Friday, November 01, 2002
HERALDO IN THE FOG
An Inspiring Experience with HF in Batulao, Batangas
The 3-days and 2-nights that the Heraldo Filipino Midyear Seminar had was just amazing. I enjoyed every part of it!
It began early Monday morning where our family-hired driver dropped me at Gate 3 La Salle around 8:10AM. There was no bus in sight, but a group of people surrounding the guard house. I got off the owner and met with Kay Mori, Features' writer, Kuya Marthy, Features' editor, Oliver Ablan, News Writer, and my classmate Maycee Mercado, News Writer.
A lot of the Editorial Board hadn't arrived yet, so we waited a while longer for the bus. After a few minutes, everyone was set and we headed onto the bus.
The Bus Ride to CHCC
I sat with Kay, and we were opposite sides with Oliver and Maycee. The trip up to Batulao, Batangas would of course be the same as the trip with JOU1-1 to Charles Huang.
The mood was smooth on the way up. A queer Jhecc already put everyone in the bonding and funny mood with his jokes to the Manong Driver.
Highlights on the way to CHCC involved us getting stopped by these police people somewhere at the borderline between Cavite and Batangas, which overlooked the mysterious Lake Taal.
We didn't have any bomb with us! In fact, within those moments we only exchanged a couple pictures. Maycee and I shared our cameras and took pictures of each other and fellow Heraldo apprentices.
After a 10 minute stop, we proceeded to Batulao, Batangas. The music playing on the bus and the speed of the bus as it went down the road overlooking Lake Taal was fitting. The weather was a typical sunny morning of a late October. It was quite a short trip afterall.
The Arrival Scene
We arrived and I made sure that I now make the arrival scene a traditional moment to take pictures. Like with JOU1-1, I captured the arrival of some HF people as they headed down that steep road to the Rotonda in front of CHCC.
I was thinking along with some others that we'd be assigned private rooms, but instead we were all being assigned dorm rooms while the HF Adviser, Mrs. Agbing and her two children, and the Editorial Board would be in the Private rooms.
There was a short meeting in the Chapel. It would be the only time we'd use the chapel. This trip had nothing to do with reflecting spiritually. It wasn't a Religious Education Recollection with classmates, it was a Midyear Seminar for the Heraldo Filipino.
A Room is Assigned
All the guys would be in DORM 2, and the girls just meters down the hall on the opposite side in DORM 1. We proceeded to our rooms. I noticed that there were barely any writers, we were outnumbered by the Art and Photo Staff guys.
The writers in the room were Marvin, Paul Adrienne, Oliver, and myself. My classmate Eric Salta couldn't attend this Midyear Workshop. Eric, you missed out on the fun! But wala yun, we didn't forget you one bit.
Of all of them, I'm only familiar with Oliver Ablan, the News Writer and 3rd Year Business Management Irreg. I'm also familiar a little with Angelo Aratan (that's my middle name!) and he's from Tanza. Angelo is a Photojournalist for HF.
I recall meeting Paul Adrienne, a fellow Features' writer (latest LaSalleño article: "Watch-U-Want"), and a 2nd Year Applied Biology student. I thought he was 4th year or something. We have never met, not in the office back in La Salle, not at anytime. And he's one of the new five or six Features' writers.
The Name Game
At that point where I found myself on my bed fixing it up with my bag and all, I realized a goal. I wanted to finally know everyone in Batch 17 of HF. When I got on the bus that started the trip, I barely knew anyone other then the ones Maycee and Eric knew and of course about half of the Editorial Board. I often confused names. How can I confuse Joanne (1st Year AB Com, 1-3, our neighbor) and Winnie (upperclasswoman, photojournalist). Names were still jumbled. I confused Lorenz the artist for AB-COM-AWARD-WINNING Actor and Director Jake Ofrasio... it was all just scrambled. I needed to get it through.
We gathered altogether at the first Merienda up in Mess Hall or Cafeteria. Maycee and I noted the change of table arrangement. New people I met from this scene included Paul Adrienne and the girl I had trouble pronouncing her name, Xyldrae. Her name is exotic, nice name.
The Echoes of JOU1-1
Afterwards we had time to roam around and then we all met at the Conference Room. The conference room we used was the exact same one we used for JOU1-1's Recollection last September 12th and 13th. I bet Maycee and I shared flashbacks there with JOU1-1 classmate Ara singing, our Re-Ed professor Mr. Lepardo in his pajamas, and the songs we sang.
The Seminar Itself
And from there we had a series of Guest Speakers in given topics. Topics with Guest Speakers for the three days of the seminar included News, Features, Photojournalism, Literature, Photoshop, etc.
Topics that were posted on the schedule but not done included Layout (actual, not Photoshop), Libel (something I really wanted to learn about), and Sportswriting.
Food and Shelter
The same amount of meals per day came in like the Recollection. There would be Breakfast, Mid-morning Snack, Lunch, Merienda, and Dinner. To my disappointment, the food remained passive and regular. Nothing suprising. The best meal was the one on the 2nd and last Night which Ate Chiqui Amancio said continued an HF tradition by eating outside in the night at the Terrace behind CHCC. It was memorable. Good chicken, lots of laughs.
The dorm rooms downstairs instead of private rooms upstairs was different. It felt a little bunched up now compared to experiences with the very few JOU1-1 guys last September. For DORM 2, there was no bathroom inside the room so you had to go outside in the hallway exposed a bit. DORM 1, the girls had a bathroom there. Maycee told me that JOU1-1 girls had DORM 2 last September.
