Reah’s Crib

“Fire! Start packing!”

Shouted my neighbor kid at five in the afternoon while I was in my living room, watching TV. I thought it was a joke, but I went out to make sure, and he wasn’t kidding! 

A few paces from my house, I saw a lot of people looking up to where the smoke was coming from. So I ran to a good spot and looked up too. I saw a big cloud of smoke that appeared to be just a couple blocks away! It was coming from the slum area down the neighborhood which you need to cross a small river to get there. Most of the houses there were made of wood so fire for sure could spread quickly. Observing the smoke’s direction, I could sense the fire was moving towards our place! And much worse, no fire truck had arrived yet!

So, I went back to my house and started packing things. My brother was the only one living with me. He came in when I started packing, and I told him to pack his clothes too. I was panicking for a few seconds as I thought of what to pack first. But I remembered what I need to do. 

I picked up the documents from the storage box, my ATM, my cellphone, my IDs. Then before I packed my clothes, I texted my parents first who are living in Cebu–miles away from Manila.  Just a few minutes later, my parents started calling and instructed me what to do. 

After packing my things, I put them all in the living room just near the door so my brother and I could easily pick them up in case we started evacuating. I told my brother to look out and report back to me if the neighbors nearby started bringing their things out from their houses so we could start too. While he was out, I was thinking what appliances we could salvage in case the fire get worse, and tried to remember them according to priority.

I unplugged most of my appliances, and even though my parents told me to turned off the main electrical switch, I did not obey. I was online updating Chris what was going on.

After maybe 20 or 30 minutes, I heard the sirens from the fire trucks coming in, but these trucks had a hard time getting in our neighborhood because of the low electrical wires hanging. I heard though that there were already fire trucks on the other end, which was good. 

Then it was over. 

While I was writing this article, I feel bad that I didn’t get out and started taking pictures of the incident when I was done packing. Of course, I was more worried about my life, and our things. But I wish I did go out after the fire was over, and use my journalistic skills. Even this morning I wasn’t able to find out what really happened, until I heard the news teaser on GMA channel and told Chris about it.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV
Fire razes 150 homes in QC slum area

Chris was able to get the links of the news article online and videos. That’s how I found what really happened, well not really. People say the cause was a charger left overheating, and some say kids playing ‘fire?” and the curtain caught the fire? Well I’m glad no one died but I feel bad for the people affected. It was the second time in about 4 months period that that area was in a fire.

P.S.

When I was packing my things, I realized the things that were important to me and which of them I could let go in the fire.

Maligayang araw ng mga puso! That’s how you greet your significant other during Valentine’s day. 

I think I never had celebrated Valentine’s Day with a special someone. or Had I? Oh, I remember something, I did. It was the first week of dating exclusively my first boyfriend, and we celebrated Valentine’s Day in our Junior/Senior Prom night. He picked me up and gave me a card, full of “I love you”. That was a few years ago.

Naalala ko lang ok? Walang malisya! 

When I look myself at the mirror, I would say I look fine. But people who I meet outside or even my friends and relatives would say, I am so skinny, and I should gain weight. It made me wonder how I really looked before since I could not notice any changes. They told me I was more chubby before, and good to look at? Hmm…

Ok, magpapataba na po ako. ( Translation: Ok, I will try to gain weight) Last week, I started researching about ways on gaining weight. It is kinda tricky since I really don’t want to spend a lot of money on food.  So I answered these questions.

What is my weight? 

I was thinking I weigh like 85 pounds or 88 perhaps. But I was wrong. I was glad I found that machine inside Mercury Drug Store where you can check your weight, height, heart rate, etc. in exchange of five pesos. That is cheaper compare to spending about 500 pesos for a bathroom weighing scale. (Is that how you call it?) After a few minutes stepping on the platform, I figured my weight is 92 pounds. Not bad compared to what I thought of first.

So, what is considered normal weight for my height?

My height is….. lol… secret… but the normal weight for my height is from 90 pounds to 110 pounds. I am not then underweight eh. It just happened I weigh less than before, and they think I don’t look good on such weight.

But according to my research, ideal weight for my height is from 103-113 pounds. Hmm… If I remember it right I was about 95 pounds before. 

How much do I want to gain?

Since I remember I was just about 95 to 96 pounds before. That is just what I want to target then. About 4 pounds additional weight. Not too much eh. I don’t want to get bloated too, just to look better.

What should I eat then?

