:) Tuesday - o5.13.o8

5 AM.

It was my Physical and Dental exam for UP enrollment. The day started really early - 5 am. And I slept around 12. I woke up, brushed my teeth, and drank hot choco. Take note: I didn't eat ANYTHING. I was about to take a bath, when I saw this spider hanging on the wall. I shrieked upon sight of the arachnid. At first, I tried to solve it by taking a dipper of water and splashing the spider with water. When it wouldn't budge, I knocked on my mum's bathroom door and told her that I should just take a bath there, because there was a spider in mine. My mum promptly refused, saying she was already bathing. So we left the house around 6, and caught an FX going to the shuttle. We arrived at the shuttle quickly, and we boarded it around 6.15. We only had to wait a few minutes for it to fill up. My mum told me we were to get off at the Boni station of the MRT, and said I could sleep if I wanted to. Tsh. No way was I going to do THAT. I could hear music blasting from the man's earphones across me. It was Misery Business. Haha. It took around 30 minutes to reach our destination, and from there, we rode the MRT to the last stop, Taft Station.

7 AM.

We reached Taft around this time. Then, we transferred to the LRT train. All this time, I was hyperventilating about the height. Honestly, I could stand everything BUT heights and spiders. I reached the LRT train whilst staring upwards. Upon boarding the train, we didn't go to the ladies' section. We simply jumped onto the train that was nearest because the train was about to leave. There were no seats, and I was left standing. Imagine my surprise when a guy stood up and offered his seat. CHIVALRY IS NOT DEAD IN THIS WORLD, LADIES. HAVE HOPE. After that, the rest of the ride was unevenftul.

7.30 AM.

We got off at the station before Pedro Gil. My mum insisted we stop at a fast food joint to pick up some breakfast because I hadn't had any but I refused, because I somehow felt that the line would be long if we stopped to eat. So we went on, and crossed Taft Avenue. At this, I was holding onto my mum since we were not crossing a simple street, but a two way, three lane road. Goodness knows how long I would've stood there if I had no one to go along with. Plus, there was this big sign that read 'NO PEDESTRIAN CROSSING' This did not properly register in my conscious mind until after I crossed the street. Why we crossed, I do not know. I am now a fugitive of the law. I am a JAEwalker. MWAHAHAHA. xDD So we reached the UP Manila campus beyond the Supreme Court. Yes. My uni is located beside a courthouse. >3 So we went on to look for the College of Dentistry, because apparently, this was where my dental exam was to be verified. But we went to the old bulding, where the guard told us that the new building was located across the street. So we went there. Upon arrival, however, the guard there told us that the dental exam was not to be verified here, but at another building. So we rode a jeep going there. When we got down, there was only a few people.

8.30 AM.

My dental exam verified, I went out of the building to look for my mum. No surprise, my mum was ahead of me on making new friends. She was already chummy with another mum, and found out her daughter was also a blockmate, meaning we have the same course. And so, mothers introduced daughters to one another. We waited for them to finish their dental exam, and we went to the PGH together for our physical exam. Our parents were not allowed in the building, so once again, my newfound 'friend' and I went on inside alone. A lady took our height and weight, and we were seated by number near a door to await for our physical exam. Another girl told us to fill out the forms. There was one point in that time when a girl caught our attention and saying that we had to write this on the bottom of the first form: "I CONSENT/REFUSE TO TAKE THE FOLLOWING EXAMS : BREAST, ABDOMEN, GENITAL, RECTAL" I could not help but gape at this. I looked at my "friend" and asked her what she would pick. She said she'd refuse all if it was an all-or-nothing package. In the end we picked abdomen exam only, because REALLY. It was UNBELIEVABLE what we had to go through JUST to enroll.

