ANOTHER 25 things about me :P

Tags

Taggie Thingies

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

*Since I’m not using FB to do this, I’m not gonna tag anybody anymore. Besides! I’ve done this a million times before and I’ve run out of friends to tag. Well, actually, I ran out of friends to tag the very first time I did it.

**I’m only joking about having less than 25 friends, mind you.

So, 25 things. Here we go:

1. I’ve never gone around telling people to call me a certain name other than my actual given name. In my mind, nicknames are more sincere when it comes from the person. That being said, I (not always) dislike it when people copy the nickname that others give me when we’re not even that close. (Oh wait, I think I have already mentioned this before. Oh well.)
2. My favorite color is officially blue, but my tastes vary depending on the mood. Sometimes I’m into purple, sometimes pink, sometimes black.
3. I don’t have many guy friends. Why? *shrugs*
4. I go through a lot of phases, which is when I am so into something that I don’t stop until I am completely sick of it. Then I move on to something else. Examples: anime, Jpop, fanfiction, Japanese dramas, Pet Society, etc. Not that I hate them now, but I sure don’t love them as much as I used to.
5. I love melons. Especially honeydew melon. SO SWEET :3
6. On my mother side, I only have 3 1st cousins. And 2 of them are in Taiwan. And all of them are younger than me! So I’m sort of like a big sister  to everyone. It’s nice.
7. My favorite dessert next to ice cream would have to be cheesecake. Any sort of cheesecake! Even plain cheesecake. Except maybe the no-bake cheesecake. Which is good, but is no match for real cheesecake! Drooool~
8. It feels weird for me to make friends with people who are my senior. It must be a culture thing. You know, power distance, and all that stuff.
9. My favorite number is 3 and 13. Because my birthday is March 13. I know. So lame, right? But anyway, this is sort of a good thing because although in general I am rather superstitious, I’ve always considered 13 to be lucky (for me) rather than unlucky.
10. I’m looking forward to having classes again this coming Tuesday because it’s my first time in a long while to be back in a regular class, since I’ve been in JTA classes since last April, and I didn’t even get to have summer classes because I have OJT.
11. Some company just emailed me about an interview for OJT. Hello? You’re kind of late by 6 weeks. It looks like a nice company too. T_T
12. I love the drums. Even back in high school, I loved watching the drummers strut their stuff. It’s not the choreography that gets me, but the way they can make MUSIC out of hitting a few cans. It’s amazing. Even when I listen to songs, I always pay particular attention to the drums, sometimes so much that I don’t even remember the song itself.
13. I can’t wait to have a real job! Not because I’m a workaholic or whatever, but mainly because I will have a stable source of income. I mean, my allowance from my parents is tiny and I can’t buy a lot. But when I get a salary, I’m totally going to splurge. (Not everything of course. Just my first paycheck, or something)
14. I have a tendency to spend a lot!!! And since (as I mentioned) I don’t usually have a lot of allowance from my parents, I tend to run out easily and then I have to beg my parents for more. It’s a little sad. For me, at least.
15. I’ve always loved to sing. Unfortunately, although my voice is quite nice (in my opinion at least XD), I have difficulty with range. Meaning, I can’t reach high notes or low notes. So I’m stuck in the middle. Hey! Did you know that the song Moon River from the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s was written specifically for Audrey Hepburn? Because she, like me, (YES, I TOTALLY HAVE THE NERVE TO COMPARE MYSELF TO AUDREY HEPBURN) has difficulty reaching high and low notes. So if you have heard the song, then you might notice that it doesn’t hit a lot of highs or lows. Maybe I should sing that song too. XD
16. I am vain.
17. I’ve been blogging for almost 5 years. Like seriously. My first blog post was on June 24, 2005, on Friendster. You can even see it here: http://charmaineyv.blog.friendster.com/2005/06/
18. I look down on people who still use Friendster. (YES, I AM MEAN)
19. I’ve never had a boyfriend/male more-than-a-friend (except FAMILY). Whoop. Big surprise.
20. I don’t have a single best friend who is with me 24/7 and with whom I can confide EVERY SINGLE THING like those protagonists in chick lit. That is why I am jealous of said protagonists. In other words, I need a life.
21. I want to be famous. But not too famous. Maybe just up to a certain extent where people know me, but not what I look like so they can’t stalk me. Or something.
22. I have this whole folder on my computer filled with scraps of stories that I started writing but never bothered to continue. Before I got a laptop, I had a box of paper and notebooks with all that stuff.
23. I need a writing coach. Preferably Meg Cabot. If you have her phone number, can I have it? I’ll give you chocolate. (Or if Ms. Cabot is unavailable, I can settle for Sophie Kinsella.)
24. Whew. That’s quite a bit of soul searching right there, man. You are totally learning a lot of deep dark secrets about me here on this post. That is, if you’ve read this far. Have you? If you have, comment/message me saying “I like Peter Pan Peanut Butter” or something. Just so I know I’m not wasting my time writing all this. XD
25. I like cheese.