The Bathrooms
For the first night, no one discovered the larger bathroom beyond the girls' dorm room. So all the guys had to get in line for the two shower stalls. Imagine more or less 9 or 10 guys waiting to take their night shower. The bathroom scene was part of this whole trip. Brushing of teeth, applying of gel, face cleansing, someone using the Urinal, another in a shower stall, another in a toilet cubicle, ahh you get it.
The toilet cubicle got jammed in flushing one time. The Urinal when flushed didn't drain, so it overflowed one time. The two shower stalls provided ice cold water in one stream, it wasn't filtered into jets of water.
Enough about the bathroom.
Inside the Guys Dorm Room
The halls were dimly lit, but there was activity all around anyway. Inside our room, I took the unused matress on the top bunk and copied Art Vidal who made a double-cusion lower bunk. All lower bunks for my neighbors. To my right was Oliver Ablan, who sported a CD Player. To my left was Paul Adrienne, who would just listen to the talk in the room.
On the first night, Ate Joyce (Senior Staff), came into the room. The topic of course would be one of two most popular topics to talk about... SEX. I was already so tired so I was lying down. I overheard their topics, they went to all aspects of SEX. Of course Ate Joyce would throw in her input, and someone like Kuya Jake would make jokes.
The Whole Day Experience
The 2nd Day and 2nd Night would be the "WHOLE DAY EXPERIENCE" of this Seminar. As the first day of course was arrival, and the last day would be depature. The mood was just smooth again. It felt good on the 2nd Day. Oliver found that larger bathroom down the hall which featured more space and of course the greatest thing... WARM WATER!!
Taebo started the 2nd Day. It was a surprise too. Breakfast and a few Seminars followed. We went outside a few times and on the 2nd Day Kuya Marthy held a meeting with some Features' writers on the Terrace. We spoke about the upcoming LS-X issue in February and the Christmas Special of LS this December.
Anyways, the experience continued into the afternoon with Ms. Ann Sarile, Chair of the AB COM department at La Salle, arrived for the Photojournalism topic.
I finally understood the Rule of Thirds, which confused me when I applied for Photojournalism last July. Her discussion was lengthy, but I had to understand it as best as I can. Although she was mostly concentrating on the Photojournalists in the room, I had to listen because it's a big topic I would like to concentrate on.
Towards the 2nd and last evening, we all ate outside on the terrace. The weather was cold, the plates were cold, the chicken and the rice were chilled a bit by the weather, but the warmth of new friendships made and shared on the one giant, combined, and long table was just the greatest.
Under the light of the Five daylight streetlights there, we enjoyed eating silently side by side.
Afterwards we had free time to roam around. To brush our teeth, to fix up something in the dorm room, to help clean up the mess at the table, or to fix the seats. We arranged the seats on the Terrace into an Audience form for the Awarding Ceremony afterwards.
Phantoms, Ghosts, and Everything Else
While the Awarding Ceremony was being set up in the Conference Room which was closed to all non-edtiorial board members, the rest of the Apprentices and Staffers convened outside on the Audience seats and began sharing a series of scary tales and ghost stories. Of course, the mood was right there and then. It was dark. Only the streetlamps behind CHCC. It was also cold and windy...
After waiting awhile, the stories ended and the Awarding Ceremony began...
The Awarding Ceremony
In a quest to promote greater practice within the Heraldo Filipino, they came up with a traditional Awarding Ceremony to commend good work. I knew already I wouldn't be deserving anything since my first semester at HF was very minimal. I did quit VPAPU officially at the end of Last Semester. This 2nd Semester I am giving HF my full attention.
Anyways the ceremony awarded the usual positions. Namely, Kay Mori won Most Promising Writer while my classmate Eric Salta won Best New Writer. Angelo's closest friend in HF, who happens to be his High School friend, Marnel, won the Alikabok Award. An award given to the person who is barely seen in the HF office and is only there to either LOG IN or LOG OUT. I freaked out at that moment and thought I would receive that!
Another highlight in the awarding was with Art Vidal, an apprentice artist, being the first to get a promotion. He's now the Assistant OCM or something like that. He'll be helping out Ate Maine in the office.
The guy who won the most awards was Marvin, he bagged three.
The HF Reality Game Show begins!
And when you think the night is over right there, it isn't. It just began! A few activities happened inside the Conference Room. Then after all of those reflecting activities, the HF Reality Game show began.
There were EIGHT STATIONS, each representing it's own virtue for TEAM BUILDING. I was kind of disappointed at myself. The game was very exciting, and I tagged it "Full of Suspence" because in the night time of running around in these halls searching for clues and living out these things you usually see on TV... it felt so sudden and mysterious.
STATION ONE involved finding the clue which would be located in a Film Spool (Film casing) inside the main Conference Room. After that, all the players (it's one giant team by the way, it's not individual or by groups) will gather around the reader. The first clue assigned people specific tasks.
All those wearing shoes were to be blindfolded and led around. All those wearing sandals would have to put lots of powder on their faces. While all those wearing slippers had to put piece of tape on their faces. I can't remember if the sandals and slippers people got which and what face-assignment... correct me.
Anyways, four of us were blindfolded instantly. This gave me a dizzy and sleepy start to this exciting game. I had no idea what was going on while blindfolded and it felt frustrating if not isolated. Thank God a fellow apprentice named Allen directed one of the sandals/slippers people to each have an assigned blindfolded character. Paul Adrienne and Kay Mori were my guides.
Anyways, STATION TWO was a blur so forget that. All I understood was finding a clue inside the guys dorm (DORM 2) hidden in a pillow. All blindfolded people could remove their blindfolds at STATION THREE. The significance of the blindfolding was to represent that in HF everyone has a different jobs, and we need each other to get things done. The blindfolded must be guided by the non-blindfolded, etc.
