25 random things about me
Just an entry I lifted from my facebook notes for some of you who are multipliers but not (yet) a citizen of planet facebook. :)
1. There are only two things that i like hot: coffee and Lee Kum Kee chilli sauce. I specially don't like hot showers. This is probably because my mom accidentally poured hot water on me when I was 2 or 3. She was bathing me in a big basin and instead of using the lukewarm water, she dipped the dipper into the wrong pot and got a boiling water. So when I feel something hot on my skin, I bolt.
2. The first English fiction (full-length novel) I've ever read was entitled Raquela when I was 13. It was shoved into my face by a dorm parent after she confiscated all my Filipino teen romance novelettes. I still do not appreciate the shoving :) but I am glad that she forced me to read the book until the end. She quizzed me with details after every chapter to make sure that I did read the whole thing. The setting of the story was during the 1948 Israeli War and Raquela was a military nurse. I'd like to read that again.
3. When I was 24, I jokingly told my boyfriend at the time that I will marry anyone who proposes to me when I turn 27, (maybe kind of insinuating that he better propose at that time.) I did, and it wasn't him. LOL (The bf did say that 3 years is long enough for him to save for a ring and a wedding.) Oh well, lol!
4. I almost drowned in a river when I was 6. People were busy in the baptism ceremony that nobody noticed that the current has pulled me into the dark deep waters of Beley ni Iyoh (Home of the Aged Eel) River. I owe my life to my uncle Bagly Arsenio. Halamat...
5. Am I tone deaf? I can sing but I cannot follow an accompaniment unless I hear the beating of a drum.
6. I must be the only bride in 2004 who did not wear earrings on her wedding day. That's cuz my ears are not pierced. So I did have nice pearls to wear but no ears, rather holes to wear them. It was too late before my friends realized that they should have dragged me to an earpiercer earlier that week or bought earrings that can just be clasped to your earlobes. I'm not afraid of needles, I just haven't felt any need to subject myself to them. (Four years later, I let my aunt trick me into having my ears pierced.)
7. When I like a movie, I would watch it until I can say all the lines along with the characters as the movie plays. When I watch a movie based on a book, I don't stop until I read the book just so I can deconstruct and reconstruct the movie in my mind. I am almost always disappointed with movies that are based on a book. The scriptwriters do not always include the details/scenes that I think make the story really good. So I don't care much at all about the Bourne movies because they are so shortened a version. The only movies based on a novel that didn't disappoint me are The Notebook, and Pride and Prejudice.
7. I was taller than my older brother from first grade to junior high, so people always thought that I am the eldest. I didn't like that, cuz it also meant that I look older. hehe
8. I've been to two scrabble tournaments. Tournies are fun but wearisome at the same time. Obviously, I love scrabble. I used to play in Wordbiz. It's the Internet Scrabble Club, but you have to be tough to play there because some people there can be so mean that when you start putting down bingoes, they accuse you of cheating, so I stopped playing there. It's heartbreaking. Now, I only play with people I know. :-D
9. One of the things I missed most from my singlehood days is horseback riding. I used to ride UB's mare named Dusty. But they ate her at a wedding last year. I cried. I used to do horsebackriding like you would take your daily vitamin! But one day, I was riding another horse that was yet to be trained properly and my worn out saddle straps decided to loosen and then break and so I fell off my horse in the middle of a road that cuts through rice fields. That day was rice planting day and so when I went down, all the people looked up from their planting and cheered or rather mocked me, calling me names of movie actors who clumsily fall off their horses in their movies! I picked up my saddle, replace the worn-out straps with my belt, smiled, waved, and rode off. Cool huh! :) Nope, after running a few meters, the muzzle came off the horse's mouth and so there's no way for me to control the beast. When it saw another horse, it started neighing and doing all kinds of acrobatics with its front legs... the improvised strap got loosened, and the saddle slid down the back of the beast down to its hind legs. When the horse felt the weight on its behind, it started kicking with all its might. The saddle and the rider were kicked about 5 meters away. I still have the scars to show and a friend to tell the story in all bad timing as if it's the funniest story of all time!
10. I am fascinated with people who are funny. I admire their knack at coming up with funny retorts.
11. I used to pay my roommates (by buying them snacks or whatever) in college to be able to read my boyfriend's letters. They used to hold the letters hostage until I give them what they want.
12. My favorite food is my husband's specialty: Crabs in Sprite syrup with caramelized onions. I also like it with ground nuts con coconut milk sauce... "Alavar style"
13. After I saw the movie Pride and Prejudice, I went to a bookstore and bought all the Jane Austen paperbacks I can find. I have all her classics now. But I like historical fiction best.
14. My ex-boyfriend (cuz now he's my husband, hehe) said that the first thing he liked about me was my being weird. Until now, I still have yet to figure out what's weird about me.
15. One of the people who helped me big time died before I was able to thank him properly; so I kind of included him in my thank-you-speech during my wedding day. After a few days, my extended family said I shouldn't have done that at the time I did it bcuz their tears kept falling on the food they were serving... no wonder we received comments that some of the food during my wedding were too salty!
