when you really need a good laugh

I told myself last Sunday that I should be anything but gloomy that day. It had marked a certain date last year that I shouldn't even try to dwell on this year. So I kept myself preoccupied with everything that was happening so I would be too busy to think. But when the night had to end, I caught myself thinking again.

I've been too sentimental and overly dramatic since I learned how to wear my heart on my sleeve last year that I turned into a major drama queen. Yesterday, I learned that I should forget how kooky I can still be, especially when I'm alone. I remember telling Teena that the worst person who is able to totally embarrass me is myself. So far, my record hasn't changed, hahaha.

Yesterday, when I had just arrived in ATC to have some well-spent quality time with myself, I stopped over at the ladies room. In the stall, that was when I had realized that there was this hole in my pants near the crotch area. I had no idea how that happened, or whether I had torn it right there and then (heck, I would've noticed the breeze if it was torn earlier). Holy kamote, when I zipped my pants back on, the hole was so obvious, specially when I walk. Oh my oh my oh my. I rummaged around my bag if I had left safety pins (which had fallen out before during my ASM stint for Virgin Labfest) when I realized that I had cleaned out the bag. Then again, wouldn't it be dangerous to pin that area? What if the pin pops open?

Anyway, thank goodness that National Bookstore was nearby. With my bag positioned in front of me to conceal the gaping hole just in case it can be seen from the front, I slowly walked to National Bookstore and purchased a cheap sewing kit. Then I locked myself back in the bathroom and started sewing away. Hahaha, now I'm so grateful for my mom for teaching me how to sew. And yes, Iam, those T.H.E. classes with Mrs. Matic as well, hahaha!

I found myself laughing at myself by the time I was done and was walking around the mall. Thank goodness for moments like these.

the weekend (Cinemalaya and Philamlife Theater)

Haven't blogged over the busy weekend, ahehe. So here's the update that people kept waiting for in anticipation. Hahaha! As if a lot of people read my blog.

Friday, July 27th

Went to CCP to watch Still Life, one of the Cinemalaya competition entries. I keep hearing that it's pretty good, so I decided to check it out. Alone. Wahehehe. I first checked out the Sinetaktakan in Batute, where the people can get to meet the filmmakers, complete with open forums. After I while, I stepped out and tried to take advantage of the free internet at the CCP shop, hahaha. Was chatting with Hilary and Zee almost the whole time, and I even caught myself laughing out loud several times while keeping up a conversation with Zee.

When I realized that my phone's battery was running low for the nth time (serves me right for buying a cheap battery), I logged out and went upstairs to the couch at the Main Theater lobby. Found Russ and Riki there with their laptops, burning CDs and and surfing the net. Bummed around with them while my phone was charging, then joined them and Tara to the buff to eat.

Found Mimay, Ayn and Leo in the LT lobby by the time I went back upstairs, and as it turned out, they had planned to watch Still Life but ran out of tickets. They ended up watching a different film instead.

Still Life was real eye candy for me, hahaha. To quote someone in the Sinetaktakan, "May ganitong lugar pala sa Pilipinas?" I laughed and cried all throughout the film, and I didn't even care that I looked like a fool doing so alone.


Saturday, July 28th

When I woke up in the morning, I found out from Ate Evie that Tito Romy has an extra pass for the Cinemalaya, so it was offered for me to use. The catch was that I had to get it from their house by lunch because they were all leaving to run errands, but I had no idea how to get there. With vague directions from Ate Evie, I was off like a shot, hahaha. I had to use the pass before going to the Hogi Hall reunion (in honor of Ed's visit) that evening. I got lost for about 15 minutes, but I managed to find the house. Thank you, Tito Romy!

Off to CCP, uber-excited to use the pass to watch Pisay. But then while bumming around in the lobby and main entrance, I found out from Tcel that Pisay's 3:30pm screening was sold out and they won't honor passes unless there were seat vacancies. Rawr... That was the only time I can watch so I can leave CCP by evening. So Carlo, Minette and I ended up watching Ligaw Liham. Holy kamote, I kept losing track of all the dramatic pauses in the film that were pretty unecessary.

A little stopover to meet with Tin, Micah and Dyown at Jollibee before they left for Makati to meet with Zee and Hilary, then Minette, Carlo and I dropped by the TP office. By the time we left so they can watch the audience choices for feature film (Pisay) and shorts (Doble Vista) and me to head on over to Alabang, the rain was pouring! What was worse, when I was in Taft and flagged down a bus, the moment the bus braked to let me in just when I had already closed my umbrella, rainwater poured out from the roof of the bus exactly as I had stepped on, practically drenching me. Arg...

Found Ed easily a few minutes after I had arrived in ATC. We decided to wait for the rest at Food Choices, while talking up a storm. One by one, Ramon, PJ, Seph and Aris arrived. We were also waiting for Iam and Ge, but we decided to just wait for them at Gerry's, where we had decided to have dinner. Of course, the first thing to order while at a grillery like Gerry's was none other than sisig, wheee! Thanks for dinner, Ed! Hahaha, my favorite part was when he got the change from the bill. It was his first time to see a 200-peso bill that he got so surprised, hahaha!

After dinner, we went to Shopwise at Festival Mall to get drinks and junk food to nibble on before we went to Seph's house. Man, that was a lotta beer, ahehehe. I was riding with PJ back to Seph's house, with Iam and Ge following us because they didn't know how to get there. We purposely passed by Zobel and even stopped for a few moments just to have that "We're at Zobel!" moment, hahahaha!

