Part One: Sembreak Fever

Thank God! I relatively had the busiest and most sensible semestral break in my whole life. (O.A.?! Hehehe..) Instead of having the ordinary indoor routine that I had before like sleeping, eating, surfing the net, watching TV and DVDs; and of course, sleeping, eating, surfing the net and watching TV and DVDs. (Actually it’s cyclical, but it’s not obvious on my part. Hehehe…) I believe God heard my fervent prayers; or maybe He read my previous blog entry and realized that I badly needed one. (Hehehe...) It has been pre-programmed long before the semestral break starts. (I noticed this part after reflecting on the things that I’ve done. Hehehe)

But hey, this time, I assured myself that it would be a different one. And it SHOULD be different this time. I wanted to have a dynamic outdoor routine. (Wow! Flexible?!) Hence, I had to strategically fix my schedules and appointments so that everything will be organized and balanced. (Hehehe.. That’s the real show business, in other words the‘Star Complex’.)

Here is a quick yet extensive preview of what I did last semestral break:

WEEK ONE: THE BREATHING PERIOD

Sunday, October 22, 2006: AN ANSWERED PRAYER

• Our whole family went to the regular Sunday Service at Robinsons Novaliches. I just can’t imagine how thankful I was for an answered prayer---the semestral break. I can still remember how I felt during the Praise and Worship part. I lifted my both hands as high as I can just to show to God how grateful I am for answering my-pretty-obvious-prayer-request.
• I was so happy that I bought the book that I really wanted to read and that intrigued me with its subject. I bought FREAKONOMICS by Levitt and Dubner. I will talk more about this in a separate blog entry.
• Then we went home to prepare for our next Sunday Service at Cornerstone Christian Church-San Mateo. I was ultra-excited to have our Praise and Worship practice (1:30pm-3:00pm) and the Ministers’ Bible Study (3:00pm-4:00pm). I was so blessed and enjoyed hearing the Preaching/Message part because I know that I don’t have to worry about any recitations or assigned cases that we need to digest for the next day. Whew! For me, it literally felt like ‘Heaven on Earth’. (As in!)

Monday, October 23, 2006: THE GENESIS

• I woke up late. (As usual! Hehehe…) Before the semestral break starts, I already planned to restore my ‘Work-Out’ routines like lifting weights and do some crunches in our home-based fitness gym. (Actually, it’s a room filled with different fitness equipment that my Mom bought through the Home TV Shopping. They’re getting rusty; and cobwebs covered most of them. So I should clean them first before I can use them. But my body wanted to rest more, so I decided to have a brunch (breakfast and lunch) first, then I’ll get back to it. Unfortunately, I forgot to clean and use them because I was hooked on watching a noontime variety show. (Of course, Eat Bulaga’s Bulagaan time! Hehehe…) In short, I decided to do those tasks the next day.
• Evening time came, I strategically (Take note of the word: strategically… Hehehe..) fixed my schedules and appointments for the whole week. I’m such an O.C.! Then, I prepared the (line-up) songs for the Midweek Service.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006: SIBLINGS DAY-OUT

• Last Sunday (October 22, 2006) for some uncertain reasons, My sister, Maan and Jen planned to go out and check out for some new tiangges/ bargains. They invited me to join them. Of course, the main purpose was to have a bonding with the whole star-studded cast (long lost friends), but for some usual reasons, we ended up having a ‘siblings-day out’. My Ate, Maan , Jen, Owa, and I went to Market! Market!
• Upon arriving at Market! Market!, we went directly to the food court/food district. (Hmm…Wow! Newly coined term. Hehehe..) It was lunch time then so instinctively we need to look for a place where we can eat. We opted to buy our food from one of the ‘lutong bahay’ stalls there. We chose Aling Nene’s for that matter. Jen highly recommended it. We had Sinigang sa Miso (Tanigue) and barbeques from Ineng’s Barbeque (Daughter of Aling Nene) with several cups of rice. We’re admitted to be fish-haters. I don’t eat fish generally speaking. I choose different kinds of fish to eat like tuna and all boneless fish. But that time was so different, we were able to eat the Sinigang sa Miso even if there are chops of Tanigue with it. Super delicious.
• Then we started roaming around and checking out the bargains/tiangges. I bought a sling bag/messenger bag and some accessories. They too have their own share of shopping items. Then we watched World Trade Center. I’ll talk more about it as a separate blog entry.
• Then my Dad sent a text message to my Ate telling us to go home early because we still have to attend the Midweek Service. My Ate is our church pianist/keyboardist; and I’m the assigned worship leader at that time. So we hurried going home. We left Market! Market! at 7:00pm; and we arrived at the church by 8:00pm. Imagine a 30-minute ride from Fort Bonifacio to San Mateo, Rizal. Amazing!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006:
ENROLMENT HORROR/STRESS OUTLET

