[DISCLAIMER. THIS IS A VERY LONG POST MOSTLY ABOUT MYSELF. =)). READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. LOL. MOREOVER, I’M PRETTY SURE THERE ARE A NUMBER OF GRAMMATICAL LAPSES AND MISSPELLED WORDS IN THIS POST BECAUSE I DIDN’T PROOFREAD IT.] ^_~
for the past 2 weeks or so, i've been having a really big dilemma whether to pursue medicine or not. why i have been having doubts? mostly because of my occasional visits to the pinoymd forum. i've read a lot of threads in that forum that opened my eyes to what i need to undergo to become a doctor and what my future is as a doctor. i could say that i did learn a lot from the forum, and i would like to share some of the things i learned that have both encouraged and discouraged me pursue medicine.
first, i learned that contrary to popular belief, rich doctors are the exception not the rule. only 11% of the our country's doctors earn 100,000 pesos or above per month or 1.2 M pesos and above per year. majority of doctors earn less than 30,000 pesos a month.
second, it really does take a really long time. it doesn't end at med school. this is the traditional training that doctors follow : 4 years pre-med -> 4 years med school -> 1 year internship/board exam -> 3-5 years residency/specialty training -> 2-3 years fellowship/subspecialty training
in residency, you choose what specialty you want to take, be it ob-gyne, dermatology, internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, pathology, anesthesiology etc. though it is optional, since you're already already a "general practicioner" once you pass the boards, i'm guessing it's a must if you really want to have a successful career.
next is fellowship. not all specialities have sub-specialty training, though. if you choose internal medicine as a speciality, there are a vast number of sub-specialties such as cardiology, pulomonology, nephrology, and gastroenterology to choose from. if you choose surgery (Grey's fans can relate), you can choose neurosurgery, pediatrics surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery etc. as your sub-specialty. if you choose anesthesiology or ob-gyne, however, it is not necessary to train further.
haha. forgive my need to elaborate. basically, my point is it will be long before rewards come. i learned that in the forum that if, for example, you choose to be lawyer, you would be compensated for your hard work immediately after passing the bar exam. you could earn as much as 100,000 per month on your first job in a law firm especially if you're a bar topnotcher.
after passing the medical board exam, however, the hardship is just about to begin [even if you've already suffered enough in med school]. i learned in the forum that residency is definitely not joke. a lot of residents quit especially if one chooses a hard specialty in a toxic hospital [i.e. surgery. lol. :))]. PLUS, you are not given enough compensation as a resident. a resident's salary ranges from 15k-25k ONLY, despite the long hours in the hospital. and, you're basically STILL a student in residency even if technically, you're already working.
you would think that after finishing residency, doctors would already have high salaries for all their hardwork. yes, it is possible, especially if you choose a specialty that requires no furher subspecialty training. you could already go into private practice. or have your own clinic in a hospital. or work for different hospitals. depending on your specialty. then again, it does take time to establish your name and get a lot of patients, especially if there's a lot of competition in the specialty you chose.
on the other hand, if you're really a masochist, you go through further training as a fellow to furher your career. once you finish fellowship [which i around 15 years of HARD training and you're probably already around 30], PERHAPS rewards would already come. perhaps. :))
then again, there are other options [i.e. leave the country to have a high salary elsewhere]. after passing the boards, you could try being a vessel physician (which pays up to 100k/month) before going into residency. you could take the the medical board exams of other countries (i.e. Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, and US). once you pass their boards, you could take your residency there where you will be WELL COMPENSATED (i.e. high salaries). once you finish your residency in the country of your choice, you could choose to stay, of course, since doctors in those countries are well-rewarded. however, these are options i am not considering right now. i've always wanted to stay in the Philippines. lol.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN, there are a lot of reasons for me to pursue medicine. like what i've said, some of the things i've read discouraged me, but some encouraged me as well.
