• SPEECH CHOIR 2016 •

We had the speech choir competition today, as well as the Ignite competition. And at about 10:30 the show started.

The first section to have a go was ABMA 153 in tandem with ABMA 154.

Their performance was AWESOME. They were in costumes of black shirts, bottoms and capes and as they took to the stage, they gave everyone in the auditorium a good morning start. There was one thing I noticed, though and that was the mood they presented the poem. As I recall, one of our leaders had mentioned that having only one mood to the poem was not allowed, that's why we had a few twists in ours.

The second section to show was ABMA 154 and they left us with our eyes wide open.

We really didn't expect what they did and I don't mean that negative in any way. It felt like they were unprepared and so they rushed their practice. Not to mention, not everybody was opening their mouths. They started from the audience with Katniss Everdeen's little anthem of hope for the hopeful which made me excited but then when they hit the stage, it's as if tragedy struck. But what's important was they finished what they started and they looked happy about it. They did a great job at it at that!

The third section to hit the stage was ABMA 152.

It was like they were in a play of APC's Theatre Phileo. They went with a good start considering they had people at it with their facial expressions and such. Their screams were blood curdling which I would give praise to but their "Caged Bird" performance didn't give that much difference. If anything, they sang the poem which is not a bad thing but they could've thought it out differently. However, I commend them for their talent in theater!!

The fourth section.. was us: ABMA 151.

Being one of the performers, I wasn't sure how we looked. All I could remember was what we had practiced (apart for my HARD not to notice - mistake which I had successfully pulled myself out of). But I'm sure we wow-ed the crowd with our very different performance. I had fun!!

The second to the last section to perform was CPE 151

(Their section and the other ECE 151 won last Cheers and Chants at 1st place and champion while we bagged the 2nd place.)

They set the bars high even though they didn't have much for props. Instead, they had everything in check with their performance!

And the last section to steal everyone's attention was ECE 151

They gave a lot with their performance which was AWESOME and they moved as one as they should. I can't help but think that it felt like they didn't give their all but no matter, they were great!!


Then finally, the moment we all were waiting for. WE WON and the two other 151 sections too!

ABMA 151 - 2nd runner up

CPE     151 - 1st runner up

ECE     151 - Champion

What were the odds, right?

And to make matters better 2 of our classmates reigned champion in the Ignite competition and the Public Speaking contest!

Geraldine Marie Bravo - Ignite

John David Gulle - Public Speaking

In the end, we had fun (hopefully everyone), we gave what we could and left with smiles on our faces.

• INTEGRITY has NO NEED of rules •

So today we had our PUBSPE competition, April 20, 2016.

Butterflies in my stomach.

Worries. 

Relief. 

We were started off with a quick orientation about today's event which was led by no other than Ms. Nina De Leon along with her children from APC Speaks. Although I have my perception of APC Speaks members to be organized and professional when it comes to their delivery, I was quite disappointed. Ms. Nina without a doubt did a great job but their lack of explanations for the criteria was a little off. For instance, knowing the criteria would be a way of help for us contestants so we'd give it our all but na-da.

We were then assigned rooms.

I was in room 607 with Angela and the rest was history.

I couldn't shake off the idea of doubt, choking and forgetting because I knew it was bound to happen and so I decided to distract myself by listening to each speakers' performance. They were great. I waited my turn and did my best to remember everything I practiced for but in the back of my mind, I just wanted to get things over with and when the round was finished I was overjoyed. We headed back to the auditorium, reuniting with our sections and waited for the announcement. We were all relaxed but we were more anxious to get out of the audi and have our lunches jk.

THEN the finalists were announced and did their parts.

TWO from our section were selected and we were in heaps of happiness! Jerica Valerio and John David Gulle. They both did great and I couldn't be more honoured to have been part of a competition in which they both were entered as well. It was a good day, indeed.

