Guess What?! It's Gonna Be Me

There are only a few people who really know me. Myparents, my best friends and my dog. I do have friends
but again, only a few know me very well. I don't
pour out myself to anyone, that's why if you want to
know me very well, you are lucky because I'm about to
open up myself to you.
Since I am in a rush to somehow finish this very exhausting blog, I'll
just write the rare and some common things about me. My name is Doanne Lyre Landero Montecastro. Doanne came from my parent's names. Do from Dominador and Anne from Annie Jean, my mother's name. Lyre came from an instrument because they said that I will love music and make it a part of my life.
And that's exactly what happened. I loved music at a very
early age. I find bliss in it. But I fear it. This is something even I cannot understand. There are some kinds of music that causes trauma on me. I find it difficult to detach myself from it and all I can do is cry it out. There is another weird thing about me. I eat rice with water on it. I prefer this over soup if I'm just at home. Yes! I do this every time I eat a meal
with rice. Before, I was afraid to do it in school
because people might think that I am weird and too different to comprehend. But I said to myself, there's no harm if I try and maybe introduce it to others. If they can't adopt to me doing it, it's enough that they accept the real me. I tried it with Mariel, Grace, April, Ella and Shedyl
as my lucky witnesses. They were like, "What the..." But then said, "Okay, you have your own unique style in eating,go on with it." Sometimes my friends ask me about my happy past so I share my unbelievable but true adventures like climbing the mountain, reaching the top ( a cliff ) and my bigger classmates had to bring us down safely one by one. I always go for adventure since I was in grade four. When I was in grade six, my goal was to visit all of my classmates houses before I graduated. Whew! That was close. And I finished my goal just right before the big day. Daryl's house was the last I got to see. I can also say that I am an active person and that I do things beyond my parent's imagination, like when my cousin visited us and he taught me how to "hitch" a ride at the back of a cargo truck. I've always
wanted to do that. I just laugh at myself whenever I recall those days. It was one of my cheap thrills.
By the way, I was born March 30, 1990 at Cebu Doctor's Hospital at about 6:30 in the morning. When I was still a toddler, we lived in an apartment at the back of CAP building at Jones Avenue. Then when I turned five, we moved to Sindulan, Mabolo. When I started school, we transfered to New Frontier, the place where my family resides now. We had to move three times because of my father's job or ministry.
Okay, that's a lot about me already. If you want to find out how rice and water taste, you can chat with me if I'm online at bluenike_06.com. http://friendster.com/dlyreil is the url to find out how high school life is sweet at UP High. So I'll have to leave. Until next time.

Teach Me If You Can

UP High annually celebrates the Know Your School Day which is an event that gives the teachers a break from their noble careers. Students get a chance to substitute as faculty and staff of the University for a day. It is also a good way to know how people work in school. You get a chance to know UP High’s system of teaching. The KYSD has been a tradition in UP High and every year it gets better and better. Actually the KYSD runs for a couple of days. It isn’t only for a day. Sometimes runs for two to three days. It also happened before that the KYSD was held in a week. But the duration doesn’t matter because the success of the KYSD, with the help of the Student Council, is consistent. In my four years in UP, I never had a chance to be a teacher in the KYSD probably because I never had the passion for teaching even if my mom, dad and aunt are teachers. I didn’t want to teach. I always wanted to just be a student - a learning student. The first time I experienced this event, I was amazed because my classmates were so in to becoming little Madam Gallos, Sir Montaños, Madam Logartas and many more cute things. Of course, the freshies were the devotees of this event. Imagine the excitement we felt. It was an honor to be a teacher. You’ll be of higher rank over your classmates so you can scold them for being noisy like you when you are a part in class. You have authority over them. If I know, almost everyone wanted to become a teacher for a day. It was always good to know that at our very young and feeble age, we had the guts and skills to teach people of our generation. I can still remember Richard and Juna teaching us Geometry. At first we didn’t really understand the existence of the arc. But they really tried to explain how the arcs work and they were successful with it. How did we know? Well, we became third year students. Somehow, I remembered Aiko as a student-teacher in Social Science and Computer. (I’m not sure of that) I don’t know but Aiko loves teaching SocSci. It was good news for us because Sir Montaño doesn’t come to class that regular that’s why we can have a good discussion of the history of the world. I think Grace tried to be a Biology teacher even if she’s better at Math.April Rhiz was my seatmate during Chemistry time so I witnessed her preparations for her Chemistry discussion about RedOx. Lately, Chairman and Jann discussed a topic for Calculus called Related Rates. While writing this, a flashback of Ella teaching PE came into my mind. She gave a joke one time about her application for the certain subject and we laughed at her. The next day, we were having PE with Ms. Sarmago. But after two years, Ella felt that she was not contented with the PE teacher position so this year she made sure that this year she would be the Professional Division Chairperson and she did! It feels different when your co-student is teaching you. Sometimes you really don’t understand what they’re trying to teach you. But most of the time, we understand the new lessons because the new teachers know what we find hard about the lesson so they make sure that we don’t struggle. We also are stimulated to learn because we are most likely on the same line of thinking especially on the choice of words. Student-teachers can express more what they’re trying to say. We don’t easily get bored because they know when to throw jokes and ice-breakers. But after the day, we still get back to our student instincts. We still play and laugh our hearts out. I still prefer being taught than to teach.

