First batch of books I got this new year! And for less! 

I got the Koushun Takami’s Battle Royale for only Php300 ($6) and Steve Berry’s The Jefferson Key for free due to a book trade. I have an extra copy of Mockingjay and so I swapped it for the said book. I was so happy.

Now where did I get these awesome books, you ask?

Well, this time, the students of University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines are in luck for they can access these low-priced books easily. Other bookworms (sadly only Filipinos) can also avail books just by visiting this page:

BOOKWARS

Trust me, the founders of this awesome page are very easy to talk to and reply immediately. :)

I would like to take this opportunity to give my condolences to a good friend, my year-long dorm mate, Cyrish Magalang. I went to her burial a while ago and I have to admit, I still cannot fathom what happened to her. 

We talked to her parents and the police officers and learned about what really happened. Apparently she was reported missing Tuesday night. She came home from her work at SMX center. She went to the tricycle station inside our subdivision. The driver behind the tricycle she rode told the officers that a guy got on the back and before the tricycle moved, the guy transferred inside, beside my friend. We learned that they picked up another guy at the curve and changed route. The following evening, my friend’s mom received a call telling her that the body was found at an empty hut very far from their house. Cyrish was found with 49 stabs wounds, 20 in the chest and the others all over her body. She was also pounded in the head using a hollow block. She was dead on the spot. It seemed to them that it was an attempted rape, since her underwear was pulled down halfway down her legs. But the autopsy showed that she wasn’t insulted that way. Their conclusion was she might have fought these men that’s why they killed her.

Right now, the police and the news team from local broadcasting stations in the country are doing their best to find the suspects. So far they have one of them and he is currently being questioned about the said incident. 

This is a really devastating and cruel event. I cannot imagine how some people could be so heartless to the point of inhumane. For the to stab her 49 times, that’s just too much. I just cannot imagine what her parents are going through right now. I keep thinking of what my friend did during this harrowing incident, her fear while she was being brought into that unknown place, her desperate plea for help, she might have even tried fighting them. She was all alone with no one anywhere in the vicinity. It was just all so unbelievable. We were just talking online two days ago, and now she’s gone.

Why are people like this? Isn’t there any good left inside their hearts to be able to do these kind of stuff? Why do they have to harm innocent people? Is their need that intense for them to be capable of such evil? Don’t they have a family of their own, a daughter perhaps, who might experience the same fate? Where are their souls? It’s just so unacceptable. I just hope they find justice for my friend’s death soon. It’s so unfair if they escape without any consequence.

Currently stuDYING Therapeutic Exercises and Pathology for the final examinations tomorrow.

I am so gonna be dead this week. Ugh. Here goes to larger, darker eyebags. Fast forward to semestral break please.

Who says I can’t eat cold food during this cold weather?

Hahaha. This Double Dutch ice cream doesn’t seem so bad a company in this chilly night. I am stuck here in my dorm for too long and I am so fed up with noodles and canned food. I really wanna go home. But alas, travelling deemed impossible when the rain continued to pour. And so I bought one of my comfort foods which is available at the convenience store of our dorm (thank goodness!). 

So right now, I’ve been a bum, watching movies on my laptop, hoping that the power won’t go out. I’m gonna be reading later if that happens. Yep, I’m pretty much stocked with books here in my dorm, and I can finally read them freely! How so, with the lights gone? Well, back to my handy flashlight, damned be my eyes. Hahaha. Anyways, this is how I look, all cuddled up with my favorite blanket with a huge pint of ice cream in hand. Hope you guys are okay, too! Have a nice stormy evening! :)

It’s been a crazy week for the Filipino nation due to the grave weather. Up until now, the raining doesn’t stop and a lot of street and cities are drenched in knee-high to waist-high floods. Being someone who dorms at UST, I’ve had my fair share of the flooded experience. And this is how it all started:

MONDAY

• Classes got suspended at around 12nn
• We decided to stay at my friend’s condo and have a mini drinking party and crazy games
• The rain got harder and yet, it didn’t occurred to us that it’s already flooded
• At 9pm, some of our friends decided to leave while Ella and I stayed because we know how high floods in UST can get
• AJ and Abby told us not to go home anymore, so we stayed overnight at their condo
• We had a movie marathon and watched National Treasure, Sex is Zero II, and If Only

TUESDAY

• We were supposed to head back our dorm but then they said that the flood in Lacson and UST is above knee-deep
• We went to SM which is directly in front of the condo to buy groceries
• We also had our lunch there and then we went back to the condo
• Out of boredom, we baked fudge brownies 
• While waiting, we played Monopoly deal and card games
• We also had another movie marathon. This time we watched National Treasures 2 and A Dangerous Method
• We cooked and ate dinner
• Then we decided to crash for the night after an hour or two of conversations

WEDNESDAY

• At around 9am, it was all sunny and no traces of rain but the flood is still there
• We had our breakfast (corned beef + eggs) and then some chips
• Ella and I were ready to go home when the rain poured again
• We waited for it to somehow lighten but it didn’t
• So we braved the rain and flood for we though that it might get worse again
• I rode a tricycle from SM to my dorm at Lacson and the flood was really bad
• It was still knee-high in some street and ankle-high in our dorm’s street
• I ended up paying a hundred pesos for the fare

And so now, I am finally in the comforts of my own dorm. I had nothing to do plus I cannot go out, so I started reading Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. I hope this rain would stop for I am really afraid of the consequences it can give us. The UST Hospital and UERM are already low on diesel for their generators. The morgue on the first floor of UST Hospital is already flooded and bodies are floating around. The patients and staff are running very low on supplies. If this goes on, I don’t know how much more we can take. And to think that this all happened without a storm in our country’s area of responsibility. Damn.

Look at me! All prim and proper, ready to go to school. But wait for it.. CLASSES ARE SUSPENDED!

Just when I was about to get out of my room, they announced that it’s cancelled. :| Which sucks, since I’m already in my uniform and ready to go. 

I know the suspension is for the safety of the others who are living near Manila Bay, which I think by now is already flooded. But then, I just think that they should have announced it earlier so that students won’t have to go through the motions and hassle just to get to school. Some of my friends are already here in UST and some are on their way. What a waste of money and time. 

So yes, I am pissed, although I don’t look like it. HAHA. And yes, I feel that our supposed to be month-long sembreak would be cut short to make-up for these school days. And I don’t think anyone like that. 

Please give me a moment to fully grasp how awesome and relaxing my next semester is going to be. NOT.

I mean, just look at that schedule! It sucks right? Well here’s what you should know: that’s actually the best possible schedule I can have as a 4th year student of BS Physical Therapy in UST. The other sections 7-hours-straight classes and 7am to 7pm classes for more than one day. I feel like I’m going to be so stressed this year.

You see, it’s not as easy to be a PT as what most people imagine. And again, we are not masseurs. Just look at our subjects! Especially that Clinical Education subject. What the hell are we supposed to do for 6 hours straight? But really though, those from the higher batch said that 4th year 1st semester is very challenging and brain-draining. And yes, it’s tough because we only have one year left before our year-long internship starts.

So I guess, hello bigger and darker eyebags and 2-3 hours sleep again. Not to mention, major stress. Haha. Not funny at all.