9 AM.

We were led into an airconditioned room in groups of 10. Us first three were called to wait out in the hallway. The first guy who was called took about 15 minutes, and while waiting, I asked her where she had studies high school. She answered UST, then returned my question. I answered, OB, and she scrunched her face up, saying, Where's that? Inside my head, I was, Ah unknown OB. I told her it was in Greenhills. The guy before her came out, then my friend followed. She exited the doctor's room 10 minutes later. It was my turn at last. The doctor asked me questions about my health, my habits, and such. She took my BP, and then led to me a bed where she asked me to lie down, and asked me if I had cosented to an abdominal exam. I answered yes. So she lifted up my shirt, and started pressing on various points in my abdomen, asking if anything hurt. I answered no to all. Getting on the bed was quite harrying because I couldn't sit on it without the help of a step. So after the exam, the doctor told me to take a blood chem, just to check my cholesterol level, and then drop the results off at the nurse in the hospital. I dropped off my forms at the nurse who kept the records, and I headed out to look for my mum.

10 AM.

The whole exam took about an hour. I found my mum sitting beside the mum of my friend, and then we went to the Office of the University Registrar to pick up ANOTHER form to fill out for enrollment. Going to this place we took a shortcut beside the hospital. I would have preferred we go the long way, since going through the hospital I saw a lot of things. The windows to the hospital rooms were open, so I could see people with IVs injected in their arms, clutching their heads. We reached the registrar, and we asked for the forms.

10.30 AM.

While waiting for our mims to secure the forms, a couple of guys were looking at my friend. I looked at her, asking if she knew them. And she said, pfft, no. xD After that, our mums appeared, successful in securing the forms. The mum of my friend said that she'd submit the forms today, but my mum said she would just submit it on the day of enrollment itself, saying she didn't have the papers needed, and besides, the enrollment scheduled for today was for another course. The mum asked again if we wanted to submit the forms but my mum wouldn't budge, so instead we just said goodbye to each other, and saying we'll see each other on enrollment.

11 AM.

We boarded the LRT again to go the condo to eat lunch. The ride was refreshing, since the train was airconditioned, and the heat was unbearable outside. Upon reaching the Taft station of the MRT, we got off, but not before I pointed to an ad in the train station. It was a HUGE tarpaulin poster of my former school, which surprised me, because I didn't know they posted ads in the MRT stations. To reach the MRT station, we had to climb and go down a set of stairs well off the ground. Again, I clutched my mum's arm to get through the whole thing. We reached the MRT station without any incident, and we boarded it. We were to get off at the Shaw Blvd station. It was the nearest stop to our condo. When we got off, we rode a tricycle to get to the condo.

11.30 AM.

My mum ordered lunch for us at a dimsum place. When she got her take out order, she said she'd leave now to go to the office, and I should just wait for my aunt to arrive. Before going out the door, she told me to leave the condo early, since I needed to take my picture for some stuff for enrollment. I ate my lunch for about 30 minutes, because first, it was hot. Second, it was a BIG bowl of rice. Third, I was texting. I finished it just in time because my aunt arrived a few minutes later, knocking on the glass door.

12 PM.

My aunt and I go through the gates of the condo, but not before she went into Mini Stop to buy bread, ice, and some juice for a snack later on. We walked to our building, and we arrived in our unit. I immediately took off my shoes, and sat down to watch TV. My aunt was wrestling with the can opener my dad bought, since it wouldn't open the can. In the end, she just used a cutter to open the can of juice. After a few minutes if flipping through channels, I decided I should just sleep before we left. I changed into more comfortable clothes, and then promptly flopped onto my bed and fell asleep.

2.20 PM.

I wake up to a headache. It was around this time I headed downstairs and found my aunt working on something. I didn't try to find out what it was. I just went straight to the ref, and got out my Mountain Dew to finish off. I got a piece of the bread my aunt bought earlier, since I felt hungry. I sat down on a bean bag, and watched TV again. Four Brothers was on, and my aunt and I sat down to watch it even though it was already in the middle of the movie. When the movie finished, my aunt told me to get ready so we could leave already.

2.30 PM.

I was already done changing clothes, so I went down again to wait for my aunt to finish her preparations. My aunt asked me if I was going to take a bath. I said no, because I had no towel. So she said to wait for her to finish, then we'd leave. Again, I resumed watching TV. This time, I watched Kimora: Life on the Fab Lane, just because there was nothing else on.

