I will insert text (a long, long, long text) here after FINALS!

I've always been a fan of my mom's cooking. Palagi kong pinagmamalaki. She can make me eat veggies I don't like. Ampalaya, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, okra and even those green leafy vegetables. They all turned out to be my favorite. (Wag lang puso ng saging!). Sana mamana ko ang galing niya sa pagluluto for my future little ones. You know kids these days, they all want fried chicken and prefer processed foods than vegetables. Para sakin, iba parin talaga kapag lutong-bahay.

Meanwhile, the hashtag #KillAllMuslims trends on twitter.

But isn’t it ironic? How these people stereotype muslims as terrorists and yet make such hashtag that promotes genocide trend? We didn’t make #KillAllJews trend after the killings; of mostly children in Gaza, did we? No, And even if we could, we won’t. Because killing innocent beings is not what is taught in the Qur-an. Can’t we just say the people behind the Paris killings were criminals or murderers? Because that’s what the law says. That’s how the law defines it. Let us not let the media manipulate us. Can’t you see? They’re making you hate the people who are being oppressed and not the people who are doing the oppressing.

Ten years and counting...

Should you be interested to know the story behind this decade-long friendship, here’s a little trivia: JMF stands for Jhansi Me Far. Something I am sure you guys haven’t heard of. And! you would not believe where that word came from (I mean, that’s not even a word). We’ve been asked many times about it. Some thought it’s a foreign or becky language/phrase. Some says it’s our name initials. Now let us spill the bean already. The latter theory got it right. Haha! Come on! we were highschool then. Freshmen to be exact. It was like the coolest name we could come up to back then. We never thought of changing it because it reminds us how vain, childish and naive we are back then and how brilliant we have become now. Char!

Our anniversary’s actually on the 19th of December but most of us were not available on that day so we had to reschedule our anniversary get together on the 25th of December. Since Muslims do not celebrate Christmas, we thought that the establishments would still be open to cater us. Apparently, most of the establishments like restaurants (esp. those with with christian employees) were closed. Luckily, there’s one that is open which we thought was closed too but the waiter said they’ll be opening in a while so we waited for a couple of minutes outside and there we met our P.E teacher in highschool, Ma’am Dimple (the one wearing sunnies).

This I guess is our only decent photo inside the restaurant since we were too busy catching up with each other. I mean that’s what friends do when they meet, right? Everybody wants to hear from one another. We don’t see each other often because everyone’s busy doing their own thing. Studies, work and family for those married ones.

Passing bythe Oval/MSU Grandstand on our way to the Golf Course. (L-R) Kanzee, Mnut, Kurot and Najeeba.

That awkward selfie at the stairway facing the Oval where some boys were playing soccer. Haha

Tadaa! Selfie with the Bench (MSU Grandstand). Bound to our final destination: The Golf Course.

More than half of us weren't able to join the celebration but that's okay. It's always the thought that matters.

ALHAMDULILLAH! Thank GOD for another year. Thank GOD for the gift of friends. Happy 10th Anniversary to us!

Tomorrow marks the first day of new beginnings and fresh hopes. I am very glad and thankful to have survived another roller coaster ride. And just like the previous years, 2014 has been a year full of lessons learned.

