Thursday, August 31, 2006

Hello Kitty reward

I'm elated! Today we had three tests, and each one needing more than forty percent of my memory! Guess what? Not only did I pass the tests (yey I still haven't had a retake til now) I topped one. The most difficult one. Memorizing wasn't my thing so last night I made some technique or maybe just deeper understanding or something. I got perfect score! Woah! Even I was amazed. Ms Park Jung Woo gave me a Hello Kitty something for that.

I guess all the eyebags are worth it when appreciated.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Giggling in the rain

I just got back after trying to find something from a not-very-nearby grocery store. It was raining when I stepped out of the store so I pondered whether I should dash through the rain or wait til it stops. But it was so long ago since I walked in the rain. For some reason, for so long I wanted to feel like a kid again and enjoy getting soaked.

You see, when I got pre-adolescent I wanted to go "singing in the rain". But then I'll remember that my mobile phone's in my pocket or my bag would get wet and so on. Storing them some place before stepping out would ruin the moment.

But today I was just in jeans, a pink tank top, a big silver necklace (I don't care) and only a few bills are inside my pocket, so what the hey! I stepped out and traced my way back to the hotel, giggling as I cutely refused umbrella offers and bewilder some people who ran for cover in fear that maybe their Manolos will get wet or something.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Halfway through

Today was SLE [Supervised Line Experience] flight. It's sort of observation flight as application of all things we've learned from the start (safety and security related). And then afterwards you have an oral test with the instructor. To simply put it, it's like the finals of a semester, the difference is, it's just one test. Nineteen subjects, three and a half weeks and 20 written and drill tests put into one. Books, manual, handouts... Name it.

I pretty much didn't sleep last night and it was the only time that I really studied. (Like really studied.) Then woke up early to enough to get the lounge attendant surprised why someone went down for breakfast so early.

Anyway, my SLE mates (Leona and Anne) took the 8301 flight to Daegu. Domestic destination which just takes around 35 minutes from takeoff to landing. So much turbulence got me a bit dizzy and found it hard to focus on what we had to observe and all.

Oral test came and went and then it was time to eat the Etang Pizza that Ms Lee bought for us! I'm almost singing, "Celebrate good times, c'mon!"

Though we've started Service classes since Tuesday, it's only now that I can really say I'm halfway through the training. Can't wait for the September 8 (to 11) day off in Manila!

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Photoblogging the past week

I'm a bit lazy these days, due to the tiring week. So, photoblog!


On the way to Express Bus Terminal, 23 girls squeezed in into one van.




And, on the way home, on Metro Seoul.




And the results of EBT shopping, "Korean" fashion!




Class B, so excited to wear the uniform for the first time. (This was yesterday.) And that's me and my roommate. I hate doing this hairstyle everyday; and the makeup, it's not making me look better. Right?



I'm never photogenic. *frown*

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Electronics Haven

Today's a holiday. Independence day. Independence from Japan. Yey no classes/training today! So me and Precious went to Yongsan (a subway station) together with Mon-Mon who came along on the last minute. By the way, the stations aren't like the MRT/LRT stations that we have back home. Anyway, this particular station looked like a drop-off station at an airport. Anyway as you near the exit (by going up the escalator, coz you're underground maaaan!) it looked like a piece of The Terminal. And further along, the haven. An electronics haven.

It's like any model and any brand is available. I started looking for an iRiver earphones to replace my old one. Got it. 15k won. As I've nothing more to do but wait for Mon-Mon (or Monica) to finish up the deal with a Fuji digicam and Precious with the webcam set, I hopped from stall to stall to find an iRiver N12. Unfortunately, almost everyone ran out of stock. Coz it's a holiday, everyone has the time to buy their own N12s. Geez. Anyway, one stall happened to be showing me one. Unfortunately, I can't get myself to buy it. He's saying it's an N12 but at the back it says N10 (they look alike, by the way), and that it's 1GB when at the back it's 256MB. I can't, I can't, I can't. Anyway he gave me something else.

I bought the Iops Z5 after so much blah, for 130k won. For my kuya on his birthday. Yipee!

Saturday, August 12, 2006

EBT

Went shopping today at Express Bus Terminal. Geez. Nakakapagod. But happy. Bought pasalubong for people back home. I spent like 70,000 KRW. Most things I bought for my friends are from The Face Shop still. I already have a lot of freebies from Face Shop like a towel and a pair of slippers. Haha. It's summer here so they're giving away beach stuff. And trial size bottles of suntan lotions, SPF-ed moisturizers and all.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Ditching

Woah, this week unbelievably went by so fast. We've finished ditching/swimming class today (and the tests as well). Of course every muscle is aching, but finishing the tests was worth a celebration. Which is why we'd be doing our groceries tomorrow. Haha. Pathetic celebration.

