The Aca-Mazing Movie Screening Of #PitchPerfect2!

Thursday, May 14, 2015 0 Comments A+ a-

And because Pawprint Stamped was among the blogs who made it to Nuffnang's list of  #QikOrItDidntHappen blog contest winners, I naturally went to this aca-mazing movie screening of Pitch Perfect 2! The screening was held at Shangri-La Cineplex Cinema 2.


By the time my plus one and I arrived (Yep, Nuffnang and Skype Qik were that generous! An exclusive screening for me and my bella sister!), bloggers were already lining up for the blogger registration.





Like all other movie screening events organized by Nuffnang, there was also a photobooth where we can have our photos (uploaded on social media sites such Twitter and Instagram) printed out as long as we use the hashtag #QikOrItDidntHappen and #QikIt.




Along with our tickets, we also got our food stubs because Nuffnang just won't let us watch a movie on an empty stomach! Popcorn and drinks are undoubtedly the perfect match for this Pitch Perfect movie!


The crew manning the cinema bar kind of panicked (I guess) because of the looooong line of bloggers hungry for that popcorn. One spilled an iced tea while another almost slipped because of the spilled iced tea. :( I so want to tell them, "kalma lang po kuya huhu, di pa kami ganun kagutom". Anyhow, I got myself a generous helping of cheese-flavored popcorn and lemonade.



Even while we were still outside the cinema, I can't help but notice how most of the bloggers are already half-way down their popcorn tumbler. By the time we entered the cinema, some of the popcorn tumblers were already on the floor, suggesting that they're all empty and the movie haven't even started yet! Well on my part, I would have done the same thing if only I had an extra hand to pop the popcorns on my mouth (I was carrying a bag). 



Even before the LSS-inducing Pitch Perfect movie started, na-LSS na kami with the very funny Skype Qik commercials featuring their two mascots: Qik Gorilla (as shown on the photo) and Qik Banana Family. The commercials were a sure way to prep us for the equally funny Pitch Perfect 2 movie! 


Christmas in Roxas and Panay City

Tuesday, May 12, 2015 0 Comments A+ a-

Hurray for my first travel-travel post! Haha :*

Out of the blue, and without so much of a preparation, I bought a plane ticket to my dad's province in Capiz, Roxas City to spend my 1-month long holiday vacation there (credits again, to the academic calendar shift). I felt that I badly needed this, to be away from the hullabaloos of the city life, and because hey, I haven't been to this part of the country for about 5 years! 

I got my plane ticket from Cebu Pacific. My ticket fare to Roxas City was on promo while the trip back to Manila was the regular one (but still, it's way cheaper than what the other planes offer). My round trip ticket costed around Php 5,000 (plus additional 100 terminal fee in Roxas City airport). The baggage fee wasn't included, so I paid an additional Php 550 for a 15-kg baggage in NAIA. Although, if you won't bring an excess baggage, you won't have to pay for anything since I think everyone is entitle to a free 7-kg hand carry baggage.

*Note: All photos shown in this post are captured and owned by the blog author. Please see Privacy Policy under the ABOUT tab for more information.*

View from my seat. So lucky to have the window seat!

High up in the clouds!
About to land in the Seafood Capital of the Philipines: Roxas City

I guess my dad was a lucky kid because their house was situated in a jungle-like paradise. Everywhere you look, you'll see greens - something I don't have the privilege to do in the metro. Their house is below road level, so you'll have to climb down stairs to get inside the house. When looking at the house's front, you'll see a small bukid on the left and a small sapa on the right. On your back (since you're facing the house) is a .... cemetery. Yep. But this doesn't give me the creeps, surprisingly so because I'm a big scaredy-cat. It's possibly because of the fact that most of those lying in the cemetery is a relative, or a friend of a relative, or a relative of some friend - you get the point. I guess this is how things are in the province, everyone's related with each other in a barangay. 

The Jungle House where I spent my holiday vacation
And, being the jungle house that it is, I would always hear the tuko (large lizard) every night, as well as a bunch of other insect sounds at night. I do hope they're insect sounds though, because I'm a big scaredy-cat most especially at night ... in a house surrounded by lotsa trees and shrubs ... in a town infamously known for its kababalaghan stories ... in a semi-ancient house whose closest living neighbors are not a shout away ... and in a house where our closest neighbors are already dead (read: cemetery). 


