Knowing Me, Knowing You

I was tagged by Florence.

1. What is your occupation?
Assistant Professor

2. What color are your socks right now?
I seldom wear socks, but I prefer white

3. What are you listening to right now?
RnB Collection

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
Pasta that I cooked yesterday

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
Yes

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Yellow

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
Er.. wrong number caller? =P

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Yep!

9. Favorite drink?
Coffee! (adik pa rin ako @_@)

10. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Synchronized swimming

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Nope.. but hairdressers often ask me if I do.

12. Pets?
A blue fighting fish - si Danone. He's French. Hehehe..

13. Favorite food?
Italian, Filipino, Chinese

14. Last movie you watched?
Forbidden Kingdom

15. Favorite Day of the year?
First day of classes =)

16. What do you do to vent anger?
I write in my journal, or spend time with myself first (say a walk, a quiet time in UP chapel, or a snack of happy foods) to release the anger. Once I'm calm, I try to talk to the person I am angry with.. pag di pa rin na-carry, ewan ko na. haha!

17. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Barbie and accessories, toy cars!

18. What is your favorite, fall or spring?
Fall. I love the colors!

19. Hugs or kisses?
Hugs.. >:D<

20. What kind of pie?
Pizza

21. Do you want your friends to email you back?
Yep!

22. Who is most likely to respond?
My TRUE friends <-- ditto

23. Who is least likely to respond?
The uber-busy ones

24. Living arrangements?
Hmm..

25. When was the last time you cried?
Sunday

26. What is on the floor of your closet?
Bags

27. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to?
Anna Meliza

28. The friend you have known the shortest amount of time that you are sending this to?
Tienne

29. Favorite smell?
Elizabeth Arden Green Tea, CK One, Escape

30. What inspires you?
Successful but humble people

31. What are you afraid of?
Loss of a loved one

32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers?
Cheeseburger.. but I don't eat McDonald's - i don't like onions, pickle relish and mustard in my burger.

33. Favorite car?
"Volkswagen new beetle" <-- me too! In yellow or green!, pde rin Smart car, cute eh! ^_^

34. Favorite cat breed?
Himalayan or Persian. I love cats, but we are not allowed to own pets here. =(

35. Number of keys on your key ring?
Hm, let me count.. 7 + 4 + 3 = 14!

36. How many years at your current job?
Nine (minus 5 months)

37. Favorite day of the week?
In contrast to majority, I like Mondays! For me, it's the first day of the week kasi -> sign of new hope. =)

38. How many provinces have you lived in?
NCR (QC since birth)

39. How many countries have you been to?
6 (Philippines, Korea, USA, Malaysia, France, Italy)

I am tagging *some* of my friends who I have been sharing special friendships with.. those who have helped me (and I also helped in return) in one way or another: Dalin, Tienne, Ardee and Anna. =)

**Di ko ma-tag yung iba pa.. either di nagba-blog, na-tag na ni Florence, or ita-tag ni Chris. Hehehe. =P

Lenses

As I peek through the small lens on the door, I noticed how great the morning light was. Playing with the camera lens and the door viewer, I came up with the following:

I know I still have a long way to go, but photography is really one thing that I want to explore.. And since it is an expensive hobby (having a good camera is not enough - you will need lenses more expensive than the camera itself, plus the costs to travel places!), I guess I could just concentrate on macro shots for now, particularly the crafts that I make, or the dishes that I cook. Which brings me to needing better China and more craft materials! Haha, gusto raw magtipid! :P

Next steps:

1. Get to know the camera better.
2. Learn how to edit photos and how to add a watermark.

Greens

"Yes, the Girls in Green are we. Proud and honored so to be." - GSP Hymn

What happened to the once dedicated Girl Scout? To the person who think, eat and breathe the scouting way? We were trained to love God and our country and to help other people at all times. It also instilled in us the love for our environment. I used to live by the promise and laws of scouting. What happened to me now? This may sound childish to some, but those basic things are what the world really need! Those same basic things also made a great contribution to what I am now. It was because of scouting why I learned to give back to my country, to commute, to cross the street, to swim, to do first-aid and be a follower and a leader. I also used to feel guilty if I haven't done a good turn in a day.

