The weeks of doing what I've never done before or in a long time

Longish post. Go ahead if you wanna read about my first soccer game in a decade, or my first bar jam, or my trip back to the land of my birth.

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For the past couple of weeks, I found myself doing stuff I've never done before or I've never done in a LONG time.

For my last week of summer vacation, I shook off enough of my tamaditis to go to the gym. Last time I went to the gym was back in college, maybe 7-8 years ago (yes, ganun ako katamad). On the day of the AI finale, I had to hitch with my sis so early in the morning, so I had to watch the finale at the gym. Thank God for exercise machines with TVs I watched the first and last 30 minutes of the show on the treadmill, hehehe. I stopped the treadmill and made an audible OMG when Kris Allen was declared the winner, which was embarrassing because I was by myself, surrounded by strangers at the gym.

Last week, I joined the majority of the Pisay faculty for a seminar-workshop in Baguio. Last time I was in Baguio was just 2-3 years ago, but I've never stayed in Baguio for more than 3 days; this time I got to stay for 5. Baguio has a special place in my heart - it was where I was born, where I grew up for the first 5 years of my life, where my destiny was formed.

I'm always with family when I go to Baguio, so being with friends and colleagues was new for me. It was also the first time I went out and about Baguio at night. For some of the people I was with, it was my first time to bond with them, even if we've been coworkers for a couple of years already. That was the fun part, because I don't really get to interact that much with my coteachers other than those from the Bio unit.

I guess the highlight of it all was getting to do something I've NEVER done though it's something I've always wanted to do - I got to perform in a bar On our first Baguio night out, we hit this nice laid back bar called Ayuyang, where there were two performers who'd let audience members jam with them every so often. A couple of my coteachers jammed ahead of me, and when I had mustered enough courage, I stepped up to play Lisa Loeb's "Stay" and "Do You Sleep?", songs that are perpetually on my setlist when I play in my room almost every night. I was so confident about those songs, but because of certain circumstances, I totally fumbled in Ayuyang I couldn't get the plucking part of "Stay", and I mixed up the lyrics of "Do You Sleep?" Haysus. It was a really funny performance, but the audience was so cool and appreciative, steady lang kumbaga, so I actually enjoyed it. Anyways, I got to redeem myself at the end of the night when the performer allowed me to try once more, so I asked my co-teacher Justin to sing while I played "Plush" by Stone Temple Pilots.

Actually, there were only about 25 people there, 15 of which were Pisay teachers. Hehehe. But it still was an achievement for me. And as we left, some of the strangers there said my attempt at Lisa Loeb was cool Ang sarap lang ng pakiramdam na bonding kayo lahat dun sa bar kahit di kayo magkakakilala. The playlist of the jammers that night was great, too - "Honestly" by Harem Scarem, "Your Love" by Alamid, "Patience" by Guns N' Roses, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison, "Your Song" by Elton John, and a whole lot more songs that I sang to at the top of my lungs. Ang saya; gusto ko ulit ng ganung jamming.

This week, the thing that I did that I hadn't done in a LONG time was to play soccer. Justin set up a soccer date with our field bio kids so we played under the drizzle last Thursday. I believe the last time I played soccer was in HIGH SCHOOL - that's like 10+ years ago Unless you can count one of my PE classes in college - speedball (kinda like soccer, football, and basketball combined - I hardly remember the rules!). Still, that's a good 5+ years ago. I'm totally not a soccer player - basketball is my game, and maybe softball, though I last played that in college - but I kinda enjoyed last Thursday.

And the last on this list of things-I-haven't-done-before-or-in-a-long-while would be - - - to watch a full set of Nina, the soul siren My friend Sandy is in a showband so she asked us girls to watch her gig at Taboo Bar in Ortigas last night. I hardly get to see my girls so I grabbed the opportunity, nevermind that Nina is so way off my genre of choice. It was great to be with my barkada after almost half a year of not seeing most of them. We weren't complete but it was the best attendance record for a non-wedding gimik in a long while.

I'm quite amused with myself lately because I guess I'm trying harder each day to get out of my comfort zone. These things I've written aren't really off-the-charts with their awesomeness or novelty or uniqueness, but for me I'm happy that I'm getting to do a lot more new things lately.

I hope this 'adventurousness' spills onto the rest of the school year. I so want to make this school year a whole lot better than the last. Last year was nice and fun, but I totally did not make use of my full potential as a teacher. It was my most stressful year EVER - I had so many tasks on my shoulders, and because I'm such an awesome time manager, I believe I did a mediocre job on all of them. This year, I must not let that happen. Wish me luck.