first, i've never wanted to work in an office, i've never wanted to become an employee all my life, and i've never wanted a routine job (lol. i believe all three are connected). there are A LOT of other lucrative jobs out there, but most of them require you to sit in an office and do the same things over and over and over again every single day of your miserable life (no offense). moreover, most of them require you to use your effort to make someone else rich (though you're well compensated). i'd rather use all my efforts to make MYSELF (and myself alone) rich, even if at the end of the month, i earn less. i mean, fine, you could work in a big company and earn so much in a month, but at the end of the day, you're only making the owner of the company rich. why would i waste my life making someone else rich? a doctor uses his effort to earn only for himself. he's rich because of his own efforts. he does not do the same thing every single day; everyday is exciting. he's no one's boss.
second, i believe a sure way to be successful would be to undergo a lot of training. my sister, who chose a career in management, is STUDYING to earn a master's degree to further her career. most companies would require a master's degree. my brother who is in the field of Information Technology is STUDYING because he needs to update his knowledge, especially since technology is improving everyday. my point is that further STUDYING/TRAINING is essential in whatever field you choose. so, it's not really an issue that being a doctor takes time [additional 4 years in med school used to be an issue for me] because whatever field you choose, it will take time before you reach the zenith of your career because you need to study, study, study, and train, train, train.
third, success is not a sure thing for any career. i'm watching the news now, and as usual, it says that a lot of fresh graduates can't find a job. i learned from the forum that although that a vast amount of wealth is not a sure thing in medicine, two things are sure if you choose to be a doctor: you'd never have a hard time looking for a job because doctors will always be in demand [it's just that the jobs you might find are not that lucrative] and you'll never be in danger of being hungry your whole life. the second assurance is a big thing for me. i've watched too many dramas where the business of rich tycoons suddenly go bankrupt, and they go from riches to rag in one day. i'd never want that to happen to me.
fourth, is basically, i know that i would be assured of happiness and a sense of fulfillment if i become a doctor. there are two important things i learned in reading the forum. first, [this is a direct quote] discover what you love to do, and it'll love you back, provisions will surely follow. next, [again a direct quote] piliin mo ang propesyon na malapit sa puso mo upang kung sakaling hindi ka man naging matagumpay ay masaya ka pa rin sa araw-araw dahil mahal mo at gusto mo ang iyong ginagawa. i know you sorta got the impression na "mukha akong pera" at "pera lang ang magpapasaya sakin" from my whole post. LOL. honestly, i'm not (srsly. :P). money is OF COURSE a big factor in choosing a profession. for some, it's the only factor. lol. of course, we all need to be practical. that's why money is an issue. but, cliche as it may sound, money is NOT everything. i don't want to wake up not happy with what i'm doing EVEN IF i'm freakin', filthy, f-ing RICH. i want to wake up feeling the DRIVE and ZEST to work. i want to feel like my job is not a job because i love what i'm doing so much. i want to be EXCITED to go to work everyday. i want a job that would allow me to help other while helping myself. as of now, i can't imagine myself as anyone else but a doctor. in fact, ever since i was a child, i've never seen myself as anyone else, so i'm pretty much sure that i'll always want to be a doctor. dun sa mga sinabihan ko na gusto ko magrobotics nung second year, joke lang un. LOL. asa pa. i know that it would be a hard road to take [believe me, A LOT of people told me it won't be easy], but that doesn't really matter when i get my dream of being called Dr. Kei Rebolledo, or having a MD at the part of my name ---> Kei Rebolledo, MD.
honestly, i'm still having doubts because of practicality. like what i've stressed so much, most doctors aren't compensated well, and i'm not sure i'm willing to sacrifice so much.
to end this extremely long post, i'll end with another direct quote: "i'm a firm believer that if you're not rewarded as doctor here on earth, much greater rewards are waiting for you in heaven." ^_~