STATION THREE involved forming a long line of players pinching each other's neighboring noses and leading ourselves into the larger bathroom I mentioned earlier with the WARM SHOWERS. There, the leader in the front must find a coin which is dipped in one of three dippers on the three sinks in that bathroom.
The coin was found fast and STATION FOUR was upstairs with Kuya Marthy, who could go for the future host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. His part of the TEAM BUILDING reality game was perhaps the most creative, and the clue was also very well confusing... of course, it had to be!
It involved looking for the first clue underneath the eyes of St. La Salle and near the artificial plants. That would be in the Lobby without argument. From that first clue, we would have to solve a mind game based on how we visualize the Terrace from inside on the windows of the central stairwell. Something like involving the black cross on the stairs blocking the view to all streetlamps EXCEPT....
It was a scary clue to me, I don't know what freaked me out about it. After being blindfolded at the start, I was still a little disoriented and I wasn't at my top thinking level. I grew weary and joined the pack, I was a listener but not a leader.
Kay Mori led this clue and we finally narrowed the five street lamps down to ONE or ANY OF THE OTHER FOUR. As simply confusing as that. We pick the ONE... or we end up picking ONE OF THE OTHER FOUR. The results could be terrrifying! It was cold too on that terrace as it was around midnight.
The group solved it and we proceeded to STATION FIVE, which was handled by Ate Raquel the Literary Editor.
It now involved everyone being blindfolded and forming a caterpillar-line that would circle the Rotonda three times. Only the person on the back wouldn't be blindfolded and he or she would have to direct the blindfolded person on the front around the Rotonda. My bayan-friend from Tanza, Angelo, would be the one to direct. Marnel was behind me and Paul Adrienne would be in front of me. So we went around three times, it was a very slow process and at times due to fatigue you'd feel like you're part of some Fraternity walking in circles in the cold weather.
Finally it ended and Ate Raquel gave the group an oral clue. This clue was very simple but it brought out something in the group that resulted in two powerful sides. The clue was "THE BOY WITH THE PIECE IS NOT THE KEY.".
This would be the most time-consuming little clue that puzzled the group into 30 minutes of arguments. It wasn't the fighting arguments, but more of the arguments on which of two boys has the clue. The adviser of HF has two boys, aged 10 and 6. One of them is holding a key to a room in CHCC while the other is just there.
The argument was that:
(a) The boy with the piece is the boy holding the key, therefore he has no clue.
(b) The boy with the piece does not have the key, therefore he has the clue.
It was very confusing and in the end after a painful triumph of asking who has the kind kindly, all we had to say was "Please.".
That thought ran through my head, but I only murmured it to another listener not one of the leaders.
That took so long.
STATION SIX was handled by Kuya JD, the CDE and JOU2-1/COM2-4 member. His was Physical. It involved moving a couch and table in the lobby so the group could attain 100 push-ups. It involved a lot of analyzing at first. But the end result was that each person must do a certain amount of push-ups making sure everyone in the group does push-ups. For example, all the guys would do 6 push-ups to bring the total amount to 66 push-ups since there are 11 guys. The girls had to evenly add another 34 push-ups to make it 100 push-ups as a TEAM. Problem was, Kuya JD would only count the correctly done push-ups.
This was the thing that confused me the most. I was worried due to lack of C.A.T. back in HS that I wouldn't be doing correct push-ups! Plus, I wanted to maintain my own rhythm and my own counter but how could I could my 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... side by side with Kuya JD's 60... nope... 61... 62... nope...
Added with the Fatigue and stress of that moment, I couldn't perform my push-ups that good. I did give my contribution of 6, but I had to do it 8 or 9 times. Two or three were not counted.
He did redeem the depressing and tiring mood of that moment with a "Great job." speech thing, THANKS.
We quietly proceeded downstairs to STATION SEVEN, by Photo Editor Ate Raissa Hapin.
It involved using whatever we had on ourselves to form the initials of HF inside of a certain area on the ground. Already this excited the players so we went ahead and achieved it. Except, we didn't follow the rules and observe it. The thing we learn here is PUNCTUALITY because we only have 15-20 seconds to make the initials.
We did achieve it, at 24/20 seconds the first time and on the "second chance" we got it at 14/15 seconds.
STATION EIGHT was now by the Adviser and it was inside the Conference Room. This one involved reading exerpts from the Bible and re-enacting it. The exerpt that included marching around the city of Jericho twice with priests blowing horns, warriors, generals, and Kay Mori and I think Winnie carrying the Arc.
We achieved that and bagged the first clue which sent us to go look for the second clue involving cotton. It said something like "search for it where light and dark comes.". At first you'd think the windows, but then I thought it would be the projector. I pressed the projector once but since I was such a passive person at the time I didn't realize that it was right there!
Someone else came and turned it on and found it.
That ended everything and we put together all the clues and formed the HERALDO FILIPINO TEAM XVII LOGO which I took a picture of, the flash of course waking everyone up.
We then sat there and the leaders of all the stations, the Edtiorial Board as well, gave us feedback and explained to us the symbolism of the Teamwork we had displayed during the 2 1/2 hours was it of playing?
A Quick Sleep
It was already 2 o'clock in the morning of Wednesday and we all craved for sleep. The girls went straight to bed according to Kay while the guys would just enter their rooms and some would even take showers before heading to bed. The topic was no longer about SEX, nor GHOST STORIES, but instead it was about BASIC THINGS like Jhecc's room decorations and sorts.
The morning schedule changed to allow the tired BATCH 17 of HF to get some sleep. Breakfast was now optional (but I was starving already).
