25 (otherwise known as "Because I have so much time in my hands")

There's this ongoing tagging and getting tagged in Facebook wherein one has to list 25 random things about himself/herself and I somehow got sucked into it (also because of all the free time I have right now). Here's my list and to my amazement, I actually had fun writing these stuff. The list could have actually gone on and on and on...

1.) I was diagnosed with chronic glumerulonephritis, a disease of the kidneys, when I was 19. It was discovered only by chance since I did not manifest any symptoms. Had I not found out about it, I could have had end stage renal disease without my knowing it, and it could have possibly led to death.

2.) I had my kidney transplant at the age of 25, right after graduating from law school and taking the bar. I currently have three kidneys. (No joke.)

3.) It absolutely pains me to see young children with life-threatening diseases. I see a lot whenever I go to the hospital (and that is quite often). I sometimes pray that I could bear their sicknesses so that they can enjoy life as a child.

4.) I have been part of five different varsity teams in my entire lifetime: karate, table tennis, track and field, volleyball and taekwondo. I consider myself as a very physical person – I love physical activities and I love being on the go. I enjoy trying out different sports.

5.) I smile and laugh a lot despite whatever hardships I face. I don’t really like showing people a sad face.

6.) I have the attention span of a ten-year old. I am easily distracted and dyslexic at times. During a lecture that would last hours, I’d normally be spacing out already during the first ten minutes. To be fair to me, I have mastered the art of pretending to be attentive at times when I have already zoned out.

7.) I don’t know why but I love giraffes! I have a collection of different giraffe stuff – from stuffed toys to keychains, stickers and whatnots. I want to have a pet giraffe someday who would greet me in the morning from the window of my room on the second or third floor.

8.) I am an absolute believer in the saying that “Grades are not the absolute measure of one’s ability.” I was never the studious type. However, my children in the future should be.

9.) I am ambidextrous. I write with my right hand. I wear my watch on my right hand. In sports, my left leg is my stronger leg. I can write with my left hand, though not as consistent as my right, but definitely more legible than other peoples’ right handwriting.

10.) I loooove to sleep. I can sleep the whole day and still have normal sleep at night. I can sleep in the most difficult of positions and situations. It is my frustration though, that I could not sleep while sitting down without my head leaning on something.

11.) Contrary to popular belief, I’m not an extremely extroverted person. I don’t know if I’m an introvert or an extrovert. When I was younger, I remember being a very shy kid. I’d hide inside my room whenever there were visitors at home because I didn’t like mingling with people. As I grew up, I learned to be more outgoing and more sociable but I always kept time for myself. Nowadays, I like being alone a lot. I can stay inside a coffee shop alone for hours reading, writing or just pondering. I can eat alone in restaurants and even watch a movie alone. I’d want to travel to another country alone in the future.

12.) I wasn’t an avid reader when I was younger. I think it was because I was such a slow reader and I’d often fall asleep right away while reading. I still am a slow reader (Imagine how hard it was for me to go through law school!) but I’ve become more patient and have managed to read a lot of books despite my snail’s pace. I read just before I go to sleep at night and I have so many unread books at home.

13.) I have a toy collection at home. I collect different toys from Monsters, Inc. and I already have lots of Mike and Sulley toys. I also collect the Little Green Men from Toy Story (those cute three-eyed green aliens!). I also collect other toys from Harry Potter, the Transformers and Marvel.

14.) I’m a very patient and understanding person but people shouldn’t test my limits. When I get mad, I get really mad. And I get really personal.

15.) I have four siblings – two older brothers and two older sisters. It was actually fun growing up with many siblings. We can form Voltes V, Voltron or the Bioman and I’d be Little John, Pidge or Blue 3 (always the youngest in the group). Until now, we still complement each other since we are in different fields – medicine, the academe, computers, psychology and law.

16.) I am very family oriented and family always comes first for me. I’d stand up for all my family members at any given time. We’re not the types who would be very vocal or affectionate about our love for each other but we’re a pretty close-knit bunch.

17.) I love art but art doesn’t love me. I wish I could sketch, draw, sculpt, paint or take good photographs.

18.) Among the jobs I dreamt of doing when I was the kid are the following: priest, businessman, President of the Philippines, toll ticker giver, playwright, psychiatrist, actor and veterinarian. Take note, I never really thought of being a lawyer when I grew up.

19.) I am claustrophobic and acrophobic. My balls get all shaken up when I’m in enclosed spaces and in very high places, especially when I can see the view way down below.

20.) Before I die, I’d want to bungee jump, ski, sky dive and go rappelling on a mountain.

21.) I really, really, really want to join Survivor or Amazing Race. I honestly feel I could win in both. If only I didn’t have problems with my kidneys, I would’ve already joined a long time ago.

22.) Contrary to popular belief, I’m not very comfortable with positions of leadership. I prefer staying away from the limelight and just doing whatever responsibility is given me. However, if the responsibility given to me is that of leading, I would still rise up to challenge and give it my best shot.

23.) I don’t know how to do small talk with older people, most especially persons of authority. I’ve always avoided small talk with professors, my bosses and clients.

24.) If I could, I’d live in Antigua and Barbuda. (No, I’ve never been there, but that’s my dream getaway.)

25.) I am basically a drifter – I run along where life takes me. However, of late, I have decided that I will try to put my foot down on certain things and already make decisions by myself, instead of going with the flow.