3.30 PM.

My aunt came down, and she said to pull the plugs on the TV. So I turned it off. We headed to the MRT station to go to Cubao for my ID picture. She asked me if my mum gave me any money for the picture, and I answered no. We were waiting for a ride to the train station when my aunt suddenly said we should just take a cab to Cubao, because she didn't feel like riding the MRT. We spotted taxis, but all of them had passengers. Finally my aunt got tired of waiting out for taxis, so we hitched a ride on a jeep which would drop us off on the MRT station. When we got to the MRT station, the train was there, and so we ran to catch it and we didn't have to wait for another train to pass. We got in, but we had to squeeze ourselves in. When I entered, an unpleasant scent assaulted my nose. And then I heard someone say there was no aircon. Oh so that's why. And people were kinda rude too. I was holding onto the rails because I might fall over but people kept on leaning on the rail, as if no one was holding onto it. So I gave all of them a look. Because it was a long day, and it wasn't about to end just yet.

3.40 PM.

We get off at the Cubao MRT station and headed to Gateway. I insisted on getting my ID picture taken in Gateway because one, it was easier. Two, we did not have to cross the street in the rain just for an ID picture. But lo and behold. The photo shop had closed down, and it was replaced with a retail store. We approached a guard just to be sure. He confirmed that there was no more Kameraworld, and I was forced to go to the mall next door to take a picture. On the way out of Gateway, however, I saw a really cute backpack, and we went inside to check it out. It was a white backpack with silver stars on it. Cute, but it would get dirty easily. It also cost 2K. We finally went on our way to mall next door.

4 PM.

We arrive at the photo shop, and my aunt gets me in line for an ID picture. I receive a text from my mum saying that we should buy the grocery, and then pick up the pictures before we meet up and head to the FX station together. Then, the photo guy said to go in, and fix myself before taking the picture. I was in there for about 10 minutes fixing my hair, before I started to look at the pictures on the wall, because some people had posted up their pictures. A few were okay, some were just over the top. Like this one kid who was trying to look sexy. Really. So I went out after that, and sat beside my aunt. But as soon as I had sat down, the photo guy said he'd take the ID picture now. It took a few shots before I got satisfied with my picture, and he said I could claim it in 30 minutes.

4.20 PM.

I voiced out my hunger. My aunt asked me where I would want to eat, and I saw a DQ poster, so I said DQ. But she said, ice cream doesn't fill your tummy. So instead we headed to the food court to eat dimsum. While I was waiting for my aunt to finish ordering there was this one girl that approached me, and asked if she could talk to me about something. I shook my head. My aunt came soon after, and I ate my dimsum. While I was eating I was looking at a couple the next table over. They were taking pictures, and each time they tried, they couldn't get it right.

4.40 PM.

We head to the grocery store to buy stuff for the house. My mum only mentioned four things to buy, but my aunt bought more, so it took longer. While waiting in line, there were people in front of me whose actions annoyed me. The woman before the woman directly in front of me left her cart in front of the counter. I looked at the woman hard, but some people just don't get it. So I took the initiative to get the cart of the way. When it was the woman in front me who was paying for her groceries, she left her basket on the floor. I stared at her for a few seconds before picking up the basket and putting it aside.

5.15 PM.

We finish paying for the groceries. My aunt tells me to sit down and wait for my mum, and she'd just go and get the pictures. I look out and see that the sky was a bluish-gray, meaning it was drizzling out. My aunt comes back 10 minutes later, saying to text my mum that we would go ahead to the FX station, and we'd just wait for her there. We arrive, and my aunt tells me so we can be in line, and we can get home earlier. While we're waiting, a tape plays, featuring some sort of minister preaching. I was listening and when he said a word in peculiar manner, I chuckled, but my aunt said to stop. So we get in line, and my aunt says to the lady who manages the station that we'd take 4 seats, although there are only 3 of us. My aunt pays the fare, and also purchases 2 packs of Yakult from the lady. We move forward as the group before us leaves, and we wait for the next ride.

