Pokhara! (part one)

I've just come back from escaping the dust, trash-ridden roads and overwhelming smog of Kathmandu, returning with good pictures and words (yeah almost). 

As I have mentioned earlier, my family and I had gone on a five-day trip to Pokhara for the Dashain holidays. It was a blast. 

Well, for those of you who don't know, Pokhara is the second largest city in Nepal. It boasts Fewa Lake, rolling rice fields, a stunning panorama of the Annapurna mountain range, and more settings should you venture deeper.

We set out in the 7AM chill of the outside world, hearts and souls set for the long road to adventure ahead. Clutching a pillow (because leaning on the cold, hard steel of the van window frame is too mainstream), shivering in my jacket, I looked forward to new sights and things to experience.

The highways were athletic, our driver was fast, and the mountain courses would gather our gasps when we would look down on the fields, houses and valleys.

The migration of Kathmanduites (I guess this was still in Kathmandu?) to their villages where their origins take root. My camera's scope was really limited from the van window, but I tell you, there were SO MANY BUSES.  And vendors, as you can see by the purple bus's windows. Note that they are quite well-dressed in the terms of street-vendors.

Close to three hours into the trip, we were caught up in a traffic jam, and remained there for about 30 minutes. Normally in Kathmandu you don't get into 30-minute traffic jams, and word passed from driver to driver about a collision some kilometres away. I then thumbed through the Where's Wally (Where's Waldo is the American version which I'm used to) travel edition and got kind of bored and looked at Wreck This Journal: Everywhere instead. There were also many curious things I saw through the glass during the jam, such as gravel-making machines, Drogba jerseys, milk deliveries in metal jars, and guys drinking from a hose on the side of the road.

Two kids playing with a wheelbarrow. Joy can come from an array of things!

Later on, we drove to the heart of all the traffic, and saw two buses scarred by a staggering collision. My sister said she saw blood on the seats. We found out from the newspapers after that there were five casualties. How tragic and sad.

Ah the nostalgia...
Before we moved to Kathmandu, I would always ride the bus with my parents to MAPE activities in my school and other agendas. It was sure a lot of fun, and I miss it now.

After four more hours of daydreaming and listening to music, our little party landed on the lake city of Pokhara.
Our lodging was just at the right bar for travellers like me, like it wasn't too shabby with the structures crumbling, and it wasn't too plush with so much plushness that you could drown (aha no pictures from me). There was a too-high flatscreen, but it was a flatscreen nonetheless, so I got hooked on 'Everybody Hates Chris' and 'Growing Up Fisher' and had to painfully crane my head from the waterbed next to my parent's queen-sized to watch NCIS: Los Angeles and Blacklist before I went to sleep.

Lake city!

I love this shot :DD But the Fewa lake was quite green and murky and I don't know how the heck I got this one xD

The next day, we went to this waterfall tourist spot called Devi's Falls. I'm not even sure if that's the way they actually spell it, but as the story goes, there was a Swiss lady called Mrs. Davis who fell down the waterfall fifty years ago and consequently the place was named after her. Don't ask me how the spelling turned out that way XD

All in all, I'd say as a natural spectacle this waterfall is breathtaking. You could spend hours just watching the mass of white splash down over and over (someone needs to make a gif of this tho), observe the fringes of the shelf being overwhelmed by elevated waves and see how far you can try finding where all the water goes down the dark ravine without hauling yourself over the blue fence. Dad and I also discovered some pigeons hiding in cracks and brown lizards atop ferns growing on the edges of the precipice because of the spray.

But for the tourism aspect? Lol, no…. There are shops outside as strategic tourist traps and it kinda lowers the charm of the falls, the way down and the platforms for seeing the falls are really unpleasant with irregular ground, poles sticking out every which way and it has no trashbins I guess, and the new statue things in Nepali fashion where you can stick your head in from behind so it seems like the statue's body is yours is just plain weird. I went there three years ago, and it still is pretty much the same.

The sight of this October waterfall is worth it, anyway.

After, we went to a Tibetan refugee camp where Tibetans flew to when China invaded their land, and today, they make nice crafts for a living.