1 testimonial to reject or approve

This will be in a formal manner so please bear with me.
It was a room full of tension and anxiety. The air could be considered humid and saturated because of the hard breathing everyone was doing. We were eager to push smiles but it was difficult since it was our first day and we barely knew anyone and in the midst of all of this…
“She’s cold and she’s cruel but she knows what she’s doing…” Something anonymously powerful struck the platform with a “Good morning Madam. Good morning classmates. I’m Ella Beverly Sarmago and I’m proud to be your classmate!” And we were all like “What the?!” I could perfectly and vividly imagine how she looked and what she was on. She was wearing blue cargo jeans and a spaghetti top with white and green stripes. She really defined “sexy and hot” We all stared at her as she took her seat;the seat behind me!
She was oozing...oozing with confidence! She greeted everyone that surrounded her. You could then see that she was a carefree person and that she has so much to share. She was just that natural and from the on she showed us what she could do and can do for the better. Ella constantly surprised us with tidbits of who she was. It was because she was loud.. Loud in the sense that she speaks of her beautiful mind and she contained liberalism with good reason. But I found out something different when she smiled at me. Because in that smile I saw melancholy. I saw that Ella differed from those loud and liberated women who didn't care that much of others and focused only on what they want to say. She was indeed human;weak and tender at heart. I was that bad for not seeing that hurting piece of Ella's vulnerable heart. Ella was deeply crying inside. All I wanted was to reach out to her but honestly, I couldn't because I didn't know how. There was this big wall that hindered me from touching her. There were these times when we laughed our hearts out and sang to our very last breaths but I didn't get the time to talk to her heart to heart. I prayed in the evenings that Ella would somehow be awakened from her sadness just like a princess who slept for a thousand years. I knew I could not be her prince so I just whispered my wishes for her to the wind hoping that the wind will sing them to Ella's long waiting prince. In the middle of our struggles, I saw her as she grew into the lovely lady we see now. She remained humble. Humble because she she still had the valuable time to say her “Hi's” and “Hello's” and the “I like what what your wearing today...” But still, she wasn't that happy. I already heard of her hurtful past when destiny permitted us to talk about it one day. And I admire her for being so strong because I know it's never easy to let go. Ella may appear firm and strong outside but she needs that certain touch to change her life and make it more beautiful because Ella deserves it. JP may not be that
prince Ella is waiting for but I know that somehow he has made Ella feel different toward life. Someone has seen the beauty within her. Someone made her feel special in a way.
This maybe too mushy for you to handle Ella but I mean everything I wrote. That's what I see in you. I had always seen the good heart in you and I hope you will not forget that you have it. Use it to share good to others. Thank you for always believing in me. You make me special.

Inside my Memory Box

Addressed to Ella’s “Memories in a Box”…

As young as twelve, I saw high school as a stage of teen problems, drug addiction, bad peer pressure, fraternities and boy-girl relationships. Ridiculous isn’t it? That shows my being narrow-minded and the conservative environment I was surrounded with. I wanted to skip high school, jump to college and finish my education. I never knew what pleasure and fun awaited me.

It was in my second year in UP when I realized how awesome high school was. And it was then when my memory box was born. I filled it with every bit of memory I could have. So what do you think is inside this memory box of mine?

What consists of this flashback trunk are just simple stuff like my first year library card (I think it was only required in that year because it didn’t exist in the following years); some parents permit for a certain school event (just shows that either I didn’t come to the event or the guard was asleep); the doll-key-chain Yolike gave after the Christmas break; a 19-forgotten paper chat with Jabert about his crush; my very hi-tech calculator that broke down after three months of extensive use; bracelets given by Eldee and Stacey; the pink pillow given by the juniors during our last promenade; my vulnerable flute; and the red silk we wore around our waists when we won the Dayegon Contest. By the way, these are only those that can be seen on the surface of the box. Underneath are more memories.

