been doing some campaigning for Cong. Sonny Angara's Senatorial bid. Hoping to get to do more; only 15 days to go til the elections!

At a Liberal Party Proclamation Rally in Las Pinas

Congressman Sonny Angara 

Why vote for Cong. Sonny? Well, for one, he's a very smart person, having studied in the London School of Economics, UP College of Law and Harvard Law School. He has a good track record in Congress, and personally, I like the laws that he has passed. He passes very relevant legislation that people at all levels benefit from. Even if it may seem dynastic to have the son follow in the footsteps of the father in the Senate, I believe that a vote for him is not just a vote because of his name, but because of what he has done and what he can still do. 

Of course, helps that he's good looking too. :)

Visit his website, www.sonnyangara.com and his Official Facebook page if you wanna know more about him!

Get rid of old clothes, free up closet space
Get a part time job thing
Go partying again! (and prove to the whole world that I'm still cool hahaha)
Read new books, download and watch movies 

Be cultured again! Musicals, plays, etc!   - My friends and I watched Sa Wakas just recently. Its a pinoy rock musical featuring the songs of Sugarfree. 

Makeoveeeerrr! I seriously need to get a facial and go to the derma. Plus, since I'm growing my hair out, I kinda want to have it colored like Khloe Kardashian's. Hahaha. :) 

PRAY THAT I HAVE GOOD ENOUGH GRADES TO COME BACK FOR 2ND YEAR. 

Well, that's all I have so far :)

Edited 4/28/13

I Keep Coming Back to Manila! (Part 1)

Because today was not such a good day (Consti 2 midterms. Don't ask.), and I still don't want to study for Oblicon, I shall distract myself and post about my adventures this month!

Des, Joy and I found ourselves one Sunday with nothing to do while waiting for Des' flight back to Cebu. What else would three bored girls do on a pleasant Sunday afternoon than spend time in a museum? At the National Museum of the Philippines, no less.

Considering that I'm a history/culture buff, sad to say, I've never been there. I've always wanted to visit though, just because I've always wanted to see the Spoliarium. Ta-da! Wish granted!

National Museum Main Building 

Juan Luna's Spoliarium

Just a bit of trivia -- the National Museum was designed by Daniel Burnham, the same person Burnham park in Baguio was named after. The building also used to house the Philippine Congress. In fact, the same actual room in which the Spoliarium is located was their main hall! Once you go into the lobby, its the room immediately in front of it. The Hall of Masters, Bulwagang Luna at Hidalgo, they call it. The sight of the wall sized Spoliarium will undoubtedly overwhelm you, because its just so BIG! (And a bit morbid too)

The museum houses more collections, and there are actually more buildings in the compound, which sadly, we weren't able to fully explore. We got there at around 4ish, and they apparently close at 5. (That's the problem with spur of the moment trips. :s) And oh, entrance is free during Sundays!

(L-R): Joy, Des and I

And then we went around Intramuros, stopping at the requisite touristy places, like the Manila Cathedral and San Agustin Church. Apparently, Des, being from Cebu, has never had a field trip there, unlike Joy and I.

Fort Santiago was a special stop. Because we were the last visitors there, we had to be escorted out by the Guardia Civil looking guards. Well, at least, we got to have someone to take pictures of the three of us together. I especially like this one -- overlooking the Pasig River. Looks a bit like Hong Kong, doesn't it? And oh, the guards also serve as pseudo-tour guides! Our "private tour" was filled with trivia and random kwento about ghosts in the Fort Santiago and chismis about who has gotten married there. Definitely not your typical field trip lecture. (Because apparently, the Fort Santiago grounds can be rented as a wedding reception venue!)

We ended up in Binondo for dinner at my favorite Binondo restaurant, Wan Tsai Teahouse! :)

For more info, click below!
National Museum of the Philippines: www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph
Open from Tuesdays to Sundays, 10am - 5pm
Entrance fee: Adults, Php 150. Students, Php 50. Senior Citizen, Php 120.
Entrance is free during Sundays

Photos from my Instagram account: http://instagram.com/leighvillegas

Happy New Year, Kate Monster!

