STILL

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm
Father you are king over the flood
I will be still and know you are God

From still (hillsong)... This is my prayer for my 18th birthday. :)

Thank you sa lahat ng nag-greet! Thank you to everyone who has been part of my 18 years in this world. All of you have been sent to me by God to make me who I am right now. :D

YFC Int'l Leaders' Conference 2007 Naga , 4 of 20

Shout unto God with a voice of triumph.
Shout unto God with a voice of praise.
Shout unto God with a voice of triumph.
We lift Your Name up.
We lift Your Name up.

ILC on YouTube

I made a great discovery today. :) Actually, my sister discovered it yesterday.

20 portions or 200 minutes of the 14th Youth for Christ ILC are in YouTube right now. It starts with the conclusion of the 1st sharing and intro to Vanessa's (yup. the girl from canada) sharing during Session 2. Session 2 for the sisters. :) Since nakaupload na, I guess pwede na rin sa brothers. haha. :) It was the session I loved the most and wrote about so much in my ILC entry. Sayang nga lang hindi sa simula. Love ko yung worship and 1st sharing e. :)) 2nd half na lang ng session 2. It continues on until the end of the ILC.

I really enjoyed recalling the ILC. To those who missed the ILC, here's your chance to listen to the message God gave us during the ILC. And just to everyone, panoorin niyo. Nakakabless yung ILC e. Para next year, sa Tagaytay naman tayo lahat. :)

Thank you God for this. :)

I'm uploading videos to my multiply. Panoorin niyo. :)

or youcould start here: Video 1 of 20 from tomasjasper in You Tube

college.

I really want to write about college already, my blockmates, my schedule, PE, Ateneo and everything but there's nothing to write about yet kasi sa June pa magkakaroon ng event ang Ateneo. Haay.

Basta this summer, I got more acquainted to the place. Thanks Rob and Ivan. Hindi na ko ganun kadaling mawawala kasi at least alam ko na san ang Faura at CTC, ang 2 most important buildings sa mga CS. Nakita rin namin si Ate Val w/ other '06 people when we were there. At least, nakakagaan ng loob na makakita ng familiar faces.

Who's driving?

Here are fragments of Judy McDonald's article "Jesus take the wheel" Click here for the full article. Thanks to cecile for linking this site. I love it.

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this all on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel
-Carrie Underwood

What a nice song. I can just imagine Carrie driving home on a cold winter's night as her car spins hopelessly out of control and her hands fly up and she yells, “Jesus take the wheel!”

Well duh, Carrie! Who wouldn’t yell for Jesus to take over when they were about to die in a horrible car crash!

...

But, let’s go back to that paragraph right above and point out something that I wrote, “…When I really look at my life I let Jesus handle pretty much all of it.” Did you catch it? “Pretty much all of it” means that there are some things in my life that to be perfectly honest I think I can handle better than Jesus (Now reading a statement like that makes me think I should check myself into somewhere nice for a few months to wear a bathrobe all day and play volleyball, because now I have a God complex or something). I’m saying, “Look Jesus, I know you made the mountains and the sea and even the hippos and those are all awesome, but I think I can handle this one on my own. Thanks, I’ll call you when it’s your turn to drive."

It's really funny when you think about it. We say that God is in control of our lives when in many situations, we like to do things on our own. We don't realize that God should be driving all the time. We often just ask God to start working is when we don't know what to do anymore.

Some people say that trusting God is the down-side of religion. I don't think it is. All my life I've known that He was watching over me, guiding me in every situation. Trusting doesn't mean 'I'm going to sit here forever and wait for him to give me good grades, arrange this event or buy me food.' It means knowing that I'm not alone in every situation. It means knowing that everything that happens to me has a purpose. It means knowing that there is a plan for me and it's much more greater than any plan I've ever made for my life. It means knowing that life isn't only about what I want. It's more about what God wants me to do with my life. And with that trust, we find our true purpose and we allow God to lead us to places we've never imagined before.

Like the author, there are still times I forget that God is in the driver's seat. But whenever I remember that, I feel more at ease because I know that He can never go wrong.

weird ako.

Got tagged by rob...