The Third and Last Day
I woke up and it was before 8AM, the limit of Breakfast was from 7 to 8AM. I joined some tired people up the stairs and straight into the Cafeteria were our Sausage, Egg, and Fried Rice were basically cold but still something to eat. Oliver wrapped his blanket around his waist, so you get the sleepy idea of it all.
After eating that, it was now a rush to take a good warm shower. There was no traffic by the way. I took a nice warm shower and took my time with it.
I suited up in the room and I was now fresh compared to the restless hours just before that.
The first seminar was Literature, and done by some guy who said that LaSalle is really in, while UP was great in the 70s and 80s, and Ateneo gave the world ERAP. Uh... ok.
He did give inspirational talk and since his friend who was supposed to be the Guest Speaker for Investigative Journalism didn't appear, he also gave a few words about that.
Pancake and Caramel Syrup followed for Mid-morning snack, tasty and different I might add. We had random seating arragements which exposed us to new faces of BATCH 17 instead of the usual close friends already.
We returned for that Investigative Journalism talk and then we had time to roam around before taking our lunch. After lunch we had time to roam around and I spent time with Oliver and Art inside the girls dorm room, DORM 1, where we did take pictures. Maycee, Joanna, Kay, laughs... pillow fighting... you get it.
Joanna, I just mentioned her now. Well, it has been awhile since we did last talk in person. She's different to me because she's also in the AB COM Channel. So we both share two Organizations. Joanna is one of the only one if not already the only Apprentice Literary writer.
Anyways, we had an OPEN FORUM and SOCIAL ISSUES discussion were we shared our views. I confessed to everyone that I wasn't able to interact fully due to "the fish I ate the other night". It's true. Our dinner on the first night was fish, and I think I accidentally swallowed a small fishbone. It didn't hurt, but it constantly made me feel thirsty... in turn it discouraged me from talking because I felt like I would dry up easily.
They all laughed. An accidental joke? Hahahaha.
Anyways, I barely got to share but I did say that I'm amazed to be sitting next to the DLSU-D Features' Editor, sitting in front of DLSU-D's Editor in Chief... you know... I saw DLSU-D because the HF is the OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY PAPER of La Salle Dasmariñas.
We packed our bags briefly downstairs in the dorms afterwards and the bus was already at the top of the hill. All the meeting, bonding, learning, and experiences of this great trip had to come to an end.
I enjoyed every bit of it. It makes me sad to remember those moments I was free to walk around the hall, free to talk to someone, meet someone, remember the quotes of newly made friends, the great Editorial Board who led us through, the pictures taken, the refreshing feeling after a warm shower, all of it.
Memorable Quotes of the Event
"Ano baaaaaah?!" (Jhecc, I don't know where this started)
"It's all-natural." (Oliver, getting green minded over the soup during the major meals)
Notes taken
- According to the Editorial Board, this new batch seems to be the most promising. Like the "New Age" of HF I guess. I don't know exactly why they said that, but looking into possible problems HF had with previous batchs and how BATCH 17 (the new one, right now) is well-bonded and friendly to everyone...
- No failing grade requirement. I originally thought getting kicked out involved grades below 1.5. Instead, what the 1.5 means is the overall GPA I believe. My GPA is not that low. And this incoming Semester I'm doubling if not tripling my efforts in Academics.
The Ride Home
Just like JOU1-1 on the way down to Dasmariñas, the trip down from the cold atmosphere of Batulao, Batangas towards the warmer Dasmariñas was another spiral of headache and dizzyness.
I got so dizzy, so did Kay who was my seatmate again. The ride home was in two parts. It started off fun and filled with energy still. I mean, the Merienda we thought we all missed on the 3rd Day went with us. We all had sandwiches and juice as we left Batangas.
With the sandwiches, the juice, and good music playing on the radio, it was all just good.
But as we entered Tagaytay and descended from there, the mood got dizzy. We dropped off some people already. The music wasn't that good, it was old music. The weather was gloomy and cloudy. The air pressure again, the temperature slowly changing... I hate that feeling!
A lot of people got off at Waltermart. I got off at Gate 3 with the EIC and Angelo from Tanza. I had arranged my pick-up time at 5:30PM and we had arrived at 5:10PM. We wearn't late!
The EIC went home immedietly, the black car was already there. Angelo and I waited at Gate 3 for nearly 2 1/2 hours for my pick up.
From the Very Fun to the Very Angry
I found out that my brother never received the txt msg. I sent him on the first night at CHCC in Batangas. His cellphone wasn't charged, as always. He won 10th Place in Sportswriting at the DSPC, which is a great thing and I'm proud of it. But I was outraged when I found out we had been waiting for nothing, no pick-up.
I only wondered if my timed RECORDINGS were successfully done and that my ENROLMENT was successfully completed by my mother.
I was bad trip but I didn't show it to Angelo. I apologized greatly and we were forced to commute home. The plan was that Angelo come with me and ride home, but instead it turned out reversed.
We took a Jeepnee with our very heavy bags of laundry to Waltermart were the dangers of snatching and hold up was apparant. It was already dark. After waiting at the Waltermart area for awhile, we finally got on a jeepnee and got off almost an hour later at the Trece Martirez 7-11 where we got picked up by his Uncle in this car.
I didn't want to be dropped off at my house and find nothing to eat, which would add to my bad trip and anger. I got off at McDonalds and treated myself to a Crispy McChicken and Rice, Additional French Fries, and Additional Chicken Nuggets for the heck of it.
I took a tricycle home and went straight to my room. I wasn't mad at my mother, I was just mad at someone else. My mom explained "his" point of view already, and I understood it. I didn't smash "his" cellphone on the wall or scream at him, I controlled that.
Instead, this whole trip ends with a success in Enrolment (thanks Mom!) and a failure in txt messaging.