Use Charmaine, and Use 4 Times Less.

Tags

Charmaine

The other day, this American exchange student told me that my name was a brand of toilet paper. Indeed it was. Which explains why my blog is now ridden with toilet catchphrases.

Ever since I came here, people have been having a hard time saying my name. They can’t really pronounce the “maine” in Charmaine. Most of them call me “Charmen” which wasn’t my mother’s intention at all, when she named me. I always thought that my name was of French origin. Apparently not, because the French exchange students can’t pronounce my name either.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike my name or anything like that. I’ve been living with this name for almost 20 years and I get used to it, eventually. What I especially like about it is that people keep asking me for a nickname, but I don’t go by any one nickname. My friends (and family) call me a myriad of variations of my name, from the more common “Charm”, to “Maine” (coined by my HS barkada (HELLOOOOO)) to “Charmy pooh” (Thanks to Jessy pooh) and even “Amen” which is my nickname with my family. I actually like it a lot when people make their own nicknames for me, rather than me telling others to call me some specific nickname. I think that the name they give me represent how they view me, and reflect their own personalities as well.

So to delve deeper into my name, I found a question on Yahoo! Answers that goes “Do you think Charmaine is a pretty name?” Guess what the answers were like:

• no, i think of a dog when i hear charmaine. uh…
• too old fashioned. no comment
• one of the worst names out there, it sounds trailer-trashy and reminds me of toilet paper (charman). ouch
• I had a friend called Charmaine in the 1950s. Everyone called her Chazzy. No, I don’t like it. Hey guys, call me Chazzy! It’s not that bad XD
  
• I think its pretty… but it reminds me of toilet paper (Charmin). Sorry actually, now that I think about it, my name sounds like Charmee, the pantyliner brand in the Phils.
  
• No its a brand of toilet paper
• It sounds like some type of wine company! Champagne? Chardonnay?
• Its ok but reminds me of the song Charmaine by Plan B Isn’t it nice that there’s a song about your name?
• What about Cheyenne? They sound similar, and I think Cheyenne is much more pretty. Cheyenne sounds like Cayenne peppers. (I’m being bitter, sorry)
• Yes it is. And there is no possible short version which is really nice. I hate people calling someone automatically by the short version on the name Charm? Charmy? It’s perfectly nice!
• It reminds me of Chow Mein. Sorry : )
• I would use a shorter middle name, since the name is on the long side. Like Yves!!! BTW, if you’re new, Yves is pronounced as “ives” as in, the man from St. Ives with seven wives.
• sounds like a pokemon, or a lizards name!!! Pokemon, I understand. I have been called a Charmander since 2nd grade. But a lizard??? A lizard would actually be called Charmaine?????
• why cant people give their children ordinary names??? It’s a perfectly ordinary name! Maybe I should have been named Ocean, or Autumn, or Rainbow Sun Child, or something.
• NOOOOO! horrific name, your child will hate you really they will!! For the record, I don’t hate my parents.

And please, don’t get me started on my second name, that is, Yves. As mentioned a few lines above, Yves is pronounced as “ives” as in, the man from St. Ives with seven wives. Not:

• Ee-ves
• Eye-ves
• Why-ves
• Ya-i-ves
• Yeeves
• Yee-vees
• Yaivs

Of course, nobody actually reads it the actual French way, that is, “Yeev”, like Yves Saint Laurent, who is French and male. And dead since 2008, according to Wikipedia. May he rest in peace.