Brought out the drinks and chips and stuff outside to Seph's backyard, where the usual table was. *sigh* It's been ages since I got to bond with these guys that I realized I missed them so much. Conversations with them can get as crazy as we talked about topics from the most mundane to the most outrageous. The bet the guys made back in senior year. The 3 remaining guys who are still included in the bet, plus the new rules. The missing guys in the group. An ex-girlfriend. Rosa as a kabarkada's girlfriend (WAHAHAHAHA!). Missing Rosa's slow pick-up of jokes. Pick-up lines (I love Seph's polar bear pick-up line!). First date nightmares. Questions like "Would you still consider enrolling your kid in Zobel?" Zobel in general. The new buildings with names.

I just love this bunch to bits. Some may have some awkwardness towards the group, but hey, things have changed since high school. I'm just glad that these guys are still here. Hopefully we'll get together again next weekend. We're taking advantage of every get together while Ed's in Manila, hehehe.


Sunday, July 29th

We called it a night (??!?) at around 3 in the morning and headed on home. But I still had to wake up early to go to mass with my dad, huwaw.

I left for Philamlife right after for day 2 of the recording of those male voices. There were lots of new guys, and some had backed out at the last minute. Oh well. Hahaha, the best adventure of the day was when Minette and I had to go everywhere nearby Philamlife Theater plus CCP and Harbour Square. We made it back to the theater just in time for lunch, hehehe. Holy kamote, I can't believe that I even slept through the guys' shouts and stuff sometime after that. I was that sleepy??

Calvin and his son Santi dropped by the venue that afternoon. Oh my oh my, Santi's grown a lot since the last time I saw him, and he's still adorable. Hahaha, he was so cute when the guys were recording, putting his fingers to his ears because they were making such loud noises.

One thing I have to say about the TP talents is... they are so spoiled, HAHAHAHA! When Minette went backstage with the TF, I noticed that these guys went outside because it was so crowded in the dressing rooms. When I found them in the audience area and told them to go back to the dressing rooms, they simply said that Minette can just bring it to them, as our stuff was still there. Hahaha, TP babies talaga.

Back to CCP for the Cinemalaya awards night, Minette and I met up with Carlo, Micah, Zee, Dyown with sister Me-anne at Harbour Square. We even spotted Tuxqs and Nar at Dencio's, having an intimate cast party for Ellas Inosentes.

Because of the event, the main theater lobby was uber-crowded. Easily found seats inside the theater and we all "kicked back, relaxed and enjoyed the movie," to quote some theater actor that had a mind that worked differently, ahehehe. Congratulations to all the winners, especially to the Marasigan family for Tukso. Hahaha, how apt that Miss Irma was one of the presentors for the Best Screenplay Award in the feature film category.

I went home early today supposedly to catch up on my sleep. OK, that's what I'll be doing next, ahehehe.

Ed's here!

Ed's back in Manila! Yay! Hehehe, well, only for a visit, but I can't wait to see him and the rest of the Hogi Hall barkada again. Hope that unlike last year, I get to see him more than just once during this visit.

Just killing time before I watch Still Life here at CCP, hehehe. Plus waiting until Ed gets a sim card he can use. Tagal...

more random thinking (what a useless title)

During a phone conversation with one of my best friends (otherwise known as my ex, hahaha), he said that it's not necessary to talk just to get closure. I guess he's right.

I just got a message from Ed this morning, and he says that he's coming to visit Manila again soon! He might arrive on Thursday or Friday at the earliest. Wooohooo! Can't wait to see him again!

Went to CCP to check out Cinemalaya again. Actually, I had no intention of watching anything that day. What a wonderful time to be broke, arg. Being there is like starving in a deli. But it was a good opportunity to meet with Mimay, who was there for the 2-day congress that was held in the Little Theater. And thanks to Betty, even though Barako was already sold out by the time Mimay and I got to the box office, she managed to pull some strings and got us tickets. Thanks loads, Betty! Sorry if I didn't get to finish the film. I was there just to watch your scenes, HAHAHA! Love you, Mama Webb!

It was almost like another reunion with these two girls. I missed being with them. And hopefully our plan to finally stage Nemesis will push through. I sure hope so. Though I don't have a script anymore, as it had turned into confetti during a big fight with my mom. Plus we need another actor who can pull off the other character. Oh well.

Three and a half to four years ago, you wouldn't find me at an event such as the Cinemalaya film festival. Or even at CCP just because I wanted to catch one of their plays. Ever since I met people who had been there because of such passion for their craft, it had rubbed off on me and I frequented my visits to that place until it felt like home to me. Before then, my world of theater mostly revolved around Broadway and West End plays. English plays. I was a fan of Neil Simon's comedies and read his plays over and over again. Back then, if someone had said, "Am I the type of person who would want to watch a play such as ZsaZsa Zaturnnah???" I would've reacted a differently. I would've laughed and agreed, instead of raising my eyebrows. To be honest, when I heard that particular sentence, not just once but twice from the same person, I was kind of hurt that some people would prefer foreign works instead of our own. I've learned to love our local plays and films (mostly indie if not mainstream) ever since I stopped being so eccentric.

Maybe I've become more open-minded due to the influences of the people I met and became very good friends with during my Joseph days. It was because of them that I learned what most real people are like. I was sick and tired of all these plastic people all around me, and before I met them, I was practically surrounded by those kinds of plastics. Not that all of them are plastics, though, hahaha.

Amazing how people can influence your life just like that, huh? I'm grateful for those friends. Hehehe, you guys know who you are.

a theater full of male voices... and the Tukso gala

Once again, I'm blogging when I'm supposed to be sleeping.

