sem break log: day 17

the night when spirits and ghouls become restless and rise...

oh, to hell with that. i'll talk about it later. but now, want to hear something stupid? oh, i bet you do. specially when it's something stupid i've done.

with enrollment just around the corner, my class has been starting to look alive again, with everyone fretting over grades and class cards and schedules and scholarships for this sem. one of my classmates mentioned the mechanics of maintaining the oblation scholarship, which involves the verification of the past sem's gwa. he also said that it might be better if we verified the grades before enrollment. i only read his note yesterday, and so i thought, "before enrollment... i'm sure there's no office on nov. 1, so it might be best if i go there today." i was supposed to head to the college of med office for a true copy of grades, and maybe even get my comm class cards, which i've been dreading/anticipating for quite some time now.

i get ready to head out around 11:30 am, and i texted a upm personnel to ask where to go for the verification of grades. i leave, go to philcoa, ride an fx to manila, turn on my radio and relax. when i finally get to the college of arts and sciences to get my class cards first, the gates were closed. it was just then that the feeling of dread and regret started to crawl over me. i took out my phone, and saw the 1 new message. from ms. cherry alba, it read, "i'm sori my dear, pero closed po ang govt offices on sat and sun." the message arrived around 20 minutes after i left the house, so if i had read it, i could have gotten down earlier and just went straight home. smart, stupid me.

well, trying to make the best of things, i just walked over to robinson's place and tried to storehop and windowshop, but without the money or the mood, i just walked right out the pedro gil exit. i passed through the college of med in the offchance that their offices or the pe department would be open, either for the tcg or my class card. turns out, no luck there either. i just headed home with the nagging feeling of 3 hours wasted on nothing.

yeah, i know, i was just dying to return to up manila. *rolls eyes* i don't know why i didn't even think of the possibility that upm offices would be closed on saturday, like every other government agency. maybe cause i go to upd libraries on saturday and they're open. or that some offices in pisay are open even on saturdays and holidays. it just struck me at that moment that i had to get my grades verified at once, before enrollment. and the prospect of getting class cards also incited me to do so. yes, i know. nerd.

oh yeah, there are children in the house again. happy times. one of our old helpers, who is the sister of my yaya, came back with her children. she also worked here for a long time, and i've grown close to her and her children. 3 boys, 5, 3, and 1 year olds. i love the baby, and the others as well. they're really fun to play with, despite the occasional punches and tantrums.

last night, i was in bed as early as 9 pm. i watched boston public then gilmore girls, waiting for 10:30 and the replay of sex and the city i missed last tuesday because of the destiny disaster. around 9:30 pm, just watching and waiting, then the tv goes static. no, it couldn't be. oh, but it was. it was very so. destiny cable chose just the most ideal, the most convenient, the most perfect time of the week to cut off cable once again. and it didn't go back until this morning. maybe it's a conspiracy, not letting me watch sex and the city. of all the dumb luck.

again, i'm left with a night of local air channels. unfortunately, there was no starstruck or any other local show that appeals somewhat to me. even dumb-luckier, the cable had to go out on halloween weekend. meaning, all abs-cbn and gma had on were the old horror movies and horror show bonanzas. even out! had a halloween haunted hospital special. left with no choice, i just ps2'ed until i felt groggy, and slept without a second thought.

unfortunately, halloween has got to be the most ignored holiday for me, if it even is a holiday. the philippines doesn't really have its own halloween tradition, unlike our christmases and lents. halloween just manifests itself in 2 different ways: trick-or-treating for the high-class and the elite, who dress up and extort candy from their subdivision neighbors, or everyone else, who spend the nights watching halloween-oriented shows on local channels. (un)fortunately, i fall under neither category. i'm not privileged at all, and i'm not particularly a fan of the horror genre. yes, even some cheesy pinoy horror flicks can get me to shiver and scream. and so i spend it just like any other night, just avoiding the horror-themed shows. all saint's day this year isn't any different, cause i won't be celebrating it this year either cause my dad is away and we already visited last week.

maybe the only thing i like about halloween is the costumes. i love getting into costumes because of the feeling of being another person, and seeing all my friends in costumes as well. i enjoyed our batch costume party last year immensely (which was ironically, a christmas party) and i hope the imed costume party being planned pushes through. if ever, i'll probably just recycle my costume last year, a cosplay-worthy outfit i built from scratch.

oh well, happy halloween to all those who care.