Living in a dormitory has a lot of perks, especially when your roommate has been your friend since grade school. You get to share secrets, tell endless stories, talk about certain people, eat and sleep whenever you like, study while the other takes a bath, and all within the confines and safety of your room. It's pretty exciting, most particularly for me because I grew up with no siblings, so it's like having an automatic sister. It's all good.

But then of course, after all has been said and done, more often than not comes the inevitable -- awkward silences. And utterly, extremely dorky moments.

Meet Pumpkiny.

Pumpkiny disguised as a Halloween jack-o-lantern; Pumpkiny disguised as the forbidden apple from Twilight; Pumpkiny as an emo ponkan-slash-pumpkin

Pumpkiny is was the unfortunate tiny ponkan (kyat-kyat) that suffered severe identity crisis from Inna and me last Thursday night. We wanted to load ourselves with Vitamin C so as to not catch the colds or the flu most especially this time of the year. So we bought a basket of kyat-kyats at our friendly neighborhood grocery store, and for several days we just ate and ate the delightful citrus fruit. But alas, just eating them became too boring for me at least. So, when we I picked up Pumpkiny and realized that he looked quite different than the rest (he really was shaped like a pumpkin), I thought, why not. I made a "masterpiece" out of this unique-looking ponkan.

"So what's the point in all this?" I hear you ask. There are a few, I promise.

First, our health is of extreme importance. It's easy to overlook our physical well-being because of school work or other seemingly more relevant aspects in our life. But it should be our number one priority. I only realized this more now that I'm in college, living on my own. Before, I could just absent myself from school when I feel a little feverish, and my mom can cook Nido soup for me back at home. Now, I have no one taking care of me other than myself so I have to really make sure that I'm strong enough to go to school everyday -- and not just to be physically present but to be mentally alert as well. Attending a class when you sneeze every thirty seconds and your head aches like a hammer is being smashed on your head is no fun. So, better load up on your ascorbic acid, people!

Second, for very obvious reasons, my Twilight obssession has been reawakened for the past couple of weeks. Like what I said before, I tried downplaying it, in hopes of not being one of "them" -- meaning, the super crazed Twi-hard girls [and boys haha] that go gaga with the very mention of anything related to the series. But so what if I'm supposed to be a writer who should only appreciate "real literature" and not a lame hormonal narration of an impossibly ridiculous story? Whoever said I cannot appreciate both? Sure, Meyer's writing and plotting could have been better, but in the end it moved me and I think that's what matters. To me, literature is supposed to take you to a completely different place and touch your life in more ways than one. This so-called "crappy piece of writing" did that just to me. So yeah, I guess I'm a fan-pire. \m/

And lastly, because of Pumpkiny I realized the importance of self-worth. In a world where everything about you can be defined by just simply how you look, it is so difficult to pay no heed to the pressures -- especially of vanity. I am after all a seventeen-year-old girl, a typical prey to the mundane insecurities of life. On some days I feel extremely good about myself, but on most days I don't. It's part of human nature I guess. After all, who doesn't want to be beautiful? Last week, I had a little makeover [Secret kung ano! :P] As much as I wanted to deny the fact that I don't care about how I look, I do. So I went for it. I don't regret it at all. And you know what, I realized that I don't feel guilty about pampering myself every once in a while, because I know I deserve it. If I can't appreciate myself, then who would? And I guess there is no harm in doing what you think is best to help make you feel better. At the end of the day, you're still you -- whether you have curly or straight hair, flabby or thin arms, a big or toned tummy. Like Pumpkiny, his pumpkin-like features doesn't make him anything more than a ponkan. Just as long as you have a strong sense of self, you're gonna turn out okay. [I doubt that Pumpkiny realized his self-worth though.]


All this because of one little ponkan. Wow. I should get myself more Pumpkinies.




[By the way, if you are wondering what happened to Pumpkiny.. I ate him. Haha.]

