With Nikki and Nicco.

"Ikaw nga talaga ang kausap ko."
"Talagang tumatanda na tayo. Pareho pa rin ang usapan, pero..."

Nikki and I always try to get together as much as we can, even though it's hard lately because of her crazy flight schedules. Thank goodness she was free so we could watch Breakups and Breakdowns together last night. We both had seen the excerpts at the National Theater Festival together, so we wanted to see it together as well.

Haha, we were half-expecting Nicco to be there as well, because he saw the excerpts with us 5 years ago. Yep, he managed to catch the first act, but had to leave during intermission.

After the show, Nikki and I decided to grab some dinner before heading home, and we decided to look for Nicco just to say goodbye. He ended up joining us at Rai-Rai Ken, even though he already had dinner at Jollibee. Hahaha, I just loved how Nikki got Nicco's bag as assurance that he would come join us, because we both knew Nicco that well.

Man, the last time I was together with these two at the same time was Halloween of 2007. Nix and I had decided to have dinner in Greenbelt, and we invited Nicco as well, who had just got out of Dogeaters rehearsals. Mostly chikahan about Nikki's work, my crazy updates, and of course, the 3 of us delved into the mind of Nicco.

The 3 of us at Cafe Bola, Greenbelt 3.

So there, the three of us were back together, sitting in a booth at Rai-Rai Ken. And those quotes I had written at the beginning of this entry turned up. Because of how long we haven't hung out together, more chika galore. Sometimes we delved into some familiar topics, and we were so amused at how they evolved over the course of time.

With the sister and baby brother I never wanted, hahahaha!
Masaya rin ako at nagkita-kita muli tayo sa mata. Labyu both!

These two are rare gems in my friendship treasure chest. Iba talaga ang saya pag kasama kayo.

Isa pang hirit...

My shoes and Nicco's.
Post-Dogeaters shoes, hahahaha!

Breakups and Breakdowns.

I had seen excerpts of Joel's Breakups and Breakdowns back in 2004 during the National Theater Festival in CCP. So I was really excited to find out that it was part of Virgin Labfest 5's staged readings. It was finally a full play! Well, so it's just a staged reading, but the play is finally complete, hahaha!

Even though the show started at 6pm, I had arrived at CCP by 4:30. Hahaha, I wanted to get there early, maybe hang around and run into some friends who aren't watching the matinee show in Batute. After a quick bite at the buffeteria, I ended up hanging out in the prop room (conveniently adjacent to the Conference Room) with Jo-Ann, Fats and Kuya Jun. Ahehehe, pare-pareho lang na naglalabas ng angst. The cast of Breakups and Breakdowns (Joel, Caisa, Emy, Reuben and Teenee) plus Rony the music man, started trickling in, so Fats, as DSM, had to scurry around to oversee things. I tagged along inside the Conference Room, sometimes listening to the cast rehearse their songs, sometimes just chatting with Fats.

Joel and an usher about reserving seats for Joel's parents...
Joel: (gesturing to seats in the 3rd row) Eto, pa-reserve ito para sa parents ko.
Usher: Yes, sir. Pero sir, ipapamigay po yung seats na yan sa mga late pag hindi po sila darating after ng chimes.
Joel: OK, sure naman na darating sila eh.
Usher: Sure po?
Joel: Oo, sure yan. Magulang ko yan eh. Pag hindi sila darating, magda-drugs ako.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Was the first to fall in line to take a ticket, even though Jo-Ann had allowed me to hang inside the Conference Room prior to the show. Syempre, mabait ako eh, hehehe. Anyway, I decided on taking 2nd row seats instead of sitting in the first row, because I don't want to strain myself looking up the whole time, even though the platforms were only a foot high. Yay, Nikki had arrived a few minutes after open house, and she settled in the seat beside me. It wasn't long until the seats started filling up with familiar faces. They were mostly friends of the cast, people I've worked with and became friends (though mostly just acquaintances) with as well. They totally outnumbered the usual Labfest crowd for this show, ahehehe.