• I woke up early. (Something different! Hehehe..) I needed to pass my paper for my Legal research subject. It’s reaction/proposal paper about the best way to amend the 1987 Constitution. I went to school at around 9:00 am. (Wow! I can’t believe this. I’m in the school at 9:00 am? I usually wake up at 9:00am. How can it be? Hehehe…) Then, after I passed my paper to our beadle. I rushed to the Dean’s office to start the whole bureaucratic enrolment procedure. I hate bureaucracy. (I’ll talk more about this in a separate blog entry) But thank God! It’s a miracle. There were no long and uneasy queues. I went through the enrolment process without the need to line-up because there was none. Maybe I came too early, that’s why. The only sad part was when I need the signature of our Dean for the approval of my scholarship. They said that Dean arrives in the afternoon, so I get to have my scholarship done in the afternoon. I just left the scholarship form and decided to go home. They’re wasting my time. This is not included in my schedule: to wait for the Dean’s arrival. Anyway, I can continue it some other time.
• Then I went to my Mom’s office and told her about the whole bureaucratic process of enrolment and the horror that it brings. Moreover, I told her that I get to have the discount for my tuition fee only that I need to secure Dean’s signature in my form. Then, to calm myself I get to go back reading the book that I bought, FREAKONOMICS while waiting for my Mom. We waited for my sister, and then we went home.

Thursday, October 26, 2006:
MIDWEEK AGAIN. (THREE MIDWEEKS IN A ROW?!)

• I went to DAR Christian Fellowship at 11:45am for their regular Thursday Service. The assigned speaker was Ptr. Jun Cam-Cam from the Victory Christian Fellowship (Main). He talked about the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I was extremely blessed for God anointed the whole preaching. Then, he discussed about the anniversary of DAR Christian Fellowship. He told us that he had a meeting with former Senator Tessie Aquino-Oreta. He informed us that she already accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior; and is now a Born-Again/Christian. He told us that she will be our speaker to our upcoming DAR Christian Fellowship Anniversary. We’re really excited about that. Thank God. Now, there is a clear and miraculous permeation of God’s Word in our government through our Christian political leaders.

Friday , October 27, 2006:
A SHORT WEDDING, A SHORT WAKE AND A LONG DAY

• Ate Chel and Kuya Richard had their court wedding. Maan and I were gate-crushers then because we only came at the wedding reception. At least we're not late! We saw Ptr. Bill Cadiang, our former pastor in our former church. Thank God. He took the initiative to greet us (Go, Ate Mhel, Maan and me) inspite and despite of what happened among us. It's so nice to see them again. I believe that this short wedding of Ate Chel and Kuya Richard paved the way for us (Pastor and the groups who transferred to other churches) to cross each other's paths, shake hands with him, and let forgiveness heal our longest longing.
• I checked my emails the other day. I read Jaja’s message about the death of Hutch’s Dad. I was surprised upon receiving that news. I buzzed at Andrei through the Yahoo Messenger. I asked what happened to Hutch’s Dad. He confirmed that Hutch’s Dad is already dead due to heat stroke. So some of the Pasteurites came to the wake of Hutch’s Dad. It was really sad though we filled the place with a touch reality and laughter.
• Then the whole group went to Tropical Hut at Concepcion, Marikina City because the Tropical Hut in Ampid was already closed at that time. We shared different stories that lightened up the whole evening. We went home laughing and laughing because of different jokes and rumors that has been spreading through a tread in our Yahoo Groups. I’ll talk more about it in a separate blog entry.

Saturday, October 28, 2006:
GENERAL CLEANING DAY

• Tons of photocopied cases are cluttered in my room. I barely recognize my personal things because of those stress-embedded papers. So I decided to clean and organize my things. I threw all the papers that has nothing to do with my previous and present status as a law student.

Whew!

Watch out for the Part Two: Sembreak Fever. More stories. More life!

Thanks. God bless.