惊喜 (Don’t worry. This is an English blog entry.) [Part 2 of 2]

For the first part of this blog series, click here.

TSA 120. The glorious 120th Anniversary Celebration of our dear alma mater Tiong Se Academy, the oldest in the country. One word to describe everything that has transpired: unbelievable.

Sure I have crammed myself into doing something major in the past, but I was never this tired. Now that everything is done, when I look back, I always feel it was just utterly hard to believe that we actually made it!

November. One month. Six events. Three of which I have personal involvement in the organization. The school had Student Ground Demonstration (November 8), Student Work Exhibit (November 16), Grand Celebration (November 16), Repeat Performance (November 18), and Grand Alumni Homecoming by the TSA Alumni Youth (November 30). But the most taxing for me is the TSA Historical Exhibit (which by the way is still open until February 2020) at the Chinatown Museum.

惊喜 (Don’t worry. This is an English blog entry.) [Part 1 of 2]

For the last part of this blog series, click here.

惊喜. Jingxi (can be read as “ching hsi”). Chinese for surprise.

I tried to look for other terminologies for “surprise.” Google gave me “shock” and “thunderbolt”, but both of them are usually attributed to unpleasant events.

2019 is neither a shocker nor a thunderbolt for me.

So instead of just giving a cliché title “2019: A Surprise Year,” I just resorted to give you the Chinese word. I am Chinese teacher by the way.

Most entries in the internet as of this posting are leaning towards looking back at the entire decade. If I were to do that, might as well I write a Wattpad series.

To be fair with the bandwagon going on, I feel the urge to do a decadal recall: I graduated from high school on my birthday in 2010, went to China for four year tertiary studies, made many friends from around the world, attempted to have relationships but to no success, started working at my alma mater Tiong Se Academy in 2014, willingly went back to China for a hundred-day training, working contract expired in 2019, extended service afterwards… That’s pretty much of my 2010s. Anyway, you can read some bits of my decade in this blog.

100 Days in China: Dreams do come true

“When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are.

Anything your heart desires will come to you.

If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme

when you wish upon a star as dreamers do.”

Hitting two birds in one stone? That’s not the right phrase for me. Setting foot on Quanzhou back in December 2017 broke all that negativities that I cannot return to China during my own expected time. It was a plain wishful thinking never in my life I could have predicted. And setting foot now on Beijing broke all that prejudice that I can’t fulfil even one of my travel bucketlist in the nearest future.

100 Days in China: Welcome Back

“Don’t tell me I’m dreamin’, ‘cause if I’ve been dreamin’, I don’t ever wanna wake up.

So in love with this feeling, tonight I’ll be sleeping, sleeping with my eyes wide shut.”

It wasn’t my first time to fly solo. Whenever I do, it makes me feel I’m an adventurous person. As most passengers were, I was also excited and nervous at the same time. A lot of “what ifs” coming in. But adding to the formula of my emotions was worry. I was worrying about the work I will leave behind, you know the grades and school year finalization. I tried to amuse myself by talking to OFWs (yes peeps, THIS introvert talked to strangers) as we wait for our turns at the immigration clearance. Worrying suddenly disappeared when everything was starting to get real upon entering the passenger waiting area, lots of Chinese people are there and Mandarin + Hokkien conversations filled the place, no more Filipino words can be heard.

I opened up the pages of my passports (the old and the current one are bonded together for Chinese visa application process). I looked at the stamps and tried to make a chronology of events since my first flight out. September 2010, July 2011, August 2011… March 1, 2013. Wait, what? March 1, 2013! The exact time of the year five years ago, I was a junior at college back then. I never knew five years later I will be back! Oh Thank You, Lord!

100 Days In China: Prologue

You can call me “King of Wishful Thinking.” Like everybody else, I tend to wish for a lot of things to come true. But I would not be “King” if there’s nothing worth noting. I make it a habit. I do it when I get bored, when I check exam papers, when I wander around Manila, when my excretory system works in the CR, among others. I wish for things that may happen, and I also wish for things that have no chances of even existing.


One night last year, I dreamt of being back to China, the setting was in the school canteen, I conversed in Mandarin, I wore winter clothes and the people I am talking to were from other countries who can speak Chinese as well. When I woke up, I was happy. I saw myself back in China at least in my dreams. Those were the times that I felt dead tired because I worked twenty-plus straight days (Saturdays and Sundays were not in my resting programs yet) my only time for rest is going home, eat and sleep. So seeing that in my dream gave me some reason to get over negativity.

