Alright. For the first time in a long time, I'm gonna post some SilkRoad Online news! :o I patched it like the day before yesterday, and I played a little bit yesterday. I'm surprised to see a lot of interesting changes. There's a quest to give you more slots in your inventory, there's new upgrade items (I don't understand them yet; I'll check on the website later), and there's pets! The pets look awesome. One of the pets is a gray wolf, which is actually more like a gray puppy. It's so cute, and it helps in battle, etc. It levels up, has its own stats, and gets hungry. So you really gotta take care of it if you want a strong companion in battle.

Sadly though, they still don't have new countries. I'd really like to make a character in the Persian country (or what they call "Islam country"). Oh well. I hope they put that stuff in soon-ish. Like within this year at least.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, officially, the rainy season has begun, and has been going on for weeks now. It rains like everyday, even though sometimes the rain is really short, or just a drizzle. But it's all good as long as it brings in a refreshing wind with it.

Finally, I just want to say again that DotA is fun. :D I still don't have a particular favorite hero, but there are a few at the top of my list, including the Ursa Warrior, Faceless Void, Queen of Pain, Goblin Tinker, and Netherdrake.

Alright. So I'm hooked on DotA finally. I've put it off for a while now. I finally got the WCIII installer and I downloaded the patches and DotA itself. It's an extremely addictive game. o_o It's just so diverse heheh. :D I'm still learning, but I'm enjoying almost every minute of it.

Okay I went to SM North yesterday for the first time since we moved to our new house. Good grief it's even more crowded than I remember. Anyway I went there because the SM San Lazaro people (I think it was B. Reign in particular) heard that there's a PIU Zero machine there. So they (he) invited a lot of people, and Mikey and I went. But to be honest I didn't really enjoy myself. It was too crowded, the machine was located poorly, and the WoF staff there isn't friendly. I only wish they'd put up a Zero machine at Megamall now. :c

More news: I heard there'll be two upcoming tournaments. I'm not sure on the details, but I heard one of them is for WPF 2006. o_o The sooner one is in July, the WPF one is in August.

Okay not-PIU news: there'll be a b-boy event and a street dance event soon. The b-boy event's schedule and location is unknown to me as of now. But the street dance event is on July 1st, at UP Theater (?).

CCF is moving to the 5th floor on the 2nd week of July. And the Designing Arts Ministry has to get back to work on Thursday.

Last week, we went to the Project S.C.H.O.O.L. Leaders' Retreat. It spanned from last Saturday up to Monday. Sadly, Mikey spent the night at my house so we could get to Ortigas easier. This is sad because neither of us got any sleep. We spent the night talking and playing O2Jam rofl. So naturally we were dead tired on the first day of camp. It was so bad that I fell asleep at like 10 PM that first night, and I didn't wake up to the sounds of my roommates' laughter at all, which I normally would've at least been bothered with.

The retreat itself was intense. We learned a whole lot of new things, like how important discipleship is. I also met some of the people from JZone Bulacan and the newly-founded JZone Cebu. Our free times, though few and short, were also much fun. I chose not to sleep during the free times even though I was tired, so I can have a chance to bond with new and old friends alike.

When we got home on Monday night, our cousins (mother's side) were all here at our house, around the pool area. My young niece learned to swim on the spot. But I was just happy to be home because of the long and tiring journey we went through.

As for B-boying news, I learned a few new things, including something I want to try. First, I can do a 1-handed handstand already, but only for a very short time. I think the longest I've done is about 2 seconds, tops. But it's time enough to do something interesting with your legs or your other hand. :D So I'll play around with that. Second, I'm going to try to do a hollowback. Not the intense kind where your body is horizontal to the ground. More like a fake one. It starts off with one leg piked (like an L-kick, but with your body facing upward), then you put your free hand down on the floor. The way I see it, you should be able to hold the position for a little while. Long enough for people to see what you're doing, at least. I'm working on my upper body strength to help me with that. I did some fingers-pointing-inward push-ups, and my pecs are killing me lol.

Okay, I haven't mentioned this, but recently I've been taking steps toward a girl I like. The problem, though, and I didn't even know it until just today, is that I got so caught up in the excitement of the whole meeting a girl thing, and the first few steps toward a possible relationship (even as friends) thing, that I kinda pushed God aside in the matter. And that's not the right way to do things.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (JEREMIAH 29:11)

"But seek first [God's] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (MATTHEW 6:33-34)

From now on, I'm going to stop struggling with God regarding my relationships. It does me no good to fight for each relationship, taking matters into my own hand. I have enough to worry about without all the hassle of relational problems. I'll do what God wants me to do, and focus on that. And God will take care of all my relationships.