Semester Break

So… semester break is here. And I’m not sure if I can celebrate yet… haha.

So I’ve passed all my classes so far… but still waiting for Parasitology results. They will be coming soon, but then again I will check on that tomorrow.

I spent the weekend in Manila and I just came home this afternoon. James took me down to his cousin’s place in Manila and we had a fun time hanging around Festival mall in Alabang, going to the pool, the golf driving range and eating at a ton of cool places. Our Korean friend Jae even came down and spent two days with us. We all had a fun time and needed some time to relax and chill for a bit since the semester was over.

In the past week, I’ve had my Parasitology final and like I said before, I’m still waiting on results. Not sure if I have to take a removal exam for that class yet, but we’ll see. Even while I was in Manila I took some time to look over my notes and go over things that I wasn’t too sure on during the final. Hopefully I won’t have to use any of it, but we’ll just have to see. After the Parasitology final this past Wednesday, James, me and my other friends Jae, Elma, Rosebelle and Faye held a small barbeque and gathering to celebrate the end of the semester. James cooked some chili and cheese to make a batch of nachos and also prepared some meat for marinating. The beef he got was supposedly imported from the US but all of it looked like thick slabs of bacon. It was all really good though. In my fridge I had some pieces of bread and some cheese slices so we made some grilled cheese sandwiches off the grill as well. Along with the nachos and such, it all turned out to be a great barbeque. We ended up finishing the all the food between the 6 of us.

After that we watched Wonder Bakery, a show about the Wonder Girls pairing up individually with an aspiring patissier (i.e. pastry chef) who was in their early 20s. It was an interesting show and since the series only spanned 8 episodes at 22 minutes per episode, we watched the entire thing in about 2 hours and 40 minutes. It was just like watching a long movie. The missions were really interesting. Most included making a special cake, but others included selling their a specific pastry that they had to come up with and make themselves. During the competition some of the patissiers were eliminated which brought in even more talented chefs to pair up with the now lone Wonder Girl. The winner of the competition won 10,000,000 South Korean won (which is about $8500 USD I believe). The competition towards the end was fierce, but in the end it ended favorably. I don’t want to tell you who won because I don’t want to ruin the surprise. If you ever want to watch the series, you can check out their Wonder Girls International Forum Spectacle and look under the Wonder Subbers section for the downloads.

So after a good BBQ, some more Parasitology studying and other things this weekend, I’m fully rested and willing to see what tomorrow will bring. Will it bring good news? Who knows. I can only cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Immunology & Pharmacology Down

After a semester-long uphill battle against Immunology I never thought I would make it this far. And after some pretty horrible and crappy tests that were given towards the end of the semester in Pharmacology (a class I was initially doing very well in) I was having doubts about being exempt from the finals. But guess what? I did it. I passed Immunology and Pharmacology. After visiting the college today I was pretty happy and sighed a breath of relief when looking at the lists. And with that is a load off my very sore back.

One more obstacle stands in my way and that is Parasitology. I really do not want to look at my parasitology packets anymore, but I have to so I will do that now.

Just wanted to let you know that I am one step away from getting this semester over and done with.

One More Final To Go

I’m sorry I haven’t posted in awhile. I’ve been really busy with school and since it’s the end of the semester I’ve been in the middle of dealing with finals and such.

Yesterday I took my Immunology final. I really hope that I did well enough to pass the class. It was a straightforward final and I’m hoping that my answers were what my professor was looking for. I was able to answer all of the questions on the test (even the bonus). So… *crosses fingers* hopefully I did well.

Today, I went to the college with James to find out if we were exempted from taking the Pharmacology final and guess what? We both were! So after exempting from three classes so far (Pharmacology, Pathology and Ruminant Production), and also taking the Immunology final, we have one big obstacle in our way: Parasitology.

The final will be held this Wednesday from 8-10am. Out of all of my classes this year, I have been struggling with this the most. So since I have about 5 days to study, I’m going to take all of my time to focus on that subject. It’s really important that I pass that exam, as I will need that class to take up surgery next year. My friend Renan (Dr. Martin now), who graduated from UPLB’s CVM about 5-6 years ago has been giving me advice on how to handle the course load. He’s a very smart guy. Like really smart. But even he said that he struggled with the course. He ended up taking the final and then taking the removals (which is a test in which is the final barrier… it will decide whether you pass or not). He ended up acing it in the end. I really hope that I don’t have to go as far as removals are concerned, but anything’s possible. Parasitology is the one class that has been keeping me down all year and I intend to beat it down with a stick.

Displayed here is everything that came in the box, including the Ooma Hub & Ooma Scout.

In other news, this morning I received a package from the US. I didn’t know this, but my parents had sent me an automated phone system this past week and it just arrived this morning. I opened the package and it’s really quite cool. The outside of the box looks like something Apple would make and when I opened it there was the Ooma Hub in the package itself, as well as the Ooma Scout. The Ooma is a VOIP-based telephone system, so I don’t actually need a phone line for it to work. I just need a working phone set, a broadband connection, a computer and of course electricity to plug into for the Ooma. So far I’ve got everything set to go… except the phone set. My friend James was kind enough to take me out this morning to go look for a phone set but to my very surprise, I was not able to find a telephone to buy here in Los Banos. That alone kind of irks me, just because I mean, what if people really needed to buy a phone? We hit up Robinson’s Handyman (a well-known hardware store in the Philippines), Maquiling Home Depot (which is like a Home Depot in the states), and even the local mall and none of them carried phones. I really wanted to test out my Ooma today, but since I probably have to go all the way down to Manila to actually get a decent phone and have to study for Parasitology this Wednesday I’m going to have to wait until after Wednesday to celebrate by calling my folks and girlfriend. (Argh, foiled again by the lack of supplies in Los Banos! Damn you!!)

The Ooma Scout and Ooma Hub.

Anyway, in other news, remember that picture that I posted awhile ago with Sun Ye and the word “sexy?” My picture got picked to be put on a shirt that will be delivered personally to Sun Ye!! After all the voting was done I was picked! How sweet is that? That means that my artwork will be worn by the leader of the Wonder Girls! I just hope she likes it!

Alright, I think I’ve procrastinated long enough. I better go and hit the books. Wish me luck guys!