In front of their little craft centre, ladies sat spinning sheep wool in wooden spools as fast as you could say Mourinho punches Wenger (okay, saying that isn't really fast but I think you get what I mean if you imagine Mourinho actually doing that).
Inside, you could accidentally step on a ball of yarn or a piece of wood because the ladies weaving intricate mats are so focused on making their fingers dance. Their loom is amazing, though. And their yarn is fluffy ^_^
Outside, a bubbly little kid called Tenzin ran along with my brother and a dog which looked suspiciously Shih Tzu. I gave him my loom band, to accompany a watch drawn over his wrist, and some other kindergarten words tattooed on. His smile only grew brighter.

Cool looms, cool yak, and this lady was cool too because Katrina Kaif was her fav actress.

Fluffy yarn.

For lunch, we ate in this alfresco restaurant with Fewa Lake directly adjacent, from where I caught the lake pictures from above. My camera died afterwards, but we did go to the International Mountain Museum and later, out into the night to check out some shops and restaurants.

Hmm. This concludes part one about my trip; I'm breaking it up as there are many photos and this is my first time writing a travel post, I suppose! So you can leave this blog now and snuggle yourself under some warm blankets, after all, winter is taking wing in the Northern Hemisphere and why are you still up and reading this.

Shah Rukh Khan is everywherrrrrrre
You didn't expect this, didn't you. Well, expect the unexpected and don't underestimate the power of a common man!! Heyyyy yahhh!!!! lol I really need sleep

Until then!

Swings, snow crystals and silence

First off, some quotes from a favourite character called Dr. Larry Fleinhardt from a crime drama series called Numb3rs. I've been watching series again, after a long time lol

"Children are wormholes. They're portals into the unreachable future and unattainable past. Well, as the things stand now, they exist only in the theoretical realms."

"Curiosity. Not good for cats, great for scientists."

Charlie: "Can't you think of this [playing poker in a casino] as field work?"
Larry: "Unfortunately, it is a poppy field, I'm warning you both: we're standing at the precipice. This is the event horizon of a black hole!"

"You can contemplate silence, but you can never find it."


And here are a few pictures I have gathered in the past few days, excluding my Pokhara trip which I will relate to in another post.

My dad captured this with me on a swing somewhere in a riverside resort in Chitwan, where we took a ten minute stop in the three hours into our ride back to Kathmandu. Bamboo swings have been built almost everywhere in Nepal for the past few weeks, as another form of celebration for Dashain, a 15-day festival of Nepal which commemorates the worship of the goddess Shakti, and emphasises family ties and the fun spirit of the Nepalis.

I actually like the cat's diary better. I must say, the writer is pretty clever.

Adam Young (Owl City) with Sekai No Owari. I just found out that in my absence with Internet interactions Owl City announced he'd be releasing two more songs very soon. And this photograph caught my eye. I love their buttons. And I'm betting 'Tokyo', their collab song, is gonna be superlative.

Snow crystals under an electron microscope from ScienceAlert's fb page. I mean, wow, God was really extravagant in creating stuff from the micro to the macro! But yeah, there's another thing. If I try to say what I just said two sentences ago in the comments of the ScienceAlert post, I'd be immediately pelted with numerous statements against mine. This is just sad. Please, people, wake up from your stupor and know that God is real and alive.

Just a really nice shot by my friend Tito Ivan of my other friend Tito Daniel conversing with a monk near the Boudhanath Stupa.

What a revelation.

Hi Misha,

September 28 yeah

"If we are crazy, then it is because we refuse to be crazy in the same way that the world has gone crazy.’ What’s crazy is a matter of perspective. After all, what is crazier: one person owning the same amount of money as the combined economies of twenty-three countries or suggesting that if we shared, there would be enough for everyone? What is crazier: spending billions of dollars on a defense shield, or suggesting that we share our billions of dollars so we don’t need a defense shield? What is crazier: maintaining arms contracts with 154 countries while asking the world to disarm its weapons of mass destruction, or suggesting that we lead the world in disarmament by refusing to deal weapons with over half of the world and by emptying the world’s largest stockpile here at home?" 