An Inspiring Experience with HF in Batulao, Batangas
The 3-days and 2-nights that the Heraldo Filipino Midyear Seminar had was just amazing. I enjoyed every part of it!
It began early Monday morning where our family-hired driver dropped me at Gate 3 La Salle around 8:10AM. There was no bus in sight, but a group of people surrounding the guard house. I got off the owner and met with Kay Mori, Features' writer, Kuya Marthy, Features' editor, Oliver Ablan, News Writer, and my classmate Maycee Mercado, News Writer.
A lot of the Editorial Board hadn't arrived yet, so we waited a while longer for the bus. After a few minutes, everyone was set and we headed onto the bus.
The Bus Ride to CHCC
I sat with Kay, and we were opposite sides with Oliver and Maycee. The trip up to Batulao, Batangas would of course be the same as the trip with JOU1-1 to Charles Huang.
The mood was smooth on the way up. A queer Jhecc already put everyone in the bonding and funny mood with his jokes to the Manong Driver.
Highlights on the way to CHCC involved us getting stopped by these police people somewhere at the borderline between Cavite and Batangas, which overlooked the mysterious Lake Taal.
We didn't have any bomb with us! In fact, within those moments we only exchanged a couple pictures. Maycee and I shared our cameras and took pictures of each other and fellow Heraldo apprentices.
After a 10 minute stop, we proceeded to Batulao, Batangas. The music playing on the bus and the speed of the bus as it went down the road overlooking Lake Taal was fitting. The weather was a typical sunny morning of a late October. It was quite a short trip afterall.
The Arrival Scene
We arrived and I made sure that I now make the arrival scene a traditional moment to take pictures. Like with JOU1-1, I captured the arrival of some HF people as they headed down that steep road to the Rotonda in front of CHCC.
I was thinking along with some others that we'd be assigned private rooms, but instead we were all being assigned dorm rooms while the HF Adviser, Mrs. Agbing and her two children, and the Editorial Board would be in the Private rooms.
There was a short meeting in the Chapel. It would be the only time we'd use the chapel. This trip had nothing to do with reflecting spiritually. It wasn't a Religious Education Recollection with classmates, it was a Midyear Seminar for the Heraldo Filipino.
A Room is Assigned
All the guys would be in DORM 2, and the girls just meters down the hall on the opposite side in DORM 1. We proceeded to our rooms. I noticed that there were barely any writers, we were outnumbered by the Art and Photo Staff guys.
The writers in the room were Marvin, Paul Adrienne, Oliver, and myself. My classmate Eric Salta couldn't attend this Midyear Workshop. Eric, you missed out on the fun! But wala yun, we didn't forget you one bit.
Of all of them, I'm only familiar with Oliver Ablan, the News Writer and 3rd Year Business Management Irreg. I'm also familiar a little with Angelo Aratan (that's my middle name!) and he's from Tanza. Angelo is a Photojournalist for HF.
I recall meeting Paul Adrienne, a fellow Features' writer (latest LaSalleño article: "Watch-U-Want"), and a 2nd Year Applied Biology student. I thought he was 4th year or something. We have never met, not in the office back in La Salle, not at anytime. And he's one of the new five or six Features' writers.
The Name Game
At that point where I found myself on my bed fixing it up with my bag and all, I realized a goal. I wanted to finally know everyone in Batch 17 of HF. When I got on the bus that started the trip, I barely knew anyone other then the ones Maycee and Eric knew and of course about half of the Editorial Board. I often confused names. How can I confuse Joanne (1st Year AB Com, 1-3, our neighbor) and Winnie (upperclasswoman, photojournalist). Names were still jumbled. I confused Lorenz the artist for AB-COM-AWARD-WINNING Actor and Director Jake Ofrasio... it was all just scrambled. I needed to get it through.
We gathered altogether at the first Merienda up in Mess Hall or Cafeteria. Maycee and I noted the change of table arrangement. New people I met from this scene included Paul Adrienne and the girl I had trouble pronouncing her name, Xyldrae. Her name is exotic, nice name.
The Echoes of JOU1-1
Afterwards we had time to roam around and then we all met at the Conference Room. The conference room we used was the exact same one we used for JOU1-1's Recollection last September 12th and 13th. I bet Maycee and I shared flashbacks there with JOU1-1 classmate Ara singing, our Re-Ed professor Mr. Lepardo in his pajamas, and the songs we sang.
The Seminar Itself
And from there we had a series of Guest Speakers in given topics. Topics with Guest Speakers for the three days of the seminar included News, Features, Photojournalism, Literature, Photoshop, etc.
Topics that were posted on the schedule but not done included Layout (actual, not Photoshop), Libel (something I really wanted to learn about), and Sportswriting.
Food and Shelter
The same amount of meals per day came in like the Recollection. There would be Breakfast, Mid-morning Snack, Lunch, Merienda, and Dinner. To my disappointment, the food remained passive and regular. Nothing suprising. The best meal was the one on the 2nd and last Night which Ate Chiqui Amancio said continued an HF tradition by eating outside in the night at the Terrace behind CHCC. It was memorable. Good chicken, lots of laughs.
The dorm rooms downstairs instead of private rooms upstairs was different. It felt a little bunched up now compared to experiences with the very few JOU1-1 guys last September. For DORM 2, there was no bathroom inside the room so you had to go outside in the hallway exposed a bit. DORM 1, the girls had a bathroom there. Maycee told me that JOU1-1 girls had DORM 2 last September.