Breakups and Breakdowns intertwined the stories of four individuals and their love/dating lives. Of first dates, serial dating, exes, awkward moments, getting back together or staying friends, and "perfection." Once I listened to the music, I can't really explain, but it's as if you really know that Rony was the one who wrote those songs even if you didn't know it beforehand. And the script was filled with witty repartee, that you can't really help but laugh out loud. Even the music was cleverly written. I love this play that I can't wait for it to really be staged. Congratulations to Joel, Rony, Caisa, Emy, Reubs and Teenee!


I had earlier mentioned that the audience was composed of mostly "non-Labfest goers." Hahaha, the crowd was totally different compared to most of the other shows I had seen in that very venue. Yesterday evening, people were greeting everyone they knew. Loudly. Going everywhere where they found friends. If this was a show by another company, sure, people would still be pretty social, but in a different way. Not naman subdued. Just different. I don't know how to explain it. Basta iba talaga. Maski yung ingay iba eh. Iba yung "chaos," and the performers were different, malamang. That evening, they were mingling with the audience before the show and during intermission. Pag ibang performers ito, most likely they'd be quietly waiting backstage.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing or a good thing. Just different. It's just a weird observation. Hahahaha.

Watching Virgin Labfest 5's Set C: Blood Sports.

Because I'm not working as an SM for this year's Virgin Labfest 5, I won't have that "perfect attendance" that I had during the past 2 Labfests, hahaha. But of course, I didn't want to miss Set C: Blood Sports (Trilohiyang Dinuguan), for Tad's play. Tuxqs had casted him and Riki as the 2 leads for Miss Lallie's play, Doc Resureccion: Gagamutin ang Bayan. Considering this is the Tuxqs-Lallie tandem for the 3rd year in the row, I was excited to catch it. Neither Tad nor Tuxqs had given me any inkling about the play aside from the synopsis that was posted in the Labfest schedule.

Caught the 3pm (opening) show last Thursday. First play was Kitchen Medea, a monologue by Kiyokazu Yamamoto, which was directed by Yoshi Tashihisa. Mailes played Medea in the one-woman show. Basically it was about a woman whose husband left her for another woman. In time, her loneliness developed into mild insanity, and she ended up sacrificing her children for the tragic downfall of the other woman.

I was sitting at stage right with Russell during the first play, and I got tired of the view, so I moved to the middle, right in the very first row with Tony, for Asawa/Kabit, written and directed by George. The supposed awkward and frustrating situation of a wife and a mistress meeting for the first time was given a witty treatment. As they compared each other to see which one is better off with the husband, some verbal and even physical catfights ensued. I had actually expected more than one physical catfight, and Tony had confirmed this as he had seen a rehearsal of the play before. What I had noticed was that some of the dialogue kept going around in circles, combined with slight awkward dead air. Did they forget some of their lines?

During the 15 minute intermission after the second play, I noticed the extreme set change which included putting one of the platforms on top of the other. Because of this, Tony and I had decided to transfer to seats 3 rows back so as to save our necks from straining to look up during the whole duration of the third play. Yep, the one I was waiting for, Doc Resureccion. And without bias, Tuxqs and Miss Lallie didn't fail to astound me once again. The play was about 2 cousins running against each other for mayor. One was a doctor who claimed he wanted to change his former hometown, while the other was a local to ruin his cousin's chances to win the election. At first, you wouldn't know who to believe, the decent-looking doctor who claims he means well, or the filthy-looking one who lives off odd jobs and strives to be a janitor. Riki and Tad gave quite riveting performances (ahem, still no bias here, alright?) as Doc Resureccion and Boy Pogi, respectively, plus equally awesome supporting performances by Angeli, Tita Peewee and Crispin Pineda as Elsa, Mang & Pang. Congrats, y'all! Hahaha, the magic of the fishing hook and wire into Riki's eye was instantly revealed to me by Tad after the show.

Last opening day of all Labfest shows today, even though today's set showcases Virgin Labfest 4: Revisited. Congratulations to all the sets' artists!

Visiting Brother Ceci for the last time.

Went with Iam to LSGH for Brother Ceci's wake this afternoon. Rosa was supposed to go with us, but unfortunately she couldn't get off work today.

