the view from point dume
so here goes. i suppose i should kick the slight anti-LJ phase, and write at least one entry about how my summer went, considering how eventful and busy it's been. pretty much was the summer of summers: weddings, mission trips, family vacations, work, school, nature, movies, conflicts, introspection, solitude. it had it all.
philippine/china trip and pre-session student teaching are getting their own entries later. i'll backdate them for my own sake. those were memorable, and already somewhat logged. i guess i'll start with last week.
sunday, our family had lunch at joselito's, to celebrate jason's birthday. afterwards, we went to a party with the cebu mission trip team at auntie arlene's house, in order to share pictures and movies. cece even made a sign, mocking our hotel (welcome to 'mango party hotel.' sorry, no mango shakes available). fun times reminiscing, sharing a mutual love for the disney channel, playing with the kids in the backyard, and talking to pamela about people finding their spotlight.
monday, hung out with jason and eunice. decided to go to the galleria, and they helped me pick out some professional clothes for student teaching this fall. eunice pushed me to think outside the lines, which resulted in me buying clothes that i would not normally consent to, such as a purple striped shirt, or a black vest. hey, i trust her, i guess. we took her back to the house to introduce her to the wonder that is HSM and HSM2.
tuesday, since joseph moved out into his apartment near USC, there were a couple of things we needed to drop off. wasn't in a particularly good mood; in other words, one of those days that you wanted to curl up in a ball and be alone. mom didn't work the night before, so she agreed to go shopping for more professional attire with me, after having lunch at joseph's. had a conflict with jason, which eventually escalated with time. had lunch at joseph's, and i fixed his dining room set. went shopping for new dress pants and shirts with mom afterwards.
wednesday, i caught up with cory about his summer events, then hung out with nancy that night. killed time in the galleria, catching up on everything over great khan's and water, since nancy's one of the bests. watched superbad, which wasn't as funny as knocked up, but definitely had its moments. i always appreciate those friendship films, haha. after the movie, we did the whole adult "talk over coffee" outside in the marketplace until really late, as she played "devil's advocate" with some of my morals. turns out, she wants to see me drunk, just b/c she wants to see the john that is unrepressed, as opposed to watching me filter my feelings. dropped her off pretty late, after the ticket collector in the marketplace parking lot made the effort to try to save me money (ticket costed $6, but when he found out we came from the movies, he brought it down to $3.50. moments like that are always so heartwarming).
thursday, had an allergist appointment with dr staveren. she prescribed a new medication that i can take at night, which will also provide help with my insomnia. talk about hitting two birds with one stone! at night, had a praise team recording session. talked with emily and cece about school. found out that the SA didn't initiate the class games at beach day, which is an insult to tradition. cece only tested out the flute, and she told me the whole experience. it's nice being able to talk freely with the kids at church.
friday, had a dermatologist appointment. nothing new. prescribed a new cream, which i always hate using. dr zappas is a bit on the awkward side. poor guy.
sabbath was interesting. since half of our members were at a college reunion in palm springs, it really left those remaining to pick up the slack. i served as chorister very last minute, which was unfortunate, since i hadn't warmed up and gotten rid of the morning phlegm. sitting up in the balcony was extremely frustrating, since certain parents weren't managing their kids' noise levels and with a half empty church, the sound was carrying intensely. i moved to the other side of the balcony to focus on the message, which edrey delivered well. he discussed sins that you hide, preventing you from winning the battle for God, tying it in with achan's sin.
ate potluck with alyssa, matthew, and the pena's, as i offered the usual high school advice. passed by jamba juice with val and ben, and ended up sitting in the car afterwards, talking for about an hour. val and i shared some of our burdens and frustrations, and in the end, val challenged me, after i had given up. went home that night to spend some time alone, and ended up watching national treasure with the parents in the room.