16. I have learned by experienced that when you're unable to sleep for 4 days straight (96 hrs), your brain starts to play tricks on you. You see dream-like pictures of all sorts of genre--horror, comedy, tragedy, animation, etc.
17. I love poetry. I dabble with it every now and then but I am not good at it (yet). So when I became a Bible translator, I like translating the poetry books best. I shove the narratives to my teammates. hehe
18. I left home when I was 10 until I finished college, coming home only for a few weeks every year. That made me very independent. I even thought when I was in my teens that I don't need anyone. Haha..;) Even now, sometimes I act like it.
19. I don't know why but I am more comfortable with criticisms than praises or appreciations. It must be the culture... :)
20. I watched 5 seasons of the tv series 24 in less than 4 days. Each season has 24 episodes which are at least 44 minutes long. I saw the sixth season two weeks later. My favorite character is Chloe, and my favorite mechanics is the father-daughter relationship of Jack and Kim Bauer.
21. When I was in first grade, I thought that only those who get medals at the end of the school year are the talented students, and the rest are kind of retarded. So I thought I was retarded until I reached 6th grade, when a teacher told me that I write the best compositions: things like 'my unforgettable vacation, my new year's resolution, what I want to be,' and other things like that. Right then, I decided that I want to be a teacher.
22. I find it easier to talk by writing than face to face. So skyping, yahooing and the likes are very useful to me. I don't usually know what to say face to face except to answer questions I'm asked.
23. I am a nocturnal creature. :) I am more alive late at night than early in the morning. I think I was influenced into it. :-) And now I became a pretty bad insomniac...
24. I like to think that the reason God allowed me to really suffer during the time I was translating the book of Lamentations was so that I can translate the heart of the book most effectively. Now, I am scheduled to continue drafting Job, and I am in a situation which would make normal people like us question God for some of the uncertainties we face. Is this a coincidence? We're even studying the book in a Group Bible Study. I think God timed it again so I can carry my cross more faithfully.
25. I blackmail people for fun. ;-) When somebody asks me to read or edit their work, or I am asked for any favor at all (even for a piece of advise), I tell them that only a pint of ice cream, a pizza, french fries, a burger, donuts or whatever I am craving at the moment can fix their work or their problem. So far, only one person gives in every time. Guess who? I think I'm adding one more to the list. And maybe some of the others don't want to be blackmailed anymore so they don't ask anymore favors. LOL. Of course I only do this to those who knew me well.
1. There are only two things that i like hot: coffee and Lee Kum Kee chilli sauce. I specially don't like hot showers. This is probably because my mom accidentally poured hot water on me when I was 2 or 3. She was bathing me in a big basin and instead of using the lukewarm water, she dipped the dipper into the wrong pot and got a boiling water. So when I feel something hot on my skin, I bolt.
2. The first English fiction (full-length novel) I've ever read was entitled Raquela when I was 13. It was shoved into my face by a dorm parent after she confiscated all my Filipino teen romance novelettes. I still do not appreciate the shoving :) but I am glad that she forced me to read the book until the end. She quizzed me with details after every chapter to make sure that I did read the whole thing. The setting of the story was during the 1948 Israeli War and Raquela was a military nurse. I'd like to read that again.
3. When I was 24, I jokingly told my boyfriend at the time that I will marry anyone who proposes to me when I turn 27, (maybe kind of insinuating that he better propose at that time.) I did, and it wasn't him. LOL (The bf did say that 3 years is long enough for him to save for a ring and a wedding.) Oh well, lol!
4. I almost drowned in a river when I was 6. People were busy in the baptism ceremony that nobody noticed that the current has pulled me into the dark deep waters of Beley ni Iyoh (Home of the Aged Eel) River. I owe my life to my uncle Bagly Arsenio. Halamat...
5. Am I tone deaf? I can sing but I cannot follow an accompaniment unless I hear the beating of a drum.
6. I must be the only bride in 2004 who did not wear earrings on her wedding day. That's cuz my ears are not pierced. So I did have nice pearls to wear but no ears, rather holes to wear them. It was too late before my friends realized that they should have dragged me to an earpiercer earlier that week or bought earrings that can just be clasped to your earlobes. I'm not afraid of needles, I just haven't felt any need to subject myself to them. (Four years later, I let my aunt trick me into having my ears pierced.)
7. When I like a movie, I would watch it until I can say all the lines along with the characters as the movie plays. When I watch a movie based on a book, I don't stop until I read the book just so I can deconstruct and reconstruct the movie in my mind. I am almost always disappointed with movies that are based on a book. The scriptwriters do not always include the details/scenes that I think make the story really good. So I don't care much at all about the Bourne movies because they are so shortened a version. The only movies based on a novel that didn't disappoint me are The Notebook, and Pride and Prejudice.
