One Hit Combo

They're back! Ang pinakamalupit na banda! 

One Hit Combo sounds like a sequel to the very funny and epic The Yes Yes Show.

Thanks to my third year high school seatmate, I've memorized The Yes Yes Show by hook (not by crook :p). Ralph, he was always singing this song. Internet was not that big here yet (at least for us classmates), so googling for lyrics was really not an option. He wrote down the lyrics in a piece of paper (my intermediate pad, mind you) and he would always try to memorize it when there were no teachers around. Next thing I knew, we were having a duet! Haha.. This was the very first rap song I've ever memorized. The only rap song, actually.

Francis "Kiko" Magalona was still alive here (the last guy who rapped). He died in 2009 of leukemia.

Watching this new video now kinda made me sad, I love Gloc9, but I still kinda miss Kiko. He is the Master Rapper after all.

Oh well, this band was one of my high school heroes. Inspired me to learn how to play the guitar. I'd always love them. :)

Mallary read it!

Remember my post HopeFULL which was totally about Mallary Hope?

SHE READ IT.

Like Oh.My.Gosh she did.

I was on her twitter page but I was also watching Grey's Anatomy so I didn't notice it immediately. And then, there it was, 5 new tweets. At first, I got confused. Why was my name there? And my blogger address? And then I remembered tweeting her the link the day before. I thought she never got the chance to read it, why, she has 5000 plus followers and I don't know how many tweets she gets a minute. Haha.

Here it is, officially my most favorite tweet (at least for now). I just had to print screen it. I just had to! Hahahaha.

Even now, I get tickled when I read her tweet! Hahaha.

Thanks, Mal! You rock!

xoxo

Always

My mom is so excited to know that she can put songs in her cellphone. She's had an ancient Nokia monophonic phone for the longest time. She didn't want to "complicate" texting, as she put it. But because my sister and my brother-in-law are a great influence, she decided to take a big leap and buy a MyPhone. Hahaha.

Anyway, we added lots and lots of Hillsong music in her memory card. And so my ancient archive of Hillsong songs have been, uhmm, unearthed.

When I first heard this song when I was in college, I just cried in a corner. God is just so great and He has so much love for us and I find this song very sincere.

As I saw in a Youtube comment, this song never gets old.

Blessed morning, you guys :)

Early Bird

This is the first day in a verrry long time that I was able to sleep at home at night. So yey!

It makes me wanna sing, "Good morning sa inyoooo!!!!" Haha! So many people get annoyed with that commercial, I find it really really refreshing and a great song to jumpstart a busy day ahead.

Haha!

And I did say a busy day ahead right? Today is Grad School enrollment and I have to go half-day to work after that. So wish me luck and a loooot of energy!

xox

To my Big Sister

It's 8:09 PM and I just woke up from a 9-hour "nap". It looks like everyone went somewhere because the house is quiet and because yeah, it's Sunday night! I'm such a bummer.

Anyway, I was just browsing through my twitter timeline and saw Bianca Gonzalez tweet. Of course I clicked on her profile. I haven't browsed through her blogger site for the longest time so when I did, it was like blogpost overload! Since college, I've followed her blog. Blogger was not really that big here then and so I thought it was like a special treat. Not all celebrities write down a piece of their life, their experiences, so I was eager to read about what she had to say. As I said, I was in college by this time and her initial blogs were about her college life in Ateneo. Ateneo de Manila University is a very elite university here in the Philippines. If you have money AND brains, enroll here. I, on the other hand, studied at a state university, so I was curious how a well-off college student goes through, well, college.

Even after graduation, I make it a point to read her blogs because it became a habit. I may not read it religiously, but when I do, I feel like I'm talking to a friend I haven't talked to for a long time. Her blog was actually one of the reasons why I maintained one myself. Shameless plugging. Come to think of it, mine's four years old now!

Thank God for blogger, I gained another big sister. Her posts were like heads up! for me, words of wisdom from a big sister. And her latest post was no different.

