*BABALA: Ang mga obra maestrang ito ay piniga mula sa puso't utak ng mga batang bondayge at kahit kailan man ay di nagalaw ng kahit sino mang dayuhan. Lahat ng ito ay orihinal na komposisyon na nararapat lamang makatanggap ng marka ng pag-aari. Ang sino mang gumamit nito na walang pahintulot mula sa mga may akda ay nararapat lamang I-upo sa silya elektrika. Malinaw ba mga pre? Okey! Happy Reading!

Freshman Life.

By the time we reach seventh grade, dreams about high school life are sure to appear. Hey, don't deny it. I'm very much sure we've wondered how much different life will be once we become freshmen once or twice, right? And there's the intriguing topic we must have mused about: initiation. Does it send a shiver down your spine, or do you feel a sense of excitement? Whichever you may feel, if you've either scared or anxious to experience it, it's perfectly normal. Every freshman goes through fears and apprehensions during this period. I should know. I went through it. It's comforting to know that every high school student has gone through it. It gives you a certain feeling of relief to know that they survived the whole thing.

So, what is this initiation thingie all about? First of all, it's not just doing incredible and embarrassing feats; there's a bigger and nicer name to call it. Kapatiran. In English brotherhood. Why is it nicer to call it such? Because it's not as intimidating to hear than Initiation. I know connotations like bonding, friendship, companionship, and the like come to mind when you hear it. So it's more pleasant. First, there's your sister. She's a senior, and she'll be making you do stuff in a limited time and perform humiliating tasks in front of everybody. She'll make you dress up in weir clothes and turn your face into an abstract painting with tons of makeup. Sounds horrible right? For example, you have to get down on your knew ad bow when you see her, or beep her every hour, or list a hundred nice adjectives about her, or worse, wear three briefs everyday! But once you get started, you'll realize how fun it actually is. You take advantage of your monster makeup and scare kids, or even add your own twist to the appointed tasks. But best of all, there's the Kapatiran night. That's when you freshmen and your senior sisters get together and stay overnight at school. That night, you don't need to look beastly or do any weird stuff anymore. You just have fun and party! Then there's the touching part, wherein you really can't help but cry. All of you will hold candles and exchange them with all you see, while playing senti music. Your sisters will swear to never make you do what you did during the week. Then, you'll hug your sister and realize how much you love her. (Aaaw..) That's when you'll find out why you had to do those tasks in the first place. So you see, freshman life isn't just hard subjects and new teachers, it's the bonding, the love and the peace you'll feel. So, still nervous of entering high school?

March 1999

Star gazing.

Stars.. aren't they beautiful. there the most… splendid things that lie just above you, night after night after night. Have you wished upon your star yet.. has it come true? or was that a planet you were wishing on? hehehe. kwela! Last feb, the freshmen'99 went on a star gazing. it was held in school at the fair grounds….. the FIELD… yun lang. hehehe. ang lamig grabbe! and most of us were wearing shorts then. ( sheesh.. what language am I using.?) Okay so the first time they informed us about this star gazing thingy, we all got excited and we just couldn't wait for that day to come. But then, when we figured that "nothing could possibly go wrong…" Ms Jamero and our other science teachers decided to re-schedule it. Cloudy daw kasi eh.. grabbe.. So that was off. We waited, and waited and waited again for that day, and finally…with just a little hope left…it came to us. yey! Everything was practically fine until this thing came up. -- " kailangan ba ng tent??" So that was it. Two days left. And not even one of us owned a tent big enough to accommodate all 9 of us. We tried to borrow from others, pero wala wala parin … one day left…. the day before that night (ha?…) We tried asking help from our moms at syempre, they provided with the the best things you can find, having two more hours left. We ended up on an instant TOLDA… its like… better than nothing u know. It was kinda easy to set up (35 minutes … with 6 people working on it -- hehehe??) So that was over, we just nailed our beloved tolda-tent near the ground, so that…. we could have walls… imagine that! asstig noh. that's done… we ordered dinner from KFC and later on went out for a little lecture from our guest speaker. Half of the group was lining up to view the…. stars from the telescope, while the other half monkey'ed around, inside our "HOMe.." The tolda layed there -- still…. in the field while it battled with the strong winds. And finally, it happened.. NILIPAD na nga siya. The people inside the tent (MJ, maan…camilee. nag re-wrestling pa kasi….) just watched as they laughed their hearts out while the others strived to get this thing on the ground. By the time the tolda was down and nailed, it was 30 minutes later. And laughter still rocked the house rocked the house. mwehehe!

Many months had passed, but still the story of our faithful tolda never left our hearts. That is why up to now, as I look up on the velvety skies at night, a smile, a grin, or even laughter had never skipped to cross my path as I reminisce on the memories of that very night. *bwahahah!

Feb 1999

Akin yan ah.

Nakaramdam ka na ba ng sakit na sobrang sakit na parang dinudurog talaga yun puso mo ng isang pares ng 3-inch na hi-heels na sapatos na kulay itim? Grabe. Ilang araw ka nang puyat. Ilang araw ka nang sabog. Ilang araw ka nang pumapasok ng bangag. Pero wala. Halos dugo na ang pawis na umaagos sa tagiliran ng iyong noo… pero wala… wala parin… Wala lang. Tuwing lunchtime, kinagagalitan ka na ng baon mo na ni minsan ay hindi mo nailabas ng bag dahil sa pabalikbalik na pag parito't pag paroon mo sa hall. Takbo ka ng takbo. Pasok dito, pasok doon. Labas dito, labas doon. Nakakaduling kana. Hindi ka mapakali. Para kang isang… jet sa bilis ng iyong pagkilos. Nalulunod kana sa dami ng papel na dala-dala mo. Mga papel na kinatititikan ng mga iskribols na mas matindi pa dun sa kinahig ng tandand. Pero wala kang pakialam. Ayaw mong magpaistorbo. Tindi!. Ang tindi ng bilis ng pagpapaikot mo ng lapis na upod ang pambura. Pre. Busing-bisy ka. Tuloytuloy an gpagsusunog mo ng kilay. Ayan nanlalagas na. Ayos ka talaga.

Ayos ka lang pre? Ano ginagawa mo? Bat nandyan ka nanaman sa isang tabi? Teka! Wag mo naman akong layuan. Lumuluha ka nanaman. Wala ka bang panyo? O eto. Gamitin mo muna. Okay lang. Basta ba lalaban mo e. huy. Magsalita ka. Wala? Sigurado kang wala? Ano? May sugat ka ba? Masakit? Masakit ang alin?? Mahirap? Ang ano?? Umiiyak ka nanaman e. Anong problema? May problema ba? O. basa na yung panyo. Gusto mo ihiram pa kita? Ah. Ayaw mo. Sige. Wala. Okay sabi mo e. ano yan. Bakit ka meron niyan? Kelan pa yan? Bakit? Bakit nandyan yan. Ang kyut naman ng bandaid mo. O teka teka.. ano nagawa ko. (may nahulog)…gago. Cutter ko yan a.

!@(^%^ labo ng writeup na to no? k lng.