Cheers to the freakin' weekend

Some weekends I just lie in bed until my mom threatens to physically break all the bones in my face; other weekends I pack my schedule so tightly that I hardly have time to process all the events in my mind afterwards.

But I guess that's what the five days of work life are for.

On Friday night I spent hours at Sentosa's Palawan beach with my adorable classmates (a.k.a. Ohana) and it was multitudes of awesome. Mervis, our unspoken guardian, made so much deliciousness that I had to constantly stop myself whenever my hand reached for more food because my tummy wanted to explode.

Sidenote: If you don't know what ohana means then please do us both a favor and watch Lilo & Stitch; it is simultaneously fun and full of depth.

The dozens of lightsticks made the whole atmosphere even more dreamy than the soft breeze, dark night, and lazy waves already did. I never realized how much I liked being at beaches until then. But it's still the company that makes the beach the magical place that it is.

Saturday night was one of the craziest nights I've had this year because it actually involved me voluntarily paying to scare the shit out of myself. Spooktacular at Sentosa's Fort Siloso was spooky indeed. But the old friends and new friends that were with me made the excessive swearing all worthwhile (me: 0, swear jar: $50).

A word of advice to those who are truly afraid of the ghouls in fake haunted houses:

Just focus on not falling down. That will take up most of your concentration in the dark passages where your only solace is the person whose arm you're almost breaking from your tight grip. Just look at the floor the entire time. At least, that's what I did for the Shutter trail.

It was almost deserted save for one or two ghouls jumping out at us. The other trails had hordes of staff decked in ghastly gear so once I reminded myself that they are human, I wasn't as terrified as I'd thought I'd be. But the Shutter was so scarce of actual humans that my overactive imagination started thinking there were real ghosts lurking behind every curtain and corner. I have to admit, I almost cried at one point because it was so freaking dark I couldn't even see my own hands.

After we exited the Shutter trail, I was sooo relieved that I yelled, "We're alive!!!!!!!!!" to everyone that was queuing for it. My friend Julie and I started hugging each other dramatically, much to their amusement. Then Chaba, the thing from the movie Coming Soon, stared at us and I said to her, "Oh my gosh, after Shutter, I appreciate you so much now," and she just nodded slowly.

It was incessantly fun, but never again.

Here's my opinion, even though you didn't ask for it

It's not about looks. No matter how superficial a person is, it all boils down to character. So if you aren't confident with yourself and the way you look, do something about it. I don't mean just the physical aspects like going on a diet or exercising; I mean in terms of your self-perception. Don't put yourself down and then blame others for not picking you up.

If you don't think you're good enough, how the hell do you expect others to perceive you're good enough? It doesn't matter if we believe you are or not; if you don't believe it yourself, then what is the farking point? You're always gonna be thinking that you're inferior and feel insecure, then blame it on the other party when he/she doesn't make you feel better about yourself. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent, as Eleanor Roosevelt once said.

It's easy to head down a spiralling funk of low self-esteem and self-pity but trust me, all it does is make you feel useless and unappreciated. You owe it to yourself to be confident. Throw that self-doubt away because no one will ever put their hand in yours if you think it isn't fit to be held.