It's mid-January, and as usual, I still don't write as often as I would like to. Anyway, happy new year to you, whoever is reading this! :) I hope the first nineteen days of 2013 have been as productive for you as it has been for me.

Why "productive," you ask? Well, I've recently embarked on new projects aimed for a better me! Yay! In case you think this post will have some sort of self-help tone, you're perfectly right. Haha. Kidding. Of course not. :)

First, there's this --

The "Balik Alindog Program 2013/Gamitin ang Alindog Program 2014"

Well, that's pretty self explanatory, right? 2013 will be the year of getting back my Biggest Loser body! I've been sidetracked from my health goals this 2012, I admit. This is my way of proving to myself that my joining BL wasn't entirely a waste, that whatever I learned inside, I can do outside.

2014, on the other hand, will be the year of reaping its rewards.. Meaning new clothes, among other things. *wink, wink*

And then there's the "50 Million Peso Project," wherein yes, I am aiming to have this much money when I grow older, to be able to build a house worth 40M and buy a sportscar worth around 1.5M. I'm serious, by the way. :)

Lastly, there's the "Huwag Maging Dayuhan sa Sariling Bayan Project." Inspired by my latest trip to Kuala Lumpur, I plan on being very knowledgeable about the Philippines, by exploring the country, starting with Manila. I find it so sad that Filipinos take our heritage for granted when in fact, we have a very unique history. This is something we should never forget!

So far, I've made good progress with this. More about this in a separate post. :)

Confessions

I've been planning to write again for quite some time now, but couldn't quite figure out what to write about, and never seem to have the time for it.

Let's see. It's 5:10 in the morning and I no longer have plans of sleeping. Class is at 8, and I'm afraid that if I fall asleep, I won't wake up in time. I've got roughly an hour to waste, and watching tv might make me sleepy.

It's these circumstances that made me check your Facebook profile once more. I admit, I do check up on you from time to time. Just to see how you are and what's going on with you. It gives me a sense of satisfaction that even if its been years, you're still the same person I knew from before. Even if its just by the photos that you post or even your cryptic status messages, well, my friends are gonna hate me for saying this, but I still feel connected to you in some way. You still like the same things, go to the same restaurants, and are already able to do the things we've always talked about doing. Only, I'm no longer the person you're doing those things with.

I'm glad you were already able to go to Corregidor. And that your tastes haven't changed, you still go to that Japanese resto we used to go to after work. And you still order the same thing. I'm suprised your fishes are still alive, and that you gave her a dog too. Glad that you're able to bring her with your family, I admit, I was a bit surprised with that. You still like taking pictures, it makes a lot of sense that you'd be on Instagram.

I'm happy for you, really. You look very happy with your life, happy with her. I no longer feel any animosity, but more of a dull ache seeing as you're happier than I am. (Well, it seems that you are.) I've gone so far away from you already and reached places I never thought I could reach, but why is it that when I think of my happiest times, I still get reminded of you? I am reminded of carefree moments, when we didn't give a shit about what people thought about us, stolen moments in the middle of the day while everyone else is at work, thinking of the things we wanted to do in life and plotting ways how to get there.

Hey. I'm already in the future we keep talking about. I did it, I'm here. Sucks that I can no longer share everything with you. I wonder if you do the same - check my Facebook? Do you even bother to find out how I am?

Twenty Six.

