by hayley westenra

rows and flows of angel hair
and ice cream castles in the air
and feather canyons everywhere
i've looked at clouds that way

but now they only block the sun
they rain and snow on everyone
so many things i would have done
clouds got in my way

i've looked at clouds from both sides now
from up and down, and still somehow
it's cloud illusions I recall
i really don't know clouds at all

moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
the dizzy dancing way that you feel
as every fairy tale comes real
i've looked at love that way

but now it's just another show
and you leave 'em laughing when you go
and if you care, don't let them know
don't give yourself away

i've looked at love from both sides now
from give and take, and still somehow
it's love's illusions i recall
i really don't know love
really don't know love at all

tears and fears and feeling proud
to say "i love you" right out loud
dreams and schemes and circus crowds
i've looked at life that way

oh but now old friends they're acting strange
and they shake their heads
and they tell me that I've changed
well something's lost but something's gained
in living every day

i've looked at life from both sides now
from win and lose and still somehow
it's life's illusions i recall
i really don't know life at all
it's life's illusions I recall
i really don't know life
i really don't know life at all...^^

di ko talaga maintindihan para saan ang labor day. bakit ba meron nito? yung mga taga-ibang bansa ba meron din nito? or mayroon lang pinoy na nag-imbento nito para masabing gusto natin ang pagtatrabaho at masisipag tayong tao? tapos 'labor day' ang tawag... cine-celebrate ang araw ng pagtatrabaho para mag-bakasyon. o diba ang galing? . hehehe. pero okay na din. kasi kung walang labor day, wala kaming retreat!!! at walang swimming!!

under kay tita jo, nag-session kami sa church april 30 tapos after nun nag-travel na kami papuntang la roca resort, calamba [yata], laguna. masaya syempre. overnight sa isang room sa attic. tapos overnight swimming at napaka-daming rough na water games. ang visual memory ko nun ay puro spots lang dahil nga malabo ang eyes ko.. pero ayos lang. mainit yung tubig kasi nasa paanan ng mount makiling yung place. at may constant food cravings ako buong araw at buong gabi [kasama ang tummy aches]. good thing sa tabi-tabi lang may pagkain.

andami kong gusto ikwento kaso parang hanggang ngayon napapagod pa din ako... hehe. so there.^^

next sem, the schedules available for my classes [esp. my majors] start at 8.30am. i always knew that was going to happen, and thought of having to stay in a dorm sooner or later. now is that time. sure i miss the high school days when waking up at 4:30 to 5am was staple but this time, i'm not going to manila... i'm going to quezon city - about twice the travel time it takes from laguna to masci. i also wouldn't want to bother my family [who would have to leave the house too early for my sake] all the more. though it's not the happiest idea, staying somewhere near school really is for the best.

so dad and i went dorm-hunting today. yesterday i googled the upd dorms, found them, read the descriptions, and had my eyes on molave residence hall, a co-ed dorm for upperclassmen that prioritizes sophomores. when we went there, the molave people weren't sure if they will accept applicants this time because of some renovations [i read they were having termite infestation problems. hehe]. so we moved on to yakal. according to them, we missed the period for dorm reservations which was during march. the next would be in september, and that's for the second sem. too bad. by this time i was feeling really queasy because of i don't know what. and we, with the long journey to and around campus and all that street sign-reading, still haven't achieved much.

eventually, our dorm-hunting turned into boarding house-hunting. daddy called tito ric [who lives just inside upd] to ask for info, recommendations, etc., etc. and we ended up looking up the billboards at sc. we found about five different ads for women's boarding houses, called a whole lot more phone numbers for inquiries, and another search [this time in up village] began. some were okay. some were too pricey. and some, we dared not even go down the car to check out. now i was feeling really really sick, but we continued anyway. we went down streets named after tagalog characteristics - mahinhin, manigo, matahimik, maligaya, mayaman, maayusin, mahusay, and all the other ma's. i think the best boarding houses we saw were those i got from rhea [thank you thank you]. yet even those, daddy wasn't very convinced of *sigh*. i really hope we find and decide on the right one.^^

...ito na yung pictures sa youth retreat. yehey.

ang aking mga ka-team members. goooo mark!
 