This morning, after hearing mass with my dad, I went to Philamlife Theater to meet with Minette. There was a recording of 100 male voices for a film by a Phil-Am (?) director, and she got me to tag along with her, Miss Yvette and Ate Donna. Lots of familiar people from TP were there, as well as other people contacted by Minette, like such as Paulo, Nar, Acey, Obie, Tatang, Joel, Jerald, Leo, Chester, even Bajo, and Kuya Tom. Hahaha, Minette also managed to get Carlo to go, and Carlo got MJ to join as well.

There were 3 groups there, mainly people from Tanghalang Pilipino, the CCP chorale, and students from PUP (no surprise to find Fiancee in the group). Sir Chris (Millado) then briefed them as to what was going to happen. Basically, the male voices were needed to chant, cheer and sing, and to be recording for this film about the World Cup back in 1966 (?) between Germany and England. Hehehe, I even learned a bit of background and history about that particular soccer match. Very interesting. After that, all the guys were asked to go onstage and did some vocal exercises. First, Sir Chris made them do this exercise that required them to shout their names one at a time (beginning with Joel, hahaha) while doing a particular action, as the others echoed it. Workshop? Hahahaha! Then Sir Chris called on Nar for more exercises, then segued into vocalization with Sir Jed. Nyak, some TP people in the back of the bleachers onstage were just laughing in the back, as if they couldn't be seen. Need I mention who they were? Hahahaha. Pasaway.

They were then shown a video clip of the game, and made them shout and cheer in a way that's similar to the audio of the clip. Even more interesting was that after that, because it was a match between England and Germany, they were taught a bit of German, beginning with numbers 1 through 10, hahaha. Oooh, free German lessons.

Minette, Ms Yvette, Ate Donna and I decided to leave the theater for a while to grab a bite to eat at McDonalds. At first we wanted to just have a quick snack, but we ended up having lunch instead. Then we headed back to the theater and found the guys shouting more German words before they had their lunch break.

During the break, I mostly just hung around with the TP crowd, first outside the theater while some of them had their cigarette breaks, then back inside the theater, just sitting around on the first two rows. Hahaha, what's new, Jerald asked for an update on Dogeaters, and instead, I got him to try out for TKM's Sabado sa Sam's this Tuesday. I wonder if he'll go through with it.

When the recording resumed, Minette then had to go back to the TP office to get some things, so I went with her. Holy kamote, there was an evaluation of the Virgin Labfest 3 that day, but hello, how come I wasn't even informed? Oh well. Anyway, it was stifling hot in the office, rawr, and after Minette got everything she needed, we headed back to Philamlife. Huwaw, the guys were all chanting and cheering like crazy already while on their feet and jumping. I was beginning to wonder what was running in Carlo's head then, hehehe. Then they were told that they were to sing "God Bless The Queen" in groups of 10, beginning with the people from TP, naks. They had to do that because they wanted to call back the guys that have the most powerful voices, I think. Hehehe, by the time the TP guys were done and settled back in their seats nearby, some of them had hoarse voices already, holy kamote.

After all the guys had gotten their TF for the day, a bunch of us headed back to CCP for Cinemalaya. I went with Minette to the office because she needed to do a few more things, then we went to post a poster of Pilipinas Circa by the Main Theater doors. Hehe, we even stopped by the Conference Room to sneak a peek at their rehearsal. When Sir Roeder saw me and asked me what I was doing for TP lately, he suddenly said that this should be the last time he sees me working like that. Nyahahay, pressure!

Killed more time at TP before the gala of Tukso at 9pm. Hehehe, nagkaroon pa kami ni Minette ng episode with Carlo prior to the show. HAHAHAHAHA.

Getting sleepy. Will continue with a critique (maybe?) of the film in my next post tomorrow. Need to sleep. G'night world!

another random entry

My cousin Shirley called us this morning from Washington, and she told us that after nearly 10 years, she will be coming to visit us in Manila this November, along with her son Dominic. I sure hope they'll push through with the trip this time. It's been ages since I last saw them.

Then again, Ate Shirley had said that she had already booked their flight to Manila and back. And they've got perfect timing, because Dogeaters will be running at RCBC by then. I'm hoping I could take them to watch it. I wonder if Dom would be interested enough to watch a play written by a Filipino-American, being the typical teenager that he is now.

By the way, I found this in Gibbs Cadiz's blog...

The Great Hetero Challenge: Translate, decode and deconstruct every word and line of this magnificent ejaculation in an exotic language, last heard emanating from the mouth of the fantastic Nar Cabico (as Didi) at the end of Act 1 of "Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah, ze muzikal:"

"Mga shushumenelyng churvaneseseseseses, magkakaroon po tayesh ng shompong minutis na shugitan. Kaya keri nyo na pong chumenes, rumampage, umevakalaw, jumingerzia, lumafangstruck, gumetching ng mga celpown numberz at chuminchin taberu. Pero, wit nyo jalimutan ever gumoback ditechiwa after uten minutes kundi--majojokray kayetch! Kaya anik pa ang jinijintay nyo? Rachelle Ann Go!"

Okay, show of hands please, straights in the house! Ay, andami! Ready? Game!

Hahaha, I can still remember Nar trying out the snapping elastic mask back in Tapa King. 

familiar faces

It's amusing to find old classmates in places that you wouldn't expect them to turn up. It doesn't matter whether we were close back then or even friends, hahaha. I'm just glad to see familiar faces.

Like during Labfest this year. I was surprised to find Charissa, my classmate in high school, in CCP right after she had watched the Identity plays in the Conference Room. At first I had no idea she had an interest in those shows, until I heard her talking with her friend about a paper that they had to write. Hahaha, as it turned out, they were required to watch the show for class.