Iam and I decided to meet up at Robinson's Galleria because it's pretty close to LSGH. Because I was already in the mall, I decided to go to Saizen to buy more shrink plastic. Hahaha, it's still a sinful place to spend your money, so I just focused on the shrink plastic. I was surprised to see other kinds of packs aside from the various ones I bought before. Now they had the plain white plastic, plus sheets bigger than the A4 size. Iam found me in the stationery section where the shrink plastic was found, and she was pretty amused by the store that we decided to browse and window shop for a while so she could check out the other goodies. After paying for my purchases, we suddenly had this craving for Japanese food, so we ended up in Teriyaki Boy.

Lara happened to be running errands in the same mall during that time, so she joined us for lunch. Yay, one of my best friends meet my "breast friend," hahaha.

Parted ways with Lara after lunch, and Iam and I hopped on a jeep to LSGH. Hahaha, we got off and entered at the wrong gate because I missed seeing the gate I used to enter before. It didn't matter anyway, as the guard immediately pointed us to the chapel.

It occurred to Iam and me that ever since we knew Brother Ceci, we have never seen him don the black or the white habit whenever we saw him in person, haha. Every time we see him--during our recollection, at the Campus Ministry in 6th grade, and even during and after college--he was always in civilian attire. It was always a casual event whenever we got to see each other.

I met Brother Ceci in 5th grade, as he was the facilitator during our recollection that year. Rosa, Iam and I were just getting pretty close during that time, because I remember once writing in my diary (hahaha) that day that I didn't have much friends in the class because most of my messages during the activities came from Rosa and Iam. Yes, I was a very shy and reserved kid back then. Brother Ceci had seen our trio grow from the very beginning. In 6th grade, he was Zobel's Campus Minister, so our trio got hung out in the Campus Ministry with him during every other recess and lunch periods. He even let us read and borrow his huge book on sign language, plus doodle on his blackboard in the office. I remember that he sometimes called me "Apple," which was my nickname at home, and I didn't mind if he was the only one that called me that.

When I was tranferring to CSB for my 2nd year of college, Brother Ceci was one of the first people I told, because I knew he taught the deaf students there. Unfortunately, I never got to see him around, except this one time when my YFC sister Me-anne invited me to attend the noon mass in the school chapel with her. I noticed this familiar man sitting with the deaf people. I knew it was him, and I immediately ran over to give him a hug as soon as the mass was over.

The next time I saw Brother Ceci was when he was back in Zobel. It was on the night that I saw Godspell, and he was one of the people sitting in the lobby table. He had asked me, "When will I get to see YOU onstage?" And my only reply was, "Soon." And it never happened.

The very last time I saw him was the day of PJ and Joy's wedding, January 23rd of this year. Because the wedding was in Alabang, a bunch of us wondered if we could visit Zobel as well. I immediately texted Brother Ceci, as our trio had been planning to meet with him there for months, but we never got to follow through. It was the perfect opportunity. We spent quite a while sitting with him in the school's theater lobby as he shared stories about the students and alumni, who had come to Brother Ceci in need of a listening ear. He talked about the kids in Zobel that he saw grow up, on the outside as well as inside. He reminded me of my own "human diary" moments with my friends.

In my blog entry for that day, I wrote: Hahaha, Iam and I quipped that hopefully next time we see him, we have our own story we can tell him that he can share with the kids who are dying to listen to him.

We never got to tell him our stories. He never got to see me while I was doing what I loved the most. I'll miss you, Brother Ceci. My next theater endeavor will be a tribute to you. I'm so glad that Iam had insisted on going to Zobel last January so we could hang out and talk to you.


*Photos courtesy of Iam and Raffy.

Trio date.

It's been months since Rosa, Iam and I had a night out, just the 3 of us, and last Saturday was the perfect time. Rosa has quite a whole bunch of stories to tell, especially for Iam, who had just returned from working in Australia during the summer.

After class, I headed straight to CCP so it's easier for Rosa and Iam to pick me up from there. I had to wait quite a while because Iam was looking for a henna tattoo place after she had met up with Rosa in South Mall. Ended up hanging around the LT lobby with a whole bunch of Virgin Labfest actors. Hahaha, after all the randomness, we ended up finding watching video scandals on Jerald's phone, plus this hilarious video in Eric's laptop. Right after that, a rehearsal for Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White began right there in the LT lobby. I got to watch the entire run, but I didn't get to absorb much of the story, as I was texting a whole bunch of people half the time.

