Frustrations at not fitting in...

... but then again, perhaps I wasn't meant to.

Apparently, I'm 'too good looking' and too outgoing and that's why most of the Fil-Ams hate me.
And then it's my Fil-Am culture that, while friendly and kind to most people (Filipino and Fil-Am), makes my gf's barkada (group of friends) resistant to the idea of her and me being together.

*sigh*

A few vids of the gf doing Poi

A late introduction

Hi, I'm Nick. I'm from Spring, TX.

I love fighting and the martial arts, and thus I've been given the nickname "Ryu"



but I've chosen the path of a doctor over that of a fighter, thus the self-bequeathed nickname "Doctor Ryu." However, the plan is still to fight for maybe a year after I'm done with med school. Academically, I used to be the highest of the highest kind of achiever, but I fell off of things for the past few years.

I realized that I could wait, and take the MCAT for a 3rd time, and get above a 30 on it (likely, given my improvement trend between the first and second time taking it) and I don't know how much better my non-practiced writing sections would have gotten (I got a Q), but I didn't want to wait anymore. The University of Santo Tomas has a great medical program, and there are over 25,000 graduates practicing in the States. So yeah.

I just did NOT want to wait anymore. Hell, I'm getting old, and I know it.

So I chose to go to medical school in the Philippines, and here I am, in Manila, going to UST, which is down the street from my apartment. All that said, I still chose to continue training for my health.

Boxing at Elorde


Muay Thai at Elorde


Anyway, this first semester has kicked my ass in med school. To be frank, everything is just so fkn disorganized here. Get biochem handouts in anatomy, get physio handouts in med ethics.. yeah.. How 'bout getting the proper fkn handouts in the proper fkn classes!?

Anyway, my life here has been about 'battling' the rain (which I don't really mind too much), continuously climbing uphill under the torrent of med school material, trying to run and train some still (tho no weights; I'm much weaker now, as I USED to be able to bicep curl 55 lbs rather easily), and learn about this side of my culture that I've largely not bothered to get to know.

The rain is nuts sometimes. HOT as FK during the day, rain a shitton at night. Heck, once I went outside to run, and the moment I started a pace, the rain began, pelting the hell out of me. Yeah. Fun.


Med school is just... a whole lot to learn. It doesn't help that I'm also literally learning a new language at the same time, but I think it's coming kinda quickly to me, thanks to a certain someone. :)


For training, I've been training at Elorde Boxing Gym semi-regularly for a few months. I was planning on going to just WATCH the team tryouts in the next couple of months. I told the guy there: "Yeah, please let me know when the tryouts are. I want to come watch."
The guy goes: "Just watch?"
My eyes widened and then I said: "OR tryout.."
So there you have it.

On learning Tagalog... I know more of the language now than I ever have in the entirety of my life. I was here for a month last year, and I learned more in that month than I did during the rest of my life prior to that trip. But heck, in my first two weeks here this year, I learned more than in that month last year. The learning has accelerated, not only out of necessity but out of curiosity as well.

I'm in the Taglish mode, replacing certain English words with Tagalog, but, heheh, soon I won't need English at all."

Got a few things that I still want to cram into this post, but I think this'll do for now. And yes, I met a hot Filipina actress in Subic, at the beach.

The introduction is being drafted...

... but in other news, Anderson Silva just got put thru the fight of his life. In current combat sports, my heroes are Floyd Mayweather (tho as a person, he's a douche), Manny Pacquiao, and the fantastic #1 pound for pound fighter (not boxer) in the world... Anderson "The Spider" Silva.

Beaten over the course of almost all 5 rounds, he locks in that triangle choke. Good job, Anderson, but I think you were complacent. I think you didn't realize just how good a wrestler Chael Sonnen is. Don't get complacent, ever again. It only takes one person to make you see how badass you really aren't!

So, Lina said I have a lot going on...

... and that I should keep a blog.
Back to Blogger I am, with an introduction to come.