Pato-chan on the ACET

My schedule:
September 15, 2007 (Saturday)
1:00 - 6:00 PM
Ateneo High School
Room # 11

Yeah, so obviously I haven't taken the dreaded exam yet. And I'm not yet terrified out of my wits, hopefully I never will. Because a witless Pato-chan plus one scary exam doesn't mix well.

I don't have much to say (yet). But I would like to express my happiness. For what you may ask? Well, my pretty new books. Yep, my pretty books from Powerbooks.

Boredom

To tell you the truth, I shouldn't be bored. I've got loads to do, but the thing is I really don't want to do it know, setting aside the little known fact that I don't know how to do it as well.

I've got tons of Filipino homework, but I figure that's the norm for Mrs. Caspilo, assign every major, or at least semi-major, work at the beginning of the quarter and leave the small ones till later. Apart from Filipino, we've got English. It's turning into a quarterly thing, having a book report. Now, for Filipino, that was actually announced. We are to review the entire El Filibusterismo ten chapters at a time. But for English, sigh... At least it's a self-help book this time, though that doesn't really mean anything to me as my book is as thick, or a bit less, than an average novel, not to mention the terms the authors use terms that leave my mind wandering the skies, trying to guess the definition. Don't expect me to carry a dictionary around everywhere I go (unless it's one of those tiny electronic ones). I'm not that much of a geek.

Did you know that at one point in the last quarter I worried for my the card grade in History, I mean, Economics? Scary that it came to that since I was a minor history, ahem, social studies, geek last year, and the year before, and the year before. Basically, if it's in English, I can understand it.

Math not included. Besides, our math teachers speak in both English and Filipino. Technically, it's math teacher, since he's responsible for both our Algebra, Advanced Algebra, and Calculus. Surprisingly, this past quarter wasn't so bad. I could actually understand it. It's amazing, isn't it? That goes to show for those out there like me, slightly impaired in the math department, there is hope. Or maybe it was just that our lessons weren't hard... I can't tell anymore.

I won't make a fuss about Science, apart from that my elementary and high school grades can't be compared, because there's that much of a difference. 99! My goodness, how much I've sunk.

Why am I blabbering about school right now? Because the NCAE (National Career Assesment Examination) has left me partially brain dead. Not because it was super-incredibly-extremely difficult, quite the opposite actually. It was easy. The only challenging portions were the ones with cute faded little pictures, meaning non-verbal ability, manipulative skills, and entrepreneurial skills. Would it do any good if I said that I didn't attend the review for the NVA and ES?

Anyway, why I'm brain dead. Because I was that bored.

...

...

Were you expecting that?

The "main" subtests were allotted so much time that right after the reading comprehension bit, I just fell asleep immediately. Take note that as always I was up late.

Where was I? Ah, the pointless, meaningless, rambling.

That kinda ends now...

Pato-chan on the UPCAT and AS4

Well, if you didn’t realize the UPCAT, my schedule at the very least was yesterday, at 12:30 (though it actually started at about 1:30 because the examiner took his sweet, sweet time) in the College of Arts and Letters. Sadly, I didn’t see anyone I knew. Even though I visited the campus the day before and was on the lookout for any Makati Hopians.

I’m alive, therefore I survived.

Yes, the UPCAT has forever scarred me. All the waiting in the hot, hot air, with insects flying around, crawling all over, and swinging from their little threads.

Isn’t that a bit screwed? It probably is.

The actual exam was, well, tough. I guess. Overall, yeah, tough.

The English and Filipino sections were overplayed by the review class I attended. Now, I’d give you a sample of the vocabulary and talasalitaan I can remember, but I can’t remember the unfamiliar Filipino words, so I won’t bother. But, all the words were used in a sentence, at the very least, and the context clues were pretty clear, so it wasn’t too difficult to guess what the words meant. The *cough* most difficult English word used as a vocabulary word I can recall was disheveled. *coughing fit*

Now, the Science subtest was, hm, moderate. I felt that I had wasted my time studying Physics, because they were totally focused on Biology and Chemistry. Which sucks even more, since I can no longer recall most of the stuff we had taken up in those classes, and I don’t believe I was paying much attention in those years in the first place. So, yeah. I guessed my way through 25% of it.

Math. Math was like blah… Here I guessed my way through 50-75% of it. There were a few questions where I was wondering if I’ve ever seen these things before. There was this weird rounded “E” symbol, which I just stared at for a few seconds and moved on. What I’ve got to say about Math to future examinees… Dearies, study your Geometry.