Rosa, Iam and I ended up having a slow dinner at Max's along Roxas Boulevard. And really slow. We started talking immediately after we had ordered and we had stayed there for about 3 hours, hahaha. After finally paying the bill (oops, I still forgot to ask about that Canadian hand gesture), we continued our bonding moments over coffee at Starbucks Harbour Square. Hahaha, that's where I learned the term "serial monogamist." Interesting. And we even went online using Rosa's laptop and laughed at all those Asian poses at this site that Iam had mentioned.


We've been together for about 17 years now, and I just love love love my best friends.

The quest for earring wire, and doing what you love.

I had to go to South Mall this afternoon to buy a Father's Day gift for my dad from Mom and me, and figured it's a perfect opportunity to check The Bead Shop. I was told that I could buy earring wire there if ever I don't want to trek all the way to Divisoria.

First stop was The Bead Shop kiosk. I asked the lone guy there if they really do sell earring wire, but unfortunately, they ran out of stocks that day, even though they really do sell them. Darn. So I headed for the department store for Dad's gift.

I was hunched over my phone for a few moments while walking when I heard somebody call my name. It was Jen, a friend I had met through DLSZ's production of Oliver when I was in 7th grade and she was in 6th. My goodness, it's been ages since I last saw her, and we managed to catch up on each others news in the middle of the department store. After quite a while of chit chat, we parted ways and I finally found Dad's gift.

I had sent text messages to a couple of friends asking if there was a Bead Shop in Festival Mall (the next nearest mall), and I was waiting for a reply so I decided to walk around South Mall for a while. I ended up in the back part of the mall, and I found this small store called Pink Box that sold accessories and personalized charms. Hmmm... I saw a display of earrings, so I decided to check it out. I asked them if they also sold earring wire, and yes, they do sell those! Yay! It was P10 for a pair, so I guess that was alright. They only had 2 pairs of the silver, so I got both plus some gold pairs. I took out my shrink plastic earring designs (2 kinds of Greek theater masks) and asked if the wire links would fit. Hahaha, the girl I talked to actually offered to assemble it with no extra charge, and even let me have a bunch of extra wire hoop links for free as well. I was so grateful that I bought a bunch of hairbands, hair-ties and clips from their store (well, I needed those anyway, hahaha).

My goodness, I really must buy more shrink plastic. I think those earrings and some pendants would make great gifts to give and sell. Hahaha, if it weren't for Reggie, I wouldn't have discovered this crazy addiction, hahahaha!

==================================================

Speaking of Reggie, I saw in her blog that she wrote an article for her US-based cousin's own blog about the successful woman. I totally love the article. Check it out through the link below.

How I Quit My Job to Follow My Dream, by Reg Silva.

It was another inspiring article, much like the "Sayang Siya" blog entry I posted about in my previous post. I also could relate to this one, even though the difference was that Reggie was a fresh college grad when she started to work for that big broadcasting network, while I had simply put school on hold to work for one of the country's leading theater companies. In the beginning, I was super excited when I first started working, because the company was doing a really popular Disney Broadway production. I learned the production side of the theater real fast, even though I first did some odd stuff here and there, plus answering these weird questions over the phone (such as "What show dates will [*insert celebrity here*] perform in?"). I was having a blast while I was getting to know all these, plus learning how to charm (Huwat? HAHAHAHA) marketing representatives so their company can be our sponsor, then being one of the first to check out all those sponsorships, hahaha. I also got to meet theater biggies (even though I sometimes just smile at them in the lobby as I hand them their complimentary tickets), both in the local scene and even abroad (I can't believe I got to sit in a car next to a Broadway Asia producer and a Phil-Am playwright). But of course, we were working 7 days a week, and we went home really late during show days, then report back to the office the following morning.


After 3 years worth of productions, everything just felt mechanical. I resigned from the company to be a full-time student again, and to finally finish my college degree. I agree with what Reggie said, "resigning felt like a breath of fresh air." People noticed that I seemed different after that. Happier (pareho rin tayo, Reg, hahaha), according to some. So I went back to school, and worked freelance backstage, which was what I loved the most, but never had enough time for before. OK, of course I still loved acting so I kept going to workshops, and even tried my hand at thesis productions, which I still participate in even until now. I found more room for my own creativity, though I don't think I'm not yet going to cut it like what Reggie did, hahaha. But I'll just keep doing what I love, and who knows where I'll find myself.

