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Sta

ff Currents Staff 2012-2013

Charlene Chua

Editor-in-Chief Ronald Ang

Deputy for Currents

Erwin Lim

Writing Editor

Joseph Yap

Writing Editor

Joseph Changco

Writing Editor

Cassandra Wang

Layouting Head

Marc Sy

Deputy for ACLE

John Lemuel Yu

Deputy for Internal Affairs

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Contributors

Joseph Changco

Joseph Yap

Erwin Lim

Cassandra Wang

Mavis Li Liao

Jared Uy

Christopher Ng

Harley Ang

Ysabelle Venice Ponce

Patrick Wong

Richard Lupena

Ryan Sy

Sharmaine Yap

Kathleen Yu

CSA Cat

8 UPCAMP 2012

9 CSA Kicks Of 2012 Application Process

12 Committee Updates

14 Just Another Day in CSA

15 DLSU Swap

CURRENTS

18 5 Tips for Freshies and Freshies-At-Heart

21 Places to eat in UP

24 The Legend of Maginhawa

25 Where things will take you

27 Courses to take

30 Where are they now?

33 An Overweight Guide to: Dropping

the Bomb

35 First Few Weeks of Work

63 Someday

64 Until Proven

65 I Am Your Gift and You Can’t Give Me Back

News Spread

Features

Literary

37 Interview Article of Athletes

45 The Summer Getaway

54 Betts Ong’s Phily’s Cheesesteak Diner

55 So What’s Next for Betts Ong?

57 3-in-1 Cartoon Review

Comics

60 CSA: Through An Outsider’s Perspective

69 Food: A Brief Introduction

71 CSA Cat

July 2012

The Official Publication of the UP Chinese Student Association

Message From The Editor-In-Cheif

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Letter From

THE PRESIDENT

Diversity.

CSA is a diverse org. Outsiders might find this ironic, as it would seem to them that only students of Chinese heritage may apply. Of course, we know that the truth is the oppo-site, and that our org is actually diverse in a special kind of way.

Members from different high schools, colleges, courses and social backgrounds are found in our organization, and somehow, this produces a certain kind of harmony that is unique to UP CSA. It can’t really be described in words, but it’s something you can see both at the tambayan and during CSA events. The smiles of the members, the time allotted for CSA despite the need to walk from a different college, the connection that lasts even until after graduating --it’s this kind of bonding and camaraderie that we have to be proud of and show the applicants.

This diversity is also manifested in the thoughts and ideas our members have. This issue of Currents seems to have a record number of article submissions. I’m really proud of everyone for this effort, because it means we’re taking a more active role in sharing our ideas and making ourselves heard.

Let us take this richness to propel CSA to become a more fun place to be in, a place where we achieve great things while having fun at the same time. Let us get there… to-gether.

Congratulations to the Research and Academics Committee and all contributors for publishing the first issue of Currents this year! May your hard work continue to inspire our members to discover more about themselves and share their ideas. To everyone else, please enjoy the issue! I’m sure you’ll want more after reading this!

Sincerely,

Andrew Vincent S. Yap

President

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Letter From

THE EDITOR Greetings, CSA!

It is the start of yet another school year, and a new year comes with new beginnings! Welcome to the new applicants, and welcome back, CSA! I sincerely hope that everyone enjoys and feels at home in CSA. Another year means another series of awesome CSA events so I do hope that everyone looks forward to this year's fun semstarters, semenders, ACLE, and other org events!

While we look forward to new beginnings, we should always remember everything that brought us here - events and experiences that make up the present CSA what it is today. CSA has gone through a lot throughout the years, and we wish to maintain our momentum as we seek to develop and grow as an organization. That being said, we urge members - both old and new - to contribute in our growth by always giving feedback and suggestions, and by being active members of the organization. And what better way is there to be informed about the or-ganization than to read our own publication!

The theme for this issue of Currents is “Back to School”. The Research and Academics Committee hopes that you find the writeups both fun and exciting! For any feedback or suggestions regarding currents, please feel free to voice out your concerns to the Re-search and Academics Committee members. Also, if any of you are feeling creative, we'd greatly appreciate volunteer writeups or any contributions for the succeeding issues of currents.

I hope that like the previous years, Currents will be a source of joyful laughter, enter-tainment and information to its readers. So read on and enjoy this issue of Currents, and we hope to hear some good raves and reviews from you guys!

Sincerely,

Charlene Lynette Chua

Research and Academics Committee Chairperson

Editor-in-Chief

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.

UPCAMP

2012

By: Joseph Yap

CSA, IE Club (UP Industrial Engineering Club) and Psych Soc (UP Psychology Society) taught high school students every Saturday from June 16 to July 28 to prepare them for the UPCAT. The bridge program called UPCAMP (UP College Admissions and Mastery Pro-gram), covered diverse topics like Al-gebra, Chemistry and Filipino. There were 10 sections with 159 stu-dents in total from different schools, like Don A. Roces, Sr. Science-Technology High School, Ramon Mag-saysay High School and Manuel G. Araullo High School. They had 2 to 3 classes from 8:30am to 1:00pm, with a merienda break from 10:15 to 10:30. Subject heads, teachers and advisors came from the three partnering or-ganizations. CSA's volunteers taught General Science, Reading Comprehen-sion and Grammar, and the heads of these subjects were Mario Onglao, Cassie Wang, and me respectively.

Near the end of most classes, students shared their answers or said, "Ooooh," to express their understanding of teachers' explanations. Sometimes they asked the volunteers about their degree programs (courses) or about their lives in UP. Those scenes are evidences of the life-changing power of UPCAMP. UPCAMP (then named CJSS) started on July 2002 by IE Club and received national recognition. On its 11th year, IE Club part-nered with CSA and Psych Soc to make the project successful.

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CSA Kicks Off 2012 Application Process By: Christopher Ng

Last June 30, CSA held its 49th year ac-quaintance party in San Juan to welcome its newest batch of applicants for the aca-demic year 2012-13. 57 applicants out of the 100 or so students who have so far ap-plied to the organization attended this year’s acquaintance party. Applicants ranged from a number of colleges from UP with most applicants coming from the Col-lege of Engineering, at a total of 30 Engi-neering majors out of the more than 100 students who have applied.

The acquaintance party was headed by the Membership Committee and its head, CSA Vice President Sheila Erica Tan. “I want them to feel at home and not like the ap-plication process is a burden to them” said Tan, after being asked what her hopes for the application process were for this year. Tan was the former deputy of the Mem-bership committee under the previous ad-ministration and is familiar with the work-ings of the application process.

However, Tan’s heading of the member-ship committee does not come without its pitfalls as the Membership Committee has long sustained attacks from various

critics in the organization who feel that the committee wields too much indiscrim-inate power when it comes to the applica-tion process.

“I feel scared and excited at the same time, scared that I might not really do a good job as the head of the Membership Committee, and excited kasi first time ko as a head of this committee, first time na ako ang bahala sa applicants” expressed Tan after the acquaintance party, which can be considered a successful event based on the attendance of both appli-cants and members.

“You’re a very diverse bunch, and we’re excited to have you guys help the CSA family grow. CSA’s a lot of fun. I’ve been around since my second year and I’m still here. I’m sure the other older members can say the same. As for the members, make the applicants feel welcome, and I’m sure we’re going to have an exciting semester ahead of us” greeted Andrew Vincent Yap, President of CSA, to the ap-plicants through a supposedly live Skype video call. He later followed at the event.

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Out of all the applicant’s high schools, the one that had the largest number of appli-cants was the Immaculate Conception Acad-emy in Greenhills, San Juan, with 20 ICAns applying for the organization. It’s no wonder then that female applicants far outnumber the male applicants, with 56 girls and only 36 boys. Asked to comment on this, Yap said in jest, “I guess it’s safe to say that everyone’s excited to welcome the applicants.” This ex-citement could be seen through the cheering of the attendees of the acquaintance party as games were held to help break the ice amongst everyone.

Out of the 57 applicants who attended, all were able to acquire buddies, with an addi-tional seven people who bid through proxies. Buddy bidding this year was fierce as usual, with numerous members being bought for the maximum bid of 5,000 buddy points. This trend of extremely high bids first began dur-ing the acquaintance party of 2005, when a member was bid for the highest amount ever seen at the time, around six times the previ-ous record, resulting in new regulations for buddy bidding thereafter.

Tan, upon ending the acquaintance party, said that she hoped “everything goes smoothly and that the applicants have fun while doing the whole application process, na sana walang magdefer sa kanila and *that they+ finish the whole application process as a strong and bonded batch.” CSA has boast-ed an active membership of around 100 members for the past three years.

Tan hopes that from this group of applicants, many pass and become active members of the organization. “Hopefully in the future, sana maging active sila if ever maging members sila, and maybe part of our next Execomm.”

Comic by Harley Ang

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Meanwhile at the poolside during akwe...

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Membership Committee: Sheila Tan

Hey guys! How's your semester so far? The start of a new school year brings new apps for us to mingle with! Yehey! Talk to them, play with them, get to know them or basically do anything with them (as allowed by law)! Haha! The App's Week will be coming soon so encourage your buddies to go! We'll be giving away lots of points to help you earn those 5000 points! Even those without buddies can still enjoy the myriad of games and activities we'll be having. As a final reminder, our job is to encourage people to get into the org not to ease their way in. Take care of the applicants and show to them that CSA is not an easy org to join but an org worth joining.

Cultural and Socials Committee: Jeremy Kho

This semester, CulSoc is proud to present four highly anticipated events of the organiza-tion. Ready your aprons and woks as we celebrate a night of the senses. Aromatic dishes prepared by our very own await, as entertaining films serve our eyes and ears. There’s still one sense left, and it’s up to you on how to use it. Follow this up by taking the back seat aboard our gastronomical tour of Chinatown. Open to participants outside of CSA for the first time this year, this event guarantees you will be left exclaiming only one word, “Binomnom!” Looking to knock off the pounds you gained with all the foodtrip-pin? Or are you simply looking to have a good time with friends? It’s time to turn up the heat and play for pride and glory in the piloting sportsfest of CSA. Cap it all off with the bigger and better Mid-Autumn Festival as we aim to bring CSA to new heights. Aspire. Innovate. Experience.

Research and Academics Committee: Char Chua

Guys! I hope you are enjoying the first issue of Currents! :) For comments and suggestions, feel free to contact me. If you guys want to contribute article for the next issue, you may also approach me. ACLE will be on Aug 22 (Wed!) see you there!

Committee Updates

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Finance Committee: Erica Lim

Before anything else, I want to thank all of you for participating in our Video Viral Chari-ty Event: Don’t Leave Me Hangin’! It was for a good cause and I hope you all enjoyed “hi-fiving” with different people. Haha! Thank you also for all the rummageables you donated and heartfelt appreciation to all those who helped out during the rummage sale last July 14, 2012. As usual, it generated quite an amount for our funds. Yehey! Watch out for one more rummage sale this semester on the Saturday of September 8, 2012. The venue has yet to be decided so please wait for further announcements. We also have an upcoming raffle draw event for charity and we welcome anyone who can help us sell raffle tickets! By the way, from now until the end of the semester, we will be having auditions for those who would like to participate in the CSA Choir for our upcoming Christmas Carol-ing in December! Just approach Erica, Pam, or Xavier if you guys want to audition. All you need to do is prepare a song (preferably a Christmas song) and sing it to us. Yes, just that! So what are you all waiting for, audition na!

Externals Committee: Jeremy Pow

ASIAN FOOD FAIR 2012 - This semester, UP CSA aims to foster cultural diversity in the Uni-versity as well as promote Asian Festival Month by hosting an Asian Food Fair, in partner-ship with UP Tomokai, UP Arirang, and the International Club of UP. It will be on August 22, 2012 in the Palma Hall Parking Lot. See you guys there!

