Hmm...

I feel bad that I just passed Masa's (August 23)birthday without being able to make something for him.

I hope you had a happy birthday, though. (笑) I'm glad to see he's still moving forward.

Another year has passed since the last time I did this and I feel no closer to my goals.

I should be more serious, I guess.

I guess life has improved a little bit for me in the sense that I've moved to a different department at work that is a little less stressful, even though there is technically more work to be accomplished.

I still want to be able to work as an artist though, so I need to get a portfolio together.

My list of things to accomplish still stands. (>_<)

Birthday~

Haha, my birthday (January 27th) was kind of uneventful, since I had work that day...but I got a lot of love and greetings nonetheless (^^)

My family surprised me with an amazing dinner of seafood pasta, and a nice cake!



I was pretty happy with how the celebration went but it kind of reminded me that I was a year older (obviously) and I'm still not close at all to accomplishing the goals I'd listed down last year (>_<)

I'm happy though for several things; one is that my family does love me, even though I often feel irritated with them and the rest of the world. Still though, I'm starting to realize that seriously, I have a long way to go regarding my goals and dreams (no matter how ridiculous they are) and even though I should be happy that I have a job, I really have to take a lot of things more seriously. Some people at work are saddled down with more things to do than me, and it makes me feel bad that I'm complaining about how my life is going and that I apparently have too little time to myself.

And I ask myself over and over again: "What am I doing with my life?"

The answer may as well be: "Nothing."

I need to bring myself out of being lazy and just do what it is I want to accomplish.

I have to work on the mini-projects that I promised myself I would work on, and I will finish them.

Let's see what I can do.

So, for now, I've been thinking about doing some character illustrations on book characters. There are certain books I read that always inspire me, and the Howl's Moving Castle series by Dianna Wynne Jones is one of them. Another is Ella Enchanted, so I'll be trying my hand at making illustrations of those. I've already started on Howl's Moving Castle, so I hope to have something to present by next week. I'm doing a bit of research on fashion and clothing in that era so hopefully something does strike me.

Oh, and I guess I'm missmysty's official fanfic illustrator for her Sekaiichi Hatsukoi fanfics now that we've done one project together. I illustrated her fanfiction "Morning Sun", a Sekaiichi Hatsukoi AU fic. I'm thankful to her since she got me started on this road (even if it was a very rocky process, hah), and I hope to continue.

She's starting a new AU fanfic for Sekaiichi Hatsukoi called "Idol", which I also hope to illustrate as it goes along.

I hope for the best!

頑張ります!

Happy New Year!

I really haven't updated in a long time. I've been so busy! (笑)

Or maybe a little too lazy? (>_<)

A new year has begun and I feel like I haven't accomplished enough in the past few months!

I'm very glad though, that I haven't been completely idle. I'm grateful for the chance to work and earn money, because a lot of people are really struggling.

I must admit, though, that I do want a steadier job, even though I know that being a cashier has improved my disposition and attitude towards working. I'm glad to know from others that I've made their days brighter, and that I make people happy. The work environment also appeals so much to me that I wish I could be here for much, much longer. But I know it probably won't be permanent, and I'll have to shift somewhere else after a while. I don't want to depend on retail jobs so much anymore, as it drains a lot from the soul. Plus, as a cashier, I'm so restricted to the cash register and don't get to help people with books or merchandise as much as I'd like to.

Also, since I started work, I feel like I really haven't had enough time to do the things I wanted to accomplish. Whenever I come home from the city, it ends up being quite late. Also, I have to accompany my mom to fetch my aunt almost every night, and the back-and-forth trip takes about an hour, so that's an hour of my time taken away almost every night. In addition, it drains me of a lot of energy especially since my aunt works so late. (>_<);; I know it's not her fault and I shouldn't really blame anyone for my lack of time, but seriously, I cannot help but feel as though my own family is draining me of every spare moment I desire to use for my own little projects and needs.

It doesn't help that every time I get a day off, that day gets filled with chores that they decide to bombard on me. So it's draining in every possible sense: physically, mentally, even emotionally, I guess.

I'm sorry to sound so whiny on my first post of the year, but I guess I haven't had much time to think about this, either.

