JLPT Cram Sessions

A few more days and we will be having the JLPT Level 3 exam. We've been preparing for this since December last year. It was originally planned that I will be taking Level 1 as advised by 田中先生. But due to some unforeseen circumstances (lack of ability), I was demoted back to Level 2 after a couple of months. Then, after the mock exam given to us, I was again demoted back to Level 3.

Not bad really. If I think about it carefully, even if I was able to passed Level 2, I would have just "passed" the exam. There is no real and deep understanding of the subject. And I'm not going to be satisfied with only that.

I never really had a chance to review ever since I started working for my new job. And after almost 2 months of avoidance (procrastination), I find myself cramming for it. Hopefully, I would find enough time this week to practice for the listening exams. That is, if I could finish the remaining vocabulary and grammar notes provided to us by 田中先生.

じゃあ、頑張ります!

Desperation: Part 2

After several months, I find myself trying to recall the conversation I had with my uncle a few months back. To my disappointment, I could no longer remember all the details of what we've discussed that time.

This post is the continuation of my previous entry here.

So, why my uncle? Probably because he's the only one qualified to do so. He's the only one among the siblings who I should say became successful career wise.

Why not my parents? For a couple of reasons: They weren't trained that way. They didn't want to take the risk. And they just couldn't do the job. Cause they probably thought that I might kill myself in the process. Ha ha... I may actually be able to use that to my advantage. Manipulation 101. >:)

Basically, he insisted to me it's impossible to get their approval. He was once in the same situation but he gave up then went to Taiwan where he met his wife and established his own family. But who said I need their approval? If they don't like it, then they have to deal with it. :P

Based from our conversation, it is pretty obvious that he is really not happy with his family right now. That's why he advised me not to get married soon. Hey, I never mentioned that I'm getting married soon!

I don't remember how our conversation ended, but surely, it's much better than that of my dad. My dad has NO ability to make good conversations.

Reflecting on those exchange of words, I got a few important thoughts...

• Respect, is earned by an individual through his actions towards others, not by his social status, affiliation, nor origin.
  
  
• We can't and shouldn't try to have everything in life, but we could always make the most out of what we have.
  
  
• We shouldn't blame anybody for our miseries, they may have indirectly caused us some troubles, but in the end, it is what we do about it that really matters.
  
  
• Real happiness, comes from within, and not given nor dictated by the actions of others.

Essentially, everything revolves around fear. Fear that their friends might laugh at them. Fear that I will lose all my money. Fear that I will have a broken family. Fear that nobody will take care of them when they get really old.

They've already wasted 50 years of their lives living in fear. I've also shared 20 of those years living in the very same things they've feared. But I'm not going to continue doing that. I'm taking control of every aspect of my life.

A Sinful Lunch

I was on my way to Glorietta for lunch when I saw a poster with a familiar name on it. It has never occurred to me that I would see one of those in this area. The home of the best ribs in Cebu is now in Greenbelt... :) It's La Maison!!!



I was planning to go for a regular "Barkada Ribs" but the waitress gave me this "Sigurado ka ba sa order mo?" look. Then she offered me the Baby Back Ribs Bento instead... :P



The food was as good as I expected it to be. Brings back some Cebu memories... :)

According to one of the crew members, two of them, including her, came from the Cebu branch. She also added that they have another branch in Trinoma which opened last June.

I'm gonna eat there again soon. :)

News Flash: Croc Blast

Someone just blew up the largest crocodile den in the Philippines. Poor crocodiles. :(

Hopefully this time, it's not some pile of shit causing the explosion. Either ways, it was a pretty good target.

We're saving around P65,000,000 for each dead crocodile each year. Taking into account the P500,000 "cash gifts", that's enough to feed hundreds of starving families in the country for a year.

Let's to some math...

Current minimum wage in NCR for non-agriculture industry is P362 per day which translates to roughly P7240 per month or P86880 per year. Assuming it's enough to feed a family for a year, that means P65,500,000 can feed around 754 families per year.