The Reading Comprehension… Hmm, not too hard, but I always imagine myself getting higher scores than I really do. So, oh well. Ah, the thing I hated about it most was that most of it was in Filipino. Most of the essays were centered on Filipino topics. Cory Aquino, the “joke lang” culture of Filipinos, neologism in the Filipino language, the three names of the Philippines, stuff like that.

By the way, did I mention that I only had a tiny breakfast before it? J After the exam, I was whining like hell, “I’m hungry…” And so, I disregarded the fact that I’m on a diet and ate a bowl of rice, Chinese style. Damn, I missed Chinese food.

Now, after that lovely dinner, I had fun. Waiting. There was this short line at the AS4 machine, and the two guys before me were pretty good, I guess, so it was a “learning experience” watching them. The friend of the guy playing kept giving me looks, so I wonder why. Is it A) I’m a girl watching the guy play. B) I’m a girl watching the guy play, and holding an IC card for it. Or C) I’m a girl watching the guy play, holding an IC card for it, and wearing a skirt, a pretty long one, by the way. But, bah, who cares. The two were really loud, too, if I might add.

Also, if anyone from TIDPH is reading this, I heard them talking about you guys. They were saying that, well, the guy with the name ANINO, he though that you guys were kinda mayabang, but fast anyway. This part, I’m not quite sure about, but I think he wanted to see you guys go against CKF, or some other top player. Then they went on about which of the top players went to the forums, and blah…

Ah, and before I forget, there was another guy playing with the name, Manu. Yeah…

Anyway… Previously, though I didn’t make an account of it, I had already beaten Lake Akina, Myogi, and up to Kyoupon on Akagi. Now, Kei-pi wasn’t too hard, I think I beat him on the second try, like yesterday. Then went off to beat Ryoupon on the second attempt, I think. Then Akina. Ryoupon was the challenge here again, three tries, and he was off the chart as well. The FC’s startup is, well, amazing. I had to ram into it just so I could get ahead. Then I just bypassed Takumi.

Now, Irohazaka had been calling out to me for some time now. So, I decided to play Sei-pi then realized that I don’t know how to play Irohazaka. At my third try, in CP3/4, I think I just about got the formula, but just about, since it only worked on some corners, others… well, I just ended up reversing myself. Either that, or ramming hood-first into the guardrail.

Since, I was running out of time, I decided to skip him and move on to Tsukuba and just try out Dai-pi. The first CP, or did it last to the second, was relatively easy to grasp, so I was able to overtake Dai-pi there. Past that point though, he passed me and left me in the dust.

In the end, I have about 60-70K points in my card, with two cars sitting in my garage, the S2000 and the RX8. I’m keeping that third space empty for the time being, since I simply cannot decide what car I’d like to put there. I’ve also heard several suggestions on how to play, like taking the card out after each race, so you could tune it faster, now I’d do that, except that it takes a lot of time putting it in and taking it out, so whatever, I can tune my cars in time and I really don’t have much time to play. And, I don’t even know yet if you can renew it, so I’m not taking any chances and taking my sweet time.

How to Deal with Annoying People (What to Do When You Can't Avoid Them)

How to Deal with Annoying People (What to Do When You Can't Avoid Them)
By: Bob Phillips and Kimberly Alyn

Don't you ever wish that some people could just go away and disappear? Well, you're certainly not alone. Psst... Everyone has moments like these, if you didn't realize that by now. How to Deal with Annoying People (or HTDWAP, as I will be referring to it) helps you realize how different people are, and makes the very old and generally accepted saying "Do onto other, as you would like others to do onto you." not as wise as it sounds.

The book explains why people act and react differently, so treating people how you want to be treated does not always garner the desired result. So, it identifies the general strengths and weakness of each one of the four social styles, and helps you determine the styles of others as well. The purpose? So you can adapt to them and reduce conflict.

That's what the book, this very enjoyable book, is all about. Reducing conflict. Though... HTDWAP does mention the point that conflict isn't all bad. It can build... stuff, stuff you have to read the book to find out about.

- by A Conspiracy Toss

Baby Cars and Barkadas

Well, today was the third day of driving school, A1, my sixth hour, though I wasn't driving for the entirety of the lessons. Either way, it's an exciting experience, getting in a car and going wherever. Wherever the instructor says anyway.

It gives me a chance to go to the mall as well. Today was... not particularly eventful.

I did buy three news car, baby cars!

Well, not baby cars, technically. They're just smaller than most of my die-cast models, so the appropriate term is mini, but when I'm left to decide which one I prefer, I'd take "baby" any day.

