Masterchef-ish.

Today was just another boring summer day for me. I woke up at 2 pm, had lunch right after I got up, and surfed the net afterwards. Around 4pm, my tummy seemed to scream to me. I know I'm hungry, but I'm thinking of food to satisfy not just only my tummy but also my tongue. I don't want another eat-this-cause-your-hungry snack. I want some delicious stuff. Last week, I wasn't queasy and that delightful about our food for dinner. So last Friday, I went out to the grocery to buy some snacks that I like. I tried not to be expensive, so I ended up buying nachos and fries. Well those weren't bad choices at all because each pack contains a lot inside (a lot nachos and fries *wink*). I got so ecstatic last Friday to test my cooking skills, wait let me correct that, POOR COOKING SKILLS. I tried to cook some fries and toasted some nacho chips. But I wasn't so good. I burned some nachos. Some fries are half-cooked and very wet and soggy.

But today, I tried to do the same. I toasted some nachos, and cooked some fries. With correcting some errors I've realized, I was able to produce some tasty and delightful chips! You may say that I'm over reacting because it's only effing Fries and Nachos. But hey, you have no clue how bad I am at cooking/preparing activities. I also tried to add milky cheese dip on it so my tongue would be happier.

Here's what it looks like:

I may sound bias when I say this, but those fries were really great. They're even greater with that dip. I'm just happy with what I've prepared. I've prepared some good pancakes before, and created my own recipe of fried rice too... so I think I really am now a masterchef. Well maybe just masterchef-ish. Hahaha, I know that I'm a beginner in cooking, but I'd love to learn how to cook and produce delicious stuff in the future!

Stars shine for you. ;)

Have you ever had a day that just felt so wrong? Like your world has stopped and just can't catch as the world of others continue to move forward? I have.

Sometimes we just feel so restless and feel like something's making us sad. But no matter how hard we try, we can't figure out that 'something'. We then start to think of possible reasons to blame of why we really are feeling down. But most of us don't know that this makes our feeling worse. We start to see the wrong in us. We start to look at the flaw of almost every thing around us. This is normal, and this is healthy - that's what I think.

Sometimes acknowledging our sadness helps us. It reduces the pressure we feel inside. It heals the pain we feel. I also believe that once we know our flaws, we begin to appreciate them. Life is just so ironic and crazy. Today it'll make you happy, the next thing you know it's slapping you with problems. But I guess as a fifteen year old, I don't have a clue of what life is yet. But I know that the stars will always be there. And I know that the stars shine for me. So you have the right to feel sad and feel bad sometimes. You just have to get your positivity back and know that life is challenging, but always fabulous. You have to remember that stars shine for you, and they will shine brighter tonight.

Idol Finale Season 10

So yesterday, it was American Idol Season 10 finale. I got blogged once about this Season so I think it would be just fair to blog about the Grand Finale of this Season.

So it was down to the pride of Garner, NC Scotty McCreery (17) and the pride of Rossville, GA (16). I'm a follower of this season, so I'm close to knowing to every detail about this season. If you read my previous blog about American Idol season 10, you know

that Scotty and Lauren are my personal favorites. And hooray me for having a great taste! They're this season's Top 2.

The finale was, as usual, divided into two nights: the performance night, and the results night .

Performance Night

They sang 3 songs. The first song was a song that they already sang in the competition. Their second song was a song chosen by their idols. A song that will be released and will serve as their first single was their third song. I have to agree with the judges - I believe that Lauren won the night! Her final song 'Like My Mother Does' was like a winning piece from her. That was amazing.

Results Night

The Grand Finale / Final Results Night this season was memorable and, just like other finales, star-studded.

And the winner is..............

Scotty McCreery!

Congratulations, Scotty! You deserve it! :) Personally, I love Lauren more but they both deserve to win. So I'm happy with whoever wins.

This has been really a great, talented season. Hoping for a better and more entertatining American Idol Season 11! :)

Watching the sunset

March 18, 2011 was the last day of regular classes for the school year 2010-2011. Technically, the last day of Junior year. This day was definitely a memorable day. It was definitely an "I will miss you, Sean" day - not just because the school year was ending but also because I won't be spending my senior year with my classmates. For those who don't know yet, my family and I are migrating to Canada.

I know that migrating will be hard - leaving all your friends in this country, dropping the dreams you thought that will happen in this country, and many more. But I know that God won't let us have our application approved if He doesn't have good plans for us. I also believe that going there will provide me more opportunities that could benefit my future. So to my dearest friends, I also wish that I don't have to leave you and go there considering that it'll be our senior year. But, I know that God has planned this well. Besides, we can still talk to each other even if we're miles apart. Thanks to the modern technology!! Before I get any cheesier, I'll better post now the pictures that I haven't uploaded yet. These pictures were taken on March 18. They will forever remind me of how different and great this day was.


