Sunday, May 21, 2006

Happy times are (almost) here again...

Wahoo! Summer's over! Just one more dastardly Kas 1 exam to cram for. *gulp*

This past week I:

-- took a really hard Comm 3 exam (the kind that you don't study for... the kind you PRAY for)
-- gave a persuasive speech ("Operatic" Singing: The Healthier Option) and got my Comm 3 prof interested in taking up bel canto singing lessons
-- partied with my Comm 3 class (the image of Chester carrying Jovik while standing on a measly sheet of paper on tiptoe will forever be engraved in my memory... haha!!)
-- watched THE DA VINCI CODE on the 1st day (hahaha!! achievement!!)
-- filmed a documentary with my Kas 1 groupmates (Ang Katipunan sa Bicolandia... YEAH!!)
-- met up with a very good, old friend and had a wonderful catching up session

Never knew there were so many (forgotten) heroes during the Revolution of 1896... this is what comes of being taught Luzon-centric/Christian-centric history all my grade school and high school life.

Our country's history is sooooooo interesting, full of passion, intrigue, drama, and action! It's like reading a swashbuckling adventure... hmmmm I think I WOULD have enjoyed it if I hadn't passed Music and gotten into History as my second course choice ;)

Years from now I could do an Ambeth Ocampo and write interesting essays on our history... they'd call me the Singing Historian. Catchy, huh? :)

Waaaaa I had LOADS of fun during our Comm 3 Farewell Party!! I never bonded with my classmates like this before... not even in Music (and that's saying something since in Music, classmates tend to bond pretty well). I'll miss watching the free line dance sessions of the DOTA boys (Abraham, Alistair, and Fefie... miss you guys already!), I'll miss my oh-so-friendly seatmate and future tennis champion Tine... I'll miss silent-but-malupit Micko of the stiff hair. 

To be continued...

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

My Kas 1 Field Trip to Cavite... In Honor of Gat Andres Bonifacio's 109th Death Anniversary

Not many people get to go to Mt. Nagpatong to see the shrine erected in memorial of (arguably) our first president and (arguably) the greatest hero of our country, Gat Andres Bonifacio. I'm just glad I was able to go.

I went with my Kas 1 class on a special field trip to celebrate his 109th death anniversary.

Warning: Very anti-Aguinaldo content to follow... pro-Aguinaldo people might want to stop here.

(Aside: It's interesting that Rizal day is celebrated on the day of his death, while Bonifacio Day is celebrated on the day of his birth. Wanna know why? Because Aguinaldo did not want people to remember how the Bonifacio brothers were MURDERED, in cold blood, under his command. The spineless ******* who did the foul deed was one Lazaro Makapagal. Bonifacio was robbed of his clothes, his corpse chopped up into pieces [hence the poem that goes "Andres Bonifacio, atapang a tao, a putol a ulo, etc..."], and buried in an unmarked grave. Indeed, karumaldumal ang pagkamatay niya ---> said Prof. Villan)

Our first stop was the Bonifacio marker in Tutuban, near Divisoria. It was so disheartening because we were the only ones there, and only one flower offering was given (courtesy of Lito Atienza). It's as if no one remembers him anymore. I felt this was so all throughout the field trip, at almost all our stops.

Next we went to the Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite. His house is well-kept, and in beautiful condition. We were shown around by a kindly old caretaker, who thoughtfully showed us the family rooms, the banquet area, and even the secret passages!! One of the tour's highlights, hehe.

Ang saucey naman ni Aguinaldo... may bowling alley pa sa bahay. Haha!

We expected that the following historical landmarks we would visit (this time, connected to Bonifacio) would be in the same condition as Aguinaldo's Shrine. We were dead wrong.

