i don't want to take up the bar exams we were at century park hotel [ with mia, chi, grace and marie ] from 6 pm last night to 6 am this morning for the barops. we were actually tasked to deliver food and exam tips to the barristers, but most of the time we spent doing pompoms for the "salubong" on sunday afternoon [ where people cheer for bar examinees while they get out of the dlsu building on the last day of the exams ]. it was the first time i helped out in the bar operations thing, and i had mixed feelings the whole time. for one, i don't entirely agree with the kind of attention people are giving the event. i honestly don't think all the hype does the barristers any good. like one of our professors pointed out, "may salubong-salubong pa, buti sana kung lahat pasado..". it reminded me of the UAAP a lot, especially when ateneo and la salle compete in the championship game. pabonggahan ng gimmick. we had tons of balloons and pompoms, UP bar shirts are being sold [ although admittedly, i find them nice ], etc. the ones in charge try to reserve for the best spaces in taft ave. so that the barristers would immediately see them as they get out of the building. like in UAAP games, there's money involved, sometimes, in terms of lagay. i especially don't understand why "tips" are released early in the morning, a few hours before the bar exam itself. there was even a photocopying machine complete with manong photocopier in every room so that when the tips are released, they could immediately copy them and we could distribute them to the examinees. barristers receive the much coveted "blue notes" [ from ateneo ] and "red notes" [ from san beda ] because, they say, most of the questions especially those from ateneo actually appear on the exam. and the worse part about it is that when such notes reach the UP barristers, it's possible that the answers were altered so as to confuse the UP students. gawd. the bar has became a contest of power, money and connections tainted with corruption. much like philippine politics don't you think? students' diligence plus the school's training don't even matter anymore, so long as the tips are reliable. hay. the worst part is, UP is not so bar oriented, so our bar ops system is bulok. we don't have enough volunteers, that's why we were tasked to help out in the law school government instead of in our org because some students who promised to volunteer didn't show up. the UP tips are not so reliable either [ they don't even have a distinct name for them other than "UP tips". walang sariling character. ]. UP is definitely lagging behind ateneo and san beda in terms of preparations for the bar. in a way, it's good that they're not expending too much money on the whole bar brouhaha, but somehow it has its toll on the barristers. and i don't like it either that only the lucky ones with orgs get all the help and support and the unaffiliated ones are often left unnoticed. except of course if they're "bar bets". hopefully in our time, we will have a more centralized system without all the competition between the orgs.

i also had a glimpse of how i would feel when our turn to take the bar exams comes. while giving out food to our barrister orgmates, it felt like they're all on the death row and we had to be extra nice to them because of all the stress they're feeling the night before the exams. if i were placed in the same situation, i would probably fidget the whole time in the hotel room until i explode due to too much pressure. i don't think i'll ever be emotionally ready for it. it's just too damn scary.

well, at least we still managed to have fun during our stay. our other blockmates were there, mostly the ones with the orgs/frats/sorority. oggs, ms. milia etc. were there. and we got to work with some new people. grace, mia, marie and i even fell asleep in the room. yes, the four of us were cramped in one bed. but later on, grace and marie went downstairs, leaving a lot of space. i slept for less than 4 hours. and that is a mortal sin in my book. hehe. that explains why i was all bangag at lunchtime [ we ate at congo grille with auntie lina, who's leaving for the states tonight ]. all the "fun" doesn't change my perception about the bar exams, though. ayoko nang mag-bar!!! augh... i don't know why taking up a profession characterized by too much pressure, power and corruption. ayoko ang sistema at pinaka-ayoko sa lahat ang kinakabahan ng todo. i think it's too late to the alternative route [ ie, comm arts ].

feng shui [ alternative title: "mano po 3" ]

although i'm not a fan of kris aquino, i'd say this movie was pretty good for a pinoy horror flick. it's probably the scariest pinoy movie i've ever seen [ as opposed to what, shake rattle and roll 3? ]. it's like "the ring" or "the grudge" - nakakagulat rin. the images somehow got stuck in my mind. and i panicked the next day when we had an unexpected blackout in the morning because of the damn movie. i just found some parts inappropriate and corny though. like at the beginning of the movie, they were actually endorsing "purefoods chunkee corned beef". if you were the owner of purefoods, why would you want your product to be endorsed in a gory film? who would still have appetite after seeing the movie? imagine sadako endorsing "gee your hair smells terrific" shampoo. ano yon, diba. and the plot had this concept that people will die according to their designated birth years, like one of the characters was born in the year of the snake, and consequently, he did through a snake bite. but i really found the death of one character [ portrayed by no other than lotlot de leon ] utterly stupid, halatang wala ng maisip yung direktor. she was born in the year of the horse, and it became confusing that part since we didn't exactly know if she died because: 1.) pinagpapalo siya ng kabayo ng plantsa; 2.) a kalesa passed by after she died; 3.) she fell on bottles of red horse from the second floor. o k a y. we believe it was the last cause. pero diba, ano ba yon?? red horse?? hayy.. *cringe* afterwards, our conversation in the car would go: ba't di na lang siya pinatay ni richie d' horsie? oo nga ano? hehe. but still, go watch it! i hope someone would make a horror movie based on pinoy, not chinese urban legends na hindi corny.

a new discovery

we recently discovered cello's doughnuts and dips at katipunan! it's like go nuts donuts, hence, it's also like krispy kreme. there's always a long line waiting for freshly baked donuts. i finally tasted it earlier today, after two failed attempts [ yesterday and the day before ]. i especially liked the "chocnut" and "peanut butter" flavors. haa.. i want.. i think the person behind it was a miriam hs/ateneo college graduate who's a year younger than me. and she's already en entrepreneur at such an early age. wow.

panira lang while eating, we saw hang ten boy's new billboard in katipunan. it wasn't there yet last night. and he has afro hair this time. and still exposing his undies. kung gusto mo mawalan ng gana kumain, titigan mo yun. nakakaiyak..

Labels: bar, food, kajologan, law school

  ¶ 7:05 PM