Pepper Lunch pig out and more with my Silliman co-fellows

It's been almost a year, I think, since I last saw these great people, or as Gino would put it, fabulous fabulous people.

We met Friday (yesterday) at Pepper Lunch in Greenbelt. I found Miro lined up outside the resto for some reason, despite the fact that we already had a table inside. Knowing how good and considerate a person she is, I decided to line up with her without protest, until the waitress told us we should have just gone inside. The baby of the 49th batch hasn't changed much, save for her more lady-like demeanor and the downplaying of her classic jejemon ways. Oscar, Gino, and Netty were done eating already so we hurriedly ordered Pepper Rice No. 1. It looks boring in the menu, and boring in real life. Just rice topped with corn and pepper, encircled by thin strips of beef on a sizzzzzzling plate. But the first bite will remind you of the age old saying: looks can be deceiving.

http://pepperlunch.com.ph/menu.html

The "You got thin!" or "You got fat" part of the meet-up let's me know how really long it's been since we've all seen each other like this. Oscar's green jokes, as usual, made lots of heads turn; so we we had to finish our meal fast before the surrounding families became too scandalized. I had to check with them if our batch mascot, Nom Nom, was really still okay. I wasn't able to join them in the 50th Silliman reunion since I was in the 18th Iligan Workshop. Good thing that he, apparently, is alive and well!!! I was told that that cute little doggy might have died in Dumaguete while we were away. But he has gotten quite big now:

That's our Nom Nom awright!!!

I wrote about him in a previous post about our batch.

And so we finished with our dinner and moved to Gelatissimo. There, we carried with us our loudness, ruining the quiet and calm of the others who must have hoped to enjoy their dessert in peace.

Oscar told me I've become quite noisy now. Apparently I wasn't like that last year. It seemed I was shy and reserved in Dumaguete...two adjectives that would make my high school and office friends roll on the floor laughing their asses off. Well, that must be the other side of me that comes out when I'm uncomfortable. I take it as a good sign that distance and time may have brought me closer to my Silliman batchmates, or I may have simply changed and don't give a damn anymore what people say. Because hey, we've got one chance in life, why not spend it being ourselves? Why not spend it being my loud self? I think the world should be a noisier place. Noisy with LAUGHTER I mean. hihi. >.<

50th Silliman University National Writers Workshop

Can't believe it's been almost a year since the 49th. *sigh*

Call for Submission of Manuscripts to the
50th Silliman University National Writers Workshop

The Silliman University National Writers Workshop is now accepting applications for the 50th National Writers Workshop to be held May 2-20, 2011 in the SU Rose Lamb Sobrepeña Writers Village.

This Writers Workshop is offering fifteen fellowships to promising young writers who would like a chance to hone their craft and refine their style. Fellows will be provided housing, a modest stipend, and a subsidy to partially defray costs of their transportation.
To be considered, applicants should submit manuscripts in English on or before February 25, 2011 (seven to ten poems; or three to five short stories; or three to five creative non-fiction essays). Manuscripts should be submitted in hard copy and as email attachment, preferably in MS Word 2003, to nwworkshop_su@yahoo.com, together with a résumé, a recommendation letter from a literature professor or a writer of national standing, a notarized certification that the works are original, and two 2X2 ID pictures.

Send all applications or requests for information to Department of English and Literature, attention Dr. Evelyn F. Mascuñana, Chair, Silliman University, 6200 Dumaguete City.

If I had super powers, I'd boss Chronos around

Before Farewell

Where is forever?
Is it on the same spot
I am standing on right now,
or perhaps that clock
taunting me from the wall?

If I move my foot, form
circles on the ground,
I can go on
and on like that clock.
I see you all doing the same;
the bags at our feet invisible
only the circles we are drawing.

None of us budge.
We are right
where we want to be.
Time has never moved.
We were the ones
who left it behind.

I miss my cofellows from both the Iyas and Dumaguete workshops. I don't usually write poems but I have nothing better to do hahaha!

1st Poetry Reading Session of Silliman Fellows at Sidlakan, Obviously we had fun (photo by Misael Ondong)

Iyas Fellows at Negros Showroom (photo by Jordan Carnice)

Prophecy of the 49th

First posted this as a note on facebook. Now am bloggin' it haha (photos c/o Oscar Serquiña, unless otherwise cited):

The Oracle has spoken. 5 yrs after the 49th Silliman National Writers Workshop...

Verse 1: The Batch Mascot
NomNom has evolved into a bug-eating kangaroo and will be featured in Kuya Kim's Matanglawin (I don't remember who took these photos, but they're cute, and you can find more of Nomnom in Facebook)

Verse 2: The Poets

Gian Paolo Simeon Lao = Is the songwriter for the band he established, The Parting

Dominique Allison Santos = Has become the co-owner of Jhutz Cafe

Jacob Dominguez = Has become the lead actor for Oscar's first movie

Oscar Serquina, Jr. = Is the director of the movie "I still believe in True Love"

Verse 3: The Fictionists

Aaron James Jalalon = Upon acquiring his Ph.D. in Creative Writing, leaves everything behind to be the lead singer for the band, The Parting

Jenette Ethel Vizcocho = "The Netty" is the famous leader of the song-and-dance trio, Jejegals

Gilda Ysobel Galang = A convict in Munti, her crime is kept confidential

Anne Carly Abad = Has transferred to another world

Gino Francis Dizon = Has published the book "Fabulous Fabulous Feofle of Angeles"

Jose Carlo Flordeliza = Has been recorded in the Guiness Book of Records for building a house using his abundant supply of books

Ida Anita Del Mundo = Has made a pact with the Palasekan to start a music school. If she doesn't do what she must, there are grave, GRAVE consequences.