- - - - - - -
this past sunday, nancy organized a collegiate rock climbing trip at point dume, in malibu. definitely one of the vacation highlights. drove over there with joseph, and met up with cory there. let cory borrow some board shorts, and joseph went swimming for a bit while cory and i elaborated more about our summers. nancy, ed carlo, and katrina arrived eventually. nancy gave us some beginning tips about rock climbing, which were very helpful. we entertained ourselves with a ukelele and conversation (including nancy's performance of "the uterus song"), and when karl arrived, we got all set up and ready to go. i was the first to go up with nancy belaying me, which set the example for others to know what not to do, including a practice fall with me slamming my back into the wall (and no, it didn't hurt). got up pretty high, and ended up retiring early. i noticed random blood all over my hand, b/c my finger got cut up. for the first time ever, climbing a 5-7, and "reaching the top," i felt pretty darn good about myself. cory and katrina followed, then joseph and ed carlo.
^point dume. i climbed that!
^haha, i don't know what i'm doing!
^okay, i got the hang of it
^cory's first run
^and his run down the mountain
^katrina, pre-panic, haha
^joseph, working his way up
^the view from the bottom
nancy wanted to set up another top rope after everyone got a chance to go (we had been borrowing another group's rope. rock climbers are so community-oriented, it's great), so cory, katrina, and i went with her to the top of the rock and helped her set up, as well as enjoying the view from the top, watching people with gliders fight. when we got back down, nancy needed to act as a belay for one of her friends, bobby, who was lead-climbing on a harder climb, without a top rope. cory served as a secondary anchor. bobby fell at one point, which sent nancy flying up from the weight of his fall, cory falling forward, and me lunging forward to try to grab his legs. fun times.
^the view from point dume
^we're pretty high up...
^hanging, off a cliff, and she still manages to hold her cool
edrey came, and pamela and jason came later as well. edrey didn't get very far up, as a result of cramping. cory wanted a second go, so karl taught me how to belay. he was a very good teacher, b/c i learned pretty quickly and belayed consistently. nancy was impressed with how fast i picked up the art of belaying, since people have such a hard time understanding the concept. i belayed cory all the way to the top successfully and without anyone dying, which is a success story. since i had been treating pamela unfairly b/c of my mini-feud with jason, i knew i had to apologize about it, and was glad to know that she was completely understanding about the whole situation.
cory had to get going, so i saw him off. it was nice to have him around, b/c i could finally share unfiltered stories and thoughts with one of the bests, as well as enjoying some time with friends and nature. back at the rock, i belayed nancy up, so she could set up another top rope, which let more people go at the same time. i belayed pamela up, while nancy belayed katrina, and they both made it to the top. i passed on karl's successful belaying advice to pamela, and she learned quickly. we pretty much spent until sundown at the beach, and i got a second go at it, climbing a 5-8, with katrina belaying me. didn't finish the course, after being exhausted from belaying people (which can be as tiring as climbing) and having no food since breakfast, but there's always next time. and next time, i will come equipped with more strength, endurance, and mental control (as wikipedia lists those three requirements for being a successful climber).
^of course, nancy has to make it look all easy
^pamela starts the ascent
^ here we go!
^master belayer!
^the race to the top. katrina's a natural
^playing teacher for the day
^smiles masking our soreness
^hardcore climbers
^tired from a long day's rock climbing activities
we decided to go have some chinese food after a successful day of climbing, but jason refused to budge until we talked. i didn't want to talk about it with pamela in the car, but ended up telling him what has been on my mind all summer, and that was that. the six of us left enjoyed a nice chinese dinner, with each of us choosing a specific entree. i had a lot of fun giving katrina PUC teacher advice, since she's coming up in the fall. we headed home in traffic, and got home pretty late.
monday, jason and i headed over to the gonzales' house, to hang out for a bit before helping val and ben move out. we helped them pick out some new couches, drove around finding cold drinks, in a quest to defeat the heat, and played some music catch phrase. val is a natural, and can get us to guess pretty much everything she threw at us. we waited until after sundown to move, since the house they were moving into had no air conditioning. we got there, and pamela and i were in charge of assembling their bed, since it's one of my favorite things to do. pretty much got it done without the instructions, considering how many times i've built a bed with the same frame (jason and joseph have the same bedframe). we had dinner at denny's afterwards, and i was so thrilled by the good service we got, since we never have good service at the denny's on san fernando.