Then I dropped by Portfolio late yesterday afternoon to drop something off at a pictorial for Avenue Q. While I was just sitting around at the table, just killing time, someone appeared at the top of the stairs. There was Qua (whose actual name I forgot for a while, hahaha!), who I think is a make-up artist for Shu Uemura. Funny, he works in the same company as Ems, and he said that she asked him if they're the only 2 people in their class who are working in the chosen field. *taas kilay effect* Right. Nagfi-feeling nanaman. Oops, bitch mode, hahaha.

After I left Portfolio, I dropped by Betty's office building for a visit to cheer her up a little. I hung around for a while with her and Trina in their office, when the door suddenly opened. A girl stepped inside the room, and I just stared at her in surprise until I realized that it was Kat, another classmate back in high school as well as grade school. We're not exactly as close as Charissa and I were, though all 3 of us were in the same class during senior year. So it was amusing to see her expression when Betty had said that we were in theater together. Well, hardly anyone back in Zobel knew that I had this much interest in theater. Ahehehe.

When Raymund picked Betty up from the office and let me ride with them part of the way, Betty suddenly decided to pass by CCP, even though the rain was coming down really hard. Well, anything to perk her up. We went to the Conference Room to sneak a peek at the Pilipinas Circa pictorials for a few minutes. After saying hello to everyone, we went back to the LT lobby. That's when I saw this really slim girl standing by the LT doors talking to an usher. No surprise there. There's only one person I know who looks like that and lugs around a huge bag of camera equipment, hahahaha! It was Shai! Man, haven't seen her in ages, and it seems that she gets thinner all the time.

Giving my glasses a break, hahaha. I got new contact lenses today with the same prescription, then I finally got a haircut. Hahahahaha.

By the way, congratulations to RJ for getting into the short list for Hongkong Disney! Hahaha, I heard a recording of "Last Night of The World" from Paulo's phone, and I just loooove his voice. Good luck, dearie!

spur of the moment trip to MC

For some reason, you're so much different now than you were before. You've changed so much. Maybe I have changed too. I don't know. It sort of makes me sad that everything's so different between us now. Oh well, whatever. Life goes on.

Hep hep, wag mag-assume. Hahaha, ibang drama ito. =P

Anyway.

Out of pure insanity (wahahaha), I went off to MC this afternoon and met up with Ria and Maika. Ria was the one who first found me outside their building, and then we went inside PA 104 where the rest of the TKM people can be found. The first face I saw as I stepped inside the room was Opa, hahaha!

One annoyance of the day was that my phone kept switching itself off for some weird reason. My fault for being a cheap skate and purchasing a battery from one of those tiangge stalls I keep passing by near the shuttle terminal. Anyway, even after charging my phone (thanks to Ria's charger), it still kept switching itself off. Thank goodness it stopped after about a couple of hours.

Surprise, surprise, I didn't know that Nicco was still part of Sabado Sa Sam's, TKM's production this August. The last I heard was that there was a conflict with his schedule that he had to drop out. But anyway, there he was, arriving just a few minutes after I did.

Ria and I found Maika in the hallway during one of the few times we left the room. Hahaha, I was holding a cup of coffee from the vending machine (a habit that formed due to my Labfest stint with TP), and when she approached me and grabbed my hand, wahooo, hot water all over my hand, hahahaha!

Anyway, I got to stay in PA 104 just chatting with Ria, fiddling with Nicco's camera (The Maids DTR and I even caught a snippet of messages for Sir Herbie before his "Herbie Goes" party), then watching a bit of their rehearsal of Sabado Sa Sam's, the 3rd scene (my favorite) with Crespo (sp?) as Peaches and Nicco as Mario. But somehow, their exchange wasn't as funny as I first read the play. Maybe because Crespo, despite her high-pitched voice (which sort of went a little too high and whiny), sort of loses her energy, because she ended up matching the low energy of Nicco's interpretation of Mario, when her character is supposed to bring the energy level up. But then again, who am I to judge? I'm just there.

Maika then texted that she's at McDo, so I managed to persuade Ria to go with me there, right in the middle of rehearsal, hahahaha! And to think that she said that she's the understudy for Peaches. So off we went to McDo and grabbed a bite despite the long lines that never disappeared. Ria had to leave after 15 minutes (just long enough for her to consume her food), but Maika (with sister MJ) and I stayed a while longer, just talking. Man, I miss talking to this girl. We used to spend almost every afternoon and evening together back when she was still in high school, hahaha. And now we both feel like aliens in Taft, ahehe.

Anyway, after a while, Maika and MJ had to leave as well because MJ still had homework to finish. Maybe next week, I'll drop by again, hehehe.

weekend with the BFFs

Yesterday afternoon, I went to Academy One to an audition of Theater Down South's Midsummer Night's Dream. Bleargh, I sucked. Hello, it was Shakespeare. After years of technical theater, I had to analyze a Shakespeare play in front of Michael Williams and also, soon after, Bart Guingona. Anyway, a few familiar faces from Zobel that I knew were there. Pam and Ria, of course, then there was also Miko (who I last saw way back during our Oliver days in 1999!) and Aria, who's so grown up already! My goodness.

After that, I headed to CCP and went directly to the TP office. Hahaha, when Minette saw me, she put me to work and had me start typing the English translation of Pilipinas Circa until Tin arrived. Zee had already messaged me as well that she and Hilary are already at Starbucks Harbour Square. Tin and I first went with Minette and Ate Jenn to Batute so they can hand out some contracts and so we can sneak a peek as well. Man, the place was freezing. Why in the world did anyone decide to have their music rehearsals there? Wahahaha.