I am obsessed with lists. I initially had a list of "Twenty six things to do on the twenty six days before my 26th birthday on September 26," but busyness (is that even a word?) got ahead of me. I barely got to do the stuff in there. But anyway, thanks to my blockmates for this crazy list --

* Eat nothing but ice cream for the whole day.
* Re-enact the Philadelphia Art Museum scene in Rocky at the AS Steps
* Recite using the Bane voice.
* Commute without using her car for a day.
* Eat at the Shopping Center Coop.
* Smoke Fortune Reds.
* Wag tumanggi pag may magpapalibre.
* Dress up in a frilly dress, with matching high heels and stuff.
* Make the first move.
* Propose to someone in public.
* Cross-dress for a day.
* Feed three streetchildren/homeless persons. It doesn't count unless it makes them smile.
* Hawakan sa tenga si DanGat
* Try Jackie's famous vanilla sundae with gravy
* Maka-uno sa recit ni Dan Gat (at least, I think that was an uno recit. *crosses fingers*)
* Drink habang nakatambay sa Sunken Garden habang pinapanood ang mga taong nagfufootball or nagfifrisbee.(Scratched off half because I didn't have drinks with me.)
* Magtanong sa upperclassman kung ano ibig sabihin ng TBA.
* Attend Adhoc tapos mahiga ka sa sahig ng banyo at magpa-tapak ka kay Jackie
* Kiss 26 people on the cheek just because J
* Pumasok ng lasing.. Uminom sa Sunken Garden.
* Uminom sa Sarah's. 
* Lakarin yung Acad Oval.
* Apiran si Zorro.
* MAG-YOGA SA AMPHITHEATER. PARA FITNESS.
* Catch a free movie sa UPFI!
* Watch a Dulaang UP play. 

4.5/26. Pathetic. Oh well. Gotta admit, some of them were kinda impossible. I mean, hello. "Hawakan sa tenga si DanGat." Like I could get away alive if I ask him that. Hahaha.

But anyway,  today is my 26th birthday and I'm feeling a lot older. I know age is nothing but a number (haha, cliche), but I feel farther and farther from my youth and a hundred cartwheels closer to being middle aged. Another year and I'm already in my mid-20's. That's cause for panic, right? Right???? (Come on, agree with me!!)

A few days before today I was sort of having this crisis, about turning 26 and not having anything to say for myself. I am very far away from who I envisioned myself to be at 26. At this age, my mom was (secretly) married to my dad, and had a career she was excelling in. Other friends and batchmates are getting married and building families of their own. Heck, Clare just bought herself a house and lot! I on the other hand, am a first year law student, having taken 15 months off to join a reality show. That's almost back to square one, if you think about it.

I would never have thought I'd turn out this way if you had asked me this in high school. But then again, this was how I chose to live my 26 years. It may have seemed like I was all over the place, trying out so many things and exploring different facets of my personality, but I don't regret it. At the end of the day, these are the things I'll remember. The seemingly mundane, crazy and off beat things that I've done will make me the cool mommy/lola I want to be in the future. Hahaha.

So, cheers to another year of randomness. 25 was when I became a reality show personality and a law student. A year of extremes, if I may say so; definitely something worth remembering. And for that, I thank you (whoever you are who's reading), old friends, new friends (I've had a lot of those the past year!), my family (including the dog), and the universe, for making things happen for me. Thank you Papa God for another year full of life, love, laughter, tears, fears, joy, excitement and adventure. Looking forward to more of those in my 26th year! :)

Sunday Cooking with Leigh

Today I channeled my inner Martha Stewart and tried my hand at cooking. Now I get why people say this is a stress reliever -- it gives such a sense of accomplishment when the food turns out well.

This all came about because our trusty 20-year old turbo broiler finally bid farewell. (Seriously, that thing belongs in a museum. Haha.) My sister bought a new oven and yeah, you get it. New kitchen toy that I wanted to play with, so I cooked the cheesiest Baked Macaroni you can ever dream of. :)

Okay, now I go back to studying!

Baked Macaroni ala Leonila

Midterms, schmidterms.

Hello world! Surpriiiiseeee! I'm still alive. :) Taking a break from studying for my Legal History midterms just to tell you that. Well, yeah. There.