Songs that Bring Back the Old Times (Part Three: Hear Me Out)

For the first part of this blog series, please click here.

For the second part of this blog series, please click here.

Introduction. High school days, yes, it is indeed one of the most memorable moments in our lives. It is when we had our first crushes, first heartbreaks, and for some, first taste of "romantic" relationships.

To some of my closest friends, they knew what I went through. They may be laughing while they are listening/reading the words and songs that I am about to post here, because they may remember everything, all my crushes and all the stupidity that I did, all the moments I had in China and the Facebook posts that said it all.

It is good to know that we have songs to relate to the events that made us. It is consoling to have songs that can actually speak our hearts out.

So, to all the readers that happened to pass by this post, there's only one thing I ask of you...

Hear me out.

Songs that Bring Back the Old Times (Part Two)

For the first part of this blog series, please click here.
For the third and last part of this blog series, please click here.

Introduction. The first part (1995-2001) is all about the songs that I really longed for. I must have searched for several years to find them. Thank goodness the search went successful. This time, the songs that I picked from hundreds of hits between 2002 and 2007 remind me of my elementary days. During this period, my song preference is really diverse, however, I became aware of myself being a "music lover," I started to believe that songs can soothe me, console me, and bring me happiness.

Well, let's get to it, shall we?

Binondo-San Nicolas Tales 04: 2017 Holy Week Schedule of Select Shopping Malls in Binondo-San Nicolas Area

For the previous post of this blog series, please click here.

PUBLIC SERVICE. In observance of the Holy Week, several malls in the area will not be open to the public. Please refer to the schedule below.

NOTE. This list does not include malls that are not within Binondo-San Nicolas area. [Where is Binondo-San Nicolas area?]

Songs that Bring Back the Old Times (Part One)

For the second part of this blog series, please click here.
For the third and last part of this blog series, please click here.

Introduction. This post was supposed to be published to mark my 24^th birthday, but due to luckless circumstances, I chose not to. I never expected bad spirits came over on the very day when I should be celebrating. I never assumed spoilers can’t pick their dates and persons of interest. Hence, the worst birthday I’ve ever had.

Now that I am back somehow to my senses, I brought myself back to the day when I was planning this post. Initially, I planned to share what happened to me last year, but I felt it was nah another “annual look back.” So, this time, I chose to do it differently. I intended to use songs to make a look back on my life.

Eleksyon 2016: INFOGRAPHIC: Points to Remember for this Elections

NOTE. All images below are self-made, and the guidelines are all based on media interviews and actual demonstrations by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) officials. Feel free to share if that is to save time and effort for the upcoming elections.

 

EXTRA. How do they transmit the results from the precinct level to the Board of Canvassers?

 A SPIRITUAL ADVICE.

Eleksyon 2016: Comparison of Survey Results to Actual Presidential Election Results since 1992

INTRODUCTION. When the news about the latest survey results pop out of your TV screens, there will be at least three feedbacks: you believe them, you don’t believe them, or you shrug them off. But most of the time, we cast doubts and start to question the survey results: Are these surveys reliable? Are they true and accurate? Should I trust these? So on and so forth.

Through this blog post, I will try to prove (or disprove) the accuracy of the big two pollsters in the Philippines: the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and the Pulse Asia Research.

Eleksyon 2016: FINAL Results of Self-Initiated Survey (as of 01MAY2016 2000H)

IMPORTANT. As all survey results use several respondents to represent the whole, this survey is also done by that principle. This survey does not intend to spoil or sabotage a campaign of any candidate, this is only made for one purpose: to seek the truth.

Eleksyon 2016: PARTIAL Results of Self-Initiated Survey (as of 30APR2016 1130H)

For the previous partial results report, please click here.
For the final results report, please click here. 

INTRODUCTION. This is the last report on the partial results of my pre-election survey, with respondents coming from the City of Manila only. The total respondents counted in is adjusted and is now pegged at 49.5%. This survey now covers respondents from all six legislative districts of the Philippine capital (vs. previous report that lacks respondents from Fourth and Sixth Districts).

NOTE: This survey is self-initiated and non-partisan, therefore, this is  non-commissioned by any personality or organization. The only purpose of this survey is to provide information on the voting preference trend among the voters of Manila.

Eleksyon 2016: PARTIAL Results of Self-Initiated Survey (as of 29APR2016 0930H)

For the previous partial results report, please click here.
For the next partial results report, please click here. 