The Bathrooms
For the first night, no one discovered the larger bathroom beyond the girls' dorm room. So all the guys had to get in line for the two shower stalls. Imagine more or less 9 or 10 guys waiting to take their night shower. The bathroom scene was part of this whole trip. Brushing of teeth, applying of gel, face cleansing, someone using the Urinal, another in a shower stall, another in a toilet cubicle, ahh you get it.
The toilet cubicle got jammed in flushing one time. The Urinal when flushed didn't drain, so it overflowed one time. The two shower stalls provided ice cold water in one stream, it wasn't filtered into jets of water.
Enough about the bathroom.
Inside the Guys Dorm Room
The halls were dimly lit, but there was activity all around anyway. Inside our room, I took the unused matress on the top bunk and copied Art Vidal who made a double-cusion lower bunk. All lower bunks for my neighbors. To my right was Oliver Ablan, who sported a CD Player. To my left was Paul Adrienne, who would just listen to the talk in the room.
On the first night, Ate Joyce (Senior Staff), came into the room. The topic of course would be one of two most popular topics to talk about... SEX. I was already so tired so I was lying down. I overheard their topics, they went to all aspects of SEX. Of course Ate Joyce would throw in her input, and someone like Kuya Jake would make jokes.
The Whole Day Experience
The 2nd Day and 2nd Night would be the "WHOLE DAY EXPERIENCE" of this Seminar. As the first day of course was arrival, and the last day would be depature. The mood was just smooth again. It felt good on the 2nd Day. Oliver found that larger bathroom down the hall which featured more space and of course the greatest thing... WARM WATER!!
Taebo started the 2nd Day. It was a surprise too. Breakfast and a few Seminars followed. We went outside a few times and on the 2nd Day Kuya Marthy held a meeting with some Features' writers on the Terrace. We spoke about the upcoming LS-X issue in February and the Christmas Special of LS this December.
Anyways, the experience continued into the afternoon with Ms. Ann Sarile, Chair of the AB COM department at La Salle, arrived for the Photojournalism topic.
I finally understood the Rule of Thirds, which confused me when I applied for Photojournalism last July. Her discussion was lengthy, but I had to understand it as best as I can. Although she was mostly concentrating on the Photojournalists in the room, I had to listen because it's a big topic I would like to concentrate on.
Towards the 2nd and last evening, we all ate outside on the terrace. The weather was cold, the plates were cold, the chicken and the rice were chilled a bit by the weather, but the warmth of new friendships made and shared on the one giant, combined, and long table was just the greatest.
Under the light of the Five daylight streetlights there, we enjoyed eating silently side by side.
Afterwards we had free time to roam around. To brush our teeth, to fix up something in the dorm room, to help clean up the mess at the table, or to fix the seats. We arranged the seats on the Terrace into an Audience form for the Awarding Ceremony afterwards.
Phantoms, Ghosts, and Everything Else
While the Awarding Ceremony was being set up in the Conference Room which was closed to all non-edtiorial board members, the rest of the Apprentices and Staffers convened outside on the Audience seats and began sharing a series of scary tales and ghost stories. Of course, the mood was right there and then. It was dark. Only the streetlamps behind CHCC. It was also cold and windy...
After waiting awhile, the stories ended and the Awarding Ceremony began...
The Awarding Ceremony
In a quest to promote greater practice within the Heraldo Filipino, they came up with a traditional Awarding Ceremony to commend good work. I knew already I wouldn't be deserving anything since my first semester at HF was very minimal. I did quit VPAPU officially at the end of Last Semester. This 2nd Semester I am giving HF my full attention.
Anyways the ceremony awarded the usual positions. Namely, Kay Mori won Most Promising Writer while my classmate Eric Salta won Best New Writer. Angelo's closest friend in HF, who happens to be his High School friend, Marnel, won the Alikabok Award. An award given to the person who is barely seen in the HF office and is only there to either LOG IN or LOG OUT. I freaked out at that moment and thought I would receive that!
Another highlight in the awarding was with Art Vidal, an apprentice artist, being the first to get a promotion. He's now the Assistant OCM or something like that. He'll be helping out Ate Maine in the office.
The guy who won the most awards was Marvin, he bagged three.
The HF Reality Game Show begins!
And when you think the night is over right there, it isn't. It just began! A few activities happened inside the Conference Room. Then after all of those reflecting activities, the HF Reality Game show began.
There were EIGHT STATIONS, each representing it's own virtue for TEAM BUILDING. I was kind of disappointed at myself. The game was very exciting, and I tagged it "Full of Suspence" because in the night time of running around in these halls searching for clues and living out these things you usually see on TV... it felt so sudden and mysterious.
STATION ONE involved finding the clue which would be located in a Film Spool (Film casing) inside the main Conference Room. After that, all the players (it's one giant team by the way, it's not individual or by groups) will gather around the reader. The first clue assigned people specific tasks.
All those wearing shoes were to be blindfolded and led around. All those wearing sandals would have to put lots of powder on their faces. While all those wearing slippers had to put piece of tape on their faces. I can't remember if the sandals and slippers people got which and what face-assignment... correct me.
Anyways, four of us were blindfolded instantly. This gave me a dizzy and sleepy start to this exciting game. I had no idea what was going on while blindfolded and it felt frustrating if not isolated. Thank God a fellow apprentice named Allen directed one of the sandals/slippers people to each have an assigned blindfolded character. Paul Adrienne and Kay Mori were my guides.
Anyways, STATION TWO was a blur so forget that. All I understood was finding a clue inside the guys dorm (DORM 2) hidden in a pillow. All blindfolded people could remove their blindfolds at STATION THREE. The significance of the blindfolding was to represent that in HF everyone has a different jobs, and we need each other to get things done. The blindfolded must be guided by the non-blindfolded, etc.
