2013: the year in review
It's January 1, 2014 on my side of the world, so HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!! I can't believe another year has come and gone. Time truly waits for no one. Looking back, I now realize that 2013 was a great year for me, or maybe it just feels that way since I had two straight meh/not-so-great years (2011-12): 2011 had the whole delayed graduation issue, and 2012 had leftover bitterness from med school related decisions, leading to inner turmoil (dramatic, but true hah). But in 2013 I finally got closure and was able to properly move on. Sophomore year of med school has brought on an entirely new set of challenges and disappointments, but overall there's been more good than bad so I'm not complaining. I feel like I'm kind of settling into a good groove - a bit late in the school year, but better late than never. And so before I wax poetic about the coming year, let's look back on the year that was (aka making-up-for-basically-not-posting-for-an-entire-year)
JANUARY
For probably the third time in my life, we didn't spend New Year's Eve in Iloilo. Instead, we rang in the new year in Manila. Watching the fireworks burst over the horizon filled me with an incredible feeling of hope for 2013. The annual pizza and Scrabble was notably absent, as was Mng. Cholo (the first time in forever that we weren't complete on NYE), but it was still a great low-key start to the year. The year was off to a good start as we celebrated with relatives and food the next day and I went to Star City with Marie and Jo-anne the day after. This was also the month Cadence turned 1, Tanya turned 18, and the 2nd time I got to watch Dinagyang live. January feels odd in that you have to readjust to the daily grind of school after having two weeks off only to return and be distracted by the thought of summer vacation.
FEBRUARY
I remember having a lot of free time in February. At this point, we basically just had half-day classes so a lot of after-school time was spent catching up on sleep (my number 1 physiologic need harhar). Notable non-acad events include going to Boracay with my mom to attend a fancy wedding and tagging along to visit my brother in Singapore. We were supposed to watch Jersey Boys, but we found out we were too late - it had already been replaced by Dirty Dancing. I cry :( But on the bright side, roti prata! We visited the Gardens by the Bay, which the botany nerd in me thoroughly enjoyed. That trip also marked my first solo international flight (SNG-MNL-ILO)! I had a crazy flight schedule that weekend and was basically a zombie at school that Monday.
MARCH
The last month of the school year! The last SGD was a bittersweet moment since it marked our last one as a group (Group X Swaggernauts :D) so we had to go out to celebrate. This was also the month of Ate Arlene's wedding. Luckily, it was on a long weekend so I got to stay in Manila an extra day. My mom turned 59 and Mng. Cholo turned 26 and I made an attempt at a clever greeting haha. We celebrated their birthdays in Iloilo during their birthday week and then again when we were all in Manila for Ate Arlene's wedding. Then before I knew it school ended, compre was over and done with, and it was already Holy Week and we were climbing a mountain on Good Friday.
APRIL
The undisputed highlight of April was the Apo Reef dive with MBS. It was amazing! So many wonderful fish, awesome corals, breathtaking sights (that dropoff!), and great people. We traveled from Manila to Sablayan, and from there we went to Pandan Island and Apo Reef. I initially thought they were joking when they said it was a 3hr boat ride from Sablayan to Apo Reef, but they weren't. A lot of sleeping and numb butts happened on that boat ride. I mean, there aren't really a lot of sights in the open sea. The underwater landscape was gorgeous! Schools of fish of different sizes and colors, corals as far as the eye can see (until the dropoff that is), pawikans, sharks, dolphins, and even a shipwreck. Aughhhh it was beautiful! Seriously breathtaking :D And I got to go with some seriously awesome people :D
April was also the month my dad turned 61 and I attempted to make a pop-up card haha. After the dive, I spent the rest of April in Manila so I got to meet up with friends. I also had to do a bunch of errands for our Chinese visas, as well as look for tours for our trip the next month (!!). Towards the end of my stay, Analie went home for vacation and so began My Domestic Adventures pt.2. In pt.1 I had to kill some maggots thriving in the trash after I foolishly forgot to take it out, and this time in pt.2 I had to deal with moldy rice, bugs in the bigas, seasoning woes, and the saddest fridge in the world :))
MAY
I was back in Iloilo in time to celebrate Mother's Day and miss voting for the National Elections (since I'm registered in Manila). This was also the month I attempted to start doing FPFL (with success weight loss wise in fairnez; I just need more discipline). And this was also the month I GOT TO HUG A PANDA!!!!! We went to Chengdu (PANDA OMGOMGOMG!!!), Xi'an (Terracotta army), and Guangzhou (behind-the-scenes of the RTW trade). And when we got back to Manila I got to attend a cousin's swanky debut (the theme was four seasons and the photo booth had fake snow. whuttup). Summer ended with lazy days and enrollment stuff.