I even got to see this humongous mariposa (butterfly) up close. There were two of them, the other one was near ceiling, but this one was on the furniture where the TV was. It was so large that its wingspan is bigger than my two palms joined together. It was on that furniture until the morning after, probably because it was raining hard the whole night. (The photo was taken at night).

Anyhow, one of the major tourist attractions on the island (aside from its pristine beaches) are the ancient churches. And by ancient, I mean centuries old churches. The first church that we visited was the Church of Pan-ay. To get to the church from Capiz, we had to ride a van (similar to the UV Express in the metro) for a 30-45 minute travel time. Like most of the ancient churches that I've studied in class or have watched / read, this church was situated at the plaza, the center of a barangay where most activities and announcements were held.



I kind of felt like a professional photographer with this shot that I got. Haha.
I was trying to take a photo of the beautiful church with no people nor car on the facade. Obviously, this photo was among the first attempts.

The light rain had just stopped when we arrived at the church. Notice the looming black clouds at the background.
This old Spanish well was at the back of the church. Aside from the markers, I was actually sad that the well was not well-maintained, considering that it was a historic artifact.

The Old Spanish Well. There were no guards or any usher of some sort that you'll usually see when inside a museum or any historic place.



A replica at the church grounds of the largest bell in Asia and the third largest in the world. (Wow!) The original bell is at the church tower.

To get to the top of the church tower, we had to climb a looooooong way of very steep stairs. It is impossible to climb without holding on the railings because the stairs are impossibly steep. It didn't help that it was made out of metal steps only (like the one you'll see in spiral staircases) so you'll have to be really careful because your feet could slip in between the stairs' steps. You should also keep in mind not to hold anything while climbing because once it slips from your fingers, they might fall smack right on the ground.
The obligatory photo at the top of the bell tower 

The second church that we visited was the Jaro Cathedral in Jaro, Iloilo. At first look, it didn't look ancient at all. When I researched about it, I found from Wikipedia that the original cathedral was destroyed by an earthquake, hence, the modern-looking bell tower. On the facade of the church is a shrine where the statue of the Our Lady of the Candles (Jaro's patroness) is encased for public view. According to the residents, the statue grows like a living human. 








Don't forget to buy your pasalubong ☺I bought mine from the Deocampo pasalubong store near the Jaro Cathedral (one pedicab ride away but it's not that far if you'll opt to walk). They sell biscocho, barquillos, barquiron, and a lot more to satisfy your sweet tooth! I especially love their butterscotch! ♥

Now, on my way to the airport for my flight back home, I checked-in my baggage and paid the terminal fee and left (I arrived at the airport about 1.5 hrs before my actual flight) for a quick trip to the beach before I leave Roxas! Haha!


Flight back home with Cebu Pacific

UP Prof Guide

Monday, May 11, 2015 0 Comments A+ a-

Instructor: Dave Centeno
Subject: Comm 3
Comments: He's a prof easy to be friends with. He's quite young (I'm guessing his age range is late 20's to early 30's) and really energetic when discussing lessons. He talks with the class in a way that is neither intimidating nor all-knowing. Plus, I've never seen him frown in any of the class I've attended. During short quizzes, he's fond of giving bonus questions (can't remember if it's 3 or 5 bonus questions which'll surely up your score - that is, if you know the answers) which are mostly about UP. Some of the bonus questions I still remember: what bird is on the UP logo, what flower is planted around March/April, etc. Some students who've had him as a prof would go as far as saying that he's really generous in giving 1. He's considered a heartthrob, btw. ♥

Instructor: Alva Benedict Balbuena
Subject: Math 17
Comments: Quite a young prof too. Has punk-style haircut (I've seen him don a mohawk-like style), and almost always wears T-shirts and pants (I think he was like the cool, band member stereotype). I really think that he's a Math genius but I wouldn't agree that much if somebody said that he's great at teaching Math. You know how some people is great at something but they're not that good at teaching that something they're great at. He really doesn't mind if half of the class is sleeping or missing. Once he gets inside the room, he'll start lecturing. From time to time, he'll check attendance (but does this rarely). As for the exams, I would say that they're fairly easy, in the sense that the test items are patterned after his lecture examples. He would even sometimes use the examples as test items.