Therefore, each dead crocodile can "theoretically" help 754 families. So the more dead crocodiles, the better. :D

But still, the end does not justify the means. Taking away lives is still not right regardless of whatever good purpose it will mean. I'm just being sarcastic. :)

Click here to read more.

P.S.
You just can't get enough of this country...
And yes, lightning do strike at the same place twice and sometimes even more...

Halloween Season Thoughts

Halloween season is one of the very few times we get to go out together as a family. It's quite unusual that we only get to go out when visiting our deceased relatives in cemeteries or temples. This year is no exception. We visited 2 cemeteries and a temple in three separate occasions. Primarily to avoid heavy traffic, but it seems that we're not the only ones thinking that way.

As early as the Sunday before All Saints Day, we got stuck in traffic for more than an hour before reaching the Chinese Cemetery. By the time we head back home, the heavy traffic have disappeared. It's quite funny that majority of the population think the same way, that the more they try to get ahead of other people, the more they are stuck behind.

Not very far from commuters racing with and pushing each other, in order to get through one MRT exit while the other 4 exits have very short lines. It happens all the time.

P.S. More Halloween posts to come.

Help End World Hunger

For each word you get right, they will donate 10 grains of rice through the United Nations to help end world hunger...

Jas and Ria would love this...

http://www.freerice.com/

Touch Me Not

As I had promised myself a month ago, I got new gadget. I'm replacing my old Nokia 1100 phone with a new assistant. I bought this after receiving my last pay from NSP. A reward for my hard work, and also a gift for my birthday.

For the record, it took me a month to decide whether to buy it or not. It was a tough decision. At times, I feel guilty spending that much money for a gadget. >:)

Introducing, my HTC Touch...







Unfortunately, I accidentally purged all my 240+ contacts the moment I attempted to sync with Microsoft Outlook. Stupid ActiveSync! Stupid Outlook! Stupid me for trusting those softwares! I managed to restore some of my contacts through some of my friends, just 60 of them though. :(

Living in Fear

If you happen to pass by Glorietta last week, even until the last couple of days, you would have noticed the massive drop in the number of mall visitors. The activity center which is normally crowded with children and also adults, is almost empty.

Glorietta 4 cinemas, which should have been jam-packed on weekend afternoons, seemed like no movie is being shown at all. Even the most popular fast food chains are half-closed, there was even a time when the number of crew exceeded the number of customers.

There's no better word I could think of that describes this situation other than the word "fear". Yes, we all live in a fear-driven world. Although fear itself is just a matter of perspective, is not that easy to eliminate it from our system.

There are many kinds of fear, but essentially they only prevent us from achieving real happiness. We all know what we fear, and it is not so hard to realize them, but the greatest question would be what are you going to do about it?

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Personally, I am against the inspection in malls and train station.s Aside from a "false sense of security", we get absolutely nothing from it. Ever since the Rizal Day bombing, regular citizens like me has to endure long, slow moving lines just to get on a train or buy something in a mall.

Hell, that was 7 years ago. How long are we going to stay this way? People like me suffer because people who are getting paid by taxpayers like me are incapable of doing their jobs. And whenever another bomb goes off somewhere, sometime, God knows what other kind of "heavier" security measures they could think of.

We waste millions, or maybe even billions just to develop weapons, and to strengthen our so-called "security". For what? For safety? For a better life?

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So what are we really afraid of?
That we might fail tomorrow's exam?
That we might not get a perfect score?
That we might not receive a gift on my birthday?
That we might lose my job next year?
That we might not be able to meet a deadline?
That we might not wake up tomorrow?
That we might be stabbed to death by a drunk?
That we might lose our love ones next week?
That another explosion would occur in another mall?
That tomorrow, Earth is going to be hit by a meteor?

There is an infinite number of things that you could think of fearing. But who cares? People will only care about what they fear. Humans are selfish by nature. If they were not, they would have been extinct early on.