Technicalities (Weekend Play by Play Part III)
This is the last of my weekend play by play series, at least for this year. I'd better savor it.
Last weekend, Batch '98 closed its spirited run in the Pisay Alumni Volleyball Tournament. Batch '98 fell to a more inspired '88 team 8-25,20-25 in the Saturday game.
Batch '98 ended its campaign on a positive note, demolishing '93 in straight sets 25-20,25-23. Photo coverage on the
game versus '88 was c/o Jae while the
game versus '93 was c/o Salve's sister.
In the first game of the weekend, the game was close at the start of the first set, with the last time happening at 6-6 (i think). But then, '88 balding tosser started making huge blocks that irritated
Ontong. From that point on, there was no turning back for '88, scoring probably a dozen straight points at one time on some silly points lost at the net. Well, it was entirely our fault. There's the referee.
I failed to report this in my previous post (because I might have been mistaken for sourgraping), but the squeker game against '90 could have gone our way had it not been for the bee-yatch of a ref. She made silly calls back then (to the howling protests of Olibog; we were even
reprimanded for such behavior) and she made a lot of silly calls on our game with '88. She made a lot of questionable calls included line and touching calls. Apparently, this bee-yatch is some sort of a control freak that she wants to control the game. According to Pat Castro, at the point when we were losing, she called a wide spike by Oliver "IN." That's different from the "net touching" calls she made, not to mention those "illegal rotation" calls she made. She singlehandedly took the fun out of game.
With absolutely nothing to lose, '98 marched into the second game with the intent of spoiling '93 quest for a finals slot. However, last minute ditchings by Marwin Macalanda and Emmanuel Cedric Ontong shrank the roster to five (Pat, Salve, Olibog, Caparas and me). I tried calling Karlo Castro for some help but decided not to push through with it. On the brink of being defaulted, '98 turned to '05 player Jet
(he's the one you won't recognize in the pic). '93 agreed to a last minute merger with '05 and then we played.
Playing in a much more relaxed atmosphere (with nothing to lose and everything to gain) seems to have helped us a lot. Of course, our import from '05 provided us with a tosser that we have severely missed since the start of the tournament (especially when Shaty left). Everyone had a heyday hitting spikes and dropshots, but Brian probably enjoyed the most.
Nung una, napilitan lang. Nang tumagal, kinareer na! We expect to see him again next year. For most part of the first set, '93 never really got their game going. It was an exciting feeling to see your opponent use up all their timeouts in a set (the shoe is in the other foot, finally!!) During the second set, it was a closer match, with '93 tasting up to a 5 point lead at a certain point. To tell you guys honestly, I was prepared to lose. I sorta got used to it. It was ok for us to lose that game since we technically should have been defaulted (score 25-0). I called a
time out at 23-20 and asked the team what do they plan to do about the game, realizing its consequences on '93 and their "showdown" with '96. Eventually, we agreed just to play the game out. '93 responded to our timeout with a 3-0 spurt but '98 scored the last two points to close out the match, the last point being the result of a block that I made.
At matchpoint, I told Oliver
"Eto pala feeling ng may matchpoint."
Now, the bigger story is that after winning the game, we decided to lose it.
How the hell do you do that? Well, it's simple. Just tell the officials to consider yourself
defaulted. That handed the last finals slot to '93 and pushed our record back to 0-5. Of course, I don't feel like Angola. Why? Because we won a game. A win is a win, technically speaking or not. It's funny now that I realized it, but we both lost AND won a game this tournament on account of
technicalities.
Well at least, there's something to look forward to next year.
Sana mag-dilang anghel si Pinlac, at baka mag-champion kami next year
.
POST-SCRIPTS
1. Happy Birthday to Chewy last weekend! The food was very tasty, the place was far, and the conversation was great! It was a homecoming of sorts because nag-apparition si JR Rebugio, I mean Tadena na pala. Jae should post something about this party (with pictures and other
"water under the bridge" details).
2. Next year, I hope some other volleyball players from our batch join us, particularly sina Charisse, Paulo Chua, etc.
3. I'm in the process of looking for that bee-yatch ref's name. I can probably convince the registrar to change some of her 2.5's by dropping the 2.
4. Good luck to the basketball team. Hope you have better luck than us!
5. See yah all this Sept. 4!
Homecoming
nicked off Ma'am Dacs's Friendster message
“SOUND MIND, SOUND BODY, SOUND SPIRIT”
The 2004 PSHS Diliman Alumni Homecoming
and PSHS System Alumni Gathering
4 September 2004 (Saturday)
3:00 p.m. onwards
PSHS-Diliman Multi-Purpose Gymnasium
Attention all Philippine Science High School graduates from ALL CAMPUSES!
