I super super miss blogging! I’ve been uber busy the past week and today was the only time I had to blog again about my life.

So without further delay, let’s start.

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I’ve only started watching Pinoy Dream Academy (PDA) on ABS-CBN this week and I must say, I already have a favorite.

I’m pretty sure a lot of people have their money on the good-looking (what’s good looking anywayz) bunch, but I always focus on what competitions such as PDA should be about, and that is raw (not to mention goosebumps-worthy) talent. Compared to most of the guys on the academy, Bugoy definitely has what it takes to make records that would last.

I mean, after all, all their training from the world class instructors wouldn’t be worth anything if all they’re looking for are looks that would sell in the end, right?

I’m definitely looking forward to this season’s winner because frankly, Yeng Constantino really didn’t quite justify what the academy is truly about. I think the other contestants have no idea how big of a threat Bugoy is in terms of voice quality.

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Also, for those residing in the Philippines, I would highly recommend to catch Moment of Truth on 2nd Avenue, Project Runway Philippines on ETC, and one show I’d definitely be on the look out for is Shear Genius which premieres on July 24 10pm, also on ETC.

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From TV shows we now go to fashion.

Okay, I know with a place like Dagupan where the temperature resembles that of an oven, wearing a shemagh is the last thing you want to use as an accessory, but I definitely think that it’s time to start purchasing them given the rainy days are drawing near a.k.a. everyone would be wearing one by then, and by everyone I mean every gay guy you know.

There isn’t a single store here in Dagupan that sells shemagh so the only way you could get them is by traveling or simply head over to Ebay. I’ve done my research and the price range is pretty affordable I tell you.$7-$11 is something your hardwork is worthy of.

For those who are feeling quite generous, Remcyl Viloria is currently taking any color as a gift. wink!

*To Alain, now you know what this accessory is called LOL

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To cheat or not to cheat…

I was watching this program the other day and the topic of the group’s discussion was about education. Apparently, in the Philippines alone, 11 million comprises the out of school youth which is pretty sad considering that the top two priorities in the government’s fund is allocated to health and education if I’m not mistaken.

For those given the wonderful opportunity of studying, are we really even getting our money’s worth? Well, in my school, I think I just learned how things work days ago.

It was our examination day and I have to say I think I did pretty well in terms of studying for my exam. So the next day, I was more than ready to take the first test. Our proctor was our school coordinator which was not as strict as I was hoping her to be. After lunch, our proctor was replaced by a new one and to my surprise, the girls in my class were more than happy to welcome her with smiles on their faces reaching their ears. I was really in question why they were so happy. Turns out, the proctor and the girls are close. Too close in fact that she intentionally and blatantly allowed all the girls to cheat during the exam. I am telling you, books laid out in the open and comparison of answers from their seatmates were as blatant as Elton John.

Just when I thought things were at their worst possible state, I was wrong. I passed my paper to the proctor since I was done with the test without an answer copied from any of my classmates. When I got back to my seat, she called my attention and told me I missed out four items on the enumeration part of the test, and wanted me to answer them since it was okay for me to open my book. But I wasn’t that student she was expecting me to be. Though a typical student might have made the innate decision to jump on the opportunity, I certainly didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried cheating before in my high school days, and it was something I wasn’t proud of and never will be proud of, but I am passed that phase of depending on others’ answers for my score’s sake.

To my proctor, for a clinical instructor, you should be ashamed of yourself for encouraging students to cheat and suffer the consequences later on in the board exams.

Are we living in a world where schools are now encouraging us to cheat? To learn by having the answers shoved up our ass? To possess knowledge in a way we haven’t earned rightfully?

I’m pretty sure to generalize the entire school population in the Philippines is quite an overstatement, but the fact that problems like these are present, is a sad sad dose of reality that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Passing the nursing course is a needle in a haystack, and others might resort to several ways just so they could graduate. But after failing my NCM 102 in the University of Pangasinan and transferring to a new school while others who failed as well still managed to get in because of the palakasan strategy, I knew the cheating of my classmates and for the proctor to just allow it to happen was something I wouldn’t tolerate. My classmates kept on complaining after they felt betrayed by their former school because of bias decisions, it was so hypocritical of them to be playing the bias game with me. I am playing fairly, and I expect them to do the same, because that is how things should be. Our school is so proud of screaming that we are a De La Salle Supervised School, let’s not give them reasons to question this title.

All I’m trying to prove here is that we made mistakes in the past, and given the second chance to study the subject again, I believe we should be taking it more seriously. Agree?