Each player of this games starts with 6 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state the rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1. Parang kay fatima. Hindi ako marunong magsnap, sumipol o magbike. Triny ko na yung 1st 2 at hopeless talaga ako. Yung 3rd, ayaw kong magkasugat. hehe.

2. Allergic ako sa lotion, strongly scented deodorants, strong soap, sunblock, certain insect repellants, at kahit anong linalagay sa katawan na may scent (except siyempre pabango, hindi ko naman ipinanliligo yun e). Ilang beses na ko pumunta sa derma dahil sa mga allergies na to. Pupunta na nga lang ako ng derma, hindi pa para magpaganda. Haay.

3. 4 years and 9 months na ako nakasuot ng braces. Ganun na katagal. Mula pa ng August noong Grade 7 ako. Kaya wala pang taga-Pisay na nakita akong hindi naka braces (except sina anapat at patreng. duh). Sana matanggal na to this year.

4. Hindi ako nagsusuot ng rubber shoes maliban pag PE class, field trip at pag dinemand ng parents ko.

5. Takot ako sa pusa. As in. Aalis ako sa isang lugar kung may pusa sa tabi ko kahit may ginagawa pa akong importante like eating lunch or working on the yearbook. Ask nico, pito and peach. Takot rin ako sa aso.

6. Sa ateneo ako mag-aaral pero ang gusto ko icheer sa UAAP ay ang La Salle. Hindi ko alam pano pero bahala na.

I'm not tagging anyone kasi lahat naman ata natag na. :p

Omg.

Another one of my short posts.

Thank you Lord. I can't believe this. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

What I realized from our trip

** YFC is international but more importantly God is universal. His love binds all of us in the world together. I heard Mass at Malmo twice. In the City of Malmo, there are only two churches and they don't have hourly Sunday Masses like we do here in the Philippines. Still, hindi pa rin puno yung church. Pero what's truly amazing is that I saw people with different nationalities. There were Filipinos(Filipinos are so everywhere), Norwegians (siyempre), Africans, Chinese, etc. It was just so lovely to see people going together to praise God.

** Planning and patience are important parts of a nation. Singapore is such a perfectly planned country especially when we remember that a lot of their land is reclaimed. when before, people in Denmark have to ride a ferry to get to Sweden, the two countries decided to have a bridge connecting them making things much easier. Now, a lot of Danish live in Sweden but still work in Denmark.

** It doesn't matter how high taxes get as long as the people benefit from them. In Denmark and Sweden, the children have free education and their parents get monthly allowances from the government for each child. They have tax deductions if they invest their money on property and for business.

** They preserve old buildings becuase they value history. And they attract tourists. Their architecture are both stylish and functional.

** They have trees everywhere. Considering they have four seasons, I think it would be harder to mantain plants there than in the Philippines. But we don't have as much trees. Sometimes, I think there are more basketball courts than trees in the streets.

** Tourism should be one of the government's priorities. Singapore has free tours and free shuttles from the airport for the people who have at least 6 hours before their connecting flight to wherever. At least, they get to showcase the beauty of their country and tell people to come back to their country some other time. Our country doesn't even have much quality travel guides when we have so many beautiful sites to show off.

** Lines should be cut short. Abroad, the lines are short and if they are long, they are bearable. In NAIA, the lines at immigration are really long and they don't have clear labels. One Filipina who was with her daughter. The mom had a passport of another country already but the daughter had a Philippine passport. Upon reaching the counter labeled Filipinos/Balikbayans, which obviously described her because she was a Filipino by nationality and a balikbayan, she was asked to line up somewhere else. Haay.

Ayun. The Philippines is such a beautiful country. But we can't just rely on that, we have to continue planning and improving what we have. We can't just take everything on one at a time. We have to plan things as a whole because everything we do, no matter how small, affects our nation and our future. Can't wait to become Chief of Staff. lol.

Travel Log

We went to Scandinavia for two weeks. I had so much fun.

We stayed with our parents' friends place at Malmo. Tita Jen, tito Bo, Kevin & Christian, thanks so much! They brought us around, made us eat so much :) and made us feel at home in their abode.