I don’t think I should complain about my given name anyway, because when I was in 1st grade, I was once called “Chongy”. Hey, thanks a lot!

Memories…

I was in the SSHS elementary library the other day, and I happened to see this book, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I remember borrowing the book back when I was still a little kid. And as you can see on the book card:

Nobody has borrowed the book after I borrowed it back in 2002. Poor book. It was actually pretty good.

I also remembered these storybooks called Word Windows. For some reason, they make me feel really comfy and magical when I read them.

See? Even back then I was a big book nerd

High School Life

Tags

High School, SSHS

High school Quiz

1) Ano section mo nung 1st year high ka?
Yellow

2) Eh nung 2nd year?
Green

3) 3rd year?
violet

4) 4th year?
red

5) Anong best year for you?
I can’t really say. Maybe 4th year kaso lang bulok academics ko nun, but I had SMS! All years were great. I had fun!

6) Marami ka bang friends nun?
Haha anong klaseng tanong ito? Kahit isa lang friend ko cyempre sasabihin ko marami akong friends haha. FYI, marami akong friends.

7) Saan kayo kumakain kapag lunch?
sa lunch area, with my shobe. dinadalhan ako ng lunch eh

8) Saan tumatambay after skul?
nung 4th year, sa room ng art team. haha XD kahit di na ako member.

9) Lagi ka ba late pag morning?
once in a while. usually, sakto lang ako dumadating kaya dala dala ko bag ko sa flag ceremony.

10) Nasuspend ka na ba?
no.

11) Bakit?
good girl ako

12) Have you ever danced on stage?
NO

13) Nanligaw ka ba noon? (for boys) May nanligaw ba sayo nun (for girls)?
no.

14) Nagka bf/gf ka ba nung highschool?
no.

15) Sino all time crush mo nun?
joke ba to?

16) Would you go back sa HS?
yes. super dali ng buhay compared ngayon. haaaaaay high school

17) Ano lagi mong binibili sa canteen?
well. chips lang mostly, tsaka c2 tsaka hotdog after school. minsan dirty ice cream and fishballs sa kalsada (i feel so baaaaad)

18) Overpricing ba ang canteen nyo?
i guess not (compared sa prices ngayon :-O)

19) Nakakita ka na ba ng multo sa school?
no hahaha

20) Have you ever sang on stage pag may program?
yes, pero hindi solo. group marami.

21) Fave subjects?
English? kung ano mang class na nandun ako haha XD or rather, kung ano mang class na na-exempt ako kasi wala akong ginagawa kundi magsayang ng oras )

22) Bumagsak ka na ba?
sa exam ni Mr Recosana!!!! tsaka maraming quizzes. pero never sa final grade.

23) Have you ever been sent out?
i think oo, pero ung minor lang, ung mga stuff like walang dalang book haha

24) Malayo ba ang HS building sa canteen?
hindi.

25) Have you ever ran in the court?
kailangan eh. if I had a choice, i wouldn’t (oh! naalala ko ung mrs ortiz time na kailangang umikot ikot sa quadrangle! AAAAAHHH! (training yun para sa running ngayon sa p.e. haha)

26) Varsity?
math? haha kasali ba yun? DAPAT MAY JACKET DIN KAMI ANDAYA (although never kami nananalo. kaya cguro walang budget pang jacket haha)

27) Do you miss your school?
YES

28) Sino pinaka-dakila sa batch niyo?
ano definition ng dakila? yung teachers haha kasi naghihirap sila sa amin hahaha

29) Ano mga awards mo nun?
weeeeeeell…

30) Mga advisers mo?
Mr. Patacsil
Mr. Ping
Ms. Chua
Mrs. Recosana

31) Naging officer ka ba?
yup

32)May nakaaway ka ba nun?
uh. uh. I don’t think so.

33) Anong role mo pag foundation day?
same ba yun sa school anniversary? in that case, once kumanta ako nung 90th pero di na ako high school nun eh

34) Pinaka close mo nun?
lots of people haha marami nga akong friends, ano ba.

