15^th of January 2011

so begins my story of Medical School at SGU as well as 120 other students from around the world. long story short, this is a breif recap of my experience of SGU Orientation Week.

1)    seeing snow again

2)    arriving to the flat (or dorm) staring at a stack of 10 or so books staring at your jet-lagged face… lovely

3)    walking everywhere, which I really don’t mind cause everything is sooo close

4)    almost getting hit by a car/bus every day since I got here

5)    poundtown… the US dollar store equivalent

6)    making an “American” myself even when I don’t realize it

7)    repetition of “professionalism”… my classmates should get this joke

8)    people watching has reached new heights of awesome… especially drunk scottish people

9)    the white coat ceremony  (in a different blog)

10) the SGU orientation tour of newcastle with a “quite literal” tour guide through Whitley Bay/St Mary’s Island, Tea and Crumpets, Millennium Bridge, and a history lesson

11) theres more to say… but since this is medical school, time is even more precious than before so ill let the photos tell the story

all and all, this first week was to get acclimated to the new environment, meet new people and faculty, check out the school, and drink with the locals. i flew in with very high expectations about living in Newcastle and I am very pleased with what I have seen so far. so below is a small recap of the events of this week. hope you enjoy them and cheers to the start of term 1.

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30^th of March, 2010

to start off 2010, i had the opportunity to visit my ethnic roots, the Philippines. The family, the culture, the FOOD!… no words can express the enjoyment i had for the brief time was there. I can also say that this trip has even strengthened my aspirations to become a physician… but ill elaborate more on that in a later time.

I will be displaying a series of blogs dedicated to my travels to a diverse and marvelous country undermined by what is displayed by television media and its true essence covered up by travelling brochures… the Philippines in its natural state… or at least in the Cebu region.

…stay tuned!

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30^th of March 2010

As the name suggests, Philfest is a huge annual Filipino festival in Oldsmar, Florida, an overkill of Filipino culture displayed for the public. Originally I was not going to shoot this event (due to my MCAT studies taking precedence over everything), but I was requested by an individual that I DARE NOT say no to…. and I don’t regret it.

This segment is about the younger portion of our dance troupe (the ones I sometimes question whether they do this for fun, or if they’re forced to… haha). There are the youngins of the main troupe: PPAC, the really young ones: Indak Pambata (meaning “children’s steps”), and the branch that deals with modern dance: PYC.

Despite being youths, they displayed a valor and maturity that even some adults cannot compare to. That was proven at PhilFest, being a headline in the cultural presentations, (Vinta was AWESOME by the way), showing patience and tolerance during the Flores de PhilFest parade, and lastly taking 1^st place at PhilFest Revolutions (a hip-hop competition). Congratulations on your accomplishments and know that those accomplishments are not ignored.

… again, its for the kids!

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…Flores De PhilFest

…classic!!!

…PhilFest Revolutions 2010

…can always count on running into friends here

…lounging around before the awards ceremony

…1st place… enough said

…UCF FSA

…and the party goes on

28th of March, 2010

dude… talk about a long hiatus (i should make a blog about it).

a while back, a friend of mine was in need of portriats for his modeling auditions… so of course, i provided the service. kinda looks like an Abercrombie shoot, which it was intended for.

best of luck on your modeling endeavors Brandon.

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