AFiCS: Bettina Tan

First of all, thank you to everyone who participated in the DLSU swap! I hope you guys made new friends and enjoyed the fun activities J. For those who missed out on that, don’t worry, there will be another swap on August 27. It will be bigger and better, so watch out for that. If you guys remember, I mentioned during the first GA that there will be an entrepreneurial competition hosted by Chinoy TV. So for those who want to hone their business skills, or be seen on TV, gather your friends, form a team and stay tuned for updates J. That’s all for AFICS!

Thank you for all your love and support <3

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Setting: June 30, 2012. Happy Meal Project Day.

ActiveMem: Hey there. It’s been a while since I

last saw you! Why don’t you tambay anymore?

I’m here everyday! Well, how was your day?

CluelessMem: Nothing new, busy as usual. Just

dropped by today because of a free cut.

ActiveMem: Must be a sad life. Anyway, it’s Hap-

py Meal Project day! Did you order anything from

Sec? I’m waiting for them to come back from

ArkiVickie, really hungry now.

CluelessMem: Wait, what’s that? There’s some-

thing like that now? And no, I didn’t order, even if

I knew about it I probably wouldn’t. It’s just their

scheme to raise even more funds.

ActiveMem: Hey come on, don’t take it that way.

Hmm, I guess you didn’t attend last year’s presen-

tation of GPOAs, that was when our current Sec

Chairperson (Gail Cheng) originally announced the

project?

CluelessMem: Yeah, I wasn’t able to attend. Wait,

so where were we again?

ActiveMem: As I was saying, the Happy Meal Pro-

ject is basically a once a month food delivery ser-

vice by Sec Members are given the chance to se-

lect their preferred date and restaurant via an

online poll in CSA’s Facebook page. The one with

the most votes will be the restaurant of choice.

CluelessMem: I see…I can just go out, buy food, and eat by myself. That would be more conven-ient

for me. I mean, why was it even created?

ActiveMem: Answer my question first. Have you been to any of our lunch outings in Katipunan or just even inside UP?

CluelessMem: Not really, once only I think.

ActiveMem: Exactly. So do you see my point now?

CluelessMem: Still no, what’s your angle? In Eng-lish please…

ActiveMem: Fine fine, Sec basically brought the food trips and org bonding to us in the comforts of our tambayan. Just order online, and when it comes the next day, BAM! You instantly get to know the people around you when you share your food. It works like magic.

CluelessMem: Oh, you’re right! Normally I don’t understand the mechanics of this org thing, but I do now. I’m sorry but I got to go, still have my last class. I’ll definitely be looking forward to next month’s Happy Meal Project. Thanks by the way! *troll face*

ActiveMem: See you soon, RareMem! Hey, Mr. SecComm member, where’s my food?

Mr. SecComm: That’s strange, I put it beside you while you were chatting with RareMem.

ActiveMem: So that’s why…. :|

Just Another Day at CSA: Happy Meals for Happy Times

= Happy Members and Almost Always Happy Memories

By: Mavis Li Liao

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Last July 7, 2012, ENGLICOM hosted “La Salle Swap: Socializing with Anticipated Partners.” Schools part of the Alliance of Filipino-Chinese Students (UPD, DLSU, ADMU, UST, UA&P) were all invited to this fun-filled day.

Participants met up at the Enrique Razon Sports Complex at 9am, but because the area was generally unfamiliar to most of the par-ticipants, the event officially started around 10:30am. Things started off with a prayer, fol-lowed by a series of icebreakers. The first ice-breaker was a human bingo game. Everyone had to find people who matched descriptions, like Lives in Batangas, Can Lick Own Nose, and Can Dance Sexy and I Know It, then have them sign their name on a paper. The next game was “Will You Marry Me?” The host of the game told participants to ask their crush, and some actually did! After everyone had their fun, it was time for the much awaited campus tour. Everyone was shown the ins and outs of DLSU. With a solar car workshop, a clean and air-conditioned canteen, and a homey library (with a coffee shop!), DLSU is truly a magnificent place to study in.

The tour ended around lunch time, with eve-ryone going their separate ways for lunch. For lunch, the facilitators recommended places to eat around Taft, Zark’s Burgers and SEx. When people arrived at Zark’s Burgers, there was an incredibly long line that zigzagged along Taft. Apparently, there was a promo that day, so in the end, people decided to go eat at Sinangag Express (SEx).

After lunch, it was time for the amazing race.

Teams were arranged so that at least one member of the team coming from each school, and the race was off. The amazing race tested teamwork, pa-tience, endurance, and overall determi-nation of each team. The most memo-rable part of the amazing race was the opportunity to try out archery. Of course the teams weren’t just given bows and arrows then started firing to their hearts content. DLSU’s ENGLICOM managed to solicit the help of the DLSU archery team. With this, everyone was taught by real archers. Most of the par-ticipants were first timers so the whole experience was truly enjoyable, espe-cially the 18 floor climb up the Andrew Building.

Overall, the event was truly a success and will definitely be an unforgettable experience. This was certainly a won-derful way to get to know people from different school. Kudos to ENGLICOM for a wonderful job with handling the swap.

La Salle Swap

By: Erwin Lim

Special

Thanks to

Mrs. Lily

Salonga

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Being a freshman at the University of the Philippines can be difficult. With the gigantic Being a freshman at the University of the Philippines can be difficult. With the gigantic campus, the unhelpful street signs and the occasional jerknozzle who intentionally mis-campus, the unhelpful street signs and the occasional jerknozzle who intentionally mis-directs you, UPD life really is a jungle. And that’s even without taking academics into directs you, UPD life really is a jungle. And that’s even without taking academics into account. Fortunately for you freshies, there’s a few things you can do to make life in account. Fortunately for you freshies, there’s a few things you can do to make life in UP more bearable. Don’t expect help with acads, though, I can barely help myself in UP more bearable. Don’t expect help with acads, though, I can barely help myself in that department.that department.

555 Tips for Freshies and

the Freshies-at-Heart

By: Harley Ang

Photo by Joseph Cheng

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Walk!Walk!Walk! 444 So you’ve got a class at the Math Building, you’d think that the logical de-

cision is to take the Toki jeep. Well, not exactly. Walking may not exactly be ap-pealing, especially under the sun, but it does have its perks. First of all, by walk-ing, you burn a lot of calories. You’ll be thanking me for this once you enter your senior year and can still see your toes. Second, by walking from building to build-ing, you gain a better idea of the inside of campus. You don’t get as much knowledge of the intricacies of the campus by driving or by riding a jeep. Lastly, it may not seem to cost too much to ride the jeep or a car but it all adds up. Plus, saving on pamasahe helps with…

The biggest difference between high school and college is that in college, you can miss class several times and profs won’t even bat an eyelid unless you surpass the maximum number of allowed cuts. Still, it’s not such a good idea to max out your allotted number of cuts. Aside from missing one and a half hour’s worth of class (which can be a lot considering there’s only two periods a week), there are a couple other reasons not to cut. The future is a complex and mysteri-ous thing and for eons, mankind has sought to understand it. Unfortunately, we still know next to nothing about what tomorrow will bring. You don’t know what may happen in the future and you might need some of those cuts for something more important than eating at Manang’s. Oh, and there’s the fact that some profs, like it or not, are going to base at least part of your grade on attendance. Being in class will let them form a more positive or, at least, an existent image of you which can help when they’re assigning final grades. Plus, some profs actually give bonuses for perfect attendance, so, it might be a better idea to sit it out.

Don’t Cut!Don’t Cut!Don’t Cut! 555

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Save Coins!Save Coins!Save Coins! 333 College is very different from high school. You don’t wear uniforms, your class-

mates are different in every subject, and more often than not, you’re going to have readings. True, you can get change when you pay for readings, but it’s really more convenient to pay exact change. Not only is it faster, but it helps you to cut down on unnecessary loose change. Yes, I am telling you to save change to avoid excess change. Coins are heavy, you know? And Xerox places will most likely give you change in coins. By paying in exact change, you save yourself from the burden of carrying ap-proximately 262,342 25-centavo coins. I know it’s tempting, but there are easier ways to work out.

Eat (Well)!Eat (Well)!Eat (Well)! 222 The sheer variety of food available in UPD is staggering. Not only does practi-

cally every building have its own cafeteria, but there are countless stands and ven-dors scattered around campus. With all the choices available, it’s important to keep in mind to eat well. While it may be tempting to have Lucky Me for lunch everyday, that’s just not going to work. It would be like wearing your own unlicensed nuclear accelerator on your back. Sure it keeps everything running for a while but the crap inside it will kill you. If you ever take the time to read the ingredients, you’ll see that they are full of stuff with more than five syllables that are unpronounceable. That should give you a fairly good idea of its quality because generally, the fewer syllables in something, the better it is. Example: cake. Just because you have greater freedom in choosing your food doesn’t mean that you should forget to eat healthy.

Meet People!Meet People!Meet People! 111 So now, you’re walking on your way to class with coins in your pocket and a

bag of carrot sticks. What’s next for you? Well, of course the next logical step is to

meet people. No one is an island, so you’d better get used to social interaction.

There are all sorts of people within the university and a lot of them will be people

that you’re going to have to rely on, be it for information, group works or just plain

staying sane. You’re going to spend a lot of time in this place over the next few

years, so you might as well not be alone in that time.

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Places to Eat in UP

By: Cassandra Leigh Wang

A product of the highly successful formula of good food and

good ambience, Chocolate Kiss (or ChocKiss) has served many generations of UP citizenry over the years. The curtains, tablecloth and dim lighting give the restau-rant a homey yet classic look. They are known for their delicious cakes. They have the most delectable-looking specimen of a carrot cake I’ve ever seen. They have the kind of menu you’d expect of a pretty restaurant with tablecloths: pasta, spiced and marinated meats, thoroughly be-chef-ed vegetables, golden scoops of mashed potatoes, etc. The portions are always very generous. I have never walked out of there without feeling like a barrel on legs – and this is a good thing. One of their trademarks is their famous bottomless iced tea served with an adorable pitcher of honey. Do not skimp on the honey. In fact, some people go there and order that alone. Drop by with a laptop and a plan to chill in style.

Chocolate Kiss

There's not much to experience

here, you go in to eat, you go out when you're done. The atmosphere isn't conducive

for “just hanging out”. It's always cramped inside and I think the diner smell sticks to

you after a certain amount of time under exposure. Despite all this, it remains a cam-

pus favorite because, at the end of the day, all that matters is a full belly and a happy,

non-emaciated wallet. Their menu is very Filipino-breakfast-y and they're most fa-

mous for their beef tapa over fried rice. The recommended way to eat it is to drench

it in vinegar. DLSU and UST have their own breakfast-y, "silog"-centric diners too

which are parallels of our own Rodics, so tasting a Rodic's tapsi meal makes for a good

ice breaker next time you come across people from those universities. Try not to turn

it into an "our tapsi is better than your tapsi" discussion on that front.

Rodic’s Diner

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Isaw is skewered, barbequed innards, just in case you, dear posh reader, have

no clue. There are lots of isawans in UP but this place is the most famous and the

most prosperous. Mr. Larry, the humble proprietor, owns more barbeque carts than

you have fingers. I don't know where he puts them all, but the cart most people talk

about when they say Mang Larry's is the one near Kalayaan Residence Hall. Bring

your friends when you try this place out because socializing while waiting in line is

half the fun, and staring into space alone amongst a crowd of visiting Ateneans and

Miriam girls chattering about petty first world things while waiting in line is no fun at

all. And bring your own water too. Apparently, drinks are more expensive than the

isaw.