I've been in law school for a little over two months now (two months and 6 days to be precise) and I'm sort of getting the hang of it. Now that everything's been taken care of in my past life, I can finally concentrate on my studies. Seriously, I have a newfound respect for working students now. It definitely isn't easy. :s

Between reading cases which more often than not just much ado about nothing, and trying to memorize provisions of the Revised Penal Code (READ: TRYING), my blockmates entertain the hell out of me. Seriously, they're crazy. They get me laughing my pants off most of the time.
Anyway there really isn't any point to this entry (haven't you figured that out yet?), so I'm going to go back to studying now. Hopefully next time I'll have something more worthy to write about. (God, I hope law school hasn't made me boring yet!)

And oh, by the way, I'm writing this through the mobile blogger app. I figured I'd get to update more often with this. Let's see. :)

UP Law Block E 2016

Survival Guide For Dating A Law Student | Thought Catalog

Survival Guide For Dating A Law Student | Thought Catalog

Law School 101

It's been three weeks since I started school, and I can honestly say that I've never read this much [serious] stuff in my whole life. I read a lot, yes. But I read fiction, and those I can finish in 2 days. Now I read cases and articles. (Sometimes interesting, sometimes very interesting, most of the time just boring. Hahaha.)

Yeah, that's my new adventure, to be Leigh, the Lawyer. (Kinda sounds like Dora the Explorer, doesn't it? Haha.)

Malcolm Hall, home of the UP College of Law

Three weeks in the UP College of Law has already taught me a lot. Surprise, surprise. And I don't mean law-related things; these are lessons in how to be a resilient person in a very, very tough world. They weren't kidding when they told us it would be hard. I remember sitting in the auditorium, listening to our orientation speakers and thinking, "Why the hell are they so nega about it all??" Lo and behold, they were all telling the truth. :s

Law school is not the place for cramming. I've always been proud of my cramming skills until now. No matter how good you are at cramming, there is no way you could get to understand what you're reading in less than an hour (unless you have bionic memory and you're a very fast reader). Cases, regardless of how short they are, tend to be complicated at times, and legal terms are scattered everywhere in the text. To fully understand the text, well, you have to understand the legal terms as well.

Time management is very, very important. My cellphone timer is no longer used to time my workouts, but to measure how much time I spend reading a case/article/chapter. I measure my days in hours -- how much time I spend doing personal things (driving, preparing for school, eating meals), studying and sleeping. This I have yet to master; for someone like me who doesn't like structure, well, this needs a bit of getting used to. Sadly, the sleeping part gets to be sacrificed more often that I would like to. :(

Law school is a blank slate. Tabula rasa, as they say. People don't care if you were a cum laude, a mediocre student, or an ex-reality show personality (hahaha). In school, you are all equal. Everyone goes through sleepless nights and bad recits. This means for some, kailangan bawasan ng yabang ang katawan. No matter how good you were in your undergrad studies, the professors here are waaaay smarter than you, so don't ever think you can outsmart them and that you're better than them. You are not equals. They are the gods of Olympus and we are just humans wanting to be like them. For the others, this means an opportunity to redeem themselves from mediocrity. After all, it was previously mentioned in our orientation that the school accepted only 8% of its applicants for our batch. If we were good enough to pass, well certainly, they must have seen potential there somewhere. Kailangan din ng konting yabang sometimes.

Three weeks is just that -- three weeks. I know I'm bound to learn more things, and unlearn some of the things I already know. I'm keeping this list open, so that I can correct myself in the future, if my assumptions now turn out to be wrong. :)

I Wish I Could Go Back to College..

5 days until I end my 14 month hiatus from real life. So many emotions are bubbling inside of me, and I can't really define in one sentence how it feels. I am excited, sad, nervous, intimidated, challenged... well, you get the picture.

I'm at Resorts World now working on some last minute work related things with Allan and this song suddenly came up. Funny, I remember one life talk session with Virlynn when we ended up singing this.

KATE MONSTER:
I wish I could go back to college.
Life was so simple back then.

NICKY:
What would I give to go back and live in a dorm with a meal plan again!

