my first german chocolate cream puff 

2 days, 2 buffets. . .

totally unplanned but that's what happened. . . first buffet was at cici's pizza lunch at saturday. some people in my church threw a surprise birthday celebration for a guy in the music team which i was part of. leigh said that cici's can't be considered a real buffet coz they don't serve real pizza. well, what can you really expect from a $3.99 buffet? i was starving anyway, so the fact that the pizza was far from excellent was secondary. actually went through 4 plates so that's a buck a plate. not bad:)

today paul was back in town from omaha:) we (kev, leigh, paul and i) were supposed to go to a "peace-love-and-acceptance" festival (translation: gay/lesbian festival) at the park because there's bound to be cheap food there and the park's actually really nice. but it's like 95 deg outside and i very nicely demanded to be taken to an airconditioned restaurant. we heard that there was a haus and garten tour in the german village in downtown columbus so kev suggested going to schmidt's which is a traditional german sausage haus that has been around for 117 years. they also had a sausage buffet! and those were good sausages. i was thrilled to see that they also served fried rice. so all i needed was egg and i'd have enjoyed a german longsilog:) i also had my first bottle of beer. i picked a dark german beer that had "chocolate flavors and aroma", whatever that is. beer is definitely an acquired taste and i haven't acquired it yet. they all assured me that what i had was a very good beer but i'm not so sure. also had to have a huge chocolate cream puff because you could get any dessert for $1.50. soooooo good. . .

so i've decided that for this week, i'll only eat carrots. . . and maybe some tuna:)

taking taking it easy to a new level. . .

yep. it's my fourth day working in my lab and i'm still taking it easy. my boss said i would eventually get very busy soon. well, i'm still waiting. i'm so not complaining, mind you. this is really great! feels like that summer when i was working at msi. . .

i'm currently doing antibody staining of embryos which i've actually been doing for 3 days now. . . and would still be doing by tomorrow. this could conceivably be done in half the time (2 days) but you know those steps that say "incubate at 37deg C for 3-4 hours or at 4 deg C overnight"?. i (well, louise actually told me to) just happen to always pick overnight. and there are two steps like that in this protocol! ain't that great?!?

other work-related news. . . my desk is coming along nicely. i used my mini monet magnets to post photos all along the side of my desk. one side is wholly dedicated to leeron and zeth and the other side to family and friends. still lots of spaces to fill so if any of you would be so inclined as to send me an interesting looking postcard or photo or something that would be really nice. . .

boyps will be coming to columbus tonight! i'm cooking dinner since i'm woefully low on cash (or credit). probably breaded chicken of some sort and i'll try to make potatoes au gratin. and maybe coleslaw too. . . i'm actually cooking for another person. . . scareeee. . . for him that is. . .

aaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhh....

can't believe i have to start work tomorrow. . . i know i said i was actually excited about doing that but i've been on a week and a half hiatus that only involved movies, mario kart, frisbee golf, shopping and quality time with my boyps. . . which all required very minimal brain power. it's always tough getting my scientific juices (eeuw?!?) flowing after a break . . . speaking of boyps, he left for akron this afternoon which really sucks. so i ended up cleaning my apartment this afternoon which turned out well, i'd like to think . . .

saw miyazaki's "howl's moving castle" last night in a cute, little independent movie theater here in columbus. the movie was so cute. it's a fantasy/love story/ war commentary type of movie. usual anime stuff:) we say the subtitled version which had the voices of christian bale, lauren bacall, blythe danner and billy crystal. rather impressive cast list. the animation was so pretty. i've never seen 'spirited away' which was supposed to be a really good movie and seeing 'howl's' made me want to see it more. one more for my netflix queue.

brain is really not functioning. can't think of any other words to describe the movie other than 'cute' and 'pretty'. what is wrong with me? better stop writing then. . .

jealousy turning saints into the sea turning to sweet lullaby. . .

alam kong na-sentihan kayong lahat sa huling post ko. don't worry because not all my posts will be as sappy as that one:). starting with this one.