The Hacienda de Naic, where the Bonifacio brothers were held prisoner by Aguinaldo's men, is now a school. There is only a plaque to give any clue that anything historical actually happened. Here, the wounded brothers were kept for several days in a dark, damp, tiny cell... their wounds (both were wounded rather seriously) left untreated to fester and rot... and only fed twice with gruel "not fit for animals to eat."

(By this time, a very strong feeling of hatred against Aguinaldo was building up in us...)

The Trial House of Bonifacio was in slightly better condition compared to the Hacienda de Naic, but we were shocked to find out that the land it is on isn't owned by the government, but only being leased. :( The contract's good for 15 years, so if you folks plan to visit, better do it soon. One of these days, this very important historical landmark will be gone.) Here, the mock trial of the Bonifacio brothers was held. Everything was orchestrated, and the sentence was already decided upon even before the brothers set foot inside the house. Here, the brothers were sentenced to die.

The Bonifacio Shrine in Mt. Nagpatong is rather difficult to get to. There is only a dirt road that leads to it. We had to hike the 2.5 km (times two... that's 5 km!!) to and fro... we're talking rocky, sandy, uphill walking here! In the terrible heat.  NOT for the faint of heart.

Ate Mimai and I sang "Bayan Ko" as tribute to Gat Andres before we left the shrine. It was sad because I think we were the only ones in the class who knew the song. Our prof wanted all of us to sing but only Ate Mimai and I actually did. (sigh) It's as if they don't care...

It's very disheartening to think that this great hero, arguably our REAL National Hero, is fast being forgotten by us Filipinos. How ironic, when we owe all the freedom and rights we enjoy now to this man.

The story of Bonifacio and Aguinaldo is very telling of human nature. We would do well to study our history, because THIS is what they don't teach you in grade school and high school textbooks. 

The Supremo founds a noble organization, and puts his sweat and blood into it. Aguinaldo, a mere general under this man, becomes envious and starts getting ambitious. He finds a way to rally others to his sadly misled cause, and sabotages the well-laid plans of the Supremo [the Katipuneros WOULD have overrun Intramuros if Aguinaldo had fulfilled his part in the battle... but the coward stayed in Cavite, against the Supremo's orders]. This underling general wants to lead the organization by himself. Next, he assassinates the character of his noble political adversary (spreading rumours about the Supremo's incompetence, saying that his sister is the kabit of a prayle, etc.) And then, he lures Bonifacio into a trap. Bonifacio, never thinking for a minute that a fellow countryman and comrade-in-arms would betray him, goes to Cavite [Aguinaldo's territory] to ask why the underling general didn't follow orders. He never leaves Cavite alive... nor whole, for that matter.

Human nature. ;)

Anyway, I'm really sad that Bonifacio is barely remembered by us Filipinos nowadays. May 10 SHOULD be marked red in the calendar, should be a national holiday, in fact! In truth, we owe this man our FREEDOM.

I like what our prof said. "Rizal may be our national hero, pero si Bonifacio ay ang ating Pambansang Bayani."

Mabuhay si Gat Andres Bonifacio!!

Saturday, May 6, 2006

[none]

From [info]ellimac_00 
c/o hitaka
 
* bold those books you've read
* italicize started-but-never-finished
* (put in parentheses if you've seen the movie ;))
* underline the ones you actually like
* "" those you'd like to read
* add three of your own
* post to your livejournal
* comment to let me know you've been infected