Halfway through, I was crying. I was brought up with people asking me "what's your plan?" and I have never been someone who wants to plan things. Being asked that question in the dinner table actually made me (and still does) uncomfortable and pressured. My dad always said that he had a planned out his life even when he was still in high school. They were really poor so doing that was not really a bad idea. He had dreams.

Sometimes, I ask myself if I have dreams. Do I really want to do something with my life? Where do I want to be five maybe ten years from now? Well, thank God I still have answers to these questions but then I ask myself : "Then why don't you have plans?"

Thank you, Bianca, for reminding me that not all things should be planned. Yes, I do plan but not really the kind that would tell me where I would be and what I would be doing five to ten years from now. While I know that planning will make me focused and hold some kind of security, I'm a firm believer of spontaneity and I always love how life would surprise me with unexpected twist and turns.

I am so excited and I dream for the day when I'd post a blog entitled The Accidental Everything as well.

Your virtual little sister,
Nika :)

HopeFULL

Yey! It's 8am and I don't have work so I've been awake since last night. That's the bad thing about working night shifts, it's really hard to adjust your body clock all the time. I mean, I work Monday to Friday (nights) and of course I sleep Saturday all day. When I was transferred to the night shift, they advised me to try not to sleep Saturday all day, sleep at night so I could sleep on Sunday nights too but then I'd have to adjust for Monday night again so that advise I did not really follow. Hahaha.

Since I don't have a boyfriend, which I think will change in just a couple of months (prospective boyfriend, yes you who wore that purple long sleeves during the graduate school interview, get ready! hahaha), what do I do? Oh yes people, internet has been my best friend for the last couple of months.

I was hooked with the American Idol fever when they went here to the Philippines. And I got starstruck with Lauren Alaina! I've been a fan since the auditions so imagine how excited I felt when they went here! Got to join a meet-and-greet in Market! Market! and got to talk to her for like thirty seconds! I didn't have the guts to ask her to follow me back in twitter, I thought asking for that was too much. Haha.. I wasn't really planning on going to their concert. This season was my favorite and I've watched every episode of it, literally, and just the thought that this was a once in a lifetime experience and that night was their final gig together kinda made it harder not to go. Actually, it's my dad who convinced me to. He's a James Durbin fan but doesn't really like to go to concerts and we were having this conversation about going or not going. My mom said, "Just watch it on youtube! Someone's probably gonna upload the whole thing anyway." But then my dad said these words and I will always thank him for being so wise. Haha. He said, "Yeah, you could watch them on a computer screen but the feeling of just being there when the whole thing happened, nothing beats that." I was on my way to Ticketnet five minutes after. Woohoo that was a good night.

Anyway, back to Lauren. I've been extra attentive to her twitter after that. She released her first album and I was am kinda bummed that the CD is still not available here in the Philippines. I don't really go for downloading things from iTunes since I'm prone to reformatting my computer. Like all the time. Haha. Lauren was more visible for the promotion and all that stuff and there was this song that she sang, The Locket, which I thought was really touching. It was just so romantic and... sad :( and I hope I get to be that girl, many many years from now, with the kind of love she has for her husband and all that. Grandma, you sure look pretty. And you smiled that smile, the one I haven't seen in quite a while. And you said to me, I want you to keep his picture in a locket that I wore around my neck... 

Found out that Georgia Peaches and The Locket were written by the same person. She gave a shoutout to her on GMA I think, so I googled her name. Mallory Hope. I laugh about it now. I think most people make the same mistake though. Google offered the correct spelling though: Mallary Hope. Haha! Saw that she had a twitter account so I followed just for the fun of it. Saw her tweets and I was like, ooh this girl can tweet! They were around 29 or 30k I guess.

Later, I saw that she was active on twitter so I tried tweeting her.

And then she replied! I was like, is this for real?