friday night paul and i (yiheeeee. . . hehe. . . couldn't stop that one) went to see the killers and hot hot heat at the promowest pavilion in downtown columbus. the ticket said 6pm but we got there at about 6:20 p.m. because i was at the lab til about 5:45 p.m. it turned out well though since apparently columbus time is much, much worse than filipino time. kasi pinoy time plus one hour lang. abah eto, pinaghintay kami ng 2 oras. it's a good thing we decided to sit on the hilly part of the pavilion (outdoor concert kasi ito) and not with the moshers. i really think i'm too old to mosh and it would just be too darn difficult to do anyway with all the gigantic americans there. anyway, the wait wasn't so bad since we were sitting on the grass and we had my labmates with us there who were all i varying states of drunkenness. they made for very good entertainment. we also didn't get dinner beforehand so we were just starving but we did find puny hotdogs (which paul inhaled in about 30 secs), chips and cokes. . . finally at a bit past 8, hot hot heat went onstage. they were pretty good but i think they got annoyed with the crowd because the crowd just wasn't getting into it. well for one, they mostly sang songs from their new album which i guess wasn't as popular as their first one. they did sing 'talk to me' which i really like. they played for a little less than an hour. then another hour-long wait before the killers came on. the oddest thing actually happened right before they started. because the whole time we were sitting there waiting, they were playing the oddest assortment of music including songs by elvis, david bowie and other old rock and roll stuff. and then when they turned off the lights finally signaling that the concert was about to start people of course started standing and applauding. and then "can't take my eyes off you" came on the speakers and people just went crazy! people were singing and dancing to it. this was a really old, perry como-esque version. that was pretty surreal but pretty cool too.

the killers were awesome live. brandon flowers is quite a performer and his voice sounds great. and he was wearing a pink coat! they played most of the songs from hot fuss. they didn't play 'everything will be alright' though which is one of my faves. i must admit that i didn't know all of their songs but i could sing along to at least 2 of them ('somebody told me' and 'mr. brightside'). so for the most part i would just jump and 'woooohooo'. they also sung a couple of new songs the only one i could remember went something like 'it's indie rock and roll for me'. . . it was pretty interesting. all in all, the killers gave a pretty solid concert. my only complaint is it was kind of short. they started at a bit past 9 and ended before 10:30. considering that they've only had one album (that made it big anyway) this shouldn't be a surprise. but i really think that they should learn a thing or two from worship bands who can sing a song that's essentially 2 mins long and stretch it to a 10 minute number. i mean, if people actually know the words to your song, it wouldn't hurt to just play it a bit longer. that's my opinion anyway.

was thinking about writing about the rest of the weekend but will probably do that later on. . .

yiheeeeeeeeeee! (at the asian festival). . . halata bang inaantok na ako. . . busog na sa bbq, pansit, adobo at turon e. 

taiko drumming at the asian festival 

somebody told me that you had a boyfriend who looked like the girlfriend. . .  

bad picture. . . but the important thing here is 1) he's wearing a pink coat and 2) the keyboard (and the stage actually) is covered in rhinestones! 

after a 2 hour wait. . . hot hot heat!!! 

he likes my nose. . .

he does. he told me so. . . you see, i hate my nose. i told him that it's the only thing about me that i don't like. . . you can tell i don't really have much self-esteem issues. . . he said that probably has something to do with my being the youngest kid coz his youngest sister is like that (my self-esteem issues and not my nose). . . he says my my nose is cute. like a button (a big round one if you ask me). so i'd wrinkle my nose and giggle. and he asked me how i did that. . . coz he couldn't wrinkle his nose. . . and i said coz it's too big. . . but he does like my nose. . . and i kind of like it now too. . .

sige na nga. . .

seeing as justine already "outed" me, i thought i might as well put in my two cents' worth. . . yes, yes, the seemingly impossible has happened. . . i am no longer single. you heard (read) me right, i, jona, have a boyfriend. . . i am not making this up. really. . . his name's paul. i met him first week i got here. been friends for a while. . . your typical boy meets girl. . .boy likes girl . . . girl likes boy . . . boy asks girl out (or other way around? still not sure). . . girl gets really dehydrated and feverish after vomitting and poopooing for 8 hours due to food poisoning (norovirus to be exact). . . boy brings girl to emergency room . . . and the rest, as they say, is history. romantic 'no?

what else can i say? been smiling and giggling for close to 2 weeks now. lots of people must think i've gone totally bonkers. but i've been bonkers since before him. only now i've a good excuse to be giggly and spacey. darn good excuse too. . .

in other news, got accepted to lab i want to join! so excited! one less thing to worry about. . .

happy! happy! joy! joy!

