Dream Eater

The title itself says it all. This day was, well...

I kept on telling myself to "wake up, wake up..." when I felt that it was already late.

I woke up at noon. I brushed my teeth. It's still hard to imagine that I already had my braces removed. I'm not used to it. Anyway, no more hardship (except the pains of wearing a retainer after a few days). I ate lunch instead of brakfast, and I did everything I was supposed to do. I left the house at 1:45.

I waited for a side car to bring me to our store. When one finally was available, I told him...

"Sa Uno."
"Ha? Saan yun?"

(Now this question irritated me a lot. It's hard to believe that side car drivers don't know where my alma mater is. It's very near... And pshaw, you live in Manila, so you must know.)

(Most of you blockmates are excusable. I know there are only a few Chinese in our block, and many of you came from different parts of the Philippines. But for these side car drivers, this is unacceptable. Uno is a very famous Chinese school. Come on!)

(Hey Uneans! Make a good name out of our school! I'll start by telling people to visit our school's website at http://uhs.edu.ph/)

Every time drivers ask about our school, I always try to explain...

"Sa may Alvarado Extension."
"Ha? Saan yun?"

(Now I am really irritated.)

"Doon sa may Abad Santos!"
"Saan?"

(Inhale, exhale. I now know that there are many barbarians living in this city of ours. Not one, not two, but three. Wait! There may be more. Much more than I thought.)

He asked his 'colleagues' on the whereabouts of Alvarado.

What entered the other pedicab drivers' minds, obviously, was where was Alvarado Street located.

(I hate it! I hate it when people confuse Alvarado Extension with Alvarado Street! I tried to explain it to the driver, but he ignored me. How dare him!)

"40?"
He nodded.

When he was about to make a turn at Soler to go to Alvarado Street, I commanded him to go straight to Abad Santos. And then, I discovered that I left my wallet at home.

This greatly troubled me. I was supposed to pay for the membership fee of two organizations I wanted to join today, namely, LSCS and MooMedia (aka Baka, as told by my friends). My LRT Multi-trip tickets was also inside my wallet, so my anxiety was greatly increased. I assured myself that my mom would let me borrow money from her. My fears were cut short.

When I arrived at our store, after all the anger and anxiety, I discovered that my mom only had a few bills in her wallet. Trouble came. The membership fee of each organization I wanted to join was 220 pesos. My mom only gave me 300 pesos, and I have to set aside some money for my LRT fare. That means I can only join one organization today. Bummer!

So, I went on my way to La Salle via LRT. After alighting at Quirino Station, a ghastly truth occured to me; my ID was inside my wallet.

Without my ID, I wouldn't be able to enter the university. I've heard many a person warn people never to forget bringing their IDs to school. I checked my bag. I had my EAF (Enrollment Assessment Form, our temporary ID) with me, good.

I entered Andrew Hall with only a minute to spare and showed the guard my EAF...

"Sorry, di na kami nagtatanggap ng EAF dito."

I tried to convince them. They were so stubborn and cold-hearted...

I rushed to the back entrance of Andrew Hall, and again, the same response. Seems like I have to go all the way to South Gate to get a temporary gate pass. I informed my mom about my current situation, and an uproar started.

She wanted to call up our dean, Dr. Caslon Chua, and try to convince him to permit me inside. I warned her not to; I don't want to have a bad record in my stay in La Salle. And so, I rushed to South Gate. It began raining.

In case anyone noticed, I wasn't wearing my new shoes today. I wore my black pair, for my dad told me to. He said that it might rain today; I don't want to damage my shoes.

After receiving my passport to La Salle, I entered Andrew Hall through the back gate. I asked the guard how I would be able to go to Gokongwei Building after an hour of classes. He said that since left IDs are not offenses anymore, the punishment is that I would have to return to South Gate and get another pass. Oh no! Our INTRICT professor takes punctuality very seriously. One tardy mark and it's goodbye 4.0 for me.