JUNE
If freshman year was full of half-day classes, in sophomore year we were thrown into the fire on our first day. I think pretty much everyone had a hard time adjusting to the 8-5 schedule, I know I definitely did. Everyday was so draining and when I got home all I wanted to do was sleep. This was also the month we got introduced to the new-fangled SGD, new groupmates, clinical preceptorials, and the dreaded correlates (Pharma, Micro, Patho, Surgery, and FCM supplementary lectures). It was a month of adjustments for sure. And STRESS thanks to pharma research.
JULY
July was more of the same, but this time with the addition of sports practices. I have never been an athletic person, but in med school I have now been on the SGD women's softball team for 2 years and joined the SGD swim team just this year. Amazing that this happened in med school of all places :)) Full disclosure, I suck at softball and am considering not joining next year - playing stresses me out. Swimming can be improved with training, and I definitely need more training. There was still the ever present STRESS thanks to pharma research. This was also the month Mng. Mike and I tried and failed to request for voting transfer (see the incredibly long lines in above picture).
AUGUST
August was also more of the same :)) The daily grind of lectures, labs, SGD, preceptorials, sports practices, and now additional practices for LitMus.
SEPTEMBER
In September the sports and LitMus practices were kicked into high gear. Emotions were running high as the other batches became more competitive and everyone was feeling the pressure. Then MedWeek came and went: we were twice to beat in softball (and beaten twice :)) ), champion overall in swimming, 2nd in lipsync (but first in my heart huhu), and 2nd in the QuizBowl (so frustrating because I knew we could win urgh). It was nice to have something other than acads to focus on and look forward to. Its funny that in first year you have to basically force people to join events, but as you go on (2nd yr, 3rd yr) everyone jumps at the opportunity to join. Everyone needs that break from the stress of med school, plus its a chance to channel that stress into healthy sportmanship (probably why some people get super competitive).
OCTOBER
Finally the first semester came to a close! But before it let us go we were subjected to two weeks of basically daily exams. Ohh but somehow we all survived despite the laziness-inducing thought of sembreak. This was also the month of the Bohol earthquake, which was felt (pretty strong) even here in Iloilo. Thankfully my lolo and his house in Guindulman were safe, but it was truly sad to see the crumbled churches :( This month marked the resurgence of pharma research STRESS after it lay dormant and forgotten for a while. Haayy another overnight research session.
After out all-nighter research session I hopped on a boat to Bacolod for MassKara. Most of the trip was spent eating and funnily enough we weren't there for the Main MassKara Event with the streetdancing and everything. Then we headed to Manila to offer Mng. Mike moral support on the last weekend of the BAR Exams. The next few days were pretty chill, and I even got to spend some time feeling fancy at Sip and Gogh. Afterwards we went to Bataan with the cousins to Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar. I was the one who pushed for this trip since I LOVE old houses. They were all so beautiful huhu But the one thing I really didn't like was that the resort owner modernized the toilets. I get that he wanted the guests to be comfortable and whatnot, but you can still have kinadaan toilets and not compromise comfort. The modern toilets just took you out of the experience. Those houses thoughhhh augh
NOVEMBER
November started out with typhoon Yolanda :( I'll be honest, during the storm I didn't think it was a big deal since the wind wasn't too intense and the rain wasn't too strong. But only when the electricity and internet came back a day later did I realize how much damage the typhoon did :( This was also the month Bamba got diagnosed with canine distemper. She was almost put to sleep, but thankfully she pulled through :) I was really pushing to join my family in Macau when they celebrated Mng. Mike's birthday and watch the Pacquiao match, but the universe just wasn't cooperating (well the stars aligned in the end, but it was already too late :P). There was also more pharma research STRESS, and we went on to do experiment attempt no. 3. This time everyone voted against another all-nighter session, and we actually managed to finish ahead of schedule!
DECEMBER
Everyone at school was going through the motions because everyone was so excited for Christmas break. And who wouldn't be? It's the most wonderful time of the year! I started the break off with a dive at Nogas Island in Antique, and excellent way to kickoff the break. So many pretty fish and colorful corals! And now I have a prospective place to get my SCUBA certification :D
Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year because the whole family gets together. Spending time with family and friends is always one of the highlights of the season :D another highlight is the food of course! So much pork in our house on Christmas (a miracle haha) And of course the bundt cake! So many warm fuzzy feelings on Christmas :D
And just like that the year is over! Its unbelievable how quickly it went by. I feel like this year I was able to sit back and finally enjoy myself since I've finally been able to adjust to this new chapter in my life. I've made resolutions for a better and more awesome me this 2014 (and beyond), but I'll save the announcement for my next year-end post.
