I read something recently which talks about how there is a bigger underlying reason for procrastination, which was a semi-wake up call - semi because before I actually start doing the two papers I have to write, here I am writing a blog entry. Basically the article said how there are three possible issues whether it be ADHD, depression, or simply the fear of knowing that you're not good enough, by which you rely on reasoning yourself out by not being able to produce something worth something, because you "procrastinated. It actually becomes self destructive, and we become our own reason for our failure, which is a sad though, so I guess we should stop being scared is all, and just do. I want to expound more on this, but I need to get a move on with my papers and plates. Goodbye for now stranger.
Hello stranger. So it's early morning rants again with dear ol' me. It's only the second week since classes started, sans the week where classes were suspended of course, and basically I'm already drowning in deadlines, though more so because I placed myself in a position of anxiety and stress. I really want to do my utmost in the last few semesters I have in this university, but hey being prepared actually has it's perks.
As the week is ending I've have come to some certain realizations in regards to productivity. First and foremost, stop complaining and just do. I mean majority of the people who end up procrastinating, which I admittedly am, tend to put off things stating that they were overwhelmed or it was too difficult. What I mean is, you're going to do it either way, might as well get it out of the way, but more often than not, the process of actually doing things spans in much longer compared to last minute do's, and sometimes we need to trick ourselves in order not to get bored with being productive, which would be scattering each task into chunks by which you get to do a little at a time, with the same amount of time constraint.
So far this has worked for me because my self assessed ADD is actually one of the worst. I'm so drained and am actually dying to go home because of the workload surrounding all over my apartment, but so far I'm surviving, though I'm currently sick due to the fact of my lack of sleep for the past days.
In terms of productivity, I ended up doing a Vray render practice of one of the book-stands at my university's library out of sheer boredom and a change of perspective from doing hospital design research and AutoCAD. Architecture is life. I got the measurements from an exercise I did for my Specification Writing class. Don't worry I don't just go around randomly measuring random items, though I have this tiny measuring tape keychain ha!
So now I shall go back to doing my other requirements, though I'm hoping for it to rain like crazy so that classes would be suspended because I'm dying to go home. Alright I bid thee farewell.
Before this whole
endeavor towards this sociology project was finalize, the mere thought of a
three-day immersion with rural folks was beyond me. I’ve experienced community
service when I was young, by which our school interacted with children from the
lower class and taught them Mathematics, English, and Science on Saturdays, but
never have I thought of living amongst them. As all paper requirements were
passed, fees payed, then the orientation, there was both excitement and fear was taking
over me. I’m all too familiar with the idea of heat, lack of water for bathing,
and eating traditional Filipino food, but the idea of experiencing it out of my
comfort zone was quite nerve-wracking.
When we arrived at Sibulan,
Nagcarlan, Laguna, we gathered at this tiny chapel which could fit a good
amount of a hundred persons. It was this open space with a set altar and
lectern, and amateur hand painted murals of the divine on each side. This was
to be our set meeting place as it was vacant because mass only took place on
Sundays. We were then assigned to our “Purok”
these were their means of identification of each cluster of houses at
the barangay. All in all, there were a total of seven. At the beginning there
were some complication on regarding to which household we were to be assigned
to, since there were three of us in a group, which originally should only be
two. Everything was then settled and we ended up in Purok three. We were then accompanied to our respected Purok. The “Kagawad” then distributed us to our respected families. There we
were to meet our foster mother, Ate
Joanne.
We were greeted by a friendly hello and to her surprise, there was three of us instead of two. She was this small lady wearing a red shirt and brightly colored leggings. Her hair was colored brown, and her smile genuine as day. Her house was quaint. The living room was covered with carpet and the rest was of the house was covered with bright green PVC flooring. The walls, though weren’t sanded nor painted, was concrete. The house had three bedrooms, one master, one bath and two bedrooms for her children, Nunay and John Lloyd. She then showed us around the house and made us stay in both of her children’s rooms as they would all stay in the master’s bedroom.
We were greeted by a friendly hello and to her surprise, there was three of us instead of two. She was this small lady wearing a red shirt and brightly colored leggings. Her hair was colored brown, and her smile genuine as day. Her house was quaint. The living room was covered with carpet and the rest was of the house was covered with bright green PVC flooring. The walls, though weren’t sanded nor painted, was concrete. The house had three bedrooms, one master, one bath and two bedrooms for her children, Nunay and John Lloyd. She then showed us around the house and made us stay in both of her children’s rooms as they would all stay in the master’s bedroom.