Quoting The Irresistible Revolution again. I like this book so much. Like it so much that I know when I apply the stuff it says into my life I'd get in danger or something. Probably because it's been inspired by God and the Bible. 

So I'm wondering… if I really would get in trouble because of totally living out God and the Bible, why am I sitting in front of my laptop in my comfy, safe bedroom without much care of anything else besides staying comfy and safe? I must be doing something wrong then… Jesus, help me out.

You are Will Poulter and Thomas Sangster, while I am Dylan O'Brien, of whom you are slowly noticing signs of failure to rest this case and unnecessary randomness

Or simply,

wHAT

HAH I didn't really type much on the matter I stated up there^ after the quote. I have reasons doe.

Currently have 12 unposted drafts, I am going to Pokhara with my family for five days (preferably with minimised Internet usage), and there are only 17 days until I return to my homeland. Plus I'm supposed to be sleeping now,  to wake up at 5:45 AM, and Mom says because I am still young, I should not stay up until midnight as that only ever begins when people are in college. Dratted habit. To be honest, my time management is actually messed up. So if you'll excuse me for now and for not writing in a freaking long time, I'll pull the sheets over and give up my brain to 40% random things, 12% headcanoning about my secret fantasies, 10% planning for the next day, and 8% God and actually important things, and it will take me approximately 30 minutes to sleep bye 

Art dump

Amidst the two drafts I keep on telling myself to finish writing, I've decided to compensate for myself in posting these art stuffs I've done in the absence of blog-posting. So yeah, enjoyyyyy!!

Another Bartholomew Kettle doodle, for a The Peculiar sort-of field guide. The pencil was awesome haha
Stefan notice me senpai T_T

A pop-up thing for an English project on prepositions. Like, now, the sparrow flaps its wings above the Red Ford. It's got a piece of sting attached to it, so you can move it all around the pop-up to make different sorts of prepositions! Great help for visual writers lol :D

A book cover I made for my one-shots and stuff on separate Wattpad account @chaos_theory.  Cover girls are my sister Abbie, and Filipino-German friend, Johanna Dembinski. I don't know about you, but I think this cover is cool xD You can read the book here ;)

Yaaaaaayyy thank God for these artistic hands, a super-creative bunch of parents, and influences all around!! Now I'm gonna try to fix my room and find out how I'm gonna untangle myself from the happenings of The Maze Runner, which messed up my head and which I'm trying to write a review on, and how I'm gonna find someone to watch it with for another time around. Will you volunteer?

The Gardens of Sampson and Beasley

Few stuffs that have been going through my head since the last last post.

(By the way, this came from my updated bio page on my other blog, for posting my School essays, please be a darling and check it out :3):

I’m a Jesus freak but sometimes I fail to show it.

Growing up in a Christian family, I made my own decision to follow Jesus when I was old enough to understand, and with the loving assistance of my parents and my church, I continued the journey with Jesus for the rest of my life. He has been the best thing that's ever happened to me, the sole reason of why I live and the oil that makes the creaky cogs and gears of my frail humanity go on.

And as a Christian, I am also burdened with glorious purpose to share this love that He freely gave to me and absolutely everyone when He died on that cross, and the hope and victory of when He rose again. 

But a quote from "The Irresistible Revolution" says some Christians just continue to live their life and sprinkle a little Jesus along the way. I'm gonna be honest with you, that's 45% me. I don't know if that is gonna change soon, or if I'll totally let Jesus shine through me, a broken and prone-to-failure human, and be my life 100%. Whatever happens, I pray Jesus to build His kingdom here, and through me, and may He give us the courage.

Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one. Nietzsche

"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." Sir Isaac Newton

IT'S TOMORROW

lol

Don't wake me up when September ends. I'll be partying every single day

The first of September that I don't celebrate. My passionately favourite month of the year. Life is behaving too much of a quick blur now, and I'm trying as hard as I can to keep up. Ergo, I'm not gonna honour this month tonight. So instead, either look at my post of last year's September or these pictures unrelated to September…

Based on How To Train Your Dragon book 8, it was for my 1st quarter portfolio 

quote to Pancho Dizon

Preparing for sinigang (EYYY MISHA)

Charged 25 rupees to Dad for this one, and he gave it along with a cake to a restaurant owner friend. Unfortunately, the friend wasn't there when we delivered the cake so I don't know how well my card was received.