"I took a leap of faith," Reggie had said. Tama nga naman siya.

"Sayang."

During my regular blog-hopping, I stumbled upon this entry from someone's blog that pondered on the phrase, "Sayang siya." We've heard these words several times already, and even uttered those words about someone, and sometimes, it's about us.

I can totally relate to this. I'm one of those "sayang siya" cases myself, having stopped school just because the opportunity of working in Atlantis was offered. Sayang daw because I should've been a college graduate first, and that I could've gotten a better, high-paying job soon after that. Most of the people who say I'm sayang are from my family, which is not really a surprise. One aunt even asked me, "Ano kaya kung mag-nursing ka na lang? Mas marami ka pang kikitain pag nurse ka." But did she even try to ask if I wanted to be a nurse? Pfft.

But I have to agree with Grace. To quote: "I hope that this phrase would be eradicated from the minds of people [I am trying to eradicate it from mine!]. For me, saying 'sayang siya' is a way of looking down on other people, only it is masked with a dash of sympathy. People are products of what and who they are, of their choices, and of their experiences, so we have no right to say this, either of other people or ourselves. And let us remember, and I do hope we realize this, that people might actually be where they should and want to be. No life is a waste."

Even though I'm back in school right now, where half the population is 10 years younger than I am, I still have no regrets about the past 5 years. I have learned a lot during those years, and most of those lessons are things that I don't get to learn in school. Heck, yung mga kahinaan ko sa school, and especially sa thesis, I learned in the office and in the theater. Konti lang ang matututunan mo sa stage management in school back then, and I was so grateful for the hands-on experience I got in TP. I learned how to be more persuasive, and how to talk to people in the workplace. I also learned how to find my way around the metro. Syempre hindi naman pwede na may kotse palagi or sasakay na lang lagi ng taxi. And sometimes I can't believe that I actually learned how to run the office on my own during those times that I have to be the only one in charge. I even learned how to finally wear my heart on my sleeve, and it happened during and after workshops. Plus I learned how to make certain decisions, plus a lot more lessons. And all those helped make me grow more as a person. So I don't believe na "sayang" ako in the long run.

9 Works Theatrical and Security Bank at Onstage.

9 Works Theatrical's Songs For A New World had a special show at Onstage Theater this afternoon for Security Bank's anniversary celebration. As usual, I'm on call for ushering services, hahaha.

We had an early call time before the matinee show, because as it had turned out, the company has prepared a program prior to the actual show. My goodness, once the house opened, all of us ushers went crazy because there were so many people who came in with food! They had all assumed that it was all right to bring food into the theater. Arggg. We had already let them bring drinks in, but all those food? Jeez, there were burgers, fries, brownies, and even chicharon and popcorn! Some of them even questioned us about why they weren't allowed to bring in their food. Ano ba yan. This is a theater, not a cinema.

After their program (which was just a series of raffles), there was a short 15-minute break before the actual show. Now we were wondering how many pasaways there would be about using cellphones and taking pictures during the show. Well, there were a whole bunch of pasaways about the cellphones, but at least most of them were already forewarned about taking photos, so that wasn't much of a problem.

Hahaha, I just have to include this. "BottomS of our heart?"

I have to say, this show of Songs was pretty good, despite the lousy lapel mics and the lack of projections. And to think this was the only show that I've watched in full from beginning to end, hahaha!

After the show, there were photo ops in the lobby with the cast. I was there in the lobby as well, as Rolls and I conitnued to sell souvenir programs (as we were selling programs as well during intermission). Weird moment, this one guy came up to me and asked to have a picture taken with me. Huh??!? Uhm, dude, andun sa kanan ko ang mga artista, hahaha! Oh well, I still obliged, hoping that he'd buy a souvenir program after the photo, hahaha.

Off to Pancake House for dinner after the show. Hahaha, up until now, I still have that "Bulilit" song in my head, thanks to Carlos. And Jon-jon's missing S kept us laughing for quite a while. A bunch of the Benders from Robbie and Caisa's class were there as well, as they were surprising one of their fellow workshoppers for his birthday.

