Big Chunk of Mithocondria

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Feels like the first time in Forever

Last Saturday, November 6, my little brother finally got to go to the mall after give or take one and a half year. But before we went to the mall, we first go to Vikings, an eat-all-you-can restaurant. He mistakenly thought we were in a hotel because of the restaurant’s interior design. There were a lot of people, so even though it is an eat-all-you- can restaurant, you can’t really eat everything you want because there were long lines for some stations. Diners are not enabled to take their desired food directly; you would have to ask assistance from the waiters. 

We went to the mall, you can already feel the Christmas spirit, there were a lot of people taking pictures with the Christmas decorations, however, the crowd also flocked in the park in front of the bay without proper social distancing, as if the pandemic is long gone. 

 There were guards holding signs that says keep your face mask and shields on.  My little brother was prancing with excitement, my big brother and I visited clothing boutiques while my parents are with my little brother looking for toys to buy. He chose a Lego set. We decided to meet at the plant store, we all walked for a couple minutes then our parents said we can separate and just meet after in the parking lot because me and my big brother wanted to explore the mall, my little brother insisted to come, our parents told him to stay close to us. 

 We planned to play at the arcade but there was a lot of people and a long line. My little brother got bored as we were not doing anything just walking, we stopped to rest for a while, my little brother said he was thirsty so I bought him water, not long after my father called and said we should get back before we get hungry again. My little brother was delighted to hear this because he was eager to go home and build his Lego. We got to the parking first because our parents got lost on the way back. On the road back to our house, I fell asleep. When we arrived, my little brother hurriedly took a bath, and built his new toy.

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Paddling to Success!

Being a student athlete is very hard as you have to balance athletic and academic responsibilities. I have to spend like more than half of my day in studies and sports, which is very tiring. Sometimes, I barely have time to play and chat with my friends. Pre pandemic, right after my classes I go straight to my swimming training and sometimes I come late to the training and my teammates are already doing the main set, which makes it hard for me to keep up their pace, having no warm up.               After my training, my father fetches me and we go straight home, sometimes stop by restaurants. As soon as we got home, I go straight to bed as I am very tired and couldn’t stay up any longer, because of this I sometimes don’t get to do my assignment so I just do them before the subject’s time. Waking up in the morning has always been very hard for me even now. Most times on the way to school and on our daily rosary, I accidentally fell asleep. Especially, when our coach makes us do intense workouts. But despite the struggles, I enjoyed competing in different competitions such as interschool, interclub, aquathlon, and triathlon. I won in several swimming competitions. I joined two aquathlons both take place in Subic but unfortunately I did not win as I am not very good at running; this is where my opponents got ahead of me. I just participated in one triathlon in which I came second I may have won in this because of the biking. For me, running is far more exhausting than swimming and one thing that I also don’t like about running is the stick feeling which is very irritating. On the next few days after my coach made us do an extreme workout, I would come to school with my body swollen: carefully sitting down and going up the stairs. It is needed for me to train hard because swimming is no ordinary sport, if you are not to train, you would most likely drown from the waves produced by your opponents. The experience of being a student athlete is priceless as it has helped me improve my time managing skills and taught me that nothing comes easily, you would have to work to attain your goals.

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Will it be worth it?

The opportunity to study here in Manila Science is great. I expected the number of assignments that would come along side it. But then, what I expected about around 10 assignments per week is nothing compared to what our teachers now give. It is like you are done with an assignment and here comes another.

Unlike in my previous school, they give at most eight (8) assignments per week. The total work done here for a quarter must be more to what I’ve done in my previous school for a year. Studying here has been hard for me since I am not used to doing this much work. The amount of school works is very frustrating and stressful. I spend a lot of time in video projects because I am not that good in public speaking, these kind of projects usually discourages me.

 I also struggled with making friends and connecting with my classmates. It is because the only time that I get to communicate with my classmates is when we are doing a group project. I feel like it is much easier to make friends in face-to-face classes for you are literally sitting next to them. I think it would be awkward if I am to ignore them or vice versa. Besides, the chances that you can mingle with them is much higher compared to online classes.

  I have adjusted a lot since the school year started. I am forced to adapt to this new pacing or I will have difficulties on keeping up with the school’s standards. My time for leisure is lessened and my hours of sleep were cut to be able do projects and assignments. I do believe that there is room for improvement and with the help of my teachers I am more motivated to study.

 I always remind myself why I am here, to be the best version of myself. I can see myself gradually improving : gaining confidence in public speaking. I am not as shy as before. I find comfort in thinking what my previous swimming coach would always say “It will not be easy but it will be definitely be worth it”

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My Pet Story

My family have a lot of pets. We have 12 pets: four chickens, three sugar gliders, two dogs, a hedgehog, a turtle and a fish. Our hedgehog, Durian likes to be left alone and is grumpy and nervous, always having her quills up. The only time you would see her quills relaxed is when you offer her food and every night, we would catch her on the top of her hide trying to get out of her cage. The three sugar gliders, we were not able to give them names because they all look the same. They are very ecstatic and having them going out of their cage is like a rampage because they would jump anywhere knocking down things. There is this one time when our first sugar glider got out and chewed on our mom’s plants and knocked down picture frames. Luckily, when our mom found out she did not get mad. 

