Sunday, December 31, 2006

what a way to end the year

It's going to be a happy new year... not.

I'm sorry, I'm feeling a little off as of the moment. It's kind of hard to explain. I've been holed up in my room the whole day today. Things suddenly went downhill.

I found out from Carms that Nicco got into a car accident last night. Scary. He fell asleep on the road. But thank God he was alright. It was truly a miracle that there wasn't a scratch despite what happened.

Then... tonight. Whatever. I still feel regretful that I had taken things for granted. I don't know what will happen when the new year begins.

I will not think.

I was supposed to blog about what I've been up to these past few days. Oh, forget it.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

post-Christmas

Christmas here at home becomes more and more uneventful every year. This year, specially, because the house felt emptier without my brother around. He had arrived on Christmas Eve last year, and this time, he'll be arriving on New Year's Eve. Aside from going to mass and the food that we all kept coming back to in the kitchen and the dining area, Christmas had felt like a regular day.

We never really celebrate much anymore in our family. Be it Christmas or birthdays or whatever. I guess that's why I didn't exactly look forward to the holidays. I actually spent Christmas day in my room, in front of the PC or the TV.

So I was truly grateful that Mikki had texted me that day, saying that we really should plan a get together. I had said that I was free the day after Christmas, so texting ensued. Just simple dinner plans, and I actually looked forward to seeing all our friends again even though I didn't exactly feel that close to them anymore because I had suddenly kept myself aloof since I stopped attending Playshop.

Because we only had plans for the evening, I had decided to watch Zsazsa Zaturnnah before meeting up with the people. Found out that ATC wasn't showing it, so I had no choice but to go to the more crowded Festival Mall. Hahaha, while I was in line to buy some food before the show, I saw Mavic and Josh lining up for that Judy Ann and Ryan Agoncillo movie (I had forgotten what all the K's stand for, hahaha). And when I had already settled into a seat inside the cinema, Iam had texted and called to say that she and Ge were also in Festival to watch Ligalig.

Iam was right. Zsazsa Zaturnnah was indeed like all those typical Pinoy superhero films. I wasn't exactly wow-ed by the flick, but it sure was still funny, though the pacing can be a bit slow that it sort of ruins the comedic timing. Oh well. Plus they added some new characters. And oh my goodness, those musical numbers. I know some were adapted from the musical, but some of them really reminded me of those 80s movies where they really have these song numbers all throughout the show. I guess those parts were really more meant for a stage play than a movie, ahehehe. And the worst, I'll have to say, was Pops' accent, arg... That British accent was awful, and it wasn't even constant, santa banana.

I can't wait to watch the musical next month, ahahaha. When I had asked Jerald if the movie was ok when he had seen it yesterday with Tuxqs and the rest, I knew what to expect from the film.

After the movie, I had decided to walk to Westgate from Festival Mall instead of taking a jeep because it was easier for me. Plus I don't have to shell out that extra 7 pesos. Jamie arrived at Brothers Burger a few minutes after I did, and Mikki appeared a moments after that. Then Karl and Tycel arrived, and when we decided not to wait for anyone else, it was time to eat, hahaha.

It was my first time to actually hang out with Tycel, excluding that time when I slept over at Teena's and I got to go out to lunch with them the day after. So anyway, talk talk here and there, and nobody else arrived, so we moved to Cafe Breton. That was where Mae, Anna and Kris (in that order) finally arrived.

I have to say, one of the reasons I wanted to go out with them tonight was to see if I was any different from them from before. I used to be quiet, "parang walang script (in Arnie's words, hahaha), whenever I was with them. I just laughed along as a spectator. I never shared any kwento, except when asked. And when Mae had asked how I was, I told her to ask me specific questions instead, because I wouldn't know what to tell and how to begin if I start saying anything.

What was funny was that I was unconsciously observing people's accents and speech patterns as I listened to their stories. Gahd, I don't think I ever spoke this certain way with them, but sometime this year, I was labeled "conyo" and "burgis" so I started thinking again. Ahahaha.

Then hel-lo, I mentally smacked myself in the head and told myself that I was there with my friends to have fun, to get together, to find out what they've been up to since I last saw them. It was amusing to hear what everyone had to say. Karl's DJ stint. Anna's share of stories of being UP. Mae and her bashing (hyukhyukhyuk). Remembering old memories and sharing some others. Etcetera. And me? Ahahaha, I don't even remember if I shared anything. Well, except for the news of Avenue Q.