Merry Christmas ;)

The Ants in the Garden

PREVIOUSLY (June 10, 2014):

Dad was pumping water from the well awhile ago. And I was down by the kitchen, as I had to hide one of the snacks that came from the Philippines for fear that I would finish all of it within one week. (Because I'd only tasted this one after three years, more or less.) I laid it down on our dinner table, and heard electric sparks from the bug-killer badminton coming from outside. Whirring sounds were in the background, which was some working of the pump. It usually goes unnoticed as I go about my day, like my pulse or blinking.

This was quite a hot afternoon, despite rolling grey clouds that blanketed the sky. Maybe there was a break of it over the west and behind the mountains, because the sun bounced off our neighbour's houses, especially the white wall in front of our little garden. 

Then, I heard Dad call me to go outside. "Issa, come out and bring the camera! I found a funny shot," he shouted in a mix of Filipino and English. I was curious, wondering if it was some deformation of plant from a pot, a stray cat bounding off the abandoned doghouse, or some other oddity that made its way into our garage. I skipped toward his Borealis North Face bag by a couch and fished for the camera.  

I burst out of the brown door, and handed him the camera, searching for the thing he vocally beckoned me for. "Here," he said, and went near the electric pump. He directed the camera to the wall. "Ants carrying something heavy." I squinted, and searched the white wall. There was a thimble-sized yellow particle of food, circled by tinier ants. Probably a disintegrated lemon. 

I chuckled, and watched Dad move the camera as close as he could to the ants, and at the ants who were sturdily lifting food for their colony. Some other ants skittered up and down, occasionally stopping to deliver messages with their antennas, but no stop too long. So it seemed like the circle of ants were on their own. Yet they crawled onwards, upwards.

They progressed on higher up the wall, and Dad took some shots. I regretted not being able to take some on my own camera, because it was gathering dust atop my desk as the battery was uncharged: a subject of procrastination. The camera had a crisp image of them, it was so precise that I could see their tiny little legs, mandibles and many other things I couldn't have observed with the naked eye in full detail. I was amazed. Although, seeing the pictures on the camera's screen itself is pretty different than seeing it on a laptop. Now, the pictures seem blurred and discoloured, unlike the first time I saw them.

Few more seconds passed, and Dad lifted the camera and said we could go back inside. Then, because of a childish urge, I asked, "Can I flick them off the wall?" An expression of mischief flitted for a second on his face, and then grew stern. He shook his head, frowning. I gave one last look at the ants on the wall, and trotted back into the house. 

Taking my slippers off inside, I began to think up some lessons and deeper observations concerning the ants from outside. The points I thought of were:

A.) What bad would it be if I take them out, they are just small, there will be many more ants and more food.

B.) I am big; the ants are small.

C.) Forager ants risk their lives going out to take the food like the scouts who preceded them. In fact, they face bad weather, enemy ants, and predators while gathering food. It is a suicide mission.

D.) Small things shouldn't be underestimated, they become big to us too on a level. 

E.) As a person, I can empathise with them on a human scale.

So, A. first. What bad would it be if I take them out, they are just small, there will be many more ants and more food. Why not, right? It would be fun seeing their reaction after they've fallen off four feet and crashed down on the rocky ground. And also, it would be interesting to feel the piece of yellow food on my fingers, and the ants furiously skittering, trying to defend it and themselves. But would I feel them bite me, smell the sweet acid they release when in danger, or, because they were a different species than what I saw in the sugar cubes they would do something I did not expect? 

Even if they were to be hurt because of what I did, wouldn't there be so many other ants deployed by their queen to gather food? The food that they carried was quite sizeable, but there would be more food, and after all, there is enough for everyone on this earth. 

