My Thoughts

Alright, this article’s meant to be written for the school newspaper. But why not hit two birds with one stone (cliche’ moment)? I have an essay and an article at the same time! It’s also a lot easier to think making a blog than on Word or something. Weird eh? Oh yeah this one’s still a draft, so please don’t mind the grammar and structure too much.

French is way cool, that’s why I chose the title! It means, "Our Camp Out".

After a party and late night drinking, I woke up four hours later at seven in the morning. My things were all packed, and I was all set to go. We all met at the club headquarters — Sugbu Study Center. The first people I saw were the two usual people, JR and [Michelle]. And also as usual, they were on the computers the whole time!Many some people were afraid to go because of the fear of the NPA. After Raymond, Jake (and his huge tactical knife), Laurenz, and Sam arrived, we left.

We took the road south to Carcar; before that, we stopped by UP to grab a guitar for our trip (seriously, what is a camp-out without a guitar?). The new SRP road cut our time by half an hour.We finally arrived in Carcar. We had the traditional Carcar lunch. It’s a must for every tourist passing by Carcar to have a meal of lechon, atsara, and other native dishes. I bought some Tanduay rum for the trip. One of the people, Jun Barte, gave an idea, "Let’s make poor man’s Bailey’s!" he exclaimed. "What is that?", I asked. He explained it’s a cheap imitation of Bailey’s, and surprisingly they’re both almost identical! It’s a mixture of a small bottle of Tanduay, a can of condensed milk, and instant coffee according to taste. We left for our next destination.

On our way, we sang sing alongs with the guitar brought with us. And finally, we were close! This was when the sign, "Vegetable Basket of Cebu" appeared. This was when my quest for tuba (fermented coconut wine) started. I have never tried it yet, but I was soon captivated by this intoxicating brew. We stopped by a store to buy some water, coffee, and some condensed milk. I asked for Tuba. As soon as we left, BANG! our car hit a pothole. Within five seconds, a crowd started to assemble around the car. Within another five seconds, the people started push and carry the van from the hole. The people surely fitted the description of the NPA, "nice people around, with no permanent address!", in the words of Mr. Langahin.

Our van steadily climbed up the steep dirt road up the mountain. We parked our car beside the Church and began our treck.

We passed by the image of the Virgin Mary at a shrine. Many things were so different than it is in the city. These people carry 150 kilogram loads up and down the mountain everyday! Water, at most places, is a quarter hour walk away. I asked for tuba at the last available sari-sari store. The road ended, we started to walk through paths. Sometimes we made our own paths, and we paid for it highly. We passed through paddies and mud. By the time we reached a house, all of our feet were full of mud! We were offered spring water drink, and we went on.

We were close to the peak. I have to say that the view was completely breathtaking! Most of us who weren’t wearing pants started to accumulate scratches on their legs. Half an hour later we finally arrived. We were stopped by a man with a sign, " P15 entrance fee". Most of us were ready to camp somewhere else but we decided to take a look. "La vue c’est magnifique!" Hey it’s my blog, I can write anything I want. Lol Although the view definitely was magnificent. It was getting foggy, soon it started to rain. We decided to give in to our pride and pay P15 pesos. We set up camp. Mr. Langahin borrowed Jake’s tactical knife and started hammering the thin knife on the the hard wood and grass.

By the time camp was set, dinner was ready. The menu was left over lechon, rice, ampao, and chicharon. For dessert poor man’s bailey’s was on it. I have to tell you it was delicious! Mr. Langahin, Jake, Raymond, Laurenz and everybody else had some. We then slept.

At one in the morning, most of us started to wake up. Not because of an animal sound or because we were scared, but because we slept on wood and rocks! Mr. Langahin and Jun Barte slept soundly. I began singing La Bomba in the tent, the other tent sang as well.

Time flew very quickly. Soon, the sun began to rise. I ventured up the mountain accompanied with the other people. We took a myriad of pictures on the scenery. It was really cold that morning for a tropical country. As soon as Mr. Langahin and Jun Barte woke up, we started packing. We took a few more pictures then had breakfast. The menu was chili, bread corned beef, tuna, and some left overs.