I think I've been away from them for quite a long time that I didn't feel as comfortable. Well, I wasn't really uncomfortable, but I guess, well, there's something different. Oh well. But yet, it's still great to see all of them again.

And to my surprise, we all called it a night at half past midnight. Hahaha. Oh well (again). Back to real life. So I guess this is my cue to post this entry online and log off. G'night world.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

of company lunch, road trips and hanging out til morning

Last Thursday, Ate Sally, Kuya Boni, Lai and I had lunch with Bobby, Mrs. Garcia, Chari, Manman, Bettina, Ms Bernice and Pepe at the poolside of the Shang Grand. We had pancit and a cake delivered, and I ordered lots of barbecue from the carpark in the next block that serves yummy barbecue.

Hahaha, Pepe was everyone's favorite, specially mine. That kid was adorable. Wahahaha, of course, when he mistook my name for "Pogi," that's what Bobby started calling me. Nyak.

We had to leave in a rush afterwards because Kuya Boni and I had to pick up some ensaymada orders and deliver some of them as well as a couple of proposal letters. Off to the Mary Grace stall in Glorietta to pick up boxes of esaymada, brownies and food for the gods, which included some personal orders by Ate Sally and me, because we couldn't resist the brownies and food for the gods.

We delivered a couple of boxes to Phil Star and the Carlos Romulo auditorium, and we didn't manage to make other deliveries that day because there was just too much.

Met up with Misch, Nikki and Remus at SM Mall of Asia after work. I was hoping for a night of just chilling and talking, because I was really pretty tired. But no, they wanted to go shopping. Of course, being the person that I am, I didn't refuse and went along with them.

Yesterday was hectic. Kuya Boni and I began our day at 9am sharp. Picked up bread pudding and mango tort cakes, then we were off. My oh my, it felt like we went around the entire Metro Manila in just a day. Well, maybe just me. We got as far north as Commonwealth, then there was a delivery in Pasig, the Fort, Kamias, and even as close as the next village in Makati. Then there was my solo delivery in Alabang when we were done with everything else.

I was tired, but I didn't want to crash and go straight home. I wanted to unwind instead, so where did I end up going? Intramuros for Walk Back In Time. Wahahaha. I felt like a groupie, but no, I totally deny it. Was half an hour late for the 2nd show, but no real loss anyway. Settled next to Max, who was doing his photo-docu as usual. After the show, I went to Chie to say hi and did a bit of small talk. Hung around the venue even during company call, just bugging some of the people until I settled in one of the corners.

After company call, I found myself with Jerald and some of the AC people, on the way to Providence Tower, hahaha. There was me, Jerald, Anna, Tara, Joel, Marj, Jen, Sugus (sp?), and met up with Arnie, Amihan, and Abner at Prov. Every room was already occupied, and after a while, we decided to go to this place nearby (I forgot what it was called) to talk and eat and have a few drinks. Anna had to leave after a few minutes, darn, but Nar managed to catch up with us. Arnie's line for me the entire night was "Hogi, wala kang script?" because I hardly talked. Hello, for the people who barely know me, I'm more of a listener unless I really want to let something out. Oh well, never mind. The part I enjoyed that night was just the opportunity to get to know these new people. I hardly spoke more than two words to some of them except for hellos before that night. I didn't care whether I kept hearing that "script" line from Arnie, ahahaha.

When the bill was paid, we were back at Prov. They were all dying for a big dose of videoke, so we waited for someone to vacate one of the rooms. We ended up waiting for this one guy who was alone, and was in one room that could fit all of us. I mean, hello, there were ones that were good for solo people, but he just had to choose a bigger room. Hahahaha.

Then it was videoke time. My golly, I can't believe Nar's voice managed to make it until 5 in the morning! After every other song, Je kept choosing these R&B songs for him to sing. Hilarious, idol ni Arnie si Je, and idol ni Je si Nar.

In the end, the ones who stayed until 5 were Nar, Amihan, Abner, Arnie, Jerald and me. Everyone was already darn tired, so we all finally called it a night (?). Jerald, on the other hand, was still hungry, which was a sure sign that he had too much to drink. He was craving for Jollibee, so we took a jeep along Taft to look for a Jollibee that was open 24 hours. When we finally found one, we ended up going to the place next to it that served good, cheap food, hahaha. Oh well, the craving was gone.

I got home at around 7 in the morning, and because I was sleeping all day, I'm pretty wide awake right now, rawr.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Atlantis Productions' lineup for 2007, and others

Our print ad was in the Entertainment section of The Philippine Star today (page E-2). And I'm so excited to plug this already...

