07:52 AM Yesterday, Marielle and I went out with Rachel, Paul, and Josh and his cousins and niece to the Powerplant Mall and paid 100 pesos (a little less than $2) to go through The Mummy Returns Live horror maze, which turned out to last only about a minute to a minute-and-a-half, but full of scares and frightful people-dressed-as-mummies. We girls found Imhotep really hunky and not at all frightening, which led to joking that if we should see him in the maze we should run toward him, not away!

Anyway, I am just about to leave for a trip to Baguio--our family's yearly one, despite attempts by Marielle and myself to get the destination changed to Subic Bay or anywhere warmer and with a beach. Ü Anyway, I will be gone for about six days, since we're returning on the 2nd of January. 'Til then, have a Happy New Year, and careful with the fireworks!

03:47 PM My extended family (on the maternal side) usually gets together on Christmas Eve for the traditional noche buena feast; we gather at someone's house, bringing food and gifts, whiling away the hours before midnight sitting around a table and talking. The kids go off to play or sleep, but when the clock strikes twelve, we wake them up to distribute presents. My grandmother does the duties, and then we thank God for the gifts we'd received. Food and drink freely flow afterwards into the wee hours of the morning when one by one the families pack up to go.

This year, though, someone had the idea of starting a new tradition, in which each family has to perform a special number. Just for kicks, yes, but last night I was upset at its suddenness. I hate surprises of that sort, where I have to come up with something on the spot. (As you can tell, I'm a person who relies on routine and planning.) Anyway, I don't know if I'd call it a tantrum I threw, but I was skeptical about it all, even though in the end I sang with my aunt and sister. Until now I don't think I could be as enthusiastic as the kids were last night about performing. I don't want every Christmas Eve to be full of apprehension about standing in front of a group of people (even if they're just family) to make a fool of myself. I guess it's good for the kids, though; maybe they get bored when we older ones just talk.

Aside from that, though, I asked a lot of questions that night. Why the need for a programmed evening? Why change what we've always done? I guess the real question in my mind was: Where is the focus on Jesus, the reason why Christmas is? This year is the first year I've ever thought seriously about how we truly think about Christmas. Honestly I think for most people it's all about the gifts. I tried sending someone a Christmas e-card earlier yesterday, and the ones containing Santa Claus (the patron saint of presents, I would say) far outnumbered the ones concerning Christ's birth.

I've had to examine my own reactions to gift-giving over the years. Does anyone even think about where Jesus comes into the picture when they're buying gifts for people, or receiving gifts? For the younger generation in my family, at least, Christmas has become an exercise in materialism (although there was a time about ten years ago that not receiving a gift when we other children had gotten theirs really upset my cousin), and even I'm not exempt from this. I had to scramble to get the gifts for the children to be distributed first, since they were waiting so impatiently and eagerly. I don't think we actually give much importance to anything else but the gifts and the feasting, because that's all we wait for. If we changed the time we open presents to an earlier hour I think the party would end early too, and that makes me sad. It might be time to re-examine our priorities. What are we celebrating Christmas for? Is it for the gifts, or is it for the Greatest Gift humanity has received, Jesus who was born to die for our sins?

11:43 AM I have just woken up. Ü Yesterday was a full day, considering I went with my sister and Bible study friends to Enchanted Kingdom (an amusement park in Sta. Rosa, Laguna). I'd been there twice before, but only with my parents and a handful of cousins, so it was a nice and refreshing change to be unchaperoned miles away from my parents having fun with a large group of people, some of whom I got to know better over the course of the day.

We were pretty much hyperactive, excited to be there. I rode the Space Shuttle rollercoaster four times, a feat unequaled by anyone else from the group. The guys got lightheaded after the Flying Fiesta and almost gave up on the rollercoaster; some begging and cajoling had to be done before they rode again, the big babies. Ü After initially planning to stay dry and keep away from the large water ride called the Rio Grande, we decided to do it anyway because there were no people lining up at first. We expected our faces and torsos to be splashed, so we had jackets on, but we didn't think that our lower halves would take the brunt of the dousing. So, at the end of the ride, we stepped out of the rafts pants and shoes dripping. We did it three more times after that, though. We also did the bump cars three times, each time crashing into each other with such ferocity that if we were using real cars, we'd be in the hospital right now--but why ride the bump cars if you're not going to bump other people's cars?

