Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Pasmathon

It's finally over!!

Coach Noel Rivera, of the UP Swimming Varsity , is my swimming instructor for my PE class. For the record, this is my 5th PE subject. hehe.

Pasmathon, a dual event of swimming + running, is our final practical exam for this class. We are to swim 6 laps (1 lap is equivalent to the pool's length), then jog around campus via the sc-kalai-yakal route + 1 lap poolside, swim 4 laps then jog around the Catholic Church (Holy Family Parish?) + 1 lap poolside, swim 2 laps then jog 2.5 rounds poolside, then one final lap for the finish.

Whew! I guess you already know why the event is now called as 'Pasmathon'. I just don't know if we really could get 'pasma' from what we were doing. After all, my instructor is a "winning coach", so I trust his expertise on these. So does that mean that the 'pasma' thing with running and getting wet all simultaneously is a common fallacy? Or that athletes just don't worry with their bodies, only to get their aimed records?

The first 6 laps was like hell, and I was a bit slow. It was also raining that I thought our event would be called off. By the time I got to my next 4 laps, I think I got my groove in swimming. It was surprisingly easy "the second time around". Since the event had no specifications on what stroke to use, I got to use back stroke as it gave less effort and gave me more air space. I thought using the breast stroke was wise enough since I get to breath properly as compared to my freestyle. However, since time is an enemy, breast stroke is slow.

I had finished our pasmathon with the time of 58:16 [min:sec]. Of course it's not the fastest in class. Bottom line is, I got to finish what I had started. And, I know how to swim! Now, I look forward to every sem-ender I can attend to. Because for every sem-ender... there is always a pool to swim in.

Now, I can say, I love swimming. But of course, it's still next to Tennis. Tennis ga totemo suki desu!

posted by ScIoN 4:31 PM |


Sunday, September 24, 2006

The End (of sem) is Near

I know I've already used this title almost a sem ago, but who cares?! The sem is nearing its end; still, I'm not going to graduate this semester. :(
Ok, so here is the recap before the end of this sem:

-> CoE 198: Deadline for our Final Thesis Documentation would be on wednesday (September 27). As of today, we already had submitted our first draft to our thesis advisers.
We're quite relaxed anyway since we had done most of our part already for the thesis. In fact, we may already have our first mock thesis defense this wednesday.

-> Jap12-13: We are off to shoot our class video presentation. Our 'film' would be based on the infamous "Battle Royale". We'll be doing some kind of a spoof anyway, not the real deal violent thing that was shown in the original film. I just hope I won't look foolish enough in cam.
Aside from the class video, we still have lots of exams to follow. We also have the final comprehensive exam 'ala' JLPT Level 4 proficiency exam. Ever since the first exam, our sensei no longer gave back our papers. Perhaps to hide our scores from us. I really feel being the class goat when it comes to our class standings, hehe.

-> CS252-Berkeley: OMG! I almost forgot! Our final comprehensive exam is set on thursday... I haven't studied yet. Must do good...

-> PE-Swimming: The fun part is over. Finals spell 'Pasmathon'. A wordplay of 'pasma' and marathon. In this event, we are to do 6 laps pool, then jog around campus via kalai-yakal, 4 laps pool, jog around church, 2 laps pool, jog around pool, then one final lap to cool down. Sinong di mapapasma diyan?!

Sigh, aside from the academic load comes the SA load. I have to update the IEEE website, and of course I'm a bit pressured to make it look good. It's my first time with html anyway (aside from blogging). The blocks for the MADC event is also hounding me. I hope I make it as pretty as the samples given to me. You see, ever since elementary, I have hated drawing and other artistic craftmanship projects. Elma, help! hehe...

posted by ScIoN 7:32 PM |


Sunday, September 17, 2006

Bababa Ba?

I don't exactly remember if it was Sir Palis (my SocSci1 prof) or Dr. Bautista (my ME63 prof) who said that "foreigners are fascinated with Filipinos because we can have a complete conversation for just using a single syllable." Here is a sample conversation:

(When a jeepney driver asks his passenger if one requests him to stop over)
Driver: Bababa ba?
Passenger: Bababa.

I don't know if the Filipino language has another example of this reiterative structure. Cool eh?! All these times, we may have thought that this is another 'only in the Philippines'. Check out on this wiki link on other examples of these reiterative structures that complete a sentence.

Click on Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

My guess is that those foreigners who heard the "bababa" conversation, thought that Filipinos can talk sheep. Still, only in the Philippines.

baaaa!

posted by ScIoN 8:09 PM |


Thursday, September 14, 2006

Wake me up BEFORE September ends

As I had my daily dose of news at inq7.net, I saw an article referring to the recently held Muziklaban: Battle of the Bands 2006. The band, named as Hardboiledeggz, was reportedly from Baguio, my home city.

