We got home 45 minutes before curfew because of this...

Upsilon batch ’57 marks 50th year
Inquirer
Last updated 11:24pm (Mla time) 11/29/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Members of the Batch 1957 of the Upsilon Sigma Phi Fraternity, Asia’s oldest fraternity, started Thursday three days of celebration of their golden jubilee dubbed “Tagay-tagay sa Tagaytay.”

Antonio H. Abad, chair of the ’57 jubilee steering committee, promised a “weekend of fun and nostalgia” for all Upsilonians and Sigma Deltans attending the three-day event, which ends tomorrow.

A host of activities is slated at the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines UP, Calatagan Golf Club in Batangas, and Royal Tagaytay Resort, Abad said.

Calling themselves “Gold Bond 0057,” the jubilarians will have Batch 57 of the Sigma Delta Phi as co-celebrants.

According to former HUDCC chair and jubilarian Dion dela Serna, Upsilon-Delta Batches ’67 and ’82 are also holding their respective celebrations with Batch ’57.

A celebration of the Holy Mass, tree-planting at the UP lagoon, brunch at the UP Bahay ng Alumni, and a presentation of excerpts from well-loved Upsilonian musical cavalcades Aloyan, Hanako and Linda kicked off the festivities yesterday.

Upsilonians Dick Zamora and Mart Martell wrote the songs, lyrics and scores of the musicals in the 1950s.

Today, the celebrators will hold in Calatagan the Romeo Liamzon Memorial Golf Tournament in honor of the the late Upsilon head in 1957 and Batch ’57’s Illustrious Fellow.

But the highlight of the jubilee will be the presentation of the Gold Fez and Golden Cane to the jubilarians today to be presided over by Abad and Jun Aniag at the Royal Tagaytay Resort.

Abad and Aniag are chair and president, respectively, of the Upsilon Alumni Association. They, together with businessman Vic G. Puyat, will bestow on Martell and Zamora the Fer Bautista Memorial Award.

Dela Serna will deliver the closing remarks after a minute of silent prayers for all the departed Upsilonians and Sigma Deltans belonging to Batch ’57, and the singing of the Upsilon Sigma Phi Centennial Song.

~ ~ ~ ~

It was so surreal... While the country was falling apart and tanks broke down the doors of the Peninsula Manila, I was in the Bahay ng Alumni preparing for my harang (My Igorot costume from Narda's served me well, as I played Aloyan the mountain maid).

My mind was not entirely focused the performance; I don't think any of us were a hundred percent mentally present (except for the Golden Jubilarians, who sang and danced the night away. They seemed to metamorphose into teenagers before our very eyes!!). We were discussing politics backstage; one of the cast members vehemently expressed his anti-GMA sentiments whilst others fixed his lapel and bahag, courtesy of Lonsi brod Kidlat Tahimik).

Am so glad we got home safely. This is a night to remember.

U.P. Sangkil Karasak Graduation 2007 (Beginners' Arnis)

Our induction video. :) Starring: myself (haha!), JJ, Jere, Jacq, JP, (hmmmm notice a trend yet?) Sir Jocano aka Sir Bot, Mich, Miko, and EG.

You can learn all this in just one short sem!! Join U.P. Sangkil Karasak na!

Thank you so much to the great Marga for the video!! (Visit her website at http://faiyah.multiply.com)

It's A Small World

I have an arnis clubmate who is in the same English 11 class as my brother.

I have another arnis mate who is the orgmate and friend of someone very *ahem* special to me... ("special" : not really in a good way), as well as being the churchmate of my arnis prof.

And a shadow passed through my happy, golden state ... The ghost of my past comes knocking.

It is such a small world, and we are all connected. I'll bet if you struck up a conversation with a random stranger (i.e. the person sitting next to you in your G.E. class, or the student sitting across you in the IKOT jeep), you'll find that you have a common friend or "frenemy", or that you both attended a special event that influenced you greatly.

I used to believe in coincidences. But now, no longer.

And I used to feel lost and alone in what I thought was a huge and empty universe, but now my heart has been opened and I feel so happy, so "at one" with the beautiful world and all the living things in it ... if only this feeling could last. I know it can't. And so I pray for guidance and for grace that will let me navigate through the perils of this hard road called Life... even without my "happy, golden bubble."

~ ~ ~ ~

Two weeks into the sem, and I've checked out quite a number of books from the Main Lib. None of them have the slightest connection to my course, or to any of my classes. But they are for my self-edification and "building up," and how I regret not taking earlier advantage of the vast literary opportunities made available to me by virtue of my orange U.P. library card!!

