2005 Year End Review
I talk as if there’s anything to review about. This blog, for those who have been keeping tabs, hardly had anything to do with books, movies, music and other forms of art, so why the "review" in the title?
I’m talking about what happened to me during year 2005. I don’t normally do this, because I don’t normally blog. Aside from that, my blog isn’t too old, being barely 4 months old (if I’m even accurate in counting the days since the blog started). Lastly, I have never done a year end review for other years. So why do it now?
The reason why I’m doing this is because I don’t ever want to forget about what happened in year 2005. Normally, one event would stand out for a particular year, but year 2005 was just too eventful, that I had to list down all the good (and the bad) things that happened to me. Believe me that when I say a lot of things happened, I mean it in a sense that almost none of my days are, figuratively, repeats of previous days (well, except, of course, these past few days since I’ve been back from Bacolod. But, well, I need a break every once in a while.)
Submission of my thesis: No, I’m not suddenly about to say that my thesis yielded a wonderful result. Far from it. In fact, some may be underwhelmed by the end product. One has to consider, though, that our group finished it on time. Others are yet to finish the thesis, and the earliest they could do that is by the same time, next year, as we have finished our thesis. I feel fortunate that I no longer carry so much weight, that everytime I go out partying, there’s not a single "thesis" word that would bring down my happiness.
Joining 4 youth retreats: I never told anyone about my secret identity. I’m actually James Bond 007.
I kid! I kid! Of course, I’m not James Bond. What people don’t casually know about me is that I am, in fact, an active member Chong Su, subsidiary of I Kuan Tao foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to teach people the right way of living. Actually, I’ve participated I Kuan Tao youth retreats since 1994, but never in just one year have I participated more than two of it; not until this year. Yes, it’s special to me because each youth retreats are unique experiences on their own (actually, a lot happened in each of them that I would gladly write separate blogs for each of those). It’s also special to me because after the first 2 retreats,and 11 years after I’ve been participating both as members and as officers, I’ve finally stepped up and become the president of the I Kuan Tao Chong Su youth retreat of the Philippines.
Internship at Intel: If I look over the fact that working there everyday by waking up at 4 AM and going home at 6 PM is a very tiresome experience, what really happens upon my internship at intel prove to be very memorable. I worked alongside people who share the same skills (except they have some skills that I have yet to learn), facilitated a puppet show and appeared on tv. I met a lot of new people and worked in a world class company. With the exception of living in a boarding house and finding out how phony some of my friends are, the overall experience of working at Intel really proved to be awesome. And regarding my finding out about my ‘friend’s’ phoniness, well, it’s also an experience I treasure; I now can tell if a person is genuine or a sycophant.
Graduating: There’s nothing more satisfying than the feeling of wearing a toga and sighing in relief knowing that your hard work has paid off, and your college carreer came to an "epic" conclusion. No, it wasn’t the program flow that’s memorable. It isn’t the fact that Barbie Almalbis graduated with me that made this day so special. It’s the fact that I have finally graduated, after spending so many sleepless nights tackling arduous assignments and reviewing for mentally-damaging examinations. Although I’m pretty sure I want to go back to school, and that I want to graduate again, my college graduation of this year will be a memory I will never forget.
Travels: Yes, there’s no other year where I travelled as many places as this year. Locally, I’ve gone to Cavite, Angeles, Zamboanga, Meycauayan, Subic and Bacolod. With the exception of the last one and the one before the last, those are places in the Philippines I’ve never been to before. Internationally, I’ve passed by Guam, Hawaii, and Houston, on my way to New York. You heard about how I loudly laud for New York, but I’m going to say it again: New York is truly awesome. But aside from repeatedly seeing the panoramic view of Manhattan; aside from strolling the Central Park and dining at Grand Central, I’ve also went to other states while I was in U.S. Specifically, I’ve gone to Philadelphia, Delaware, Washington, Virginia and New Jersey. Now that’s what I mean when I say I’ve gone a lot of places this year.
Food: Being a vegetarian, it’s hard for me to try out different cuisines in Philippines, since Philippines is not very well known for accomodating vegetarians. This year, though, (you can guess where I tried them out) I’ve tasted Indian, Vietnamese and American cuisine that I normally wouldn’t have tasted. Aside from that, I was able to try out foods from Italian that I’ve never tasted before. I have no idea that there’s such a thing as a brick oven pizza (and that they’re awesome), never tasted any raviolli before until recently. The only drawback in all these experiences is that I’ve gained noticeable amount of fat.
Playstation 2: Call me a nerd, but I really like playing videogames. The problem is, I didn’t have much chance and much money to get a PS2 when I was in college. Now, I can spend all night level-grinding in Dragon Quest VIII, sneaking up behind soldiers in Metal Gear Solid 3, stealing coins in Sly 3, breaking ankles in NBA Street V3, blasting enemies in Devil May Cry 3, rolling up stuffs in We Love Katamari, slashing my opponent in Soul Calibur III, and slaying mountains in Shadow of the Colossus.
Reunion: I am so glad to spend my Christmas with friends from Manila, Bacolod, Cebu, Davao and Zamboanga, all under one roof. While 4 days is definitely not enough number of time to reconnect with old friends such as Gessilyn, Paula, Abigail, Vincent, Henlee and Glenn, and getting to know new ones like Jesse, Mason, Monica and Kenneth, it sure is a lot of fun while the four days last. It’s really a pity I couldn’t attend my high school classmates’ reunion as well.
That’s about it. 2005 will end in 2 days, but memories like these will /hopefully/ last for a longer time, that’s for sure.