No one famous has ever tweeted me before. Haha. And my friends are not really into twitter so not a lot of people tweet me period! LOL. So I tweeted her again, 'cause when someone intrigues me, I do my homework. It's like high school research all over again, only this time, no one's asking me to and no one's gonna flunk. Haha. She had like 800 likes on her Facebook so I tweeted this:

to which she replied (to my greater shock and surprise):

I was like, she really is reading her fans' tweets! There was another tweet I tweeted from 20 hours ago and when I got home from work, I saw that she replied to it. And I thought, ohmigahd, this girl is something.

AND

She writes amazing songs. I mean REALLY amazing songs. I love listening to country music because they always tell stories and they are just more descriptive with things and with events and emotions. County music isn't big here in the Philippines as we are more inclined to pop, ballad and R&B. I first learned about country when I was in  high school when my music teacher explained to us about it and sang Sad Movies and Don't Cry Joni in front of class and I loved it! Mallary just does these things brilliantly. Some songs I haven't experienced yet, like getting envious of someone who's getting married to my ex, but when I first heard her sing She Gets My Life, I really felt sad for the ex-girlfriend. It kinda made me think, we always get to know how the girl-the-guy-picks feels and we're happy for them and all that but no one really pays that much attention to the exes. She gets the first kiss, she gets the last name, she gets the ring on her hand, a white picket fence, she gets everything... I had goosebumps hearing this part.

And who didn't shed a tear when they first heard Love Lives On? This was actually the first song of Mallary I got to hear. You know how you search for something in youtube and then when you see it, you play the video  then go to another webpage and do something else while listening and then realize that it's a freakin' great song and then you go back and repeat it and this time actually WATCH the video? That's kinda what happened to me. And I read the comments and so many other people were relating to the song! I have an officemate who got widowed last year, she's like 26 and she gave birth to their first child and after a month, her husband died. I saw her break down one time. We're good friends, just not the type who'd open up about those kinda things, but there was one time we were just talking about cellphones and the New Year and the topic suddenly led to her husband and how she misses him everyday. She just began crying and this was during breaktime and I really felt bad for her because I knew that no matter what I said, however I tell her it's gonna be fine, I could never really know how alone she feels. I was thinking about her the whole time I was listening to Love Lives On.

Wise Beyond Her Tears I also can relate to because my childhood best friend got pregnant at 16 and I don't know if it's a big issue for you people out there but here, it's really big. I mean, if you get pregnant and unwed, it doesn't matter if you're 15 or 34, get ready for all the gossip and hurtful words. The baby daddy didn't have the balls so we just really stayed with her all throughout the whole thing. We're now both 23 and I'm a godmother to her pretty girl, and she draws well just like her momma, she's also bubbly and all. When I see them, I just get amazed at how having a child prepares you for life. I cannot, for the love of God, see myself having a kid now, what more at 16? Writing this down actually gave me an idea: I'd let her listen to the song herself. Hahaha

I could go on all day, since it's weekend, but I gotta go to church! Haha I think I made my point clear enough though. I said this before and I'd never get tired of saying this again and again until I think it's okay to stop. Mallary Hope is such an underrated singer and I really really really hope that she gets BIG. I think the whole world should hear her talent because they don't know what they're missing! And her heart is so big! I read about her giving something for the overseas people (here I qualify hehe) who are bummed because they can't join the Hang-Out with Mallary contest. I was like, she doesn't really have to do that. But she goes out of her way. I don't know what makes me a fan more, her love for her fans or the great music that she creates. Just kidding. I love her because of both. That makes her not just another singer. All these songs she has, it gives me goosebumps and I don't ever think I'd hear a song of her that I won't like. I can't wait for the day when I'd hear her songs on Philippine radio too. And I know she couldn't tweet by then like how actively she tweets now but that would be totally understandable. Haha.

PS: Thanks to This is Me, I learned that our birthdays are five days apart. Mine's on the 16th :)

PS part 2: Mal, if you get the chance to have a world tour (which I know you will) and you happen to get to do a concert here in the Philippines, can we have coffee? The Starbucks I hang out at is the best. And I'd give you that Starbucks Christmas Planner as well. Haha :)

xoxo

Kristine!