Living in a dormitory has a lot of perks, especially when your roommate has been your friend since grade school. You get to share secrets, tell endless stories, talk about certain people, eat and sleep whenever you like, study while the other takes a bath, and all within the confines and safety of your room. It's pretty exciting, most particularly for me because I grew up with no siblings, so it's like having an automatic sister. It's all good.

But then of course, after all has been said and done, more often than not comes the inevitable -- awkward silences. And utterly, extremely dorky moments.

Meet Pumpkiny.

Pumpkiny disguised as a Halloween jack-o-lantern; Pumpkiny disguised as the forbidden apple from Twilight; Pumpkiny as an emo ponkan-slash-pumpkin

Pumpkiny is was the unfortunate tiny ponkan (kyat-kyat) that suffered severe identity crisis from Inna and me last Thursday night. We wanted to load ourselves with Vitamin C so as to not catch the colds or the flu most especially this time of the year. So we bought a basket of kyat-kyats at our friendly neighborhood grocery store, and for several days we just ate and ate the delightful citrus fruit. But alas, just eating them became too boring for me at least. So, when we I picked up Pumpkiny and realized that he looked quite different than the rest (he really was shaped like a pumpkin), I thought, why not. I made a "masterpiece" out of this unique-looking ponkan.

"So what's the point in all this?" I hear you ask. There are a few, I promise.

First, our health is of extreme importance. It's easy to overlook our physical well-being because of school work or other seemingly more relevant aspects in our life. But it should be our number one priority. I only realized this more now that I'm in college, living on my own. Before, I could just absent myself from school when I feel a little feverish, and my mom can cook Nido soup for me back at home. Now, I have no one taking care of me other than myself so I have to really make sure that I'm strong enough to go to school everyday -- and not just to be physically present but to be mentally alert as well. Attending a class when you sneeze every thirty seconds and your head aches like a hammer is being smashed on your head is no fun. So, better load up on your ascorbic acid, people!

Second, for very obvious reasons, my Twilight obssession has been reawakened for the past couple of weeks. Like what I said before, I tried downplaying it, in hopes of not being one of "them" -- meaning, the super crazed Twi-hard girls [and boys haha] that go gaga with the very mention of anything related to the series. But so what if I'm supposed to be a writer who should only appreciate "real literature" and not a lame hormonal narration of an impossibly ridiculous story? Whoever said I cannot appreciate both? Sure, Meyer's writing and plotting could have been better, but in the end it moved me and I think that's what matters. To me, literature is supposed to take you to a completely different place and touch your life in more ways than one. This so-called "crappy piece of writing" did that just to me. So yeah, I guess I'm a fan-pire. \m/

And lastly, because of Pumpkiny I realized the importance of self-worth. In a world where everything about you can be defined by just simply how you look, it is so difficult to pay no heed to the pressures -- especially of vanity. I am after all a seventeen-year-old girl, a typical prey to the mundane insecurities of life. On some days I feel extremely good about myself, but on most days I don't. It's part of human nature I guess. After all, who doesn't want to be beautiful? Last week, I had a little makeover [Secret kung ano! :P] As much as I wanted to deny the fact that I don't care about how I look, I do. So I went for it. I don't regret it at all. And you know what, I realized that I don't feel guilty about pampering myself every once in a while, because I know I deserve it. If I can't appreciate myself, then who would? And I guess there is no harm in doing what you think is best to help make you feel better. At the end of the day, you're still you -- whether you have curly or straight hair, flabby or thin arms, a big or toned tummy. Like Pumpkiny, his pumpkin-like features doesn't make him anything more than a ponkan. Just as long as you have a strong sense of self, you're gonna turn out okay. [I doubt that Pumpkiny realized his self-worth though.]


All this because of one little ponkan. Wow. I should get myself more Pumpkinies.




[By the way, if you are wondering what happened to Pumpkiny.. I ate him. Haha.]