Buhay Baguio: October 21-25, 2008.

Limang araw at apat na gabi sa Baguio: nakakapagod, magastos, pero sobrang saya. Hahayaan ko na 'yung mga iba kong kasamang mag-kwento nang mas detalyado, hehehe. Halu-halo na 'to, hindi ko na pagsusunurin nang maayos ang mga pangyayari. Basta. Makinig (magbasa) na lang kayo kung gusto niyo.

Ang ipinunta namin (kuno) sa Baguio ay ang conference ng Samahan ng Pisika sa Pilipinas (SPP). Pero ang nangyari naman talaga, nag-gala kami sa Baguio, tuluyang sinulit ang hotel, at nag-inuman gabi-gabi. (Kahit na hindi naman boring 'yung conference, siyempre kung ikukumpara sa mga iba pang mga pwedeng gawin sa Baguio, hindi rin siya ganun ka-exciting, pasensya na lang.)



Wala akong reklamo sa mga bus ng Victory Liner na sinakyan namin papunta at pabalik. Swabe naman ang biyahe, nakapag-usap naman kami ni Lei (na katabi ko sa biyaheng papunta) nang maayos. Okay lang din naman ang mga upuan nila, pero sabi ng iba naming mga kasamang napadpad sa may likuran, namamatay-matay ang aircon dun. Ah, basta, sa kinaupuan namin walang problema.



Maganda ang Bloomfield Hotel: bago, malinis, malapit na lakaran lang mula sa SM, UP Baguio, Session Road, Burnham Park, atbp. Mababait din ang mga staff. (Pero pangit ang Screwdriver nila sa bar, lasang matabang na orange juice lang. At siyempre medyo mahal rin ang binayaran namin, pero sa tingin ko nasulit naman.)

Maayos ang Executive Suite na kinuha namin. Tatlong bedroom, dalawang banyo, isang living area. Minahal namin ang sofa-bed kung saan naganap ang panginginom (at ang pamamato ng lobo at paluan ng unan).



Nakapagsuot ako ng leather jacket, halos gabi-gabi rin. Saan pa ba kasi magagamit yun dito sa Pilipinas kundi sa Baguio?



Nung isang gabi, nag-inuman ang halos buong batch sa Brew Yard, isang bar sa Nevada Square. Dalawampu't apat na katao, isang bandang game sa pagpapakanta kahit sa mga taga-Physics at 'di naman kagalingan (biro lang, Amarra, Fritz, Lei, Jorge, at Rica!). Special mention din dun sa mga natamaan nang todo: ang birthday boy na si Anthony, at ang mangiyak-ngiyak na si Rica (tungkol ba talaga saan 'yun, hmm?).



Iba-iba ang mga nasubukan namin. Nakakain ako ng pinikpikan, carabao milk yogurt, tortang talong na may kesong puti, sariwang gulay, mountain rice, at s'mores cake. Nakapag-jogging at boating kami sa Burnham. Bumisita kami sa mga Pink Sisters, sa Botanical Garden (medyo mahaba-habang lakaran ang naganap para dito), at sa Minesview. At, hindi pahuhuli, nakasubok kami ng strawberry wine, tapuy (rice wine), sari-saring cocktails, Kahlua, at Jack Daniel's. Nasubukan din naming mag-eat-and-run sa SPP: pumunta kami para sa merienda sa umaga, nag-SM, bumalik para sa tanghalian, pumuntang Minesview, at bumalik para sa Fellowship Night. (At, sige na nga, nasubukan ko ring malasing hanggang makatulog at magkulong sa banyo nang tatlong oras. Walanghiyang Gran Matador at Tanduay 'yan, sa banyo na nga ako natulog, masakit pa ulo ko kinabukasan.)



Sa dami ng mga napuntahan namin sa Baguio, para sa akin, ang naging pinakamasayang lugar sa mga ito ay ang suite namin pa rin. Doon, kami ay naglasing, nagkwentuhan (madalas hanggang madaling-araw), tumambay, at natulog (kahit na konti lang). Kaya maraming salamat sa mga batchmates at kaibigang nakasama ko sa suite: Amarra (special thanks sa 'yo para sa nilibre mong Kahlua, beer, cocktails, at Jack Daniel's), Laganapan, Lao, Lim (special thanks din para sa paghahanap sa Bloomfield Hotel), Mercado, at Suarez. (Special guests: Narag (tour guide!) at Uy.)