1. "(The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien)"
2. (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen)
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams)
5. (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling)
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. "1984, George Orwell"
9. (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis)
10. "Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte"
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. "(Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte)"
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. "Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier"
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. (Little Women, Louisa May Alcott)
19. (Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres)
20. “War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy"
21. (Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell)
22. (Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling)
23. (Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling)
24. (Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling)
25. "The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien"
26. "Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy"
27. "Middlemarch, George Eliot"
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. "The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck"
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. "One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez"
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. (Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl) (I watched both versions!)
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. "Emma, Jane Austen"
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. (The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas)
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. (Animal Farm, George Orwell)
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. "Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy"
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. (The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett)
52. "Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck"
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. "Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy"
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. (Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden)
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. "The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough"
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. "Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman"
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Susskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. (Matilda, Roald Dahl)
75. (Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding)
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. "Ulysses, James Joyce"
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. "The Twits, Roald Dahl"
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. "The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy"
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. "Brave New World, Aldous Huxley"
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. (The Godfather, Mario Puzo)
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. “The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett”
94. "The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho"
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. "Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez"
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. (The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot)
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
101. Three Men In A Boat, Jerome K. Jerome
102. Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
103. (The Beach, Alex Garland)
104. (Dracula, Bram Stoker)
105. Point Blanc, Anthony Horowitz
106. The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens
107. Stormbreaker, Anthony Horowitz
108. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
109. The Day Of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
110. The Illustrated Mum, Jacqueline Wilson
111. "Jude The Obscure, Thomas Hardy"
112. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 1/2, Sue Townsend
113. The Cruel Sea, Nicholas Monsarrat
114. (Les Miserables, Victor Hugo)
115. "The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy"
116. The Dare Game, Jacqueline Wilson
117. Bad Girls, Jacqueline Wilson
118. The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
119. "(Shogun, James Clavell)"
120. The Day Of The Triffids, John Wyndham
121. Lola Rose, Jacqueline Wilson
122. "Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray"
123. The Forsythe Saga, John Galsworthy
124. House Of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
125. "The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver"
126. Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett
127. Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison 
128. The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle
129. Possession, A. S. Byatt
130. The Master And Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
131. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
132. Danny The Champion Of The World, Roald Dahl
133. East Of Eden, John Steinbeck
134. George's Marvellous Medicine, Roald Dahl
135. Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett
136. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
137. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
138. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
139. Girls In Tears, Jacqueline Wilson
140. Sleepovers, Jacqueline Wilson
141. All Quiet On The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
142. Behind The Scenes At The Museum, Kate Atkinson
143. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
144. "It, Stephen King"
145. (James And The Giant Peach, Roald Dahl)
146. "(The Green Mile, Stephen King)"
147. Papillon, Henri Charriere
148. Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett
149. "(Master And Commander, Patrick O'Brian)"
150. (Skeleton Key, Anthony Horowitz)
151. Soul Music, Terry Pratchett
152. Thief Of Time, Terry Pratchett
153. "(The Fifth Elephant, Terry Pratchett)"
154. Atonement, Ian McEwan
155. Secrets, Jacqueline Wilson
156. The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier
157. "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey"
158. "Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad"
159. "Kim, Rudyard Kipling"
160. "Cross Stitch/Outlander, Diana Gabaldon"
161. Moby Dick, Herman Melville
162. River God, Wilbur Smith
163. Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon
164. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
165. "The World According To Garp, John Irving"
166. "Lorna Doone, R. D. Blackmore"
167. Girls Out Late, Jacqueline Wilson
168. "(The Far Pavilions, M. M. Kaye)"
169. The Witches, Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web, E. B. White
171. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
172. They Used To Play On Grass, Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
173. "The Old Man And The Sea, Ernest Hemingway"
174. "The Name Of The Rose, Umberto Eco"
175. "Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder"
176. Dustbin Baby, Jacqueline Wilson
177. Fantastic Mr. Fox, Roald Dahl
178. "Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov"
179. "Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach"
180. The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
181. The Suitcase Kid, Jacqueline Wilson
182. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
183. The Power Of One, Bryce Courtenay
184. "Silas Marner, George Eliot"
185. American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis
186. The Diary Of A Nobody, George and Weedon Grossmith
187. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
188. Goosebumps, R. L. Stine
189. Heidi, Johanna Spyri
190. Sons And Lovers, D. H. Lawrence
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
192. Man And Boy, Tony Parsons
193. The Truth, Terry Pratchett
194. (The War Of The Worlds, H. G. Wells)
195. (The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans)
196. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
197. Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett
198. The Once And Future King, T. H. White
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
200. Flowers In The Attic, Virginia Andrews
201. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
202. The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan
203. The Great Hunt, Robert Jordan
204. The Dragon Reborn, Robert Jordan
205. Fires of Heaven, Robert Jordan
206. Lord of Chaos, Robert Jordan
207. Winter's Heart, Robert Jordan
208. A Crown of Swords, Robert Jordan
209. Crossroads of Twilight, Robert Jordan
210. A Path of Daggers, Robert Jordan 
211. As Nature Made Him, John Colapinto
212. Microserfs, Douglas Coupland
213. The Married Man, Edmund White
214. Winter's Tale, Mark Helprin
215. "The History of Sexuality, Michel Foucault"
216. Cry to Heaven, Anne Rice
217. Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe, John Boswell
218. Equus, Peter Shaffer
219. The Man Who Ate Everything, Jeffrey Steingarten
220. Letters To A Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke
221. Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn
222. The Vampire Lestat, Anne Rice
223. "Anthem, Ayn Rand"
224. The Bridge To Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
225. "Tartuffe, Moliere"
226. The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
227. "The Crucible, Arthur Miller"
228. "The Trial, Franz Kafka"
229. "Oedipus Rex, Sophocles"
230. "Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles"
231. Death Be Not Proud, John Gunther
232. A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen
233. Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen
234. Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton
235. A Raisin In The Sun, Lorraine Hansberry
236. ALIVE!, Piers Paul Read
237. Grapefruit, Yoko Ono
238. Trickster Makes This World, Lewis Hyde
240. (The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley)
241. Chronicles of Thomas Convenant, Unbeliever, Stephen Donaldson
242. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
242. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon
243. Summerland, Michael Chabon
244. A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
245. "Candide, Voltaire"
246. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, Roald Dahl
247. Ringworld, Larry Niven
248. The King Must Die, Mary Renault
249. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein
250. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L'Engle
251. "The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde"
252. "The House Of The Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne"