Mang Larry's Isawan

It's a homey little shack with a homey

array of home-cooked goodness. Most people go there for their famous 25Php pork

barbecue. The barbeque-salted egg-tomato combination is a crowd favorite. They

have other yummy familiar things like bangus belly and fried lumpia. I remember

having some sort of stuffed shellfish there a couple of times too, I kid you not. I al-

ways get their syrup-steeped banana for a guilt-free dessert, because, no matter how

drenched it is in sugar, it must still be healthy because it is a banana and not a donut

and if you disagree I don’t care. There's also almost always a dirty ice cream cart

nearby as an alternative palette cleanser. There are seats inside the shack but to get

the full experience of Beach House dining, once must find a place on some rickety ta-

ble set outside, right under the trees. If you can't find a table, unfold one yourself

(they're the green ones stacked against the shack) and grab some chairs and you're

good to go. Now all you have to do is watch out for pretty bugs and ugly bugs while

you dine with your sun-dappled friends.

Beach House

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The quirk about this place is that it is somebody's actual house. When

you go in, smack dab among the living room sofas, the television set and

household knickknacks are the long tables and benches for community eating.

The usual cafeteria counter for picking ulam is found at one end of the room

and people queue up just like in normal cafeterias. They then find seats

somewhere in the house. Some would go for the sofas and watch TV, others

stick to the benches (likely because the sofas are full) and some just order

takeout because it’s quite impossible to find a seat at times. The whole set-up

looks like a happy family reunion of a clan of young people with cousins in

cousin-cliques. You're seated so near everybody you can't help but hear

snatches of conversation and keep up to date on gossip on people you don't

know. It’s quite interesting. The menu is typical Filipino fare displayed and

ready for scooping: siomai, vegetables, barbeque, pork stuff, chicken stuff etc.

You can't dispute the authenticity of their "home-cooking" claim. Outside,

they have a shake stand that's always queued up at peak eating hours. This

establishment isn't a hangout because ethics require you to leave as soon as

you've finished to make way for other customers. But what you can do to

take make your visit more than eat-and-run is strike up a conversation with a

fellow customer. When you don't get snubbed, chances are you've just met a

very interesting person over manang’s liempo.

Lutong Bahay

The Italian-themed menu comes as a pleasant surprise in this area of instant noodle

and sandwich booths. The food is served to you fresh because it is cooked right after

you yell your order. They yell your order back when they finish, so it’s a give and take

thing. It's best to come as a group because you'll have to wait for the food to cook or

for the food to even get to the cooking pan if the queue is long. There are green

benches frequented by war-hero-looking cats, they'll disdainfully let you have a seat.

The menu was made to fill you up for more hours of studying so you won't want for

stomach satiation.

Long Island Pizza Pasta

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Deeply rooted in Philippine food culture and his-tory, Filipino ancestors have held their feasts on these streets since the time of the great Mactan hero, Lapu-lapu. Though the tribesmen-filled green fields are now a thing of the past, the spirit of fiesta or “piesta”, as some may call it, still resonates throughout the streets of Magi-nahawa.

Today, Maginhawa is the home of a variety of restaurants that are easily within a hungry uni-versity student’s radar. I have chosen the poetic form of communication to express this fact since I feel that this best encapsulates not only the beauty of the spirit of “piesta” but also the unheard rhythms of Maginhawa Street.

The Legend of Maginhawa By: Patrick Wong

Feel like Filipino? Go for Pino,

Tomato Kick’s the favorite pick,

Crazy Katsu will delight you,

Kiss the Cook will surprise you,

Moonleaf? Moonleaf!

Blacksoup Café will make your day

But don’t neglect Burger Project,

Friuli Trattoria, Juan’s Cocina

Van Gogh is Bipolar,

Bring your car, malayo

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Welcome to the University of the Philippines Diliman! You have just been accepted to one of the, if not the, most prestigious universities in our humble abode of a country. You’ve heard the stories: terror profs, long lines, insane tests, etc. But you toughed it out in high school. Heck, you probably breezed through it while managing to keep up a decent grade up until graduation. So what does UP have on you? What’s to be afraid of in this not-so-intimidating environment that teems with a seemingly infinite amount of opportunities for you and your little friends?

Apparently, everything.

The worst of the worst can happen to you in this wild, wild world we call our school. Countless mishaps and misfortunes have befallen our fellow Iskos and Iskas for many years (probably since the dawn of man), and let me tell you right now, it’s going to take a ton of blood, sweat, and tears just to survive through your first year in UP. We’re not even taking into account your acads (unless you’re that kind of person who just aces every subject without even opening their textbooks, in which case I will hunt you down and duplicate your brain cells for myself), love life (for those of you ex-tremely

Where Things Will Take You

By: Ysabelle Venice Ponce

Photo by Joseph Cheng

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day. You silently curse yourself as you leave the room, having wasted almost an hour waiting for nothing, and as you head home you suddenly recall the reason be-hind the free cut—a 5-page essay to be submitted at the professor’s office by the end of the day. No wonder you felt you forgot something at home as you hurried to school this morning.

Yes, the worst of the worst can happen to you in this wild, wild world, but the best of the best can also happen to you in this amazing university. You just have to wait and see where things will take you.

lucky enough to find love in a place like this; trust me, I’ve tried and failed a cou-ple of times), and health issues (if you thought you already had a broken body clock in high school, UP is going to make you forget the definition of “sleep”, “bed”, “happiness”, etc.).

Imagine yourself waking up at 9am for your 10am class (because this is college and you are finally granted access to awe-some schedules like that). But wait a mi-nute, your class starts at 10am on a Wednesday. Today is Thursday. And on a Thursday, your class starts at an unholy hour-7am (because you can’t win ‘em all). You have just missed one entire subject, and a possible graded surprise quiz, and are in the process of unintentionally cutting your second subject for the day. Dazed and confused, you quickly wash up and get to school just in time to attend class for the last 10 minutes. By this time, the professor is shooting you so many dirty looks that they should enter the Guinness Book of World Records for it. Class ends, people shuffle out; you’re still not sure where in the world your next class is so you whip out your trusty Form 5A, which you accidentally drop into a puddle of God-knows-what, and find out that next up is the boring class with the boring prof and the boring classmates (by this point, you’re wondering to yourself what the chances are that you ended up in a class with absolutely no eye candy whatsoever). You grudgingly head to your class, take a seat in the corner of the classroom, and wait for the prof to arrive. Five minutes, fifteen minutes, thirty. Where in the world can your prof be? Class was supposed to start forty-five minutes ago. And then you remember—free cut to-day.

Photo by Joseph Cheng

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Everyone knows that the University of the Philippines is regarded as one of the State’s premier educational centers. Its top-notch professors and carefully de-signed curriculums make it second to none. And apart from the promise of ex-cellent education, the students are also granted an academic freedom as well to choose whatever classes interest them!

General elective courses or GE’s are the equivalents of the “minor subjects” we have taken in our high school days. Es-sential to our development as the future leaders of this country, it is necessary to broaden our perspectives and shape our thinking by taking these GE’s. GE classes may be classified as: Arts and Humanities (AH), Social Science and Philosophy (SSP), or Math, Science and Technology (MST). Every degree has its own number of re-quired GE’s to take under each specific field, as well as some units of Philippine Studies1 in order to graduate. And alt-hough the freshmen this year already have some of their GE’s pre-selected, they have still been granted two-three free GE classes per field.

As a general notion, all of us UP students have the capability to get all uno’s we de-serve. But not everyone knows about

what available courses are out there or even what are even the more uno-able ones. This GE guide will only suggest cer-tain GE’s you might opt to take, but it will not ascertain you the true kind of workload or grade you might get upon taking these courses.

For starters, let’s talk about the Arts and Humanities courses you can take. The-se courses are mostly covered by the col-leges CAL, CFA, and CSSP2. Comm 3, Kom 1, and Eng 1 subjects are some of the easier courses for AH. All you really have to do is speak well and the teacher will favor you. (Ergo, avoid the Filipino class if you have an accent like me.) Other classes have lots of readings like Art Stud 1 and 2, CW 10, Fil 40,Eng 10 and 11 and all Pan Pil’s. If you read up on them, these classes give you high grades and they also open your mind to new cultures and arts, albeit the semi-heavy workload. But for the true crème de la crème of AH courses we have found that FA 30, FA 28, Theatre 12, Film 10, and MuD1, and Mul 9 take the cake. These clas-ses do not only promise you the full experi-ence of the different arts but a whole lot of fun as well! Under these classes, you really feel yourself learning a lot more about what it means to be an artist by having to actually make art, be on stage or play mu-sic.

Courses

to Take

By: Ysabelle

Venice Ponce

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sic. Every AH is already relatively easy so why not go for the ones that truly call for your creative side?

SSP’s however aren’t as easy an uno as AH’s. They require you to really think and analyze stuff, which in my opinion is too much work for only a three-unit course. However, if you really are into the whole thinking thing take Geog 1, Philo 11, Socio 10, and the math-y Econ 11, more so the classes in Filipino like Kas 1 and 2. Upper classmen might disagree with Geog 1, Philo 11 and Socio 10, but they just really had nice professors whom I won’t mention who gave them generous grades. Around UP, you might hear that some courses are very uno-able, but for SSP’s you really need to look out for the profs first. I took a class under a not-so-great prof and got only 1.75. I always felt tense in his class for the fear of his pop quizzes. It was a horror.

So what about the rest of us already has-sled students? Well, there is always the SSP courses like Anthro 10, Lingg 1, Philo 1, Philo 10, and the SocSci’s. These classes are one of the more light loaded SSP’s that won’t drain out your brain too much. They also let you appreciate the different social sciences more. But really, my biggest ad-vice for SSP’s (and all GE’s really) is to look out for the right prof to suit your learning style. Most SSP’s are conducted by the CSSP and some Econ’s are offered by the SoE3.

As a special mention, the classes SEA 30, L Arch 1 are two courses you can that fall un-der several GE categories. SEA 30 can be credited as an AH or an SSP, while L Arch 1 can satisfy one AH, SPP, or MST require-ment (and can also be credited to fill 3 units of Phil Stud!) These courses are good

units of Phil Stud!) These courses are good to take when you think you might be at a loss of units in the upcoming sems.

Finally, the last kind of GE you need to take are MST’s. Only the colleges of Eng’g and CS4 offer these courses. Now, you can’t be too selective when it comes to MST’s as some colleges ban certain cours-es because they are deemed as too easy for their students. One example is that Bio students aren’t allowed to take Chem 1, Math 1, Math 2, and Bio 1. This already would take out a huge selection from the limited options of the MST pool, and they still have to fill their required MST’s. An-other factor as why you can’t be too picky is that MST’s are always on a high demand –especially the good (and easy) ones like Physics 10, Math 1, Math 2, MBB 1, Geol 1, MS 1, STS, and, for some, Chem 1. As a UP student, most MST’s are fairly easy, as we have already taken a lot of the basics from our high school days, but that should be no reason to slack off in any MST as a lot of the teachers only grade objectively. Unlike the AH’s and SSP’s, MST’s are more objective with their grading system and they don’t really give squat about your opinion. On that note, you wouldn’t want an MST’s that is either work demanding or they have too much in-depth information and not enough relevance to your lives. These MST’s are GE 10, EEE 10, ES 10 and Bio 1. Most of the people I know who took these courses either got really low and were really desperate for those units. But then again, some people told me that they actually enjoyed these courses and got a good enough grade. Whatever the case, for MST’s how well you do on the test will really equal your final grade so chose an MST that you know well.