I've been feeling a lot more headaches and pains lately, even double vision. and I'm starting to be afraid that I'm also sacrificing my health for all this. I've always believed in balancing things out and I've always been confident that I've handled stress well in the past. Now, I'm not so sure (T.T);

I can feel my head swimming, even now. (>_<)

I guess this means it's time for some New Year's Resolutions? (笑)

1.) I will eat properly.
By this I mean I will also cut costs and start eating more food at home than out in the city. And by eating food at home I don't mean making instant noodles. (笑) I've said I wanted to lower my sweet intake, and honestly, this is one of the most difficult things I've had to promise myself. I need to control myself more, considering how quickly I manage to consume a box of cookies. (笑)

2.) I will have some form of good exercise every day, even if it's just a few push-ups, some ballet exercises, or even jumping jacks.
Ideally, I would have music to dance to every morning. That would be a good way to start the day.

3.) Read more books.
And by this I mean actual books, like classics, bestsellers, et cetera. I bought an e-reader expressly for this purpose, and I think I've been getting some good use out of it (^^)

4.) Write and draw more.
At least once a week I should have a few drawings completed, and some more ideas jotted down for the stories in my head. I have three different genres to write for, and I know my manga has not been properly drawn or planned out! I have to accomplish something this year! Ideally, I should have a chapter of the manga out every month. I'll see how far I can go~

5.) Following that, I will need to study my Japanese in earnest.
I have everything at my fingertips and I should not hesitate to use them.

6.)All in all...I need to take care of myself.
Because looking back, I have been very lucky in life, even if I'm not exactly where I want to be. And even though I'm not, I have the ability to get to where I want to be, if I only pick myself up and go towards it.

So I will.

I think, in the middle of everything, I've forgotten what it means to be strong. And forgotten the source of my strength.

So I'm going back.

Music, words, prayers.

I need to bring it all back.

To anyone who still passes through and reads, and checks this blog, thank you and I love you.

明けましておめでとうございます！今年もよろしくおねがいします！
皆さん、一緒に頑張りましょう!

[Happy New Year! Please be kind to me this year as well. Everyone, let's work hard together!]

お久しぶり!

It's been a very long time (笑)

I've been busy! My job as a Halloween store sales associate is over, so I went around looking for a job around last week.

I'm extremely happy that I got employed again, this time at a bookstore! (笑) I think I'm only going to be hired for the holiday season, but I think they have a tendency to permanently keep their holiday temps, so I hope I do well (^^)

Today was actually my first day as a cashier there, and the process is very different, but I'm slowly getting used to it. I really want to stay for a long while, so I hope for the best.

Oh, and before I forget, here are some photos from our apple picking several weeks ago!


Here are all the apples we picked (笑)


And me with a pumpkin! Since it was that close to Halloween, there were so many pumpkins. And this one was heavy!

And speaking of Halloween, this was my Halloween costume on my last day of work (笑)


In other news, I have become an almost-regular customer at Kinokuniya! I have so many cute things now thanks to them, but I have to curb my spending now. I need to control my spending! But I'll show you guys what I got sometime, okay? (笑)

I've also been more active on Livejournal again lately; I've kind of turned it into my fangirling journal. I'm probably gonna pop a new little icon for the sidebar soon.(笑)

I've recently become a huge fan of the BL anime/manga Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, and clearly, it has impacted my life that heavily. (笑) For those of you who enjoy reading/watching BL, and enjoyed Shungiku Nakamura's Junjou Romantica, I encourage you to take a look at her spin-off, Sekaiichi Hatsukoi! Granted, there are no official licensed translations as of now, but there are scanlation groups working on it for now. I enjoyed this series a lot more than I did Junjou Romantica, and

I hope to update some more soon! I missed blogging, and I hope I have more things to post!

頑張ります!

Payday!

My first paycheck! (笑)

It actually isn't much, but I can expect a little bit more on my next payday, since I will have worked some more over that particular period of time.

I'm actually pretty happy about this (^^)v

Saa, let's keep moving forward, without hesitations!

Yudan sezu ni ikou. (笑)

I AM NO LONGER UNEMPLOYED!

I just got hired as a temp sales associate for the Halloween season!

I have a job!

Yes, it's only temporary, but it is still a good opportunity! Doing well also means you can get hired permanently.

Obviously my skills in horrifying people was useful in getting this job. (笑)

I also have an interview for anoter job tomorrow!

Wish me luck! (笑)

頑張ります!

Lately...

I've been getting a lot of headaches (^^;)

Must be the weather, it's been very hot recently...