Cookie is my very much beloved dog.  We got her four years ago, she is my first pet that is why I took of her immensely. I remember me not finishing my food when going to restaurants so that when I go home I have something to give to her. Last April, I cried when I thought she was going to die when I saw that she cannot fully open one of her eyes and this eye also turned gray but it turns out she just got sore eyes. From that, I can’t imagine her dying.  Robin is our other dog, he is Cookie’s son, he likes licking you and leaping into you.

 Pong is our reeves turtle. He is our most recent bought pet, we got him two weeks ago. He got sick because we were not able to buy him a heater but he is doing a little better now. I find him the cutest when eating because our other pets eat like pigs.

Our pet fish, Hiraya, is very eager for food that even when you just go near her she follows you and when you put your hand over her aquarium she jumps out of the water thinking it’s food. 

 My mom is actually the one who bought our four chickens, she bought them as practice for when we got a home in the province we would know how to care for chickens and she also bought them so that they can lay eggs and we wouldn’t have to buy eggs from the market. 

 Caring for our pets is tiring and can sometimes become frustrating. But I am very grateful for them as they help me keep myself physically fit, relieve stress, and be happy. They really help me not worry about the assignments for a moment and relax when I look at them being effortlessly cute. And cleaning their cages is low key my exercise.

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Plants vs. Virus

As the pandemic began, my mom started to buy a lot of plants it’s like every week there is a delivery of new plants for us. At first I could not understand why because for me at that time plants were just a nuisance. I asked mom why does she keep buying lots of plants she said it helps with stress but I thought that it is just a lame reason to justify her hobby. I can recall my father asking my little brother where my mom was, then he answered” nasa taas nagmamine”, we burst in laughter upon hearing his words because he was able to use a pronoun as a verb.  

One day as I was browsing the internet, I come to read an article “10 Benefits of Houseplants in the Home”. I was surprised to know that plants can really do the following:

1. Plants reduce stress – being able to see the greenery of plants around you has calming effect.

2. Plants in the home can fend off a blocked nose – having plants around your living space can help lessen your chance of catching colds and having a stuffy nose.

3. Plants have air-cleaning qualities around the home –not only collect dust particles, but they also break down harmful substances in the atmosphere.

4. Plants ensure a good night’s sleep – creating a better air climate in your bedroom and generate more oxygen.

5. Plants can help improve your mood – providing positive energy and an augmented sense of happiness.

Remembering the game, Plants vs. Zombies plants had defense against the zombies likewise on how they combat the negative effects of the pandemic by keeping us mentally and physically strong. Now I appreciate my mom’s love for tropical aroids like philodendrons, alocasias, epipremnum and monsteras.  While my brother prefers carnivorous plants like droseras, nepenthes, and dionaea muscipula.

 As for me, I am happy helping them tender their beloved plants knowing that by taking care of our plants can help us win our new game, Plants vs. Virus.

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2020:A Year to Remember

March 2020, the unexpected lockdown started due to Covid -19. I can remember being happy and excited because classes were cancelled. Expecting that it will only last for few days or weeks at that time, not knowing it will continue for almost two years now. I was not aware that there was already a virus rapidly spreading. When our government implemented the lockdown and minors and senior citizens will not be allowed to go out, our parents advised us to stay at home because we might catch the virus. We placed a couple of hand sanitizers and alcohol dispensers around the house. I can also recall my parents hoarding tons of groceries, fearing that supplies and basic necessities would run out also to avoid contact with other people. My mom became a victim of fake news, particularly articles that states bananas help prevent the virus. We always tend to laugh remembering how she frantically bought bananas so much so, we hate the sight of it.

 After months of being cooped up in our house we finally got a chance to go out to celebrate my mom’s birthday inside our van parked along the seaside, I was surprised with the vast changes that has happened in our community in a span of half a year. The air seems cleaner and the view was somewhat less crowded.

To combat our boredom, we cleaned our house starting from our living room to the kitchen. We also watched a lot of movies and tv shows. And to keep physically fit, we exercised from time to time.

The pandemic developed my family’s hobbies and interests on plants and pets. Our house was remodeled from your typical household to your urban tropical haven. Our plants multiplied and grew like crazy to the point where every time my mother would ask my father where to put the plants he would jokingly reply “put it in Facebook captioned for sale “. Last October 2020 we bought a hedgehog named Durian. And we also bought our first sugar glider this February and two more in August. We did not give them a name cause they all have the same color.   We also had amphibians and reptiles, as well as chickens. I will write about our plants and pets in my next blogs.  

For now, keep safe and be happy!