I called up my mom again, and the rampage became worse. I went up to 8th floor by walking up the endless flight of stairs. I arrived at our classroom 15 minutes late, and many were shocked.

I'm really glad that our ALGTRIG professor doesn't check the class attendance, if not, I would be tardy, obviously. I try not to be a latecomer whilst only coming to school 5 to 15 minutes before the bell (for various reasons, I prefer not mentioning them).

I'm glad that we were dismissed early. Again, I scurried to South Gate to get another pass. Almost losing my breath, I ran to Gokongwei Building and entered the classroom. We were to watch a group report.

I was really worried because our group will be the next one presenting, and we still haven't had a formal meeting of our own. For the first time, we were able to utilize time and meet with our group properly while there was still some free time.

Free time? Well, the group who reported today mostly relied on their video presentation. They didn't bring with them a set of speakers and the sound coming from the laptop they brought was too little. Fortunately, one of my blockmates volunteered to go to EGI Taft Tower to lend hers to the group. While she was away, our group had a conference for a short while.

Our professor looked fiercer than usual. She gave the group a grade of 50% (The passing grade was 70%.) for disorganization. Because the reporters weren't in business attire, the teacher gave extra deductions. Everybody agreed to give the group a second chance, for they were the first group that reported. They were to report again on Friday.

Our group would have a meeting this Saturday, and I hope that everything would be fine by then. As a perfectionist, I wanted our group to get a grade of 95% or above, if not 100%. It's for our own good, anyway. And it covers up 30% of our grade...

When we were dismissed, I was worried again about returning to South Gate to get a pass to the Central Plaza. My worries were eliminated when my friends told me that we would pass through the Warp Zone. Seriously, I forgot about that area...

We got the application forms for MooMedia today, and I met Jhovee in MooMedia's booth. We still didn't submit our application forms to LSCS because my friends wanted to avail the ten peso discount offered...

On my way home, I saw Rominick. I said hi, hello, and goodbye.

My friend wanted me to meet his cousin. We stopped outside university mall and sis some introductions. Afterwards, I bought myself a regular-sized Mango Parfait (Zagu - It was the first time I drank a pearl shake in 5 months time.) Afterwards, we (Lou and I) proceeded to the LRT station.

I know that I would not be admitted inside because I brought refreshments with me, so I drank as fast as I could, amidst the brainfreezing. I met Kathleen. She was wearing a business attire, which makes me wonder...

When I finally got in to the station. I situated myself in a designated area for departure. I was surprised when Raymond suddenly stood beside me. I figured out that he didn't see me, so I called his attention. We were even surprised when, for the first time, the LRT train was empty. Dark, there were no people inside yet... Hmmm...

Raymond asked me how such a thing could have happened. I didn't know. We talked about our college life. I asked him what his PE was - basketball, he replied, with tests every session. Boy, that's tough. He had 19 units, he told me. I told him that Nicolo had 29. He was shocked.

He advised me to wear slippers because they feel a lot more comfortable. After all, wearing slippers was allowed in La Salle. I remained silent. Many people were telling that to me...

We rose from our seats when we arrived at Bambang station. We bid farewell. He was going somewhere else. I went to GUM & MUG and installed Microsoft Office 2007 Professional onto my computer. It took quite a while, but the job was done successfully.

My Yahoo! Messenger wasn't working! I tried reconnecting for a number of times but Yahoo! just wouldn't give in. I was finally able to reconnect after installing a newer version of YM (Yahoo! Messenger) found at this site: http://messenger.yahoo.com/. I was astonished when I saw the enhancements made, especially the Yahoo! tab found at Internet Explorer.

I also had flute lessons today. We tackled how to play ear-piercing high notes today. It was not easy. I had to catch my breath all the time.

Overall, today was my worst, and ironically, my best day in college. I never met so many classmates before, and it was my first time to ride an empty train. I feel that I have accomplished quite a lot of things today, including my post.

Check out my sidebar. I have updated it with new features worth looking.

My post ends here.