READING my book on Special Rules of Procedure Governing The Philippine Shari'ah Court. The author is our professor's brother! Wow. WRITING my new wish list for the new year. My 2014 wish-list’s just halfway granted but that’s okay. You can’t have eveything in life; they say. But still, I’m writing those down on my new list. Haha! We never know, right? Maybe 2015 will be a wish-granting year for me. LISTENING to Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran. It’s been my most replayed song of the week. I love it. I love Ed Sheeran. THINKING about my plans for summer 2015. I think our Institute’s school year will start at August next year so I gotta plan ahead to manage my long vacation time. Yahoo! SMELLING the orange scent of the mosquito killer sprayed all around the living room. HOPING for good results this midterms. I cannot afford to flunk any subject this semester. WEARING a casual black polka dot sleeveless Maxi dress. I bought it few months ago but since I haven’t yet found the perfect blazer to match it, I occasionally wear it at home instead since the cloth’s very comfy. Hehehe. WISHING for a prosperous new year and most importantly, good health for both mom and I. LOVING — the latest gift I got from mom. She was very sorry for me when I lost my 16k late last month. I was planning to buy a 1st Gen iPad mini just for the sake of my PDF files but unfortunately, someone heartless took my wallet when I was about to pay the item. Lucky me because Mom bought me an iPad mini 3 just this monday (and I didn’t have to ask her at all. She offered!) Yeah, she’s the sweetest! WANTING to have a new phone but not giddy. I can wait till May after my Mobile plan ends this April. I will be continuing my UnliSurf plan and get a new phone from Globe. Hehe NEEDING to fight the laziness inside me and study harder for midterms. That’s 10 days from now. OMG! FEELING really cold right now ‘cause it’s foggy and raining outside. CLICKING some PDF’s I recently downloaded to help me understand my lessons more.

Currently reading my book on Credit Transactions for tomorrow’s class. It’s the first day of school for this semester but of course, it won’t be the usual “Introduce Yourself” kind of first day so I gotta read. Especially that this is my come back after 5 long months of deciding whether or not I will continue my law studies. I decided to continue by the way. I’m officially enrolled. yay!

Going back, I haven’t read a law book for a long time. I haven’t been the person who studies straight from 9pm to 2am trying to memorize Articles 1234. Damn, I even forgot what coffee tastes like. I am kind of back to my super anxious self when I first enter the College of Law. You never know what’s gonna happen. An oral recitation on the first day is most likely to happen. You should never enter the class unprepared if you don’t wanna be humiliated. Trust me, this is based from experience. I’ve cried many times after my oral recitations because I couldn’t utter a single word of what I’ve read the night before. I’ve skipped classes because I couldn’t handle the pressure.

Yes, I had a rough time during my first year in Law School. You might say I’m crazy for coming back after all that’s happened. Well yes, this year might be the same way again. I may pass, I may not but I wouldn’t miss it for the world. This is what I want and I will stick to that decision no matter where it leads me. Sabi nga nila diba, “There is no where you can be that isn’t where you are meant to be. And if you don’t take a chance, how will you ever know? Tawakkal Alallah!

P.S. Kindly ignore if there’s anything wrong in this entry. It’s 12:40am and I’m to sleepy to backread everything asdfghjklzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

October Book Reads

This entry talks about the two of the books I’ve purchased for myself (advance birthday gift) with what’s left of my September salary. The other book which is not included on the pictures below is the Lullabies by Lang Leav (I’m going to write a special entry on that one). Anyways, I suck at making reviews about books I’ve read so I will just tell you the lame reasons why or what made me buy these books. Is that okay? It should be.You’re left with no choice. After all, this is my blog. Ha-ha-ha!

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Thirteen Reasons Why” tells the story of Hannah Baker and her reasons for ending her life. All of which are recorded on thirteen tapes and Clay Jensen is one of the tapes’ recipients)

As much as I want to tell you thirteen reasons why I bought this book, that is just not going to happen since I only got three in mind. 1) It’s an International Bestseller (now in 31 languages) 2) A New York Times Bestseller 3) A Film adaptation produced by Universal Studios will be out this 2015 and rumors say that it will be starred by Selena Gomez (as Hanna Baker) and MY DEAREST Logan Lerman (as Clay Jensen). I guess the third one’s enough reason to justify my purchase. Ha-ha-ha!

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before - Jenny Han (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters.)

I’d say this one’s love at first sight. Okay, I honestly judged the book by its title/cover. I’m not gonna lie about that. I’ve seen it all over my Tumblr Dash and Instagram Feed so I assumed it’s a must read and damn it is. I just don't like how it ended. Hehe. I also heard that there’ll be (or Meron na ba?) an upcoming sequel entitled “P.S. I Love You”. I’m looking forward to read that one too and other Jenny Han’s bestseller books.

