From Sunflowers to Blonde Braniacs

My husband thinks I am obsessing... but I AM JUST DARN PROUD OF THEM!!! I am a fan!!!

I have watched this video tons of times, watched a few more videos from Youtube trying to find the best video recording of this proud moment. I can't believe nobody has a clearer copy!

It was the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Cheerdance Competition 2011. I graduated from University of the Philippines, where our basketball team is almost always at last place, but our cheerdancers, the UP PEP SQUAD seem to be the highlight of the whole UAAP season, because the UP PEP SQUAD rocks!

Check out their performance from 2010, where they bagged First Place by performing a Filipino Fiesta inspired routine. Complete with the symbolic sunflowers (every summer, the University of the Philippines is filled with sunflower plants!).

UP Pep Squad - Champion - 2010 UAAP Cheerdance Competition

The University of the Philippines, the country's 'state U' has been known for its liberalism. Students are academically, artistically, and morally free to do what they want. The UP PEP SQUAD has been known to be pioneers in re-inventing cheerdancing and we witness it every single year, especially through the UAAP Cheerdance Competition. I remember noticing that they are the first cheerdance group who stopped wearing cheerdancing skirts. The rest of the universities followed. Instead of the typical cutesie ribbon tied pony tails for girls... the UP PEP SQUAD cut their hair short - 'boy cut' for everyone!

This year, the buzz was that the UP PEP SQUAD has gone blonde! That's all everyone knows. I was thinking... why??? U.P.? The students who are all about being patriotic... goes blonde? There has to be valid reason for this!

And there was! Once again, THEY DARED TO BE DIFFERENT AND EVERYONE'S JAW DROPPED WITH SUCH AMAZEMENT! The group decided to pay homage to the pop-icon Madonna. They wanted to share how Madonna inspired them. This generation grew up with Madonna. Of course! They do not stop with the hair, the costume, the music... even their routines are Madonna inspired. CHECK IT OUT!

UP Pep Squad - Champion - 2011 UAAP Cheerdance Competition

At first I thought I was just biased towards my Alma Mater but after watching the rest of the competitions, and then watching the UP PEP SQUAD's routine a hundred times...what can I say??? UP PEP SQUAD was FLAWLESS, PERFECT, SUPER FAST-PACED and BREATHTAKING! Not a dull moment.

I read somewhere that they have been chosen to represent the Philippines at the 6th Cheerleading World Championships this November. Wooohooo!!!

CONGRATULATIONS again to the UP PEP SQUAD! You make us proud and more so, make us miss our U.P. days so much!

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On a different topic, I have been watching the coverage from Studio 23, the official network for the event; I even went to the past year's coverage and I have concluded...
THEIR COVERAGE SUCKS! I mean, I would think it is common sense that when covering a cheerdance competition, you should concentrate on wide angle shots and not care too much with changing from camera 1 to 2 to 3 to 4. Haay. They tend to miss showing the 'wow factor' of the poses, the jumps, the formations. See for yourself and compare the professional video coverage from the previous video recording from an audience.

Coverage from Studio 23

Positive!

August 16, 2011
9:13 PM

♥♥♥☺♥♥♥

The Professional Procrastinator

So, here I am again. Doing everything I can... to not do anything. I was in the same situation a year ago, I even wrote a blog post about it.

I passed the first of two exams already. This is the last one, the final one. The permanent one.

I SERIOUSLY NEED TO START REVIEWING!

Every time I open the book, I think of something else to do and convince myself that the other chore is more urgent. Like... facebooking, emailing, editing photos, researching, online shopping, doing laundry, cleaning our room, watching reality TV. Aacck, I am pathetic. I need to get this over with ASAP!!!

I think I am just scared of the fact that I need to take the exam. That once I start studying, then it means I need to schedule my exam already. Well, actually, its the other way around. The reason I haven't scheduled my exam is that once I schedule it, it means I need to seriously study and that the reality is... I do need to take that frickin certification exam.

Oh and by the way, it's a $350 worth of money to take the exam that goes down the drain unless I am able to pass the exam so I can reimburse it from work. So maybe that is a BIG factor too.

Office Etiquette

Are there any training schools that teach you office etiquette? Apparently, more and more people need it. I have not attended any but I do believe I have practiced very good office etiquette on all of the offices I have worked at. I would like to give credit to the multinational companies I have worked for in the Philippines from which I believe is where I got the professionalism that I have been practicing since then.

