i've been running into my students lately. just this evening i bumped into one of them in Shakey's, and another two at Starbucks. they call me 'sir', which is something i easily got used to. i think it's just another way of saying 'kuya' though, in my opinion. coz im not that much older than them (max 6 years)

i've been making some decent progress with my thesis. im ready to write starting tomorrow. the theoretical framework is practically there -- which has been the major stumbling block for the longest time. now, comes the easier (yet tedious) business of analyzing the data. i move from theory to empirics. now that we've gotten a justifiable framework on the ground, we have to give the data the right treatment. all of this work has to become a decent draft due for submission exactly 1 week from now. i'm glad that i have a wonderful chunk of 3 days of no school just before submission. a LOT of work can be done then. hopefully more polishing than cramming. i will start the runs of the data tomorrow. if you are one my few friends who the ins and outs of logistic regressions, expect phone calls during this week.

quite a bit, as usual, has happened since last entry. i've been buying a whole bunch of books lately -- this is just the influence of hanging around more literay people. they buy books like fast-food meals. book moratoria occasionally become necessary, as well. the sports/active life has taken a backseat for a while, which is a little ironic because the AXN show begins this week, and runs for the next 3. there was a little mall tour last saturday, and despite the fact that it could have become very cheesy and jologgy really fast, that didn't happen. Tricia Chiongbian helped Revilson with the hosting duties and she actually had to say my name. wow. i always thought she was cool. we met Kerry's wife and kids. cute. they'll jump out of a plane to skydive someday.

sunday morning, building brownie pts with mr dad, i went on a litle quiapo tour with Dr. Zialcita. it was ok, learned a few things, but it really isn't for the normal tourist. going around quiapo is interesting, but it also is a study in urban decay and mismanagement. empty, deteriorating houses, and other urban problems. still, bright spots: like the Nakpil house just behind the Quiapo church, and news that the U-Belt community plans to revitalize the areas around their campuses. that is an excellent first start. we have to move beyond the sensibilities and tastes of people like Mayor Lim though. im glad that ppl like him get stuff done, but things could still be so much better. whoever heard of not wanting to support socialized housing because of a problem of too much migration. ridiculous. what a backward way of thinking. what am i talking about here? send me a buzz.

food tripping around quiapo is fun. miki bihon at the panciteria is TASTY. the handmade hopia is actually better than the stuff in Binondo ('coz its factory-style there). pops bought some excelente ham and some wholesale nestle's crunch. had a lovely lap sunday afternoon after all that walking. i now have a further notion of streets in Manila, as well as geographical appreciation of how small Quiapo is. Calle Hidalgo connects San Sebastian to the Catedral de Nazareno. The Golden Mosque is also in the area. The place is just brimming with promise (like Intramuros). You just have to fix it up a bit, as well as adopt a more sensible approach of dealing with the poor residents living in these places. You can't see them as social parasites needing eviction. I like the word Dr. Zialcita used: monolithic. You can't see Intramuros as a monolithic structure, something for tourism. It has to be planned in such a way to deal with the social realities that exist. This makes a lot of sense.

i bought a fluffy book today: Mayle's A Year in Provence.