I called the Japanese-American Society as I said I would, and thankfully they told me to send over my resume. However, they would be closed on August 1-8, so if I get an interview, it would have to be after that. I hope things go well(>_<)

Somehow, when it comes to organizations or places like this, I feel more confident answering people's questions about it. Maybe because I know it better, or I know what I want? (笑)

I find that I am very happy whenever I am allowed to immerse myself in Japanese culture and art. Of course, I have other things that I like, but somehow, reading about it or seeing pictures makes me feel very happy. I guess I really do like Japan, even if I have never been there.

I think that everybody has their own silly little dream, and for me, I guess it's being a star of some sort, like a performer, that is my silly little dream.

I mean, I blog like a Japanese actor/singer, and even fashion my blog after them. (笑)

Realistically though, I want to be known someday as an artist/designer and blogger. I think that my skills fall under these, and these are skills I can hone, and market to others. It may take some time, and I don't mind that as long as I can chase after my dreams.

I posted before about the things I wanted to do directly after getting a job, and I honestly think I would stick to it. I want to make my life better, but most of all, I want to make myself better.

I saw a quote of Confucius on Twitter earlier: "When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps."

I think this is very relevant to me, since there are so many things I want to accomplish. Many times, I think we are forced to abandon most of our dreams because we think they can't be done, but all we have to do sometimes is rethink the situation and find another way towards that dream.

I think my problem is that while I have a goal, I never clearly set out the steps that I need to take for it. (笑) It's real proof that I need to think more about what my goals need, huh?

I have some of my steps laid out, but I need to get to those stages before I start seeing what needs to be adjusted.

For now, I've been reading a lot of books and sources on art and other subjects, and I hope to emerge a more knowledgeable person. I'm also trying to start a comic or story, so I'm looking forward to the moment I set my first few pages out.

頑張ります!(笑)

Tension.

Right now, I'm basking in the aftermath of a family gathering.

Since some of my relatives heard that I might be called for a job interview soon, they gave me a lot of advice about it. There were a lot of laughs too, considering how much I banged my head on the desk in mock frustration at all the pressure.(笑)

Sometimes, I wonder what I really want in my life...

I'm very certain that I love the work involved in the major I studied, especially after my experience as an intern in an advertising company. I was quite happy about what I did and I honestly want to pursue a creative path...

But I think that Advertising might have been an excuse for me, to continue doing the things I love, like drawing. Sometimes I wonder if my path really lies in the Advertising world. I do love it, no matter how high-pressure it always seemed to be...

But after talking with my relatives, and after they pointed out how heavy the Japanese influence was on my resume, I started to wonder what was more important to me.

I mentioned the following things on my resume: that I could read, write and speak basic Japanese, that I headed a Japanese appreciation org, and even made a thesis based on Japanese culture in the Philippines. It almost very quickly overshadows the advertising experience, although in a creative aspect, I am very much inspired by Japanese art and culture.

I love the idea of a creative path, and I think I also mentioned somewhere that there were so many things I wanted to accomplish. But is it the idea of the creative path, or the creative path itself, that I want?

I'm just so drawn to Japanese culture as well that I also feel that I'm using advertising only as a means to pursue my dream of furthering Japanese culture studies. I mean, if your dreams need so much to fuel them, why not take a path to get that fuel, even if it's slightly off the dream path?

I'm really confused. (笑)

I feel bad for not seeing the road that leads to my goal, or the goal my road leads to.

One of my relatives suggested that since I was that involved in Japanese, I should try volunteering or looking for employment at a Japanese organization if I could find one. I could also work as a website maintainer, somehow.

On that whim, I looked up the Japan Society in New York, and while I didn't find any employment opportunities, I did find some nice internships. I was particularly interested in an internship on Performing Arts. There are so many events in the Japan Society that I wish I could go to, and programs I wish I could take, but I guess it will have to wait until they start employing again.

On another hunch, I looked up Japan organizations in my area, and I found the Japanese-American Society of New Jersey. Lo and behold, there were job opportunities, maybe even something I'm qualified for.

I got excited by the idea, surprisingly, a lot more excited than I ever was for the other interview that I may or may not have. My mother says I should try calling them to ask about the job openings.

Sometimes I wonder why I'm this excited for it...I hope I'm doing the right thing.