I don’t plan to take those chinese herbs or tablets just to gain weight quickly. All I just have to do is not skip any meal and eat snacks. I admit I have eaten less this past year. For this year, I just need to eat more, which is not hard. I should also take vitamins everyday, and fruits almost every day (isn’t that expensive though), and vegetables (well, I will think about it). Someone also suggested that I eat peanut butter since nuts have more calories. Speaking of calories, I have used those calorie calculator and according to the results I should have like 1600 calories a day to achieve my target weight. Hmmm… peanut butter please.

How to avoid getting fat?

What the? I want to gain weight but not appear fat? Well, that is possible. Make those fats as muscles through weight lifting. Exercises that don’t sweat much, but focused on building muscles. I don’t want my body to look like a body builder though. I just want it proportional. And I should have enough sleep a day, go to bed before midnight. Although less sleep means more time to eat. 

Target Month to appear “healthier”.

April

May dati akong kaibigan na napakgaling mag-sulat. Dati close kami, hindi na ngayon. May nangyari kasing hindi maganda, pero carry na. Tapos na yun eh. Pero hindi na kami talaga magkaibigan ngayon. 

Dahil sa magaling siya magsulat, naisip ko kunin ang serbisyo niya. So tinext ko ang kaibigan ko na close friend niya. Sabi ko sa text:

“Andoy pakitext naman si Juan. Pakisabi kung pwede siya magsulat sa amin ng 10 articles. Mga 200-300 words each. Kelangan lang kasi namin ng unique articles eh. Eh alam ko naman magaling siya magsulat. Sabihin mo walang malisya to. Kelangan ko lang talaga.”

Ang reply sa akin, matapos ang ilang araw, finorward ng kaibigan ko ang reply ni Juan.

“Tang*** tol! Sampung articles? Kahit sabihin mo diyos ako, hindi ko kaya yun. Sabihin mo walang time. Salamat.”

Well, naintindihan ko naman ang sagot niya. Kasi nga naman may full time job siya. Pero wala lang, naisip ko lang, “So daig ko pa ang diyos?” Sabi niya kasi kahit diyos siya hindi niya kaya gawin ang sampung articles. Eh ako. Nakagawa kasi ako ng sampung mahahabang articles sa loob ng limang araw. Partida, umaalis pa ako ng bahay niyan. 

Hindi naman ako nagmamayabang. Kaya talaga isulat ang sampung articles sa loob ng limang araw kung gugustuhin mo, pwede nga isang araw lang eh, kung talagang inspirado ka magsulat. Sa isang online job, kapag nakasanayan mo na, sisiw na lang ang sampung articles. Pero dapat motivated ka talaga. Kasi kung wala, hindi ka makakasulat. Sa dati ko ngang pinagtrabahu-an. Limang articles kada araw pinagawa sa akin. Nakayanan ko. 

Tungkol naman sa pinapagawa ko sa kaibigan ko, hindi naman niya kelangan isulat iyon ng isang araw eh. Kahet next month pa niya matapos lahat, ok lang.

Haayyy…buhay nga naman. 

Yep. I am serious on self-studying to become a web programmer. I just bought three computer books. One is about general computer concepts, one is for HTML, and the other about Perl. I didn’t buy PHP books since there are a lot of free ebooks about it, which of course, I already downloaded. 

I bought the general book about Computers to get a good grasp of everything, from hardwares to softwares, understanding operating systems, the internet, networking, creating websites, etc… It’s interesting that when I was in High School, I took for granted all these basic concepts, and now I am reading each of them with so much appreciation, like what bit means and byte.

The HTML book was not just about HTML, it also discussed XML, and DHTML, and a few javascript.

And the last book, about Perl programming, I bought it because I want to create a tool that pertains to Unicode transliteration. ( I won’t tell you about it. lol. ) It may take time before I start creating the codes for this tool though since I don’t have much free time. One thing is I know for sure. I really want to create that program because it will make my life easier.

All these three computer books were really cheap, and they were published recently so I know they are updated. These also have an online sites, where I can answer interactive tests, links to other resources, and download sample files I need when I make my own program. (I am referring to the site for the Perl.) 

Well, wish me good luck with my self study. Even though it looked like that I went back to College and wasting my time for not working in a company, I am enjoying what I am doing, and I think that is the most important.

Have you read your Numerology results or at least Astrology? What did it tell you? Who are you according to the stars, according to the numbers, who are you?

Call me stupid if I did that and believe on to most what it said. It says I have creative skills to become a great writer. But where is the writer in me? Okay. This is writing. But am I as great as Shakespeare? Am as I great as the editor in a newspaper? Am I a writer who can move mountains? No. I am not. I am just an ordinary writer. I can’t bear writing as a career. But if the stars and numbers say so, I am curious to find out where the writer is in me.