don't remember which day i bummed, whether it be tuesday or wednesday. whichever one it was, i spent the other day running errands, buying a couple of things for PUC. okay, i remember. i bummed it on tuesday, since i slept in really late, getting the R&R needed to recover from the sore muscles from climbing. ended up sleeping past noon, and watching click that night. i'll admit that i shed a tear at the end. wednesday, i ran errands.
yesterday, i hung out with jill. she called me in the morning and told me to head over, since jeremy salvador was over and wanted me to critique a song. i got ready and headed over, and they had me listen to three songs. i didn't know that two of them were a joke, and i didn't wanna step on anyone's toes in respect to theology, so i didn't know what to say. slightly uncomfortable. after a while, jill wanted to head over to huntington library, and since i lost a game of "not it," i had to drive. it ended up being the perfect day to go, since every first thursday of the month is "free-day," so we got into the park for free. jeremy was feeling particularly mischievous, so i welcomed it in good humor, together with the self-initiated displays of male affection. we ended up taking a series of "rebellious tourist" shots:
^me going beyond the point
^jeremy entering
^jill strangling a plant
^and one last one for fun; jill's face is priceless!
jeremy had to go to riverside for a friend's birthday. since i didn't feel comfortable going, jill and i had a late lunch at islands, then hung out at the galleria, since she needed to buy an outfit for a party. we ended up going around, and catching up. i'm so glad to know that she's happy. jill deserves to be happy. relaxed at a coffee joint in the mall for a bit, and watched people walk by, which was fun. i dropped her off eventually, and headed home. watched the brothers grimm. it was okay.
today, i spent the good portion of my day sorting and packing, for the last time for college. yes, i made an OCD checklist again. i guess i wanna go all out this year, considering it's my last year dorming, and at PUC. let's just get this year over with! i need a new chapter in my life!
philippine/china trip and pre-session student teaching are getting their own entries later. i'll backdate them for my own sake. those were memorable, and already somewhat logged. i guess i'll start with last week.
sunday, our family had lunch at joselito's, to celebrate jason's birthday. afterwards, we went to a party with the cebu mission trip team at auntie arlene's house, in order to share pictures and movies. cece even made a sign, mocking our hotel (welcome to 'mango party hotel.' sorry, no mango shakes available). fun times reminiscing, sharing a mutual love for the disney channel, playing with the kids in the backyard, and talking to pamela about people finding their spotlight.
monday, hung out with jason and eunice. decided to go to the galleria, and they helped me pick out some professional clothes for student teaching this fall. eunice pushed me to think outside the lines, which resulted in me buying clothes that i would not normally consent to, such as a purple striped shirt, or a black vest. hey, i trust her, i guess. we took her back to the house to introduce her to the wonder that is HSM and HSM2.
tuesday, since joseph moved out into his apartment near USC, there were a couple of things we needed to drop off. wasn't in a particularly good mood; in other words, one of those days that you wanted to curl up in a ball and be alone. mom didn't work the night before, so she agreed to go shopping for more professional attire with me, after having lunch at joseph's. had a conflict with jason, which eventually escalated with time. had lunch at joseph's, and i fixed his dining room set. went shopping for new dress pants and shirts with mom afterwards.
wednesday, i caught up with cory about his summer events, then hung out with nancy that night. killed time in the galleria, catching up on everything over great khan's and water, since nancy's one of the bests. watched superbad, which wasn't as funny as knocked up, but definitely had its moments. i always appreciate those friendship films, haha. after the movie, we did the whole adult "talk over coffee" outside in the marketplace until really late, as she played "devil's advocate" with some of my morals. turns out, she wants to see me drunk, just b/c she wants to see the john that is unrepressed, as opposed to watching me filter my feelings. dropped her off pretty late, after the ticket collector in the marketplace parking lot made the effort to try to save me money (ticket costed $6, but when he found out we came from the movies, he brought it down to $3.50. moments like that are always so heartwarming).