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GE courses grant you the academic freedom to chose what you want to learn more about. Don’t waste that chance to take a class just because it’s uno-able, but rather pick one that can give you a wide array of information that you can really appreciate. But before I end this GE guide, here are some tips to help you find the right class for you. One is that you should research on your curriculum and find out which GE’s you can and cannot take. Find out how many units you need to fill for each field and how many Philippine Studies units that comes along with it. Then think about what classes might interest you. From there, research on the best profs you can take under those classes via the Internet or asking your up-perclassmen. Finally, once you have been granted the class, don’t waste it by cutting or failing your academics. You might as well have just left the slot open for another will-ing hopeful who really wanted it.

I hope this guide has given you a better idea view of the options you have for your GE courses! Always remember that it is not the measure of your grades, but your edu-cation that makes you the smarter man.

*1+ 9 units of Philippine Studies is the usual requirement for a student to graduate. Some AH and SSP courses credit 3 units to fill the required number of Philippine Studies

*2+ College of Fine Arts, College of Arts and Letters, and College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, respectively

*3+ School of Economics

*4+ College of Science

Photo by Joseph Cheng

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CSA is an organization filled with different kinds of people, with all sorts of goals and dreams in life. So what happened to all the members that have graduated? Mr. Acads went around and asked some of the alumni. He got what he could, and without fur-ther ado, is happy to present, “Where are they now?”

Where are they now?

By: Erwin Lim 4

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I am an Actuarial Analyst at Sunlife Financial. I will take the Actuarial Exams soon and pass. I am badass. Lol. And read about what an actuary does. I'm tired of answering people what we do. We are mandated by law!

– Keith Reyes, Graduated BS Math, 2012

I'm currently in/on my 4th year of medical school at the UP College of Medi-cine. It's definitely hard work, with long hours and little sleep, but it's worth it!

- Kimberly Mae Ong, Graduated BS Psychology,2009

These days I play computer games, read books, sleep, eat, watch TV, and not worry about homework and stuff like you guys do. Yeah, you guys reading this. (I'm kidding of course. Mostly.) Not that I don't have I job, I do.

– Dennis David, Graduated BS Mathematics, 2012

I am now living in Fremont, California. I am working in a private Christian school here. I work as a part time Junior high teacher (teaching Pre-Algebra, Algebra, History, and Yearbook) and a part time administrative assistant. For the next school year, I requested to teach Kindergarten (yey!). I am still work-ing on my permanent credentials so that I can teach in a public school (where the pay and the benefits are better) lol.

– Joyce Tan, Graduated Bachelor in Elementary Education Major in Special

Education, 2010

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I graduated just last April 2012. (On time, cheers!) Since then, I've bummed

around the house in my pajamas for a good number of weeks, learned to cook

many fascinating things, knit, and have finally caught up on tv and sleep, after

a four-year deficit. I've also accepted a job at GMA News, as a News Producer--

basically a reporter, but for the online arm of the channel. These are exciting

times for a journalist, but I can't really tell you what I do, or I have to shoot

you. (I kid. I can't tell, cause I haven't started. I've been promised countless

hours of phone calls and knocking patiently on sources' doors though. Wish

me luck, I begin beating the pavement and looking for news in a week's time.)

For now, I teach a once-a-week creative writing seminar in English and Filipino

to a bunch of home-schooled high school kids.

-Patricia Denise Chiu, Graduated BA Journalism, 2012

During the day, my full-time job as a coordinator for the Confucius Institute at

the Ateneo de Manila University keeps me occupied. Being a coordinator

means that I have to communicate in Chinese and be a jack of all trades. At

night, I busy myself with my online tutorial business.

–Harrell Wong, Graduated BS Community Nutrition, 2011

Look forward to another installment of “Where are they

now?” This is Mr. Acads, signing off!

In September, I'm going to take up my Master's degree in Mechanical Engi-

neering at Northwestern University in Chicago. But as of this moment, I'm just

bumming.

- Dennis Ivan Diaz, Graduated BS Applied Physics, 2011

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My name is RC Lupena, and I eat. A lot.

If you have yet to notice, I am a man of robust measures, a walk-ing monument and living proof that fat people aren’t extinct. As such, I maintain my shapely (a circle is a shape) figure by keeping up with all five of my meals: Breakfast, brunch, lunch, meal-because-I-have-a-break-right-now and dinner. However, when a meal has been finished and my trash strategically placed near someone else’s so he has to throw it, I am forced to reckon with a force so unimaginably omnipotent that I have no choice but to bend before it: dropping the bomb.

Dropping the bomb is no glorious subject and sadly, I will not sug-ar-coat it (sorry Edge). However, I will be the man- YOUR man –to cut the s**t and bring you the scoop.

I. Preparation

In the Good Ole Times, the ancient Aztec people would pick decent human sacrifices to their deity, Quetzacoatl. Quetzacoatl, being a fickle bipolar god, much like most (no offense K) would cast fiery death upon the Aztecs if they offer a bad sacrifice. Much like these men of sound logic, you must pick the sacrifices you cast into your stomach lest you rain some fiery death in a UP bathroom.

Knowledge of thyself is always the best weapon to equip in this scenario. Go to a dietician, begrudg-ingly pay him more than his due and ask what kind of diet you should participate in or what kind of eating lifestyle you should lead.

Failing that, there is always research in food. In the Main Library of UP, there are several books which show the nutrition contents of food such as Campbell’s- oh who am I kidding, we have Wikipedia and Google! We are men and women of science who sit down on our fat butts googling and searching- for science! Knowing how to efficiently search for healthy kinds of food will be easy enough, it’s trans-lating ampalaya or singkamas that will prove difficult. Good luck.

If you’re in this paragraph then I can only imagine that you have failed googling for “healthy food.” Well, there has always been a secret technique passed down through the ages; a technique created by Tibetan monks, mastered by ninjas and perfected by Paris Hilton. It’s fasting. Basically, you just go to school, fast forward through the day normally except you don’t eat. The plus side is that you’re not exposed to any threat of launching the nuke, you don’t spend and you have a lot more free time on your hands. The down side is you don’t eat.

Here’s a good tip because I didn’t know where to put it: CASAA food is not that bad. If you’re reading this then you’ve already eaten enough CASAA food to build up a resistance to cockroach. It’s the free water you want to watch out for.

II. Confrontation

The walls of Troy have fallen.

An Overweight Guide to:

Dropping the Bomb

By RC Lupena

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If you’re reading this then you are at DEFCON 1902837985891273. Do not panic. Stand up (sitting down actually tricks the mind that you’re on the porcelain throne) and cross your legs (so people may be aware of your situation). Prepare your equipment for the greatest battle to be waged on the tiled walls of the UP bathrooms.

Since the beginning of UP history, there have been two great commodities in UP: blue books and tissue paper. These two are acceptable weaponry in the task of cleaning your latch after the explosives have cleared the way. Let’s assume that you pick tissue paper (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) or some friend lends you some. The next task is picking the battlefield. This requires further computation.

L = (b)(x – E) / f

Let L = time you have left before everything is lost… in your undies

x = time at the moment

E = time you ate the food in suspect.

f = food multiplier (milk & lactose intolerant people set f approaching to infinity)

b = bowel strength (measured with the how-many-days-you-don’t-use-the-CR test)

Now, after computing for L, you may judge for yourself where the bombing can be done. The unlucky few with L approaching zero, must resort to running (teleporting/blinking whenever possible) to the nearest bathroom and hope to the high heavens that you don’t miss.

I will now discuss some other places for people with luxury of a sufficiently large L. Freshmen, flocking to the Mecca of the AS lobby have the option of choosing any bathroom in the Palma Hall. It is highly recommended that the person choose one of the upper floor bathrooms as these provide solace, se-renity and frankly somewhere you can blare your bombing sounds at.

The MSI (Marine Science Institute) also has seen good reviews due to the building not quite frequent-ed by the UP populace. The Math building has also enhanced its bathroom facilities and you are wel-come to take a whirl at those bad boys. The first floor Econ bathroom brags class and posh despite see-ing quite a lot of use. However, the best bathroom to pick is one that you are comfortable with, one which you have explored and probably wiped the toilet cover.

Sounds generated during a bombing run are hard to silence. The easiest way is to time your nukes in accordance with your coughing. The coughing masks not only the initial launch but also the splash when the package hits the waters. What one can’t silence however is the smell. This riddle has eluded man time and time again. I journeyed to the Five Elements Mountain and begged the elderly sage for his advice on how to conceal this monstrous odor. His thousand year old eyes shifted to me and he whispered, with his dying breath he said: “All things shall pass.”

III. Recuperation

The greatest feeling is always after the worst. This is, at the very least, a bad generalization of events but it does serve as a good reminder for this situation. Always remember to wipe your slate clean for what is done cannot be undone. Flush your problems away and watch out for any that resurface. Fan the fumes, close your belt and hold your head up high for you are now as light as my wallet on a Friday night.

There are many things and indeed many ways to conclude this s****y essay but I prefer to leave you with hopefully decent advice: do what is needed. If you need to go, go. Do not complicate things by taking medications (I have heard that Diatabs work) or taking the easy way out (Elroy’s house is just 15 minutes away). Always be true to yourself and listen to your heart bowel movement for brown streaks can always betray you.

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When I was young, I actually wanted to become a pilot or go into aerospace engineering (aircraft de-signer). When I applied to college, I did not get accepted into the schools I wanted to, so I ended up BS Math in UP which I didn’t really like at the time (physics over math). My next dream was to work in ADB (Asian Develop-ment Bank). The pay there is in dollars and is tax-free. You know Alfredo Pascual, the president of UP? He was working in ADB for 17 years, tax-free! It’s really hard to get into ADB right out of college, so I ended up in JG Summit.

JG Summit Holdings Incorporated. JG stands for John Gokongwei. I am under corporate planning. It’s basically like an investment bank within the group that also handles investor relations. For example, if Cebu Pacific plans to buy new planes, they have to ask permission from us before we give them the money.

I got lucky getting in. One of the Senior Management Officers is actually a pastor in my church (GCF). So the story is, it’s the last week of February: I already went through all the job fairs, gave my résumés, and the only company that contacted me was Procter & Gamble. After I passed the two exams, I waited for the inter-view which never came. You’d be really scared if your best lead went cold, so I talked to my pastor afterservice.

“Pastor, you’re in JG Summit, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you do there?”

...

“Well I saw JG Petrochem in the UP Engineering Job Fair and left my résumé with the hopes that they’ll give to the holding company, but I never got anything.”

“Joseph, What’s your course?”

“BS Math”

(short pause)

“What’s your school?”

“UP Diliman”

“Ok! Here’s my calling card; send me your résumé.”

The week after that, I went to HR for an interview (which is their way to getting your guard down for an exam), and then two weeks after had the final interview with him—the pastor. He offered me two positions: one in corporate planning under him, which takes care of the money for long-term projects. The second open-ing was in treasury under his former deputy, which handles the money in the short-term. I told him that I want-ed to be in CorPlan. At the end of the interview, he said that if I wanted the job, it’s mine. I signed my contract before graduation. Given the option to start on either a 1 or 16, I chose to start on June 1, a Friday.

I think he was impressed by the actuarial exams that I took and the path I wanted to take;to hold a cer-tification from the Society of Actuaries as a “Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst” is very rare in the Philippines. I took 3 exams while I was still in third year/fourth year versus most people (like Keith Reyes, see page ###) who take exams after they start working, so it’s a big résumé add-on.