I reformat my computer yesterday since it started to run slow. And it was only now that I have realized that I lost all my bookmarks… my my my. Most of my bookmarks were in Google Chrome, I wish Google had thought of automatically adding the bookmarks in the account’s “Google Bookmark” page but unfortunately there’s no feature like that. I have saved a lot and now they’re gone… This is the time that you will really appreciate maintaining a an account in Delicious.com

Yesterday, I took the Licensure Exam for Teachers. I am really glad it’s over, and I wish I could talk about the questions that appeared in the exam, and tell you my observations. But I can’t. Anyway, I hope I passed the test.

Lately, I’ve been addicted to buying stuff that has a shade of cyan. I bought shirts, sandals, my umbrella, and almost bought an expensive bag and sandals! I love the shades of cyan before, but I just ignored my liking on them because I thought it was foolish to be crazy over colors.

I had my friends during High School that were really into their favorite colors like lavander, purple, mint green, and yellow. When I mean into it, these friends of mine like buying things that has this color. If you give them a present, you won’t have any difficulty choosing what to give, as long it is their favorite color and cute. I believe one of them had their room colored mint green, and almost every thing that you would see in that room is mint green as well. Because of their behavior, I just thought, I should stop thinking about having a favorite color. To say my favorite color is blue is enough.

But a month ago, I just gave in to my desire. I love these shades of cyan! Cerulean, Teal Blue, Robin Egg Blue, Blue Green, Pacific Blue and a few more. Take note, I don’t like all shades of cyan though. If you don’t know how these colors look like, you can click the links above, and they’ll direct you to specific pages showing you how each shade looks like, or check the random images below which have the shades of cyan I like.

This is a wonderful dress. I wish I can wear it. Actually, the color of the expensive bag I mentioned earlier is the same as this dress’ color.

Teal Satin Open Toe Stiletto Heel Pumps from amiclubwear.com

Teal blue evening bag from bagzofstyle.co.uk

  ”Something Blue” Gift Box Candle from Gunthergifts.com

Soft Turquoise Cardigan from shop.nordstrom.com

Knit Top from shop.nordstrom.com

and then…

the images below are a few of the jewelry i found online that I liked.

and this ring, this super expensive but beautiful ring, this necklace, this necklace, these earrings… woah… there’s a lot

Wahahaha, hirap na ako mag-english eh, bakit ba? Joke. Feeling ko kasi mas ma-eexpress ko to sa Tagalog.

Kagabi, napanuod ko sa Net25 ang isang episode na pinag-usapan kung ano ang ginagawa ng mga Pilipino kapag traffic. Iba-iba ang sagot ng mga na-interview. Mayroong naiinis, mayroong walang paki, yung iba nagmumuni, nagtetext, natutulog, nakikinig ng music, o kaya naman tinitigan ang ibang pasahero para maaliw naman.

Kung ako tatanungin depende kung saan ako pupunta at anong oras na. Siyempre kung late na ako, magagalit ako, ba’t naman natrapik pa ako, pero kung tutuusin ako naman may kasalanan, di’ba kasi, late na ako nagising.

Kung pauwi na ako, ok lang kahit mastuck ako sa trapik kasi maiidlip na lang ako, o kaya magtetext kapag may kailangang itext. Kung wala naman, nagmumuni ako o kaya tinitigan ang mga katabi kong pasahero, minsan yung driver, hindi dahil sa gwapo siya kundi dahil natutuwa lang ako na kaya niya magcompute habang nagmamaneho. Noong meron naman akong mp3, nakikinig ako ng music. Kapag papunta naman ako sa school, nagrereview ako ng lessons. So, iba-iba talaga ang ginagawa ko kapag nadatnan ng trapik sa daan, o kaya naman nasa biyahe ako.

Pero ang pinakagusto ko sa lahat ay pagmumuni muni. Ano kaya itsura ko nun? Hahaha… Nakakatakot daw ako tingnan pag nag-iisip kasi para daw akong galit. Well, basta, nag-iisip ako. Kanina nga lang natuwa ako kasi nagkaroon ako ng ideya para sa website ko, at sa mga posibleng website ko balang araw. Kailangan ko lang matuto ng php. Feeling ko magkli-klik yung ideya ko as long walang maka-unang makagawa nito.

Naiinis nga lang ako kasi masyado akong inspired para gawin ito pero kailangan ko iignore kasi magrereview ako para sa LET. Kung kailan naman hindi na ako tambay sa bahay saka ko naisip ang napakagandang ideya na to. Bwisit talaga!

Ano idea ko? Secret…. Abangan niyo na lang.

Announce ko ba dito? Baka… =P