thursday, had an allergist appointment with dr staveren. she prescribed a new medication that i can take at night, which will also provide help with my insomnia. talk about hitting two birds with one stone! at night, had a praise team recording session. talked with emily and cece about school. found out that the SA didn't initiate the class games at beach day, which is an insult to tradition. cece only tested out the flute, and she told me the whole experience. it's nice being able to talk freely with the kids at church.
friday, had a dermatologist appointment. nothing new. prescribed a new cream, which i always hate using. dr zappas is a bit on the awkward side. poor guy.
sabbath was interesting. since half of our members were at a college reunion in palm springs, it really left those remaining to pick up the slack. i served as chorister very last minute, which was unfortunate, since i hadn't warmed up and gotten rid of the morning phlegm. sitting up in the balcony was extremely frustrating, since certain parents weren't managing their kids' noise levels and with a half empty church, the sound was carrying intensely. i moved to the other side of the balcony to focus on the message, which edrey delivered well. he discussed sins that you hide, preventing you from winning the battle for God, tying it in with achan's sin.
ate potluck with alyssa, matthew, and the pena's, as i offered the usual high school advice. passed by jamba juice with val and ben, and ended up sitting in the car afterwards, talking for about an hour. val and i shared some of our burdens and frustrations, and in the end, val challenged me, after i had given up. went home that night to spend some time alone, and ended up watching national treasure with the parents in the room.
- - - - - - -
this past sunday, nancy organized a collegiate rock climbing trip at point dume, in malibu. definitely one of the vacation highlights. drove over there with joseph, and met up with cory there. let cory borrow some board shorts, and joseph went swimming for a bit while cory and i elaborated more about our summers. nancy, ed carlo, and katrina arrived eventually. nancy gave us some beginning tips about rock climbing, which were very helpful. we entertained ourselves with a ukelele and conversation (including nancy's performance of "the uterus song"), and when karl arrived, we got all set up and ready to go. i was the first to go up with nancy belaying me, which set the example for others to know what not to do, including a practice fall with me slamming my back into the wall (and no, it didn't hurt). got up pretty high, and ended up retiring early. i noticed random blood all over my hand, b/c my finger got cut up. for the first time ever, climbing a 5-7, and "reaching the top," i felt pretty darn good about myself. cory and katrina followed, then joseph and ed carlo.
^point dume. i climbed that!
^haha, i don't know what i'm doing!
^okay, i got the hang of it
^cory's first run
^and his run down the mountain
^katrina, pre-panic, haha
^joseph, working his way up
^the view from the bottom
nancy wanted to set up another top rope after everyone got a chance to go (we had been borrowing another group's rope. rock climbers are so community-oriented, it's great), so cory, katrina, and i went with her to the top of the rock and helped her set up, as well as enjoying the view from the top, watching people with gliders fight. when we got back down, nancy needed to act as a belay for one of her friends, bobby, who was lead-climbing on a harder climb, without a top rope. cory served as a secondary anchor. bobby fell at one point, which sent nancy flying up from the weight of his fall, cory falling forward, and me lunging forward to try to grab his legs. fun times.
^the view from point dume
^we're pretty high up...