The PSHS-Diliman shall hold the 2004 Alumni Homecoming on Saturday, 4 September 2004, at the PSHS-Diliman Multi-Purpose Gym. The Silver Jubilarians, Batch ‘79, together with Batches ’69, ’74, ’84, ’89, and ’99 invite PSHS alumni from all campuses to join them in a night of fun, fellowship, and reminiscing.
This year’s PSHS-Diliman Alumni Homecoming is also tagged as the 2004 PSHS System-wide Alumni Gathering, where PSHS alumni from all 8 campuses all over the country can come together under one roof for a night of brotherhood and celebration.
This event coincides with the commemoration of the Ruby Anniversary of the Philippine Science High School (1964-2004). From one campus situated in Diliman, Quezon City in 1964, the PSHS has now flourished into an 8-member system, with campuses located from Luzon to Mindanao – San Ildefonso, Iloco Sur; Nueva Vizcaya; Goa, Camarines Sur; Palo, Leyte; Jaro, Iloilo; Tubod, Lanao del Norte; and Davao.
Registration starts at 3:00 p.m. at the entrance of the Gym. PSHSAA merchandise – car stickers, class rings, Alumni ID, Hataw Pisay souvenirs – will also be on sale at the registration booth.
Activities for the afternoon include Mass (Batch ’74), blessing of the newly-renovated Grandstand (Batch ’74) and Outdoor Basketball Court (Batch ’79), Book Signing by PSHS alumni authors, Jamming Session and Dance Instructionals.
The Fireworks Display (c/o Batch ’74) at 6:30 p.m. at the Soccer Field signals the start of the Homecoming proper. The program includes tributes and presentations honoring distinguished alumni of the Diliman campus, and fellow scholars from the regional campuses. The PSHSAA will also hold the election for the 2005 PSHSAA Board of Directors. Of course, no party shall be complete without some music, so Route 70 will be there to provide groovy sounds for the night.
See your old friends, meet new acquaintances, visit the new Grandstand, gaze at the Olympic-size indoor swimming pool, check out your high school crushes, greet your high school teachers... come on, you don’t need a reason to go! Just BE THERE – Saturday, 4 September 2004, 3:00 p.m.
Spread the word!!! =)
Bio Jet One, take-off!
So how do you guys like the new layout?
Sorry if it's a tad simple, it was actually a bit more complex earlier but it was broken in IE, with its poor support for CSS standards. I had been developing in Linux and had to boot into Windows just to set it right. Of course, everyone ought to be using
Firefox by now, but I digress.
Anyway, just a little background: I've had that Bio-man graphic for a couple of months now. I had this old website that I haven't updated in a while, and a few months ago, I was thinking about resurrecting it. The problem was, it had
this gay-ass Little Prince layout which had to go, so I played around and made the Bio-man graphic.
I never did get around to updating my old website, and just as well. I think it's pretty cool that my last post from back then had
exactly 69 comments when I left.
And now, we've got ourselves a new layout. It might be better or worse than the other layouts, but at least it's our own. You know, just like our graduation song.
(Of course, if you don't like this layout, we could always revert to the old one. I've got back-ups, just in case.)
pinapakain ba kayo? (caroling at mike's place, christmas 1997?)
memories, light the corners of my mind. . .
Shameless geek plug
hokay. I realized that I could make this relevant to the blog by starting appropriately...
To all Pisay98 (oh yes, I just did that) people with gmail accounts. Google has released its official gmail notifier. You can download it
here. Being the nice batchmate that I am, I'm not elaborating on it. You can read the
faq (frequently asked questions) for more info.
why the hell did I post this here? ewan.
quick question
Bakit nde nagbabasketball ang elepante?
kasi walang rubber shoes na bilog.
Sorry, couldn't help myself. ;)
Hang-up
Nagtataka lang ako. Ang dami-dami kong kilalang tao na hanggang ngayon, may hang-up pa rin sa mga high school flame nila. Hindi ko sinasabing in-lab pa rin sila ha, pero sinasabi ko lang, meron pa silang hang-up. Para bang, kahit anim na taon (at maraming tao) na yung nakalipas, hindi pa rin nila makalimutan. O ayaw nilang kalimutan?