Atlantis Productions, which recently staged the hit production of DOUBT starring Cherie Gil, gets ready for it's most exciting season yet in 2007 with the hit Tony Award winning Broadway musical AVENUE Q and Filipino-American novelist and playwright Jessica Hagedorn's acclaimed play DOGEATERS.

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Life may suck on AVENUE Q, but for a bright-eyed college graduate called Princeton, this is his new neighborhood. A tiny bank balance and a variety of weird and wonderful friends and neighbors lead Princeton on a hilarious journey of self-discovery. Performed by an unholy comedic alliance of humans and puppets(!), AVENUE Q was the winner of the 2004 TONY AWARD for BEST NEW MUSICAL, BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL and BEST ORIGINAL SCORE! It has become known as "the musical for the iPod generation" and continues to run on Broadway and in London's West End to SRO crowds. AVENUE Q runs in August/September 2007.

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DOGEATERS is a tragi-comic look at the Philippines during the reign of Marcos, and the conflicts experienced by Asian immigrants caught between cultures. Brought to life through a diversity of characters including a soft-porn movie star, a Jesuit priest, a Filipino-American Californian, a hustler and deejay, a movie usherette and Imelda Marcos herself, the world of DOGEATERS is beautiful, lush, and always volatile -- a wondrous bundle of contradictions where mundane reality, the supernatural, the spiritual and the carnal collide and coexist. DOGEATERS premiered at New York's Public Theatre in 2001 and New York Times Critic Bruce Weber wrote, "In DOGEATERS the journey is as titillating as a great vacation that leads you willingly into danger. The play carves a clear narrative line out of a dense literary pastiche -- a real accomplishment by Ms. Hagedorn." DOGEATERS runs in November/December.

Atlantis Productions' creative head Bobby Garcia says, "We are so excited to announce SEASON 2007. We've worked hard at securing the rights to these two fantastic shows and can't wait to present them to Filipino audiences."

AVENUE Q and DOGEATERS will both premiere at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC in Makati. For show buying and sponsorship inquiries contact Atlantis Productions at 892-7078 or 840-1187.


There.

And check out my newest fashion accessory...

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Teeheehee...


Met up with Maika in Megamall after work. She was with her sister MJ and friend AC (sp?) when I found them, and we went around the mall searching for this certain thing that MJ was looking for. Perfume oil or something? Ahahaha, I forgot. They were all looking kinda tired because they've been walking around since 3 in the afternoon, but Maika and I still managed to talk and talk while walking and jostling the pre-Christmas crowd. They had to leave after about an hour and a half, but I couldn't resist a photo op with Maix before I left, hahaha.

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Ahehehe, of course, I just had to proudly show my button.


When they left, I walked to Podium and hung out in Starbucks while waiting for my cousin to get off work at Banana Leaf. I had bought a new book that day, Last Order sa Penguin, so it kept me company while I waited. Of course, like what happened while I was reading Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah, I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I read a couple of particular lines. Thank goodness I chose to sit on the second floor, because that section of the coffee shop was practically deserted.

I'm out for now. Maybe I'll finish reading tonight.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

birthday weekend

First of all...


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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROSA!!!


Hahaha, I really didn't want to crop Iam's hand from the photo.

Oh, and thank you so much to all those who had greeted me on my birthday, through text messages, emails, Friendster, Y!M, etc.

To celebrate, my parents and I had a small family lunch at home with Ate Maui. Most birthdays in the family were spent just like that, and Ate Maui was almost always present, yay. My birthday wasn't an exception.

Rode with Ate Maui to Greenbelt in the afternoon, with a few stops to pick up a couple of her high school friends along the way. Their clique was having a get-together dinner that night, and I was meeting Peachy and Tin as well. Our initial plan was to watch The Sound of Music at Onstage, but because tickets got sold out, we had decided to still meet up and use our ticket money to pig out on food instead, hahaha!

After dinner at Yellow Cab, off we went to Greenbelt 3, where the Philippine Madrigal Singers were performing. My oh my, they still leave me in awe every time they sing. And then there were fireworks! Wheee! Happy birthday to me! Hahahahaha! We killed a bit of time in Timezone, then we walked to Greenbelt 1 after a while.

We ended up hanging out in the lobby with Sundee while the show was going on. Wahehehe. When the show was over, we went inside the theater as if we had seen the play, hahaha! My golly, and without fail, these two clones I was with just had to push me to ask Tita Menchu and Cherie for a a photo op. Nyahahaha.