My new baby FC! My WRC Evo6! My yellow S2000! (And dang, now I realize how good the S2K looks in that color.)

The FC... *sigh* When I wandered around Toy Kingdom, I headed for the toy car section, as I always do, with the intention of searching for a nice Evo die-cast of some sort. And I did, as is apparent in the paragraph above. My FC, my new FC. It's a Ryousuke FC, not the big one I already have, but a baby (mini) version for my chibi Trueno to race (and the Evo6, and the S2000, and the RX8, and the 350Z, and the D1 FD) *sigh*

Anyway, what's the deal with barkadas, you may ask, as it seems to be a big deal of some sort in my title. Well, it's just that I find them annoying when it comes to IDAS. They flock to a machine, just for the heck of it. Of course, I can't say that they shouldn't be on a machine, it's just I find them vexing. Grr!

So instead of a flock of guys challenging me on ID, I got a trio of girls instead. Myogi. *falls asleep* Usually, I love racing these guys. More point to battle Bunta with, but then I had to go. Like, had to go. Not to the comfort room to seek comfort with Mr. Toilet, but back to SM. So I had to purposely lost against the 3rd girl, just so I could get out of there. *sigh* What a waste of load. I could've squeezed 10k points from them. And there was the bunch of guys. And that little boy who was stomping on the pedal. (Nooo... Don't kill the machine!!!)

Well, that was the rant, now the rave.

It is coming!

IDAS4 to G4 Timezone!

It was posted on the IDW forums, an e-mail from Timezone saying that IDAS4 and WMMT3 will be coming! And it is confirmed! IDAS4 is coming! The attendant said that the machines are being delivered this month! This month!

Which means... Which means... *passes out* I will probably be playing AS4 after the UPCAT! What a way to celebrate! :D

I don't care what the guys out there are saying. "The physics are out of whack" and shit, but I don't care. I want to play it. I don't care if it costs P29, I'm so playing it. Staring at the graphics make me practically drool. XD

Ok, out of hyper mode.... Now.

Frankie, you may take my picture. In front of the machine. Yay!

Old Journals and Ancient Script

I know, I said that I don't post inane stuff when I'm supposed to be busy, but I don't want to occupy myself with those charcters right now. And even if it does make me feel a bit bad, I'll live with it tomorrow.

The other day, probably two days ago, I was arranging my bookshelf, in anticipation of The Balikbayan box with all my books (>.< and shoes, and stuff... XD), when I saw a strange and utterly foreign-looking notebook. At first I dismissed it as my old autograph book, but when curiousity brought me to examine the old pad, I realized that it wasn't my autograph slambook, but an ancient journal.

Technically, not that ancient. It was written in my hand four years ago. When I was reading it, it made my eyes water. I was that stupid?!

The horrid topics, I shall never touch again, the horrid script, it had me screaming (mentally, as I hardly ever actually scream) in an outrage.

My god...

To be honest, Danilicious, and I mean no offence by this, I sounded like you... *shudder*

April 30

Ok, screw everything I wrote on my yellow pad, I don't want to have to type everything up again. So just screw it.


But at the same time, I don't want to leave this topic alone. I want to leave a bit of detail on what happened in America on paper, and since I lose my papers like I lose my pens, Blogger should suffice.


Stops:

1. New York city

Highlights: (1) Touring Manhattan, (2) Going north to Niagara falls, apparently that's how it's spelled, (3) Visiting my family there! Duh, purpose of visit. Not to mentioned we were their guests althroughout.


2. Maryland

Highlights: (1) Touring Washington D.C., (2) More family visitations! Ok... that sounded so wrong. We stayed there for most part of the week we were in Silver Springs, but we then moved to a hotel because we didn't want to feel like parasites.

3. Los Angeles, California

Highlights: (1) Disneyland!, (2) Universal City, (3) RX8s!!!

Talk about a summary.