Meron diyang pa-text-text pa rin, at meron namang takot na takot mag-text. Merong dinadaan na lang sa Friendster, sa email, o 'di kaya sa Yahoo! Groups na la lang. Merong iba naman, wala na ngang communication, 'di naman matigil sa kadadaldal tungkol sa
kanya. Yung iba nga, ang kapal ng mukha at sa volleyball tournament pa dinadaan. Iniisip ko tuloy, bakit, pagkalipas ng anim na taon, importante pa rin sila.
Naalala ko tuloy, kasama ko si
Jem Bunao, nakaupo kami sa may front lobby, at pinag-uusapan namin yung isang crush ko noong panahon na yun. Binigyan niya ako ng pep talk, at sinabi sa akin na 'pag dumaan na yung crush ko, kausapin ko raw. At maya-maya nga lang, eto na nga yung crush ko, galing 'atang Bio o Chem lab, dala-dala yung lab gown niya.
At sa dahan-dahan niyang paglapit, inilabas ko na ang lahat ng tapang na tinatago sa dibdib ko at nagbigay ng isang makabagbag-damdaming... "Hi!"
Nagbigay naman siya ng maliit na ngiti at mas maliit na kaway, at habang pinapanood namin siyang maglakad ng palayo, hiniritan na lang ako ni Jem ng, "O, ginawa mo nga yung sinabi ko, haba ng usapan niyo ah, parang nag-bonding nga kayo ah."
Kaya nga naisip ko, kaya meron pa ring hang-up yung ibang tao ngayon, dahil na rin siguro sa panghihinayang.
Bakit nga ba, naisip nila,
nakilala ko siya noong 15 pa lang ako (at tatanga-tanga pa) at hindi ngayong 23 na (tatanga-tanga pa rin, pero hindi na masyadong halata)? Yun nga ba ang dahilan?
Eh ako ba, meron pang hang-up?
Pucha, wala na noh.
At kung meron man, hinding-hindi ko aaminin. Mamaya binabasa pala ng boyfriend niya 'tong blog na 'to eh.
TOR guide
Luz, Allen, Jam and I went to the Avilon Zoo in Montalban last Saturday. I was really excited, as I've NEVER been to a zoo before. Thinking that we’d be going on a gimmick later that night and that zoos lie on flat land, I wore high heeled sandals. Those sandals were the most comfortable ones I had; I was really used to wearing them. Apparently, Avilon had a span of 7 hectares -- not a square foot stood on flat land and most of the road had “rough” tiles. Well. Alam nyo na nangyari sa paa ko. Hehe! Nevertheless, I enjoyed looking at and teasing the animals, especially the tiger with sumpong. :)
The one thing that spoiled my Avilon experience (sounds like something from Star Trek) was our tour guide, or should I say, TOR guide. Yeah, she was cute. That was why Allen and Jam insisted on following her in the first place (Luz and I preferred the cute guy). She mispronounced every two words that came out of her mouth… emu as M.U., pavilion as favilyon, and my favorite, habit as habEt. A kid there had to correct her (“habIIIIt!!!”). Our eyes were bulging from our heads because we really had to stop ourselves from laughing. At least we had some entertainment during the tor.
If you guys have the time, drop by the zoo. The place is great. They’re open everyday from 8am-5pm, with guided tours every hour til 3 pm. Each tour takes about 2 hours. Entrance fee is P180 per person. You can call the Avilon office at 9425960, or call Stef at 0917-8995126 for roadmaps. Better yet, call Luz, Allen, Jam or me.