I feel like 2014 is going to be a great year, there's already so much to look forward to:
1. Wicked in February
2. Backpacking Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand in April
3. US trip in April (Wizarding World of Harry Potter we are coming for you!!)
4. ?
5. ??
I'm beyond excited! :D
525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear, 525,600 minutes, how do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee, in inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
How do you measure a year in the life?
How about love?
Happy New Year, everyone!
I have a feeling 2014 is going to be
JANUARY
For probably the third time in my life, we didn't spend New Year's Eve in Iloilo. Instead, we rang in the new year in Manila. Watching the fireworks burst over the horizon filled me with an incredible feeling of hope for 2013. The annual pizza and Scrabble was notably absent, as was Mng. Cholo (the first time in forever that we weren't complete on NYE), but it was still a great low-key start to the year. The year was off to a good start as we celebrated with relatives and food the next day and I went to Star City with Marie and Jo-anne the day after. This was also the month Cadence turned 1, Tanya turned 18, and the 2nd time I got to watch Dinagyang live. January feels odd in that you have to readjust to the daily grind of school after having two weeks off only to return and be distracted by the thought of summer vacation.
FEBRUARY
I remember having a lot of free time in February. At this point, we basically just had half-day classes so a lot of after-school time was spent catching up on sleep (my number 1 physiologic need harhar). Notable non-acad events include going to Boracay with my mom to attend a fancy wedding and tagging along to visit my brother in Singapore. We were supposed to watch Jersey Boys, but we found out we were too late - it had already been replaced by Dirty Dancing. I cry :( But on the bright side, roti prata! We visited the Gardens by the Bay, which the botany nerd in me thoroughly enjoyed. That trip also marked my first solo international flight (SNG-MNL-ILO)! I had a crazy flight schedule that weekend and was basically a zombie at school that Monday.
MARCH
The last month of the school year! The last SGD was a bittersweet moment since it marked our last one as a group (Group X Swaggernauts :D) so we had to go out to celebrate. This was also the month of Ate Arlene's wedding. Luckily, it was on a long weekend so I got to stay in Manila an extra day. My mom turned 59 and Mng. Cholo turned 26 and I made an attempt at a clever greeting haha. We celebrated their birthdays in Iloilo during their birthday week and then again when we were all in Manila for Ate Arlene's wedding. Then before I knew it school ended, compre was over and done with, and it was already Holy Week and we were climbing a mountain on Good Friday.
APRIL
The undisputed highlight of April was the Apo Reef dive with MBS. It was amazing! So many wonderful fish, awesome corals, breathtaking sights (that dropoff!), and great people. We traveled from Manila to Sablayan, and from there we went to Pandan Island and Apo Reef. I initially thought they were joking when they said it was a 3hr boat ride from Sablayan to Apo Reef, but they weren't. A lot of sleeping and numb butts happened on that boat ride. I mean, there aren't really a lot of sights in the open sea. The underwater landscape was gorgeous! Schools of fish of different sizes and colors, corals as far as the eye can see (until the dropoff that is), pawikans, sharks, dolphins, and even a shipwreck. Aughhhh it was beautiful! Seriously breathtaking :D And I got to go with some seriously awesome people :D
April was also the month my dad turned 61 and I attempted to make a pop-up card haha. After the dive, I spent the rest of April in Manila so I got to meet up with friends. I also had to do a bunch of errands for our Chinese visas, as well as look for tours for our trip the next month (!!). Towards the end of my stay, Analie went home for vacation and so began My Domestic Adventures pt.2. In pt.1 I had to kill some maggots thriving in the trash after I foolishly forgot to take it out, and this time in pt.2 I had to deal with moldy rice, bugs in the bigas, seasoning woes, and the saddest fridge in the world :))
MAY
I was back in Iloilo in time to celebrate Mother's Day and miss voting for the National Elections (since I'm registered in Manila). This was also the month I attempted to start doing FPFL (with success weight loss wise in fairnez; I just need more discipline). And this was also the month I GOT TO HUG A PANDA!!!!! We went to Chengdu (PANDA OMGOMGOMG!!!), Xi'an (Terracotta army), and Guangzhou (behind-the-scenes of the RTW trade). And when we got back to Manila I got to attend a cousin's swanky debut (the theme was four seasons and the photo booth had fake snow. whuttup). Summer ended with lazy days and enrollment stuff.
JUNE
If freshman year was full of half-day classes, in sophomore year we were thrown into the fire on our first day. I think pretty much everyone had a hard time adjusting to the 8-5 schedule, I know I definitely did. Everyday was so draining and when I got home all I wanted to do was sleep. This was also the month we got introduced to the new-fangled SGD, new groupmates, clinical preceptorials, and the dreaded correlates (Pharma, Micro, Patho, Surgery, and FCM supplementary lectures). It was a month of adjustments for sure. And STRESS thanks to pharma research.