After walking around, Tin, Zee, Hilary, Nar and I stood around first in Harbour Square, then we ended up in the LT lobby waiting for Carlo and Micah. Nar, Hilary and I even went inside Batute to sneak a peek at the Circa rehearsals again. As we were getting hungry, we crossed the street for the nth time to Harbour Square and had dinner at Tapa King. Then I got a text from Minette that Circa rehearsals were only until 8:30, so we headed back to CCP. As it turned out, she and Lao snuck a peek at the Wi-Fi event at the Little Theater.

It was movie time! We took two cabs to Glorietta, where Carlo had reserved our tickets to Harry Potter. After getting the tickets, we decided to have dinner at Food Choices. Can I just say that Hilary is such a riot ever since I first met her online? Hahahaha! Even until now, I can never get over that "I eat fEsh" and "Yaya, where's my good morning towel?"

So what can I say about the flick? I have to admit that there were parts in the first half of the movie that was pretty draggy. Heck, I almost fell asleep! If it weren't for Lao sitting beside me with some of those comments, I really would've dozed off. But those fight scenes were pretty cool, but yeah, there were some parts of the film that didn't exactly help push the story, or it took a long while for those to push the story forward. Oh well.

Who knew that the movie also took that long? It was almost 2am when we got out of the cinemas. After saying goodbye to Hilary, the rest of us headed for Malate to just hang out, plus the others wanted to do the videoke thing, hahaha. One funny moment was while I was in the cab with Lao, Minette and Carlo, we were talking about something when out of the blue, Lao suddenly asked, "6 + 8?" which quieted us down, hahahaha! Settled at Sonata, with Lao, Nar and Zee entertaining us with their vocal stylings.

It was around 4 in the morning when we decided to hang out at Carlo's house. Well, except for Tin and Lao. After getting Tin a cab and saying goodbye to Lao, it was off to Malabon! We all squeezed inside the cab, and Zee kept joking that Micah should've gone home ahead of us, hahahaha! Well, until we got to their area, because Carlo had forgotten how to get there (How on earth could that be possible? Sabaw talaga kayong magkapatid!).

Holed up in Carlo's room, talking and taking photo ops (bawal matulog hangga't tumama ang pagkuha!) before we all decided to sleep. Zee and Micah took the bed, while Nar, Carlo, Minette and I took the mattress on the floor.

Holy kamote, we all woke up at around 1pm, due to Minette, who shut the door pretty loudly when she had to go to the bathroom. We were still lazy to move, but eventually we had to go and have breakfast, then we made Nar do a few songs for us on the piano before going back to Carlo's room. We got to watch the DVD of TP's Insiang, which Ms. Yvette had lent to Carlo to review before considering buying the show. Huwaw, Shing was amazing. Can't wait to watch its restaging, rumored to have the same cast. They wanted to watch Maria Milagros Barbarosa as well, but thankfully the player couldn't read the DVD, hahaha! When Minette had grabbed Carlo's copy of Chris Martinez's Laugh Trip, we ended up doing a full reading of Sabado sa Sam's, with Nar as Lloyd, Minette as Pating, me as Peaches, Carlo as Mario, Zee as Harlene and Micah as Beautiful, hahahaha!

After dinner, we finally decided to call it a day. Man, what a weekend this has been. Same thing next week? Hahahahaha! Photos to follow. Grabbing photos from everyone else to put together in one album, hehehe. Just waiting for Carlo's and Zee's photos.

a different kind of drama

"I don't get to see them anymore. I'm afraid that I've become too different."

Yeah, so that's what I'm afraid of. If I come back and even just mingle with them, I'll see how much I've changed. How different I am from the person they knew before.

I grew up with them. I was among them when I hardly knew anything about the craft. I was the quiet teen who was content with cavorting with the rest of the ensemble.

Sometimes I dread the reunions some of them keep planning. I haven't seen a real reunion of any of the groups yet, but I guess I'm glad no one had followed through. Well, except for that one after Christmas day last year. That was when I did confirm that I had already gone on a separate path. As much as I hate to admit it, I suddenly felt uncomfortable around them, so I kept quiet. It's been about a couple of years already since I've learned to wear my heart on my sleeve, and became a little (OK, a lot) more outgoing and vocal.

Now I might have to face a whole bunch of them in a few days.

I guess I feel this way because I'm afraid I've changed too much. Or maybe because I've just been apart from all of them for a long time while life went on with them. I left, they stayed, and I distanced myself.

"Just let go and take out all your fear. You'll be great, sweetie."

Thank you.

drama queen rant

I managed to do this for 2 whole years, so how come I can't seem to do it now?

"Since I started breathing, I never stop making an effort."

Ever since I learned how to wear my heart on my sleeve, I've been such the drama queen.

(I can see my best friends raising their eyebrows on cue right now. Yes, you, hahaha.)

wrapping up the Labfest

So the previous weekend marked the end of the Virgin Labfest 3. On the last day, Tcel had even said, "Kitakits next year! May date na ang Labfest sa 2008!" Hehe, she had already marked the date.

So what happened during the weekend? Even though our Saturday show was in the evening, I went to CCP in the morning to check all my light cues, as I was told that they had been reprogrammed. Thank goodness I did come early, because some of my lights were altered. Phew.

Checked on my props and costumes (which I had already checked the day before) and looked for an empty dressing room in the Little Theater where I can have my lead actors do a little line-throwing, then went back outside. Found Russell and after going back to the LT to sneak a peek on the ones who will be performing in the play reading that evening, we went off to Mang Inasal for lunch before he had to go to a DTR of Kuyom. I, on the other hand, waited for Nicco, Missy and Kat for their line-throwing. We ended up doing so at Teriyaki Boy instead of the smelly dressing room, hahaha.