I'm trying this new thing called "picking and choosing what I read." I used to read anything and everything, but 20 years of that and I've very little to show for it in terms of knowledge gained. There's something wrong with my reading diet, so I'm going to emulate a wise friend and stick with the tried-and-true.

~ ~ ~

I've been blessed with quite a number of good "harang" opportunities recently. Like next week, I'm being asked to fill in for another soprano who can't make it to the "musical" being staged for the Upsilon Fraternity Reunion. I got recommended by my former teacher, and although I have to memorize four songs in less than a week's time, I'm not complaining. :)  I never thought I'd be able to sing jazz, and I didn't really find it musically interesting before. But Dick Zamora's love songs are first rate masterpieces, and I am having the time of my life learning them. And I laugh at myself now when I think how worried I was about my "new voice." The new technique is serving me well; I can now sing pop/jazz/broadway songs in the vocal style that suits them best, whereas before I was limited to only one "big" voice.

I'm also very lucky to have been asked to sing as one of the soloists for J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio (Parts 1 and 2 with the UP Camerata Choir on Dec. 11, Parts 3 and 4 with the Ateneo Chamber Singers on Dec. 14 ... both with the Metro Manila Community Orchestra).

I am very grateful.

~ ~ ~

Yet another reminder for all of us, that knowledge gained is useless and will be forgotten unless practiced constantly and faithfully.

We were asked by our Env.Sci.1 prof this morning to answer a really simple question on 1/4 sheet of yellow pad: What is the degree wherein Celsius is equivalent to Fahrenheit?

It was an easy question, it was so easy that some of my Mech.Eng'g. and Chem. major classmates were able to solve it mentally. They submitted their papers with a flourish in under 30 seconds, accompanied with a slightly disdainful sneer that seemed to say, "Sir, you're nigh near insulting my intelligence."

The question was so basic that I distinctly remember encountering it when I took the UPCAT half a decade ago.

Problem was, I couldn't for the life of me remember HOW to go about getting the answer.

In the three minutes given for us to answer the question, my little messenger brain cells hurriedly scanned the innermost recesses of the brain, only to come up with broken synapses : "FILE NOT FOUND."

And so I left the room, humbled but grateful for the lesson.

(Just in case you're wondering, the correct answer was - 40 degrees Celsius. My brother was good enough to walk me through the basic mathematical processes involved. Thank goodness for genius siblings!)

Doodles in the Loo Part 2

Probably written by a student who got a failing grade (or worse... is getting kicked out of the Math program):

"I wish that there will be a second chance... masaya pala dito. "

~ ~ ~

This poor thing was looking for sympathy/advice and found none.

"3 years niya akong nagustuhan. Ngayong gusto ko na siya, may iba na. Ganun ba kabilis?"

          The reply: L.O.L!!!

~ ~ ~

More ranting and raving about crushes, in TV-land as well as real life.

"Try to watch PRISONBREAK! Ang pogi ng bidang si Scofield... AMP*T*AH!"

 

And more about Mr. Crush-ng-Bayan:

"DESCRIBE ATOM ARAULLO."

   -- "Yummy!"

   -- "Hot! (Nakatabi ko siya sa jeep)"

   -- "Neat"  (I'm not quite sure if this means he's neat-looking and clean-cut, or if he's an OC person who likes to keep everything clean and tidy...)

   -- "Yabang"

            To which someone replied: "Bakit? Dahil di niya pinansin beauty mo?"

 

Ouchie ouch! ;) Hahahaha. Funny doodles make my day.

My Mission

I am a graduating student with a mission... to eat in each and every kainan/ cafeteria within the U.P. Campus, at least once.

In all my years in U.P., the only places I've eaten lunch in are:

-- the Music canteen

-- the Mass Comm. canteen

-- the Bahay ng Alumni restaurants (only during very special occasions, mind you!)

-- the Alumni Association Cafeteria

-- the College of Engingeering canteen

-- the Tea Room, College of Home Economics

-- Katag

-- CASAA

Can you say pathetic and boring?

I started on my quest yesterday... I tasted veggie meat at Latasia Fusion (my first time!!), the vegetarian resto behind Romulo Hall. And today I had my first sit down lunch at the Beach House (I was amazed at how long the queue got, I spent 20 min. in line. Just like enrollment! haha ... but it was worth it... their barbeque is really something else).

So many places to eat in, so little time!

~ ~ ~

I was lucky enough to be able to watch a very talented collegemate of mine sing and play her own compositions on the piano, last night. It's very humbling and inspiring, when one realizes anew the sheer amount of raw talent present in each and every fellow student. Her haunting melodies and inspired words are still running through my mind ...