farewell!!!!

RIP blogspot. :(

"dba may ulo iyon?" - wahahaha

this situtation where i am in right now a.k.a. nothing-to-do-mode is frightening. the past three months have been incredibly stressful, so i don't know why the hell i have nothing to do today.

i'm thinking that it's all an evil plot. that the teachers are laughing at us behind our backs because when these idle days are over, they will metamorphosize once again into the evil spawns of the devil. they will once again drown us with soooo many homeworks that we would be grasping for air. they will once again force feed us with sooo many information that we would be fraught not to vomit all those that could no longer be digested. okay. so the images i'm creating are pretty disgusting. but, it's the tragic truth. T_T

but what the hell. why not make the most out of this carefree days, right? and pray that next week won't be too bad. O.O

haha, so on a more positive note, here's an 'icebreaker' before i blog about the really fun (but short) day i had yesterday. it's called naughty nature. hahaha. (now, i deserve that adult content warning. haha. that's a joke btw. kinabahan kayo noh? hahaha.)

Naughty Nature 1

Naughty Nature 2


Naughty Nature 3

Naughty Nature 4

HAHAHA. since i'm too innocent, i can't seem to decipher that these images are. haha. Mother Nature, you have a naughty side pala ah... tsktsk... hahaha. ingatz. baka magkaroon ng baby earth. O.o

SO ANYWAY, i used this as an introduction because it's related to what happened yesterday. hahaha. labo. the agenda yesterday was to find bamboos for sabayan. someone informed us beforehand that we could buy one in maple st., greendwoods village, pasig. we started out only with this info.

the night prior to this was CRAZY. it was the most bangag confe ever. haha. i was on a sugar high because my mom who just came from hong kong brought home some cherries (as in the genuine one. not the bottled ones they sell here in the philippines which taste like crap). cherries are my WEAKNESS. i first tasted the genuine kind last summer at the states. and i instantly got addicted to it. they're soooo good. they're nothing like the fake crap they put on cakes. so when my mom told me she had cherries, i dived for it in her maleta and ate to my heart's desire on our way home from the airport. omg. saying that i ate a million cherries that night would be an understatement. hahaha. so naturally, when we had the confe when i arrived home, i was on an intensified sugar high. i was just plain crazy. hahahaha. you should never see me 'live' when i'm on sugar high. it will stain my family's reputation forevermore. hahaha.

our meeting place was krispy kreme (not treats this time for some reason). when i arrived, there were already four people (lisette, romano, jones, and earl). they were talking about the closing of the olympics which i unfortunately missed. they were also talking about how manila is planning to host the olympics on 2024 or something. haha... i doubt it's possible though.

then at some point during the 'breakfast meeting' (i dare not be more specific), i found something extremely.... uhm. hahahaha. there are no words to describe it (well, actually there are but i dare not put down those words). lisette "found" it first, and we instantly had a connection because she told me about it before. hahaha. the two of us burst out laughing while the others stared blankly at us. then gela (the next victim) "found" it also. and she joined us in our laughing. haha. one by one, people started to get it (especially when we gave such obvious clues). hahahaha. i haven't laughed that hard for a long time. ohmaygad. for clarification's sake, i was not making eye contact! kahit may ulo pa siya. HAHAHA. if you don't get it, trust me, you're lucky. pero kung gus2 mo tlga magets, use context clues. haha. ay actually, dba cnabi ko na related ung ano... basta. hahahahahahaha. lalala.

hay. the kabaliwan and kabastusan didn't end there. we were really crazy in allan's van. haha. grabe talaga ung greenwoods na un. magkano kayang gas ang nasayang namin dun? we were going round and round for a really long time without going anywhere. we couldn't find that damn
MAPOL street. hahaha. after ten years of laughing, we finally found it but we couldn't find the "store" selling bamboo. after ten more years, we finally found it. haha. i never knew bamboo could be so cheap. all that bamboo for only 120 pesos is such a bargain. i guess. haha. thank god for allan's heaven-sent driver. haha.

so after that, we went to high street again to 'plan'. we ate at oliver's. almond cajun chicken (or something like that) sandwich was yummy. KU-KUM-BER daw? hahaha. ang sama tlga.

ayun, sorry nirush ko na lang ung kwento. sayang, marami pa akong hindi na kwento na funny moments. haha. 10:26 na kasi e. may practice pa bukas. hahaha. tae.

*P.S. there's something wrong with the spacing again. grr.

a bizarre post

a proverb that i read (naks) in a book which i unearthed underneath the mess that is my desk just this morning got me thinking. people that gossip to you gossip about you. as much as i want to think that this particular statement is an exception to the so called "wise sayings", a part of me already knows that it's indeed a scientific fact - one that could not be less factual than the setting of the sun.

a week ago, a close friend and i had a really meaningful conversation of how bad the situation of backstabbing is in our class. those who never heard of the heinous crime of stabbing someone behind the back are now getting accustomed to it. those who were once apprentices are now masters. those who were born masters are continuously recuiting apprentices. i don't want it to sound like some illegal underground organization that sells drugs but it's exactly what this is becoming. like drugs, backstabbing could be addicting. let's face it, laughing at people behind their backs is fun. it's euphoric. it could be compared to the feeling of being high. once you're drawn to it, it's hard to break free. the bad part is everyone's already an addict. i'm a backstabber. he's a backstabber. you're a backstabber. she's a backstabber. we're all backstabbers. what's worse than that is that we backstab each other. we're a community of backstabbers backstabbing each other.