An amusing discovery today was that I found out just today that Santi was a Zobel alumnus (and Anna too?). And he only found out today about my familial connection with the school's first principal. Hahaha, he was from the very first Zobel batch that started in Junior Prep. Apparently, it was their batch (during their senior year and I was in 3rd grade) that took the entire high school student body to a La Salle-Ateneo game. Coolness.

After people had quipped that I was forever with Atlantis and TP, Robbie's question to me was, "Bakit hindi ka mag-Rep?" That's I thought. I remember when I was younger that I wanted to work in Rep (probably because it was the only company I knew of because of their Broadway plays, hahaha). When I found Atlantis and TP respectively, I guess I got hooked to them.

Speaking of TP, I really can't wait for Virgin Labfest 5.

Sort of helpless.

I don't really want to start brooding over nothing, but I hate the feeling of helplessness. As much as I want to do something to help cheer someone up, there's really not much to do when I'm way over here. And you don't even want to talk. Oh well, I just hope someone's in a better mood tomorrow.

Anyway.

Funny chat with a friend yesterday. It just amuses me how some people consider such things a big deal. I don't really want to elaborate on the topic, but it's just weird how "closey-closey" some people can get to others, "just because." I mean, I don't want to be rude, but why would I want to do that?

I just found out this afternoon that an LJ friend of mine is working for one of the plays of Virgin Labfest. I was surprised to find photos of Walang Maliw in her latest blog entry. As it turned out, she's working on the sounds/music for that play. Small world.

Shameless plugging of my photo blog (phlog? Hahaha) for Project 365. One photo uploaded daily, hehehe. Kinda tough to capture the day's events in just one photo taken on that day, so I'm still having lousy first entries. But it's a fun challenge anyway, so check it out here.

Attending a wake.

Before yesterday, the last time I went to Naic, Cavite a little over a week ago, it was for Tita Nila's birthday celebration. Little did I know then that it would be her last birthday, as she had passed away early Thursday morning. My return visit to Naic yesterday was for her wake.

Arrived at around 3pm yesterday afternoon with my mom, Tita Elvie, Tita Citang, Kuya Gil and Ate Susan. Paid my respects to Tita Nila, then spent most of the time in the dining room with Ate Vonic as MM and Joshua attempted to compromise with their totally different playing habits. Hahaha, along with Kuya Nonong, we had noticed that MM walked and ran in a funny way that was so much like Kuya Bobot's.

My mom and I went to attend afternoon mass, which we were told begins at 5pm. When we arrived at the nearby church, we found out that one mass had ended a little after 5pm, and the next one began at 6pm. Oh well. Plus the mass ended almost half an hour later because the parish priest spent about 20 minutes bidding the congregation farewell because he was moving to another church.

Had dinner when we returned to the house, then I moved to one of the bedrooms upstairs. One disadvantage I have on my mom's side of the family is that I don't know how to speak Zambal, their dialect. Hahaha, when my mom and aunts joined me in the room, I even quipped that I was an alien among them, as I fiddled with some game on Ate Neneng's laptop.

When Nina, Ate Cherry, Kuya Bong and Tito Ben arrived, I was finally relieved to have someone closer to my age range to talk to. Joined them for dinner (had more of the spring rolls with the yummy vinegar sauce that Kuya Totoy made) and then chika mode with Ate Cherry, mostly about schools, theater, her li'l business, and religious beliefs. We joined Nina, Ate Neneng, Kuya Nonong and Kuya Bong in the kitchen after a while as they exchanged ringtones and such from their phones.

Bugged the oldies in the living room when we got bored. Ate Neneng whipped out her camera and we ended up laughing nonstop as we came up with these wacky photos, mostly just picking on my mom and Tita Citang, hahaha. We were all practically rolling on the floor with laughter, and we all bet that if Tita Nila were still there with us, she'd be one of the people who'd laugh the loudest. My cousins and I even sat around with our moms and aunts as they talked about unseen spirits, even though some wanted to steer away from that topic, especially since our moms were the most afraid of those.

Spent the rest of the night, er, morning, with Ate Cherry, Ate Neneng and Nina in the dining room. Chikahan galore, and with Ate Neneng's laptop with us, we tried uploading all the crazy photos to Nina's Facebook account, but the darn internet connection was super slow. My goodness, we were just there talking until 5 in the morning, until Nina and Ate Cherry had to go back home with Tito Ben and Kuya Bong. I then went upstairs to the bedroom to get in at least a couple of hours of sleep, as I had to commute home with Kuya Gil at around 9 this morning.