• got a PERFECT (23/23 baby!) score in my MG 715 Drosophila midterm!!!!!!
• boss was in california so no lab!!!!
• went to the zoo for the OSU late night at the zoo thing for free! . . . saw dugongs (finally). . . now i know who i was saving from extinction in msi. . . saw one eat a lettuce and fall asleep while chewing it. . . also saw the sillouette of an elephant, flamingos and lots of reptiles. . . and a couple of amorous turtles. . . great fun even if it was pouring the whole time. . .

watermelons

was walking by the union this morning. . . someone was mowing the lawn and for a while there i thought i smelled watermelons. . . hmmmm. . . got me thinking about summer again. . . i miss being warm. . . it's so frigging cold again. actually went out in slippers today because a) i'm almost out of socks (tagal na kasing di naglaba) and b) my slippers are sooooo pretty. . . bad idea. thought i'd end up leaving my toes somewhere. . . slippers won't be too pretty if feet have no toes anymore.

missing summer on a rainy day. . .

Rainday
Cynthia Alexander

Between breaths on a rainday
by smoky pane you'll find me
your eyes are diamonds
carving images on the glass

on a rainday a shard
of breaking light on a rainday
summer comes alive
on a rainday a fading blur
of colors streaming down my face

Between breaths on a rainday
silver beads and eloquence
draped on a web
by my window
for everything a reason

on a rainday a shard
of breaking light on a rainday
summer comes alive
on a rainday forever
you will see on a rainday
for everything a reason
on a rainday

a fading blur of colors
streaming down my face
cast upon the fates
for everything a reason
for everything a reason

dream come true #1

it was roughly thirteen years ago when we got our first cd player, which was in my dad's car. i remember the first couple of cds we bought. i'm not sure which member of my family had really good taste in music back then (could be my dad or my sis, whoever it is, i am awfully grateful) but we got james ingram's greatest hits (it has "just once" and "how do keep the music playing?". . . that was a good album. promise:) and sting's greatest hits: fields of gold. thus began my love affair with sting's music. i remember he went to manila around that time (or maybe it was a couple of years after) and i of course didn't get to see him because a) we went to the pahiyas festival in lucban, quezon and b) i was too young to watch concerts. anyway, i've been a huge fan ever since. and last night, my dream to see him live, finally came true.

when i heard the first notes of "message in a bottle" i swear, i almost fainted. now i know how those crazy michael jackson/beatles/elvis fans feel. i was laughing and crying at the same time. i did get a hold of myself enough to sing along (i mean, how could i not sing along? i'm actually singing along with STING!). we got surprisingly good seats on the floor, probably about 20 or so rows from the stage. i mean, i paid quite a lot for the ticket (grad student standard anyway) but i didn't really expect the seats to be that good. . . it's still weird for me though to watch concerts and be surrounded with lots of people drinking beer, and in this case, they were much, much older people. . . there was this older lady sitting beside us who obviously had too much to drink and kept telling me about her friend who taped oprah's interview with sting and how she has watched it over and over again. . .

anyway, he had a really simple set-up for the show, which i think is a lot different from his brand new day tour and way cooler. it was just sting on bass, a lead guitar, a rhythm guitar and a drummer. that's it. no keyboards with synths, no piano, no percussionists, no back-up singers. it was basically a straight-up rock concert. the stage was pretty bare, the lighting was pretty hi-tech though but in a very understated kind of way. the playlist was very unexpected. i at first thought this concert was in support of his last album sacred love which was why i was brushing up on my knowledge of this album a couple of weeks ago. but it was pleasantly surprising that he did more of his older songs as well as lots of stuff from the police. it seemed to me that he picked songs that were not necessarily his most popular ones, but songs that he really wanted to play. i mean, i thought i was a sting fan, but there were some songs there that i haven't even heard before. i really wanted to post a complete playlist but i have really terrible memory. and i was really too giddy to remember to write the songs down then. so the best i could probably do is rattle of a partial list of songs i could remember. and they won't be in any particular order too. although some songs will come in the order they came in (like the first three songs) but not like totally ordered. . . well you know what i mean. . .