Pabahol -> Luz was the BEST tour guide ever. :)
Draw your own conclusions, part 3
Bitin... Weekend Play by Play Part 2
Ontong blocks a spike from '90 in the second setAh yes, that five letter word that characterizes our weekends...It's always "bitin;" you've felt it, but it wasn't enough. This is true for my weekend (and I'm sure it's true for yours). Sabi nga ni Alekos, he hates sundays because it signals the arrival of Monday. And we all know what's wrong with Monday. Anyway, this post is about the events that transpired during the weekend volleyball game featuring Batch '98 and that's what I should be writing about.The title of the post says it all for that game. We fell short. In Tagalog, nabitin kami. The Batch '90 prevailed over Batch '98 in three sets.The game started out as horrifying as one could imagine. '90 was hitting serves and we weren't exactly returning them. They weren't hitting hard. It's just that '98 wasn't returning the ball. A typical case of "unforced errors." I'd also have to admit that my play really sucked for that set. I failed to send in two serves (out of two!). The score was horrendous but we did manage to get to double digits (10). Absolutely no highlights for that set.2nd set huddle; Parang totoo no?The second set was much more closer than the first, with '98 getting the lead for most part until it made a push in the latter part of the set. Of course, fatigue on the part of '90 was a bit obvious. Their tosser (who resembled a 32 year old version of Rolly Doolittle Marasigan) got injured and was not very effective. Also, '98's serves had a much higher accuracy in the second set. Of course, who could forget Ontong's "unpredictable" hulogs and Brian Caparas' string of blocks. '98 prevailed in this set, 25-19 ( i think) to force a clincher set. The third set saw '90 zooming to a 7-2 lead until '98 catched up and evened the score at 7. '90 had a 7-2 run that set up 4 match points, 9-14. With the game on the line, '98 made a 5-0 run that evened the count at 14. The last tie was at 15-15 until '90 scored two more points that sealed the win for them.Well, ayun nga, bitin... But it was a good overall game (I really wonder what happened to that first set...). Though Oli packs a few pounds down there, he can still pack a whallop. I was fairly convinced he had the strongest spike out there (and he had to prove it a couple of times pa!). Elea, though arriving a bit late and probably shaken from the traffic, managed to play a nice game. Shaty, claiming she had only two hours of sleep, didn't show it at all (both in her game play and how she looked). Pat, inspired by Chico, played a game worthy of her CS jersey. Even though she' plagued by various insinuations brought about by that "draw your own conclusions part 2" post, Salve managed to play a game that reminded me why she was on the Eng'g varsity when she was a student. Brian, a surprise player last time, came much more prepared. Parang kinarir ang volleyball. This time, he was in athletic gear and he brought his A game. '98 missed the services of Marwin and Bano (and those others out there!!). Ma'am Dacs, Jae, Jam, and Alekos (Opal ka pa rin...) was there for the much needed moral support. And of course, Jae was there to take pictures... The look of dejection! Alekos' reaction says it all.Oh yeah, Jonas was there. I forgot to bring his shirt (which by then was already clean!). I wonder what's wrong... he must be living in some third world country or something. Hmmm, OFW's might make a good topic for a blog. However, don't expect me to write one. :)Well. 'Till the end of the month. The next games are scheduled as follows:Aug. 28 (Sat) 2:30PM versus '88Aug. 29 (Sun) 9 AM versus '93
Draw your own conclusions, part 2
Weekend Play by Play
It has been a long weekend for a lot of people I'm sure. It's the same thing for me and our fellow batchmates who took time to play and/or watch the alumni volleyball tournament (see previous posts).
The first game of batch '98 was against perennial nemesis '97 (beefed up by EJ Baranda's batch '89). I truly believed we had a chance to beat them, considering that we were familiar with batch '97 (and EJ) and that we forced them to three long sets last year (the set they lost actually cost them a seat in the semi-finals).
On batch '98s side was (in order of arrival) shaty, myself, oliver, salve, brian caparas (who actually arrived much earlier than me but I didn't saw him until after elea arrived), elea, jonas (who just can't seem to get his requirements done; he must be living in some third world country or something), and marwin (who arrived early for the next day's game but JIT for the third set). Dacs, jae, jam, and joyce (arriving after the game) provided the much needed "moral support." Our team would have been defaulted had it not been for the (pleasantly) surprising apperances of jogon and brian. The game started out pretty well with our team winning the first set (i forgot the score). Shaty had to leave and, as expected from people generally out of shape, fatigue was felt by most players. It ended with the other team winning 2 more sets.
The visit to Pisay wouldn't have been complete without a visit to none other than our neighbor, the Office of the Ombudsman!
Okay, so it was a lame joke, but we went to the next best place, SM City!! Brought back a lot of HS memories, some notable, some forgettable. A movie at Gale (Collateral) ended my Saturday, rather late i should say, considering we had a game at 9AM the next day. Oh, nga pala, we saw Joana and Noel (her BF) in Galleria, enjoying dinner at Popeye's.
Sunday was not what I expected. I arrived a little before 9AM and there were only 6 people in the gym: ontong, 2 officials, and 3 people from batch '96. A few minutes later, batch '96 (the defending champs) were complete and we were only 3 (plus salve). Shaty arrived (with kay quema in toll) but we were only 5!! The officials ruled we were defaulted and only then did marwin arrive! Not that it would matter, but we still played. As expected, we got creamed by batch '96. Highlights of the game included, well mostly batch '96 highlights. Ontong never really got the opportunity to show what he learned at volleyball camp at PBS but Kay (our savior, really!) got smothered by the opposing camp's serves. Grabe, wala awa yung mga taga batch '96! But, I would like to thank Kay, on behalf of the entire batch, for having the guts to play that day. Thanks!