of course, one can easily say backstabbing is normal. it's a part of life. yes, this may be true. but not if you backstab every time you come together as a group. not when you backstab every single day. not when you're so addicted to it that you can't stop. not when you do it everytime you can't do anything else.

i admit that i'm a backstabber. probably a pretty bad one. what prompted me to write this wasn't anger. i didn't write this just now because someone told me that i was being backstabbed. i wrote this because i won't wait when that time comes. i know a lot of pretty bad backstabbers who are also being backstabbed. i know a lot of people who think that some people are their friends. but the truth is that these "friends" are the ones backstabbing them. believe it or not, i know some people who have been friends for years who are backstabbing each other. that's pretty sad right?

the only way to stop this is [of course] to stop the vicious cycle of backstabbing. if you backstab, there's a good chance people are backstabbing you. i know that the people in our class have good hearts. these people are helpful, generous, honest, funny, and generally kind. the only real problem is the backstabbing.

until know, i don't know that made me write this. i just feel like it for some reason. haay. haha. i know i'm not the kind of person who would publish this kind of post. i usually post jokes, funny events, humorous moments.... i'm usually the person who's always optimistic and can find time to laugh even at the most stressful moments. and that's probably why i wrote this. i don't want all our good times as a class go to waste because of the horrible backstabbing.

just my two cents. :D

besides, i doubt anyone still checks on my blog. it's been extict for 2 months. haha. it'll probably be a long time before anyone gets to read this. if you do, don't tell anyone i posted such a weird post. please? haha. i hope you take part in doing something about the backstabbing though. ^_~

Hate/Love

haha. to save precious time, i won't go through the" i didn't blog for 10 years" drama again. so i'll just get straight to the point. :P

for the past 1 and a half months, i have taken a sneak peek on the supposedly hardest school year of my high school life. and so far, i can't help but say that rumors are definitely true. it's only the first month and i'm already freaking tired. i don't know why, but everytime i come home from school, i just feel a great urge to not give a crap about the quizzes, presentations, extra-curricular duties and the other crappy things i need to do and lie down. but of course, all downs have their ups. i have so far been enjoying this year the most. some of the crappy things actually turn out to be enjoyable in the end. i would have given up long ago if not for the laugh-out-loud moments i share with the people around me.

Hate/Love

Ang Aking Pagkadapa Sa Mga Nagkakaisang Estado Ng Amerika (My Trip To The USA) ngeeeeeer. booo, ang corny! mamatay ka na kei! haha.

yup! this is officially (naks) going to be my post regarding my US trip. i'm probably going to work on it for days. so if you're reading it now, it's probably unfinished (like some of my posts. ehem, ehem) or i still have something to add. pero swear, i'm going to finish this one no matter what happens. hehe. sana. O_O

okay, so i stayed in the US for exactly 34 days. possibly one of the best and craziest months of my life. muhahaha. so before anything else, let me give some of the general things i've noticed first.

- there are lots of Filipinos here. as in a lot everywhere i go, there's like someone speaking Filipino.

- US doesn't seem like much of a different country. i mean as compared to when we went to HongKong/China, it was like a totally different world. i felt like an outcast lost in tall buildings and people who don't understand me (haha. the Chinese freaked me out a little bit. there were people who would suddenlly croak and spit out phlegm. ugh) and yeah, another reason is that i'm practically surrounded by Filipinos. plus, everyone speaks English (which means everyone can understand me) so i feel like it itsn't such a different world.

- the US is so over-rated. really. i mean it's nice and all, but it's not that far from what I see in the Philippines. actually, our country (referring particularly to Metro Manila) doesn't look half bad. and you know the things you see in postcards? the real things don't match with those pictures. like the statue of liberty? it's SO SMALL it looks nothing like the statue of liberty i see in postcards and movie posters. haha. i thought it was a fake at first. the white house was SO TINY as well. Alabang houses seem bigger. haha. do they like magically enchance those pictures? or is it only me? New York (although unbelievably awesome with regards to tall buildings and all that) has a lot of garbage, homeless people, and some places smell like Payatas, haha. so yeah. all i'm saying is that i think that US being thought of as a haven of some sort is not only wrong, it's unfair.