I have to admit, despite the circumstances, it was fun being with my cousins again. I haven't talked this much with Nina since our Zambales trip 3 years ago.

I'm attempting to make a photo blog inspired by Project 365, the one where you take a photo a day. Only one entry so far, but the link to that blog is here.

Last birthdays, "being," and old friends.

My mom and I went to Naic, Cavite last Sunday for Tita Nila's birthday. Of course, we had several stopovers. First we went to Tita Elvie's because we'll be riding with her and Kuya Gil. Then we had to stop over at Tita Sitang's in Dasma, Cavite to pick her up as well. I haven't been to their house since high school, huwaw. Anyway, after Tita Sitang had finally prepped up, we made another stopover in Indang so Tita Elvie can show us the house she had built there, plus she told me that she was adding balcony. When we got there, the house was beautiful and simple, but the balcony totally ruined the entire facade. Well, the idea of a balcony would be fabulous, but it would work if it wasn't blocking half the front of the house. Oh well. Off to Naic then. Love the sound trip, which was Bob's selection. Songs of Parokya ni Edgar, beginning from their first album to their last, haha. When we arrived, Kuya Totoy was in the kitchen, finishing the palabok he was making. He was mixing it all up in this one huge palanggana (sp?) that was as big as the dining table, hahaha. Then for presentation, he took this cardboard box, cut up the bottom, covered it with tinfoil, and put the palabok in there. Hahaha, how's that for presentation? And there's no problem cleaning up. As it turns out, that's what they all do in Jeddah all the time.

My nephew Joshua (Kuya Nonong and Ate Mads' son) was on a sugar rush the entire afternoon. Super hyper kid that even I couldn't keep up with him. Ate Mads then explained that he had too much chocolate ice cream earlier, which explained why he wasn't allowed the extra icing on Tita Nila's birthday cake, hahaha.

It was a swell birthday, because it was an opportunity for my mom and her siblings to get together again, since there were only four of them still living right now. Yes, I said WERE. As of this morning, Tita Nila had passed away after having an attack while she was on a trip to Tarlac with Kuya Totoy, Ate Neneng, Kuya Nonong. May God bless her soul.



During a script reading a few days ago, an actor enjoyed inserting his own adlibs. Of course, another actor (and self-appointed AD) pointed out that his adlibs weren't necessary considering that they were mostly cuss words which weren't appropriate for a period film. After a little discussion, the first actor finally said, "Eh 'being actor' ako eh."

Hearing this, I started asking around about Stanislavki's method, plus other schools of acting. Cindy lost me when she vaguely mentioned "becoming" as opposed to "being." Maybe I should read that little blue book a second time. Or Cindy, could you send me a copy of your paper? Hahaha.



It's always fun to see old friends again, especially if it's at some place you used to hang out in several years ago. While I was taking a break from drawing yesterday morning, I was exchanging messages with Rosa about how I got in touch again with RA, her former blockmate in DLSU who became my blockmate in CSB. RA and I were chatting on Facebook the day before, as I was inquiring about the instructional DVDs on magic tricks that he was selling. As it turned out, RA's also back in school as well to finish his degree. Anyway, once I left the SDA building at almost noon yesterday, I briskly walked to the main building, craving for some Pao Tsin (never mind that I have to endure a super long queue, as long as I get my craving, hahaha). While I was walking along Leon Guinto, I decided to buy a drink in Mini Stop (because the drink I had in mine is cheaper there than in the cafeteria). To my surprise, RA was standing there right in front of Mini Stop. Hahaha, and to think that Rosa and I were just talking about him earlier. It's so great to find very familiar face from the old days, hahaha. After all these years, it seems like he still hasn't changed.

Went to visit the Atlantis office after my dose of Pao Tsin. Coolness, they finally have the big TV set up over there. And I love Ate Sally's pretty little laptop. Hahaha, funny that htey just had to quip about our old 3 o'clock habit. Darn, I miss those days. Of course, the usual chitchat (plus gossip, hehe) with Lawyn. And I just had to say hello to this little creature.

Hahaha, hello Little Trekkie!