Anyway, the first test was 25 meters of individual swimming. With lifevest, you're only allowed to swim using your legs, either flat or frog kick. Maximum time possible was 90 seconds, perfect score time was 40 seconds or less. Whew, I did flat kicks (coz my frogs were getting me nowhere) and finished at 34 seconds. Yey! I wasn't the fastest though, Jila finished by 33 seconds.

Next, 10 meters rescue swimming. The same procedure (lifevest, flat/frog kicks) but this time pulling someone along. The instructor was sitting at the supposed 10-meter mark; he was seated by the middle of the pool, that's about 13-15 meters! Maximum time possible is 60 seconds; perfect score time, 30 seconds. I finished at 38. I was pulling Kezia, who's 5'9''!

HELP. Heat Emission Lessening Position. One minute. Giveaway. All you've got to do is hug your knees. And float. Haha.

Group HELP. Pretty much the same, but this time everyone must chain arms and maintain the circle. Instructors come and try to break the chain by half-drowning one of you. Bond was strong so we got perfect score for that.

The toughest part. Getting onto a fully inflated slide raft, with the raft walls being 2-3 feet in height. Maximum time possible: 30seconds; perfect score time: 10 seconds. I stumbled into the raft by 7. :)

Whooo! Achievement! I got 90 points in all. Not bad. :)

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Helluva week

It's one hell of a week. It's, as you know if you've been reading this blog often, the first week of Safety and Compliance' three-week training. We've finished about seven subjects already, out of the eighteen. And of course, the tests. Eight exams within five days! C'mon!

Anyway, so glad I passed all eight. (If you get below 80%, you're considered failed. You need to have a retake and get 90%. Otherwise, you go back to Manila.) Whew! Physically and mentally draining. We hardly sleep. Kasi naman ang daming inaaral. May pre-study na tas magsstudy pa for the tests.

And of course, there was this Unplanned Evacuation drill test last Friday, which was super physically challenging (after which you still have yet another mentally incapacitating test for another subject). You're given a certain situation (most likely a type of aircraft crash), to which in less than a second you should start your reaction. That's shouting the commands so that passengers would know what to do. Damn, they were in Korean and then you also have to translate them to English. Then assessing everything. Then evacuation--the very heavy doors, supposedly needs to be opened in 3 seconds. And sometime everything's not supposed to go smoothly. Obstacles like a jammed door or whatever.

"No time to think, just react." They tell us.

Oh, and everything that comes out of your mouth should be more than 110 decibels. Sore throat.

+ + +

To celebrate and prepare for the next week, me and my roommate Precious together with Bianca and Jila went to Home Plus (a supermarket) later that night to purchase our groceries for the next week. (Some celebration huh?) And then took home Lotteria food for dinner.

Precious downloaded Limewire but we don't have speakers so we transferred the songs to here Moto and played them on speaker mode. The very first song we played was I Wouldn't Be Here If I Didn't Love You. Hee hee.

Post dinner I did my laundry, my first time since I got here. So I pretty much had a lot to wash. Though I was super tired after, I still went online and went to bed by 3AM.

+ + +

I woke up and practically did nothing today. I swore I'd make Saturdays free from anything training-related. But because I had nothing to do, I started making 'reviewers' for my Monday exam so that I'd be able to bring them tomorrow on the way to church.

After the supposed boyfriend time I soaked in a hot tub to ease my very painful muscles (ng dahil sa Evacuation!) and sang along my mp3 player while my roommate's on the pc talking with her bf, using the headset Karen lent her. An hour after, I'm done and lazily lounging around so I tried to watch tv. I'm on super unwind mode.

Unfortunately in the middle of Sex and the City, the tv just switched off by itself. I can't switch it back on so I thought the remote control was out of battery and even borrowed one from Mara's room. No avail. I called up front desk to have them check on it (at midnight! I'm merciless?!) but still to no avail. Geez. Minsan nalang magbubukas ng tv.

So I'm here in front of this flat screen monitor and using YouTube as radio.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

From Seoul

Yey. First few pictures here in Seoul. Kaso nasa hotel lang. We can't bring phones to the training center kasi.



That's the view from our hotel room.

My bed. :) Magulo e?

Jumpsuit. Kaso nakabaliktad ung jogging pants. Hehe. See "Asiana" on the pants? Haha.

Stash of cosmetics. Most are from Face Shop and the rest are from the Philippines pa. We have to use all of these everyday. Nyak.


I'm almost always in front of the pc so my boyfriend ought to be on the pc--literally! :)


Typical Korean pose. Me, Erika, Precious (my roommate) and Mara.

Chika Minute

Yey! I passed both exams today. One of my classmates in Class B didn't and only five passed a test in Class A. Whew, at least I only have 18 more to go.

Surprisingly the days have been going by a little more faster than last week. Thank goodness; though the undereye dark circles are getting bigger and darker each morning.

You know when you're really missing home when the highlight of your day is Nina's insider chismis about GMA talents. (She was a creative writer for Eat Bulaga before she joined Asiana.)