These included the copy of the songs in the CD gives as a token by the juniors; raffle tickets I bought because it was compulsory but I didn’t hand it over during the draw; the immortal Jonathan Livingstone Seagull; the cross stitch that wrote “Dany” and up to now I don’t even know who Dany is; letters from Christille, Byron. April Mae, Jann, Jabert and Stacey; another keychain from Arvin(he gave key chains to all who were in Bocobo); candies and lollipops(I collect every sweet someone gives me unless I am really in need to eat it); the box of peanut kisses Richard gave me when I turned sixteen; the wallets I used in my third and first year; the blue scoop I used to eat the thirty-peso-worth of ice cream at MV Duolos ; the mini Harry-Potter-organizer that lasted only for a year; the bottle of sand we gathered from an on-the-spot outing to Pepito’s beach; Chinese Checkers we won in exchange of the tickets we collected from playing at Timezone; the slightly-used map of the world for our SocSci 1; Math 1’s “Annual Statement of Account”; a bookmark from Gracielle; the bag I got for Christmas from the Royal-Family-Christmas-Tradition; message in a bottle given by Jann; the classic polvoron Nico Martin distributed; the candles warmed us during the freezing promenade; assorted coins from Madam Gallo; the dice I found on the street one cold and sad night; the Hilton ball pen

Nico lended when we had one of those nerve-wracking Calculus tests; my so-called “soulmate” bracelet (the one I found twice in my stay in UP); the amazing UP Handbook; my very first watch; Statistics booklet (I always keep it because this was the only Math I was confident with); a ticket to the Oedipus Rex (starring Ella and Gabby); my favorite SocSci 2 notebook; a poster for Hale’s very first concert here in Cebu which was posted on the walls of the waiting shed; Madam Lapa’s table of elements; Carol-of-the-Bells lyrics; UPCAT requirements; and the most valuable material memories-pictures!!!!

And from what has been written above, you can now imagine how full and memorable my memory box is.

So, what’s inside your memory box Ella?

Ethanol From Potato, Sweet potato and Taro

A Comparative study on Ethanol content from potato, sweet potato and taro was conducted by Research II students of the University of the Philippines High School in Cebu. The said study was conducted by Mariel Stephanie Alvizo, Juna Rose Dinglasa, John Albert Metoda and Doanne Lyre Montecastro.Here is a summary of the study.
Our country mainly depends on foreign products like energy from oil and petroleum. We get most of these from the Middle East. We are directly affected with the increasing rates of these energy sources especially that we experience inflation here in the Philippines. People have come up with ideas of using alternatives for petroleum; alternatives that are cheaper than but still as good as petroleum. Then biodiesel came up. Biodiesel refers to a diesel-equivalent, processed fuel derived from biological sources (such as vegetable oils), which can be used in unmodified diesel-engined vehicles. One of the raw materials needed to make biodiesel is ethyl alcohol commonly known as ethanol. Ethanol is found in starchy and sugary plants. The plants used in this project are under those which are starchy. These plants are the root crops potato, sweet potato and taro (commonly known as gabi). The researchers also used decided to use these root crops because of its availability in Cebu. This project aims to measure the ethanol content in the three root crops. These root crops were boiled, mashed then blended separately. Yeast was added to the blended root crops. The root crops underwent the process of fermentation for 30 days. Fermentation is the conversion of sugar to alcohol using yeast under anaerobic conditions. A more general definition of fermentation is the chemical conversion of carbohydrates into alcohols and acids. After the fermentation process, the fermented root crops were subjected for distillation which is the process of separating liquid from another liquid. Ethanol must be separated from water at this rate. When evaporating, the temperature must not exceed 80 degrees Celsius because if it does exceed, it will become water. This process took the researchers 15 hours per root crop. The gathered samples are contained in a Florence flask. To test if the gathered samples are really ethanol, the researchers used the flame test. A thimbleful of the sample was lit to see if it really was ethanol. Sweet potato showed a bigger spark than potato while taro didn’t spark at all.
In the first trial, ethanol gathered from 100 ml of sweet potato was 7.9 ml, 0.8 ml from potato and 1.5 ml from taro respectively.
In trial 2, the volume of ethanol extracted from 100 ml of sweet potato was 7.1 ml, from potato was 8.6 ml and from taro was 9.5 ml. The mean volume of ethanol content from sweet potato is 7.5 ml; 4.7 ml from potato and 5.5 ml from taro. From the results, the researchers concluded that sweet potatoes yielded the greatest amount of ethanol and that it is the best source of ethanol among the three root crops. And from these conclusions, the researchers came up with recommendations like the promotion of biodiesel as an alternative for petroleum for sectors like the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Science and Technology. They also recommended the establishments of companies that allow the production of ethanol to the investors. And lastly, they recommend the improvement of the study to the future researchers.