PRINCETON:
I wish I could go back to college.
In college you know who you are.
You sit in the quad, and think, "Oh my God!
I am totally gonna go far!"

ALL:
How do I go back to college?
I don't know who I am anymore!

PRINCETON:
I wanna go back to my room and find a message in dry-erase pen on the door!
Ohhh...
I wish I could just drop a class...

NICKY:
Or get into a play...

KATE MONSTER:
Or change my major...

PRINCETON:
Or fuck my T.A.

ALL:
I need an academic advisor to point the way!
We could be...
Sitting in the computer lab,
4 A.M. before the final paper is due,
Cursing the world 'cause I didn't start sooner,
And seeing the rest of the class there, too!

PRINCETON:
I wish I could go back to college!

ALL:
How do I go back to college?!
AHHHH...

PRINCETON:
I wish I had taken more pictures.

NICKY:
But if I were to go back to college,
Think what a loser I'd be-
I'd walk through the quad,
And think "Oh my God..."

ALL:
"These kids are so much younger than me."

I think this about sums it all up -- the excitement, the nervousness... everything. How appropriate too, this coming from one of my favorite musicals, Avenue Q, which is where I got to know Kate Monster. :)

The FitFil Fitness Bootcamp by Coach Leigh :)

You wouldn't imagine how terrified I was when I was first asked by Coach Jim if I wanted to help out in this new idea he had a couple of months ago. A fitness bootcamp was all he said -- something new and different, and of course, fun. (When he said "fun," of course I had to say yes! Haha.)

I was scared mainly because despite having been in the Biggest Loser Camp, I'm still not someone you'd consider fit at first glance. Fitness is an industry where image and experience counts.. and I basically had no credentials at all aside from the fact that I was able to lose weight in around 5 months. Aside from that, I wasn't really your typical fitness buff; actually, I'm not even really a fitness buff at all. I'm just a normal person trying to balance real life with being able to take care of my body. Never in my life have I been called "Coach" and I have never dreamed to be called one outside the corporate setting.

Long story short, I ended up working for Coach Jim Saret's FitFil Movement. What is it? Well, it's basically a movement to get more and more Filipinos slimmer, fitter and healthier. Together with me are my other Biggest Loser friends -- Ahia Alan, Eric, Destiny, Winwin, Edden, Hazel, Raffy, JM and Ryan.

The good thing about this camp is that it combines the three things that are most important in getting fit -- quality workouts, good nutrition and of course, MOTIVATION. I know how hard it is to spend lots of time in the gym, only to get minimal results. I also know how it feels to have a goal, to be fired up at first and to get demotivated in the next couple of days because of boredom, loneliness, or just because it feels like all the work isn't paying off the way you want it to. In this camp, the quality workouts will be from Coach Jim (4 minute workouts!), the good nutrition from Nestle Wellness, and the motivation from my BL friends and I. After all, who else better to motivate, than people who have all been through it and are still going through it, right? :)

I spent last week in Cebu for the launch of the Cebu leg of the FitFil bootcamp, and it definitely exceeded everyone's expectations. 200 people registered, and over 200 people showed up during the first day! We grouped them into beginner, intermediate and advance and Destiny and I were given one of the beginner groups.

Team Bangon-on (meaning "to be weighed" or something like that) is a group of varying ages composed of people wanting to lose weight for different reasons. I vividly recall someone saying that he wanted to lose weight because he just had a baby and realized that he wanted to see his baby all grown up. There were also those who wanted to have a better quality of life. They mentioned things that were very true to me a year ago and even up until now. Hearing their reasons made me even more motivated to go through with my own journey, while motivating them as well.

Team Bangon-on

As of last Saturday (our first weigh in), most of them have lost between 1 to 8 lbs. Imagine, that much weight lost after just one week! Unfortunately, I had to leave Cebu and be in Manila for the other things I had to do -- school, and preparation for the Manila camp. One thing I promised them though, was that when we next see each other, we will all be sexier! I definitely want to keep my end of the promise, and I hope they do too! :)

The Manila leg of the FilFil Fitness Bootcamp will be on June 25 - July 27, 2012, MWF 6-8pm at the Bonifacio High Street Grouds. The Cebu leg started last May 15 and will last until June 16, 2012, T-TH-S, 6-8pm at the Ayala Terraces.  Registration is still ongoing for both camps.
For more information, please visit www.coachjimsaret.ph

I miss you.