- the food here is OMG. everything's served in bigger portions. the burgers are huge! the cups for soda (which is bottomless in all fast food stores) are crazy gigantic - they look like popcorn boxes! every food is out of this world. and some could be really fattening. it's really expensive, however. McDonald's Fish Fillet Meal is like $6 = 240 pesos. almost half of the money given to me for the trip went to food. but I love it. i can't stop eating. some of my favorites are subway (we have it at the philippines but it tastes so much better here), panda express (a chinese fast food store - the orange chicken is to die for), coldstone creamery (deadly but heavenly ice cream), jamba juice (yummy shakes), buffets (omg. buffets here can kill you. but it's really cheap and really good), ice cream sandwiches, turkey legs, and many, many more. when it comes to fine dining, my favorite is olive garden (a really good italian restaurant which serves bottomless soup) and red lobster (i would walk back here for another lobster pizza), yum, yum. plus, what's really good here - which i hope our country will implement soon - is that there are nutrition facts in almost all food stores. so i can like pick healthier options - grilled over fried, big mac over whopper. haha.

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yey. so i've decided to arrange the trip chronologically and by place at the same time. for now, i'm gonna be uploading the pics first and insert the details whe i'm done. for my other kwentos without matching pics, i'll just insert it in keeping with the chronological arrangement. yuck. kinarir? hahaha. prepare to see my face a lot. not recommended for people prone to heart attack. don't tell me i didn't warn you. hahaha.


April 25 - Los Angeles, California

- my family @ the Hollywood sign (actually, i2 ung fake na kinuha sa universal studios. haha, pero nadaanan namin ung 22ong sign. oh, bka hndi niyo pla kilala family ko. from L-R, yuck, haha. me, my mom, Ate Carol, Ate Love, Kuya Christopher. my dad and my other brother were busy with work so they couldn't come.)

- my family @ the entrance of universal studios (haha, alam mo ba at this point d p kami nliligo for 24 hours kahit hilamos man lang kasi diretso kami d2 after the flight. kaya muka na kaming sabaw. O_O)




April 26 - Las Vegas, Nevada

- me and my mom @ the Eifell Tower in Paris, Las Vegas (we were very tired here too. it's like 1 am in this pic already. tignan niyo mom ko nkpkit na. hahaha.)

April 27 - San Diego, California

- me, my sisters, and my cousins @ i forgot what the place is called. basta ung nasa likod ung skyline ng san diego. haha. sorry na po. (the 3 people on the far left are my cousins Jasper, Kuya Primo, and Ate Mae-Mae. They're fluent in Tagalog because they lived here first and mirgated there except Jasper who was born there kaya hindi na siya marunong. haha. sosyal mag-English un. nkakanosebleed. Ate Mae-Mae is in college taking up Nursing while Kuya Primo is a wrestling champion in HS. sosyal db? haha. halata ba? balita ko hinahabol daw siya ng mga babae dun. lolz.)

April 28 - May 1 - San Francisco, California

- my family @ the Golden Gate Bridge (sosyal dba? mukang postcard. hahaha. grbe ang gnda sa san francisco. one of my favorites. notice: from shorts in the previous picture to really thick jackets and scarves here. haha. change in weather ba?)

- me and my family @ the Fisherman's Wharf

May 2 - May 9 - Orlando, Florida

- me @ SeaWorld with the Penguins (penguins look exactly like i'd imagined them to be. and they are pretty cute when they walk around. kaso medyo mabaho. haha. O_O)

- me and my siblings @ Kraken in SeaWorld (new pic! haha. i just discovered it! so anyway, this was one of the overpriced pics they sell after each ride. they have this in almost all amusement parks. haha. in every ride, there's a hidden cam. by the end of the ride, they have a booth where they sell the pics taken by the hidden cam. haha. so we laugh at our faces after every ride. but we decided to buy this one because it's sooooo freakin' funny. haha. the Kraken is like the best roller coaster not in Six Flags. oh if you haven't read this post before, my kwento about Six Flags is somewhere below. my kuya looks REALLY scared and constipated. haha. since that was our 6th time to ride it - there were no lines that day - nakapagpose ung ate ko kasi kabisado niya na kung san ung hidden cam. haha. but don't think it wasn't scary as hell because she was able to pose. haha. the ride is SOOOOOOOO scary at first, but gets fun and more fun as you ride it more. haha. oh the pic of the ride i took is below our pic.)

