Monday, September 26, 2011

A (Not So) Cinderella Story

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As some of you might already now, I'm currently not allowed to go out until the end of September, but I'm allowed to entertain visitors and go out alone or with family. So, my friends and boyfriend have just been coming over for the past weeks to hang out, catch up, watch dvds & series, and play Monopoly Millenium and Monopoly Deal. Boring, I know.

Last Friday, my friends Monica, Bianca, and Rosemae, together with my boyfriend, visited me again. We played Monopoly Deal, talked, ordered McDo for midnight snack, exchanged torrent downloads, and stalked people online. Haha! What a fun thing to do, I must say ;)

Backtracking a bit, before having my friends over that night, I had some sort of mission to accomplish. Chino's starting his first corporate work on Monday at RFM Foods Corp., so I wanted to surprise him with his first-day-of-work kit! :) I rushed from all-over town to SM Southmall to Puregold Molito to town again then home just to successfully pull this surprise off. Good luck on your first day, babe!
Kit includes: Tumbler, Quaker cookies, Skyflakes, Hello Panda, M&Ms, Halls candy, Nescafe 3 in 1, plus a ballpen & key chain gift from my mom :)
With my thesismates: Gia, Gail, and Zal
But the highlight of my weekend (or month, even! As of today), was my block mate and Zobel friend Matrix's birthday party. It's an annual celebration in the house of the Que's, as Matrix, her very sexy and child-like mom, and dad, have a joint party. What makes their celebrations fun, aside from numerous guests, good food, and free-flowing booze, is the theme they set each year. It's the third time we got invited to their birthday bash (aside from her debut), but we didn't get to attend the first time because it was when typhoon Ondoy hit our country, so I forgot what theme they had. Last year's theme was military/navy/army/soldier, and this year's is Hawaiian/Tiki. I wasn't as eager to find something to wear, so I just grabbed whatever floral or beach-y top I have and paired it with shorts. I also had my hair trimmed before going to her house, which explains why my hair's so neat! Haha
With my college bffs!




For the entire night: we ate, talked and mingled, played Monopoly Deal, took pictures, drank so much from the mobile bar (or as Cosco would say, "tasted the rainbow"), and of course had lotsa laughs! We even danced to some Wii game, which was so much fun. It also gave us a chance to reunite with our soon-to-be graduating friends Mika, Gail, and Cosco.







108 MFI Block 17! Minus Jake, Ven, and Marlo
I always enjoy spending my night with my college friends; they're fun to be with, very random, and crazy! Plus, they're always game for anything!
My college experience wouldn't be as fun and memorable without them. :)
Now, you might ask, if I'm grounded, how come I got to go to Matrix's party? No, I didn't sneak out! It's a story I don't wish to share but my dad made me a deal to be home by 12. Which I didn't get to follow because I was having too much fun, teehee! I got home at 1 instead, but my dad didn't scold me for doing so. Yay!! :) so much for being Cinderella!

PS. Today's the 2nd Anniversary of Ondoy. Sending my prayers to the victims.

Credits to Jacob Torio for some of the pictures :)
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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Dinner Date

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Today marks my 11th day working as an intern for Standard Chartered Bank in Ayala Avenue. I'm already half-way through the required number of hours, which is 200, and I cannot wait to get it over with so I can finally enjoy my free time or maybe get a part-time job.


Unlike other days, I wasn't asked to do so much so I just ended up scribbling some draft entries for this online journal, and trying to beat my high score in Block'd on my Nokia phone (Almost 40K, btw! Haha. Not high maybe, but I've NEVER been patient enough to keep beating high scores, ever!).



Since I had nothing to do, I couldn't help but watch the time pass by as I wait to be picked up by my dad. I was excited because we'd be dining out at Apartment 1-B in One Lafayette Square, Makati. I picked the place because I was craving for onion soup (onion soup topped with bread and melted cheese), which is one of the resto's best-sellers!


For the main course, I had the creamy pesto pasta with grilled blue marlin topped with tomatoes. I liked this dish, especially the pasta as the taste of both the cream and pesto mixed so well. The tomatoes, however, tasted sweet (I was expecting Italian-style tomatoes - sour-like), like it had a hint of pineapple juice (which is weird, I know), which I think doesn't go well with the creamy pesto pasta. I don't really like my main course to be sweet, so maybe you'd find this good!

Not only was I excited to eat scrumptious meals, I was also looking forward to spending quality time with my dad. With his busy schedule and my late night classes, we barely have time to talk during weekdays, and it had been a while since we last had a dinner date, so it was good to have a good conversation with him about whatever came to our minds. He refused for his picture to be taken, so here's just me:


How can I forget the dessert? I couldn't resist upon seeing "flourless chocolate cake with raspberry coulis" on the dessert menu. I was beyond full so we ordered it for take out, and got my mom a white Toblerone cheesecake as well.

PS. The photos don't seem to be appetizing at all, excuse the poor camera phone quality!