Zee, Carlo, Micah, Tin and Glenn all came to watch the afternoon plays, while I stayed in the tech booth. Hahaha, Ola, Ed and I were laughing at this one gay actor in Kuyom who wore his boobs too high. I couldn't help but quip that it was disturbing, and looked like an overdose of pills, hahahaha! Of course, I just had to watch Ellas Inosentes again. Everyone loved that one. Or so I think. I wonder if it's going to be one of the best of this year's Labfest.

Had ample time before our own show, but when I opened the whole thing, I almost completely turned off the house lights on Rody before our play began. Eep. And worse, even though my light cues were all OK, but my music cues weren't! Waaah! I keep forgetting the cues for my sounds to fade out, rawr. I wanted to bang my head on the railing several times. Oh well, at least no one noticed. The 3 plays seemed pretty slow that night. I think I almost fell asleep during Three Sisters. Or maybe I was just lacking sleep.

After putting things away after the show, we went up to the Silangan Hall for the evening's breakout performace, featuring Talahib. Tara was in the group, coolness. I was really dying to go home and sleep, but I didn't really want to be out of the loop, so I stayed until the last song. I was in a lousy mood by then, probably because I really wanted to crash (right), so I guess my goodbyes sounded a little off to some.

Went to CCP on Sunday a little earlier than everyone else again. Actually, everything was all set, because our props and costumes were just put away in the Batute dressing room. I arrived earlier because I wanted to check my music cues, as well as my light cues. Hahaha. But Kuya Joms and Kuya Jerry assured me that I'll do fine, specially since it was going to be the last show. Spent the vacant time taking photos of my props with Bryan, then still with some time to kill, I found myself sitting with Nicco and Nar for a while in the lobby of the Main Theater. Nicco was sort of interviewing Nar about ZsaZsa Zaturnnah, hahaha. Like what was the difference between K and Eula, Tuxqs and Vince, Batute and RCBC, all that stuff.

Crazy, I had called the cast at 1pm, but because of Pilipinas Circa, they were called at 1pm for that as well, so they came in at 2pm for Labfest. Oh well.

I had to take photos of the cast as well, so I spent some time in the dressing room before the house opened. It took a while for some of the others that Ed had Bryan call me because he couldn't open the house unless my group's ready. Nakakaloka. Well, the final show was pretty OK, better than the one the night before, hahaha. After our play, I went back to the LT dressing room to take photos of the ones I didn't have photos of yet. Then I quietly did a strike of my play's props and costumes, moving back and forth between the dressing room and the prop room.

I didn't realize how hungry I was until after the show, when Bryan and I went to the buff to eat. Hahaha. While we were just sitting and talking (and waiting for my phone to finish charging), Carlo, Micah and Glenn suddenly arrived. They were planning to watch the last set's last show that evening. Hung around with them until before the show, and ended up watching Bagahe again. Nar was sitting beside me then, and he fell asleep during the play, hahahahaha! After that play, I found Cindy and Paul in the lobby, so I hung around with them and didn't watch the 2nd play (sorry, Den!). When it was already 9:30, they headed up to the Silangan Hall while I stayed in the lobby with the AC people (all sprawled out on the steps on the LT lobby that led to the Main Theater lobby) as we waited for the 3rd play. Teroristang Labandera's last show was a hit! They were hilarious that I couldn't stop laughing. They kept everything fresh. You guys were great!

Once again, after the show, we all went up to Silangan Hall for Sir Roeder and Paulo's breakout performance. Hahahaha! Gino! He sang "Unexpected Song"! Anyway, once again, I wasn't really in a partying mood. Surprise surprise. After the set, Kat and I rode with Anna back to Taft and headed home.

Labfest is over. What's next? I had expected that this will keep me from going into my drama queen mode, but I thought wrong. Rawr. I remember messaging a bunch of people about my most recent episode with myself, about "what might have been." Arg, frustrating. Stop it, Hogi.

By the way, Transformers rocked! I want to watch it again!

Balangaw Ensemble's breakout performance for Virgin Labfest 3

I wanted to check out the Balangaw Ensemble's breakout performance for the Labfest, so after finding Nicco on the same jeep as I was heading for CCP, I checked out their rehearsal as well.

Nar was the only one we found at Silangan Hall, as Leo was still coming from somewhere (Cavite, I think) and will be late. Even then, they started choosing songs that they will sing. Then Jerald arrived, and decided that he was to jam with the group during the show. They even decided that he pretend to just be there to jam spontaneously, but he still rehearsed his songs with Nar. Then he sang Leo's parts in at least a couple of songs that Nicco and Nar rehearsed. Kamusta naman, parang balak palitan ni Je ang isa sa kanila. So they joked, "Tinali mo si Leo, no?" so he can replace him in the show, hahaha! After finding Leo, Je then left to watch the Set C plays in Batute.

Nar, Nicco and Leo decided to take a break after finalizing their 2 sets, and I attended the talk in the LT lobby that featured the directors of Set D of the Virgin Labfest. Then I went back up to the Silangan Hall and found Jerald rehearsing one of his songs with Nar again. Nyak, while I was walking nearer to them, Nar even gave out a quip that I had decided to just ignore. Sakto daw ang timing ng pagdating ko. Nyak.

When the Balangaw decided to run through their songs, Nicco even tried to do Dodong's choreo when they sang "Walang Ibang Pangarap Kundi Siya". Hehehe, Jerald had to teach it to him, plus the lyrics because he couldn't seem to memorize it. After a while, he became the self-proclaimed director, and even sat on a chair in the middle of the room and pretended to actually be one.