Though the charter has the same exams which actuaries take, holding the charter does not make you an actuary because charter holders only have 8 requirements to an actuary’s 10.Basically, actuaries are the people who compute how much to charge you for insurance, how much to keep for themselves, and how much the company makes. If you take

First Few Weeks of Work

As told by: Joseph Cheng

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Math 164 (Life Contingency), and you can as an elective, our terms include the “survival function”, “force of mortality”, “special laws of mortality”… yung mga ganun. It’s very morbid, cause you’re calculating the proba-bility that a new-born will die by age 60. Oh: the coverage of Math 164 is only half of one exam taken by wanna-be actuaries! Actually, I nearly failed Math 164 which is why I aimed for the charter instead: we don’t need to take that exam!

Work is very casual. My boss doesn’t even wear a necktie. However, he just keeps a suit behind his door so that when the bankers come in, he has something to wear.

Some trivia: I’m the only guy in the whole department!

There are 16 of us plus my boss; we’re the only two guys, and we’re the only two people from Diliman. Out of the 17 of us, 11 are new in the department because his department is like a training ground. Every year during corporate reshuffle, the other senior officers always pick people from his department, so he gets decimat-ed every year. His department started at 4, wipe out and expanded to 8, wipe out and expanded to 12, wipe out again and now to 17. Of the current 17, 7 are from ICA. My boss jokes that they can create their own sorority al-ready. Hahaha!

I like the department a lot (no, it’s not because I’m the only guy). CorPlan gives me an industry-wide view of everything. JG Summit is in food (URC, Jack ‘n Jill, C2), airlines (Cebu Pacific), land development and malls (Robinsons), banking (Robinsons Bank), and petrochemicals manufacturing (JG Petrochem). We’re also venturing into stuff I can’t talk about!

To be honest, I don’t really do actuarial or apply any of the math theorems I studied. BS Math is more like a way of thinking than anything else. What it really does is train you how to think; how to analyze. You’re not re-ally going to apply abstract algebra and group theory. The real purpose of proving theorems is disciplining how to think logically which is more useful. Thus, you can put me anywhere, and I can figure it out.

To start, my boss made me read all the financial statements of the companies of the group and some of the management reports of the smaller companies; we had to read those to know how the companies work. He gave the new hires a project to make an income statement model of the entire JG group. There were six main companies and there we three of us new associates, so we split them, one pair each. I ended up with Robinsons Bank and JG Petrochem. To model the petrochem’s financial statements, I needed to know how they make the polymers, but I have never taken chemistry or accounting in UP… after much research, I finished the model.

More office trivia: For our company outing, we’re going to Fort Ilocandia in Ilocos Norte. Normally we would take the plane, but some of the girls spent part of the budget already so we have to go there using our boss’s car which he will drive all the way to Laoag; we leave at 12 midnight! To make things worse, my boss mis-counted one junior management trainee (JMT), so everything is missing one: accommodation, give-away, the food, etc.

The secretary goes to the boss,

“Boss, can you and Joseph be one room nalang since you’re the only guys?”

“No… Joseph and I should have our own rooms” (all the girls are three to a room).

So there are some perks, but the problem is it can get really noisy while you’re trying to work. One time, Dorothy Perkins, Topshop, and Topman (which Robinsons owns) sent a corporate email to everyone: “SECRET SALE: Print and show this email and you can get 50% off.”Tamang-tama it was payday, so all the JMTs and the rest of the managers shopping during lunch.

My boss, he had a headache, so he slept during lunch. After lunch, it was so noisy that he woke up and got out. Immediately, he saw all the girls all holding shopping bags! He exclaimed, “Oh gosh, I’m paying you too much!”

All that while I was the only one there on my laptop trying to work...

When it comes to comparing HS, College, and work, I think college is the best. As a math major, I can spend 21 units (or 21 lecture hours a week) in class versus 35 units in high school. And if you screw up in school, you’re only down one semester. If you screw up in work, you’re dead!

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CSA

Athletes

Robbie

Villanueva

Inna

Cua

Whitney

Dy

Kyra

Co

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Tell us about yourself. What sport do ou play, and what is your position (if applicable)?

Hello I’m Robbie! 3rd Year BS Tourism student. Currently a UP swimmer. I swim for UP in UAAP. I swim back stroke, freestyle, and breast stroke.

Since when have you been part of the team? Since when have you been play-ing the sport?

Since 1st year. Since I was 5.

How often do you practice, and for how long?

Everyday. Except Sunday. 3 hours a day.

Could you describe a memory or expe-rience that narrates how you got into the sport?

I joined Ateneo football club. After the 1st lesson, I was sent to the hospital be-cause of asthma. My parents decided to put me on swimming instead.

Robbie

Villanueva

Why this sport? What makes you play this sport over others?

Because I like the sport and flexible yung time, so I can swim when I want to. I want to compete abroad because of swimming.

What has been the biggest sacrifice you’ve made to be able to play this sport?

Time. Time with friends and family. Instead of going out or studying, I train instead.

Imagine if you were not part of this team. What do you think would be taking up most of your time?

Friends and family. More time in college.

What tournaments or leagues does your team join? How would you describe your (yours and UP’s) general performance in these events?

UAAP, intercompetition between 4 univer-sities. High school marami – QCSC. One mindset: do my best.

What is your greatest achievement to date as an athlete of this sport?

Rookie of the year – broke two records. 5 time consecutive UAAP champ.

How do you balance your other priorities with your training schedule? Has it been difficult?

Priorities at night, swim afternoon. Free time -> friends. DUH. YES!

Do you see yourself staying as a member of the team for the rest of your college days?

Yes

Do you have any shoutouts or anything to say?

When finding a sport, you choose what you like and from there on, do your best to achieve what you aim for.

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I got into the sport because my mom has a cousin who fences, and she thought it’d be an interesting sport for me to try. I started playing in the team after I took fencing as a PE and got in touch with some of the play-ers, so they encouraged me to join the team.

Why this sport? What makes you play this sport over others?

Well, I don’t consider myself a sporty per-son at all. I dislike sports that involve any sort of ball; so fencing was a good compro-mise. It doesn’t require too much killer ac-tion, but is still exhausting enough to make sure I don‘t get fat, haha.

What has been the biggest sacrifice you’ve made to be able to play this sport?

Equipment is expensive </3 But seriously, I don’t think I’ve given anything extremely important up to fence.

Imagine if you were not part of this team. What do you think would be taking up most of your time?

Definitely studying. My majors are killing me.

What tournaments or leagues does your team join? How would you describe your (yours and UP’s) general performance in these events?

Since we’re a relatively small community of fencers, usually only PAFA, the Philippine Amateur Fencing Association, and a few other organizations hold tournaments. There are also the monthly opens that any fencer can join. It’s like a monthly tourney that serves to rank fencers. It’s complicated with fencing because like swimming, it’s mostly an individual sport but you also work with a team.

Inna

Cua

Tell us about yourself. What sport do you play for, and what is your position (if applicable)?

I’m a foil fencer for the UP fencing team.

Since when have you been part of the team? Since when have you been play-ing the sport?

I joined the team last year, in January, but I fenced for a few years in middle school and high school.

How often do you practice, and for how long?

We train on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 to about 8:30 PM. It’s a pretty chill schedule, compared to the hours that other varsity teams in the university and in the teams from other schools have to put in.

Could you describe a memory or experi-ence that narrates how you got into the sport?

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because like swimming, it’s mostly an individual sport but you also work with a team. My teammates and I join as individuals, and I think we do pretty well. Generally, we end up on the top half of the rankings, so that’s good, I suppose.

What is your greatest achievement to date as an athlete of this sport?

Mmm, I was lined up for UAAP? Hahahaha.

How do you balance your other priorities with your training schedule? Has it been diffi-cult?

Like I said, our training schedule isn’t hectic, so it hasn’t been too difficult. I just make sure that I keep super unnecessary things off my to-do-list.

Do you see yourself staying as a member of the team for the rest of your college days?

It’s funny; my coach actually told me recently that I’m going to quit soon. I would love to stay in the team till I graduate, but since I’m not a computer genius, studying might take up too much of my time.

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Hi. Tell us about yourself. What sport do you play for, and what is your position (if appli-cable)?

Swimming

Since when have you been part of the team? Since when have you been playing the sport?

I just entered UP last year so I’ve been part of the varsity team for only a year. I’ve been swimming competitively since I was 5 years old.

How often do you practice, and for how long?

I train everyday, Monday to Saturday. Twice a day during summer.

Could you describe a memory or experience that narrates how you got into the sport?

I was accompanying Erika Ong to her learn to swim class cause she was afraid of the water. And the coach saw me and told my parents that I had potential.

Why this sport? What makes you play this sport over others?

I never really had a choice. And swimming was a pretty safe sport.

Athlete:

Whitney Dy

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What has been the biggest sacrifice

you’ve made to be able to play this

sport?

I had to sacrifice my social life and ac-

ademics to give time for training.

I’m sure that your practices take up

much of your time. Imagine if you

were not part of this team. What do

you think would be taking up most

of your time?

I probably would be going out every-

day :)

What tournaments or leagues does

your team join? How would you de-

scribe your (yours and UP’s) general

performance in these events?

Well, I have 2 teams right now: UP

Varsity and one swim club outside of

UP. The varsity joins only inter-school

competitions like UAAP and some

other I’m not very familiar with which

is usually held abroad. My swim club

on the other hands joins national

competitions and if we achieve a cer-

tain qualifying time, we become part

of the Philippine National Team

What is your greatest achievement

to date as an athlete of this sport?

I broke 2 Philippine Records .

How do you balance your other priori-

ties with your training schedule?

Has it been difficult?

I’ve gotten used to it. Of course, my

priority is my acads. I don’t train when

there are exams the next day, as sim-

ple as that. Otherwise, no excuses.

Do you see yourself staying as a mem-

ber of the team for the rest of your

college days?

Honestly, no. I’m really tired and I want

to enjoy my college life.

Do you have any shoutouts or any-

thing to say?

Hi. HAHAHAH.

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Hi. Tell us about yourself. What sport do you play for, and what is your position (if applicable)?

I’m Kyra. I’m Pretty. I play badminton

Since when have you been part of the team? Since when have you been play-ing the sport?

I’ve been playing since I was 11 or 12. I think?

How often do you practice, and for how long?

Season na so from Monday to Friday may practice everyday. At least an hour per day.

Could you describe a memory or experi-ence that narrates how you got into the sport?

I started when my mom dragged me along to her late night games. She got me a trainer after.

Why this sport? What makes you play this sport over others?

Why not this sport?

Athlete:

Kyra Co

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What has been the biggest sacri-fice you’ve made to be able to play this sport?

I don’t have a “biggest” sacrifice but I’ve sacrificed a lot already.

I’m sure that your practices take up much of your time. Imagine if you were not part of this

team. What do you think would be taking up most of your time?

Yoga

What tournaments or leagues does your team join? How would you describe your (yours and UP’s) general performance in the-se events?

UAAP, PBARS, Yonex, Toby’s basta mainvite, we join.

Okay naman, but we can improve. We can improve our mentality in approaching the game.

What is your greatest achievement to date as an athlete of this sport?

Runner up in a tournament. I forgot which tournament pero major siya.

How do you balance your other pri-orities with your training schedule? Has it been difficult?

Good time management. Not really.

Do you see yourself staying as a member of the team for the rest of your college days?

Might not because 3rdyr and 4thyr busy na so baka mahirapan.

Do you have any shoutouts or any-thing to say?

Matt So is REALLY ANNOYING!

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The Summer Getaway By: Joseph Changco

Summer vacation is always the best time

for new experiences. You could travel and see

the world at a different perspective. Or maybe

go into a summer internship program and learn

more about the industry you may be part of in

the near future. Here are some stories by CSA

members on how they spent their summer va-

cation. I hope you learn and be inspired by

their stories, so that next time you could tell

us: How did you spend your summer vacation?