I think it was God's timing that brought us to Enchanted Kingdom the day before Christmas Eve--since most of the populace were out panic-shopping for presents, not a lot of them would troop to amusement parks. In the morning, lining up for the rides was easy, and in the afternoon though the lines were long, they moved quickly. By day's end I'd gone on my favorite rides several times, and in the cumulative times I've been to Enchanted Kingdom, I've ridden on almost the rides, including the dopey ones. The only ride I have left to try and would be embarrassed to try is the dinosaur egg mini-Ferris wheel.

Aside from yesterday, the past few days have been fantastic; on Sunday I watched Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in a charity premiere. Unfortunately for LOTR fans in the Philippines, The Two Towers will be shown in the first week of January because the Metro Manila Film Festival is taking over all available theaters. It was just a blessing that my church, Bread of Life Ministries, was selling tickets to benefit the House of Refuge Foundation (which cares for street children).

Like what everyone else is saying, The Two Towers is a great movie. I hated the fact that I'd read the book and knew what was going to happen and I was one of the people who were disappointed because director Peter Jackson had taken some liberties with the plot. If I'd seen the movie before reading the book, like I did with Fellowship of the Ring, I'd gripe less, because left to stand on its own, The Two Towers is amazing. The visual effects were grandiose, the story moved forward quickly, and as always, Legolas the Elf looked refreshingly fresh and clean beside grimy battle-worn Men. Legolas isn't the only eye-candy, though; there's Eomer, King Theoden's nephew. Ü I could go on and on, but I don't want to give spoilers here. Anyway, I'm going to see it again in January just to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Today's Christmas Eve!

12:11 PM Flo was such a whiny basketcase--in one scene in Vietnam, literally in a basket. But I'm glad they won The Amazing Race 3, just for Zach's sake. He's a true friend and deserves his money just for putting up with her. And now at least he no longer has romancing her on his mind. Ü

11:39 PM At this year's Lantern Parade, Sadako the monstrous girl from Ring showed up twice; from the College of Arts and Letters contingent, there was a girl wearing white with her long black hair combed forward to cover her face, and from the College of Fine Arts, another person wearing white with long hair covering her face marched along.

Great. Just when I had almost gotten over being freaked out. Ü

10:07 AM What big-budget movies have I watched lately? Unlike a large percentage of the Filipino population, I didn't see Goldmember several months ago my family didn't want to watch it and I don't go to movies alone. Besides, I can wait until the movie comes out on cable--not that I'm looking forward to it either.

I did, however, see Die Another Day three weeks ago, and I must say it's the best Pierce-Brosnan-as-Bond film I've seen. It has a coherent and logical plot, a scenario that is almost believable, and Pierce Brosnan. Ü I didn't like how they played up Jinx's character, though, especially after I heard from E! that the studios are planning a movie spinoff for her. Now I don't see her as an empowered woman, but simply another plot device to launch another movie. Tsk, tsk.

On the flip side of my question for this post, what small-budged movies have I watched lately? I wish I could say I'd seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding and join the crowd of indie-film enthusiasts, but there just wasn't time this weekend, with all the panic shopping for Christmas presents my mom had to do (you have to give gifts to your bosses and co-workers; it's an obligation). During last Saturday's Christmas party for my high school's alumni, though, my friends and I got to discussing Ring (the Japanese original, not the American remake The Ring) which one of us had already seen. To make a long story short, I went to see that horror flick with them yesterday, and now I confess static on TV screens can freak me out when I'm off-guard. Actually, I realized that horror movies are junk food for my mind, and I become unnaturally fearful of things that have no power to harm me anyway. I like being scared in movies, since I'm somewhat an adrenaline junkie, but I don't appreciate the aftereffects, for instance being paranoid of mirrors because you might see someone else's reflection beside your own. I don't think I'll be chasing tickets for The Ring when it comes out. It's just not worth it. I'll take an action film any day.