With Max as ASM, Shing and I hung around and talked during the rest of rehearsal and "backstage" before the show, which began at 10:30 instead of 9:30, as there aren't any people around. Rawr. Anyway, there were only a few who had attended, all of them just friends. Sir Roeder even paid for his ticket! Nicco then decided to just begin the show, even though everyone was uncertain whether it was still going to push through or not. Shing and I stayed backstage during the first set, as she typed some stuff she had researched for her thesis, then we went out to sit with the small crowd for the 2nd set. Jerald got to jam for the 2nd time during the 2nd set, as well as Sir Roeder.

Too bad I didn't get to take much pictures, as my phone's battery went dead.

I heard a secret. Disturbed, disappointed, annoyed. But at least I'm not regretful.

wala

Nangako ako kay Zee at Carlo na hindi muna ako magda-drama.

Kaya ganito lang muna for now.  O_o

Hahaha, labo.

Best of Virgin Labfest 2

"Anong mga set na ang napanood mo?" Ed had asked me this evening in between shows. "Lahat," I said.

Ahehehe, I had seen all 4 sets of Virgin Labfest 3 the previous week in anticipation of a pick-up rehearsal this week. And today I caught Best of Virgin Labfest 2... uhm, twice.

A whole bunch of us came to see the first show. There was Kat with her high school (?) friend (oops, I forgot her name, sorry!), Joel, Sugus, Russell and Max. Hehehe, as per Joel's advice, we went inside the Batute once we had heard the 3rd chimes go off, just so we can sit in the reserved seats in the front row.

Palanca in My Mind was hilarious when I first saw it last year. It was also funny when I got to sneak into the cast's film viewing a couple of weeks ago. But Joel was right, it was just funny the first time around. It was still fresh then. I guess it was because we had already anticipated all the funny stuff throughout the play.

But of course, I still enjoyed Hubad, and I believe that I won't get sick of it even if I'd already seen it a couple of times already. Nonie Buencamino and Irma Adlawan were amazing. They made us laugh and even made us cry in the end. And their play had persuaded me to come back for the 2nd show.

Hung out practically everywhere in between shows. Because there were only 2 plays showing, there were lots of time to kill. Joined Anna, Tara and Jen at the buff as they ate, then we crossed the street to Jollibee so Tara can get some dessert (even after that leche flan she had). Then we hung out outside the theater entrance with Tad, Kat and Olive, just talking as Tad fooled around with Anna's camera. After some people had dispersed, I ended up with Kat and Tad in the gallery level of Batute. Hahaha, some of the Palanca cast were sleeping downstairs in the bleachers. After lots of time had passed, I found myself back at the main entrance sitting on the steps along with Kat, Max, Chrome, and Mara.

Tita Menchu came to watch the evening show, along with Sir Jaime and Jun O. Tita Mench and I got to chat a little about Oro Plata Mata, and she just had to share how she's fretting that her Tagalog's a little rusty, ahehehe.

Sat with Nix and Kat in the gallery for the 2nd show of Palanca and Hubad. Hahaha, the "invisible" letter that Bong gave to Wenah as Carlos Palanca finally materialized! One thing I vividly remember during this run was the loud laughter from downstairs, courtesy of Sir Jaime, hahaha!

I didn't recall whether the airconditioner was switched off during Hubad, but that's what they did during the 1st show. I was amazed at how fresh Sir Nonie and Miss Irma made each performance, huwaw.

So far, "perfect attendance" ako sa Labfest, ahehehe. Back to serious work on Thursday or Friday. I have yet to coordinate with Nicco, Kat and Missy about that.

Sunday with Zaturnnah and Labfest

Ever since tickets to ZsaZsa Zaturnnah's 5th run went on sale, Tin kept bugging me as to which of Carlo's showdates we will be watching. I couldn't give a date because I was already thinking about the Virgin Labfest. Then she finally chose July 1st. And I didn't realize then that even if I didn't purchase a ticket, I'd still be frequenting the show. Oh well.

Carmel and Tin picked me up along Buendia this afternoon and we went to RCBC together for ZsaZsa. One funny thing that Tin and I had planned along with Carlo and Zee was to wear pink. So a huge bunch of us were clad in pink along with the front-of-house staff of TP, hahaha.

The lobby was chaotic. There were so many people, and they didn't even bother to come in when the house opened. Holy kamote. Anyway, we waited for the chimes before we went inside, and finally it was showtime. To be honest, I was kind of getting sick of watching the play, hahaha. I couldn't really complain earlier, because heck, I paid a ticket for this show, hahahaha! Sorry Carlo! Lagi kasi tayong pumupunta eh! And I've been sneaking peeks at rehearsal before. Anyway, there were still some adlibs here and there, and Lao even wore a wig in some of his scenes, and even we have to admit na gwapo nga siya, hahaha! Paging AJ! *grin* Aba, may cartwheel pa si Je in the opening of Act 2, hahaha. Reminds me of his first entrance in The Necklace, ahehehe.

The usual meet-and-greet after the show. Holy kamote, the lobby was even more chaotic than it was before the show started. Everyone wanted to have pictures taken with the cast. Hehehe, even though I'm not much of a camwhore, I joined in the bandwagon and managed to have a few with some I can bug without bothering to stand and wait for my turn. I guess that's one reason I hate having photos taken with actors after a show. Everyone wants to do it in any way possible. Anyway, here's a link to the photos.

When the crowd had thinned out, Carmel, Tin, Betsy, Edcel, Jeff and I crammed ourselves into Carmel's car. They were planning to have dinner at SM Mall of Asia, but Tin and I were dropped off along Buendia so we can go to CCP, where I had planned to meet Betty for Labfest. Tin just stayed for a while before the show started so she can say hi to Betty.