I'm blogging a lot today! It's just that I have insomnia in the morning. Haha. I work night shifts so my technical bedtime is daytime. Which I don't follow. I sleep around noon. Which is like, NOW. So I'd make this faaaast!

It's mi amiga's birthday today! Woohooo!!! I miss your butterfly earrings ateh! Haha.

My heart is just so happy to know that I have a very good friend in you. It's been more than two years since college graduation and who knew we would still be close friends? Twenty years from now, I know we'd still be sipping coffee at Starbucks, but we'd mature and order hot coffee instead of frappe. Hahaha.

Love ya Keereeesteeeen! :D

Interview/Pre-Reg

First ever class meeting.

I thought it'd be tense and scary, turned out it was just a pre-orientation (since the formal orientation would be on the 27th). It didn't bite. Haha.. I'm just so darn excited to go back to school! Haha.

I got my subjects for the semester already. 9 units! Yehey! :)

One thing frustrated me though, I had to take up Technical Report Writing :( I think that meant I flunked the essay part of the exam which I thought I really did well in. They said maybe my attack was wrong, maybe I should've made a more formal one, but I thought it was biographical/personal since we were asked to talk about ourselves and why we decided to enroll for Graduate School. Oh well. :(

The head of the program talked for a while (or more than a while haha) and his 'heads up' slash reminder struck to me: Graduate school is not like college. I believe you are mature people.

Haha. He reminds me of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Only milder.

Anyhoo, enrollment starts next week. Which would mean another half day from work. Hate it! I feel so harassed when I arrive to work at MIDNIGHT. Yes, half day for us starts at midnight.

Still excited. Really excited!

:)

28 Hours

Yesterday was one of the longest days of my twenty three year old life.

Friday night: last day of work. 1 hour ealy in OT = shift starts at 6pm.

News on twitter at 4pm that day: EDSA is like a huge parking lot. Take C5 road instead.

How in the world can I come in at 6 when you see reports like that???

Solution: Alternate route via cab.

Great Idea. NOT! The traffic was terrible not just in EDSA but EVERYWHERE. My brilliant plan? Not so brilliant after all. This bright idea cost me 180 bucks. 150 pesos more than my usual fare. I hated it! And I was 52 minutes late. Thank goodness my team lead 'tapered' my time in. Haha..

Fast forward to yesterday morning, end of shift.

Early morning beer. I finally got to play billiards! And learnt it! First time to ever shoot a ball in a pocket. I went berserk! Hahaha! Got to sing my diaphragm out after a looong time. Videoke rules!

SM Megamall 3-day Sale! This was the reason for the day before's stupendous traffic jam. Went in to see for myself and dang you could spend your fresh money in just an hour! Every store had sale! It came to a point when I wished I'd flunk the Graduate School Admission Exam so I could spend my saved up money for tuition in there instead! Hahaha. Windowshopping is my new hobby. For the next few months at least. Helped my friend buy her thaaaangs and went home went snooping for the exam's results.

I was ready to go home downcast but it turned out... I PASSED the friggin' test!

Woooow! I am so excited. Really really really excited to go back to school. I know it'd be strenuous, running from Makati to Manila thrice a week but I know I'd LOVE this.

Hold tight, me! :)

Pilot

Hi.

I'm Nika. A 23-year old middle class (or not) girl from the Philippines. Yes, I still live with my parents. Shocked? Well, it's the way things go around here. Some, if not most, people live with their parents even if they have families of their own. God forbid I go that far.

This is my nth blog. Have one in multiply, one in tumblr, and one (or more, I don't remember) here in blogger.

Two more days and I come face to face with my fate. The more you can't have it, the more you want it is my most common feeling these days. Do I get the chance to live my dream? I hope I do. This blog's main purpose is to be the Spongebob for my rants since I do not like talking to people about my problems. You don't count. You don't know me.

My new-blog-resolution? To be able to update this as OFTEN as I can, starting after two days from now.

Night guys.

(How come there are no new updates on my twitter??) Hahaha.