Stranded

There's a typhoon raging outside, it hasn't stopped raining all day, and I'm stranded at home with my folks because all the main streets are flooded.
UGH.

I forgot what it was like with days like these.
Ho hum, I'm so idle that I've turned to scrapbooking again-- my ultimate go-to hobby when times are duller than the ax that attempted to behead Nearly Headless Nick.
I'm so very tempted to take a nap. Its only 1.18pm and I've exhausted all my scrapbooking reserve energy. Like I always (or at least, often) say, there's only so much cutting, pasting and double-sided taping one can take.

Oh, did I mention I was sick too? Blasted tropical weather. My runny nose could give South African hermaphrodite, Caster Semenya a run for her/his money. Ooh, bad joke. Sorry. My idle brain has melted into mush and can no longer filter politically incorrect bad jokes.

PS I took that nap.

Read more

Letters of Olde

Thankfully, its not everyday that you get to clean out ye cabinets of olde, but in this circumstance, it was an ultimate pleasure.

While going through piles and piles of old projects, notebooks, knick-knacks and the like, I happened to stumble upon some old letters from my friends Heidi and Stacey. Both letters were at max 5 sentences long and sent from the Philippines some 11 years ago (they were sent around March of '98). Remember, this was the time when people still used letters to get messages across continents, and the internet and email was some new-fangled invention kids weren't allowed to play with. We were all about 10-11 years old.

Anyway, the supremely awesome thing that sent me into LOLs for a good long minute was something Stacey wrote in her letter. Remember how people would make silly acronyms way back when like FF: Friends Forever, ARM: Always Remember Me, and JAPAN: Just Always Pray At Night, or put positive adjectives with the first letters of your name to describe you (LISA: Lovable, Interesting, Sexy, Adorable). So here comes 10 year old Stacey, with nothing but good intentions I'm sure, making one of those things with my name, NICOLE.
N - Nice
I - Intelligent
C - Casual
O - Offensive
L - Long
E - Exquisite

I do not know who cannot laugh out loud after reading that.
Stacey, if you're reading this, I love you even more!! I'm not really sure whether the 10 year old her knew what 'exquisite' meant, but apparently the 11 year old me was both offensive and long :)

I also found old emails from Mae sent to my dad's email add since I didn't have one yet... about things he wasn't supposed to read about, Rep, and Survivor. From 2002, hurrah!

Read more

The Checking List (checklist)

Hullo tiny readership!

I've safely arrived back home and have done the necessary 'things you do when you first get to a new country for not a vacation'. Just like what I do with new interns. Kinda funny :)
- New cell number, check
- New bank account/credit card, check
- Went shopping for the essential new toiletries (shampoo, soap, toothpaste, etc.), check
- Procure NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) Clearance, check
-- this is to be eligible to work in the Philippines. Yknow, to prove you're not a criminal, and don't have a record or anything.
- Unpacked, half check
- New job, working on it...

And then there are the things you do when you arrive back home. International students should be familiar with this.
- Dentist appointment, check
- Doctor's appointment, check
- Visit grandparents, check (this case, in this case, it was a visit to the Temple, given my grandfather passed last summer)
- Spend time with family, check

Things completely bearable, other than the heat, and I haven't contacted any of my friends yet. Still waiting for my new cell number to be activated. I dunno, things are... nice.

Read more

So Far, So Good... Not.

Mkay, its pretty obvious by now that I haven't been uploading any new videos, for at least a month. Pooh.
This post serves as a warning (this is starting to sound familiar...) against the hope that any new vids are going to be posted soon. Aaw, boohoo I'm all torn up too. Really, I am. Goodbye creative outlet.
The reason for this is mainly the fact that I'm going to be crazy ridiculously busy the next few weeks with moving and all. As well as crazy busy the past few ones with moving and all.

What can be expected is an update on what'll be going on, in print, since I can't provide moving pictures (maybe stationary ones, yeah!). Here's a preview on what you'll all see in the following weeks:
- Nicole moves back to the Philippines
- Nicole goes to work
- Nicole tries to find new friends
- Nicole gets into silly misadventures
- Nicole gets frustrated with her parents and being an only child again
- Nicole reconnects with old friends
- Nicole readjusts to the Phil vs. Van culture
- Nicole tries to ignore the family drama
- Nicole misses all things Van

That's all for now, folks! Nic over and out.

Read more