STATION THREE involved forming a long line of players pinching each other's neighboring noses and leading ourselves into the larger bathroom I mentioned earlier with the WARM SHOWERS. There, the leader in the front must find a coin which is dipped in one of three dippers on the three sinks in that bathroom.
The coin was found fast and STATION FOUR was upstairs with Kuya Marthy, who could go for the future host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. His part of the TEAM BUILDING reality game was perhaps the most creative, and the clue was also very well confusing... of course, it had to be!
It involved looking for the first clue underneath the eyes of St. La Salle and near the artificial plants. That would be in the Lobby without argument. From that first clue, we would have to solve a mind game based on how we visualize the Terrace from inside on the windows of the central stairwell. Something like involving the black cross on the stairs blocking the view to all streetlamps EXCEPT....
It was a scary clue to me, I don't know what freaked me out about it. After being blindfolded at the start, I was still a little disoriented and I wasn't at my top thinking level. I grew weary and joined the pack, I was a listener but not a leader.
Kay Mori led this clue and we finally narrowed the five street lamps down to ONE or ANY OF THE OTHER FOUR. As simply confusing as that. We pick the ONE... or we end up picking ONE OF THE OTHER FOUR. The results could be terrrifying! It was cold too on that terrace as it was around midnight.
The group solved it and we proceeded to STATION FIVE, which was handled by Ate Raquel the Literary Editor.
It now involved everyone being blindfolded and forming a caterpillar-line that would circle the Rotonda three times. Only the person on the back wouldn't be blindfolded and he or she would have to direct the blindfolded person on the front around the Rotonda. My bayan-friend from Tanza, Angelo, would be the one to direct. Marnel was behind me and Paul Adrienne would be in front of me. So we went around three times, it was a very slow process and at times due to fatigue you'd feel like you're part of some Fraternity walking in circles in the cold weather.
Finally it ended and Ate Raquel gave the group an oral clue. This clue was very simple but it brought out something in the group that resulted in two powerful sides. The clue was "THE BOY WITH THE PIECE IS NOT THE KEY.".
This would be the most time-consuming little clue that puzzled the group into 30 minutes of arguments. It wasn't the fighting arguments, but more of the arguments on which of two boys has the clue. The adviser of HF has two boys, aged 10 and 6. One of them is holding a key to a room in CHCC while the other is just there.
The argument was that:
(a) The boy with the piece is the boy holding the key, therefore he has no clue.
(b) The boy with the piece does not have the key, therefore he has the clue.
It was very confusing and in the end after a painful triumph of asking who has the kind kindly, all we had to say was "Please.".
That thought ran through my head, but I only murmured it to another listener not one of the leaders.
That took so long.
STATION SIX was handled by Kuya JD, the CDE and JOU2-1/COM2-4 member. His was Physical. It involved moving a couch and table in the lobby so the group could attain 100 push-ups. It involved a lot of analyzing at first. But the end result was that each person must do a certain amount of push-ups making sure everyone in the group does push-ups. For example, all the guys would do 6 push-ups to bring the total amount to 66 push-ups since there are 11 guys. The girls had to evenly add another 34 push-ups to make it 100 push-ups as a TEAM. Problem was, Kuya JD would only count the correctly done push-ups.
This was the thing that confused me the most. I was worried due to lack of C.A.T. back in HS that I wouldn't be doing correct push-ups! Plus, I wanted to maintain my own rhythm and my own counter but how could I could my 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... side by side with Kuya JD's 60... nope... 61... 62... nope...
Added with the Fatigue and stress of that moment, I couldn't perform my push-ups that good. I did give my contribution of 6, but I had to do it 8 or 9 times. Two or three were not counted.
He did redeem the depressing and tiring mood of that moment with a "Great job." speech thing, THANKS.
We quietly proceeded downstairs to STATION SEVEN, by Photo Editor Ate Raissa Hapin.
It involved using whatever we had on ourselves to form the initials of HF inside of a certain area on the ground. Already this excited the players so we went ahead and achieved it. Except, we didn't follow the rules and observe it. The thing we learn here is PUNCTUALITY because we only have 15-20 seconds to make the initials.
We did achieve it, at 24/20 seconds the first time and on the "second chance" we got it at 14/15 seconds.
STATION EIGHT was now by the Adviser and it was inside the Conference Room. This one involved reading exerpts from the Bible and re-enacting it. The exerpt that included marching around the city of Jericho twice with priests blowing horns, warriors, generals, and Kay Mori and I think Winnie carrying the Arc.
We achieved that and bagged the first clue which sent us to go look for the second clue involving cotton. It said something like "search for it where light and dark comes.". At first you'd think the windows, but then I thought it would be the projector. I pressed the projector once but since I was such a passive person at the time I didn't realize that it was right there!
Someone else came and turned it on and found it.
That ended everything and we put together all the clues and formed the HERALDO FILIPINO TEAM XVII LOGO which I took a picture of, the flash of course waking everyone up.
We then sat there and the leaders of all the stations, the Edtiorial Board as well, gave us feedback and explained to us the symbolism of the Teamwork we had displayed during the 2 1/2 hours was it of playing?
A Quick Sleep
It was already 2 o'clock in the morning of Wednesday and we all craved for sleep. The girls went straight to bed according to Kay while the guys would just enter their rooms and some would even take showers before heading to bed. The topic was no longer about SEX, nor GHOST STORIES, but instead it was about BASIC THINGS like Jhecc's room decorations and sorts.
The morning schedule changed to allow the tired BATCH 17 of HF to get some sleep. Breakfast was now optional (but I was starving already).