Jerica Valerio

John Gulle

• Who Wants To Be A Millionaire •

 "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (often informally called Millionaire) is an American television game show based on the same-titled British program and developed for the United States by Michael Davies. The show features a quiz competition in which contestants attempt to win a top prize of U.S. $1,000,000 by answering a series of multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty (although, for a time, most of the questions were of random difficulty). -Wikipedia

It was the first period when we were asked by Ms. Minglana to proceed to the auditorium on the twelfth floor. 

An event. 

As it turns out, there was an event, that being: Who Wants to be a Millionaire contest. A number of students were chosen to represent each class and in our case, we had Jerica Valerio, Marlou Macalalad and Kristopher Coquia.

Timing. 

As usual, the event didn't start as planned. Representatives from different sections weren't present and there were still a lot of seats to be filled in the auditorium. People came and go. It was in the middle of the APC College week that's why people were either sleeping at home, participating at different events or ditching school.

We were the first section to arrive and we had nothing to do but wait.

I for one was bored for my life. It was a morning I left my home without eating breakfast and so I was famished; and so I proceeded to the cafeteria to buy food.But when I got back to the 12th floor something came up and so I wasn't able to watch the contest.

Luckily, I was close friends with Marlou and  so I asked about what happened and he said that sadly, they got cut off immediately without reaching the second round despite the fact that the topics were of books and our section representatives were foreigner.

• SOMA WEEK: Float Making Contest •

 

BAKUNAWA.

SOMA WEEK 2016.


We worked on our APROJ float for almost three weeks. And it was 

beautiful, superb, really. Thanks to our two artiste's Manuela Roxas and 

Kristopher Coquia, the prize was ours to take; or so we thought.

About four days before the actual competition and mark of SOMA days, 

we found ourselves in a tight spot. The float, all the hard work, was 

sabotaged. The Bakunawa was ripped open. I felt bad for my 

classmates who actually put so much hours into doing countless 

newspaper burgers, newspaper pads and tissue soaked in shellwood 

glue. The group was furious. I was furious because they were so afraid of losing that they had to get to this low point of 

actually ruining somebody else's float. Sad. But we avenged Bakunawa and in two day's time, it was all set. Bakunawa 

lived again for another day. Until the day of the competition that is. About 7:30am we had to get the float out of the 

basement. We pushed and guided the float to the exit of the parking lot when we found out that our float was too damn 

big for the open. The other section successfully got theirs out without so much as a scratch when we got ours out with not

only bakunawa's body crushed but also the monkey's head torn off. Luckily a few from the other section actually helped

 us get the float out. And when we did, we felt disappointed; hopeless, even. But Joshua, Moises and Kristopher did their 

best to restore what could be restored with the remains of the float. The students competing against us watched. I saw 

some grin, laugh and snicker. I honestly didn't know what to feel. I was torn between hopelessness and rage. But the 

show had to go on. Even if we did not prevail.

• Benjamin Alves •

To celebrate his birthday he decided to take part of the poem reading contest; none other than the SANA DATI star, Benjamin Alves!

So it was true, Benjamin Alves celebrated his birthday in APC along with a few other schools he had planned on visiting. With him were an entourage of behind the cameras-crew, event planners and friends of his in showbiz.

But before that, it was a "chill" afternoon.

Me and a few friends had just gotten out of lunch and headed to the MPH1. We waited for the English professors' cue for us to go in. Until the time came and we did. Inside were chairs, tables, cupcakes, birthday cakes etc and to be honest, we couldn't contain our excitement! We couldn't wait to get our hands on those cupc-- I mean, we couldn't wait to see Benjamin.

Now, Benjamin, didn't arrive as early as we thought so an MC was there to keep the whole lot company. The MC was really nice and she was funny too! She knew well how to entertain a crowd and to break the ice, she had people volunteer for a game of PINOY HENYO. She had the volunteers hold pieces of paper on their heads and they had to guess what was written. But it wasn't long when they got word that Benjamin was coming and so after 2 rounds they declared a winner and had pictures taken.

When he arrived, he was greeted with smiles and likewise. He had all the girls wagging their tongues out and the boys left with jealousy.