^hanging, off a cliff, and she still manages to hold her cool
edrey came, and pamela and jason came later as well. edrey didn't get very far up, as a result of cramping. cory wanted a second go, so karl taught me how to belay. he was a very good teacher, b/c i learned pretty quickly and belayed consistently. nancy was impressed with how fast i picked up the art of belaying, since people have such a hard time understanding the concept. i belayed cory all the way to the top successfully and without anyone dying, which is a success story. since i had been treating pamela unfairly b/c of my mini-feud with jason, i knew i had to apologize about it, and was glad to know that she was completely understanding about the whole situation.
cory had to get going, so i saw him off. it was nice to have him around, b/c i could finally share unfiltered stories and thoughts with one of the bests, as well as enjoying some time with friends and nature. back at the rock, i belayed nancy up, so she could set up another top rope, which let more people go at the same time. i belayed pamela up, while nancy belayed katrina, and they both made it to the top. i passed on karl's successful belaying advice to pamela, and she learned quickly. we pretty much spent until sundown at the beach, and i got a second go at it, climbing a 5-8, with katrina belaying me. didn't finish the course, after being exhausted from belaying people (which can be as tiring as climbing) and having no food since breakfast, but there's always next time. and next time, i will come equipped with more strength, endurance, and mental control (as wikipedia lists those three requirements for being a successful climber).
^of course, nancy has to make it look all easy
^pamela starts the ascent
^ here we go!
^master belayer!
^the race to the top. katrina's a natural
^playing teacher for the day
^smiles masking our soreness
^hardcore climbers
^tired from a long day's rock climbing activities
we decided to go have some chinese food after a successful day of climbing, but jason refused to budge until we talked. i didn't want to talk about it with pamela in the car, but ended up telling him what has been on my mind all summer, and that was that. the six of us left enjoyed a nice chinese dinner, with each of us choosing a specific entree. i had a lot of fun giving katrina PUC teacher advice, since she's coming up in the fall. we headed home in traffic, and got home pretty late.
monday, jason and i headed over to the gonzales' house, to hang out for a bit before helping val and ben move out. we helped them pick out some new couches, drove around finding cold drinks, in a quest to defeat the heat, and played some music catch phrase. val is a natural, and can get us to guess pretty much everything she threw at us. we waited until after sundown to move, since the house they were moving into had no air conditioning. we got there, and pamela and i were in charge of assembling their bed, since it's one of my favorite things to do. pretty much got it done without the instructions, considering how many times i've built a bed with the same frame (jason and joseph have the same bedframe). we had dinner at denny's afterwards, and i was so thrilled by the good service we got, since we never have good service at the denny's on san fernando.
don't remember which day i bummed, whether it be tuesday or wednesday. whichever one it was, i spent the other day running errands, buying a couple of things for PUC. okay, i remember. i bummed it on tuesday, since i slept in really late, getting the R&R needed to recover from the sore muscles from climbing. ended up sleeping past noon, and watching click that night. i'll admit that i shed a tear at the end. wednesday, i ran errands.
yesterday, i hung out with jill. she called me in the morning and told me to head over, since jeremy salvador was over and wanted me to critique a song. i got ready and headed over, and they had me listen to three songs. i didn't know that two of them were a joke, and i didn't wanna step on anyone's toes in respect to theology, so i didn't know what to say. slightly uncomfortable. after a while, jill wanted to head over to huntington library, and since i lost a game of "not it," i had to drive. it ended up being the perfect day to go, since every first thursday of the month is "free-day," so we got into the park for free. jeremy was feeling particularly mischievous, so i welcomed it in good humor, together with the self-initiated displays of male affection. we ended up taking a series of "rebellious tourist" shots:
^me going beyond the point
^jeremy entering
^jill strangling a plant
^and one last one for fun; jill's face is priceless!
jeremy had to go to riverside for a friend's birthday. since i didn't feel comfortable going, jill and i had a late lunch at islands, then hung out at the galleria, since she needed to buy an outfit for a party. we ended up going around, and catching up. i'm so glad to know that she's happy. jill deserves to be happy. relaxed at a coffee joint in the mall for a bit, and watched people walk by, which was fun. i dropped her off eventually, and headed home. watched the brothers grimm. it was okay.
today, i spent the good portion of my day sorting and packing, for the last time for college. yes, i made an OCD checklist again. i guess i wanna go all out this year, considering it's my last year dorming, and at PUC. let's just get this year over with! i need a new chapter in my life!