The past days, I’ve prematurely been receiving tips that the entrance exam results of UP Law School College of Law are out, although they haven’t been posted at Malcolm Hall yet. I tried to confirm it, but couldn’t find any list, so I just shrugged them off as rumors of anxiety. Early yesterday morning, a flood of messages of congratulations came through SMS. Indeed, a list of passers were finally posted at UP Law, and fortunately, I was in it.

I can’t adequately explain how grateful and relieved I felt when I heard of the news. Prior to the release of the results, I didn’t know what to do or how to plan my life after undergraduate graduation. And that has caused me some anxiety for some time now. Well, the exam results don’t completely ensure one’s admission. Now, there are the dreaded interviews to prepare for and worry about. Apparently, everyone in the list has to go through the interviews, as opposed to granting direct admission to the top passers. Only around 200 out of the 300 passers will be granted admission to UP Law after the interviews.

Congratulations to everyone else who passed! There were familiar names and friends on the list. I hope we all eventually see each other in Malcolm Hall.

Last Saturday morning, together with my thesis partner and some of our production people, we went to do an ocular on some of our locations for our first shooting day this coming Saturday.

The officers in charge of the Manila North Cemetery initially didn’t allow us to enter, which was odd since ordinary people, and informal settlers just freely moved in, out and around the cemetery. They even asked us for money to allow us to just look at the place.

After visiting the cemetery, we had fastfood lunch, then we proceeded to a Quezon City police station along EDSA, then to UP Diliman.

I’m quite apprehensive about the whole thing. I hope all things work out this Saturday.

This time of the year, graduating film students are busy working on their theses, including me, of course. At the beginning of the semester, even during thesis proposal phase, I wasn’t too hyped up about it. I think I was even more excited when I helped out on a handful of thesis short films when I was a freshman, than when I’m actually doing it myself now that I’m a senior. I’ve shared something about this already, in this entry, where I said I sort of lost a passion in creating moving pictures.

Needless to say, right now, almost all of my film friends are busy with their own theses. Sigh. You know, there’s something uniquely engaging in film students’ theses. I’m not sure how thesis are exactly done in other courses, but I assume it’s largely an individual or a pair effort. In film, however, unless you’re doing an animation, an experimental of some sort or a written thesis, you will barely survive if you work alone or by pair, even. A graduating film student actually works on a number of theses, in varying degrees, for his fellow film friends. Well, unless you’re an absolute altruist, there’s this slight expectation that your film friends and other friends will help you out in your own thesis, as your production manager, your director of photography, your casting director, assistant director, production assistant, even as talent. Most of the time, all the work is pro bono, but it’s not the material return that’s important. Shooting film students’ thesis can be quite fun, aside from being stressful.

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Before hopping on the LRT back to Recto, I decided to give in to my hunger pangs and ate at one of the eateries under the Blumentritt Station. I hadn’t eaten lunch yet, and it was past 4 in the afternoon. This young boy was looking at me while I was eating my tapsilog. I was too famished to be too generous. I gave him half of a sandwich instead.

After eating, it was just a short half-an-hour trip back to UP Diliman for me. From LRT Blumentritt Station, I got off at Doroteo Jose, then transfered to LRT Line 2 at Recto all the way to Katipunan where I rode a jeepney to Mass Comm. I was exhausted but it felt like a nice spontaneous walking trip for me. I should do it again and discover something new.

Continued from here. Soon enough I found myself along Avenida Rizal where I was supposed to get on a train to Manila North Cemetery. Since I had no idea where exactly to alight nearest to my destintion, I swallowed my shallow pride and asked for directions. The ticket teller at the LRT told me to get off at R. Papa Station to get to the cemetery. Because as I’ve said earlier, I’d rather get lost than ask for directions another time, I didn’t bother to confirm if I was going the right way for fear of looking like a camera-toting tourist.

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Continued from here. It wasn’t long before I reached the intersection of Quezon Boulevard and C.M. Recto Avenue. It was the first time I found out that there was a pedestrian underpass along Quezon Boulevard that crosses Recto and Quezon Boulevard itself. The underpass is similar to the Lacson Underpass in Quiapo, but this one’s lined with garment and tailoring shops.

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For this movie-round-up, two are Hollywood movies, and the other a Chinese production. I watched all three at home this week. Don’t ask how.

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Tags: Chinese films, Hollywood films, movie commentaries

Continued from here. I guess it was because I felt like I had time to spare, and because I simply enjoy walking like that, that I decided to walk all the way from Mendiola to Avenida Rizal to ride another train to Manila North Cemetery. I don’t know if that’s really the most efficient way of getting there, but when I looked at the map, it seemed to me so.

Let me tell you a quirk of mine. I don’t like asking for directions. I hate looking like a tourist by asking for directions. I’d rather look at a map myself and get lost than ask for directions. If I do, I’d do it once and then I’d rather get lost than ask another time. It’s a weird sort of pride. I’ll tell you more about this quirk later.

Anyway, I’ve always wondered how it feels like to study in a college or university in the middle of all this hustle and bustle, as opposed to the relative tranquility and foliage in Diliman. Recto Avenue, is of course, aside from shops of all sorts, is lined with schools, colleges and universities, hence it’s part of what people refer to as Manila’s university belt.

To be continued. Click here for more pictures.