First Survey Ever

[ Name ] Patricia
[ Nicknames ] Pat, Pato-chan, Patty, Trish, Yuzuki, Yu-chan, Kam, Yuz, Kamy, etc...
[ Screen name ] Kamaji Yuzuki, Yuzuki, Kamyuz, Kayu, obssdgb, dialinfita (luvs anagrams), Ashphodel*insert number here*, Ash
[ Birthday ] May 11
[ Age ] 16, but not sweet
[ Weight ] 120+ last time I checked
[ Astrological sign? ] Taurus...
[Chinese zodiac sign? ] Sheep...
[ Marital Status ] Single, but hardly available.
[ Eye color ] Black-Brown/Brown-black, I can no longer recall the difference.
[ Height ] 5'2+
[ Shoe size ] 7+
[ Parents still together? ] No.
[ Siblings? ] Brother.
[ Nieces/Nephews? ] Hm... I lost count, 2+
[ Kids of your own? ] None that I know of...
[ Grandkids? ] Am I that old?!
[ Pets? ] My dead turtle, my several dead hamsters, my several dead goldfish, my several dead lovebirds, my several dead stuff toys
[Education? ] What about it?
[ Rent, lease, or own your home? ] Still at home with mom.
[ Have any credit cards? ] Two, Bankard and MyDream.
[ What do you drive? ] Hmm... Mazda RX-7 FC, Mazda RX-8, Mitsubishi Evo III, Subaru Impreza STi (GC8V), Nissan 180SX... Oh, you do know that these are all in Initial D Arcade Stage Ver. 3, right?

Favorites
[ Color ] Black, White, Silver, Red, Pink (only in small amounts and when paired with either white or black, or both)
[ Number ] Random number generator: 785
[ Animal ] Dog, Bat...
[ Vehicle ] Current car: Nissan 180SX
[ Flower ] Lavender
[ Scent ] Lavender
[ Shape ] 104-sided polygon
[ Drinks ] Water, Iced Tea, Mango smoothie, Hot Chocolate, Cold Chocolate, anything else with chocolate
[ Soda ] None, don't drink soft drinks...
[ Book ] Helen of Troy
[ Band ] None at the moment, singer though... Melissa White
[ Song ] Switch! by Melissa White and Ace
[ Food ] Starbucks Tiramisu cake - I miss you!

Do you...
[ Color your hair? ] No, never... Although I might consider highlighting it one day...
[ Have tattoos? ] Unless you call the things I draw on my skin tatoos, no.
[ Piercing? ] One in each ear, don't want any more.
[ Cheat on tests/homework? ] Always a concern, so I hide...
[ Drink/Smoke? ] I tried to drink a bit of wine before (like for a toast)... Eew...
[ Like roller coasters? ] Anything except the ones with loops...
[ Wish you could live somewhere else] Yes, anywhere nicer and bigger.
[ Want more piercings? ] Read above.
[ Like cleaning? ] I like disorder...
[Write in cursive or print? ] Cursive with some print letters.
[ Carry a donor card? ] Maybe, haven't thought about it.
[ Swear a lot? ] When I'm pissed...
[Own a web cam?] No.
[ Know how to drive?] I will be learning soon.
[ Diet? ] Technically...
[ Own a cell phone? ] Yup.
[ Ever get off the damn computer? ] When I'm not home, and when I am home, I'm only off when I'm supposed to be studying or when I'm asleep.
[ Habla Espanol? ] Pardon?

Have you ever...
[ Gotten a speeding ticket?] Not yet.
[ DUI? ] Excuse me?
[ Been in a wreck? ] Not a severe one. Just a karting accident, where nothing was broken except some skin.
[ Been arrested? ] I'm used to evading the fuzz.
[ Been in a fist fight? ] I find other ways to get revenge or vent my anger.
[ Kicked someone in the nuts? ] Not of yet. If someone pushes me enough, I just might.
[ Stolen anything? ] Not anything I can remember... Oh! Music off the Internet!
[ Held a gun? ] A bunch of toy guns (i.e. water guns, pellet guns)
[ Drank? ] Water, juice...
[ Been so drunk you couldn't remember your name?] Never.
[Considered a life of crime?] Uh, no.
[ Considered being a hooker? ] Eew, no.
[ Cried over a girl?] Because I felt insulted.
[ Cried over a boy? ] Kinda.
[ Lied to someone? ] About what and who?
[ Been in love? ] Not really.
[ Fallen for your best friend? ] Me = straight
[ Made out with JUST a friend? ] Never even kissed someone before.
[Been rejected? ] Never asked, how can I be rejected?
[ Used someone? ] Yes, but who...
[ Been used? ] Yes.
[ Been kissed? ] No.
[Current mood] Bored, and slightly miffed.
[Current music] Eurobeat.
[Current taste] Sweet.
[Current hair] Past shoulder... My normal messy hair.
[Current annoyance] Our moderator, our school and the schedule.
[Current smell] Air?
[Current thing I ought to be doing] Typing up a fic, doing some defenition research
[Current windows open?] Yahoo! Mail, Blogger, Yahoo! Messenger
[Current desktop picture] Plain black.
[Current book] MSA Math Reviewer
[Current cds in stereo] None. iTunes eliminated the use of stereos.
[Current crush] Q-chan.
[Current favorite celeb] Err... None.
[Current hate] None.
[Current job] Student, driving student, writer-by-hobby...
[Last book you read] Helen of Troy
[Last movie you saw] Mr. Bean Goes on Vacation
[Last thing you had to drink] Water
[Last thing you ate] Instant Cook Nissin Noodles.
[Last person you talked to on the phone] Mom.

