TO MY FELLOW LA SALLIANS LET'S BE ONE FOR ILIGAN

Typhoon Sendong, which hit the Visayas and Mindanao regions REAL HARD. I was reading my Twitter timeline and read heartbreaking tweets from ABS-CBN and other people. They say it's Ondoy-like, some say it was far worse than Ondoy. But Ondoy-like or not, when Sendong left, the end result was a catastrophe! And what's worse it hit the region like 10 days before Christmas.

And since my family's also in the giving mood for the Holidays with our annual Christmas Drive, I think we should give back and help these families. Guys, it's almost Christmas, and a lot of these families will be spending the supposedly happiest day of the year in resettlement areas (school gyms or the town center).

I just re-tweeted Gang Badoy and it said that: "My cousin just texted me: The La Salle Iligan gym is being prepared now for the mass wake of the victims in their community. :(" Seriously, this isn't how Christmas is supposed to be.

And since we have a brother school in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte (which was also badly hit by Sendong) the Brothers have posted on their Facebook accounts ways on how we can help these families. So to my fellow La Sallians, it's time to pay it forward. These people are in dire need of help. Here's how you can help send your donations:


Development Bank of the Philippines
Account Name: La Salle Academy
Account Number: 0820-016221-030.

Notes:
1. Please make cheques payable to La Salle Academy.
2. Kindly make a digital copy (or digital photo) of the deposit slip and email this digital file to Br. Raffy Reyes FSC (President of LSA) raffyreyes1018@gmail.com AND Br Dennis Magbanua FSC (President of DLSZ) brodennis@gmail.com for proper documentation and accounting.

De La Salle Zobel: Please leave donations at GATE 7, starting December 19. They also have relief goods drop off centers at Alabang Town Center. You may contact the following people in-charge:

The following members of the DLSZ community are in charge of the Relief Goods Drop Off Center:

Miss Evangeline "Vangie" de Peralta (Lasallian Formation and Mission Department Director)
0917 563 8870 (office cellular number)

Mr Jayjay Jacinto (Social Action Office Head)
0917 859 7602 (office cellular number)

Mr Dennis Patiño (Administrative Services Department Director
0917 556 4155 (office cellular number)

Mr Ton Francisco (Parent Volunteer for Logistics and Transportation)
tonfrancisco2000@yahoo.com

De La Salle-College of St. Benilde: Fill-out pledge form and give/send donations through the accounting office. You may get pledge form at COSCA Office 3rd/F of Br. Cordero Building.

La Salle Greenhills: You may leave donations at GATE 2 also starting December 19.

For more information on how to help visit the De La Salle Philippines Facebook page by clicking here.

Thank you guys! Please spread the word. Our La Sallian brothers and sisters need us, and so does the people of Iligan City whose lives will be changed forever by this catastrophic event. Let's help them rebuild their lives in the littlest way we could. We had Ondoy 2 years ago, so we know exactly how they feel.

P.S. Here's a clear example of how devastating the situation is over at Iligan City.
NEWS UPDATE:
Several LSA faculty members, support staff and students lost their homes. One teacher lost her brother, another lost her parents and a sister. Another teacher lost her mother and two brothers. One night high school student reportedly died too.

The school was also flooded (about one to two feet high). Clearing of the mud in the classrooms and offices has commenced. Wakes for the members of the Lasallian Family will also be held on campus because the funeral parlors are full.

May Field Trip sa Grad School!

Oh yes! May field trip sa graduate school! Funny cos when we were but undergrads in La Salle we never had one. So we all kinda looked forward to this out-of-class activity for our Integrated Marketing Communications class.

Our cool professor, Mr. Rodrigo Cornejo, works at the Office of the President at one of the biggest television networks in the country, GMA 7. Every single time we have our class, he always mentions GMA, as in never fail! Proud to be Kapuso ang lolo niyo talaga! Understandable, cos he's one of the pioneers of the network, present ang lolo niyo nung mga panahon na it wasn't doing well yet.

