The Prince of Tennis

"Mada Mada Dane." - Ryoma Echizen

Translation: "You still got a long way to go."

"You can reach your dreams if your heart is determined." This is from a song entitled "Fly High", one of the OSTs (Official Soundtracks) of an Anime, Prince of Tennis. Aside from being a die-hard KPOP (Korean Pop) fan, I'm also an Otaku or an Anime fan. I've been an Otaku since I was in Grade 5. I've watched a lot of Animes and one of my favorites is the Prince of Tennis. 

I first saw it on Qtv Channel 11 and I must say it's one of a kind Anime. Maybe that's the reason why it got my attention and eventually became my favorite. Unfortunately, I didn't finish watching the whole Anime back then that's why last Semestral break, I started downloading it. I've watched up to Episode 103 only and there's still a hundred episodes left I think (178 episodes + OVAs). 

Well, Prince of Tennis, as the title suggests, revolves around Tennis. Particularly, it's about a 12-year old freshman in Junior High named Ryoma Echizen whose father, Nanjirou Echizen, is a well-known professional Tennis player. Ryoma's ultimate goal is to beat his father in Tennis.

Ryoma Echizen, the Prince of Tennis

After living a few years in America, Ryoma's family decided to go back to Japan. He started studying in Seishun Gakuen a.k.a. Seigaku. Eventually, he joined Seigaku's Tennis Club and this is where the whole story began. 

Seigaku's Regular Members

The Anime is also about Seigaku's struggle in fulfilling their dream, to be in the Nationals. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy since they have to face various strong opponents.

I really enjoy watching this Anime because it gives you mixed emotions. Sometimes, you'll feel excited, irritated, sad and many more. I really love those Chibi episodes 'cause they're so cute! I guess it's one way of preventing the Anime from being too serious or boring (of all the Tennis matches).

Episode 87-88

Aside from that, you'll also learn a lot from this Anime. You'll learn a lot about Tennis, how it is played, the rules and some Tennis terms. The Anime is also inspirational because it always shows that one must not give up that easily and everything's worth in trying.

Like any other Anime, the Prince of Tennis is also adapted from manga. Its manga has 300+ chapters and the author, Konomi Takeshi, decided to make a sequel, New Prince of Tennis. The New Prince of Tennis somehow possesses the same plot as the first one but this time their opponents are strong High Schoolers (All-Japan) instead of Junior High students. Sadly, the New Prince of Tennis' manga is still on-going. But even though it's like that, they've decided to release its Anime version but only with 13 episodes and rumor has it that they'll release the OVAs around summer next year.

Fun Fun Work Fun

"Work Hard, Play Harder."

Last December 19, me and some of my blockmates went to one of our non-blockmate's house at Sucat, Paranaque. Our plan is to shoot some of the scenes there for our upcoming DPSM movie and afterwards, to have our Block Christmas Party. I'm assigned to the Production Design Committee a.k.a. Prop's Committee. It's not easy to be in this committee because we need to make or sometimes improvise some props and aside from that we are also in-charge of the venue-hunting. But even though it's like that, all of us are having fun. 

For that day's shooting, we need two cakes for two different scenes. Well, we bought one cake for our Christmas Party and we've decided that we'll just use it. As for the other cake, we just need to improvise. Of course, it's a hassle to bake a cake so we just decided make an icing and we'll just apply it to something that is cake-shaped.

So here's some pics while we're making the icing:

Sherwin sure is enjoying whipping the icing.

Here's the right form in whipping the icing. Hehe.
Peace Sherwin!

Master Chef! :D

Ate Rhea used the blender to make the sugar finer.

Tada! Looks edible right? Haha It's just a cake pan covered
in icing! XD

Finally! It's done! :D

It took us 1-2 hours to finish this I think but it's all worth it! :)

There's No Harm In Trying

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try one more time." - Thomas A. Edison

Have you experienced being given something that you really dislike but you have no choice but just to accept it? It's really a difficult situation to be in right? I guess, there are things that are meant to be so no matter what excuse you make or how hard you resist, if it's really destined to be given to you, then it will make its way. What made me realized this was my experience in taking Azeus' OJT (On-The-Job Training) Examination.

I'm already in my third year so me and my classmates have to apply to different companies for our upcoming OJT this summer. Last October, Azeus, an IT company, offered us an OJT Examination. Their OJT Examination have 3 parts: Written Exam, Technical Interview and HR Interview. So if you pass the first part then you're qualified to take the next part and so on. Many of my classmates took the examination because Azeus is a CMMI Level 5 company which means that it's really a high-level and stable company. For me, I just took it to gain some experience and because they offered a company tour. 