I'll give them a call this Monday.(笑)

Please wish me luck!

Good news~!

I think I have a job interview tomorrow~ （笑）

I'll be going to New York tomorrow on my own. Some family friends recommended me to a company and they'll be taking me there... (^^;)

I've been very nervous about finding a job since I started living here, since I feel like everything depends on it. There are so many things I want to accomplish in my life, and somehow, having a job makes it feel a lot more possible. (>_<)

All right!

This will be a fresh, fresh start! （笑）

These are the things I want to do:

1) Study graphic and web design. Whether it's by self-study or through lessons or a school, I want to study this and become more proficient. It takes time, so I will have to make time. I've started reading and picking up my pencils again.
I'm also going to start being active on the Toradora! Tumblr that I have, as an exercise in simple things like photo editing/arranging/whatnot. I hope to get better with time.

2) Learn dance. I know it's easy to find dance studios in the area. I will learn and persevere. Hiphop and ballet, anyone? （笑）

3) In case I find it difficult to get into a dance studio, (or in addition to learning dance) I want to study a martial art. Since it promotes discipline and inner strength, and sense of self, I want to pick up one. I saw several karate studios nearby, I think it will be fairly easy to get to one.

4) This is just a side note, but as a fourth thing, I want to pass my driving test on my first try. Because I want to show up my mom who failed the written test three times (although she didn't have to take a practical.)

5) I want a place of my own, and a kitchen of my own. This is self-explanatory. I want my own apaaatoooo.

6) I'm planning to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test in December, so I'll be self-studying and translating manga and songs as a project within the next, er, 6 months?

I think this is it for now? （笑）
My dreams aren't impossible, are they? （笑）

頑張ります!

some old photos!

This was taken during "One Big Lay", a mini-event at the university when we were all invited to lie down on the school field and reminisce about the four years we've spent as college students. I swear, we had a pretty nice time. Ran into random friends on the field, and we even saw a floating lantern, like in Tangled! There should have been more lanterns. ♪


These, on the other hand, were some posters I made as props for this seminar:

It was basically a seminar on the promotion of Children's Rights through media, and it was actually quite informative and rather inspiring. I wish I'd been able to help some of the students out with their dance though--it looked as though they really could have used it. Oh well. (笑)

The past few days have actually been telling and convincing me to stay here where I love the things I do and experience. I'm not afraid to be on my own, but of course, family is important too. I wish there was a way to reconcile everything...

I need a job! (笑)

Though, my jewelry designs have been a little popular among people lately ♪

Plus, I have this new jewelry book. Maybe I should really open a shop? (笑)

Wish me luck!

Thesis Defense!

I passed my thesis defense last monday~ ♪ This is me in my defense attire (笑)
Ironically more like a Von Karma?!

As of now, I've just finished making the final edits to my thesis (^^) I hope that I will be able to print and bind it soon~ ♪

FINALS?!

Today is our exam in Japanese! Aaaaagh. I haven't finished my market research, so I might have to resort to asking for my mother's help again...(;_;)
It's really in the last couple of days that work is finally starting to take its toll on me. (>o<)/

Yesterday was fun though. It was Setomaru's birthday!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SETO KOJI~
I went to Cubao (again) so that I could check on prices at Shopwise. Kin-chan and Ochibi thankfully helped me, it got the job done faster and we were able to hang out a little. Timezone fun! And I guess that's how we celebrated Seto's day?

Recently I've felt like, since we live in different cities but can see each other pretty easily, and because we love TeniPuri so much, part of me was thinking the silly thought that it was like we were living in different prefectures in the same region. and our constant hangouts and blogging are really starting to become more and more like Tenimyu actor blog posts.

I swear, we can be delusional. (笑) or maybe it's just me...

on a random note, I'm glad finals may be over today. My classmates and I will most probably have a shoot today for our final project, and then this Saturday, I mighthave to help choerograph a dance for the kids in the Japanese club. Since when did I become a choreographer?! (笑)

That's all for now though. I must cram!! (笑)

My chibis and Okonomiyaki ♪

Today, I had to go to supermarkets and check stuff (aka i wasn't required to go to the office), but also decided to hang around with Ochibi and Kin-chan since they live in the area anyway. (笑)
We had lunch in Ali Mall and moved over to Gateway so that I could go to Timezone. Ochibi gave me her Timezone card (because she wasn't really a Timezone player and had no use for it, plus it was just given to her) so that I could play. Hahaha. I really should come there more, it can be a bit of a workout and it's fun too.