Saan ang next batch gimik? Siguraduhin nating may plano tayo pagkatapos ng graduation! Pero sa ngayon, pahinga muna, at ang unti-unting pagbabalik sa dating buhay.



P.S. Okay, that wasn't as hard as I thought. But it probably sounds a little weird to people who actually speak/write well in Filipino. (Lumalabas ang pagka-Atenista/Ex-Libris-UP-member kapag sinusubukan kong mag-Filipino, e.)

I have returned.

Saying goodbye to Plurk

These past few weeks, I've been mostly over at Plurk, and any urge to blog was quickly worn down by a barrage of tiny little micro-entries (i.e., plurks). While satisfying enough, it was beginning to feel a bit too stifling.

Plurk works well as a sort of cross between a chatroom, a forum, and a blog. The interface is very user-friendly and quirky enough to be interesting, with the karma point system and the ubiquitous dancing bananas. The interface makes it easy (and quite addicting!) to keep up with new plurks and responses to plurks.

I would say it works best when you have a bunch of good friends along with you - Plurk makes for a good way to keep in touch with and amuse one another. So while I did have fun watching friends interact with their friends, but I don't think it really worked all that well for me, personally.

With just barely over a semester left in college, I probably would find it more useful than ever to get my thoughts in order by writing them out. So I'm quitting Plurk and trying to get back to regular blogging.



Saying hello to "old friends"

These past few days have been almost totally unproductive. I spent my time on Plurk, reading Blade of the Immortal, and playing Monsters' Den (and Monsters' Den 2). I could come up with excuses, but I'll leave them out for now, for brevity.

I've been in a research-work rut for this entire semester. Although I do attend the weekly seminar, I've also been utterly dry, production-wise. Sure, I've been reading up on my own, but I can't seem to get started on an actual project by myself. Perhaps it's time to admit this and ask for a little help from my adviser. I've only been putting it off because I wanted to be able to talk with him only when I had something to offer myself, but as it happened I still have nothing, even after a couple of months on my own.

As to my classes, they're manageable enough, but I haven't been getting the most out of them. I will be getting good grades, perhaps even 1.0's, but only because the professors are letting us off easy. Even with high grades in Physics 152 and 170, I still know next to nothing about statistical mechanics or solid state physics. Again, this is due to a lack of motivation and effort on my part: had I studied harder and solved more problems on my own, I could've gained a better understanding of what the heck we were supposed to be learning.

So, like I said, nothing much is new. Hello, old friends. I am afraid to say, I do not seem to be better-equipped than before to meet you; we shall have to make do with the usual routine of frustration and regret.



The future?

I have taken the liberty of preparing this idealized schematic for how I'd like to proceed:

BLOGGING -> SELF-UNDERSTANDING -> MOTIVATION -> EFFECTIVENESS -> SUCCESS

(Realistically, the first link is the most suspect. I've been blogging for years, and look where it got me. Nowhere.)

This title refuses to be helpful.

I'm out of practice at this. Let's see.



I have yet to decide whether I really want to pursue this physics thing. I've been advised by this graduate student I know that I should begin planning if I intend to continue studying abroad right after finishing my undergraduate degree here. (He spoke to me with the conviction of experience.)

On one hand, I'm not doing so bad at this. Well, I manage to stay somewhere in the upper half of my batch, at least (a bit of false modesty, hem hem). But, well, on the other hand, I'm not doing spectacularly. Perhaps I'm expecting too much, or, that is, looking for too obvious a confirmation of my life decisions.

I don't know.

In any case, it's not my place to be complaining about anything, really, but sometimes I just wish I could be someone more... effectual. Or, for that matter, someone who knew what he wants to affect. BUT ANYWAY.



I've recently upgraded to a 5 gig player, and I'm not used to having almost all of my music in my pocket yet. (Yeah, pretty small collection, I suppose, relatively.) No idea how to create playlists, but it should be fun to learn how to put songs together for greater effect.

So far, having an actual screen, and being able to browse through the songs easily, are the main novelties. Also the nifty touch pad.



I must not let the lazy defeat meeee