Aside from the obvious stuff like picking your nose, farting, , etc; Here are some little things you should NOT do at work:

1. Stare and read whatever you see in your co-workers monitor. Just because you can see it, doesn't mean you have to read it. How many of us have met a workspace neighbor who just love reading our mails or chats just because they have the proximity of doing it. All the more for co-workers who actually walk to your space, stand behind you, and start reading what is in your monitor.

2. Hover at someone else's workspace. No, it is NOT okay to kill time while staring at what your co-worker is doing. Find something else more productive to do. I just read about my friend's problem about people at work, invading her PERSONAL BUBBLE. For those who need to understand, here's a diagram.



3. Unnecessary physical contact. Emphasis on unnecessary, being one of the youngest people in my office now, I think they see me as their kid or a little child. Sometimes they pinch my face, my arm, or even give me a shove or a 'tap' that to them is harmless, but to someone like me, really unwanted, and sometimes even hurtful. I do tell them and sometimes even show that I am mad about it, but I don't think they take it seriously.

Thank You

Thank You. Two words, two syllables. Easy.

I might have mentioned this before, but again, I have met and worked with a lot of different races in the world (Chinese, Indian, Singaporean, Spanish, American, etc.) and my co-Filipinos are always the odd ones and the hardest to deal with.

I have noticed that a lot of the Filipinos have a hard time saying THANK YOU. When someone does a good deed or gesture, maybe we feel a bit uncomfortable or maybe it is just a culture-thing that instead of just saying THANK YOU, we opt to say something witty and joke about the person who made the gesture. Maybe we are trying to be funny but end up just bringing embarrassment to that other person.

This morning, I brought coffee for all the coffee drinkers here at work. I thought of bringing coffee so they could at least understand why I don't drink coffee made here in the office (our house coffee is brewed by Keurig using the K-cups which is properly measured and we use hazelnut creamer... I think I love our coffee at home mainly because of the hazelnut creamer).

I thought that would be a nice gesture, to share something I love, maybe they would love it too. So I did bring two travel mug full of good coffee (which mind you, I drove extra carefully and slowly to work just so it won't spill).

I did get a good reaction from one of them, he said his thanks and was very excited after smelling that it was hazelnut coffee. As for the others... typical Filipino guys, I got nothing but joke-full ridicules like:

"why didn't you bring coffee yesterday?"
"why can't you bring coffee everyday?"
"next time you bring coffee, it should be very hot." <--- In my mind I said "Sorry... but I kind of carefully and slowly drove from home so it is not boiling hot when I served them to you." Yes, my dear readers, I even delivered the cup of coffee to their desks!

I just went back to my workstation and literally ignored everybody. I know they have just been teasing but they really had the worst timing. I just sat on my chair, stared at my monitor and concentrated on the news I am reading. I can still hear them and see them on my peripheral vision, but I ignored everything outside my monitor just to recompose myself.

Several months ago, I brought banana muffins (that I baked myself) to work, like a couple of times. Of course, instead of getting Thank You's, I got some jokes, ridicules and whatever nonsense they can say just to put me in the lime light of embarrassing attention.

I remember back in my early college years, a good girl friend of mine said "Kayan, you have nice feet." I felt awkward and said "No, I don't. It's too little. It's too bony, blah blah blah." Then my friend said "Kayan, you don't know how to take a compliment? You have to learn to receive them."

From then on, every time I receive a compliment or a nice gesture, I go back to that story and try my best to say THANK YOU first before blabbering something else.

I, THANK YOU.

Happy Thank You More Please

Another addition to my favorite 'must-own-bluray' list of movies...

HAPPY THANK YOU MORE PLEASE


It was written, directed and starred by How I Met Your Mother's lead actor Josh Radnor. The screenplay was fantastic, the plot is so appropriately balanced with drama, reality and humor, that not one minute is wasted.

I especially love the soundtrack! All songs written and performed by an indie singer from NY, Jaymay. I am so... buying (ahem, downloading?) her songs.

If you loved Juno, Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, 300 Days of Summer, and of course How I Met Your Mother, then you will surely love this movie as well!

LASIK

Realization of the Day:

My LASIK eye surgery was the most expensive and uncomfortable 15 minutes of my life but is well worth every second and centavo spent. I shall post the video of the surgery soon! Hehehe... :P

The world is too beautiful to not be seen as clear and colorful as it really is.