Yesterday was the rare day that I'm "older" than Rosa, hehehe. Rosa, Iam, Aris and I had planned to watch The Necklace at SM Southmall because they wanted to meet Jerald. I ended up going to Southmall way earlier because there was nothing to do at home. Power failure the whole day, rawr.

The cinema where the show took place was smaller than the one when I had watched the play in SM Centerpoint, but we got first dibs on the front row, hahaha. Way to close to the stage, but that's where we were ushered to as guests. Per usual, the audience was composed of public high school students who considered Johnson as their eye candy. They kept tittering and screaming and stuff every time there's some intimate moment between him and Meliza. Like Rosa had said, they had turned the play "showbiz-y."

New stuff came up. Like Juliene's adlibs ("FINE!" Hahahaha!) to some people's looks. To quote, nagmukhang Rocky Horror sila, joke! Hehehe. Someone had changed his look at least 3 times, and one of them wore a wig. But hello, the geek was too stereotyped. This is a period piece, man.

After the show, I introduced Jerald to Rosa, Iam and Aris, then Iam had to leave for mass while Je left for a while to fix his stuff. Then Rosa, Aris, Je and I went to Wendy's to eat.

While at Wendy's...


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Who do you think is the one that's really talking to someone on the phone?
Me? Jerald? Both of us? Neither?

Saturday, December 16, 2006

you learn something new every day

In our office this afternoon, GA happened to drop by to give some material for our upcoming shows. Ate Sally had asked if he knew some puppet makers, and gave a bit of interesting info.

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Remember Pong Pagong and Kiko Matsing of the local kids' show Batibot? I had just found out that those puppets were made by the very same ones who made the Muppets of Sesame Street (the Jim Henson Creature shop, I suppose, GA?). Oh yes, Pong and Kiko weren't born here. Once Batibot had ended, these two puppets were returned to the US.

Now, where do I find puppet makers?

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Friday, December 15, 2006

another book


I remembered that this was on Tricia's wishlist...



 

"Scooby" dear, you were the first thing that came to mind when I got this, ahahahaha...

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

quick visit to CCP

Hello, carpal tunnel syndrome, hahaha. I've been typing a script since yesterday afternoon, and so far I'm almost done with Act 1.


I went to CCP after work this afternoon. I was tasked to deliver a script to Miss Irma, but because I was told that the AC's acting class was during office hours, I decided to meet up with Anna the day before the scheduled class so she can give it to her. So that's what I did.


While I was still on a bus to Taft, I got a text from Anna that Miss Irma was at the TP office, so I decided to go straight there, just in case she was still there by the time I arrived. When I reached the building, I ran into Minette, and she said that Miss Irma was upstairs. Yay, I made it.


After handing the script to Miss Irma, I had planned to stick around in Harbour Square, maybe sit in Starbucks to take a breather. I found the AC people at Teriyaki Boy, and I got to chat with Anna for a while. Hahaha, I wasn't surprised by one of her "kamustahan" questions. Typical. We were still talking when Tad went outside for a smoke, and he joined our chat. I already knew him since last year, having watched him in plays, but I didn't know if he knew of me, even though we have a bunch of common friends. So of course, I had to introduce myself. Then...


Tad: Ah... Ikaw yung... *turns to Anna in a low voice* Pwede bang sabihin?
Anna: Oo no.
Me: Ano yun?
Tad: Yung "love interest" ni Jerald.


Anak ng pating, talagang "love interest" ang tawag eh. Yun na lang ba ang reputation ko? Ahehehe.


More chat, mostly about upcoming plans about AC, both of them telling me to audition next year (ahehehe, I hope I can), and other shows. Then the rest of AC (Tara, Jen, Joel, and Marj with Randy) appeared, and they had to return to CCP, so I crossed the street with them so I can grab a jeep back to Taft.


Now I started thinking again. Would I want to audition for AC next year? Then again, there's an upcoming project in Atlantis that I'm getting pretty excited about. Rawr...

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

an attempt to write differently

Sanay ako ng nakikinig lang, tanggap lang ng tanggap ng sinasabi ng tao. Di ako mahilig magsalita masyado.


Bakit kung kailan ako natutong magsalita, parang pader lang ang kausap ko?


Karma lang siguro ito. Di ko kasi napagmasdan ang ginagawa para sa akin nung simula.