My mom works with singapore airlines so we only had to pay for my brother's ticket and taxes of course. Thanks daddy and mommy for making this trip possible.

And most importantly, thank you God!

Here's our travel log. Europe is so pretty. And so cold. We saw so many places. Even when we were just driving around, we were at awe with nature and their architecture (I even took pictures of random buildings and houses because they were so nice.)

Pictures to be posted at my multiply.

Apr 20
8:15 am- departure from Manila => Inannounce yung name namin sa naia... haha. hindi kami late. pero dahil chance kami kasi hindi yun yung totoo naming flight, sa gabi pa dapat, hinintay na near closing ng check-in. tas hinabol namin yung plane. siyempre tinulungan naman kami ng airport staff ng sia. :)
11: 15 am - arrival at singapore=> We got to go on the singapore airlines tour of singapore. The last time I've been to singapore was when I was 8 years old so it was great to actually see everything again. We were able to ride a ferry pa.
=> Pag balik sa airport, nakausap ko si joji for a few minutes sa phone. You can make free local calls sa airport. Nagulat ata siya. haha. Joji, we miss you.
=> Then we left again to go to Bugis. We ate dinner at a Hawker's Center. Sobrang sarap ng food. :) Then, we went around the shopping centers. Pero it's quite hard to shop pag naisip mo na you have to multiply all the prices by 30. haha. Masmura pa rin talaga sa Pilipinas esp since philippine peso ang pera natin.
=> We then went back to the airport. We had to wait some more for our flight. E kasi naman 1 am pa yung alis namin e. Good thing the changi airport is so pretty and nice. Umikot kami, nag free internet, nanood ng tv shows, etc.

Apr 2 1am-departure from singapore
7 am (denmark time) - arrival at copenhagen airport=> Tita Jen fetched us. 4 pm => birthday party ng tita ni Tita Jen

Apr 22 - Beach and harbour, skateboard area, Turning Torso, church
Apr 23 - (Denmark) palace, Little Mermaid, church where their royalty are burried, DFDS Office
Apr 24 - (Denmark) hospital, Viking ships (Sweden) Ikea, walking street
Apr 25 - 5pm(Denmark) rode the M.S. Crown of Scandinavia to Norway (loved it!!!)
Apr 26 - our dad's birthday, (Norway) arrived at Oslo<4>, walked to Akershus fortress, Armed Forces Museum, New Barricades Museum, walked to the cathedral, Oslo Cathedrel , chapel there, walking street nila, Central Station, ate at a Pizza place, went to 7 Eleven, McDonalds, walked back to ship port, rode the ship, left for Copenhagen
Apr 27 - 9am arrived at copenhagen, CFC Copenhagen and Family ministries' general assembly
Apr 28 - stayed home
Apr 29 - (Denmark) their walking street naman, (Sweden) church
Apr 30 - (Sweden) Mobilia, bonfire marking the end of spring and start of summer
May 1 - home
May 2 - dinner at Tita Rose's place
May 3 - supermarketing at Oobi's
May 4 - (Sweden) supermarketing everywhere. haha. (Denmark)household meeting at Dela Fuentes, YFC sleepover

May 5 - departure from Denmark
May 6 - arrival at Changi Airport, arrival at NAIA :D

movies galore

Since singapore airlines is the best airline ever (haha), they have the best in-flight entertainment. As in, may sariling monitor screen ang lahat ng tao. And you get to watch whatever movie, tv show and documentary, play whatever game, and listen to any music you want. And when you're travelling a total of 30 hours, that means a lot.