Three Unsent Letters was up first. Sir Roeder and Dandy in a bathtub together... Interesting. But I actually loved the dialogue as they delivered it. It really hits you right there. What was even more interesting was the play after that, Ellas Inosentes, directed by Tuxqs. What seemed to look like an innocent play about two young girls turned out to be something more than you would expect. Naglalaro lang sila, ahahaha. Chrome even quipped that Anna had enjoyed that particular play. *bonk* Kuyom with Russell was up next. Actually, at this time, I was already feeling pretty sleepy as I hadn't caught up with my sleep, having woken up early in the morning to hear mass and meet a relfexologist for my ankle (ahehehe). My apologies, Russ, for not paying attention to your play. Will do so in the weekend.

Time to sleep. Back to life tomorrow.

quietly thinking again

Just a little something that I've been thinking about early this evening.

Was I just seeing a shadow? Everything was always mysterious, I never got a lot of straight answers. I never got a lot of confirmation. Were they all lies? Was there even a bit of truth in it? Sometimes I think that I had figured something out, but then I start to have doubts. Sometimes I think that I found a little depth, but suddenly we have to turn back.

What in the world am I thinking? I really should stop this. I need to sleep.

first days of Virgin Labfest 3

Finally, an update on my crazy life, hahaha.

So Virgin Labfest 3 opened last Thursday. We had at DTR the evening before with the 2 other plays in our set (International Night), Lizard and Three Sisters. But holy kamote, our costumes came in half an hour before we had to start our run, and the girls had to figure out how to wrap themselves in the cloth, then a couple more delays. Behind Ed's smile, I knew he was ready to strangle me, ahehehe.

Another DTR on Thursday, but this time, the delay wasn't my fault. Aside from a couple of actors being late, the platform stage was repainted and we had to wait for it to dry before we start our run. But then, I had one more screwup near the end of our play's DTR, as I forgot to call the final light cues, waaah. Darn it, I was so nervous about calling cues for a play for the first time that I keep thinking that I might screw up.

By the time it was time for the first show, I reviewed the protocol in my head, and it was showtime! I was a little rusty, but I guess I did OK, except for that miscue in the end again! Sir Jaime pointed it out as well by the time the show was over. Then of course I still had to stay for Lizard as I had to help strike the set and setup for Three Sisters. Lizard was funny, and as Opa, Ola and I watched from near the tech booth, we even saw this kid with his dad, and whenever there was a delicate scene, the dad had to cover his son's face to keep him from seeing what was going on, ahahaha. Then there was Three Sisters. Ever since I got to read the play, I was intrigued. The set and blocking were amazing. I love how much they maximized the space. And of course, there was the cast, including Mailes and Jojit.

After the first show, there was a rehearsal for Kasaysayan, then we had our second show. Thanks to Misch, Nikki and Pam for watching! I was a bit more relaxed during this one, as I was already fully conscious of what had happened at the DTR and the first show. Thank goodness more people came to watch that time, hahaha.

By the time our set was over and we had to strike everything, I wanted to crash. I bid goodbye to the cast who went their own way to have dinner or head on straight home, then Bryan, Jacq and I grabbed all our props and costumes and stocked them in the TP office and the prop room. When we were done in the prop room, Ed thanked us and returned to Batute, where My Padir is an OCW began their uber-late rehearsal. I picked up my bag from the dressing room and that's when I realized that our set's mugs haven't been washed. Rawr. I didn't really want to avoid the task, so I grabbed my mugs, washed them, and returned it to the prop room, just so I won't have anything against me.

Caught both shows of Set B (Madadramang Pamilya) yesterday. Bagahe was a bit low, but heavy. It's lead male character looked quite stiff from the shoulders down, and I can't help noticing that he moved his head a lot. To make up for the stiff upper torso maybe? Plus his voice was a little soft some of the time. Hahaha, Tad had to point out that their blocking was almost always redundant. Oh well. Looking for Darna was next, featuring Daniel and Eric. Daniel's acting was good, her diction was clear, but her voice was also pretty soft. Other than that, the play was pretty OK. Then there was Teroristang Labandera. Now that was hilarious. I loved how each character made his/her own sound in opening and closing the door, ahehe. Cris even stole the show with his "Lucky-esque" character, hahaha!

We also got to watch the play reading of Games People Play at the Little Theater. That was interesting, as the concept was pretty real. Well, I think I slept through a couple of minutes of the play, because I was still lacking sleep, but that doesn't mean that the reading was boring. I actually enjoyed it.

Today I caught the 3pm show of Set C (XX and X: Babala: Hindi Pang-Isip Bata) with Betty, Zee and Carlo. Seance was a delightful play about calling on the spirit of a gay guy's writer-friend, and he had this monologue with both characters. I had a hard time figuring out at some point the difference between the 2 characters though. Up next was Kasaysayan, some absurd play which lines I keep hearing because Chrome keeps on rehearsing it anywhere he goes. My Padir is an OCW was also quite interesting, and I still can't get over those shoes that Riki wore in the finale, hahahaha.

We headed for the LT lobby for the Platform event that featured writers Niel, Rene Villanueva and James Cansanay, as they discussed writing children's plays. Let me just quote what Niel had said... "Vital ang writing because you write to remember." Ahehehe, I do that a lot. It's one of the prime reasons why I blog.

Anyway, Betty, Jen and I then headed for the Little Theater for the play reading of Baby B, which featured Anna, Riki, Russ, Kat, Sugus and Tad. This was more interesting that the one we saw yesterday, as this play had blocking. Being a play reading, sometimes it got a little awkward for some scenes because they were all holding their scripts.

Will be back tomorrow evening for Set D, which is called Ang Pagdadalaga at Iba Pang Rebelasyon. After a bunch of us returns from RCBC for ZsaZsa, that is, hahaha.