After we’d settled in we
then proceeded to interview Ate Joanne with the prescribed CBMS tool
provided by our course. We then learned that there was a tragedy that happened
a year ago that affected their primary source of income, which was delivering lansones, which was curtailed because of the typhoon. They were put into a position by which his husband had to work as an
OFW in Hong Kong with a three year contract as a welder. I felt quite sympathetic
to the children because, I myself is away from own mother working in another country.
We then conducted the
several other interviews which made me realize more and more how very different
their lives are compared to us. What surprised me the most is their
hospitality, openness and kindness towards us during our entire stay. Every
door was open. Whatever food on their table was offered, and our safety was
valued.
We were the family who
were taken along to go night swimming in secret, and there we met the rest of
their extended family. Like all other parents, they were very proud of their
children, showing us pictures and telling us about all their accomplishments.
This made me thought of my parents and all the hard work they did in order for
us to have the life that we have.
Our class was divided
into two by which we were assigned task regarding the summary of the CBMS
interviews and the rural design for the community. I was one of the few who
helped designed for the rural structure for the Sibulan community. We then
designed a multi-purpose community space by which was built with indigenous
materials and could be built by the community themselves. There I felt how this
course and this career that I’m leading towards to can actually make a
difference in people’s lives. I felt relevant. I felt that I can actually a
difference.
The entirety of the
Sibulan experience made me most thankful for everything that I have and the
blessings I’ve been given. This also assured me that I am on the right path in
taking this major, because I can help those who have less. I hope to visit this
place again soon because it was indeed a one of a kind experience and I would,
if given the chance, do it all over again.
Many would contradict that the internet's advances hinders the understanding between human interactions. I believe that you can tell a lot about a person depending on how they manage their social media accounts. This concerns privacy and status "like" to post ratio. A complete study of this would take extensive research (stalking ha!) of numerous accounts, and seeing behavioral patterns between how the person is and how they want to be perceived as. I wouldn't want to call myself a connoisseur in psychology concerning the use of modern technology, though if one would take further deliberation on the behavioral similarities of each (If one had the time and actual interest), you would have a new understanding to the idea of "cyber stalking".
Privacy is a luxury society often take light of, which in turn makes it easier to pin point which groups are the ones with hidden agendas, albeit I trust that there is a vast spectrum of plausible reason for such actions, but like psychology and numerous scientific studies, it would be an educated conclusion based on hypotheticals concerning the constant and controlled variable. I really think that would be an excellent thesis for a psychology major. No? Probably I'm just this insane sociopath who takes entertainment in being an obnoxious kid that I am with daily occurrences. Let me just put it out there. I am not knowledgeable, but solely an intrigued millennial who prefers the comfort of her own room than actually socialize with fellow humans and converse in the typical manner- though many would declare otherwise.
I personally keep my accounts in check, if not daily, frequent. Often I look at past entries and contemplate the relevance of their existence to my current lifestyle- I sense an anal self-absorbed perfectionist. I digress, but that in itself expresses the point of the numerous possibilities of a "study" like this. I trust that you recognize the sarcasm in this. Nevertheless, I imagine people should exert time into polishing their pages as if they were picking out clothes to wear, now that I've imparted that there are individuals such as myself, who take educated conclusions from your "FB". I might as well be your next boss.
I've been so busy with school that I haven't had the chance to hangout with my two younger siblings. Coincidentally my friend Dianne was holding her 18th birthday celebration at Tagaytay, and she needed videographers and photographers for the event. I suggested my brother, and I could definitely just help and take photos, do her makeup and assist with the party itself. The event was one whole afternoon at the SkyRanch amusement park.
Since we were already in the area, I decided to make it a whole trip out of it. Here are some of the photos during the trip.
-DAY 1-
Traveling through bus was really rough, but good thing it was a 3 seater row, so we got to sit together. We got dropped of at Olivarez and ate lunch at the Chowking.
We checked in at our Hotel at around 2pm. The accommodations at Q Hotel were pretty stellar. The place was picturesque. Some people actually hold events like weddings and debuts here. I mean check out that grand staircase.
After checking in we headed to Picnic Grove to see the sights and go Horse back riding.
We ended the first day by having dinner at Rowena's
-DAY 2-
After prepping for the event we headed to Josephine's. We enjoyed a nice view of Taal Volcano while eating.
We walked around the Sky Ranch park.
Mission accomplished!
-DAY 3-
We woke early so that we could ride a tricycle down to the TLYC, where we would register for our day trek to the crater. It was 20-30 minute ride from our hotel to the club. The ride down was nice since the road was full of vegetation and the air was pretty cool.