Oh yeah, dumating pala si RJ (a.k.a. Rodrigo --> say emphatically) in all his buffness. You won't recognize him until you talk to him.
**********
Invite lang
For those of you who want to play volleyball or just cheer and watch the games, the team's next games are (all at the Pisay gym):
Aug. 14 (sat) 2:30PM [vs. eric soriano (eng journ teacher) and the rest of '90]
Aug. 28 (sat) 2:30PM [vs. '88]
Aug. 29 (sun) 9AM [vs. '93]
these teams are actually beatable (unlike batch '96) so the team needs your support. it would also be a nice chance to get some headway in the alumni homecoming chit-chat. of course, there's an SM City outing after the game :)
are the UP Med people reading our blog? Hey, if you are, please join us!! Special mention to JPL, Charisse, and Julius. (NOT Med: Also to Cholo, Paulo Chua; WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?)
Alumni Sports Season
with all the hoopla that surrounds the alumni homecoming comes the excitement of alumni sportsfests (doesn't really sound exciting...)
tomorrow marks the start of the pisay alumni volleyball tournament (to be held in pisay of course!). so far, players include myself, ontong, oliver (not oliver g. ontong!!), bano, pat, marwin, salve, eleanor, and, to my pleasant surprise our import from berkley,ca. shaty!
for those who have free time this weekend, the games are scheduled on saturday, 3:30 PM and sunday, 9 AM. if you want to play, you can come and join us!
i think the basketball games will start a bit later (around mid-august, according to dacs)
contact me for more details!
Bonus
Just a couple of pictures of me and my little sister. I know I've written about her a bunch of times before, but what are you gonna do? Anyway, just last week, she made it to the honors program at her school, with straight A+ grades. I'm especially proud of it because, well, as a way to help out my folks, I've been paying for her tuition fees.
(And it's quite a tuition fee, too. Let's put it this way, I studied on a scholarship throughout high school and college, and for most of that period I even received stipends. I actually spent more for her tuition fees in a single year than what my family spent for all of my high school
and college years.)
Of course, it's already become a joke for me and my friends, when we talk about life, love, and settling down (because, as young as we are, we're pretty aware that it's around the corner, seeing that a couple of our friends have gotten married just this past year.) The conversation goes like this:
Me: "
Gusto ko nang mag-asawa pare, pero hindi pa puwede eh. Nagpapa-aral pa ako ng kapatid eh."
Friend: "
Ah, ok yan pare ah. Ilang taon na ba siya?"
Me: "
Grade 2 pa lang. Tapos balak pa raw niyang mag-doctor."
Of course, poor Icay isn't spared from all the joking. She's the youngest child, and before her comes three brothers, so you could imagine how much punishment she takes from the rest of us. For example, when I bring home
pasalubong, my brothers and I would joke about not paying Icay's tuition anymore. You know, so I could bring home
pasalubong for them every day. And Icay, who acts every bit like a 16-year-old
colegiala already, would just turn her noses at us and pretend she doesn't hear what her idiot brothers are saying.
Then again, she wouldn't be spared from the jokes even if I weren't paying for her tuition. After all, we're brothers, and isn't that really what brothers are for? We always joke about how she has two different personalities; she is this
mataray little prima donna at home because she gets away with everything being the youngest one, while at school, she is (apparently) a quiet, well-behaved, and well-liked little girl.
My brother Joseph, who is the only one among us who has a bit of an artistic bent, even created this hilarious drawing on
Notepad Paint illustrating this phenomenon:
I liked the drawing so much, it's now the default wallpaper on my home desktop.
I suck at drawing, so I just needle Icay the best way I know how: by being an ass. I usually call her silly names, because she
hates being called silly names. Kikay, Baby Iks, Kiki, Kuku, Cookie, Kiks, Jaica-icay, and my personal favorite,
Sandara Pork, which drives her crazy because she secretly likes Sandara but would never admit to it. Of course, all of my silliness is just a ruse so that she'd give a big kiss and a bigger hug. You know, to make her idiot big brother shut up.
Which, I guess, makes it all good. Every centavo I spent for her education, well, is worth it, if only for all those hugs and kisses I get when I come home from work, and the bonus ones I get when I needle her. The straight A+ grades are just a nice bonus, I guess. Idiot big brothers should only be so lucky.
Luz
Faye posted earlier at the Pisay 98 mailing list that Luz passed
the board exam for Veterinary Medicine. I figured I'd post about it here, and maybe attach a picture of her, but unfortunately, this was the only picture of hers I could find.
Congratulations Luz!
