June 18, 1999; Friday (7:55 pm)

  Hello, hello, and... HI!!! Ha! Gotcha! OK, don't mind me, I'm jus' feelin' kinda wacky. 'Newayz, since I didn't get to tell u 'bout our wonderfully wonderful trip to USA, I'm gonna share it with 'ya now. Just don't complain 'bout how long it is. Hey! What can I do? It was a one-month stay! We left for US on May 4, and went home on June 4. Then school started on June 7. But it's fun first, school later. I wrote an essay about my summer vacation, and since I don't really feel like writing from my mind much right now, I'll just write the essay instead, 'k? Here goes...

  My summer vacation was a very busy one. But it was probably the best
summer I have ever had.

  Not only were we able to go out of the country, we were able to explore
our own country too! We went to Baguio, a city near the top of a
mountain... which caused it to be as cold as San Diego, California maybe...
in the Philippines. And I was never so proud of my country when we went to
Cebu, a very nice island in the Philippines filled with beaches and
trees. It was beautiful.

    The next month, we went to United States of America. And that's when we
got really busy. Take this, in a month's time, we were able to cover up San
Diego, Arizona (when we went to Grand Canyon), Las Vegas, Ohio, Washington
D.C., New York, Boston, Chicago, and even to Niagara Falls!

  I enjoyed New York the most. Especially when we watched The Phantom of
the Opera in Broadway. That was definitely the highlight of the trip... for
me anyway. The set and special effects were breathtaking. The story and the
songs/music would make you cry. The actors were just overwhelming. It was
wonderful. Just wonderful.

  Of course, we communed with nature too. Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls.
In Niagara Falls, we rode a sort of ferry boat (Maid of the Mist) that went
TO the falls. I loved every minute of the ride. Cool water splashing in my
face. Seagulls squawking and flying everywhere. The breathtaking scene of
the falls.

  Of course, Grand Canyon was great too. Just think, each layer is a
hundred billion years old.

  When you're in nature, you just can't help but feel little. Insignificant. God created waterfalls as beautiful as you can imagine. God created cayons that records the age of the Earth. God created the universe. A universe huge beyond imagination. God created us. It makes you wonder how much insignificant we are compared to all the other things God has created... but even so, God loves us, even though we take his creations forgranted. And God's love is the most wonderful thing there is in the
whole universe.

Smile,
  Miki

  Hey again, ppl! I thought I'd cut my entry since it's kinda boring to read one very long entry at once. So anyway, now let's talk about school. We just had our class elections yesterday, and surprisingly, I was nominated for vice-president. It's already kinda obvious that Bertha, the other nominee, is gonna win though. I mean, the odds are 10 to 1! I don't exactly mind though, to tell you the truth. I'm feeling sorta neutral actually. It's okay if I win, but it's okay if I lose too. Whatever.

  As for our school clubs, I've decided to join the Young Debaters Club for the first semester, and then the Photography Club for the second semester. I wanted to join the staff of our school paper, the Young Observer, too, but you can only have one club per semester. Besides, as a friend of mine pointed out to me, I could submit in an article to the paper without having to become a member of the staff anyway. So that's just what I'm gonna do instead.

  By the way, in case u were wondering, I'm in 7th grade now. We'll be graduating at the end of the schoolyear. I'm guessing it's gonna be a lot harder this schoolyear than it was last time, but I'm also hoping I'm gonna be able to cope with it. I'm planning on joining a lot of organizations, contests, and activities. That way, I'm gonna get (I hope, anyway) a lot of recognitions and awards. Wish me luck!

Smile,
  Miki

June 27, 1999; Sunday (11:52 am)

  Hey, 'sup? Last Friday, in school, we had our club promotion. That's when each club presents a little something to let students know more about the club's objective. Well most club moderators ask students to help them endorse their club. And guess what?! I actually promoted TWO clubs! Creative Writing Club, and Speech Club.

  I was asked to endorse Creative Writing 'cuz I joined that club two years ago, in fifth grade, and the poem I wrote then got published in our school paper. So I was to recite that poem in front of an audience composed of 4 WHOLE BATCHES. I got through it. :o)

  Then in Speech Club, I held a bond paper with a big letter "E" together with a bunch of other 7th grade students who held the other letters to form the words "Speech Club". We each said something about speech club (scripted of course). It funny though, 'cuz I'm not sure any of us were exactly planning on joining Speech Club. Oh, well.

  That's pretty much everything!

Smile,
  Miki

July 3, 1999; Saturday (12:50 pm)

  Hey! I just came back from band practice. Well, actually, from lunch. But just the same, today, we practiced a piece called "Chariots of Fire" which we're gonna play on our October concert. And, we also had our elections! And for the first time ever, I actually became an officer! Vice-president, to be exact. Sure, I've been nominated a few times, but I never won. Cool, isn't it?

  Anyway, I'm planning on working a bit on my site and on our class site today. I've got a few things in mind. Not much happening right now. My brother and my cousins are out watching Star Wars Episode I, though. We (my family and I) already watched that movie when we went to USA for vacation, but my brother wanted to watch it again, anyway.

Smile,
  Miki

P.S. Hey, I just realized I
didn't get to tell you guys
who won in our class elec-
tion two weeks ago. As ex-
pected, Bertha won. It was
awfully obvious anyway. So
I didn't really mind. :o)

July 11, 1999; Sunday (3:10 pm)

  Hello!!! It occurred to me that I forgot to tell you guys that I changed clubs. Well, I decided against joining Debate and Photography Club. Instead, I joined an organization named "Tugon". It was one of the organizations I joined during the first week of school. But then they made it into a club. There, you go out into the "real world" and help the poor and stuff. You know, you arrange drives (clothes drive, medicine drive, etc.), tutor the poor kids, you know... you do stuff.

  Anyway, last Friday was only our second meeting (by the way, we're only 3 members, but that's OK, I think I like it better that way anyway), and we already have a project proposal! We decided to call it (courtesy of my idea :o) ) "Clothes for Kids". We decided not to make it the boring ol' clothes drive wherein you just gather all your old clothes and put 'em in a plastic bag. Nu-uh. We decided it would be nice if it would be more personal. Like a gift. So each student in the 7th grade will bring a bunch of clothes to give away, and then one day, most probably a day before the outreach day of each class, the class wil giftwrap the clothes they brought. Then on the outreach day itself, the students are going to give the gifts to the children themselves. Nice, huh?

  We're going to have a meeting tomorrow at lunch time so we could talk about that. I just got an idea today. I thought maybe we could make it more than just a clothes drive. We could make it into an everything drive. I even though of a name already. "A Kid's Needs". There, you could donate anything that you think would make a child happy. Clothes, shoes, books for fun or educational books, combs, toothbrushes, toys, etc. What do you think?

  Speaking of activities, I, together with other picked students who were *ahem* active in the campus ministry or in doing social work, are going to go to La Salle, Lipa (La Salle is where I study, and Lipa is a city in Batangas, a province three hours from where I live) for a three-day convention. I'm not sure what it's gonna be all about. But we're gonna discuss it on Tuesday.

  But that's not all that's happening. (Sorry if this is getting too long. I hve so much to say!) You see, our batch is going to sponsor the First Friday mass for August.And our Christian Living teacher assigned me to form a sort of little 'band' for the batch to play the mass songs. I already have the members. What I don't have yet, is the piece for the entrance song, and the xerox copies of the pieces for the members. I've already scheduled practices, but I have to discuss with my teacher about that first.

  Oh, ugh. I just remembered we still have tests coming! :o( Oh, well. Told 'ya I'm gonna have very busy weeks coming!

Smile,
  Miki