The Reunion

It has been 10 years since I graduated from High School.

I know I should have initiated a grand plan kasi 10 years nga. Paano busy? Hay , rason-rason .. hehe ..

Anyway, all I had in my mind was a simple tapok-tapok na lang - simple kain, simple storya, simple inom (ug coke) .. haha

I was not really expecting a great turn-out because it was sort of a minadali na invite and a number are already not in Davao.

Nevertheless, we were around 20 who came at Bakbak on the 26th.

After story-telling galore, we decided to meet up again on the 28th.

And so we did.

Lingaw gihapon! Kahit hindi kami ganun kadami ... reminisce pud intawon oi! With our yearbooks at hand, we tried to recall, desperately, on those times na wala pa miy buot (until now ata wala gihapon .. haha)

I knew I had a great laugh that night.

And there was great food. Sakto pud sa amo .. ayos!

And mawala ba ang picture taking. Hala! Effort din minsan sa kaiisip kung anong ipose .. haha

All in all it was a fun night up until the wee hours of the morning. Food, softdrinks, videoke, picture takings, reminiscing, story-telling and friends .. what more can you ask for?

I think it was a great combination people since the ones who really attended do not really form one barkada. It was a nice mix of people kumbaga.

And so, I am looking forward 5 years from now. By 2012, reunion uli.

P.S. wala ako sa picture kasi ako ang nagkuha ;)

Home for the Holidays

A year ago, I spent December 19 to December 24 in the hospital fighting off dengue. I was ecstatic that I got to get home for Christmas on the 24th. But honestly, I wasn't really concerned that I had dengue. I was thinking more of just being well soon because I really hate doing nothing and just lying in bed :(

And so, this year, I was so happy that I got to finish 9 simbang gabi! They said that if you can complete it, make a wish and it will come true. I hope my wish will come true but I will found out later pa.

Christmas here at home is simple. We just exchange gifts and eat simple food. For this year, simple chocolate cake .. hehe. We just open our gifts and say our thanks.

I received a blouse from my sisters, earrings from my brother and sudoku from Elaine. Woohoo!

Part of Christmas are the parties. I have attended the LA Christmas party held by the applicants, which was actually fun. I had a great time hanging out with them since me and Bem were the first resident members to arrive.

Next was the third year Christmas party, the night after we had a 2-hour exam in Corporation Law (which was difficult!) and a lecture in Special Proceedings. Of course, people were expected to be late .. haha! It was fun nevertheless because the guys and girls were game! Sayang lang kay natalo ang girls sa charades .. what the!

The next one was just last Wednesday with my high school batchmates. The usual storya-storya gud! But its so nice because there are a number of people there that I haven't seen in years and they were there. Nice!

It was really nice that I am here for the holidays! Here in Davao, I have family and friends to celebrate the season with. And so far, for the past 26 years of my life, I am always home for the holidays :)

50 First States

Toynk!

I thought that the United States of America consist of 52 states.

50 lang pala!

Pataka lang jud ako .. hehe!

I thought may 51 states na plus Guam. 50 lang pala and hindi state ang Guam.

Kaya nga iba ang candidate ng Guam and ng USA sa Miss Universe.

Naisip ko din iyong episode ng FRIENDS where Ross desperately tried to memorize all the states. I thought 51 or 52 iyong ginamention niya. So, malamang hindi. I have to watch that episode again. Tsk ... tsk ... tsk

Ayan, hawd-hawd pa!

Sowee!

Mabuti pa pag-usapan na lang natin ilang islands meron ang Philippines.

High tide or low tide?

Top Chef

Foie Gras. Mascarpone. Saffron. Frita. Flambe.

Sequestered. Revocable. Donor. Estate. Tax.

Top Chef or Tax 2.

I think I'll talk about Top Chef first.

Just a while ago on cable tv, Ilan was chosen as the Top Chef in the Season 2 of the said Reality TV Show. From the very first two episodes, I chose Sam and Ilan as my best bets.

I was a bit sad that Sam didn't make it to the Top 2 since Marcel beat him to it. Nevertheless, I am happy because my early bets made the most impression - Sam with the most quickfire wins while Ilan with the most wins in the challenge round.