Samantha Echavez = Has been declared Cosmo's "Covergirl of the Year"

Verse 4: The Creative Non-Fictionists

Kelly Marie Tulio Conlon = Has established an institute for Latin Dance in Davao

Miro Frances Capili = This Palanca Hall of Famer is not only a singer-dancer, but has been the choreographer of Jejegals ever since it was established (photo removed for safety purposes)

Christina Mae del Rosario = Has chronicled the Jejegals' adventures and conquests in the bestselling series, "jUm3j3j3 DiAri3s Powhz"

I'll prolly be usin' these photos to make the portrait sketches for our batch tshirt. Any complaints, say em now heehee:)

Silliman Workshop Day 16-slash-17

I have another ghost story to tell.

I wonder, though, why these things have been happening a lot. It began in Bacolod. Of course, I wasn't the one who saw the so-called White Lady back in Balay Kalinungan, it was Alyza, my co-fellow in the 10th Iyas Workshop. Still, the spirit did hover over my head, and the fact that I didn't see it wasn't comforting in any way.

Here in Camp Lookout/Writers Village, we have cabins assigned to us. Four people to each cabin, which has two rooms with a double-deck bed each. We slept early since we were scheduled to go to Antulang the next day--Wednesday, which is outing day. We had to get up at 6am and leave by 7.

In the Jasmine Cabin (so named because we planted a Jasmine tree just outside), we were five, and it was my turn to sleep on the floor (I had a bed, of course). For some reason, I was roused from sleep at 3am in the morning. It wasn't Day 16 anymore, but Day 17 when I woke. I could here typing just outside our rooms, where there was a small "reception" area, like a living room. I thought Miro was still typing in the wee hours. Through the open door, I called out, asking her why she was still typing. I'd thought, "napaka sipag naman naman nito". I believe she was finishing her piece for the 49th Dumaguete antho.

It was dark, mind you. I thought I saw her sitting there. There was no electricity. It was stuffy in the room. When Miro didn't answer, I stood up, stepped outside our room.

"Why are you typing in the dark?" I pressed. Until I realized it. Her Mac Book was on standby. I could still hear the sound of typing. Through the shadows, I could actually see the keys moving. But there was no one seated on the monobloc chair before it. No one was using the Mac.

That was when I freaked out.

No, I didn't scream. My mind just went blank, as though I couldn't comprehend what I'd just witnessed. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god..." That was all I could blurt out as I ambled back to our room. Netty woke up because of all my oh-my-god-ing, and the typing stopped.

She asked me what was wrong. She told me she couldn't, didn't hear anything. She was obviously confused about who the hell I was talking to out in the hallway. So was I.

I don't know who I was talking to.

I frickin' don't wanna find out.

I decided to transfer rooms, just to the other side. I didn't want to sleep in our room, on the floor. I was scared the "entity" had followed me.

Grr. I don't even have the proverbial third eye. Hopefully, that thing won't happen again. Hopefully, I won't get up in the middle of the night talking to thin air. Not again. :<

49th Dumaguete National Writers Workshop

This, I just got from Panitikan.com:

National Writers Workshop Director-in-Residence Rowena Tiempo Torrevillas, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and Silliman University are pleased to announce that the following young writers have been accepted as fellows for the 49th National Writers Workshop scheduled on 3-21 May 2010:

For Poetry

Gian Paolo Simeon Lao (Ateneo de Manila University)

Dominique Allison Santos (University of Santo Tomas)

Jacob Dominguez (University of Santo Tomas)

Oscar Serquina Jr. (University of the Philippines-Diliman)

For Fiction

Aaron James Jalalon (University of the Philippines–Mindanao)

Jenette Ethel Vizcocho (University of the Philippines-Diliman)

Gilda Ysobel Galang (Ateneo de Manila University)

Anne Carly Abad (Ateneo de Manila University)

Gino Francis Dizon (Ateneo de Manila University)

Jose Carlo Flordeliza (De La Salle University)

Ida Anita Del Mundo (De La Salle University)

Samantha Echavez (University of the Philippines-Diliman)

For Creative Non-Fiction

Kelly Marie Tulio Conlon (University of the Philippines–Mindanao)

Miro Frances Capili (University of the Philippines-Diliman)

Christina Mae del Rosario (Ateneo de Manila University) 

Can't wait to meet everyone. And see the beach. And some non-metro manila sky. And some historical sites maybe...

Of course that's not all I'm after. I may be lazy, but I'm certainly dedicated to my craft and improving it. I'm done with my week-long hiatus watching anime and TV series. Back to work. Back to life.