Kaya ang dami kong napanood na movies sa plane and sa sweden na rin and at our hosts' home. :)

to Singapore & Copenhagen - Dream girls (some parts), Mrs. Brown (story ni Queen Victoria when her husband died), Freedom Writers (story of a teacher who inspired her students from the ghetto to write their stories)

Apr28 - Stepford Wives (husbands turn their more successful wives into robots)
Apr29 - Enemy of the State
May2 - The Legend of Zorro

to Singapore & Manila - Music & Lyrics, Because I Said So, The Holiday, (TV Shows) The Apprentice, Hell's Kitchen, How to Spot a Liar

**I loved all the movies. Papunta mga serious and drama yung pinanood ko. On our way back, I watched love stories. haha.

**Here's my favorite speech from The Holiday. Fatima, you should watch this. You'll so love it.
"I understand feeling as small and as insignificant as humanly possible. And how it could actually ache in places you didn't know you had inside of you. It isn't how many glasses of champagne you had with your girl friends, or how many times you've gone to the gym. You still go to bed at night, going every detail and wonder what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood. And how in the hell for that brief moment you could think that you were that happy. And sometimes you could even convince yourself that he'll see the light and just show up at your door. And after all that, how ever long that may be, you go somewhere new and you'll meet people who'll make you feel worthwhile again. And little pieces of your soul wil finally come back. And all that fuzzy stuff, all those years of your life that you wasted, that would actually begin to fade."

I am 33% girly

From joanna...

il imitate joanna's way of commenting too. :)

Take this quiz and find out how girly you are. (GUYS TOO) Put x's beside each thing that's true. Each x that you put is one percent. Have fun!!

[ ] My fingernails/toenails are almost always done (never done)
[ ] During the summer the only shoes i wear are flip flops
[ ] My favorite toys as a child were barbies
[x] My favorite colour is pink or purple (it's green now. but there was a time they were. and i still find them cute anyway.)
[ ] I did Gymnastics.
[x] I love skirts.(but don't wear them often)
[ ] Hollister is one of my favorite places to shop
[ ] Tight jeans are the only jeans i'll wear.
[x] I love chocolate (even if they make me fat :p)
[x] I've never had a real job. (like joanna, never had one. haha)

TOTAL: 4

[ ] My hair is almost always straightened (i wish but that would both destroy my hair and make me even more late for school)
[ ] I have at least 8 myspace pictures (again like joey, no myspace)
[ ] I usually go shopping once a week (if i had that much money, i'd rather eat out)
[x] I love to hang out at the mall with friends (but i don't do it often)
[x] I have a real diamond ring or diamond necklace or earings.
[ ] I've gone to a tanning salon. (more than enough tan already)
[ ] I've gone to the beach to tan.
[ ] I have at least 10 pairs of shoes.
[ ] I watch either the OC or Laguna Beach.
[ ] I change my icon weekly.
[ ] I wear a shower cap.

TOTAL: 2

[x] I dont shop at Hot Topic.
[x] My cell phone might as well become a part of me.
[ ] I wear mascara everyday.
[ ] I've been or am on a diet.
[ ] Bathing suits are adorable.
[ ] I dont know the difference between a sheep and a goat.
[ ] Big sunglasses are hott.
[x] I have gotten my nails done before. (only twice. haha. and back when i was still in gs)
[ ] MTV is one of my favorite channels.

TOTAL: 3

[ ] All I want to do at sleepovers is talk about boys! (not that shallow)
[x] I love to have girls do my hair.
[ ] I give and recieve hugs from all my friends
[x] I hate bugs.
[x] Carnivals are so fun!
[ ] Summer is THE best season. (oo nga. mainit kaya.)
[ ] My swimsuit has 2 pieces
[x] I'm waiting for my knight in shining armor. (lol. believe me there's almost no girl who isn't unless like joey, you've found him. those who say no are just in denial. :p)
[ ] Musicians are so hot.
[ ] You write me a poem and tell me I'm beautiful and I'm all yours. (joanna's right. once again, not that easy. haha.)

TOTAL: 4

[x] I am self-conscious.
[x] I cry often. (I like crying. :D)
[ ] My car smells like vanilla or cherry. (i don't like car scents plus i don't have my own car)
[x] My dishes get washed more than once a week.
[x] I dont do sports. (only watch. :p)
[x] I HATE to run.
[x] I squeal when I am surprised or angry. (not in a super high frequency but ya)
[ ] I eat dried fruit as a snack.
[x] I love romance novels.
[ ] Drew Barrymore is so cute.