7. I was taller than my older brother from first grade to junior high, so people always thought that I am the eldest. I didn't like that, cuz it also meant that I look older. hehe
8. I've been to two scrabble tournaments. Tournies are fun but wearisome at the same time. Obviously, I love scrabble. I used to play in Wordbiz. It's the Internet Scrabble Club, but you have to be tough to play there because some people there can be so mean that when you start putting down bingoes, they accuse you of cheating, so I stopped playing there. It's heartbreaking. Now, I only play with people I know. :-D
9. One of the things I missed most from my singlehood days is horseback riding. I used to ride UB's mare named Dusty. But they ate her at a wedding last year. I cried. I used to do horsebackriding like you would take your daily vitamin! But one day, I was riding another horse that was yet to be trained properly and my worn out saddle straps decided to loosen and then break and so I fell off my horse in the middle of a road that cuts through rice fields. That day was rice planting day and so when I went down, all the people looked up from their planting and cheered or rather mocked me, calling me names of movie actors who clumsily fall off their horses in their movies! I picked up my saddle, replace the worn-out straps with my belt, smiled, waved, and rode off. Cool huh! :) Nope, after running a few meters, the muzzle came off the horse's mouth and so there's no way for me to control the beast. When it saw another horse, it started neighing and doing all kinds of acrobatics with its front legs... the improvised strap got loosened, and the saddle slid down the back of the beast down to its hind legs. When the horse felt the weight on its behind, it started kicking with all its might. The saddle and the rider were kicked about 5 meters away. I still have the scars to show and a friend to tell the story in all bad timing as if it's the funniest story of all time!
10. I am fascinated with people who are funny. I admire their knack at coming up with funny retorts.
11. I used to pay my roommates (by buying them snacks or whatever) in college to be able to read my boyfriend's letters. They used to hold the letters hostage until I give them what they want.
12. My favorite food is my husband's specialty: Crabs in Sprite syrup with caramelized onions. I also like it with ground nuts con coconut milk sauce... "Alavar style"
13. After I saw the movie Pride and Prejudice, I went to a bookstore and bought all the Jane Austen paperbacks I can find. I have all her classics now. But I like historical fiction best.
14. My ex-boyfriend (cuz now he's my husband, hehe) said that the first thing he liked about me was my being weird. Until now, I still have yet to figure out what's weird about me.
15. One of the people who helped me big time died before I was able to thank him properly; so I kind of included him in my thank-you-speech during my wedding day. After a few days, my extended family said I shouldn't have done that at the time I did it bcuz their tears kept falling on the food they were serving... no wonder we received comments that some of the food during my wedding were too salty!
16. I have learned by experienced that when you're unable to sleep for 4 days straight (96 hrs), your brain starts to play tricks on you. You see dream-like pictures of all sorts of genre--horror, comedy, tragedy, animation, etc.
17. I love poetry. I dabble with it every now and then but I am not good at it (yet). So when I became a Bible translator, I like translating the poetry books best. I shove the narratives to my teammates. hehe
18. I left home when I was 10 until I finished college, coming home only for a few weeks every year. That made me very independent. I even thought when I was in my teens that I don't need anyone. Haha..;) Even now, sometimes I act like it.
19. I don't know why but I am more comfortable with criticisms than praises or appreciations. It must be the culture... :)
20. I watched 5 seasons of the tv series 24 in less than 4 days. Each season has 24 episodes which are at least 44 minutes long. I saw the sixth season two weeks later. My favorite character is Chloe, and my favorite mechanics is the father-daughter relationship of Jack and Kim Bauer.
21. When I was in first grade, I thought that only those who get medals at the end of the school year are the talented students, and the rest are kind of retarded. So I thought I was retarded until I reached 6th grade, when a teacher told me that I write the best compositions: things like 'my unforgettable vacation, my new year's resolution, what I want to be,' and other things like that. Right then, I decided that I want to be a teacher.
22. I find it easier to talk by writing than face to face. So skyping, yahooing and the likes are very useful to me. I don't usually know what to say face to face except to answer questions I'm asked.
23. I am a nocturnal creature. :) I am more alive late at night than early in the morning. I think I was influenced into it. :-) And now I became a pretty bad insomniac...
24. I like to think that the reason God allowed me to really suffer during the time I was translating the book of Lamentations was so that I can translate the heart of the book most effectively. Now, I am scheduled to continue drafting Job, and I am in a situation which would make normal people like us question God for some of the uncertainties we face. Is this a coincidence? We're even studying the book in a Group Bible Study. I think God timed it again so I can carry my cross more faithfully.
25. I blackmail people for fun. ;-) When somebody asks me to read or edit their work, or I am asked for any favor at all (even for a piece of advise), I tell them that only a pint of ice cream, a pizza, french fries, a burger, donuts or whatever I am craving at the moment can fix their work or their problem. So far, only one person gives in every time. Guess who? I think I'm adding one more to the list. And maybe some of the others don't want to be blackmailed anymore so they don't ask anymore favors. LOL. Of course I only do this to those who knew me well.
Comments
I've only read portions of the Fellowship of the Ring but I thought the movie trilogy was really good. But some hard-core LOTR fans disagree. Maybe I should read the whole series of books. :)