5.45 PM.

My mum arrives, and she gets in line with us. She and my aunt talk in hushed tones about something, and I look up at them both, trying to catch what they were saying. My mum turns to me then, and asks me how many grocery bags we had. I answer 7, and she nods. We return to silence as the minister's voice once again booms over us.

6.15 PM.

My mum tells me to stand up, so I do. I pick up my grocery bags, and go out of the shade. My mum tells me to go in, and I assume it was because of the rain. I told her it wasn't raining anymore, but then she tells me this chimney-like thing might suddenly fall down and crush me. I scoff, and instead step out more. The lady managing the FX station says the next ride is ready.

6.30 PM.

We are on our way home, and my mum says that my friend, the one I met earlier, came from UST. I said I already knew it, and sounding surprised, she said you two talked to each other?? Ha ha, ma. She says my newfound friend is a study freak. Even though her mum would tell her to go out, she wouldn't because she was studying. I cringe internally. Great. Just great. But she didn't pass ADMU, my mum added. And then my mum told the mum of my friend that I passed ADMU, and I already had a dorm to stay in.

7 PM.

AT LAST, we arrive at the last stop before the house - the tricycle station that would take us up the hill. I ride alone, and my mum and aunt ride in one tricycle. When we arrive, we are greeted by the dog, who jumps on our leg as we enter the door.





IT WAS A LONG DAY. A long and tiring day. May I add, I have only seen ONE guy in DevStud. Seriously. And the bulk of us didn't even choose this course as a first choice. We were all 'degree program with available slot'. Blah. And I'm about to do this all over again, tomorrow. T.T I had probably ridden all forms of public transport here in the Philippines, except for the bus and the cab.

And the only thing I could think of at the end of the day was, I am going to do this everyday for the rest of my college life. Goodness help me. I cannot even cross a one way street, much less a busy road.

:) Tuesday - o5.13.o8

5 AM.

It was my Physical and Dental exam for UP enrollment. The day started really early - 5 am. And I slept around 12. I woke up, brushed my teeth, and drank hot choco. Take note: I didn't eat ANYTHING. I was about to take a bath, when I saw this spider hanging on the wall. I shrieked upon sight of the arachnid. At first, I tried to solve it by taking a dipper of water and splashing the spider with water. When it wouldn't budge, I knocked on my mum's bathroom door and told her that I should just take a bath there, because there was a spider in mine. My mum promptly refused, saying she was already bathing. So we left the house around 6, and caught an FX going to the shuttle. We arrived at the shuttle quickly, and we boarded it around 6.15. We only had to wait a few minutes for it to fill up. My mum told me we were to get off at the Boni station of the MRT, and said I could sleep if I wanted to. Tsh. No way was I going to do THAT. I could hear music blasting from the man's earphones across me. It was Misery Business. Haha. It took around 30 minutes to reach our destination, and from there, we rode the MRT to the last stop, Taft Station.

7 AM.

We reached Taft around this time. Then, we transferred to the LRT train. All this time, I was hyperventilating about the height. Honestly, I could stand everything BUT heights and spiders. I reached the LRT train whilst staring upwards. Upon boarding the train, we didn't go to the ladies' section. We simply jumped onto the train that was nearest because the train was about to leave. There were no seats, and I was left standing. Imagine my surprise when a guy stood up and offered his seat. CHIVALRY IS NOT DEAD IN THIS WORLD, LADIES. HAVE HOPE. After that, the rest of the ride was unevenftul.