I remember the days when we go out as a group just to clean the community, plant trees and do something good for the sake of our dear earth; when we go out to teach young kids (even mentally-handicapped in my case), and how I raised funds to have a playground built for them. We were trained to be self-reliant, helpful, thrifty, trustworthy, loyal, courteous, respectful of all living things and have clean thoughts, words and deed.

So what made me remember all these?

I killed a helpless baby lizard this morning! I flushed water until it went down the drain! It made me jump kasi!

Hm, a better reason? I've seen Signos in YouTube (a documentary of GMA7 about global warming that I missed last weekend) and it made me realize that with what I've been practicing, I am showing less concern for our dear earth and the future generations. I don't practice recycling nor garbage segregation anymore. It was my mindset that I was just one person - my deed won't affect anyone else.. but I was wrong, so WRONG.

I guess the complications in my life make me momentarily forget about being a good scout. It's been only a week, but I've been segregating recyclables from biodegradable. I may not be planting trees anymore, but less use of car, eating less processed food, and trying to do a good turn daily are some of the first steps to get back on track.

It's not yet late to be proactive. We can still do something to help save our dear planet. The world cannot make it without our collaborative effort. :)

And I promise to do a good turn daily.. just like the old scouting days.

=======================================

My Current Status:

- Season of famine is almost over (not obvious? hehehe)
- About to make (yet another) major decision in my life - hint: cubes vs. sensors
- Finishing something that I *NEED* (not want) to finish
- Works better at home due to non-conducive environment at workplace
- Looking forward to touching the sand after almost two years

Buti pa avatar ko, nakakapag-beach..

Sana ako rin. Hehehe. :P

Bigla ko na-miss sina Prof. Camacho and Mr. Labios

Working on embedded systems with hardware components made me realize na sana kinareer ko ang EE8 and 9. (Note: Hindi ito typo, double E lang talaga nung time ko). Hehe.. bigla ko naalala tuloy ang mga teachers ko non. =P It's been like what, 10 years ago? Hehe.. ang tanda ko na! =P

What I've been doing is something new to me. Although I've been programming in Java Mobile for several years now, Java embedded that uses radio in communication is something I haven't really explored before. Yes, it's interesting, but the lack of the knowledge in hardware makes me feel like there's something missing.

Probably, I'll do my work in an all-software-approach for now. And once I gain sufficient knowledge in hardware, I'll just add more to it.

Makes me think.. mag PhD in EEE kaya ako? =P

Faculty Getaway?

Wee! Tuloy na ang faculty planning! Yey!

Although some people say that the venue is not the best we can get, it's still the best among those who replied to us. Actually, we are still lucky to find a venue for our planning despite the summer rush and short preparation time.

There are several reasons why some of us like the venue:

• They are easy to talk to - kahit magulo kami kausap =P
• It is not expensive
• It is not far from Manila
  
• We can relax at the end of each stressful planning day
• There's a jacuzzi in some rooms =P
• There's karaoke
  

No matter where this planning is going to be held, what's important is for us to sit together as a group and come up with a better CS department. Moreover, hope this helps us achieve a healthier working relationship within the faculty!

Bonding time! ;-)

[ On the side: Got my first pay check after my comeback! Yey! After waiting for almost half a year! ]

Another Day Down the Drain

I was planning not to go to UP today to be able to concentrate on a long-overdue task.. but invisible load and college assembly required me to leave the comforts of home... Three hours of meeting is draining! Although, I didn't do anything but sit and listen, it exhausted the energy in me! I guess waking up at 430am (unintentionally) contributed to it. O_o

I also went to the cashier's office to check if my 0ne-semester salary is already there. I got my appointment three weeks ago, but the person on the other side of the window told me that I could get it on Tuesday, at the earliest.. This is, I think, another factor why I feel so low...

Apologies, dear readers.. for constantly ranting on this blog about my uber-delayed salary! The good thing, at least, it's now clear that I'll have something next week. =)

Despite the not-so-productive day and "salary-less" semester, there are still a lot to be thankful for:
- I finished the grade submission yesterday! Hooray!
- After a lot of googling, calling, emailing, texting and faxing, our faculty planning will finally push through! Double Hooray!!
- It's now summer, officially! Triple Hooray!!!

I have more than enough reasons to be happy! Let's celebrate life! ^_^