- me and my sister @ the world's biggest McDonald's (daw. nkasulat sa loob e. haha. ang weird niya. it's like three floors. and there's a really big playplace and arcade. haha.)

- me, my mom, and my sister @ Cinderella's Castle in Disneyworld's Magic Kingdom

- me and my sisters w/ Pocahontas @ Disneyworld's Animal Kingdom (nyahaha. kktawa magsalita c pocahontas. parang high. masyadong masaya. LOLZ. bkt kaya? tsk tsk.)

- me and my silbings @ Spaceship Earth in Disneyworld's Epcot Center (the weird thing behind us is called Spaceship Earth. it's really cool! it's a dark ride which brings you through a time-machineish place. it shows like the progression of man through time.!)

May 10 - May 28 - New Jersey

- my family @ Six Flags Great Adventure (behind us is the tallest and fastest (and craziest in my opinion) roller coaster in the world called the Kingda Ka which I rode against my will. they had to pull me to my seat. haha. not really.)

ok fine, i know i said that i'd insert the details later but i can't wait to give details about this one. hahaha. before we left for the states, we already knew the places we were visiting. my siblings are like wild rides fanatics so they requested for us to go to six flags. six flags is a series of amusement parks popular for its wild rides. my tita told us that there was a six flags close to their house in new jersey. the first thing i did was that i searched wikipedia for the six flags in new jersey and found out that luckily (or unluckily), it houses the tallest and fastest coaster in the world. i also saw the other coasters that exists there through the skyline pic i found.


so anyway, since i'm not a big fan of wild rides (and this is an understatement) , it pretty much scared the hell out of me. i was battling with my self for days (yes. ang drama. mmk ba i2?) whether or not i'd dare ride these coasters. haha. so when we were here already, my tita asked how many tickets. i just closed my eyes, said i'd come, and finally decided that what better way to get rid of my fear (well not really fear. more of general dislike) of wild rides than to ride the wildest of wild rides.

so when the much-awaited day arrived, i wasn't nervous at first, but when we finally arrived and saw the coasters face to face, even my siblings who like what i said are like wild rides addicts were scared (ok fine, i'm only assuming this but i could tell from their facial epression and comments). haha. oh, our cousins were with us too but they've been there before. the Kindga Ka was REALLY tall. its pictures (even from other sources besides mine) can't even begin to tell how tall it really is. it's 450 ft. but here's a better picture to illustrate it tallness. it was taken at the parking lot.

and it's really funny. haha. because what happens is once you reach the top, it immediately goes down like a hill so that it could be really steep. parang bang nangasar lang. haha. we decided to ride it first. haha. baliw tlga sila. nagwawala na nga ako e. but it was a good decision. we were all really nervous while waiting in line. our cousins told us that the line usually takes like 2 hours but since it's not summer break here yet, there was barely any line. thank goodness. 2 hours of anxiety is pain. i've learned over and over again that the anticipation is a lot worse than the real thing. and it was damn cold. haha.

when we finally got into the coaster, i was like praying and begging for it to end. haha. you know the feeling of just wanting to die instead of going through something like while waiting to be called for extemporaneouss speaking or something? haha. so after 10 years of anxiety, the ride finally started. i was like screaming like hell at this point and my sister who was sitting beside was shouting p*tang ina really loud. haha. it's good no one could understand us. it was REALLY fast! it brings you to the top of the hill (450 ft. up) in like 5 seconds. the view from the top while going down was out of this world. hahaha. and then it finally ended. haha. my comment is that you barely feel a thing. it's really fast so when it goes down, your stomach doesn't follow anymore. and so after the best (and worst) 30 seconds of my life, it was finally over. haha. here are videos from youtube which will like give you an idea of the experience. but of course, the real thing's a million times better (and worse). http://youtube.com/watch?v=HN8nv4tVFuA and http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q2cdqDMcUW0

think you can manage? i'd love to see you try. muhahaha. :D

so after that, the other coasters were like peanuts. hahaha. although they were deadly-crazy too. we were pretty much able to ride everything since there were no lines. my second favorite after kingda ka is nitro. it's also very funny. what it does is go up then go down then up again. haha. nangaasar din parang kingda ka. the first drop is very high (200++ ft). i know kingda ka's 450 ft but this time, you can feel your stomach drop as the coaster goes down because it's not as fast as kingda ka. but it also used to be the tallest and fastest coaster. here's a pic from wiki. haha. i also loved superman. it's a suspended coaster so it kinda feels like you're flying.