Then comes B., I am big; the ants are small. Which is also like: I am a superior to them on so many levels. That means I can do whatever I want with the ants. I can govern them, help them bring the food higher (that one is quite difficult), take them away from the wall, crush them with my fingers, or bring out one of the ants and see what happens to the others. 

Nevertheless, I want to be a good superior, and good superiors have respect for those under them. Sometimes, it's because their respect for others that earned them up to that high place. But I was born this way - a human, and I was appointed by God to be a manager of those below me. Yeah, yeah, sometimes I slack off and am not aware of that when I get angry at my younger siblings or not throw the trash in my room, 

but nonetheless, I am appointed. The ants are also not an exception.

Which leads us to C., which is a very important thing to everyone. Small things shouldn't be underestimated, they become big to us too on a level. It's been tested and proven that little things are sometimes catalysts for change. For example...

One pebble can kill a nine-foot giant. A simple word can cause a city-wide riot. One drop of liquid can cause an explosive reaction. A short fifteen year-old boy revolutionised in the area of computers and programming, and today the operating systems he developed is running on almost every computer today (Trey Gates ;) you know). One sentence of affirmation can uplift a person's rainy day. And, one ant is just as important as the whole colony. One piece of yellow food will also be a good contribution to their food supply.

We can also remember that it's the ants who help our soil become aerated, clean the ecosystem by taking what food we don't need and the dead animals into their nests, and controlling the pests on our crops. 

On the other hand, ants can be a hindrance to the buildings they intrude with a fleet of themselves, cause economic losses if they invade, say, a food factory, and of course, when we don't store our leftover food into the refrigerator. So, we have to be good stewards of them, as said earlier, and muddle in a little bit when things get too out of hand. 

Now, D. "'Forager ants risk their lives going out to take the food like the scouts who preceded them. In fact, they face bad weather, enemy ants, and predators while gathering food.' It is a suicide mission." I think that speaks for itself… 

I learned this in Science last year. I was a self-studying homeschooler, so I got to think a lot then. And I also remember being inspired and motivated by the tiny little beings that God put near us, and thanking Him for them, because of things stated in the point prior to this.

Finally, E. As a person, I can empathise with them on a human scale. Possibly in every person comes a point where they think, what if that occurrence would happen to me, or the people that I love? This happens to me quite a lot. 

So I imagine, what if one day I was going to the grocery to buy some snacks for a long-planned road trip, when suddenly, a giant deadpan humanoid takes me on its hand and drops me down from the 3rd floor grocery? (The conclusion is my untimely death, or serious injury taking me out from the road trip. Ants are lucky, they've got exoskeletons to prevent this, I guess). And what if, like in dystopian books and films, I was one of the persons selected by some drawing of straws to leave the refuge barricaded by a strong, tall, white barrier to hunt for food outside in the overgrown, treacherous and post-apocalyptic world unknown? (I don't know what will become of me on this one :c). Haha, that was awesome, Imagination. But seriously.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA UR IMAGINATION SAM!" I said, seriously.

I know, the ants don't have any souls, but out of God-given mercy I sometimes empathise that way. Like Ender Wiggin. And on another turn of my mind I remembered our wars of today, the MH370 plane crash, the refugees from Syria and Iraq, White House Down (yes lol), and suddenly it's too strong that I want to finish the debate with myself.

This was the final point that sealed the other good ones in my mind. 

Now I had wrapped up on a decision… to leave them be. 

Yes. I viewed them in the impersonal way, and looked on with the personal. The premise of the small group of ants just another face in the population of an ant specie I couldn't decipher, versus the whimsical notion of pretending they were us, one of us people. The subject of leadership and persons responsible for someone else's belongings was also considered. Philosophies of "less is great", noble sacrifice, and empathy went around in my head. 

In addition, people are relational beings, so I related with the ants and with their way of life. Eventually, that understanding about the band of ants weighed down to the conclusion of me leaving them alone. 

After all that thought while shaking off my slippers (elaboration came in later), I continued on with my schoolwork, upstairs, and added a mental note to write the event of my Dad calling me to see some ants climbing up a wall with some food on my blog. 