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This summer, I took an internship in Manila Electric Company, better known as Meralco. I worked for about six weeks, starting mid-April and ending early June. For my first internship, all I could say is that it was absolutely fantastic. I found it a great honor to work with highly qualified and experienced people, all of whom are taking career paths quite similar to what I envision for myself. During the course of my in-ternship, I was able to get hands-on experience, and I really felt like I was able to contribute something valuable given my limited time there.

I was actually the only intern in my department, so I felt quite intimi-dated before I started. But I had very good co-workers – they didn’t really have any seniority issues. I felt like I was working with friends who made the atmosphere very comfortable for me. I was able to adjust easily and be at home with them, which helped me gain confi-dence in sharing my ideas and thoughts. I also had co-interns whom I’ve been able to bond with. We really got along quite well, as evidenced by our recent overnight reunion. I’m sure this network I’ve created would be useful for the fu-ture, and it was a lot of fun – they weren’t just co-workers, but they’ve become friends as well.

Mr. Future Boss

just co-workers, but they’ve become friends as well.

I chose this internship because I did-n’t have many classes, and I didn’t want to bum around at home. It kept me busy, but I thought it was worth it. I grabbed every opportunity I could in the internship. I worked hard, and I didn’t hesitate to ask questions or look like a fool. After all, they can’t blame “the new guy.” I made sure the things I learned stuck quickly, so that I could be able to contribute right away. If they gave me a chance to sit in a big-time meeting, I would. Be-sides, big meetings mean free food.

Of course, there were boring times in the office too, especially during the start. But that quickly diminished. The office environment isn’t TOO strict though. My co-workers would sometimes talk about random things they just found on the internet. I was even able to tweet while at work #shhhh. Hey, even my boss plays NBA 2k12 with one of our co-workers when work is a little less hectic.

All in all, I would say I definitely learned a lot from my internship. Most of the things we did were relat-ed to my course. I was assigned to Strategy and Corporate Develop-ment, which sounds very business-y. But I used engineering tools and ana-lytical skills to help focus on improv-ing operations. I tried to find ways for everyone to do things better, and

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sometimes that had to involve crunching numbers. FUN FUNFUN!

That said, I strongly recommend that all students take at least one intern-ship before graduation. It’s a way to get a feel of what happens in the real world. Each company will give a different internship experience, but I’m sure everyone will pick up a valu-able thing or two along the way. It’s also a way to know if you’re going to enjoy what you do. Imagine doing your internship work on a daily basis for a long time and evaluate whether you’d want that or not. I got into the program via application, a set of tests and an interview. I think it’s the standard process for most internships and jobs. To get into a good program though means that the company should really be investing in the in-terns. Usually, companies with a set program (this probably means it’s competitive) for internships will teach you more than companies that just get interns for the sake of having an extra hand. Proper internship pro-grams also have HR training and a more holistic development experi-ence which will be more beneficial for your long-term career goals. They also probably pay better and let you do a lot more than serve coffee.

To conclude, if I had an extra year, I’d probably look for another internship. It feels better than bumming – and I miss bumming.

Last summer, my family and I spent about a month going around some parts of Europe (France, Spain, Swit-zerland and England specifically).

It was very exciting traveling to a foreign country. I couldn't wait to experience the culture and taste the food but at the same time, it was also scary because we were warned beforehand of pickpockets and racist people.

Of course, excitement trumped fear. It was such a hassle preparing for the trip! We had to apply for the visas and go to the embassy for the interview and the biometrics (I skipped a day of school for that). We also had to plan what to pack. We weren't sure if we had to bring clothes suitable for really cold weather or just cool weather so we monitored the temperatures of the places we were going to for about several weeks :)) In the end, I brought about a week's worth of clothes, 3 pairs of pajamas, 3 jack-ets, 2 pairs of shoes, toiletries, slip-pers, an umbrella, some scarves and a small bag for going out. We took Korean Air for our flight to Paris. We had a stopover in Incheon for about 7 hours. It wasn't that bad cause they had wifi all around the airport and they had lounge chairs and sofas as well as showers, in case you wanted to take a bath (free). The airport was super clean and big too. They also had this cul-tural center where

Ms. Hearthrob

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tourists can do traditional crafts and where they held cultural presentations as well. (Also free) joke. We took Kore-an Air for our flight to Paris. The food was okay. What's nice about Korean Air is that they always have bibimbap as one of their food choices. They'll even give you a paper with instructions on how to make it. You get to experi-ence Korean food even though you're not really visiting Korea.

We had a stopover in Incheon for about 7 hours. It wasn't that bad cause they had wifi all around the airport and they had lounge chairs and sofas as well as showers, in case you wanted to take a bath (free). The airport was su-per clean and big too. They also had this cultural center where tourists can do traditional crafts and where they held cultural presentations as well (also free).

Many people ask me what I am do-ing in an architectural firm when I am taking BS Civil Engineering. I chose to stay in this company be-cause firstly, the owner is a family friend of ours, secondly, I know most of the people in the office and they treat me well; thirdly, there is so much to learn that cannot be squeezed into 7 weeks of summer vacation, and lastly, this internship has made me appreciate my course and the lessons being taught. Sure there are off times wherein I spend 3-5 hours doing absolutely nothing but read books and anime, or watch movies and tv series, whenever all the senior architects and owner are out for a meeting. I can still say I do a lot of work when the time comes for it. From double-checking struc-tural designs, comparing architec-tural and structural lay-outs, calcu-lating total floor areas for entire buildings, and calling up contractors and consultants to set up meetings, I’ve done it and I can say I enjoy what I’m doing no matter how me-dial tasks they are. The best time to apply for an internship is when you have reached your third year or fourth year undergraduate study. Job fairs cater to undergrads such as me for internships or even part-time jobs. Next summer I plan on applying an internship at a different company that specializes in another sub-field in engineering, this is to help widen my gaze

My summer of 2012 was spent in HEO Architects as an on-the-job trainee. Actually, this was my se-cond summer spent in this architec-tural firm that caters to 3-storey buildings or warehouses to high-rise skyscrapers located in all parts of the Metro. Typical projects range from residential and commercial establishments owned by Chinese or Filipino investors and contractors

Mr. I Want To Be an Engineer

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on the industry.

I believe internships are necessary for a student to be prepared for whatever course he or she signed up for. I took this course knowing that I would be building bridges and buildings. Sound-ed awesome to me so I jumped right in without any prior knowledge to what I will be handling in the future. I have learned so much and I know it’s not enough. My internship has brought me to many project sites and these experi-ences have shown me lots of things that I never would have imagined if I stayed in a classroom taking advance units.

modern day wall. However, no one knew stone better than the Incas, and true enough, you could tell apart which were restored and which were original, because the Incas' were pro. Theirs were nicer. Aside from that, there was a llama. Yup, a llama.

Our next sightseeing destination, El Calafate, was cool, literally. This place was more or less the south most region of Argentina. Packing a -5 degree centigrade temperature, my hands were freezing like crazy, and that was after 4 layers of winter clothing. Anyway, that kind of tem-perature along with some sun is the perfect setting for a snowball fight, which my siblings and I found fun. When we got to our vantage point, we were able to see an amazing glac-ier. It was so vast and rough, that I was actually able to clearly hear my echo after shouting, approximately two seconds later. For the physics nerds out there, that meant my voice echoed some 400 meters away, but either way, I bet it reflected in one of the nearer parts of the glacier. Yeah the glacier was that big.

Iguazu Falls was another beauty to behold. Raging at some ultra-fast hy-per speed from a gigantic river, which I must say was impressive, Iguazu falls struck us with awe. The power produced by the near-by hy-droelectric

For Sum-mer 2012, my family and I

decided to go to South America. Our itinerary consisted of three countries and a number of destina-tions. Lima(Peru), Cuzco(Peru), Ma-chu Pichu(Peru), Buenos Aires(Argentina), El Calafate(Argentina), Iguazu Falls(Argentina), the other side of Iguazu falls(Brazil), and of course Rio de Janiero(Brazil).

There were quite a number of sites to see, but I recall that Machu Pichu was probably nicest. This archaeo-logical site was almost completely untouched, except for a few big chunks, mostly caused by nature over the years. The stones were perfectly placed one on top of the other, you'd think it a

Mr. That Was Awesome

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power plant was just proof of this wa-ter system's power, producing a lot more than all our power plants com-bined.

Finally, in Brazil, our last destination, all we did was chill. Down at Rio de Ja-niero's Copacobana, it was one of the best chill spots. In this part of our trip, I had indigestion, but it was definitely worth it after eating all that churrasco. The Christ the Redeemer was surpris-ingly smaller than expected. Anywhere around Rio, my thumb was enough to cover it. Now aside from that, the only other thing that made an impact were the people there. Although we were near a beach alright, it was still surpris-ing that anywhere around the city 40% of the men were consistently topless, and unfortunately, you couldn't really blame them, thereby concluding that Brazilian genes are unfair. For the women, it was normal to wear reveal-ing outfits, and anything less would probably have been considered con-servative. Unlike the guys, however, their bodies weren't worth the brag. Sorry guys.

Overall, during our whole trip, we lost a lot of stuff; money, a camera, some pictures from another camera, plus more importantly, time, due to a lot of delayed flights, but overall the trip was one of the better ones I've had, and I would recommend this destination, especially if you are a fan of MEAT. It was definitely one of the biggest high-lights, having good beef all over. How-ever, if you're

more of a fan of FISH, forget it.

I think I wouldn't really go back, if given the chance though, because travel time is a killer. It takes more than a day, of pure travelling, just to get to South America from the Philip-pines, and honestly, I think one visit is good enough for all this sightsee-ing. What would convince me howev-er, is the company. Different compa-ny=different experiences=a different kind of awesome!

This summer I spent my internship at Magnolia Ice Cream. This was my first time to un-dergo an internship and I found it very enlightening. We were re-quired to work for them for 300 hours, or about two months. I learned a lot during the experience. I learned a lot about ice cream, about mass production, about deal-ing with people, etc. There was this once, when I just started and I was addressing all the female staff, Ma’am. I learned that addressing them as Miss was the way to go, simply because it makes them feel younger and it brings you closer to their level without offending them. Try it.

The people there were nice, and I picked up a lot of things from them. I was the only intern last summer.

Mr. Loves Ice Cream

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people there were quite nice to me even though I asked a lot of questions, even though it wasn’t relevant to ice cream/food. I felt accepted enough, because they even let me have my own place in the office. When we’d have lunch, we did so at this round ta-ble. So while eating, I would ask them questions. About food, about the in-dustry, about ice cream. I know it gets annoying, but I just must know some stuff and I can’t help but ask. I chose to take this opportunity because it was a requirement. And because I knew that I would be able to put the knowledge I acquired over the past four years into use, besides there’s no better combi-nation than summer and ice cream. AwwYeeeeah.

On my desk, there are these hand-outs about ice cream. During my free time, I’d read them and copy important parts into my handy-dandy notebook. Devouring all that knowledge and keeping it. When I wasn’t doing any-thing, I would read those hand-outs or I would go to the lab and observe what the lab technician was doing. Or I would play Bookworm Adventures on the computer. One of my co-workers told me that getting an internship is not really for you to learn, but for you to experience what the industry is like in the real world. But I guess for me, it was more than that because I did learn a lot. In school, we had food chemistry, quality control, food microbiology, sensory evaluation, etc. And I guess I saw a lot of those at work in this in-ternship.

I would encourage others to pursue an internship. It’s good exposure to the food industry; and if you’re in-terested in dairy, this is a pretty good place to start. Plus, I learned that ice cream is best served ice cold in hot summer weather, so I guess you can count that as a benefit.