Hi guys! I AM SO BACK after decade-long hiatus. yay! I have some pretty good news about what's going on with my life right now (in case you care to know) that is coming right up on my next volume of THE HAPPY LIST. But before anything else, please be guided that I have changed my URL again for the nth time. Hehe! you see my new URL now is THENOTSOORDINARYLASS but don't worry, I won't bother you to change my blog button code on your respective sidebars this time. I found this perfect redirect theme by HARRYSHIZZ to avoid that kind of hassle so here it is! You will be automatically redirected once you:

Anyways, I also tweaked my theme a little if you guys wanna check it out. Well, nothing much has changed; just a new header/banner that made the whole page different from the previous one. Not a big deal. Hah! 

Fast Breaking Dinner

The day of Ashura is on the tenth day of Muharram in the Islamic Calendar. According to my reasearch, Some Sunni Muslims fast on this day of Ashura to commemorate the day when Prophet Musa/Moses (peace be upon him) and his followers were saved from Pharaoh by ALLAH by creating a path in the Red Sea. Although fasting on the 10th and 11th day of Muharram is not mandatory, as a Sunni Muslim, I opt to follow the tradition and obliged myself to fast.

At lunch, I began to feel my stomach grumble and thought I wouldn't make it through til 6pm but thankfully, when I went to school, my friend Jaimah whom I call mommy was fasting too. We agreed to break our fast together with our other friend, Myles. While waiting for Dinner time, We stayed at the college lobby with our classmates, laughed about everything and the hunger just miraculously disappeared.

When the clock strike 5 o'clock, we went to The Dining Room to have our dinner there. The Dining Room is a well-known Restaurant in Marawi particularly located at the Commercial Center within the vicinity of Mindanao State University Main Campus. It is by far the most spacious and sophisticated restaurant I’ve been to in the campus that offers good food, with free Wi-Fi and a well-ventilated place to hang out.

And while this entry isn’t about giving my personal review on how good their food are, I am still going to enumerate what we had for dinner.

We usually order Beef Steak and Chicken Mandarin but this time, we tried their Chicken Curry and Sizzling Tuna Sisig which partnered with a platter of Shanghai Rice. 

For dessert, I ordered my all-time favorite, Mais Con Hielo while my other two friends go for their Cookies and Cream and Guyabano Shake. We also ordered a medium-size pizza so you can just imagine how much calories was devoured for a single meal. Ha-ha-ha!

The brother I never had.

Another session with Dam. My all-access pass to the mind of the male species. My most straightforward love adviser. The brother I never had.

I love how easy everything is with Dam. I don’t have to be pa-tweetums, pretend to be high-profiled, or initiate witty conversations to impress him. He does most of the talking when we hang out. I just listen and then butt in when asked. We can genuinely talk about almost everything randomly even the things people don’t normally talk about. (esp. to the opposite sex). Hahaha

Furthermore, I am thankful that despite our differences; I mean our beliefs in life, priorities and personality, he’s still there to stick around. Like for example, I don’t text him first because I don’t want him to think I’m too clingy, he does the effort to catch up. Out of the blue he calls and ask me “So, what’s up? what did I miss?” and for a friend, I love that. It shows that he cares. He needs to be updated. I guess that’s what friendship should be because without paying attention to the littlest details about your friend; esp. your male friends, chances are the friendship will go astray. You have to interrogate them because they don’t share too much.

Speaking of sharing, when he told me he like someone and he plans to marry her (wether he’s serious about it or not), I felt sad. Not jealous or whatever. In fact, I like this girl (haven’t met her tho), compared to the last girl he asked me to meet. It just struck me that when the time comes that we both have to face the reality of life, the married life for example, we won’t be hanging out as often as we are now or worst, we won’t be hanging out at all. That I can’t handle. hahaha —OA! but seriously though, I hope it doesn’t turn out that way.