Instructor: Ulysess Arana
Subject: Philo 1
Comments: Uhhhmm. I honestly don't know if I learned anything from him. PALAGI SIYANG ABSENT. And his go-to reason would be: malayo kasi ang Zabarte. To the best of my knowledge, I'm guessing that he only came to class about 10-15 times in the around 40 classes (5months*4weeks*2x a week class meeting) we're supposed to have. Mind you, it's a 7am class so sobrang dyahe each time I come to class sooo early only to find out that after 30 minutes of waiting, there'll be no class. Tapos vacant ko pa hanggang 10am, so bongga 'di ba? If you want to have a chillax Philo 1, go for this Prof. But, if you really want to learn a lot in Philo 1, I suggest you get some other prof.

Instructor: Ariel Primo Juliano
Subject: PE 2 Duckpin Bowling
Comments: He's good with the sport. As in! He'll come to class for the first two weeks to teach tapos pasulpot-sulpot na lang siya for the rest of the semester. We don't mind this though, kasi we did nothing but duckpin bowling until the end of the sem. You'll be graded depending on the scores you got for each session - whether you improved or not. 


***To be updated***


PS: I tried to be as objective as I can when I wrote this. If you want to add your own UP prof guide, feel free to comment and I'll make sure to add them to the list :)

PPS: The listing of profs are arranged in no particular order.

QIK or It Didn't Happen!

Saturday, May 09, 2015 0 Comments A+ a-

Gone are the times that you'll have to wait for a month to receive a message from a loved one (even if that loved one is only a city away!). Gone are the times that you'll have to pay extra to send a video via text messaging (because really, who still used MMS?). Aaaand, gone are the times that you'll be limited to sending just plain ol' text messages or photos because they're so yesterday when QIK happened. So, what exactly is Qik, you say?


Skype Qik is a quick video messaging/communication app that allows you to exchange instant and quick video messages for free. It enables you to capture videos that are up to 40 seconds long, and and send them to group of friends. Skype Qik is available on iPhone, Android, and Windows phones. More about Skype Qik here: http://www.skype.com/en/qik/

Image Source
What's better than sending something with your face and voice on it? (Well, other than sending it yourself, of course). Technology has really gone beyond the limits and with Skype Qik, communicating with your friends and loved ones will be as quick (qik, get it?) as a click! (Try saying that again and again!). And what's more, Skype Qik, a service by Skype (the same app that understands just how important it is to stay in touch with your loved one), can be downloaded for free because they know that seeing your friends do something viral-worthy is priceless! 
Skype Qik Logo
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I certainly wouldn't miss out on seeing my friends do some crazy stuff, and sending out my own silly stunts as well so I downloaded Skype Qik as qik as I can! Skype Qik is easy to operate. They made sure that you'll be able to send those videos as qik as possible so that you won't even have the time to rethink if you're shaming yourself too much with that video, haha! With Skype Qik, you can now share and send videos of up to 40 seconds in length! 

Skype Qik on my Android phone
I made sure to place the Skype Qik app right on my phone's home screen for qik  video sending! 

Screenshots of some of Skype Qik's awesome features!

Skype Qik (true to its namesake, quick) even has a feature called Qik Flik. It's for when you want to reply to a message but you don't have enough time to either record a video or think of something ingenious to send. You make these GIF-like short videos beforehand (pretty much a like template) which you can readily send with just a tap. 



Sooo, wachu waiting for? Make some space on your iPhone/Android/Windows phone (ikaw na, if you have all these phonesss) and download this awesomely free app aaaand start sending those wacky videos! Not to worry about shaming yourself too much because only your friends can have the privilege of watching you do some crazy stuff! ♥♥♥

Download Links:
Watch Skype Qik's cray cray video (it even features our very own jeepney)!