I managed to arrive at class on time despite my leaving Gateway rather late (as in thirty minutes before class time), but I was unbelievably tired and unfocused. I'm not sure what was wrong with me at the time.



When I got home though, I experimented in the kitchen and made okonomiyaki. It turned out quite successfully--I just need more ingredients to experiment with, but it's all good. (笑) Another way to force me to eat vegetables. Maah, I'm a little worried for my work tomorrow and my presentation for class. I'm not quite done with things. When did I become such a crammer? たるんどる！

EPIC WAGYUU BEEF ♪

It was our classmate Kay's birthday today, so she took the entire class, including sensei, out for dinner and to do random things! (笑)
We ended up driving all over Makati in order to look for a decent Japanese restaurant, and then ended up eating in "KAI", a rather swanky Japanese restaurant, more fine dining than what we ever expected. AND WE WERE ABLE TO GET A TASTE OF WAGYUU BEEF.

Which is probably, like, 87532721 times more expensive (probably) than any yakiniku plate ever? But so good. And you cook it yourself on a hot plate.

Poor sensei though. Both hot plates were on either side of her and on one side, we were skilled at using the hot plate, while the other side was not. The fat from the beef either kept spitting at her, or the fat would drip into the flames causing the fire to suddenly go up in a whoosh. She was started to get too scared to use the hot plate. (笑)

Afterwards though, we walked around and eventually found a Timezone arcade, where I danced several rounds of DDR and Dancefreaks, then tried my hand at Drumania (7th mix). I think I may get the hang of drums eventually, but it will take time. At least I'm getting better at DDR.

It was a very fun evening. FEAST YOUR EYES ON THE WAGYUU BEEF AND BURN WITH ENVY MUAHAHA.

/kidding. XD

I might be quite busy at work tomorrow. Maah!

The office is coooold~

It was so cold in the office today!! (>_<) And I was all alone too! Greetings from the cold and lonely office, everyone!! (笑)

I mentioned before that I no longer hitch with Raizza in the mornings since she's done with her internship this summer--Chabeli is actually done as well, so only the latest intern, Tanya, is my companion in the office these days, and today, she wasn't here (>_<) She apparently went to Zambales.


This was comforting though, haha. When I was on my way to work, I passed by the KFC branch in the train station and picked up a mini-bucket of their Chewy Cheeze! It was nice to have that morning. It really feels like comfort food (笑)

Though, I still very much crave for Takoyaki these days. Where will I find a decent, nearby place that sells it?! /craves.

Much later today though, Kin-chan met up with me to watch a play, "The Diary of an Ajejenean." It was a pretty epic comedy about Jejemons and Conyos, terms which are actually difficult to explain in one go, so yeah. (@_@) /is too lazy to further define.

It was quite enjoyable, though obviously a bit of an amateur play, but it was for the benefit of The Philippine Cerebral Palsy, Inc, so it was all good. I really feel for people with cerebral palsy, it's horrible not to be able to control your body properly, I know firsthand how that feels.

Kin-chan and I ate at Mushroom Burger on Katipunan afterwards. The place isn't so bad, and it's a lot less crowded, I expect, than Jollibee or McDonald's.

It's sad though that Ochibi wasn't able to come with us. She was still feeling down, so I didn't push her any further. I decided to visit their house tomorrow instead.

I hope all goes well.

Late for work (>_<)

I was kind of late for work today. (>_<)
Since I'm no longer hitching with Raizza to go to work (she's finished with her hours already), I need to get to Makati all by my lonesome. (笑)

This morning was a hassle though, because my mother wanted me to try taking this shuttle that, she thought, went straight to The Fort, or at least to Ayala. Big mistake, it didn't even come close, and the routes are erratic there too. Muhhh~ (>_<)I ended up getting off at a nearby train station and take the train in order to get me to the bus stop that goes directly to my building. (T_T) As you can see in the photo I took of the station, I was already 5 minutes late for work and counting. Then when I got to the bus stop, the line was EPICALLY LONG. (^^;)

In the end I spent more money on a ride which took me nowhere near my destination when I could have spent much, much less if she had just taken me straight to the train station near our place. (T_T) Maah maah. I hope tomorrow will be better. For now, I want ice cream. (>_<)

Cake~

今日は、ライッザとチャべりとシュガーハウスに行った～
Today Raizza, Chabeli and I went to Sugarhouse.