Do you...
[Do drugs?] Never wanted to.
[Have a dream that keeps coming back?] Never.
[Play an instrument?] Guitar, piano, bamboo flute... Only I suck...
[Believe there is life on other planets?] Not really...
[Remember your first love?] Who? I'ved been in love?!
[Still love him/her?] Since when?!
[Read the newspaper?] Occasionally, when I see something that interests me.
[Have any gay or lesbian friends?] I can never be sure.
[Believe in miracles?] Yeah, but one's never happened to me, I think.
[Believe it's possible to remain faithful forever?] Yes.
[Consider yourself tolerant of others?] Generally, unless I'm in a pissed off mood.
[Consider love a mistake?] Not as of yet.
[Have a favorite candy?] Do chocolates count?
[Do well in school?] Usually, except for Chinese and Math
[Go to or plan to go to college] Yes, Ateneo.
[Wear hats?] No.
[Hate yourself?] No, why would I? I have a pretty good life. I have a bed, I have a roof over my bed, and I have food when I venture out of my bed.
[Have an obsession?] Current one is Initial D, and the perfect line for IDAS.
[Have a secret crush?] It's not a secret.
[Do they know yet?] They who?
[Collect anything?] Die-cast models of cars I like... (i.e. RX-7s, RX-8s, 86s, Roadsters...), books, stuffed toys, pillows...
[Have a best friend?] Three.
[Close friends?] Not that many... No, right out few.
[Like your handwriting?] Yes, although it could be nicer.
[Care about looks?] Not most of the time...

=Love life=
[First crush] It's been a long time since I've thought of him...
[First kiss] Never.
[Single or attached?] Single.
[Ever been in love?] No.
[Do you believe in love at first sight?] No.
[Do you believe in "the one?"] Yes.
[Describe your ideal significant other] No.

First Day of School

"Today will be your last June 6 as a Makati Hope student." - Dr. Tiu

Kinda duh, but it does make you think. At least I did. After the entire program, which was as always, boring. Same old, same old. Except, it won't be happening anymore. That was our last first day orientation.

Wow... I'm a fourth year student with an application form for UP tucked into my clearbook. Although, I am veritably terrified of the entrance exam of UP... Filipino... Noooo... I can still remember my first day as a first year student pretty clearly, and here I am, only ten months away from graduation. It's scary how time flies.

You think you can still redeem yourself by studying hard for the next test, and the next thing you know, a new school year has already begun. It makes second-chances pass quickly that you have to learn to remember the you should do things right the first time around, prevent making mistakes you'll regret and forget to correct. It sucks really.

But enough with the pondering angst, our school looked so different this year! It was like a weirdly color-schemed office building. They extended the front of it, and made the first floor pretty and the front half of the second floor, but they forgot that the majority of their students aren't in grades 1 to 3.

The rest of the 2nd floor and the 3rd and 4th floors remained unchanged, unless you count the rebuffing of our floors a change. I get the feeling that they just want to draw the kids in, and hope that they stay for the rest of their primary and secondary education since they've been there since they were little kids. That was my case, and it's likely that there'd be many other parents around thinking the same as my mom probably did.

Something else... We have a bunch of new teachers this school year, as always, and it just happens that we have a new debate moderator. Yay, right? This time, I didn't bother to keep my hopes high. And rightly so. Even if the guy was from Ateneo, that doesn't mean that he'd attend to us.

Even if our "moderator" isn't brilliant, I'd rather have a moderately skilled one around, rather than have a brilliant one, who I hardly see. Though, in any case, I can't say that he's brilliant either. He seemed to have pretty good Engligh, but all he seemed interested in during his introductory speech was the "drama" club, or whatever he's calling it now.

Stupid shameless "High School Musical"-ish plug. What about the Debate Society?

The Drift-Grip Experiment

Being the insane teenagers we are, Neko-chan and I made an RPG blog. Yup, of our fanfic team, the D-GX.

We have some stuff planned for it, some weird stuff, funny stuff mostly. An RPG for fun!