And the ants on the wall, unseen by anyone, crawled up on their path to get home to their colony, deposited their findings to the food supply, rested a bit, and headed out again to collect the food directed by the shouts of the scout ants as they headed out into the great unknown.

A/N: YEEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!!!! Finally, after more than two months, I was able to curb writer's block (and my procrastination) to complete this autobiographical/persuasive essay :DDD I probably just need to do a little brushing up on some stuff I'll spot that's off with this, because, I've spent more than 2 hours on the thing and have more agendas. (And sorry for the gifs. I…just can't help but add them…)

Thanks for reading my essay.

13 days left to be 13!!

Which means, birthday is soon!! *does happy dance*

just look at that spiderman tshirt

(notice, I'm not saying all this on September 4, cause man I wanna live it out 13 more times and not go out with a crash-bang :o plus I toned down on so many gifs but blast it they are distracting enough -_-)

Well, I guess it's right to say that I've only turned 13 on my 14th birthday, because of everything that I've experienced, gone through and accomplished before that time. 
13 had cast me unto the shores of another world, the teenage world, which is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. Exciting, because of the new horizons, new realisations and awarenesses, more privileges, enhanced abilities, and I'd become taller :p. Terrifying, because of the heightened responsibility, infodumps, pressing empathy and moods, I could see my past flaws in a way I hadn't before, and most of all, I'd been unclassified as a child (eh, sometimes I still am, but most times it's not there. I think this one is pretty hard to understand…).

My era of being 13 has been a multi-coloured coat that has no perfect edges, but when you swirl it around your back and the sun sparkles on it, you forget about everything else. (what XD). To recount it is gonna be real hard, but you've probably gone through it, are going through it, so you know bits and pieces (except if you are just gonna go through it). Let's just say it was brilliant adventure with Bollywood music.

I had been inspired to live a good, better life in more ways, and to help others travel on that path too. My God, my family, my friends and influences are the ones I wholly thank for being the fuel that makes my hollow gas tank go on. 

God, you are always there and you are my everything, thank you a thousand suns (real thank you, I owe ya one). Family, you are mostly there but you sometimes disappear into the walls of our house but that's alright, you are cherished and forever emblazoned in my heart. Friends, I know that some of you might be roads away or even countries away, but you always make a way for us to connect and communicate to be healed, have fun, spout out words or listen with full attention. You are held in high regard and I love you for being who you are and loving me back. Influences, (yeah, book authors, musicians, actors, artists, people in History, game developers, crown princes, etc.) of course you don't know I'm here (well, except for one book author) but in the essence of the word, you make a part of me. Thank you for doing what you love. Guys, really I just wanna

OKAY I really wanna sleep now so heres the real business O AO 

READ MY BIRTHDAY WISHLIST AND GIVE ME OK!?

hahahahahahahhahahhaha, I'm joking :L 

Really, I have a lot of stuff already. Lol I don't want to be materialistic and be a toff or anything, but yeah I have too much. I'll probably just write down a list of things I'm gonna give away for my remaining 13 days bc ain't receiving too mainstream.

Eh? What's that I hear? You still wanna see my wish list? Srsly!? Okay, okay, just because you asked. (ahahahahhahaha)

I'll only put ten, you sweet chocolate biscuits, though my IRL list has 29. (few recycled from last year)

1. Fancy notebook (old one's in ruins, but still has enough until October though)
2. Marie Curie biography
3. Artemis Fowl
4. All seasons of Sherlock/Numb3rs
5. Money xD
6. A 3,000 word or more short story (Misha, I'm counting on you)
7. Red t-shirt with a robot (Hiro Hamada cosplay :3)
8. Let It Snow (winter is my fav season, yo)
9. Framed art by you
10. Sherlock's scarf

And ya. I'll take suggestions from anyone to put on a list of 13 stuff to do before I'm 14 hahahahaha wat. But I like checklists T_T 

Standing in Brooklyn just waiting for something to happen,

O Ulan (o rain XD)

The rain is pouring so hard, and some might say life is tough because of that. Yet, the rain heralds the beginning of life, frees the seed from its bondage, returns what it has taken, beckons the adventurous and the ones with hearts of children to dance in it because no one has done it before, and is a sign from God that His blessings will arrive just as it gives itself up freely, with no bounds. So then, let us celebrate the rain with shouts of joy.