This

summer, I went to Europe as a "pilgrimage" since it was holy week when we went there. My family and I went to vari-ous churches throughout the trip. Our first stop was in Rome wherein we toured around the city while try-ing Italian delicacies such as gelato and pizza. From there we went to Assisi, famous for being the hometown of St. Francis and St. Clare. We went to their churches . After a few days, we went to Portu-gal and visited the sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima. Lastly we went to Madrid and its nearby towns to ex-perience Spanish culture. Because of this trip I was able to learn more about European culture, and of course, bond with my family. This venture is something I would defi-nitely recommend to other people.

One of the main benefits of this venture is that people would gain a sense

Ms. Holy Trip

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of holiness through appreciating holy week in an interesting way. By going to the actual pilgrimage sites, one would see how much people go through just to reach these sites. One would get a newfound sense of rever-ence and respect for Christianity and those who practice it. Also, people would experience more of the Euro-pean culture and lifestyle which can broaden their life experiences.

who discussed the latest episode of Game of Thrones every week). When you get the chance, you should really hover around the old-er people and not stick to your fel-low interns all the time. Older peo-ple are very cool and very wise.

I took this internship mostly be-cause I wanted to know what it was like to have a job so I could work on all the skills that would help me while in my last year of college (like walking on heels). In the end, I found that the tasks assigned to me were not directly related to my ma-jor, however, I regret nothing! It was all worth it just for the experi-ence of pretending to have a fancy job and seeing a potential work en-vironment and networking with some awesome people.

I'm telling you kids right now to get an internship come summer. It's a great learning experience in all its stages. Before you actually receive the internship you undergo a lot of interviews and exams. I was a nerv-ous, stutter-y wreck on my first in-terview but was reasonably im-proved in my next. More interviews equal incremental improvement. You should apply in lots of compa-nies to get the hang of speaking and to personally collate the typical questions companies like to ask. The experience will come in handy when you have to get the real thing.

I spent my last summer in an intern-

ship program at an IT-consulting company that isn't IBM (It shall re-main nameless so I can preserve my ghostly countenance). I was there for a little over a month, just enough to complete the 240 hours my advisers required. I got the whole corporate package in there. Think dress shoes, burnished hair, high paperwork to task ratio and machines equipped with a full suite of Microsoft and Oracle.

My co-workers were so nice, it was almost painful. The boss said 'po' a lot and I was always forgetting to. I never really got acquainted with them because my desk was far away from theirs (We were working in the client's office, not the compa-ny's own office, so arrangements were weird and I ended up seated next to some big guys

Ms. IT

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Apply everywhere you can in your college job fair, and ask professors and older em-ployed people you know for openings. Know your textbook material by heart and ace that exam like a true UP-kid! (When you find that an exam is difficult, I say go after that company! Chances are, their employees are really smart, capable peoole you'd love to talk to) Then just be really charming in interviews. Never put down other companies during interviews and never be late! And when you finally get that internship glowing in blue on your Facebook profile, rejoice in new beginnings and welcome to grown-up land!

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One of our alumni, Bettina Ong, opened the only food stall that serves freshly cooked food at Casaa last year while she was a stu-dent: Phily’s Cheesesteak Diner. Betts shares Phily’s with PYKO Food Concepts Inc. She can be seen manag-ing the stall.

Acads member Erwin Lim interviewed this young en-trepreneur.

Betts Ong’s

Phily’s Cheesesteak Diner

By: Erwin Lim

Photo by Christopher Ng

Erwin: Where did you get the name of your stall?

Betts: We've always wanted to have a diner style food concept. We got our inspira-tion from Philly Cheesesteak. It was actually supposed to be Philly's Chees-esteak Diner, but Phily's was the only available business name.

Erwin: What made you decide to start this business? What served as your inspira-tion to start and continue this endeavour?

Betts: It was my older sister who started this business when she was still in Ateneo. Since I've been exposed to a business environment since childhood, I think it has influenced my interests.

Erwin: You opened your first store in Ateneo, right? Why did you decide to set-up a store at CASAA?

Betts: Our first branch was in UA&P. It has been part of our plan to open in UP

Erwin: Do you have plans to open more stores or branches in the future?

Betts: Yes. Hopefully every year.

Erwin: How would you describe the food served at Phily’s Cheesesteak Diner?

Betts: Always fresh. High Quality. Delicious food. No short change.

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Erwin: What is your bestseller, and why do you think it sells?

Betts: In our rice meals, it would be Pearl Harbor because it has a unique addicting

taste.

Erwin: What is the most memorable thing a customer has said about your food

stall?

Betts: If we franchised our stall.

Erwin: What problems have you encountered along the way? Among those prob-

lems, what was the biggest one and how did you solve it?

Betts: It would be the flow of the operations. We just added more staff and trained

them.

Erwin: How did you balance academics and management of the store?

Betts: I used to study in advance. I stayed in the stall during my breaks. Then at clos-

ing, I went to the library to study.

Erwin: What is the most important trait of yours that you’ve come to rely on for

this endeavor?

Betts: I think there are a lot of traits to consider. I always think in the customer's

shoes and give them the satisfaction they need from our food. I always try to

connect with my customers by talking to them and asking for their feedback.

And, I always smile.

Erwin: What is the craziest thing you’ve seen a customer say or do?

Betts: So far, "Kailangan ba lagi ka na sa stall niyo?"

So What’s Next for Betts Ong?

By: Joseph Yap

Seeing Betts Ong, who graduated from Psychology just last March, working at Phily’s Chees-

esteak Diner at Casaa, I took the opportunity to interview her about life after graduation.

Me: CSA’s wondering, how are you?

Betts: I’m pretty happy ‘cause Phily’s in CASAA turned out to be successful.

Me: This year or last year?

Betts: This year, Feb. We opened it last Feb.

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Me: What was the first thing you did after grad?

Betts: Phily’s.

Me: So you went to Phily’s to work right away?

Betts: Yeah. Nagpapart-time na talaga ako sa Phily’s even though undergrad pa ako. Ngayon, full-time na. Tuluy-tuloy ang opening ng Phily’s, so I actually didn’t have a break. Hindi sila nagco-close. Holidays lang.

Me: What do you miss most about college?

Betts: Studying. I miss studying because there are so much things to learn pa talaga, eh. And, I realized I should have taken business, BA nalang instead of Psych because maybe it will be more useful. But the thing is I didn’t except that I would work in Phily’s.

Me: Do you plan to take masters?

Betts: Not as of the moment.

Me: So what’s your plan this year?

Betts: My focus now is to improve Phily's.

Me: Will we see you at the tambayan?

Betts: Yeah!

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Nowadays, it seems that television is getting more and more saturated with substandard programming. How are you supposed to find out which series are worthy of your precious time and attention? Fear not, for I have three recommendations for those of you with too much time on your hands. Since they are what consumed my summer, I’ll be tackling my second-favorite genre: animation. While most may see these as kids’ stuff, I assure you that they’re very watchable.

3-in-1 Cartoon Review

By: Harley Ang

My Little Pony : Friendship is Magic

My Little Pony is a show about Twilight Sparkle, a young unicorn pony who was sent by Princess Celes-tia, the ruler of Equestria to Ponyville so that she can study the magic of friendship with her friends Apple-jack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. While there is no overarching plot to the series, each episode features the ponies having adventures and overcoming the difficult moments of their friendship.

The series is a refreshing take on the concept of MLP, being far more realistic and relatable in its execution. Gone are the days when the ponies would face semi-demonic enemies or sentient purple lava that they would promptly beat with the power of tea parties and shar-ing their feelings. Here, actual problems between the ponies’ friendship are tested and while friendship does still win out in the end (this IS a kid’s show after all), the way that it does is not saccharine-sweet or nauseatingly cheesy. If I were to choose, I would say that the best part of the series is the humor. The series manages to balance slapstick, situation-al humor, word play and pop culture references that would mostly not be picked up by its target audience. The show is hilarious and very well-written and yet, manages to be very clean and inoffensive, making it perfect for anyone. While songs are uncommon in the se-ries, they are all memorable and excellently performed.

It is also well worth mentioning the art style. Clean and expressive, it manages to be aesthetically pleasing and completely adora-ble. The only downside I can see to this se-ries is that the whole friendship and cutesy-wutesy horses thing may not be up every-body’s alley. Still, if you’re a fan of television that is well-planned and executed at every level, this is one series you should check out.

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Adventure Time

In the post-apocalyptic world of Ooo lives Finn the human and his best friend Jake. To-gether, there is no dungeon too dangerous, no pursuit too trivial and no adventure too fun for this wacky duo. Adventure Time has become known for its general lack of direc-tion and its nonsensical take on the sword-and-sorcery genre, but it is far from brainless entertainment. Each episode unfolds very logically and there are actually no WTF mo-ments that are actually integral to the plot. Aside from this, the quirky humor can be quite deep. While the show is aimed at younger viewers, there are many jokes or references that are far more mature in nature and will most likely fly way over the heads of the young ones and entertain the older viewers once picked up. Even the show’s backgrounds are full of little details and touches that are easily missed and add rewatch value to the series. For example, in how many episodes have you seen a random waving snail? That’s how much detail they put in the background. The look of the series is very distinctive and is just as quirky as everything else, bad teeth and noodle arms included. You’ll either love it or hate it. While overall entertaining and watchable, it may not be for people who dis-like the art style or who are easily offended. I’d very much recommend watching an epi-sode or two of the series. Especially the dropball one.

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The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Kyon is an average, everyday high school student who is in no way out of the ordinary. So what’s he to do when he is forced into a club with an esper, a humanoid interface sent by the Data Integration Thought Entity and a time-traveller from the future? Oh, and their club leader is a girl who can manipulate reality itself subconsciously. Sounds like a sure recipe for all sorts of wacky hijinks! A popular anime series that refuses to be bound by genres, the show juggles philosophy, pop culture, insanity, daily life and most importantly fun while all the while being engaging and charming in its own right. Un-conventional, even by the standards set by anime, the series cannot be fully under-stood with just one viewing. The series has a definite direction from the very first epi-sode, though it may not be immediately clear and by the last episode, there’s a sense of closure, with everything resolving nicely and pretty much all loose ends tied up. The logical progression everything undergoes is great and will have you looking at the earli-er episodes in a very different way. The characters are all interesting, not just because of their backgrounds, but also because of their personalities and their roles in the grand scheme of things. There’s a marvellous sense of wonder seeing all the other-worldly things in the context of the show, yet having the conflicts begin for everyday, mundane reasons. Unless you have an extreme aversion to Japanese animation, give this show a try. Then watch the movie for the grand finale. Then try dancing the ending song. It’s fun!

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There's this interesting group of people who hang around AS101. They look very different from most other people I see around here. They're always enjoying themselves, but at the same time, they seem to be getting all their work done. Most notably, these people seem to be a very tight knit group.

I like hanging around these people. They always seem very cheerful. They have tons of events, ranging from food eating contests (I got quite fat from eating the scraps), to in-viting awesome martial artists, to inviting very influential people to give talks. They also had this game called "Assassins" wherein they chased each other with these things called spoons. I would definitely have wanted to join them and pounce on them. These people also have each other's backs, not only in academics, but also in the daily aspects of life. I envy these humans.

This org is definitely very enjoyable. I see new people join every so often - applicants, they call them - and they immediately become friends with the members of the org. They always eat together in groups, go to classes together, and even have a lot of outside school activities together.

Sometimes, I wish I were human too, just to be able to join this awesome org. I will keep an eye on these guys, they're very fun to be around with. How I wish they'd let me be part of them, too. Some of you might be wondering who I am. All I can say right now is, like my sister, I'll be here watching and observing CSA.