7.30 AM.

We got off at the station before Pedro Gil. My mum insisted we stop at a fast food joint to pick up some breakfast because I hadn't had any but I refused, because I somehow felt that the line would be long if we stopped to eat. So we went on, and crossed Taft Avenue. At this, I was holding onto my mum since we were not crossing a simple street, but a two way, three lane road. Goodness knows how long I would've stood there if I had no one to go along with. Plus, there was this big sign that read 'NO PEDESTRIAN CROSSING' This did not properly register in my conscious mind until after I crossed the street. Why we crossed, I do not know. I am now a fugitive of the law. I am a JAEwalker. MWAHAHAHA. xDD So we reached the UP Manila campus beyond the Supreme Court. Yes. My uni is located beside a courthouse. >3 So we went on to look for the College of Dentistry, because apparently, this was where my dental exam was to be verified. But we went to the old bulding, where the guard told us that the new building was located across the street. So we went there. Upon arrival, however, the guard there told us that the dental exam was not to be verified here, but at another building. So we rode a jeep going there. When we got down, there was only a few people.

8.30 AM.

My dental exam verified, I went out of the building to look for my mum. No surprise, my mum was ahead of me on making new friends. She was already chummy with another mum, and found out her daughter was also a blockmate, meaning we have the same course. And so, mothers introduced daughters to one another. We waited for them to finish their dental exam, and we went to the PGH together for our physical exam. Our parents were not allowed in the building, so once again, my newfound 'friend' and I went on inside alone. A lady took our height and weight, and we were seated by number near a door to await for our physical exam. Another girl told us to fill out the forms. There was one point in that time when a girl caught our attention and saying that we had to write this on the bottom of the first form: "I CONSENT/REFUSE TO TAKE THE FOLLOWING EXAMS : BREAST, ABDOMEN, GENITAL, RECTAL" I could not help but gape at this. I looked at my "friend" and asked her what she would pick. She said she'd refuse all if it was an all-or-nothing package. In the end we picked abdomen exam only, because REALLY. It was UNBELIEVABLE what we had to go through JUST to enroll.

9 AM.

We were led into an airconditioned room in groups of 10. Us first three were called to wait out in the hallway. The first guy who was called took about 15 minutes, and while waiting, I asked her where she had studies high school. She answered UST, then returned my question. I answered, OB, and she scrunched her face up, saying, Where's that? Inside my head, I was, Ah unknown OB. I told her it was in Greenhills. The guy before her came out, then my friend followed. She exited the doctor's room 10 minutes later. It was my turn at last. The doctor asked me questions about my health, my habits, and such. She took my BP, and then led to me a bed where she asked me to lie down, and asked me if I had cosented to an abdominal exam. I answered yes. So she lifted up my shirt, and started pressing on various points in my abdomen, asking if anything hurt. I answered no to all. Getting on the bed was quite harrying because I couldn't sit on it without the help of a step. So after the exam, the doctor told me to take a blood chem, just to check my cholesterol level, and then drop the results off at the nurse in the hospital. I dropped off my forms at the nurse who kept the records, and I headed out to look for my mum.

10 AM.

The whole exam took about an hour. I found my mum sitting beside the mum of my friend, and then we went to the Office of the University Registrar to pick up ANOTHER form to fill out for enrollment. Going to this place we took a shortcut beside the hospital. I would have preferred we go the long way, since going through the hospital I saw a lot of things. The windows to the hospital rooms were open, so I could see people with IVs injected in their arms, clutching their heads. We reached the registrar, and we asked for the forms.

10.30 AM.

While waiting for our mims to secure the forms, a couple of guys were looking at my friend. I looked at her, asking if she knew them. And she said, pfft, no. xD After that, our mums appeared, successful in securing the forms. The mum of my friend said that she'd submit the forms today, but my mum said she would just submit it on the day of enrollment itself, saying she didn't have the papers needed, and besides, the enrollment scheduled for today was for another course. The mum asked again if we wanted to submit the forms but my mum wouldn't budge, so instead we just said goodbye to each other, and saying we'll see each other on enrollment.