TOTAL: 7

[ ] I dance a lot.
[ ] usually spend an hour or over to get ready to leave my house.
[ ] I only have like 5 billion hair products.
[x] I love to get dressed up.
[ ] Every part of my outfit needs to match.
[ ] I talk on the phone at least once a day to my friends. (kaya nga may 1 hour conversations sa phone and may ym)
[ ] I would love to have a photo shoot.
[ ] I apply lip stuff 50 times a day.
[ ] I wish I were a model.

TOTAL: 1

[ ] I wish I could meet Paris Hilton. (unless she shares her money, um, NO)
[ ] I have been something that was semi.
[ ] I own Uggs.
[ ] Hip Hop is the best music.
[ ] I pop my collar.
[ ] I like to be the center of attention.
[ ] Guys with Mohawks are crazy.
[ ] Horses are beautiful.
[ ] I'd rather not pay attention in school.
[ ] Cats are adorable. (not for me. i usually run away from them)

TOTAL: 0 (hehe.)

[ ] I write my own music.
[x] I would love to visit Hawaii.
[x] Valentine's day is so cute! (cause its also singles awareness day. :D)
[x] White is better than black. (on me, yup)
[ ] I wouldn't be caught dead in all black.
[ ] My closet is STOCK FULL of clothes.
[x] Hate the grunge look.
[x] I love to read magazines.

TOTAL: 5

[ ] I love to gossip.
[x] I had Lisa Frank folders/posters/notebooks as a kid.
[ ] I love Celine Dion.
[ ] My bubble baths are 1-2hrs long.
[ ] My wedding only needs a groom because it's already planned.
[ ] My friends and I are in a strict group. We mostly only hang out with each other.
[x] I like little kids.
[ ] Diet drinks are the best. (exactly. yuck)
[ ] I'm all about being vegetarian. (tried vegemeat. swallowed it down immediately.)
[x] I refuse to eat at McDonalds. (like joey again, if i had a choice, i would.)

TOTAL: 3

[ ] I check my myspace everyday. (N/A)
[x] I love life! (guys don't?)
[x] I have a lot of jewlery!
[ ] My screen name(s) have x's in them.
[ ] Either one of my myspace names has/had <3's style="font-family:verdana;">
[x] I would never want to be the opposite sex.
[x] It's not what he/she said it's the way he/she said it.
[ ] I have more than 3 pillows on my bed.

TOTAL: 4

Now add up all the total points and put "I am __% girly" for the subject if you steal or get tagged.

I tag Fatima and Maisie.

Scandinavian Cruise... :D

We went on a mini cruise to and from Oslo last Wed to Fri. It was so much fun.

We left Copenhagen at 5pm. Ngayon lang ako nakasakay ng ship tapos cruise ship pa. :D Inikot namin yung ship. Ang ganda ng view and ang lamig.

We arrived at Norway ng 9 am. Tapos sobrang lamig kasi 4 degrees celsius ang temp. (Buong kwento yan ng stay namin dito. Sobrang lamig. ang pinaka mainit na dito: 20. e yun nga ang malamig sa atin e.) Anyway, so we went down the ship.

Tapos we just walked around the city. We went to Arkhesus Fortress, sa mga museum doon. Then we walked some more, went to the walking street, passed by the Cathedral, which was being renovated, and then the Central Station. We decided to eat in that area. Tapos we walked back to the ship and arrived ng mga 2:30.

Sa sobrang pagod, we fell asleep after eating the muffins we bought as my dad's birthday cakes. haha. :)) Woke up again just as the ship was leaving. Ayun. Dinner. Tapos ikot uli.

My brother attended the treasure hunt for the 2nd time. Tapos the rest of us returned to the cabin. They decided to leave cause my brother wasn't back yet but I decided to stay.

Tapos turns out may 2 additional blessings kaming natanggap.
(1) Nameet uli nila yung isang Filipino man na kasama sa crew. Tapos binigyan niya kami ng 6 complimentary breakfast buffet passes. yay! Bait talaga ni God!!! :D
(2) Ang brother ko na matagal tagal na rin naliligaw pabalik sa cabin ay nakahanap ng 2 danish kids na tumulong sa kanya. at nagkita sila ng parents ko.

Ayun. And then we got back to Copenhagen at 9am the next day.

Thank you God for this experience! :D