Thursday, June 28, 2012

A Leap of Faith

At The Edge
When was the last time you did something for the first time?
(Taken at Buho Rock in Camotes Island, Cebu)

First thing first - no, I did not jump off this cliff. One, because I didn't have any spare clothes with me at the time. And two, I can't swim.. anymore. (Long story. Don't ask.)


Saturday, June 23, 2012

How Cute Are They!?

Polar bears!
Polar Bears
Taken at Everland Resort in Yongin, South Korea, last April.

My second favorite place in Korea. The first is Nami Island. Will be paying this place another visit sometime during this lifetime. *_*

Monday, June 18, 2012

The Good Life

On the way home from an overnight trip in Zambales (Pundaquit Beach, to be exact), I was trying to get some shut eye when the song Good Life by One Republic started playing on my iTouch. It made me think about where I am in life right now, and I can definitely say I'm living the good life.

What makes me say this, you ask? Well, for one, I'm doing something I've always dreamt of - teach. Second, I was able to spend some R&R twice already this month, and it's only the 17th! Third, I have a loving family and boyfriend who support me in everything I do. I feel so blessed and I really can't ask for anything more. Erm... actually, a pay raise wouldn't hurt. Hahaha (I'm not kidding) :P

I'll try to post photos from Cebu some time this week. I didn't bring my camera to Zambales, so unfortunately, I won't have any photos to show you from the trip, but it was a pretty fun one, especially since we played ultimate frisbee in the pool! Yeah, we're awesome like that :D I'll just steal photos from my friends once they upload them. ;)

P.S. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, especially to mine. Thanks for being so funny and cool all the time! I love you, Daddy Yo!
Happy Father's Day 1
Happy Father's Day 2
Happy Father's Day 3Happy Father's Day 4

Sunday, June 10, 2012

A Quick Getaway

By the time this post gets published, I will already be in Cebu exploring the beach and soaking up some sun.

I really need to make the most out of this trip because when I come back on the 14th, school have already started (yes, I'll be missing the first day of classes) and I won't have time to relax anymore =P One of the teachers even told me that I should pamper myself with a massage and a manicure/pedicure while I still can. Haha! Good luck nalang talaga. Please pray that my kids will cooperate with me and that everything goes smoothly, especially during the orientation weeks where the parents will be inside the classroom with their kids while we teach. It's to help the kids adjust from being away from their parents (or the parents from their kids :|)

Anyway, enough work talk for now. Here are some of my recent photos with my boyfriend instead. Happy 4th, love! ♥

Retarded face is retarded :))
Popbooth 3
Love this :)
Popbooth 2
Random thought: Will teaching 3 / 4-year olds help me lose weight? =))

My chubby cheeks need to disappear soon! Have any tips for the lazy? Please help! :P

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Room by Emma Donoghue

I recently finished reading a book entitled Room by Emma Donoghue. I bought it some months back but haven't had the time to read through it until I started my job two weeks ago (strange, I know). I dunno, I guess I've just been slacking off on my reading. I lived the bum life from January until late May and it really took a toll on me. I'm so lazy now. I mean, when I come home from work, I'm so tired, I wanna sleep at 9pm. I used to be able to stay up until 2am. Oh well. I really need to get back to living right. I want to catch up on my reading and reach my goal of 15 books this year (last year I was actually able to finish 16 books!).

Room is told from the perspective of a five-year old boy named Jack. His entire life, he has been living in Room. Room, to him, is not just any place, but the only place that actually exists. Everything he sees in TV isn't real; only Room, and everything in it, is.
Room is a definite must-read. If I say any more, I'd already be spoiling it for you. Just grab a copy, you won't regret it.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Take Me To The Sea

Yesterday, my supervisor informed me I needed to work on two classrooms for the Parents' Orientation that was to happen in less than 48 hours! She gave me two transportation-related themes to work with - sailors and bus riders. I immediately sat down with my assistant Danica to figure out how we were going to decorate the rooms and make them appropriate for the children that will be occupying them for the next nine months. It was pretty hectic; the system in our school is that if we request for some materials today, the earliest we can get them is the following day. So when we got to work this morning, we still had to wait 2 hours to actually get started on the classrooms. We were also asked to view the work of the teachers from a different branch, so that's another hour lost. Less than 24 hours left! Gaaah.

When we got back, we worked. And worked. And worked. Around 4pm, we only had a few things done for the Sailors' room and absolutely nothing for the Bus Riders'. Eep. We were hella stressed, but it paid off, because when our supervisor saw what we were able to do in just a few hours, she was really impressed.
The empty part at the top is where we'll be sticking boats with photos of the kids plus their names and birthdays, while the lower part is underwater, so you can see fishes and seaweed. :D

That's not all! We also made a huge sailboat on one side of the room. Definitely tedious, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
I couldn't have done it without the help of my partners Minerva and Danica, and to Olivia, Edgar and Raymond too, for always making me laugh. I still need to prepare a lot of stuff tomorrow, especially for the Bus Riders' room; I'll try to take more photos then. =)
P.S. I'm really enjoying this whole art attack thing... Except for the cleaning up part. Haha :p

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Infinitea: Now Open at Alvarado Street in Manila

Yesterday was the opening of the new Infinitea branch in Alvarado Street near Chiang Kai Shek College. Families and friends of branch owners Jan Urik and Maria Christina gathered to support the lovebirds in their new venture.

Finally opened on June 3, 2012
Infinitea 1

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Busy, busy

I know I've been MIA for a while now. Sorry, I've just been busy the past couple of weeks - going to this school, observing and helping out with their summer classes and preparations for the upcoming school year. I'm happy to tell you that I am officially a preschool teacher. It has been my dream for a while now to teach little kids their ABC's and 123's (and a lot of other stuff too, of course). I'm actually a Management graduate, so I really appreciate the school for giving me this chance and a big thanks to the people who encouraged me to pursue this. I will be handling 3's and 4's and also tutoring some Graders in English. I'm pretty anxious because there's still a lot of deadlines to be met, the classrooms still need to be set up; heck, I don't even have a curriculum for June yet!

The last week has been spent coming up with activities and making sure everything's ready in time for the parents' orientation this Wednesday. There you go, just a quick update with what's going on in my world. The next two weeks will be hell of a lot busier, so wish me luck! :)

my facebook status two weeks ago

I can't wait!