This was last night at Jack’s Loft in Eastwood. It was Tope’s 19th birthday.

I was walking in Balara with Athena, Mich and Stan, carrying my camera on my shoulder, when we came across a group of kids who were smiling at me. That felt weird at first. I was wondering if there was something with our appearance that looked funny until I realized that the kids were smiling because they were expecting me to take their picture. I didn’t want their smiles to go to waste so I took their photo anyway.

Athena, Mich, Stan and I went to Balara to go to Mang Jimmy’s, one of the more known eating places around the university, to talk to Mang Jimmy himself for a food sponsorship proposal for our event for Mass Comm freshmen.

I’ve eaten at Mang Jimmy’s numerous times already, but I’ve never really seen the Mang Jimmy. Yesterday, we actually did. (That’s him with Stan in the picture). He even offered us drinks while we were talking with him. He also agreed to give us free food during our event. But that’s not all. After speaking with Mang Jimmy, we found it imperative to eat lunch at the place out of gratitude. So we ordered our viands and our unlimited rice, and stuffed ourselves with good food. After eating, we asked for our bill but the attendant refused to give us one. She told us that our lunch was free! We were surprised, and really ashamed at the same time. We intentionally ate there to patronize the place (and pay our food!) out of gratitude to our successful deal with Mang Jimmy. We ended up having a free hearty lunch.

To go to Mang Jimmy’s, take the road in between Vinzons and Narra Residence Hall out of the university. Go straight into the Balara water district and then turn left at the small rotonda. Go straight ahead that road and you’ll see Mang Jimmy’s Take-Out Grill at the right. There’s my free plugging!

Wasn’t able to take pictures today. I spent the entire day manning the student council booth collecting 20 pesos from everyone for the student fund. My other councilmates were either on registration assistant duties or had to be out scouting and scavenging for slots to complete their required number of units this semester, so I was often left by myself at the booth (unable to have the chance to take any photo for today). Fortunately for me, I got all my required subjects this semester with the computer registration system so I don’t have to go through all the hell of manual enlistment shit, unlike a few semesters ago–which is why I can afford to just stay at our booth. My heart goes out to all my fellow UP students who still have to go through manual enlistment and all the queues, building and college hopping and screaming and crying (?) that comes with it.

First day of enrollment is always reserved for the semester’s graduating students. So there weren’t much students crowding around the lobby of Mass Comm today. Tomorrow is going to be a different story. The student council has a booth there for the entire enrollment period to collect the student fund fees and also interact with our collegemates since these days are one of the only chances we have of meeting them all face by face.

I also accompanied Marella in trying to process permits for one of our student council activities in AS. We went to the university’s Business Concessions Office. Our first time to set foot in that part of the university! Had a good time pestering Marella too by my consistently taking snapshots without her consent. Hahampasin na nga niya ‘ko ng bag niya. Haha.

Spent the entire day with my councilmates. What a coincidence, everyone’s wearing green. Nah, it was planned.

By the way, CMC peeps, register na kayo sa online tambayan!

It’s just a little more than a week before school. I’m looking forward to being in UP again (as if I haven’t been there the past days).

Updates. My film org, UP CAST (Cinema Arts Society), failed to win the bid for the film freshmen block for the second year in a row despite gaining the highest number of FOPC (Freshmen Orientation Program Committee) points among the film orgs. The first time was really frustrating, what more a second time. Darn, darn, darn. I feel bad for the org, especially for those who worked hard this year. Well, there isn’t any feeling of contempt against any other org this year (unlike the last), but still, it can get really frustrating that after all the efforts and expectations, we don’t get the privilege we deserve, of facilitating the film block, just because of some technicalities.

My other Mass Comm org on the other hand, UP MCO (Mass Communicators Organization), got the two Mass Comm freshmen blocks it was planning to bid for. I just read an email from our chairperson and I’m really looking forward to the things that’s in store for us this coming semester.

I’ve also been doing student council work. We’re approaching crunch time in preparation for the Mass Comm freshmen week. I’m in charge of publicity and I’ve just done the layout of the event posters and streamers. I’ve also just bought a domain name and a webhost package for a Mass Comm student portal and I’m trying to fix it up now. I’ve also been doing the layout of council propaganda, with our contact details and faces in them. It can personally feel kind of awkward, as traditional politicians do the same. Some people might not sit well with the idea and might accuse us of gearing up for elections. But I believe it’s part of our job to be more visible/recognizable and reachable to our constituents and a “keep-in-touch” campaign is imperative.

I can barely wait to see everyone again in school.

My schedule this coming semester appears really loose. One three-hour class a day, from Monday to Thursday, which means I either have the entire morning or the entire afternoon off from school. If there’s one thing I lament, though, with the coming semester, it’s that all my classes are already in Mass Comm–which means, I don’t have classes in AS (Palma Hall) anymore.