Gate Pass to Heaven?

People say I have a gate pass to heaven because I’m a PK.

I am a PK. Yup, I’m a Pastor’s Kid and I’m proud to be one. But being a PK is not that easy as you think. Although we never skip meals, and we get tons and tons of freebies, thanks to the overflowing blessings of God, these don’t exempt us from salvation. We have to personally work on it. Our parents are given to us by God to guide us in living rightfully in this cruel world. They are also to help us grow spiritually. But I still have to decide for myself on what to believe in, right? But I’ll tell you what. I am glad that my parents believe in God. That gives me a very strong foundation and I know that with that, I’m headed for the right path.

Being a PK is also tough. We usually get persecuted by those non-believers. They pity on us for being meek and extra good but they don’t pity on their souls. If they just knew that they would rot in hell if they don’t change for good. We also get tempted. Like me. I study at a very liberated environment and temptation is anywhere at any time. So I am more susceptible to temptation now that I understand what is right and wrong. But I manage to make it through even if I commit a lot of mistakes on the way. I learn from them but there are still times when I give in. Silly me huh? I must admit that I am human and can never be perfect but imperfection is not an exemption for doing wrong. As much as possible, I do right things. Sometimes, my mind gets so narrow that I don’t understand the need to do this and that. But then I ponder on thoughts like why the good Lord gave me understanding and patient parents. They were really to help me cope up in life and make reasonable decisions for my own good. Look at me now! I’m happy, healthy and contented with life. There may be times when I crave for worldly things, things that will vanish anytime but I try to get back on track. God gave me knowledge about what’s good and bad so I have to use it wisely.

God also blessed me with good and God-fearing friends. I never imagined that I would find these kind of people in UP but if it was meant for us to meet, then nothing else would matter. I got friends who believe that there is a good God because they also experience his goodness in their everyday lives. These are my most treasured valuables in this harsh world. We easily relate to each other because more or less we have the same goals in life. And that is to live and love life to the fullest by doing what is right. I can’t say that I’m sure of going to heaven but I know that I’m on the right track and I hope I won’t go astray. The road to heaven is narrow. I should fit in.

People still think that I’m sure of my gate pass to heaven because I’m a PK. I think it is our human instinct that is telling us that. But no one is really exempted. We stand equal in the eyes of our maker. It is just a matter on working our faith out. Isn’t it time to reflect on things like this?

I Thought She Knew

She has black hair and brown eyes. Her skin has the Asian touch. Her facial expression is so intimidating but I didn’t care. And her eyes were telling me to find out the roots of a mystery. I admire her very much because she keeps on telling me things I don’t even know and keeps me interested. I talk to her silently and laugh with her softly. I see her everyday even in my dreams! Although she doesn’t have friends, she introduces me to her different adventures beyond our imagination. I amuse myself with her peculiar choice of wardrobe and rare pair of shoes. She loves playing the flute and the melody she creates complete a story. We have so much in common. We enjoy the taste of bittersweet chocolates and we both like the scent of green apples. She brings me to places I’ve never been to. Once, she brought me to a grassy meadow with a lot of periwinkles and asters. And the cool breeze smelled so good and it touched my face and tickled my ears. I saw falcons and hawks but with harmless eyes. It was as if I was talking to them asking them if they could come and play with us. But the best part of it was when I touched the crystal clear blue water in the river and the felling was so good to be true. I thought of bringing her to my house but she said she couldn’t because she won’t fit in. I t made me sad so I went home. But before I could reach home, she asked me again to come with her and she assured me that I could get home safe and sound. She pleaded so I gave in. Under the tall tree which leaves changes its color, stood and old rose bush. She really knew what I wanted. I was fascinated and I felt like not coming home anymore. I danced with the wind while she was watching me until I fell asleep. I woke up beside my sister and never said a word until I was crying. I was frustrated. I wanted to go back to that place. I really enjoyed her company but I never knew who she was. I thought she was real. I just tried to cry but my tears were now tears of joy. I was happy because for once in my life, I delighted and enjoyed for a short time. I really wanted to believe in such things but I could not do anything. I was hopeless and futile. Dumbfounded could best describe what I feel. I guess I thought she knew that I believed in her. Now I’m caught between a daydream and a future ahead. I must move on. I have to and maybe I would really meet her in the future. I would love to.