35) Pumasok ka ba sa CR ng opposite sex?
oo cguro pero di ko cya habit or anything okay?

AY tapos na. I enjoyed this quiz/survey/Q&A thingy

*cross-posted from Facebook

Because Mich tagged me on Facebook…

Tags

Me Myself and I, Taggie Thingies

I shall reply through WordPress!!! But Facebook will copy it over. Ang galing!!

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you. (I guess I will not tag 25 people either. Haha.)

1. It is my dream to be a writer.
2. My first “big book” was Charlotte’s Web. I do not really remember the story anymore, but ever since then, reading has been my love. And writing came after!
3. I am a superfan of Meg Cabot. I loooooooove her books so much! I aspire to be like her, and sometimes I find myself trying to write like her, with disastrous results, because I can never really sound like her spunky, fun, quirky characters. I just come out corny.
4. While I love Sophie Kinsella and her books, I can’t really stand Becky Bloomwood. Because she’s such a liar! And I feel like she’s ruining her life. AND I highly, highly doubt that some guy like Luke Brandon will stand for all her stupidity. But, you know, that’s just me. I still love the books, I just hate the character.
5. I used to have this virtual kopitiam (like a Malaysian/Singaporean cafe) on ikopitiam.com, but I got tired of it, and now I don’t dare log into the account because I’m probably bankrupt. Haha. (Oo nga Mich, mahirap ngang mag-25 things… Erm…)
6. I like all the colors! Haha. Ang stupid. Well, supposedly, my favorite color is blue. But I don’t like blue on everything. Sometimes, I feel like my favorite color is green. And sometimes I feel like red. I dunno. It’s weird. Like me.
7. I love Japanese dramas! I have watched more than 10 but there are so many new dramas coming every few months that I can’t keep up with them all! My personal favorite would have to be Nobuta wo Produce, but Hana Kimi is a close second because of Nakatsu. YAY~!
8. I also love Asian idols. I mean, of course, I’m referring to male ones, such as Super Junior (all 13 of them!), Fahrenheit, and the Johnny’s boys (you will only know what I’m talking about if you are a fan ).
9. Today, Chris Tiu is on the cover of Tulay, the weekly Chinoy publication. And my sister and I fought over it, and now it has a rip across the middle. Nice. (Random na random nga!)
10. It is also my dream to make cute little bento boxes for myself my friends. Sadly, this dream does not seem to have any hopes of materializing.
11. I have several nicknames to different people. To my high school friends, I’m “Maine”. To my college friends (selected only), I’m “Charmy”. To my family, I’m “Atsi” or “Men” (a contracted version of “Amen” which is supposed to be how I said “Charmaine” when I was but a wee little baby). And to the Internet, I’m a whole variety of names that make no sense at all. And of course, to Gilbert, I’m “NEIGHBOR!!!!” (complete with all caps and multiple exclamation points). To most other people, I’m just Charmaine. And I actually prefer to just be called Charmaine. (But Charmy is pretty catchy. Haha. Parang sanitary napkin.)
12. When I was in Grade 5 (If you know me from elementary, you might remember this), I, along with 2 other friends, dubbed ourselves the Powerpuff Girls. And I was Bubbles (because I was the youngest, I think). And I also formed this little “club” called the Powerpuff Club! At least, I called it a club. It was more like a sweat shop, because I forced “members” to copy by hand “entrance exams” I made about episodes of the Powerpuff Girls, which the members have to pass in order to join, anyway. (And my mom was always wondering why my pad paper ran out so quickly.) I was really weird back then. Seriously.
13. And in Grade 5, we (as in the Powerpuff Girls!) also wrote these little little books (If you know me from elementary, I am SURE you remember this, especially if we were classmates) that were only a little more than 3 inches by 2 inch made out of torn pieces of paper, and we called them “make your own adventure” books because you make choices throughout the book and follow the page links. And they were really really crazy. And we had these “publishing houses” named after whoever drew the book, for example, my books were all labeled “United Comics” and had a logo of the Earth. They, thankfully, improved with age, and by the time we were in Grade 6, we were making really beautiful books. They were Pulitzer Prize-worthy, I tell you.