Yes, I know we are quite delayed with the Top Chef series. But who cares? I don't. As long as I get to watch it on TV and just be amazed on how they concoct such dishes, not too mention salivating with their very appealing dishes.

I am not a chef, nor do I dream of ever becoming one. I just want to cook and eat.

One of the things I am happy for myself is that I can cook and bake. Basically, it boils down that I can follow instructions. Of course, I have had my failures. But that's part of this skill.

I always look forward to watching Top Chef because I learn new terms each week. The first five words I mentioned I first heard of from Top Chef. And there's more to it. I just checked out their site for the recipes. And, as I have seen from the show, I don't know if most of the ingredients they have used are available on this side of the world.

But that doesn't stop me from hoping I could prepare meals close to what they do. I need not be a chef. I just need to cook and follow instructions.

I think I can get away with it.

If only I have enough time. Maybe I just do not make time.

There are a lot of things I really want to do in life. I just need to follow through it.

If I really want to cook well, I should find time to do it. I should find time to look for ingredients and for their alternatives. I should make time.

Ilan is just 24 years old, which means I am almost 3 years older than him. But I can see that he already found something that he is really great at with the utmost passion from him. He found time to follow through his passion.

But how can I make time when my mind can only take as much information and I have all these interests.

One at a time maybe.

We just had our Tax 2 exam. I was not able to review it but I felt it was less hard than the first exam we had in Tax 1. That is for me though. I think others think quite the contrary.

I hope we passed that exam.

At least, if I can't cook as half as great as Ilan can for now, I can say that I passed all my law subjects with flying colors. (I hope so)

And follow it through with passing the bar exams with just one take.

I really hope and pray.

Thinner

Back then, I was considered as "lampayatot".

After graduation, that's when I started to gain weight.

Why not? I had review classes from 8 am to 11 am. I eat, sleep, study, watch TV .... not much to do. I don't know but I had so much appetite during that time. My favorites were sisig and gata with kalabasa. I can even finish that one pack of Monterey sisig all by myself during lunchtime.

After that, I maintained such weight when I started working.

I was not really fat. Its just that I gained weight and people who knew me back when I was younger wondered why I am not that "payatot" anymore.

When I entered law school, my weight was 52 kilos. That was ok.

I know I have been losing weight over the past years.

Last sem break, my sisters were teasing me that I was really losing weight. I checked the scales ... 49 kilos. Ok.

During the past two weeks, more people were saying that I have really lost weight. I went back to the scales .. 47 kilos.

Just tonight .. 46 kilos.

My mom said this is alright since I am still not underweight. That is one of my concerns.

Another concern of mine is that I am not doing anything to lose weight.

I am not on a diet. I have never been on a diet. I eat when I want to eat as long as there is food. I do not eat when I do not feel like eating. That's about it.

My weight for now is ok. I do not dream of losing additional pounds or kilos.

Right now, I have to segregate my clothes. I have to separate the ones which are too loose for me. My mom even brought home some pants from her stocks last night because I don't have enough pants that fit me perfectly.

They say it must be stress. Most probably. I cannot think of any other reason.

But whatever it is, I think it has to stop sometime soon.

Maybe not too soon.

Maybe my body is just making some space for Christmas :)

Material Girl

One of the best advice I got before I entered law school was to "share materials, help each other".

Actually, it was in Bisaya - "magtinabangay jud mo!".

The one who gave me these words of wisdom was Shalu, who was at that time a fourth year law student at Ateneo de Manila. She is now practicing law.

I took her advice by heart.

Tonight, I "released" the transcribed notes from our first 3 lectures in Tax 2.

Just a quick rewind ... I got into this world of transcribing just last year for PIL. I started it when I felt I do not have any materials for that subject that was as concise as our lectures. So, I asked Joann for the records of our lectures.

Before PIL, I only transcribed one lecture in Labor Standards wherein bar questions were asked. That's about it until I got into PIL. Then, Credit Transactions came next. By third year, there were notes from Tax 1 and Succession.

I knew a number of law school students were already masters in transcribing at that time. I was in awer that they could do it because I felt I couldn't do it. I did not have enough courage to ask copies for them. Maulaw man gud ko .. honest. I just take whatever comes my way.

When Han, Karla and I found out that we were all transcribing PIL lectures, we decided to distribute the work. And it worked :) Thank you guys! That was the beginning of a new era.