Warning: Extremely cheesy entry.

I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me. The two weeks of preparation for my departure should have been enough; in fact, I was half wishing I'd just get it over with, to end the drama and the suspense. I'm sure you were wishing the same thing too to end my endless questioning of what you'd miss most about me.

At the back of my mind, I was thinking that this is good. I'd finally get it all over with -- you and the whole situation. I knew I needed this. In Basha's words, "Kailangan ko to, Poy. At kailangan mo rin." I thought the weeks of prolonging the inevitable would make me immune to how it would really feel once I'm already here and you're there. Unfortunately, it didn't do me any good.

God. How I wish I was still there.

You and Me Could Write A Bad Romance

Tonight I have this sudden urge to talk about love. I don't know why; heck, I don't even know what to say. Anyway, I'll let my fingers do the talking.

I'm 23 years old, and surprising as it may seem, I've only experienced (what I think is) love just recently. Contrary to popular belief, I don't like dating and I don't like having to present myself differently, more often better than I really am, to someone that I've only met just recently. From that alone, you can deduce that fine, I'm not your typical 23 year old female. I don't like playing the game. Period.

And yet, just recently (like, a little more than a year ago), I experienced my first taste of what you can call love. (I don't even wanna call it that, but since it fit the definition, well yeah, let's call it that.) It was great at first, like we couldn't get enough of each other. Little pet names, all day YM conversations, all day text messages, calls at the end of the night and at the start of each day, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners everywhere... name it, we did it. And so I was not able to keep myself from falling. Hard. My inexperienced heart was able to experience something that it has never felt before. Never before have I felt that special, that needed, that much like a girl.

A lot of things happened in between; a lot of drama, lots of tears, lots of conversations under the stars. (Yes, we were that mushy.) But like all great stories, things had to have a climax, a falling action, and an ending. The previous paragraph was the climax of it all. We are now at the denouement of the story, close to the end.

I've long accepted that whatever we had was already ending. I guess what hurts the most and what brings me to tears now, is not how he has hurt me, but how I am now just a story for him to tell his friends and his future (dare I say it,) lovers. I am now a "what used to be," a relic from his past, and yet here I am, still wanting him to be part of my present.

Yes, I am better off without him. I am better off without all that emotional turmoil, all that drama in my life. My mind is set with that fact, but my heart.. well. yeah. It's not that easy. I loved him, really. I loved him to the point that I stopped existing for myself, I forgot who I was, my friends, and even my family, just so I could cater to all his wishes. Heck, I loved him to the point of self mutilation.

And yet my heart remains resilient, even if I don't want it to be.

Not Like the Movies

Today I had one my cheesiest days ever. It involved good company, perfect weather, and a very poetic location. All of a sudden, I found myself barefoot on a little patch of grass in Luneta, facing direction where the wind was coming from, feeling the wind on my face. I look to my left and there he was too, doing the same thing.

I bought bubbles, he bought a kite. We were trying (to no avail) to fly that Dora the Explorer kite, which we eventually left to the kids there to play with. It felt like a movie, really; like it was too good to be true, which of course, it was.

If only everyday was like that -- sunny, windy, playful and happy. But no, tomorrow I return to the grey and cold world of the employed; back to the excel sheets that I've been slaving for, to the phone calls that have to be made, to the reports that have to be submitted.

In the same way, I go back to the world where you and I are just.. that. Mere acquaintances that talk a lot. When we parted ways tonight, the world that we have created for ourselves today also ended, to be replaced by the old, very detached us. Sometimes I wonder which is real, because we play our parts very well, both when we're together and when we're not.