So last Friday, our class trooped on over to GMA along Timog in Quezon City. Bonggang commute kaya pawis pawisan levels ang lola niyo cos I had to bring my car first to Toyota Pasong Tamo for a 35k km check-up. Alay Lakad ang ganap sa katirikan ng araw! But I seriously missed riding the MRT, since it was past rush hour hindi parang Quiapo o Baclaran ang mga train compartments. And I think a lot of you would agree on this, on the girl's compartments, it's relatively peaceful! Tamuh? Tamuuhhh!! :)

Kami ata ni Drin ang pinaka-maaga don, egzoited much na makakita ng mga artista. Joke lang! But we were early, but it was nice to see that our professor already waiting for us at the lobby of the GMA Network Center, the building he says took Php950 million to complete! BONGGELS!

When we were finally complete, we were lead to the Mezzanine to wait for THE Mike Enriquez. It was nice to see him without his game face, he's usually angry on TV or radio kasi cos he's like our Mr. Expose here. And he spoke to us in STRAIGHT ENGLISH, wag magulat purong La Sallista po itong taong ito. Because we were all La Sallians, chumika ang lolo niyo about La Salle during his time. He was so cool talaga! My Mom doesn't really like him because of the way he speaks on TV or radio, but when I was telling her afterwards how he was really soft spoken pala talaga, although he didn't lack in facial expressions hahaha!




By the way, meet my pretty kulots classmate Rieze. Ang magandang babaitang ito ay galing sa kabila, Kapamilya. Cute when she was in GMA and she was wearing the studio tour pin, laughtrip! Medyo pinagtripan lang siya nila Mike Enriquez hahaha

After his inspirational talk on Integrated Marketing Communications in the media we were given a quick tour of GMA and its studios. I'm no stranger to the place because when I was still working for a publishing company, I got to interview and shoot Arnold Clavio and Heart Evangelista. The place is really modern and jazzed up. A far cry from what they were when they started out.




We were done with the tour just before lunch. Most of us had to rush back to work, but kami na makapal ang mukha at nag-leave or tumakas sa trabaho, we all had lunch at Banapple, Il Terrazo along Tomas Morato. No pictures of the food, but I had the Cheezy Penne, my fave at Banapple. Super good and CHEEZY!! But we had our photos taken at the free photobooth hehe.

Hoping for another out-of-class activity in one of our majors soon! It was really fun! But when I was in GMA I realized I've been veering away from what I really want to do. When I was in high school/college, I wanted to be a reporter, I got as close to it when I was in publishing. But now I'm doing something different, I think it's time get my life back on track! :)

100 Years and Counting...ANIMO LA SALLE!

The entire La Sallian community started its Centennial Countdown a year ago. I remember the DLSU Centennial website even had a countdown. So it just goes to show how excited everyone was for THE BIG DAY!

And so yesterday, June 16, we all gathered together as ONE LA SALLE to celebrate our school's 100th year. The DLSU schools in the provinces also had their own centennial celebrations, so we could celebrate all together.

Since we all had work, we got to La Salle rather late. It was almost 9PM when we got to Taft and the traffic was HORRIBLE! If you're a regular Taft-er, you'd know how bad traffic can get along the avenue during dismissal. Just imagine that traffic magnified 30 times more! And oh, parking was equally HELL-ish!

According to my college barkada Steph, who was in school as early as 3PM, there were mini-concerts all over the school. There was one along Agno Street so it was closed off for a while. But the main venue was the amphitheater, which was so JAMPACKED! I swear in my 4 years in undergrad and 1st term in grad school I have ever seen La Salle filled to the brim with students. It was like the school was bursting at the seams. It was really, really fun, but it was also super hot! AND EVERYONE WAS WEARING GREEN! :)


I'm sorry for the really lousy pictures, I was only using my BB. Anyway these pictures are from Jett Pangan/The Dawn's concert at the amphitheater. He sure brought the house down. Students were singing to the songs, screaming, bobbing their heads to the beat, and raising their hands ("parang prayer meeting lang" - just like a prayer meeting - HAHAHAHA).