We woke early so that we could ride a tricycle down to the TLYC, where we would register for our day trek to the crater. It was 20-30 minute ride from our hotel to the club. The ride down was nice since the road was full of vegetation and the air was pretty cool.
On the boat ride on the way to the trail. They were still cranky because it was early in the morning.
Crystal clear blue water.
This was already on the trail going to the crater itself.
There's this tower where you can see this view
All smiles!
Well lookie here. It's the crater
We actually went down to the actual crater as well. It was such an experience that not a lot of people get to see
It was also boiling on some of the areas of the crater. Some people would bring eggs and boil it here just for fun. It was definitely humid in this area
This was place was so beautiful. I would have never thought I would see this in person.
I highly suggest that you go on the trail much earlier. You can go as early as 5 am, just make sure to tell the club ahead of time. Also purchase and reserve your slots ahead of time than paying and scheduling upfront since its much cheaper that way.
-DAY 4-
On the last day we decided to pay the local Starbucks that had a nice view of the lake before heading back to Manila
If you want to have the whole itinerary and cost of the trip, I made a whole post about it HERE.
I initially made this itinerary to show our parents the schedule of our trip to Tagaytay. Provided them with GPS locations, as well the intended budget for our trip. This is a very basic itinerary for first time tourists in Tagaytay. There are other places that I didn't get to include in this trip, but I definitely intend to visit the next time I go to Tagaytay. If you have any suggestions for places to go it would be great if you posted them on the comments below so that other readers may see them.
-DAY 1-
9:00 AM Departure from Manila Bus station: bus ride: 87/ea
12:00 AM Arrival at Olivarez Tagaytay
1:30 PM Ride to Q Hotel: 100
1:30 PM Ride to Q Hotel: 100
Lunch at Fast food joint along Olivarez 300
WEBSITE
3:00 PM Tagaytay Picnic Grove 100
LOCATION
Entrance fee: 50/ea
Horseback Riding: 350/ea
5:00 PM Ride back to Q Hotel 100
3:00 PM Tagaytay Picnic Grove 100
LOCATION
Entrance fee: 50/ea
Horseback Riding: 350/ea
5:00 PM Ride back to Q Hotel 100
9:00 PM Tricycle ride to Q Hotel: 200
cost for the day: 6011
8:00 AM Breakfast at Q Hotel: (3k/day weekend price)
9:00 AM Prepare for Sky Ranch
1:00 AM Tricycle Ride to Lunch: 300
Lunch at Josephine’s: 600
LOCATION
1:00pm SkyRanch (entrance courtesy of Dianne)
LOCATION
7:00 PM Ride to Hotel: 300
Back to Q Hotel
cost for the day: 4200
7:00 AM Breakfast at Q Hotel: (3k/day weekend price)
8:00 AM Ride to Taal Lake Yacht Club 500 LOCATION
9:00 AM Arrive at Taal Lake Yacht Club for Calauit Trail 6260/3 people
12:00 PM Ride back to Olivarez 500
for lunch and buy Dinner 600
1:00 PM Ride Back to Q Hotel 100
*Take pictures and chill around the Q Hotel for the rest of the day*
cost for the day: 10,960
cost for the day: 6011
-DAY 2-
8:00 AM Breakfast at Q Hotel: (3k/day weekend price)
9:00 AM Prepare for Sky Ranch
1:00 AM Tricycle Ride to Lunch: 300
Lunch at Josephine’s: 600
LOCATION
1:00pm SkyRanch (entrance courtesy of Dianne)
LOCATION
7:00 PM Ride to Hotel: 300
Back to Q Hotel
cost for the day: 4200
-DAY 3-
7:00 AM Breakfast at Q Hotel: (3k/day weekend price)
8:00 AM Ride to Taal Lake Yacht Club 500 LOCATION
9:00 AM Arrive at Taal Lake Yacht Club for Calauit Trail 6260/3 people
12:00 PM Ride back to Olivarez 500
for lunch and buy Dinner 600
1:00 PM Ride Back to Q Hotel 100
*Take pictures and chill around the Q Hotel for the rest of the day*
cost for the day: 10,960
-DAY 4-
9:00 AM Breakfast at Q Hotel
12:00 PM Check out at Q Hotel
12:30 PM Starbucks Tagaytay 40
LOCATION
1:00 PM Lunch at Olivarez 300
2:00 PM Ride to Olivarez: 100
Departure for Manila: 87/ea
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM Arrival at Manila
cost for the day: 701
Total cost: 21,872 Php = approx. 430 USD