253. "The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne"
254. (The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan)
255. The Great Gilly Hopkins, Katherine Paterson
256. Chocolate Fever, Robert Kimmel Smith
257. Xanth: The Quest for Magic, Piers Anthony
258. The Lost Princess of Oz, L. Frank Baum
259. Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon
260. Lost In A Good Book, Jasper Fforde
261. Well Of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde
261. "Life Of Pi, Yann Martel"
263. The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver
264. A Yellow Rraft In Blue Water, Michael Dorris
265. Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder
267. Where The Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
268. Griffin & Sabine, Nick Bantock
269. Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare
270. Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of NIMH, Robert C. O'Brien
271. "(Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt)"
272. The Cay, Theodore Taylor
273. From The Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg
274. The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster
275. The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
276. "The Kitchen God's Wife, Amy Tan"
277. "The Bone Setter's Daughter, Amy Tan"
278. Relic, Duglas Preston & Lincolon Child
279. Wicked, Gregory Maguire
280. "American Gods, Neil Gaiman"
281. Misty of Chincoteague, Marguerite Henry
282. The Girl Next Door, Jack Ketchum
283. Haunted, Judith St. George
284. Singularity, William Sleator
285. "A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson"
286. Different Seasons, Stephen King
287. Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk
288. About a Boy, Nick Hornby
289. The Bookman's Wake, John Dunning
290. The Church of Dead Girls, Stephen Dobyns
291. Illusions, Richard Bach
292. Magic's Pawn, Mercedes Lackey
293. Magic's Promise, Mercedes Lackey
294. Magic's Price, Mercedes Lackey
295. The Dancing Wu Li Masters, Gary Zukav
296. Spirits of Flux and Anchor, Jack L. Chalker
297. (Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice)
298. The Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices, Brenda Love
299. Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
300. The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
301. "The Cider House Rules, John Irving"
302. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
303. Girlfriend in a Coma, Douglas Coupland
304. The Lion's Game, Nelson Demille
305. The Sun, The Moon, and the Stars, Stephen Brust
306. Cyteen, C. J. Cherryh
307. Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco 
308. "Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson"
309. Invisible Monsters, Chuck Palahniuk
310. Camber of Culdi, Kathryn Kurtz
311. "(The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand)"
312. War and Remembrance, Herman Wouk
313. "The Art of War, Sun Tzu"
314. The Giver, Lois Lowry
315. The Telling, Ursula Le Guin
316. Xenogenesis (or Lilith's Brood), Octavia Butler
317. A Civil Campaign, Lois McMaster Bujold
318. The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold
319. "The Aeneid, Publius Vergilius Maro (Vergil)"
320. Hanta Yo, Ruth Beebe Hill
321. “(The Princess Bride, William Goldman)”
322. Beowulf, Anonymous
323. The Sparrow, Maria Doria Russell
324. Deerskin, Robin McKinley
325. Dragonsong, Anne McCaffrey
326. Passage, Connie Willis
327. Otherland, Tad Williams
328. Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay
329. Number the Stars, Lois Lowry
330. "Beloved, Toni Morrison"
331. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, Christopher Moore
332. The mysterious disappearance of Leon, I mean Noel, Ellen Raskin
333. Summer Sisters, Judy Blume
334. (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo)
335. The Island on Bird Street, Uri Orlev
336. Midnight in the Dollhouse, Marjorie Filley Stover
337. The Miracle Worker, William Gibson
338. The Genesis Code, John Case
339. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevensen
340. "Paradise Lost, John Milton"
341. Phantom, Susan Kay
342. The Mummy or Ramses the Damned, Anne Rice
343. Anno Dracula, Kim Newman
344: The Dresden Files: Grave Peril, Jim Butcher
345: Tokyo Suckerpunch, Issac Adamson
346: The Winter of Magic's Return, Pamela Service
347: The Oddkins, Dean R. Koontz
348. My Name is Asher Lev, Chaim Potok
349. The Last Goodbye, Raymond Chandler
350. At Swim, Two Boys, Jaime O'Neill
351. "Othello, by William Shakespeare"
352. The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas
353. "The Collected Poems of William Butler Yeats"
354. Sati, Christopher Pike
355. The Inferno, Dante
356. The Apology, Plato
357. The Small Rain, Madeline L'Engle
358. The Man Who Tasted Shapes, Richard E Cytowick
359. 5 Novels, Daniel Pinkwater
360. The Sevenwaters Trilogy, Juliet Marillier
361. (Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier)
362. To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
363. Our Town, Thorton Wilder
364. Green Grass Running Water, Thomas King
335. The Interpreter, Suzanne Glass
336. The Moor's Last Sigh, Salman Rushdie
337. The Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson
338. A Passage to India, E.M. Forster
339. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky"
340. ("The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux")
341. Pages for You, Sylvia Brownrigg
342. The Changeover, Margaret Mahy
343. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
344. Angels and Demons, Dan Brown
345. Johnny Got His Gun, Dalton Trumbo
346. Shosha, Isaac Bashevis Singer
347. Travels With Charley, John Steinbeck
348. The Diving-bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
349. The Lunatic at Large by J. Storer Clouston
350. Time for Bed by David Baddiel
351. Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
352. Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre
353. The Bloody Sun by Marion Zimmer Bradley
354. Sewer, Gas, and Eletric by Matt Ruff
355. Jhereg by Steven Brust
356. So You Want To Be A Wizard by Diane Duane
357. Perdido Street Station, China Mieville
358. "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte"
359. Road-side Dog, Czeslaw Milosz
360. "The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje"
361. Neuromancer, William Gibson
362. The Epistemology of the Closet, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
363. A Canticle for Liebowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr
364. The Mask of Apollo, Mary Renault
365. The Gunslinger, Stephen King
366. Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
367. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
368. "A Season of Mists, Neil Gaiman"
369. (Ivanhoe, Walter Scott)
370. The God Boy, Ian Cross
371. The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Laurie R. King
372. Finn Family Moomintroll, Tove Jansson
373. Misery, Stephen King
374. "Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters"
375. Hood, Emma Donoghue
376. The Land of Spices, Kate O'Brien
377. The Diary of Anne Frank
378. Regeneration, Pat Barker
379. Tender is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald
380. Dreaming in Cuban, Cristina Garcia
381. A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway
382. The View from Saturday, E.L. Konigsburg
383. Dealing with Dragons, Patricia Wrede
384. Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss
385. A Severed Wasp - Madeleine L'Engle
386. Here Be Dragons - Sharon Kay Penman
387. "The Mabinogion (Ancient Welsh Tales) - translated by Lady Charlotte E. Guest"
388. The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown
389. Desire of the Everlasting Hills, Thomas Cahill
390. The Cloister Walk, Kathleen Norris
391. My Antonia, Willa Cather
392. Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
393. The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins
394. Conceived Without Sin, Bud MacFarlane Jr.
395. Pierced by a Sword, Bud MacFarlane, Jr.
396. "Tully, Paullina Simons"
397. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
398. Cat's Eye, Margaret Atwood
399. Earth Abides, George R. Stewart
400. Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy From Mars, Daniel K. Pinkwater
401. The Talisman, Stephen King and Peter Straub
402. Black House, Steven King and Peter Straub
403. Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Jean Kerr
404. The Golden Spiders, Rex Stout
405. Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren
406. "Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand"
407. The Wizard of Ads, Roy H. Williams
408. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Douglas R. Hofstadter
409. "The Man Who Was Thursday, G.K. Chesterton"
410. "Wizard's First Rule, Terry Goodkind"
411. Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine
412. The Blue Castle, L.M. Montgomery
413. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling
414. Truman, David McCullough
415. Tanamera, Noel Barber
416. A Time To Kill, John Grisham
417. Curtain, Agatha Christie
418. Eleven Minutes, Paulo Coelho
419. "Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman"
420. "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke"
421. Strange Pilgrims, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
422. New Spring, Robert Jordan
423. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
424. Redwall, Brian Jacques
425. Little Men, Louisa May Alcott
426. And Then There Were None/ Ten Little Indians (aka THE BEST MYSTERY NOVEL EVER WRITTEN!), Agatha Christie
427. The Bronze Horseman, Paullina Simons
428. Pollyanna, Eleanor H. Porter

Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Long time no update...

BAGUIO TRIP WITH FRIENDS: Fun fun fun!! :) I shall forever remember our near-drowning experience at Burnham Park Lake (whaddya expect when six teenagers <including 3 plus size ones> cram themselves in a tiny banca?), our late nights up playing Scrabble/Games of the Generals, and our SM Baguio shopping/eating sprees. Pics to follow.

S.S.E.A.Y.P. REUNION: What a life changing experience! I'm so glad to have been a part of it. It was also nice to be made a fuss of, since twins are considered lucky in almost every culture in the world. :) This has opened my eyes to the beauty of intercultural understanding, and I'm so happy to have made many new friends and acquaintances from all over South East Asia. Pics to follow.

ORG: Well what else is new?

ACADS: Getting more hectic each day. I'm just glad I'm able to come to class having read the minimum amount, readings-wise. Rumour has it we might go to Boracay for our field trip. Hahahahaha!!! I SO hope it will come true!

All this stress and excitement... but I'm loving every day of my summer life. No matter how tired I am or how bad it gets, I will always carry the song of NIPPON MARU in my heart, and the loving memory of my wonderful weekend spent with the beautiful people of SSEAYP Batch 19_ _.