The Tax 1 transcription was not meant to be as big as it became. It sort of started from a small group trying to divide the work until it was decided to be a class thing. I was really embarassed to get stuff from the other section, although, I know it was ok for them.

And for the first exam in Tax 1, the compilation of transcriptions by Blithe and I as well as digests from the class was released.

Please do take note that it was not all me. I had helped from Blithe and Felai for Tax 1 transcriptions. Salamat pud!

I was quite in a "are you sure?" mode whenever I hear that the transcriptions were the only ones they read (plus past exams) in preparing for the exam (huwat?!).

I am grateful that it is appreciated and happy whenever I hear that "han-ay pagkatranscribe". But I let them know that it is based on sir's lecture. I type what I hear.

Since Tax 2 exam is coming up, I got lots of reaction tonight. I heard that someone already asked if I already released Tax 2 transcriptions ... demanding? hehehe. I think they even said "na baka wala kay gikapoy na si Jazzie." Someone asked me if I already had some notes on Tax and I asked yes. I replied "ikaw?" Of course, this was in the spirit of fun.

There are people who can't help but be concerned. They apologize because they can't and won't transcribe lectures. Some would even find ways to let others help in the transcription. I ask them to digest cases .. hehe.

No apologies needed. I am ok.

As long as I can do it, I will do it. And as long as people will volunteer to help, I won't hesitate to delegate. If nobody wants to help and I can't do it anymore, I will stop. In the end, I am doing this for me and for anyone who can benefit from it. In the end, these materials are not the be all and end all of passing. One has to understand what all those lectures were about.

I know transcribing notes is not an easy thing. That's why I try to transcribe only what I can. If others want to contribute, why not, chocnut?

It is also hard for me to delegate when I know that there are people who want their materials to be respected. I have high regard for these people because they have really worked hard for their materials.

If they share their materials with me with utmost confidentiality, I keep it. If I get no instructions, I ask their permission whenever someones else wants to get a copy. If I do get softcopies of someone else's transcriptions, I do not forward it to my friends in the lower batch. I tell them to get a copy from the one who transcribed. Since I collate our class digests, I also make sure that all those who contributed will get a softcopy of the digests as well. I do not make use of the transcriptions and case digests of other people whenever I edit transcriptions. I do not even take a look at it. If I will use a part of the transcribed lecture or a case digest, I will ask permission. Otherwise, I edit and digest on my own. That is how I respect the materials of others.

As for my materials, I try to put it out there.

If I keep it within myself, it is hard for me knowing that I entered into law school with that advice from Shalu.

Until now, I still think of that time when I absent-mindedly forgot to ask some of my classmates if they have read this material and it turned out most of the questions from that material came out.

Until now, I still think of that time when I hesitated to ask a question during our group study, thinking it was a minor stuff, but such question was asked in the exam.

I do hope that people do not become dependent with such materials. In the end, it is all up to them.

I think it is also hard for me to share my materials for a few because this would mean that I would also pass the burden to them of keeping things. And if I decide to keep my materials for a few, and I found out that someone else got hold of a copy, I would feel sad and sort of disrespected.

So, rather than keeping it to myself, I try to share.

I share my materials. The burden is hard for me to carry if I do otherwise.

I just want those materials to be respected.

No, I do not mean that you recognize and thank me for those. In the end, passing a subject really depends on you.

Respect means that you do not take recognition for something that you did not do. You need not recognize me for what I have done.

Respect means that you pay it forward. Do not keep it to yourself. In the first place, such material was shared to you.

Respect means that you put such material into good use.

I know it is possible I will get some flak with the things I do. Maybe I do already get some flak. I do not know. But I know it is possible and I think that way so that if I got wind of such talk, it wouldn't be that hard for me to accept.

In the end, I just do what I can with the purest intention.

One more thing. I just want to emphasize the fact that this is not all me. I get help.

Jo Anne is helping out with Tax 1 lectures.

Blithe, Flora, Sol and Alia are all helping out with the Corpo lectures.

And the rest of the class are putting in their share in the case digests.

I am happy with the way we compiled lectures and digests for our subjects last semester - Lab Rel, Tax 1, Partnership, Evidence, Prov Rem and Succession.

I pray it continues this semester with even better results.

This is what law school is about.

For me, that is.