the best thing about riding the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world is that i could pretty much ride anything i want in the world now. i really enjoyed the remaining rides. i'm so glad we got Kingda Ka over with first. if we didn't, i wouldn't have enjoyed the rides we would have ridden before it because the anxiety is still there. i know it sounds cliche and all, but conquering my fear feels great. now i just have to grab a cockroach or talk to a ghost. hahahaha. boooo. yey. so that ends a really long description of the day i spent at six flags. it's probably my favorite out of the whole trip. haha. obvious ba? tignan mo o kay haba nitong kwento tungkol dito. haha.

May 12 - Washington, D.C. (oh, we were "staying" at my Tita's House in New Jersey until May 28 but we went to different places)

- me and my family @ The White House (it's tiny isn't it? it was damn cold and was raining at the same time. the temp was 40 degrees fahrenheit, which is about 5 degrees celcuis. gad, i almost died. it's the coldest i've been in my life. i kinda felt bad that i saw the white house first before the malacanang palace. haha. aww, since when have i been nationalistic? haha.)

- my family w/ Abrahan Lincoln @ Lincoln Memorial (haha. buti pa si Lincoln ang sarap ng upo. i was sooo tired here. we have been walking around in the cold and rain for almost 3 hours already. geez. no wonder i haven't gained that much after all those food trips. we walk around A LOT every single day. haha.)

May 13-14 - New York (haha. we drove to NY too.)

- me @ the Statue of Liberty (haha. i swear. pandak siya. and she looks kinda old, figuratively. kailangan na niyang magpa-Vicky Belo. haha. pero maganda pa rin syempre. it's like seeing for real something you've been seeing not for real you're whole life. labo ba?)

- me and my family @ the Rockefeller Center (oh yah! kwento muna. when we - my family and my 2 cousins - were here, some guy from Good Morning America invited us to be part of the audience. but that was for the following day, and we were scheduled to go to Niagara falls. aww, too bad. we look "good" daw. yuck. watever. want some bola bola? haha.)

- my family and my cousins @ Times Square (the 2 people on the far right are my 2 cousins, Ate Beryll and Kuya Brian. they both grew up in the States so they can't really speak Tagalog. haha. kaya nga for almost 3 weeks English ang gamit ko e. haha. nosebleed again. they're both in college. Ate Beryll is taking up Excercise and Nutrition Science or something like that. kaya ang dami niyang trivia about excercise and nutrition. duh. haha. aliw nga e. Kuya Brian is taking up Biomedical Engineering. grabe noh? hardcore ung course. biomedical engineers are the ones who create pacemakers and stuff you put inside the body. astig! pwede kang Dr. / Engr. kaso wla atang course na ganun s10. he's really smart. sabi ng mga ate ko pareho daw kami ng aura. tapos kwinento niya sakin na akala nung friend niya nung nakita ako na ako siya. lol. haha. don't really see the resemblance though.)

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yey! so for today, let's take a break from the sightseeing and theme park stuff and move on to my next best favorite part of the trip. what else? SHOPPING. muhaha.

there's no other way to say it, i go CRAAAZY everytime we go shopping. because everything's so damn CHEAP. especially if you know where to buy cheap stuff. shirts, jackets. shoes, and shorts that i wouldn't normally buy here because of their over-the-roof prices are affordable there. i never buy anything not affordable. and not affordable for me are like 1000-peso shirts/shorts or 2000-peso jackets. bleh. not one of my clothes ever reach those prices. unless they're free or given as a present. haha.

so what do i mean by cheap clothes in the US? for example, Billabong jackets here are ridicioulously expensive. they range from 2-3000 pesos right? but i caught a sale at a Billabong store, and they were selling jackets for only $ 20 = 800 pesos. muhahaha. fine, so i got a little crazy and bought 5, but you know how crazy i am about jackets. if you think about it, the cost of those jackets is like the price of only 1 1/2 jackets here of the same brand. then i bought like 4 more from different stores. not one jacket's more expensive than $ 30 = 1200 pesos.