Bagong drama lang. Parang dama ko kasi na baka malungkot ang kaarawan ko. Joke lang.


OK, I'll stop. Hahaha, I'm not used to writing in Filipino.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Saturday, December 9, 2006

*no title*

I hardly eat chocolate, but I found it to be my "happy food" last Monday night. Then to my dismay, I also found that my throat felt scratchy by Tuesday morning and never went away. Now it had eveolved into a cough and cold yesterday evening.


Met up with Rain after work on Thursday. I haven't seen that guy in ages. Oh my, when was the last time? It was... I think it was the night we went to Greenbelt 2 with Mish and Nicco and met Carms for the first time. Oh my, it's been ages! Went to Food Choices and exchanged news about each other, and gossiped (wahahahaha...) about our other friends. Then we walked around while he waited with me for Jerald to arrive before he had to leave.


Je and I went to see Borat. I was so intrigued by that movie that I just had to see it. Man, that flick was so hilarious. I was laughing all throughout the film. Well, except maybe when Borat was at that church. I think that was a little too much.


After the movie, we were off to Starbucks 6750 to hang out. It was either there or Gloria Jeans. I went for Starbucks because I wanted their green tea. I could already feel my voice going, and I love it that they sometimes gave their honey for free. Hahaha, while I was still in line at the counter, Jerald whispered that he liked the duds on this guy in pink somewhere in the line behind us. I turned around to look discreetly, and to my surprise, the guy with the guy clad in the pink shirt was AJ. Great to see you again, Age!


Settled on a couple of couches upstairs, just talking. One thing I realized about myself while we were there was that I finally learned how to speak up. I used to just sit and wait for another person to bring up topics I wanted to talk about, and usually, I end up just sitting there and let the other person talk. I'm usually a listener and a spectator, even if there's only just the two of us. But I found myself talking, and actually exerted effort even though I knew that my voice was going. Darn you, Jerald, for making fun of it, hahaha.


So now, I have that same voice that I had during most of the summer. Complete with the cough and slight cold. Arg...

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Tin's debut party

Last Saturday, I met up with Peachy and Betty at Starbucks Taft because we wanted to meet with Tin to check out her debut party's venue and go over the program as well.


Tin was running a bit late, and by the time she and her niece Ica had arrived, they were kinda sabog, ahahaha. Anyway, after they took a breather, we all walked to Asiawealth to look at the function room on the 5th floor. The glass doors were locked, so we all sat on the floor in front of the venue and went over the program.


Oh yeah, Peachy's duwende jokes suddenly popped in my head and I started laughing out loud just now, hahaha.


Anyway, when we were done with the program and was just talking, one of the admin guys saw us and asked if we had seen the venue already. As it turned out, the venue's side door was unlocked for us the whole time, hahaha!


We then decided we were done, so we left the place. Ended up having dinner at McDonald's. Peach wanted to try the McRice Burger, and Betty and I were feeling daring enough to try it with her. None of us even got to finish the entire burger, hahaha. It was OK, but well, it wouldn't be something I'd really order on a normal day.


The next day, Sunday, was Tin's debut! Peach and I met up once again at Starbucks early in the afternoon. We had decided to meet there so we can go together to Asiawealth to get ready for the party.


We had to wait for Tin for a while, but when everything was ready and settled, we went up to her aunt's unit and started getting ready. Hahaha, I think Peachy brought a lot more stuff that the one who was doing Tin's hair and makeup. Thanks for sponsoring, Peach! Til the next occasion, hahaha!


I'm too lazy to blog about the whole party thing, because my mind's sort of a mess right now. Let's just list the highlights of the party...



  • Last minute changes in the program while we all got ready (Tin and Peach, you know what I'm talking about, hehe)
  • Tin's "BakereTin" look (Kristeta Kubetaaa...)
  • Peachy being mistaken for Tin's Tita Gina by another aunt.
  • Starting the program without dinner yet.
  • Calling on Fiancee and Carmi upon their arrivals.
  • Jhack's surprise birthday greeting by Lea for Tin!
  • A surprise addition in the 18 roses (nyahahaha, na-shock daw si Tin pero poised pa rin).
  • Miss Tess' arrival straight from the airport.
  • The Balangaw Ensemble's impromptu performace.
  • Tin's thank you speech. Hahaha, her crying thing was still kinda theatrical because it looked like she was keeping herself from crying and laughing but also doing both at the same time.

If you want to check out photos, you can see them here.


My mind's still a mess. I'm still sorting things out, and you're no help at all. Arg...