I was fascinated by the fact that a band from Baguio was recognized so I immediately followed through their link towards their web site. Much to my amazement, this band are composed of my batchmates in SLU Boys' High. Who knows, they could be the next big thing in the local scene. You can check their site and hear some of their winning tracks: "Hardboiledeggz"

=======================================================

I am recently bombarded with SA duties. I have so much to do for the IEEE web site. There is also additional work coming from Sir Mong. Being a member of IEEE Philippines, I have to help out with the upcoming MADC finals. As if these busy-ness don't stop, we also have to make good with our thesis. Final documentation is due on the last week of September! Another percentage of my worries is the final comprehensive exam for my graduate subject at UC-Berkeley.

Despite these tasks, I still get to play tennis. I think I'm getting addicted to it. Oh shoot, I forgot, we still have this 'pasmathon' thing for our swimming finals. I wonder when would it be. I hope blood would still reach my head during that time. I might get anemic due to lack of sleep and rest.

After September comes October. What?! I'm like weeks away into turning 22! I feel so old and nothing special had happened yet with my life. Wake UP!!

posted by ScIoN 11:52 PM |


Monday, September 11, 2006

US Open 2006


Maria Sharapova is a shoo-in to be among my favorite females. Watching the recently concluded US Open, with her in the frontline was truly enjoyable. She's so lovely in her little black cocktail tennis dress, which is exclusively used for night matches. So it's like playing daytime tennis in her nighties. Oh, and I love her grunts. It's such a turn on. :D


Unlike Anna Kournikova who catapulted to fame thanks to being pretty, Maria have both talent and looks. She won this year's US Open singles championship for women against top seed Justine Henin-Hardenne.

Watching the US Open is just part of my being a tennis enthusiast. It is part of my 'training' towards improving myself in tennis. I'm so happy that I get to play at least twice a week of tennis. My tennis peers also had helped me alot in improving my basics. I think I'm getting to be too competitive for Engg week. :D

=========================================================

I just had dinner with the IEEE Philippines 'big shots'. It was actually a business meeting and I was invited since I am their site's webmaster. I really love the feel of doing business with other people. Gusto ko nang maging big time!

posted by ScIoN 9:59 PM |


Saturday, September 02, 2006

Music Academy

Friday night (Sept 1) was another event for Beta Epsilon. Alongside with UP EURO, we brought a free concert hosted by Mellow Touch FM which was held at the Bahay ng Alumni. Initially, I feared for the success of the concert (in terms of # of audience) because I believe that concerts at 'BnA' rarely attract audiences. I live in a dormitory right beside the BnA. I can hear concerts in the BnA almost every weekend.

Based on experience, host orgs usually come over to our dorm to promote the event on the night itself. It only means one thing to me. There aren't much audience yet, else they wouldn't bother promoting at the very last minute. Usually tickets are even given away for free just to build up some crowd. Some music artists would decline to perform if the audience is very small. It is also disgraceful to the host organization. Concerts that flop are hard to swallow, especially since it is hard to organize.

At first, it was only us and EURO who were there. Eventually, the crowd began to build up till the time we were already having problems with the "Orcs". Since our admission was free, we have to limit the kind of people who should enter the concert. This may be some sort of discrimination, but we have to do it in order to preserve peace and security while inside the building.

There is a thin line on who should enter. We need ID, so they went home and back to show one. Damn. Well, at least not all were able to enter. We just can't say "No 'orcs' allowed" or something like that, especially since we are from UP, and sometimes it is their rights that we (or some of us) fight for in the streets.

Ok, so our lineup for the night was composed by Orange and Lemons, Barbie Almalbis, Protein Shake, Itchyworms, Moonstar88, Mojofly, Mayonnaise, 6CycleMind et al. The unfortunate thing in sponsoring such events is that you don't get to enjoy much of it. In our case, we were the bouncers and the peacekeepers of the event. Actually, UP EURO tapped us for this kind of duty since most of them are women. Geez, for the 'orcs'... need I say more?

Since I don't own a camphone, not even a digicam; and, since I was busy at my post, I missed the chance to have some picture taking with the band stars. My take on meeting famous people is that it would be nice having a picture taken with them. The picture would prove those rare encounters. Other than that, those famous people are like anyone else. Their shit stinks too. Nothing less than that.

posted by ScIoN 3:01 AM |


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ScIoN is a former Systems Engineer in Japan who specialized in industrial imaging and digital hardware design. He is now back in the Philippines pursuing graduate studies in Finance at the University of the Philippines - Diliman.



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