my favorite purchase was this really nice Gryffindor jacket (oh BTW it has something to do with Harry Potter if you're not a fan). they were selling it for only $10 = 400 pesos because it was on clearance. gush. i went mad and like grabbed it and ran to the cashier. hahaha. it's the one in the upper left @ the picture below. haha. i got really bored earlier and started taking pictures of the things i bought. haha. the 5 Billabong jackets are easy to spot. haha. oh, and if you're observant, you'd see me wearing these at the photos in the place i've been. haha. that's because i forgot to bring jackets. hahaha. the other one's not in the picture cause it's in the laundry. haha.

what else are cheap? SHIRTS! okay, i got a little crazy and bought a lot. but i swear, almost all of these shirts are only $10 = 400 pesos each. haha. the Volcom, Quiksilver, Billabong shirts which are normally 1000 pesos here (so i never buy them. haha) are of that price. very few exceeded $10. muhahaha. lalala.

oh and gush. the cheapest of them all... CHUCKS! they're only $15 = 600 pesos. what the hell right? so all of these shoes = only $75 = 3000 pesos. that's like only one really nice chucks here. oh. but, like the jackets and shirts, they're really cheap only if you know where to look. hahahaha. i'll teach you when you go to the States.

see? i told you i never buy anything not affordable. which the only reason why i bought so much was because they were really very affordable. and it would be years before i return again. haha. these stuff come with a price though (duh. haha.). my 5 years worth of savings from christmas and birthday cash presents = GONE. my pocket money given by my dad and tito = GONE. plus, i'm like forbidden to buy clothes for a very long period of time. haha. sob, sob.

i'll talk about the prices of gadgets next time. hahaha. gadgets here are sooooooooooo CHEAP i wanna cry. haha.

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continuation of New York

- me @ M&M's World in Times Square and the mighty M&M's wall (haha. the wall is huge. it's covers 2 floors and all the tubes are filled with M&M's chocolate. i tasted very exotic M&M's there. my favorite was the mint one. haha. too bad i wasn't able to bring some home. hahaha.)

- me @ the top of Empire State Building (yuck. emo pic b? actually, candid iyan. haha. d bagay sakin emo noh. kung naging emo ako guguho na ang mundo. haha.)

May 15-16 - Niagara Falls

- me @ Niagara falls (Niagara falls is my supeeeeeer favorite out of all the sightseeing spots. it was - no other word for it - breathtaking. i've never seen anything like it. it's so totally awesome! it's a million times better than the statue of liberty and white house. haha. tlgang dinidiin ko un e. we were all staring at it with awe for ages. sbay bukas ng bunganga pa. nyahaha. ingats, bka mapasukan ng langaw.)

- my family and my cousins still @ Niagara falls now overlooking the Rainbow Bridge and Toronto, Canada (what's amusing is that you could see Canada on the other side of the falls. the only thing separating us from Toronto is the Rainbow Bridge. the buildings and the ferris wheel you see is already part of Toronto. haha, but we couldn't pass through because we had no visas.)

- me, my sister, and my cousin before boarding Maid of the Mist (the boat that we rode was called Maid of the Mist. it brought us to the foot of the falls itself. it was like heaven there. haha. puro mist. haaaaaaaay. grabe. i LOVE niagara falls. it's my next best favorite after six flags. haha. nothing can beat six flags. six flags is the best place in the world! haha.)

May 18 - May 21 - Atlantic City, NJ

- me @ the scandalous shower in our hotel room. (haha. in Atlantic City, we stayed at a suite room in showboat for free because my mom has this friend who's like a high roller at the casino so she gets free rooms. anyway, the room was huge and soo nice! haha. BUT, it had this see-through, transluscent, and as my cousin would call it, scandalous shower. apparently, the room was a honeymoon suite. HAHA. it's sooo funny. you could see from the outside the shape of the body of the person who was taking a shower. hihihi. naku. bagay ito sa mga mamboboso diyan. haha. to solve that problem because everyone absolutely refuses to shower, we covered the outside part with chairs and pillows and stuff. haha.)