Ms. Marcos dismissed us (Bea and I) early for our last club meeting. Bea and I saw Marc near the Fiorgelatto-Oval area so we went there. These were some of our vain shots:



Soon after, Lara, Cheska, Nikki, Junelle and Laureen (who're all Samahang Pilipino club members), were also dismissed so they joined our bonding with the camera too.



I tried to treasure every second of that day as much as I could because I know that I couldn't turn back the hands of time. I'll definitely miss these people. Looks like the sun is setting on us. But I don't care, even if we will be away from each other, we still have each other. We must remember.. there's a sunrise after every sunset. :)

Meet The Stranger Cat

Around 6pm today, just when the sun was about to set, I met this cat in our laundry area. Well, this cat has been jumping in and out of different houses in our neighborhood for a long time now. So this cat is quite familiar to me; I've seen her (I assume it's a girl) several times now. She is no 'stranger' to me but I don't know what name must I call her.. so I called her a 'stranger cat'. Good thing I was holding the camera, because I was conducting my own experimental shots of the outside (the sky, the houses, the plants - basically the nature). I thought that it would be a good idea if I'll take shots of this cat, so I did.

I only got four good shots of her, because I got scared with all her meowing, and the flash didn't fire in some takes. I edited all of them in photoshop because I had to adjust the lighting to make it dramatic (HAHAHA). I've proven to myself that cats are indeed 'fiercely real'.

First shot:


I love the fact that she was 'meowing' at me when I took this. I have never doubted that tigers belong to a cat family. I can even see a tiger in this picture (call me weird, but seriously I can).


Second shot:

I adjusted the exposure and the brightness of this photo to become dark. But look at her eyes. It's still glowing and vibrant.


Third shot:


And she was sitting. The look in her eyes is so... threatening. HAHAHA


Fourth shot:

I think this was the best shot that I took. It's so natural and she looks shocked. I love it!!


I wanted to take more pictures of her but I thought the flash might be distracting/disturbing her. So I already stopped. I know I'm not a 'photographer' but looking at these pictures unreasonably touch my heart. :)

Fear: a State of Mind

Every day, we spend time planning and thinking about our future. We tend to dream of bizarre things and have those dreams on our mind again and again. We often imagine “what if, what if” circumstances, wishing some to come into reality. Some can be ambitious enough to envision themselves being in the list of the world’s popular celebrities. Some are pessimists and envision themselves as being forever alone. During lunch breaks, we talk about activities of tomorrows and next weeks with our friends. We do all these future-prospecting and more as we live and take another day. Part of grasping future is having fears. It’s normal. Everyone has fears. But those fears could make our future even more equivocal.

Before I sleep at night, I often think of what’s going to happen when I wake up. I always plan to do something exciting for the next day. At times, I find myself taking a pause, thinking twice if I should continue doing that ‘exciting’ matter or just forget it at all. That pause was brought by fear. I’m pretty sure that there’s a bunch of other people who have been in that kind of situation already and witnessed how furious fears could be. Fears limit what we want to do. They push us backwards as the world continues to move forward. They block us from having once-in-a-lifetime experiences. They take our aspirations, they steal our dreams. I guess fears could take away half of our life, not through curtailing the length of our living but by retrenching our chances to live life to the fullest.

Fear is unquestionably powerful. But fears couldn’t be victorious if we won’t let them overcome us. When I was watching the movie “Love Happens” starring Jennifer Anniston ang Aaron Eckheart, one line struck my mind. Aaron Eckheart, a book author in the movie, on one of his seminars, insisted: “Fear is a state of mind.” Awed by the line, I tried to think about it critically. I realized then that he was actually right; fear is only a state of mind. We are scared of the dark because we don’t know what’s in it. We think of horrifying creatures that would touch us and other crazy stuff. However if we actually try to relax our mind and believe that there is no unwanted creature that would appear, our fear could be gone. We are frightened to feel pain because we could hardly bear it. If we try to take a deep breath and believe that there is nothing that humans could not endure, we could actually surpass the pain. Moreover, we all know that pain is just temporary.

Take time to consider this – in this world, we extremely fear death because we think it is the worst thing that could happen to us. It is from this thought where all our fears start. We are scared of heights because we are afraid to fall down from a very high place, in such way we could possibly die. We are scared of deep oceans because we are afraid of drowning which can lead to death. We are frightened of many things because we are scared to die. But hey, if death is the worst thing that could occur, then there’s no reason for us to be terrified. Besides, it is something that we are all heading to. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying this to waste your life because we all are going to die anyway.  I’m saying this to convince you that we cherish our lives by living to the fullest, and we live to the fullest by living fearlessly. I know you don’t want anything or anyone to ruin your future. Our future is in our hands, we should not let anyone interfere with it. So go ahead, watch the sun rise with a feeling of courage and hope.