All of us took the written exam at the same time. I told myself that I wouldn't take the exam seriously but  their written exam is kinda easy so I just answered it based on what I know.  Azeus said that they will just text or email those who have passed their written exam.

This was after the written examination and while we're waiting for our free lunch! :P
(c) Nicole Lopez 

I'm not really expecting that I'll pass that exam until last November 20, I received a text message from Azeus saying that I'm qualified for their Technical Interview and I just have to reply to confirm until Thursday, November 22, if I'm interested. Yes, I'm really pressured because I received that message Tuesday night and I have to confirm on or before Thursday. Anyway, they let us choose what schedule we prefer for the Tech Interview, November 26 or December 3. Of course, all of us who passed will choose December 3 because we already have scheduled our OJT Talk on November 26. 

I asked my other close friends if they also got the same text message. Sadly, only one of them passed. At that time, it's very hard for me to decided whether I should grab this opportunity or not. Of course this is really a good opportunity but I really wanna have an OJT at the same company with my other close friends. Also, I found out that in the Technical Interview, they'll give a particular problem to solve and everyone must code it in paper. Because of that, I started to get pessimistic and my head was full of what if's. So I've decided not to push through the interview (I didn't confirm). 


"Akala ko tapos na ang lahat." But on November 26, I received another text message inviting me to another Tech Interview scheduled on December 5. I'm so surprised but again I've decided not to confirm again. Yes, I turned Azeus' offer down twice. Silly right?




But Azeus was so persistent, to the point that they're calling me. Of course I didn't answer any of their calls because I don't know what to say and I really don't want to go to the interview. 



Until December 4, the day before the second interview, another one of my close friends got called by Azeus and she was also invited to the second Technical Interview like me. I guess these are signs that I must really go to that interview so I've decided to go this time. I realized, "Siguro pag pumunta na ako matatapos na rin toh. Mas maganda nang pumunta at least mga blockmates ko pa rin ang kasama ko kaysa maka-receive na naman ako ng text tapos ibang schools na kasama ko."

At the end of the day, I guess the interview's not that bad. I know I didn't do well in the interview but at least, I met a new friend, Robby or Ruby, from UPD and I gained a new experience.

I HAVE NO REGRETS because what I've experienced made me stronger and I guess God really wants me to experience this. All I can say is that JUST TRY IT OUT FIRST because in trying you wouldn't lose anything. :)

It's Not About Winning, It's About Experience

"Winning isn't everything, but the will to win is everything." -Vince Lombardi

When I was in High School, I love to join contests like group quiz bees and art contests. It's because I like that overwhelming feeling that I get whenever I win in such contests. Now that I'm in college, even though there are also contests, I really don't have the confidence to join in them. I guess winning wouldn't be that easy since it will be a battle among Iskolars ng Bayan. 

(c) UP SoComSci

The very first contest that I joined here in UP was the "Jolog's Quiz Show" held by the Department of Arts and Communication (DAC). I joined that contest just for fun.  Now, I decided to join another contest, the Competition on Science and Technology or ConCAT();. This event is a part of the celebration of Computer Science Week in UP. This is a group competition or quiz bee and each group is composed of Computer Science students from different year levels. Of course, the coverage for the quiz bee will be about Computer Science subjects.

Originally, I don't want to participate in this event unless one of my groupmates is a close friend of mine. But one of my friends, who also joined the said contest, already registered my name so I have no choice. Sadly, it turned out that the organizers randomized the groupings and unfortunately, me and my close friends are assigned to different groups. What's worst is that me and my groupmates don't know each other and they're all guys which means that I'm the only girl in our group. Well, I tried to talk to one of the organizers about my situation because it's somehow uncomfortable but it didn't worked out and I guess God really wants me to be in this group so in the end I decided to just accept it. Well it turned out that we're getting along pretty well and they're friendly. 

We're Group C! So from left to right, we have Lean (Sophomore),
Me (Junior), Kuya Jhesed (Senior) and Marvin (Freshie) .  (c) UP SoComSci

Well, this is not just your ordinary quiz bee because this contest is not just a battle of the brains but also a battle of "diskarte". One hundred points are given to each group at the beginning. The organizers will flash the category and difficulty of the question on the screen for 10 seconds and each group will have to place their bets. Just after that, the question will be showed. For every correct answer, the amount of points each group placed on their bets will be added to their score and for every wrong answer, the points will be deducted.

Final Scores! :) (c) UP SoComSci

At first, our group was third from the last but in the end we managed to catch up with the other teams. Surprisingly, we won First Place and I really enjoyed the competition. It was a close fight. 

Unexpectedly, we won! Champions~ (c) UP SoComSci

My FIRST MEDAL in UP!

I guess what I've learned from this is that don't get intimidated that easily and just try it out first before giving up or quitting.