It was a bit of a walk, but it wasn't that far at all, perhaps 5 minutes? I immediately ordered my favorite cake, Lemon Torte--I was lucky because there was a 10% discount on it, since it was the cake of the month. (^o^)/

おいしかったです！！甘すぎ～！♪　
It was delicious! So sweet~! ♪

I haven't eaten lemon torte in a very long while. (>_<) I should really watch out for my sweet intake though!

Recently, I've been slacking off in studying Japanese... In the words of Sanada Genichirou-- たるんどる!

頑張ります！！

I'm back!

Haha, I'm back to plain old English for a while. Blogging in Japanese is tiring!

Work has been fun so far, and Japanese is starting to make a little more sense for me. It's been the same routine, going to work, commuting back to school, and then going home and studying. (Okay, so I'm still working on that last bit.)

I hung out at the Japanese Studies Department after class today. They've got this BIG shipment of manga (in original Japanese, duh), and they're all food manga!!

It's enough to make you hungry just by looking at them. (笑) I've been trying my best to read some of them, and so far it's been good, though my head tends to hurt afterward.(笑)

In other news, I've written something in my other blog, Zero-to-One. The URL is going to be difficult to advertise--it's going to sound like numbers. (笑) To think that it's going to be filled with lines upon lines of whatever my mind comes up with!

If you like, while I have only one entry up on it, I can still make a different blog URL that's easier to remember and say. (笑) Tell me in a comment! Any suggestions (provided that they are free of ridicule and are creative) will be considered. (笑)

Oh, and do tell me what you think there too. I've never really shown anyone what I've written in this kind of style (songs/poems/whatnot) so honestly, I'm very nervous. (笑)

Thanks and tell me what you think!!

Practice again, haha.

今日は、日本語の授業が楽しい！！
日本語を大体習った（＞＿＜）
難しい!とても　難しい！そして、教室は暑い! 夏日はいつも暑い...

明日、何もしたくないです．．．でも、忙しい．．．仕事があるから。
大丈夫!仕事が好き。本当に好き！

土曜日、友達に会って、晩ごはんを食べるつもり。

疲れたから、寝たいです．
おやすみ！
----------
Practicing again. Thank you, Gus, for helping me compose this and for correcting my mistakes. The rough translation:
"Today, Japanese class was fun!!
I learned a lot of Japanese (>_<)
Difficult! Very difficult! And the classroom was hot! Summer days are always hot...

Tomorrow, I don't want to do anything...but, I'm busy...because I have a job.
It's okay though! I like my job! I really like it!

On Saturday, I'm meeting some friends, and we plan to have dinner.

And because I'm tired, I want to sleep.
Good night!"

I can only hope that all this practice will be effective. I actually had a picture to post from today, but I'm too tired to upload it.

Next time, everyone. Oyasumi~

Japanese practice -日本語 練習

昨日は、あまり働かなかった。（笑）
今日は、忙しい！Greenbeltに行きました！

暑い！！後で、電車で大学へ行きました。

今、日本語をべんきょうしています。大変です。。。（＞＿＜）
これからは毎晩べんきょうするつもりです！
頑張ります!
----------
I can only hope that my grammar is correct.（笑）
Here's a translation of what I tried to say:

"Yesterday, I didn't work much. (laughs)
Today, I was busy! I went to Greenbelt!

Hot!! Later, I took the train to University.

Now, I'm studying the Japanese Language. It's difficult...(>_<)
From now on, I plan to study every night!
Ganbarimasu!!"

I tried. （笑）In any case, we interns had to go to Makati Ave on an emergency errand. The office kept calling me on my cell phone to check on us, I think because of nerves that we wouldn't make it in time. Thankfully, we did, and I'm glad for it. Though there was a bit of a panic when I realized that the money the agency gave me for the errand was sort by nearly a thousand pesos--thankfully it was all cleared up and it wasn't much trouble. However, I got slightly lost in the Makati area thanks to some confusing directions from my fellow intern Raizza, but in the end I managed to reach the train station and take the train back to campus, and in time for class too. I still feel very rusty in the language and so I need to practice. Forgive me if you're able to spot any kind of mistake--I'm still learning!!