11 AM.

We boarded the LRT again to go the condo to eat lunch. The ride was refreshing, since the train was airconditioned, and the heat was unbearable outside. Upon reaching the Taft station of the MRT, we got off, but not before I pointed to an ad in the train station. It was a HUGE tarpaulin poster of my former school, which surprised me, because I didn't know they posted ads in the MRT stations. To reach the MRT station, we had to climb and go down a set of stairs well off the ground. Again, I clutched my mum's arm to get through the whole thing. We reached the MRT station without any incident, and we boarded it. We were to get off at the Shaw Blvd station. It was the nearest stop to our condo. When we got off, we rode a tricycle to get to the condo.

11.30 AM.

My mum ordered lunch for us at a dimsum place. When she got her take out order, she said she'd leave now to go to the office, and I should just wait for my aunt to arrive. Before going out the door, she told me to leave the condo early, since I needed to take my picture for some stuff for enrollment. I ate my lunch for about 30 minutes, because first, it was hot. Second, it was a BIG bowl of rice. Third, I was texting. I finished it just in time because my aunt arrived a few minutes later, knocking on the glass door.

12 PM.

My aunt and I go through the gates of the condo, but not before she went into Mini Stop to buy bread, ice, and some juice for a snack later on. We walked to our building, and we arrived in our unit. I immediately took off my shoes, and sat down to watch TV. My aunt was wrestling with the can opener my dad bought, since it wouldn't open the can. In the end, she just used a cutter to open the can of juice. After a few minutes if flipping through channels, I decided I should just sleep before we left. I changed into more comfortable clothes, and then promptly flopped onto my bed and fell asleep.

2.20 PM.

I wake up to a headache. It was around this time I headed downstairs and found my aunt working on something. I didn't try to find out what it was. I just went straight to the ref, and got out my Mountain Dew to finish off. I got a piece of the bread my aunt bought earlier, since I felt hungry. I sat down on a bean bag, and watched TV again. Four Brothers was on, and my aunt and I sat down to watch it even though it was already in the middle of the movie. When the movie finished, my aunt told me to get ready so we could leave already.

2.30 PM.

I was already done changing clothes, so I went down again to wait for my aunt to finish her preparations. My aunt asked me if I was going to take a bath. I said no, because I had no towel. So she said to wait for her to finish, then we'd leave. Again, I resumed watching TV. This time, I watched Kimora: Life on the Fab Lane, just because there was nothing else on.

3.30 PM.

My aunt came down, and she said to pull the plugs on the TV. So I turned it off. We headed to the MRT station to go to Cubao for my ID picture. She asked me if my mum gave me any money for the picture, and I answered no. We were waiting for a ride to the train station when my aunt suddenly said we should just take a cab to Cubao, because she didn't feel like riding the MRT. We spotted taxis, but all of them had passengers. Finally my aunt got tired of waiting out for taxis, so we hitched a ride on a jeep which would drop us off on the MRT station. When we got to the MRT station, the train was there, and so we ran to catch it and we didn't have to wait for another train to pass. We got in, but we had to squeeze ourselves in. When I entered, an unpleasant scent assaulted my nose. And then I heard someone say there was no aircon. Oh so that's why. And people were kinda rude too. I was holding onto the rails because I might fall over but people kept on leaning on the rail, as if no one was holding onto it. So I gave all of them a look. Because it was a long day, and it wasn't about to end just yet.

3.40 PM.

We get off at the Cubao MRT station and headed to Gateway. I insisted on getting my ID picture taken in Gateway because one, it was easier. Two, we did not have to cross the street in the rain just for an ID picture. But lo and behold. The photo shop had closed down, and it was replaced with a retail store. We approached a guard just to be sure. He confirmed that there was no more Kameraworld, and I was forced to go to the mall next door to take a picture. On the way out of Gateway, however, I saw a really cute backpack, and we went inside to check it out. It was a white backpack with silver stars on it. Cute, but it would get dirty easily. It also cost 2K. We finally went on our way to mall next door.