 


session break [sa 3rd floor clubhouse yan].


sharing time partner na shy at twin ni groupmate marlon.


habang naglu-lunch. saraaaap.


habang naghihintay na mag-start.


bago maglaro ng nakakapagod na bang-sak.


story writing game. dugtungan ng story every one minute. ang story namin tungkol sa nasirang sapatos at sapatero... winner kami!


oblation pose ni leader jef.


john team minus one.


group pic ng participants. hanapin ang dinagdag... siya kasi ang nag-take ng pic.

cheering pics:

matthew [super-active si donna. hehe.]


mark [group namiN!]


luke [winner ng best in costume & most unique team]


john [sila lang ang may pyramid at props na kumot. mala-sabayan ba.]

nanalo nga pala kami sa cheering competition!! hehehe. sobrang unexpected yun kasi right then and there lang kami nag-organize ng gagawin at puro kacornihan ang aming ginawa. well, lahat naman yata corny ang ginawa. yung mga una pa ngang naiisip na cheer eh puro "go mark! go mark!" lang. nakakahiya pa dahil pinaulit yung ginawa namin after nung announcement of winners. brutal daw ang cheer namin:
[malabong solo ni team leader]
we will, we will mark you!
we will, we will mark you!
[cheer cheer cheer]
young mark, we will beat the matthew team
young mark, we will crush the luke team
young mark, we will break the john team
we will beat, crush, break, and win!
ten-ten-ten-ten-ten
it's fun to stay at the m-a-r-k
it's fun to stay at the m-a-r-k
we will beat the matthew team
we will crush the luke team
we will break the john team...
and win!
[cheer cheer cheer]^^

i'm home! hehe. sobrang saya ng youth retreat sa bahay nila tita nona!! 

nagkaroon kami ng teams na nagco-consist ng ate's and kuya's [that's us] at yung parang tine-train namin na youth galing sa langgam. kami yung 'mark' team. uber nakakabless kasi sa una akala mo 'di sila ganung magpaparticipate kasi nga first lang kayo nagmeet, pero hindi. syempre pa dahil ang team leader ay si kuya jef na total performance palagi. ang kulit nga ng team namin lalo na sa fruit salad game kung saan magdadaganan kayo [seryoso] according sa arrangement ng fruits. ako yung orange at, sa kasamaang palad laging inuuna yung orange. meron ding sharing time after every lesson. ang buddy ko ay si maureen, 2nd year high school at may unidentical twin. shy siyang nilalang pero cool nung 2nd day dahil nag-open up din siya sa wakas. sana lang ay wag nila malimutan yung mga tinuro sa mga session...

nakaka-bitin. pero ayos lang kasi kung hindi gulay na ako ngayon. sobrang nakakapagod din kasi. at [syempre] late na kami natulog dahil sa kung anu-ano pang pinag-gagagawa. naglaro kami ng bang-sak... na napag-alaman kong hindi ko talaga talent. siguro mga 8 times akong tayaaa. burot! ako pa naman yung nagyayang maglaro.. hihihi. at naglaro din pala kami ng card games katulad ng 1-2-3 pass at cheat. ayon, di na ako burot dun.

tapos we slept under the stars. may kulang kasi sa sinet-up namin na tent sa third floor [na nalaman ko later na pwede din pala gumana kahit wala yun 0_o] kaya out in the open na lang kami natulog - ako, si donna, at si doris - habang yung iba dun sa loob ng tinatawag kong 'clubhouse' natulog. sobrang light ng tulog ko kasi mga every 10 to 20 minutes nagigising ako tapos titignan ko na lang yung moon at stars hanggang makatulog uli. experience!

naramdaman ko lang yung sobrang pagod nung sinundo na kami nila daddy pauwi, pagsakay sa kotse. kasi when you're having so much fun with friends, you forget your weariness. naks.^^

nakuha ko na kanina sa school yung classcards. kulang nga lang yung sa f110 at pe kasi pasaway si sir jamon [kahit sinabi ni ate fortune na andun na yung mga yun, wala naman talaga eeeeh] at di ko naman alam kung saan yung office ni sir p.e. na hindi ko rin alam ang tunay na pangalan, by the way. hihihi. so yun. mainit [malamang] pero masaya... saka namiss ko ang campus kahit papano. dahil sa kaso ngayon, everything beats staying at home.

sila ate at daddy pumunta kina lola tapos ay nanood sa sm cinema. ang movie? submerged starring steven seagal. hehehe. sobrang not a loss.

bukas naman, pupunta ako sa bahay nila tita/ninang nona para sa isang meeting/training. di ko alam exactly kung ano gagawin... tuturuan yata kami pano maging buddy ang isa pang youth na di pa kilala si Christ. to save more souls. basta parang ganun. yung details hindi ko pa sure talaga. ako daw ang dokumentarista... akala ko naman kung ano yun. taga-take lang pala ng pictures at videos. yehey. magiging masaya ito. sana. magre-ready na nga ako ng mga dadalin. shalalala...^^