He apologized for the delay and in a minute or two the show was on!

We sang him a 'Happy Birthday' and had the poem participants come in to present their art pieces. They were brilliant! The SOE really knows how to woo ladies with their gentle words. Then came Benjamin. His piece was absolutely breathtaking!

He said that it was an old poem of his, one he wrote for his 'the one that got away' and I could not help but feel awe for him. He was so deeply in love with her but in the end she wasn't his to keep. I looked his poem on-line but to my surprise, the internet has failed me. I would've recorded the whole thing but then I'll need his permission. It was a moment I'll never forget.

All I can say is he has talent.

He is a true artiste.

• Paddington •

Paddington! 

Paddington (2014)
Directed by: Paul King

"After a deadly earthquake destroys his home in Peruvian rainforest, a young bear (Ben Whishaw) makes his way to England in search of a new home. The bear, dubbed "Paddington" for the london train station, finds shelter with the family of Henry (Hugh Bonneville) and Mary Brown (Sally Hawkins). Although Paddington's amazement at urban living soon endears him to the Browns, someone else has her eye on him: Taxidermist Millicent Clyde (Nicole Kidman) has designs on the rare bear and his hide."                    

A Film by: Paul King

The morning we were at the AVR I didn't know what to expect and boy, was I glad. Ms. Elize put on the dvd and and the projector complied. The movie started with what seemed like a film of the past with the sepia-toned screen and black dots appearing everywhere when along showed a man. An explorer who's travelled all the way to the jungles of Peru. There he met two lovely bears, Pastuzo and Lucy. He showed fascination for the two creatures after seeing signs of being civilized. He then introduced many things to the bears until the time came when he had to pack his bags and leave. *Blast from the past scene 

ends*

There entered Paddington.

Paddington, a small and loveable cub was raised by his aunt and uncle. Due to catastrophic events, he was forced to leave the comforts of his home and find refuge in the great land of  London. 

I liked this movie very much because it certainly has been a while since I last watched a film starring an animated character with such a nicely-written plot. I can't say it was the same with films then because I can't recall anything similar to it. Paddington certainly knows how to make a crowd laugh especially because of his naivete and effort not to commit mistakes that lead to such disasters. His misfortunes, really, had me covering my eyes with surprise, pity and embarrassment but it was nothing compared to how much time I had laughing and smiling because of his adorable nature.

Paddington (2014)
Directed by: Paul King

• The 2016 APC College Week •

Balloons by the entrance. 

Food stands on the parking lot. 

Banners here and there. 

(c) APC RAM Page
APC College Week Highlights 2016

(c) APC Ram Page
APC College Week Highlights 2016

It's been five days since APC College week took place and as a freshman, this was something new to me. Although back in my school we've had events like this before, it was my first as a college student. The student councils (or whatnot) prepared cool things to keep the students' minds occupied.

There were games, challenges, talks, pageants and contests. I would've enjoyed the week more, however, if I actually stayed for each show but I couldn't. 

Out of everything that happened in the week, I was only able to watch 2 games and that of which were Men's Volleyball. 

I'd like to comment on the preparation, execution and "run" of the week. 

It was awesome. Awesome in a way that it was nice to see APC get pumped up for a week. 

It was okay. Although I said APC was pumped up, it was all because of decorations not from the students in charge of the mini happenings. 

It got old too fast. I guess five days are a little bit too much for a small school such as APC. I honestly expected a lot. Things that would have probably made APC shine. 

It needed more than just a spark. They should have at least cranked up the energy bar to a hundred. The school still looked like classes were going on (even if some were) they should have thought of making the school's atmosphere a little different than what it usually is. 

COLOR AND LOTS OF IT. I get that there were balloons and all but having a little bit more of color would have added life for the whole week. 

Attention-getters. APC is a home for brilliant students, right? It wouldn't have killed them to have asked students weeks or so before for what they would like to see during the college week. Because sometimes, reaching out to the students is better than having only a group run things.