14. Ever since I was in Grade 1, my teachers have all complained to my mother that I was too talkative. It stopped around 3rd year high school. Mostly because I was rarely in class due to extracurricular activities.
15. I spend about 50% of all classes during my 4th year of high school outside class because I had all these activities, and I was always exempted from class. What fun! And when I am in class, I usually have no idea what the teacher is teaching. Especially in Physics. Hah!
16. I was never in pre-nursery because I entered school when I was only 3 and I passed the exam for nursery school which is why I am younger than most of my batchmates. Oh, and when I was taking the entrance exam for St. Stephen’s, I asked the person (Ms. Cong, if you’re a Stephenian like myself) administering the exam if she was a nurse because she was wearing white. Nice going, Charmaine!
17. I have a little sister. Yo tengo una hermana menor. She supposedly looks like me. She is also 2 years and 8 months younger than me. She also happens to be taller than me. Which is a bummer. (I also lose to her a lot while playing video games. I suck.) (Medyo nadedeflate na ung excitement ko sa paglilist ng 25 random things about myself. That, and my fingers are sore from typing.)
18. I am actually quite philosophical and I think about life, existence and such philosophical things, but sometimes superficial things override my brain. I also never share my philosophizing with others, because they don’t understand me! (Nagdrama)
19. I hope to meet the following people one day and have a nice chat with them because they are my heroes: Jamie Oliver, Nigella xxxx (yung girl sa Nigella Feasts. Nigella naman name nya diba?), the dude on Discovery Travel and Living who’s bald and cooks with fresh ingredients from farms and everything (I think I know his name but I cannot remember), and basically anyone who cooks really good food on TV (because when you’re cooking on TV you really have to make your food look appetizing). Actually, gusto ko lang makikain.
20. If you haven’t inferred it from the rest of my blog yet, I love food.
21. I also love the Internet. Because there are so many many things to learn from it. And there are so many things to do! Games, stories, music! Sensory overload!!! And of course, who can forget my ultimate bestest best friend in the whole wide world: WIKIPEDIA! YAY~! (Actually kaya may mga ~ sa mga YAY ko kasi napipindot ko lang. Hindi dahil nagpapacute ako, okay?)
22. I also love Hollywood movies. My current favorite is Penelope, starring Christina Ricci and James McAvoy. It will change in the near future.
23. I went to watch My Bestfriend’s Girlfriend to celebrate Valentines’ Day last year. NO I was not alone, I’m not that much of a loser. I watched it with my best friends from high school. Interestingly, Ja and Kathy cried during the movie. The movie was a romantic comedy. (AY that’s not a random thing about me pala)
24. NUMBER 24 NA AT LAST!!! (Nagdedegrade na yung quality of random things about me, as you can see.) The comb I’m using now (the extra large, blue one) has been with me for about 3-4 years. I have been thinking of replacing it all these years (because it’s too big!!!) Especially back in high school when it wouldn’t fit in my pocket.
25. I LOVE condensed milk. I can eat an entire can if I wasn’t worried about getting cavities, getting sick, getting diabetes, getting a sore throat, or getting fat. YUM condensed milk. I’m craving for some right now. RECIPE TIME: Mix condensed milk with hot water to get: sweetened milk! It’s really really good!

YAY! Talk about random. I spent a long long time on this post. 25 things ba naman. Sino ba kasi nagpasimuno nito??? But still, I enjoyed reminiscing about the past. And I hope you enjoyed reading about my life. It was boring (I mean the post, and not my life. Although boring naman talaga ang life ko. But I’m not complaining!) and really really really long, I know. Thanks a bunch for reading! And before you go, don’t forget to comment! Pretty please, with condensed milk on top? (Kung hindi ka mahilig sa condensed milk, sugar na lang.)

Muchas gracias! Toodles!

I’m sacrificing precious sleep for this!!! WHY??? (To shower praises upon condensed milk. Ano ba, Charmaine, matulog ka na nga!)

Sabi pala ni Ooh and Aah, Banana Power is really great, Banana Power ACTIVATE!!!