It was funny though cos while Jett Pangan was dishing out some rock tunes, some group decided this was the perfect time to release balloons, much like what the Indonesians did after the tsunami some 3-4 years ago. It was kinda weird!

But what everybody was waiting for were the FIREWORKS to cap off the celebrations. It wasn't BONGGA or anything. Actually I was kind of disappointed because they didn't set off the fireworks at a higher point. Most of the fireworks were covered by the tree in the Marian Quadrangle. Sayang! But hey the students were all cheering! I wish they let the Pep Squad play the drums, so we could all have cheered our DLSU cheers during the fireworks display.





After the fireworks, our VIPs came to the stage. We had former La Sallians who are now big names in showbizness sing our Alma Mater hymn. JM Rodrigo, Epi Quizon, Ruel and Randy Santiago, and Gab and Gary Valenciano lead the entire La Sallian community in singing the Alma Mater hymn. Seriously I got goosebumps. We were all singing with pride! HAIL TO THEE OUR ALMA MATER! HAIL! HAIL! HAIL! Highlight of the night, I swear!

It was a fun night! And it also served as a mini-reunion with my college loves! I feel bad for some of our friends who weren't able to go. They missed out on an important milestone. Wish you guys were there!!


No matter what others say about La Salle, I will always, ALWAYS be proud I am from this prestigious university. We may not be topping the international educational charts right about now, but I believe I am where I am right now because I am a La Sallian. It played an integral role in my life, and I am happy I made the decision to take up my undergrad here. I had a blast in undergrad, and now I'm back for my masters degree. I am a proud La Sallian, and always will be! ANIMO LA SALLE!!

P.S. We had a bitch of a time finding a place to eat dinner in. At the University Mall the restaurants ran out of food, while others were filled with hungry diners. We ended up on the Benilde side of Taft at Kenny Rogers. Did anyone of you guys experience this major foodie issue over there last night?

My Alma Mater Turns 100!!

To all my fellow La Sallians it's our 100th year TODAY!! Be proud and WEAR GREEN!! :D

For those coming over to school today, here's the schedule of activities for.

We're definitely going tonight!! Most of my officemates here at Solar are La Sallians, so we might all go together after work! And of course, it's going to be a major reunion with college friends! So exciting! :D

For those who won't be able to make it to the celebrations tonight, DLSU Manila is quite high-tech now, so you can watch the celebrations at the DLSU website via the Archer's eye. But nothing beats being ACTUALLY THERE, so try to come guys! :)

For more information you may also check out the DLSU Centennial Website.

So proud of my Alma Mater! 100 years and counting. It may not be as a big a milestone as UST's 400 or Ateneo's 150 but hey...DLSU is getting bigger and better! Congrats to the Brothers of the Christian Schools, this 100 years is all about your efforts in providing quality education in the Philippines.

ANIMO LA SALLE!! :))

A Huge Reason To Celebrate

Just before March ends, I just wanted to update my blog (after a long time). I'm sorry guys but I've not been in the blogging mood lately, and I am really sorry! Hehehe I promise I'll blog about my food escapades SOON! :)

Anyway, I just want to share with you, my dear readers and followers, this HUGE SOMEWHAT LIFE CHANGING NEWS! I PASSED THE DLSU GRADUATE ADMISSIONS!! And this May, I am returning to my very dear Alma Mater to take up my masteral degree in Marketing Communications.

It's been a little over 3 years since I graduated in my Mass Media undergraduate degree, and I am just so psyched to embark on an all new journey in the academic world. I'm just so thrilled because I really thought I wasn't go to make it in. I sorta psyched myself up for failure (whoever does that right?) just so it woldn't hurt so much when I got my results. But then, when I checked our DTS system this morning, it brought me GOOD NEWS! Talk about a GOOD MORNING!! :D

And I'm happy to be going back to La Salle in time for our 100th year celebration this June! Perfect timing! I am a proud La Sallian, and will forever and ever be loyal to this university! :)

So in May...it begins!

Animo La Salle! :)