Freshman year was a bit of a blur. I was working fulltime (because I had this silly notion that I was going to move out-- Dad and I weren't getting along too well-- we are getting along fabulously now), going to school fulltime and feeling tired all the time. I didn't mind working so much cos Shiloh was always there. Yeah, that was my Shiloh year. He is significant because he played a pivotal role
in the story of my life. He is the catalyst that facilitated the events that shape the person that you now know as Chingay.
Anyway-- on March 9, 1997-- after I've finally saved enough money to come home to the Philippines and see my old friends, I get involved in a major car wreck at the 63rd and Oliver intersection a few yards from K-15. I didn't suffer any injuries, but I totaled my car (then a gray '93 Nissan Sentra).. And shattered my vacation plans.
A week later I bought the car that I drive now (a red '95 Saturn SC2). I came out of the ordeal alright, though a bit disappointed that my trip back to the Philippines had to get postponed. I can't even remember what I did that summer, probably just worked a lot.
Oh, yeah.. I remember. That's the summer that I wanted to learn how to skate(board). I even bought a Whippersnappers complete and some tools from CCS (California Cheap Skates, a skateboarding mail-order company). I also bought a 10-disc CD changer for my car. I bought tons of stuff that year (on credit). I went on a major catalog shopping binge, spending almost a thousand dollars on swimsuits and lingerie and miscellaneous unnecessary items (that I am paying for now) in the span of about a month. I think, mostly, I did it in order to make myself feel better for not being able to go home to the Philippines.. To pacify my grieving soul.