4 PM.

We arrive at the photo shop, and my aunt gets me in line for an ID picture. I receive a text from my mum saying that we should buy the grocery, and then pick up the pictures before we meet up and head to the FX station together. Then, the photo guy said to go in, and fix myself before taking the picture. I was in there for about 10 minutes fixing my hair, before I started to look at the pictures on the wall, because some people had posted up their pictures. A few were okay, some were just over the top. Like this one kid who was trying to look sexy. Really. So I went out after that, and sat beside my aunt. But as soon as I had sat down, the photo guy said he'd take the ID picture now. It took a few shots before I got satisfied with my picture, and he said I could claim it in 30 minutes.

4.20 PM.

I voiced out my hunger. My aunt asked me where I would want to eat, and I saw a DQ poster, so I said DQ. But she said, ice cream doesn't fill your tummy. So instead we headed to the food court to eat dimsum. While I was waiting for my aunt to finish ordering there was this one girl that approached me, and asked if she could talk to me about something. I shook my head. My aunt came soon after, and I ate my dimsum. While I was eating I was looking at a couple the next table over. They were taking pictures, and each time they tried, they couldn't get it right.

4.40 PM.

We head to the grocery store to buy stuff for the house. My mum only mentioned four things to buy, but my aunt bought more, so it took longer. While waiting in line, there were people in front of me whose actions annoyed me. The woman before the woman directly in front of me left her cart in front of the counter. I looked at the woman hard, but some people just don't get it. So I took the initiative to get the cart of the way. When it was the woman in front me who was paying for her groceries, she left her basket on the floor. I stared at her for a few seconds before picking up the basket and putting it aside.

5.15 PM.

We finish paying for the groceries. My aunt tells me to sit down and wait for my mum, and she'd just go and get the pictures. I look out and see that the sky was a bluish-gray, meaning it was drizzling out. My aunt comes back 10 minutes later, saying to text my mum that we would go ahead to the FX station, and we'd just wait for her there. We arrive, and my aunt tells me so we can be in line, and we can get home earlier. While we're waiting, a tape plays, featuring some sort of minister preaching. I was listening and when he said a word in peculiar manner, I chuckled, but my aunt said to stop. So we get in line, and my aunt says to the lady who manages the station that we'd take 4 seats, although there are only 3 of us. My aunt pays the fare, and also purchases 2 packs of Yakult from the lady. We move forward as the group before us leaves, and we wait for the next ride.

5.45 PM.

My mum arrives, and she gets in line with us. She and my aunt talk in hushed tones about something, and I look up at them both, trying to catch what they were saying. My mum turns to me then, and asks me how many grocery bags we had. I answer 7, and she nods. We return to silence as the minister's voice once again booms over us.

6.15 PM.

My mum tells me to stand up, so I do. I pick up my grocery bags, and go out of the shade. My mum tells me to go in, and I assume it was because of the rain. I told her it wasn't raining anymore, but then she tells me this chimney-like thing might suddenly fall down and crush me. I scoff, and instead step out more. The lady managing the FX station says the next ride is ready.

6.30 PM.

We are on our way home, and my mum says that my friend, the one I met earlier, came from UST. I said I already knew it, and sounding surprised, she said you two talked to each other?? Ha ha, ma. She says my newfound friend is a study freak. Even though her mum would tell her to go out, she wouldn't because she was studying. I cringe internally. Great. Just great. But she didn't pass ADMU, my mum added. And then my mum told the mum of my friend that I passed ADMU, and I already had a dorm to stay in.

7 PM.

AT LAST, we arrive at the last stop before the house - the tricycle station that would take us up the hill. I ride alone, and my mum and aunt ride in one tricycle. When we arrive, we are greeted by the dog, who jumps on our leg as we enter the door.





IT WAS A LONG DAY. A long and tiring day. May I add, I have only seen ONE guy in DevStud. Seriously. And the bulk of us didn't even choose this course as a first choice. We were all 'degree program with available slot'. Blah. And I'm about to do this all over again, tomorrow. T.T I had probably ridden all forms of public transport here in the Philippines, except for the bus and the cab.

And the only thing I could think of at the end of the day was, I am going to do this everyday for the rest of my college life. Goodness help me. I cannot even cross a one way street, much less a busy road.