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Gotta Hope For The Best

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Aside from keeping up with the demands of numerous school requirements and extra-curricular activities, passing (not even acing anymore) every academic exam, and balancing social life, one thing that stresses us college students is the mere thought of our future. College is a relevant stepping stone into the career direction we want to pursue, a stepping stone into our future. We are pressured to become successful in our respective fields, to meet the expectations of our parents and loved ones, and to keep up with the competition in our workplace. It's nice to see and hear people you know excelling in what they do, getting great opportunities, and necessary exposure. But doesn't it make you think, what if you're not as lucky? What if you're not good enough? What if you turn out to be a failure?

What if I'm not as lucky? What if I'm not good enough? What if I turn out to be a failure? These are the questions I can't help but ponder on. Sure, I was satisfied with my high school performance - achieving honors and winning awards, but College is different. It was like a slap in the face that I'm not the brightest out there, especially in my field.

I remember filling out college application forms and getting stuck whenever asked about which course I wish to take. I guess I'm one of those who hadn't figured out yet what I'd like to be when I grow up (is there a course you take to be the best housewife?). I had choices I was interested in, yet had equally contradicting reasons why I shouldn't take it:
1) Medicine - my childhood dream was to be a pediatrician. If only I'm good at memorizing and studying for years, and only if I'm not a weakling at the sight of blood, suffering, and the like. Plus, science isn't also my strongest subject.
2) Business - I love math and I want to have my own business one day. But I want marketing, and my dad has his reasons for me not taking it.
3) Architecture - I love designing houses, but I can't draw to save my life.

So I was really undecided, and just went with what my dad adviced me to take - finance. As a practical person that he is, he reasons out that it can present various job opportunities for me and at the same time serve as a personal lesson for me to learn how to manage my own money and investments. Yes, all these are true. I'm actually appreciating being a finance graduate more since I've been looking for possible jobs for me in the future. But I guess the problem is if I'm suited to be in this industry/field.. Now that I'm on my last term, I don't know if it's the incompetent professors I've encountered, or my lack of interest in the course itself, or both, that worries me and my future in finance. I'm just mediocre in what I do, no matter how hard I try (and I really try!), unlike others who make it seem effortless to excel. Maybe I'm not as determined or my brain's too small to retain all the necessary information? And all that scares me! In this increasingly competitive world we live in, what if I don't get a job? What if I get a job but I can't deliver? What if I cant support my family? What if I end up as a disappointment to my parents and my future family? What if I become really unlucky and end up living below average? Such questions have been bothering me, but unlike in previous years, I can't shake them off anymore. I'm graduating in a few months, I'm running out of time to figure things out. I have to deal with this and hope I find the right solution - QUICK!!
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Her Hair's So Big, It's Full Of Secrets

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One thing I observed about myself is that I have numerous ideas, thoughts, opinions, and even conversations going through my head but I don't really get the chance to voice them out. Either because first, I'm shy. I'm not really a girl who exudes confidence. I tend to get insecure too, a girl who wishes she had better features and cares what other people say. It's also not that I have the widest vocabulary or that I don't stutter or slur when I speak, which leads me to being uncomfortable whenever I'm in the spotlight. Lastly, growing up, I was accustomed to being sensitive to other people's feelings. I was never tactless or up-front about my feelings or opinions, and I usually just keep things to myself because I think it's the mature thing to do, and I guess sometimes I get the feeling that people just hear you but not really listen to you. At times, it's not a good thing as it seems like I'm being pushed over as I am not able to voice out my opinions and emotions regarding certain matters. All these concerns hinder me from expressing myself freely, so this is where my "diaries" come in - to be able to "talk" candidly about whatever goes through this head of mine.   

Aside from that, I would also like this blog to document my adventures I would like to remember and share. I'm not exactly new to the blogging world as during my "tween" and teen years, I've been exposed to the world wide web, especially since before, making your own websites and web blogs were a fad. I've had several web blogs that I started but never maintained, from Geocities-Diaryland-Xanga-Blogdrive-Livejournal, wherein I wrote all that went on in my life. For the past couple of months, I've been reminiscing through these pages and the memories (from the not-so-vague entries) all went back to me! So being able to blog about my life's thrills and misadventures would serve as a remembrance for me in the future, especially now since I'm about to embark on a bigger journey which is "the real world" and at the same time transition from a young adult to an adult.

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Just to explain: my blog, "The Alyssa Diaries", is inspired by the fictional character, Carrie Bradshaw, from the books, "The Carrie Diaries" & "Sex and the City" by Candace Bushnell that HBO turned into a hit television series and eventually, into a movie.


Whenever Carrie would have a conversation with her friends or have an experience that struck her earlier that day, she would write about it. So ever since I started watching it (when it was still showing on HBO during my younger years), I have always pictured myself doing the same - pondering in front of a computer or laptop typing what goes on through my mind based on my experiences. By doing so, I would also be able to improve on my writing skills, which will work on my advantage. :)


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So, yeah, there. After I have boringly explained all that, hopefully my succeeding posts would be entertaining enough to read! Haha :)

'Til the next post!