Who do I think should win Idol

Season 10 of American Idol is, from my own perspective, one of the best seasons of American Idol up to date. In fact, I think it's the second best season next to Season 7 (where David Cook won). I'm saying this not because of the massive votes that the show is receiving, but because of the myriad talents this season has. The contestants this season possess not just talents but star qualities (although few don't have such, maybe they're just 2 or 3).

Now the show's down to the Top 5 contestants, namely James Durbin, Scotty Mcreery, Lauren Alaina, Jacob Lusk, and Hayley Reinhart. They are great. I just want to write what I think about each of them. No, I am no critic (HAHA), but I just feel that there's a need to blog this.

Jacob Lusk

AGE: 23 ; HOMETOWN: Compton, CA

Jacob is the type of singer who can conquer soul and ballads. His voice reminds me of Ruben Studdard with quite of a higher tone. The bad thing about Jacob is that he can't get my attention

consistently. Sometimes I find myself looking in the wall, forgetting that he's performing. He really is a great singer, but I'm afraid he doesn't have "star quality".. well at least for me. He can also be boring at times and have performances too over the top. I think he's the next to go.

My most favorite performance from him: Dance With My Father

Most disappointing performance: Alone

--

Hayley Reinhart

AGE: 20 ; Hometown: IL

Hayley is a jazzy/bluesy singer who likes to growl while singing but can still sound great. At first, Hayley finds herself consecutively in bottom three.

But this changed on the third week (Top 11 week), where she got high praises from the judges. I must say, she's the most improved of all the contestants. She grew as an artist and as a singer. I ca

n't help but love Hayley lately. She surprised me when she sang "Rolling In The Deep" by Adele, but I was shocked when I saw her in the bottom 3 for that song. I would love to see James leave the show first before Hayley does. But unfortunately, just by analyzing their call-out orders during elimination, that can hardly happen. Hayley has been in the bottom 3 four times while James has never been in the bottom 3. I like Hayley because she's one unique artist.

Most favorite performance from her: Rolling In The Deep ;; Benne and The Jets

Most disappointing performance from her: Fallin' In And Out of Love

--

James Durbin

AGE: 22 ; HOMETOWN: Santa Cruz, CA

James is this season's rocker. He has shown in his

performances that he c

an be rockstar and he can have a concert-like performances by lighting up a fire in the piano and having a marching band follow him. J. Lo even said that he never had a weak performance, not even one. But in a show like American Idol, you have to show variety. I think he just shown his rock side for the past 8/9 weeks. And I'm just getting tired of hearing him reach those high notes. I mean, we all know th

at he can. I know you can sing that big note on. Now, please just let me know what other else you got. What else does he have? I don't know. All I know is that he's a rocker and I'm tired of it.

Most favorite performance from him: Saturday Night's Alright

Most disappointing performance: Uprising (THAT WAS ALMOST PURE SHOUTING!! UGH)

--

Scotty McCreery

AGE: 17 ; HOMETOWN: Garner, NC

Scotty is a country singer with that big, deep

voice. He surprised many when he showed that he can hit some good higher notes with that deep voice. He shocked more people when he proved that he isn't just a country song and can sing any. That 'For Once In My Life' performance from him is really a favorite of mine. He can also sing a good song and spin it around and make it his own. He is a great artist. I like Scotty as a singer because I love the country vibe in his whole personality. I really want him to be in the finale with Lauren.

My favorite performance from him: For Once In My Life ;; You've Got A Friend

Most Disappointing Performance: Swingin'

--

Lauren Alaina

AGE: 16 ; HOMETOWN: Rossville, GA

Lauren Alaina is one of the youngest contestants in Idol but she is one of the greatest singers in the show. When we talk about just the voice alone, I would say her voice is the loveliest of all. I just love to hear her voice every time she sings. She can be country and pop at the same time. She can sing ballad and rock it too. I'm just sad that she still doesn't know how brilliant she is. I think she also has the star quality. Young, fresh and talented. Need I say more? I'd love to see Lauren and Scotty in the finale!

My favorite performance from her: The Climb ;; Candle In The Wind

Most disappointing performance: Turn On The Radio

So there. After you read this, I hope you got an idea of what type of singers/music I like. Well, there are still 5 contestants in the show. No one can really tell who's going to win this. But I must say, each one of them can win now and sell a million copies of his/her album.