CSA: Through An Outsider’s Perspective

By: Anonymous

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Someday

By: Kathleen Yu

Someday we will live in an old house by the sea, the one you always said we’d buy when the kids were old and grown, and there wasn’t anything left to do at home. We’ll put in a new roof, and new furniture, and spend our days looking out at the blue sea. You’d tell me stories about the things you read in the morning papers, I’d scoff and tell you not to bother with that kind of nonsense. The kids would visit once a week, and they’d talk about their problems at work, how prices seem to be getting higher and higher, how their wives always seem to be off gossiping about something or another.

Someday, you’ll look at me and smile, and tell me that I am everything you’ve ever wanted in a wife. You will say that I am more beautiful than ever, and I will tell you, “You haven’t said that to me in a long time.” We will laugh, and reflect at how long we have been mar-ried, how our kids have all grown and left home. We will think back at when we were younger, when our lives seemed a lot harder, when we thought about calling it quits, but stayed together for the sake of the kids. We would laugh at how stupid we were, how eve-rything came together in the end in spite of all our problems. You would smile at me and say, “That’s all in the past now.”

Someday, we would travel to all the places on our list: London, Paris, Rome, and Greece. We’d stay at all the fanciest hotels, eat the fanciest food, and meet the fanciest people. You would seriously consider writing a book. I would tell you that you ought to keep a jour-nal, and buy you one the very next day. We would see Big Ben and the Louvre, cross the Venetian canals in a gondola, climb ruins upon ruins to see the Parthenon in Greece, and when all is said and done, we would lie together on our bed, eyes closed, half-asleep. You would whisper to me and say, “What sights we’ve seen today.” Yes, sights. They were terri-bly beautiful. But all I could think of, as I thought of Mona Lisa’s smile, was the way you held my hand as we walked down the quieter avenues, explored shops, visited museums. I remember your hands, tightly clasped in mine, your grip firm and sure. You said, “I don’t know what I would do if you got lost.”

Photo by Joseph Cheng

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Someday, we would meet our children’s children, and they would call us “grandma” and “grandpa.” They would remind us a lot of our own kids: rambunctious and noisy. We would take them out for ice cream every Saturday, and maybe even watch a movie after-wards. “It would be nice to try again,” I’d tell you jokingly. “What!” you’d exclaim, “I’m not having one in the house!” I’d smile at you, that mischievous smile that you always say brings out the animation in my eyes. You’d laugh at me, tell me to stop being ridiculous, and I’d laugh too. By this time, the children would probably be running around, making faces and disturbing everything in sight. But I do not see them; all I see is your sweet, gen-tle smile as you lean in close to kiss me. “I love you,” you’d whisper. “I love you too.” I’d whisper back.

Someday, we had to keep track of each other’s medicine. I did your list and you did mine. Every morning after breakfast, we looked over our lists and compare notes. I gave you your medicine, and you gave me mine. Then we went about our daily activities: you took long walks on the beach and I dusted some shelves. Then we sat down for lunch and went over our lists again. “We’re really getting old,” I said to you, and you laughed. “We’re on the final stretch.” You said. Then you held my hand, and squeezed it tightly, “We had a good run, didn’t we?” Yes, we did. We definitely had a good run. And I’m glad I got to spend it with you.

Someday, our children visited us down at the beach. They left their flowers and prayers behind, and we watched in silence as they walked out into the distance. We watched them from afar, watched as our grandchildren grew and had their own children, and our kids became their grandparents. And then I go back to the first time we met, a long time ago, to the first time you smiled at me, the first time we kissed, the first time you told me you loved me, the time you tried to propose over the phone and I said “yes.” We’ve had a charmed life, haven’t we? I imagine you would agree.

Until Proven

By: Joseph Yap

His classmate pushed him.

He fell down a 50-ft cliff and died.

His classmate reported the incident.

Because there were no witnesses, the acci-

dent was published in the newspaper.

His foot slipped on a rock.

He fell down a 50-ft cliff and died.

His classmate reported the incident.

Because there were no witnesses, his

classmate was arrested for murder.

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In a certain movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio that was released two years ago almost to

the day of this writing, we the audience are exposed to an idea, the idea being how reality and

imagination begin to blur within the subconscious of our minds, while even our minds play

tricks on themselves in ways not just physical but also temporal.

Today, one month into the new school year, we look back at our summer with fond memories

in many cases, and also regret that it didn’t last long enough.

Or did it?

In the supposedly secure realm that is our mind, thoughts move faster (at least in the movie);

therefore, time seems to slow down relative to the present. I am sure there are many of us who

can remember being in high school and how the week seemed to pass agonizingly slowly – hour

by hour, day by day. Today however, in college life, the weeks all tend to blur together, moving

by at a rate that can astound all of us. I still remember being a freshman as if it was just yester-

day – except it was two years ago, and I’m no longer the person who I used to be. As a matter

of fact, none of us is.

The beginning of something usually denotes the end of another – for those of us who follow

Aang and Korra’s adventures as the Avatar, we all agree that the birth of a new Avatar always

follows the death of the previous one. Time passes us by, and we can hardly stand still.

I Am Your

Gift and

You Can’t

Give Me

Back

By: Ryan Sy

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I am sure by now that many readers will have guessed the movie I am talking about – its name is In-

ception and you can watch it on HBO. Time is introduced in the movie as a finicky concept because

in the dream world, time passes by at a much faster rate, each dream compounding just a few se-

conds of reality into days, weeks, and possibly even years in the dream world. In today’s world, the

world that is happening around you, dear reader, time is passing by at an unchanging rate – you can

plead, rage, or wish all you want, but nothing will rewind the clock. And as a result of this, once time

is lost you can never get it back.

As cliché as it is and as it sounds, those last ten words in the previous paragraph are perhaps the

most often overlooked aspect of our lives. Day in and day out we do many little things, and yet we

rarely maximize the time we are afforded. Hypocritical though it may be coming from myself, I reit-

erate the earlier concept: time passes us by, and we can hardly stand still. “YOLO” (You only live

once), and its predecessor “Carpe Diem” (“Seize the day”), is a cry to get up and do something.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in the film lived his life to the fullest in his world, only to return to

reality after realizing it was nothing more than an illusion. Faced with never seeing his children

again, he returned to the dream world to perform one last job in the hopes of reconciling old pains.

Spending time wisely is difficult to say the least – time is a slippery concept; the more you spend it

on others, the less time you have for yourself. But time is also the only constant for us – if we could

live forever, eventually time would be all we would be left with after all our regrets and ambitions

melt away.

Time flies when we have fun, and time stops when we don’t. But that doesn’t mean we should stop

having fun. Spending time with friends and family, whether during vacation or while tambaying at

CSA, may not involve getting up and running around, but it could well be the greatest part of your

life.

In the end, it doesn’t make much difference if we perceive time passing by quickly or slowly – what

matters is what we spent it on. Enjoy time with friends and family, because you never know if one

day you will look back and wonder if it was all just a dream. In that case, better make it a good one.

Special Thanks

to

Santos Wong

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Food. Just the hearing the word elicits a growl from your stomach, water from your mouth, and love. Everybody loves food. Since the dawn of existence, man has worked, killed, and eaten for food.

There are so many kinds of food in the world that just thinking about all of them makes the world seem awesome. Some food transcend culture and are socially accepted in most places, like fish, some vegetables and delicious cheesecake. However, every so often, weird food appears and surprises us. (Buffalo testicles and cow eyeballs, anyone?) There can also be a mixture of both, like this seafood dish from mainland China. According to a friend from high school, the fish was served with the head gasping for air, err water, while the rest of its body was fried. It was literally swimming in oil. Painful boiling oil.

Weird food is not necessarily bad. It showcases the unique culture of the cultural entity that serves and enjoys it. The food that is weird to us must be a pretty normal and every-day thing for them. Maybe the more politically correct term for weird would be culturally different.

There are so many ways to eat. Beverages (coffee, cocoa, tea, and wine) can be taken to-gether with food. The beverage most commonly paired with food is wine, but wine re-quires a degree of sophistication of the palate, for how else would you know if the mush-roomy, earthy profile of a full-bodied 2009 Pinot Noir from Gibbston Valley would go well with the zesty, piquant, slightly bitter hard Balfour cheese?

In addition to pairing food with beverages, there is the pairing of food with other foods, called (surprise!) food pairing. Food pairing theory goes that the more flavor compounds different foods share, the better match they make when paired. For example, according to the food pairing theory, Bourbon vanilla would go well with candied apricots, peppermint, and Sencha green tea individually because of the presence of similar short-chain esters and alcohols among them.

However, a recent study concluded that the food pairing theory is true only for Western dishes and that the opposite seems to be the trend in Eastern foods; that is, the less flavor compounds foods share, the better pair they would likely make.

What has been said so far is just the tip of the ice in your wintermelon milk tea. There is a plateful of food out there with log cycles of possible combinations; there is so much to fall in love with. So drink, eat, love. Care to join me, fellas?

Food: A Brief Introduction

By: Jared Uy

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Not one, not two, but three! Oh yes! Three

little princes (yes, plural ng prince) ang hu-

mahabol kay long-haired ate gurl. Ganda mo

teh! Monopolization of boys ba itech? How

unfair. Hey, leave some naman for me,

pleazums. Pero ibang level talaga abot ng

ganda ni ate becuuuuzz she ain’t rejectin

them boys yet. Ohhhh! Wala pa siyang fine-

friendzone. Ohhhhhhh!!! Chizmiiiz.

Application season. A time for new faces. A

time for new friends. And a time for new

love. Yan naman talaga gusto natin eh. Ilan

na nga ba ang mga couples na naform ng

CSA….si C & E publishing house, si Calvin

Klein apparel, si Justin Bieber pop singer, si

Display Picture ng Facebook, at ang long

standing na SnR grocery store, and of curz

many more na bawal ko pa I menzhen.

Hihi. Well anyway, may idaragdag ako sa ros-

ter ng mga lovebirds. Dahil si kuyang Iron

Man na member na ay may type kay New

Girl, an applicant ofcurz. Anyhoo, si Iron Man

na may looks, brains and money ay may fu-

ture plans nadumamoves kay New Girl.

OMG! I’m so jelly! One less guy for me. </3

oh well. I wish you all the best. May New Girl

eventually become Pepper Potts.

Anddddd! We have another couple to add to

the list. From what I heard, Legit Status na sila.

Yey! Finally with all the hard work of Spider-

man sila na ni Gwen Stacey.

Kung madaragdagan ang lovebirds, sadly may

natanggal rin sa list. May Katie Holmes and

Tom Cruise pala tayong couple! Di man sila

“officially official”, may thing parin sila. Nawa-

lan na raw si Katie ng time kay Tom kaya I love

you, goodbye ang theme song nitong dalawa.

Awww…. Poor Tom. Kaya pala recently ay mat-

amlay itong si Tom. Di pa rin ata nakaget-over

kay Katie. Don’t worry Tom, from what I heard

from little birds, busy ka naman daw sa acads

mo dahil ang dami mong science majors nga-

yon. AY WEOW. SCIENTOLOGY ka rin kuya?

AHHAHAHA!

Tama na about love lives! Nasasad lang ako

eh…. anyway. Merong isang Mr. Nice Guy na

akala ng lahat ay innocente pala..pero, pag wa-

lang nakatingin ay sinasadyang magkakalat sa

tambayan!!!! Ayyyy..masama yan. Akala niya

walangnakatingin… pero hallerz! Nakikita ko

siya noh. I have eyes and ears everywhere! Huli

ka balbon!

CSA

CAT