What transpired in the evening of December 7, 2022

 We were in the middle of our evening review classes for General Education (Filipino) when our prof explained to us the mechanics of our 1st quiz for the night. Everyone has to prepare a 1-peso coin. If everybody gets a perfect score, we can keep the coins to ourselves. But if at least 1 of us does not get a perfect score, we were all to submit the 1-peso coin to him because those coins would be the prize of the person who will share his/her talent later.

The quiz came. The first question was tricky and that was a sure indication that not everybody would get a perfect score. How sad! And indeed, at the end of the quiz, a lot of us did not get all items correctly. Nkklk. So we gave our prof our coins and we went on with the discussions. 

It was almost 10 pm, and our prof wrapped up the session by announcing that we would all play a game of “BRING ME”. The prizes for the winners would come from the coins collected earlier but I think our prof donated some cash too. Haha! I was so excited and I really wanted to win because my budget was already almost disappearing into thin air!! (Ma, Pa, wa mo naluoy?) So we all played. The first winners won 20, 20, 50 pesos, if I can recall it right. The last Bring Me round was the most challenging. The prize was probably more or less 200 pesos. Sir told us that whoever could bring the item must share his or her talent as an additional requirement to win the grand prize. HAHA!! Then he told everybody: OK, BRING ME YOUR CRUSH!! I was thinking, I have 2 crushes in this room, my classmate and my prof. But dragging my classmate in front would take so long and I don’t have enough confidence yet to do that, so I chose our prof. Without hesitation I raised my hand and immediately approached my prof in front!! Ok. HAHAHAHAHAHA! And I was the one who came first because probably my classmates found it embarrassing to bring their crushes in front of everyone. I don’t know. HAHA! So prof looked at me surprised and confused because I was obviously bringing nobody. And I just immediately told him: SIR CRUSH TAKA!!!! HAHAHAHHAA! And at that moment I already wanted to hide na gyod hahahahaha! And he did not believe me at all. Maybe he was thinking it was a prank but it’s really true. HAHA! I think my face was all red that time and my classmates were laughing. Oh em gee. So crazyyy. Then he asked me what my talent was, I had a lot on my mind but I told him declamation. HAHAHA! Then I recited (with feelings) a few lines from Raul S. Manglapus’ Land of Bondage, Land of the Free. And I received my prize! Forda 200 pesos ang ferson. 

Thanks sa support classmates! HAHAHAHA! Again, I can’t believe I did what I did, but I don’t regret it at all. 

2022 Jiu-jitsu Competiton

 3 years ago I joined my first jiu-jitsu competition in Cebu. I lost my first match with my opponent scoring 24 and I zero.  I learned a lot from that experience and I promised to do better. I was planning to join the 2020 June competition, I think it was also in Cebu, but then covid happened. There had been endless community quarantines and activities were very limited including training for contact sports. I missed jiu-jitsu so bad and i never stopped thinking about it. Until 2022 came and the news told us that the jiu-jitsu trainings are back!!!! I started going back to jiu-jiysu training last February 28, 2022 and i was sooooooooooo happy and grateful!!!! Like finally!!!! I trained the best i could until the competition in June 25 and 26 in Makati City. I always thought to myself I'm gonna do better this time. I have to do better and I have to get gold medals because I'm going to study for master's soon. I kept praying that I will get gold medals. HAHA! I was excited and scared at the same time because I know i trained hard but my opponents are so good toooo. 

Then the competition day came. I was sooooo nervous and scared because I don't want to get a medal by dafault. There were only few in our weight division so even if I lost my first fight I would already get a bronze medal. That time i wasn't thinking of the gold medal anymore. I just thought that I had to win my first match. Gosh. My first match was supposedly for Fatima but she was not there. So my first match was with Maers. I fought as hard as I could. I was thinking that I could really do more. however, my whole body seems to have stiffened. It was really a hard fight. I was scared she might pass my guard whatever. but then the time was up and I scored just 2 points more than her. I won. Unbelievable really because she is so gooooood. And what's more surprising is that winning that match meant a gold medal for me. Later in the day, I had another match because I registered for open weight. I lost my first match but I was still happy because I knew I did my best. Although learning from that loss, I have to learn even more and train even more.

The next day, was no gi event. I know for sure that I am not good at no gi. I already accepted my fate that I would probably not get medals this time but I made sure to do my best. First match again was with Maers. I was sure I lost the fight but ref's decision/scoring was 4 points advantage for Maers and 2 point for me. So I won. Next match was with Patricia Go. I saw her moves from previous match that day so I was sure I can defeat her. And that was what I did. I scored 4 points more than her. I won another gold medal. I still can't believe it. Maybe God is really telling me, "Okay, focus on your master's now." HAHA!! huhuhu... 

Anyhow

Thank you family and friends for the support and understanding and prayers. Thank you Pa, Ma for the food. 

Thank you auntie Nor, te Yoly. Thank you La and Lo. Thank you supportive, talented cuz Rovilyn. Thank you to our relatives.

Thank you workmates for cheering me during office hours. You're even more excited than I am. I felt a bit pressured hahaha!

Thank you to our bosses for allowing me to be absent. hehe.

Thank you so much Dojo 82 at F. Torres coaches and teammates, sir Miko, Dwight, Jett, Jan, doc Julz, Francis, Mark Co, all purple belts, blue belts, white belts. Thank you coaches for the videos you have sent me to study. Thank you for all your advices. Thank you so much. I can't thank you enough really. Thank you to everyone who sparred with me. More spars to come for us all!!!! Thank you jiu jitsu ladies especially madam JAI YU who really went out of her way to guide me in the fundamentals of jiu-jitsu. Like seriously I knwo that she is a busy person and a busy mom but she really found time to teach me. And when I said she adjusted with my sked, she really did!! I had also been busy practicing with St. Blaise Chorale and she trained with me when I was available. I really appreciate her effort. huhu. Thank you to the staff of The dojo + The kitchn for being so accommodating and cheering us all too.

Thank you to my teammates who also joined the competition. We did our best to support each other on competition day. hahaha! Congrats to us Jhon, Nico, Baste, Don, Mark.

Shoutout to all my opponents you are all amazing!!! Especially madam Maers. Mapapasana all ka talaga sa kanila. 💪💪💪

Thank you St. Blaise chorale for the prayers and for the all out support!!!

Thank you, Charmaine for letting me borrow your gi for my spare. Thank you, Gelo for letting me borrow your belt. 

Special thanks to our cats at home.

Also thank you to Ffion Eira Davies for giving me an idea how to tie my hair and also giving me an idea to listen to Taylor Swift songs hours or minutes before the comps. @itsffionnotfiona

Thank you to my friends and family who prayed for our games and for an injury free comp.

To everyone, thank you!!! I hope you'd consider and try training jiu-jitsu toooo!!!

Lord, thank You bec we finally got to compete after covid happened.

Thank YOU, LORD for everything!! ❤❤

AMDG.