The Third and Last Day
I woke up and it was before 8AM, the limit of Breakfast was from 7 to 8AM. I joined some tired people up the stairs and straight into the Cafeteria were our Sausage, Egg, and Fried Rice were basically cold but still something to eat. Oliver wrapped his blanket around his waist, so you get the sleepy idea of it all.
After eating that, it was now a rush to take a good warm shower. There was no traffic by the way. I took a nice warm shower and took my time with it.
I suited up in the room and I was now fresh compared to the restless hours just before that.
The first seminar was Literature, and done by some guy who said that LaSalle is really in, while UP was great in the 70s and 80s, and Ateneo gave the world ERAP. Uh... ok.
He did give inspirational talk and since his friend who was supposed to be the Guest Speaker for Investigative Journalism didn't appear, he also gave a few words about that.
Pancake and Caramel Syrup followed for Mid-morning snack, tasty and different I might add. We had random seating arragements which exposed us to new faces of BATCH 17 instead of the usual close friends already.
We returned for that Investigative Journalism talk and then we had time to roam around before taking our lunch. After lunch we had time to roam around and I spent time with Oliver and Art inside the girls dorm room, DORM 1, where we did take pictures. Maycee, Joanna, Kay, laughs... pillow fighting... you get it.
Joanna, I just mentioned her now. Well, it has been awhile since we did last talk in person. She's different to me because she's also in the AB COM Channel. So we both share two Organizations. Joanna is one of the only one if not already the only Apprentice Literary writer.
Anyways, we had an OPEN FORUM and SOCIAL ISSUES discussion were we shared our views. I confessed to everyone that I wasn't able to interact fully due to "the fish I ate the other night". It's true. Our dinner on the first night was fish, and I think I accidentally swallowed a small fishbone. It didn't hurt, but it constantly made me feel thirsty... in turn it discouraged me from talking because I felt like I would dry up easily.
They all laughed. An accidental joke? Hahahaha.
Anyways, I barely got to share but I did say that I'm amazed to be sitting next to the DLSU-D Features' Editor, sitting in front of DLSU-D's Editor in Chief... you know... I saw DLSU-D because the HF is the OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY PAPER of La Salle Dasmariñas.
We packed our bags briefly downstairs in the dorms afterwards and the bus was already at the top of the hill. All the meeting, bonding, learning, and experiences of this great trip had to come to an end.
I enjoyed every bit of it. It makes me sad to remember those moments I was free to walk around the hall, free to talk to someone, meet someone, remember the quotes of newly made friends, the great Editorial Board who led us through, the pictures taken, the refreshing feeling after a warm shower, all of it.
Memorable Quotes of the Event
"Ano baaaaaah?!" (Jhecc, I don't know where this started)
"It's all-natural." (Oliver, getting green minded over the soup during the major meals)
Notes taken
- According to the Editorial Board, this new batch seems to be the most promising. Like the "New Age" of HF I guess. I don't know exactly why they said that, but looking into possible problems HF had with previous batchs and how BATCH 17 (the new one, right now) is well-bonded and friendly to everyone...
- No failing grade requirement. I originally thought getting kicked out involved grades below 1.5. Instead, what the 1.5 means is the overall GPA I believe. My GPA is not that low. And this incoming Semester I'm doubling if not tripling my efforts in Academics.
The Ride Home
Just like JOU1-1 on the way down to Dasmariñas, the trip down from the cold atmosphere of Batulao, Batangas towards the warmer Dasmariñas was another spiral of headache and dizzyness.
I got so dizzy, so did Kay who was my seatmate again. The ride home was in two parts. It started off fun and filled with energy still. I mean, the Merienda we thought we all missed on the 3rd Day went with us. We all had sandwiches and juice as we left Batangas.
With the sandwiches, the juice, and good music playing on the radio, it was all just good.
But as we entered Tagaytay and descended from there, the mood got dizzy. We dropped off some people already. The music wasn't that good, it was old music. The weather was gloomy and cloudy. The air pressure again, the temperature slowly changing... I hate that feeling!
A lot of people got off at Waltermart. I got off at Gate 3 with the EIC and Angelo from Tanza. I had arranged my pick-up time at 5:30PM and we had arrived at 5:10PM. We wearn't late!
The EIC went home immedietly, the black car was already there. Angelo and I waited at Gate 3 for nearly 2 1/2 hours for my pick up.
From the Very Fun to the Very Angry
I found out that my brother never received the txt msg. I sent him on the first night at CHCC in Batangas. His cellphone wasn't charged, as always. He won 10th Place in Sportswriting at the DSPC, which is a great thing and I'm proud of it. But I was outraged when I found out we had been waiting for nothing, no pick-up.
I only wondered if my timed RECORDINGS were successfully done and that my ENROLMENT was successfully completed by my mother.
I was bad trip but I didn't show it to Angelo. I apologized greatly and we were forced to commute home. The plan was that Angelo come with me and ride home, but instead it turned out reversed.
We took a Jeepnee with our very heavy bags of laundry to Waltermart were the dangers of snatching and hold up was apparant. It was already dark. After waiting at the Waltermart area for awhile, we finally got on a jeepnee and got off almost an hour later at the Trece Martirez 7-11 where we got picked up by his Uncle in this car.
I didn't want to be dropped off at my house and find nothing to eat, which would add to my bad trip and anger. I got off at McDonalds and treated myself to a Crispy McChicken and Rice, Additional French Fries, and Additional Chicken Nuggets for the heck of it.
I took a tricycle home and went straight to my room. I wasn't mad at my mother, I was just mad at someone else. My mom explained "his" point of view already, and I understood it. I didn't smash "his" cellphone on the wall or scream at him, I controlled that.
Instead, this whole trip ends with a success in Enrolment (thanks Mom!) and a failure in txt messaging.
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