(thanks to Kyle Andaya for listening to me so I wrote that^ haha that was what I really meant I am so confusing bro (◕‿◕✿) you are awesome man)

"Memories are like a box of sweets ... once it opens then you can't eat just one piece."

I know, I haven't posted in AGES. So here is a consolation

Nova

He wants the stars in the night sky, 

but you are the sun.

He is yours, and you are his,

when everything comes undone.

inspired by a poem of Sachinee Seneviratne

BOOM POETRY

and Premier League started! I cannot believe I hadn't posted anything related to it

LIKE YES. WHAT

btw this is my edit *so much proud*

Dear Oscar, Eden and Fernando, Why are you all married.

Lovely. Preseason I guess, didn't get a chance to have seen this.

Chelsea's first season game was at 12:45 AM, and sadly my schedule nowadays does not allow me to stay up for those games. My days of freedom and frolicking are dripping away as life chugs on.

And also, how come I didn't post anything about THIS^^^^^!!!!!! Shame, Samantha, shame!! I stayed till 4 and tweeted a lot but no one wants to read my tweets anyway, so.

 Still missing these baes :'( You know, one of my dreams was to play table football with David Luiz somewhere in Stamford Bridge. 

It's really sad when your favourite players leave your club. And now I hear Petr Čech might transfer too. But such is life.

The quote in the title is from Naina the scholar girl from the Bollywood movie, "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani", which was absolutely marvellous. 9.5/10 I recommend, with English subtitles, if you don't speak Hindi, of course. Coming-of-age, scenic cinematography, dance-along music (it's Bollywood.), and so many philosophical quotes so I am really happy. Wow, I'm actually trying to convince you guys to watch a film… okay, bye.

P.S. My blog birthday was twelve days before this post. *nostalgic* So in honour of it, I am (hopefully) bringing back the tradition of posting everyday. 

It's so hard magtula

Anyways, I survived, and I might get a translation of this for English-reading followers (as if I had any xD). My friends and classmates/ex-classmates/hoping-soon-to-be-classmates-again over Facebook were my source of help during this time, so shoutout to Eunice, Misha, Pristine and Iolo (why Anton :c)!! I related to them how it was pretty hard magtula in Tagalog because I've lived for 3 years away from homeland. And of course they asked me to come back soon. 
And also Dad!!!! Thanks Dad!
While writing, I facepalmed a lot because it sounded like a Yeng Constantino song or something

Kalayaan | tula ni Samantha Adalia

Tumatakbo kami sa mga sidewalk

Maingay sa taas ng overpass,

Maingay rin samin dito sa baba.

Tumatawa kami, mga kamay nagsisipagaspasan

At nagsisigaw,

"Kalayaan!"

Mga kabataan walang pahinga

Pupuntahan namin sila,

Kukunin ang kamay, tutulungan tumindig

Para sumama silang tumakbo saamin

At sumigaw,

"Kalayaan!"

Aming isasauli sa kanilang orihinal na kisig

Ang mga pinanday ng kahirapan;

Bibigyan namin ng isang bagay

Na mas maganda, mas masarap sa kayamanan

Ang sigaw ng,

"Kalayaan!"

Hahabulin, pagdadasalan at yayakapin

Mga kababayang nahuli ng sala

Malaki man sila o maliit,

Kababayan parin namin sila;

Ipaparinig ang sigaw ng,

"Kalayaan!"

Ang Diyos ang kalayaan namin

Siya ang lakas sa aming paa

Tapang kaharap ng katwiran

Kapangyarian sa aming boses

Dahil kami ay mahina,

Basag ang tinig at diwa.

Pero alam namin,

Nagsisimulang tumagumpay ang ilaw

Galing sa mga biyak.

Tuwing ito ay matutupad,

Lahat kami ay magsisigaw,

"Kalayaan!"