11:19 PM After being an avid follower of the Amazing Race 3, I've lost interest after successive episodes ending with the elimination of my favorite twosomes John Vito and Jill and Derek and Drew. Bad move, CBS. The remaining teams are Teri and Ian--a cranky, "ugly American" couple; Ken and Gerard--scheming brothers; and Flo and Zach--who aren't too bad, except that Flo is whiny and just rides on Zach's coattails. That just makes for bad TV and un-compelling viewing. Next week is the two-hour finale, but I don't feel like watching it. I'd rather just watch for developments on the official website, as well as sniff out some spoilers on the Net. That's how I got the inkling that the twins Derek and Drew were not going to make it.

The sad thing is that the twins didn't make it not because of their own mistake, but because Ken and Gerard misled them. For the entire race, there was an alliance between the two sets of brothers, and the twins fell to trusting the two older brothers. I was beginning to like the tubby bald guys, but after this episode... Anyway, I know who's going to get left behind during the first half of the next episode. Too bad it's a non-elimination round.

After hearing from a trusted source that Survivor is staged, and now knowing you can't even root for a good team on the Amazing Race because the good ones get eliminated, I don't know if I should swear off reality TV. "But it's just TV, Noelle." Just TV my foot; there's some emotional investment going on here between viewer and network, and when the viewer isn't satisfied, she just tunes out, turns off, and reads a nice thick book.

02:50 PM I know it's only two weeks 'til Christmas, but the weather was suspiciously summer-like over the past few days. It's cooled down considerably today, which is a relief. However, I live in a tropical country where hailstorms are freak occurrences and snow has never fallen. So what, right? Let it snow, even if only virtually. Ü There are also other people sporting Christmas layouts, so I'm not alone.

I've done this year's share of work in my masteral classes, but two subjects of mine require me to work on a book report and news journal through the break. You really are expected to work on things even outside the classroom. I don't think I'll take on so many units next semester; the workload's heavy, considering the classes are at night and I get home really late. I'm exhausted, and once Christmas break hits, I'll be thankful for the rest.

09:38 AM Talk about a run of bad luck. Not only am I homebound doing two more papers due on Monday, but it turns out my cellphone sprouted wings and flew away, and I didn't even know it. More precisely, it might have fallen out of the car the night before yesterday, when I got out to open our gate. Of course, the next day any grasping Gollum-like creature would have grabbed that phone on the road and made off with it. :c But I can swear I put that cellphone back in my bag, and I checked so that nothing could fall out of my lap when I got out of the car.

The thing is, I've never lost anything of such value before, although to me it's like it was stolen, because any honest person would have picked it up, walked a few steps to our gate, rung the doorbell, and asked if anyone in the house was missing a cellphone. I just might have too much faith in the goodness of mankind, and this incident opened my eyes. It was really painful accepting the loss, and I still keep expecting that my cellphone might turn up somewhere inside the house.

I never even used the cellphone all that much. I rarely initiate text conversations and usually leave my phone in my room when I'm at home. The only time I really use it is when I'm out of the house, and that's just to set meeting places or call my parents if there's a problem. I guess it's true, as Janet Jackson sang: you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

I don't know if I'll be getting a new phone or inheriting someone's old phone. I guess I'm just starting to realize that I'll never get it back. Merry Christmas to the person who got my phone; I think I'll consider it a present to them, instead of thinking that they stole it from me. That's the best way not to bear grudges toward peple who take things from you, I think.

11:03 AM I'm currently dying under a huge load of papers. I'll be back on Monday evening to post some more, and hopefully I can come up with a new layout for Christmas and the New Year. We just bought a new computer, and I've yet to transfer all my web stuff to the new one. Ü