Hot!

Record breaking update!!! Guam is HOT! Literally!

In my two years & something months here in Guam, this is the hottest I have seen my car thermometer show so far. The last record holder was a couple of months ago at 102 F.

Look Both Ways

Today, I was merrily listening (and singing) to my POP playlist in Pandora while driving to work. I have a meeting early morning so I figured to go to work earlier than usual.

I was driving my usual routine, sticking to 30-40 MPH speed especially during these rush hours when the police love to hide behind the bushes and surprise you with their speed trap from a dangerous curb somewhere (35 MPH is the speed limit).

I have a (bad?) habit of always looking at my rear view mirror. Mostly to compare if I am driving too slow, too fast, if there is police car somewhere or if someone is tailing too close.

Today it was consistently that blue Toyota. For the first 10 minutes of the drive it was driving at least 5 cars behind me, which is way far than the normal. A mile from my office, you would have to merge from a two-lane shortcut road into a six-lane high-way. So I stopped and waited for the high-way to clear up before I turn right. I remember happily singing to this song while I was waiting (on full stop):

And then… BLAAAAGGAAGG!!!

That blue car hit my rear bumper!!! Fortunately I was hitting on the breaks the whole time, or else the force would have pushed my car towards the high-way full of speeding cars. Whew!

I went out of the car, met the driver of the blue car. He was just a kid – definitely a teenager. He couldn’t talk at all. I asked him: “Were you speeding? Are you in a hurry?” He answered in the softest voice: “No, I was looking to my left – on the road.” Great. So he was merging to his right, he looks to his left for approaching cars and forgot to check if there’s a car in front of him. Great.

I called my husband and I was relieved that he agreed to just let it go since it was just a scratch anyway, plus the fact that it was a kid. I reminisced the days when I was just a new driver and had I made the same mistake that the kid did today, I would already be crying my eyes out of fear and embarrassment by now.

I took the boy’s insurance information. The car and insurance was named under his parents’ and grandparents’ name. He will be doing some explaining to them when he gets home later. That may be enough punishment to make him remember to ALWAYS LOOK ON BOTH SIDES BEFORE CROSSING THE STREET.

So today I got my first official Guam/US accident.* It’s not an accomplishment but I guess it adds points to the level of life experiences.

*The unofficial first accident was when I scratched another car’s bumper while trying to come out of a cramped parking area. Although it left a dent onto my bumper, the other car was just a make-shift stainless steel bumper so its rust was just scratched off.

Buntong Hininga

Isang malalim, mahaba, at makapagbagbag-damdaming

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY...

Very Dissatisfied

I was filling up an hour-long survey from the US Air Force, checking on the status and well-being of the military spouses.

Of course, just like in any survey, I always put my real and honest opinion in it. I have high regard that data from surveys are put into good use, so people who fill them up must maximize their efforts to answer them as best they could. I even went to work earlier than usual so I can have a concentrated time doing this survey. That's how serious I take these things. Haha.

I have not been very happy with where we are now, everyday, I am reminded that 'there's more to life than this...' When I came across this certain page of the survey, I kind of had a laugh at myself and followed by a deep sigh...this pretty much summarizes how I feel about this place...

Don't Ask Your Married Friends

I know I am talking in behalf of a lot, if not all, of the married couples out there. This is something we married couples may not tell you bluntly, but we don't like getting asked:

"When are you getting pregnant?"

"Are you pregnant yet?"

"Why are you not pregnant yet?"

There are several reasons why you shouldn’t ask this… here are a few:

1. Even if a couple is trying to get pregnant, they really wouldn’t know WHEN they will get pregnant. It’s just too complicated to answer “Oh, we try to get pregnant everyday, even ten times a day, but so far we are not. So I don’t really know how to answer your question.” You might as well interrogate on what they are doing wrong in their intercourse if you want to continue this conversation and know why they are not yet pregnant.

2. Some couples may have been trying to get pregnant for quite a while and for some scientific or mysterious reason, COULDN’T get pregnant… yet. If you keep on asking them WHEN are they getting pregnant, you unconsciously are just prying on their difficulty and putting your friends in a very awkward and depressing situation.

3. There are couples who are just not into kids yet. So if they answer your question “We don’t want kids yet.” You then ask why, blah blah blah, and the conversation tends to look like the couple needs to justify their decision, when in fact, it is perfectly normal and is not at all your business.