message in a bottle

spirits in a material world (sting introduced this song by saying "madonna stole this song from me")

demolition man

i hung my head (this was apparently covered by johnny cash)

synchronicity II (didn't know what this song was 'til i looked it up)

the end of the game ("do you have foxes here?")

ghost story (he sang one verse because he felt sorry for a couple of girls who were holding signs requesting for it. . . he actually mixed up the words for that one verse too:)

heavy cloud, no rain

a day in the life (tribute to the beatles)

why should i cry for you?(really did make me cry)

fields of gold

king of pain

invisible sun

if i ever lose my faith in you (awesome version!)

voices inside my head /when the world is running down (with a little audience participation)

roxanne

she's too good for me (rockin' version)

lithium sunset

every breath you take

i'm sure i probably missed several songs but these are the ones i could remember. he ended the first set with "roxanne". he then came back for two encores and eventually ended with "every breath you take". . . with this concert, sting was probably out to prove that he was not satisfied with being the "old man of adult pop rock". i tell you, he can still rock with the best of 'em.

asides:

• phantom planet opened for sting. they were pretty good (and the lead singer was a cutie). it was probably a tougher gig for them what with most of the audience being around the age of their parents (yeah, i felt really young then). there were a lot of people asking "phantom what?". we only caught 3 songs from their set and they ended with, none other but "california".
• do you think i could go home now? i mean, this was what i went to grad school for right?. . . do you think msi would take me back?. . . hehe.
• i wasn't able to bring a camera in because they really do confiscate cameras here. it's still pretty dumb since camera phones seem to be ok. so i don't have any pictures but i took a picture of my gift for my sis. . .

proof that i was there at pasalubong ko kay ate. . . 

... it was the last signed copy there! 

more flowering trees 

weird pink tree 

study group on a beautiful spring day. . .  

cgsa pips (after wolfgang puck dinner) 

post haircut (ang itim ko!!!) 

magnolia tree 

aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!

i'm seeing sting tonight!!!!!!!!

free time

it's 1:30 in the afternoon and i am here in my couch, watching spin city on upn and blogging. this was supposed to be a busy quarter right? i got lucky. the way my rotation project works, i have to wait for my plants to grow which takes about 2 weeks. so i have a little time in my hands. hmmmmm. . . what to do with all this free time?:) . . . of course i could study, but that would be a waste of this beautiful weather. . . or i could clean my apartment. . . or do my laundry. . . or just bask in the sunshine. . . decision, decisions. . .

spring squirrel 

study group 

real men wear pink 

7th time down 

mirror lake park 

finally got around to uploading pix from the indigo girls concert. had some free time today. was not scheduled really. didn't go to lab. or seminar. had a very good, and unfortunately, very painful excuse. but the story is not for everyone to hear. . .

spring quarter has been good so far,before today that is. my classes are pretty tough. but the geek in me finds them very interesting and challenging. i like the lab i'm working at too. surprisingly enough, it seems like i'm getting along well with my PI. people keep saying he's really hard to get along with but i guess i'm doing ok. and it's just pcr work for now so it's nothing i couldn't handle.

another great thing about spring quarter is spring! the weather is perfect! has been since sunday! sunny and the temp gets up to 70 deg now! gorgeous! and as usual, people are going crazy. too bad i had to spend most of today inside. but i'm counting on there being more days like this.

saw "the great gatsby" last night. awfully romantic movie. and very tragic. someone should've warned me he was going to die! anyway in my opinion, the greatest thing about gatsby is the way he could wear a pink suit and pull it off. pink!

ok, have to watch AI. go bo!

arena grand district 

waiting for george. . . 

indigo girls 2 

indigo girls 

amy ray 

emily