We went back down and stopped by one of the wells to resupply on some water. Jun Barte went ahead to fetch the car for us. We finally reached the car. We had a long mass afterwards. Unfortunately some of us including me, because of the lack of sleep, took a nap (I was already hallucinating!). We left and headed for the beach.

We reached the beach! I went to stop by the nearest sari-sari store, "Nakay tuba?", in my best Visayan (which is moderately horrible). We had some salmon, bread, some coke, chicharon and the other remaining food we have left. As soon as we finished, we decided to go back to Cebu. What a great weekend!

* Hey, I’ll post some pics soon.

Here are my college essays for Ateneo and UA&P. They were just hanging around my folder, I might as well post em! =) Something’s wrong with the freakin’ blog, it’s adding a space after every time I name a country! =S

Ateneo:
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Vincent
Keith Lim Aquino July
31, 2007

Writing Mr. Cabahug

What Events
Have Had a Profound Effect on You?

I was strongly influenced by a book. I was looking
for something to read at a Barnes and Noble store. The book: 7 Habits of Highly
Effective Teens. It caught my eye and I bought it. It teaches so much bout
life: how to manage time, peer pressure, making friends & listening to
people genuinely. These examples are just a drop in the ocean of information
you can learn from this book. This book persuaded me to study harder and push
myself outside my comfort zone.

Being in a vacation also reinforces what I’ve learned
from the book. Honestly, many people outside the country seem to be less
insecure than most people here; they also think win-win (e.g. The Great
Compromise, no corruption, obeying traffic laws). America and Canada has become my playground to employ what I’ve learned. Everybody seems to be
friendly there in North America. “Please and
thank you” have become a habit to them. All these little things have changed me
for the better. I’m trying to bring that culture to the Philippines. I
learn a lot about life and culture in my vacations. That’s why I treasure them.

In my vacations, I always meet so many fascinating
people. I’ve even grown a fondness for old people; they have so many stories
and a lot they can teach. I’ve met a World War II veteran who served in the Philippines.
I’ve also met this charming British lady. She’s been living in Canada and Mexico for most of her life. In
bewilderment, I asked, “Why Mexico?” She told me how much  she loved how
different it is there. We finally reached the subject of the Philippines. I
asked, “Many of my dad’s friends are British and I have no idea why they choose
to live here.” I viewed it as self-imposed exile. Then she remarked that
countries all have its problems, but they all have something special about them
too. She said that people can appreciate other cultures, but they should also
love their own. She was right! When I arrived back to the Philippines, I was surprised by how different it
is here (I knew it was the Philippines
when there were no paper towels in the bathroom). The Philippines did
have something special. The people vending in the streets, the traffic, and
everything else all contributed to its culture. I even found beauty in the
squatter area! I just remembered a quote, “Before you can place yourself in
someone else’s shoes, you have to take yours off first.”

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UA&P:

Vincent Keith Lim Aquino July
31, 2007

Why I
Choose UA&P

I want to study entrepreneurial management to have a
better understanding on how to run a business and how to manage the risks
associated with it. There are so many business opportunities and possible
investments in this country. I want to use and recognise them.

Business has always been interesting to me. At
childhood, I was already exposed to business. My brother and I bought and sold
Pokemon cards at school. We earned a profit of a thousand pesos a week. My
second business venture is a siomai stand. We earned a profit of P 1,500 a day.
UA&P courses are done more in practise than in theory. This matches my
beliefs

The book, 7 Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens,
dramatically changed my life. Unfortunately, I was exposed to it at the last
year of high school. I can’t change the past; but I certainly can affect my
future. The book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, changed my outlook on some aspects about
money.

My weaknesses are based more in academics. Accounting
is something I should improve in. Marketing is my strong point. I advertise
products very well.

My interests are badminton, martial arts,
photography, videography, marathon running, gourmet cooking, and the arts. Even
after suffering from a broken nose in a Taekwondo tournament persisted. And
won. I believe that I am hardworking, driven and goal oriented. My belief is
that we shouldn’t work for money, but let money work for us.

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Okay, okay. This might not be the best thing you’ve read, but at least I did my best. And for the first essay, I had no idea that our writing teacher was making us write it for Ateneo! =O