JULY
July was more of the same, but this time with the addition of sports practices. I have never been an athletic person, but in med school I have now been on the SGD women's softball team for 2 years and joined the SGD swim team just this year. Amazing that this happened in med school of all places :)) Full disclosure, I suck at softball and am considering not joining next year - playing stresses me out. Swimming can be improved with training, and I definitely need more training. There was still the ever present STRESS thanks to pharma research. This was also the month Mng. Mike and I tried and failed to request for voting transfer (see the incredibly long lines in above picture).
AUGUST
August was also more of the same :)) The daily grind of lectures, labs, SGD, preceptorials, sports practices, and now additional practices for LitMus.
SEPTEMBER
In September the sports and LitMus practices were kicked into high gear. Emotions were running high as the other batches became more competitive and everyone was feeling the pressure. Then MedWeek came and went: we were twice to beat in softball (and beaten twice :)) ), champion overall in swimming, 2nd in lipsync (but first in my heart huhu), and 2nd in the QuizBowl (so frustrating because I knew we could win urgh). It was nice to have something other than acads to focus on and look forward to. Its funny that in first year you have to basically force people to join events, but as you go on (2nd yr, 3rd yr) everyone jumps at the opportunity to join. Everyone needs that break from the stress of med school, plus its a chance to channel that stress into healthy sportmanship (probably why some people get super competitive).
OCTOBER
Finally the first semester came to a close! But before it let us go we were subjected to two weeks of basically daily exams. Ohh but somehow we all survived despite the laziness-inducing thought of sembreak. This was also the month of the Bohol earthquake, which was felt (pretty strong) even here in Iloilo. Thankfully my lolo and his house in Guindulman were safe, but it was truly sad to see the crumbled churches :( This month marked the resurgence of pharma research STRESS after it lay dormant and forgotten for a while. Haayy another overnight research session.
After out all-nighter research session I hopped on a boat to Bacolod for MassKara. Most of the trip was spent eating and funnily enough we weren't there for the Main MassKara Event with the streetdancing and everything. Then we headed to Manila to offer Mng. Mike moral support on the last weekend of the BAR Exams. The next few days were pretty chill, and I even got to spend some time feeling fancy at Sip and Gogh. Afterwards we went to Bataan with the cousins to Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar. I was the one who pushed for this trip since I LOVE old houses. They were all so beautiful huhu But the one thing I really didn't like was that the resort owner modernized the toilets. I get that he wanted the guests to be comfortable and whatnot, but you can still have kinadaan toilets and not compromise comfort. The modern toilets just took you out of the experience. Those houses thoughhhh augh
NOVEMBER
November started out with typhoon Yolanda :( I'll be honest, during the storm I didn't think it was a big deal since the wind wasn't too intense and the rain wasn't too strong. But only when the electricity and internet came back a day later did I realize how much damage the typhoon did :( This was also the month Bamba got diagnosed with canine distemper. She was almost put to sleep, but thankfully she pulled through :) I was really pushing to join my family in Macau when they celebrated Mng. Mike's birthday and watch the Pacquiao match, but the universe just wasn't cooperating (well the stars aligned in the end, but it was already too late :P). There was also more pharma research STRESS, and we went on to do experiment attempt no. 3. This time everyone voted against another all-nighter session, and we actually managed to finish ahead of schedule!
DECEMBER
Everyone at school was going through the motions because everyone was so excited for Christmas break. And who wouldn't be? It's the most wonderful time of the year! I started the break off with a dive at Nogas Island in Antique, and excellent way to kickoff the break. So many pretty fish and colorful corals! And now I have a prospective place to get my SCUBA certification :D
Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year because the whole family gets together. Spending time with family and friends is always one of the highlights of the season :D another highlight is the food of course! So much pork in our house on Christmas (a miracle haha) And of course the bundt cake! So many warm fuzzy feelings on Christmas :D
And just like that the year is over! Its unbelievable how quickly it went by. I feel like this year I was able to sit back and finally enjoy myself since I've finally been able to adjust to this new chapter in my life. I've made resolutions for a better and more awesome me this 2014 (and beyond), but I'll save the announcement for my next year-end post.
I feel like 2014 is going to be a great year, there's already so much to look forward to:
1. Wicked in February
2. Backpacking Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand in April
3. US trip in April (Wizarding World of Harry Potter we are coming for you!!)
4. ?
5. ??
I'm beyond excited! :D
525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear, 525,600 minutes, how do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee, in inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
How do you measure a year in the life?
How about love?
Happy New Year, everyone!
I have a feeling 2014 is going to be