Oh, to have half her talent, and to be able to write such marvelous songs!!!

~ ~ ~

Bukas Palad -- A Blog

http://bukas-palad.blogspot.com
Absolutely inspiring.

A Saturday Morning Lecture and The Meaning of My Name

 

I got a text message late last night, informing me that I was required to attend a lecture/seminar at the U.P. College of Education at 8 a.m. the following day. 

Thanks to that 3D movie BEOWULF (movie review to follow, soon!), we got home really late and I slept past midnight, only to get up at 5:30 today so I could make it in UP on time.

So this morning I attended the 1st Annual Seminar in Values and Moral Education with the Theme: MORAL REASONING AS A TOOL FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESS.

There were three speakers: a senator (with the initials F. E.) , a U.P. Philosophy prof (A. A) , and a reverend (M.L). 

The first spoke of the role of the youth, and of political leaders, in shaping the nation. He said that he believed in drastic change, but that this change had to come from the top.

The second speaker spent the better part of an hour delivering a lecture that would have been more fitting for a Philo 1 class, and soon had half his audience slumbering away in their comfortable chairs. I valiantly fought to stay awake but really couldn't see why he had to go into all those details.

The third speaker had very little time left to him and had to cut down his lecture to 1/3 its original length. Sayang. I felt that his message was the one that the audience (consisting of mostly Educ.majors) really needed to hear.

It saddened me, witnessing this reverend speak from the depths of his heart about God's word and seeing his message fall on indifferent ears.

And so the debate rages on... do we need to teach Values Ed. in the classroom (whether implicitly or explicitly)? 

I think it is necessary, now more than ever. Just look at what is happening to the U.S. with its "neutral" curricula. In their quest to avoid "indoctrination,"  their children are growing up amoral and lost in a sea of knowledge without certainty.

I see the effects of the liberal education system even here in U.P. How many times have I come across profs who preach idealistic values like honor and integrity in their lectures but do not take a stand consistent with what they preach when put to the test?

And the U.P. student, having been taught to accept everything as true in this postmodern world of ours with its several truths, having gotten used to a buffet-style of knowledge where you pick-and-choose-what-suits-you-best...   I've witnessed this far, far too many times:  when there is a stance to be taken, the average student chooses to be a fence-sitter.

It is not enough to know right from wrong. There is a huge difference between knowing and actually acting out your beliefs.

The Philo.prof. made the mistake of saying how he believed that little good would come out of a GMRC (Good Manners and Right Conduct) class, because values are only effectively taught at home. Values Ed. is "an exercise in futility," he said.

How sad for him to believe this! And him being a teacher!

He also went on and on about there being only two sources of knowledge: reason and sense perception.

A brave soul spoke up, questioning the validity of his argument about there being only two sources of knowledge and defending the role of teachers in character formation. He suggested coming up with a set of values taken from the commonalities in the holy books of the major religions such as the Koran and the Bible.

The poor, poor Philo. prof... he couldn't fathom there being Truth outside what is logical and measurable, because his whole life has been spent studying epistemology and logic.

But when you think about it, you cannot intellectualize ethics and religion!!

I was delighted at how ably he (the brave soul, NOT the Philo prof) spoke, so I came up to him afterwards and introduced myself. What an admirable teacher he will turn out to be! He used to be a scientist, until he was called to the Ministry, and is now a curriculum designer. We talked a bit, it was so nice to find that we had the same ideas.

Had a blessed talk with an old friend afterwards.  She shared with me a link that led me to this site, where I found the most wonderful meaning of my name:

Gabriela

Woman of God "Hebrew"

 

Your calm manner and maturity belie a fierce determination to be at the top where you can exercise authority and get things done. Although somewhat of a rebel you attract much support through treating others with kindness and friendship. You have a broad scope and are naturally drawn to travel or projects which can expand your knowledge and understanding. Your talents and generosity bring you emotional and material contentment.

 

Francisco

Gentle, affectionate and tolerant you are nonetheless determined and ambitious with the ability to lead. Sympathetic and understanding you are a humanitarian who wishes to improve the lives of others less fortunate. You have a keen intellect, strong intuition and creative ideas which are always put to practical purpose. You are loved by others for your inspiring optimism and for being a genuine friend.

 

I never knew that my first name meant that!! I was so delighted, and still am.

Dear Lord, thank you for such a beautiful name. Please help me live up to it.

~ ~

Am soooo sleepy, and my brain isn't functioning properly so I won't edit this entry anymore.  Have a nice weekend, everyone!