INTRODUCTION. This is the third report on the partial results of my pre-election survey, with respondents coming from the City of Manila only. The total respondents counted in is still low at 17.4%. The respondents are from the districts of Tondo, Binondo, San Nicolas and Sta. Cruz.

NOTE: This survey is self-initiated and non-partisan, therefore, this is  non-commissioned by any personality or organization. The only purpose of this survey is to provide information on the voting preference trend among the voters of Manila.

Eleksyon 2016: PARTIAL Results of Self-Initiated Survey (as of 28APR2016 0930H)

For the previous partial results report, please click here.
For the next partial results report, please click here. 

INTRODUCTION. This is the second report on the partial results of my pre-election survey, with respondents coming from the City of Manila only. The total respondents counted in is still low at 12.4%, so one cannot conclude anything yet with this low number. But this is still good for me, as this survey has three more days before I finalize everything on 1 May.

Eleksyon 2016: PARTIAL Results of Self-Initiated Survey (as of 27APR2016 0930H)

For the next partial results report, please click here.

INTRODUCTION. I conducted a pre-election survey which started yesterday 26 April 2016, asking the candidate preferences of some voters in the City of Manila. The respondents include businessmen, educators, employees, college students, housewives, and also the unemployed.

To give everyone the preliminary results of my survey, I decided to publish it every morning between 27 and 30 April. Final results shall be made public on 1 May 2016.

Weather: PAGASA March 2016 Rainfall Map

For the previous report, please click here.

INTRODUCTION. The Philippines has been feeling the effects of extreme El Niño since early this year, bringing about parched fields and mountain areas across the country, with Mindanao facing the worst dry spell and drought in recent history. Factually, we heard of news about forest fires in Mounts Apo and Kitanglad, both located in parts of Mindanao Island which received rainfall that are below the normal average since last year 2015. Many farmers in Mindanao marched their way to the national highway in Kidapawan City to call attention of relevant authorities and to ask for aid because the land is too dry to support farming, that protest shocked everyone when it lead to the bloody confrontation with the police on March 31. Luzon and Visayas were also not spared from the gravity of the 2015-2016 El Niño phenomenon as dams continue to register decrease in water level. The data below will tell you that March 2016 may go down in history as one of the driest months in the Philippines.

Weather: PAGASA February 2016 Rainfall Map

INTRODUCTION. The El Niño (lit. the little boy) is an unusual rise in the sea surface temperature along the Pacific Ocean, which brings changes in weather patterns across much of the countries facing the Pacific. In the Philippines, El Niño means lower amount of rainfall which may result in dry spell and drought. As early as 2014, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA, the Philippine official weather agency) has been warning the public of an imminent El Niño, only in mid-2015 did they confirm the country is experiencing “mild El Niño,” and is in danger of facing hotter and drier months.

Binondo-San Nicolas Tales 03: Cemeteries-turned-Schools?

For the previous post of this blog series, please click here.

For thousands of students of the two public schools situated in San Fernando Street, San Nicolas District in Manila, Pedro Guevara Elementary School (PGES) and Marcela Agoncillo Elementary School (MAES), they believe their schools were once places for eternal rest of those who passed away. Since I have neighbors and cousins who studied in PGES, so I’ll just focus on that particular school.

I was told of numerous creepy stories of apparitions of spirits especially when darkness bites the vicinity. Several boy scouts who camped in PGES for some time have also accounts of supernatural activities occurring inside the school such as sounds of footsteps, banging of doors and the like. They always relate these happenings to the supposed “past” of the public school, which is according to them, a public cemetery.

Binondo-San Nicolas Tales 02: Former Names of Several Streets

For the first post of this blog series, please click here.
For the next post of this blog series, please click here.

The renowned novel Noli Me Tangere by Dr. Jose P. Rizal mentions some names of old Manila streets like “Calle Anloague”, “Calle Sacristia” and “Calle San Jacinto” which surrounds Binondo Church up to the present time. Dr. Rizal did not invent these street names, in fact, he was familiar of (or at least, had heard of) some of the Binondo driveways in the 19^th century.

When our Filipino teacher was discussing a part of the novel mentioning the location of Kapitan Tiago’s house in a certain “Calle Anloague”, I wondered which particular street Rizal was pertaining to. As more former street names popped out from the novel, curiosity struck and until now, it is yet to be satisfied. Well, if not for my Filipino teacher, I would’ve not known that Calle Anloague is the current Juan Luna Street, Calle Sacristia is the Ongpin Street, and Calle San Jacinto is T. Pinpin Street.