Snippets.

Just a couple of snippets plus extras these past few days.

Eric (to Marion and Trixie): Bakit wala kayong mga bag? Si Hogi lang ang meron.

Haha, I simply said that I'm quite a packrat.

I realized that I never leave home without having a medium- to big-sized bag with me. I hardly ever go out with a small purse or bag. I always tend to bring more things with me, even though I still consider all those stuff as daily essentials.

I know I already did about one or two "What's in your bag" posts before, but here's an updated version of that. For those who are curious as to what are all the junk that weighs my bag down, here's a photo.


Clockwise from top: My wallet, plus a coin purse, employee ID, bottle of perfume, lotion, hand sanitizer, makeup case (contents may change depending on my mood and where I go), my book du jour (right now it's Christina Hopkinson's "Cyber Cinderella"), pouch containing my iPod shuffle and flash drives, pouch containing my toothbrush and toothpaste, pouch containing emergency medicine (for headache, cold and cough), umbrella, house keys, pen and mechanical pencil, round brush, flat brush (which has a mirror in the back for quick glances).

Not included in the photo are my Starbucks tumbler (I drink like a fish), and the Lock-N-Lock container when I bring lunch from home every now and then.

Yep, ever since I got hooked on reading again, there's always a book in my bag. The last one before this current one was actually a hardbound, so you can imagine how heavy my bag was before.

Anyway, what about you? What's in your bag?

Wow, as I type this, I just noticed that I don't carry a notepad in my bag anymore. I guess it's because I'm sort of becoming kind of dependent on my phone, because not only does it have the notepad feature, but it also has a Quickoffice application where I can just type away MS Word and Excel spreadsheets (I used this often for ushers' attendance in Wedding Singer).

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Last Saturday, I was sitting next to George after he had settled upon arriving at LSGH. Smiling, he turned to me and asked, "Kelan ka aarte ulit?"

I just shrugged and said that I didn't know. I mean, I had a blast working with George when we did that thesis play, and I really wanted to work with him again. So he told me to join the thesis production that he's directing next term. I was about to get all excited, until I remembered that I already had a project lined up for August. Darn. I still do want to work with him, though. Plus I miss acting. Oh well.

Had a long weekend, but no complaints.

Nothing much has been happening lately, then I suddenly found myself having a super busy weekend. It was fun though, even if it meant missing out on a few hours of sleep.

On Saturday, I got to witness the Grand Alumni Homecoming of LSGH, called Ciento Verde, and organized by their school's batch 1986. Miss Magda had asked me if I can be a spinner, so off I went.

My call time was at 11 that morning, so I had to come to the office an hour early for early dialing, just so I can reach Greenhills by 11am. Oh how ironic, the only time I had to come in early, I fell asleep on the bus and missed my stop. Thank goodness it was still early, so by the time I arrived at the floor, I still had half an hour before I had to clock in. Even though I could start by then, I just killed the time so I can start off relaxed.

Arrived at LSGH at exactly 11am, and mostly spent most of the time sitting around with the younger prod and tech generation, listening to what was supposed to be done. Haha, Miss Magda just had to make a point that because I'm there, she's not the only one who's part of the older crowd, hence calling me "Ate Hogi" for the younger kids. After a paper tech with George, we had to meet with the Batch '86 guys about the entire program. Haha, most of us just sat there quietly, smiling and chuckling as the men kept giving all these additional ideas and whatnot.

When I got some of my material, Sir Jay told me to test everything and familiarize myself with the equipment. I had never been a spinner ever before, as I've only been used to cueing a spinner. It took me quite a while to figure out, but thank goodness Sir Jay kept prodding me to practice using the equipment (even the smelly headphones so I can listen to things on my own), so I managed to do things relatively smoothly, as long as I kept a running list of things to do (CDs, tracks, cues, etc.).

When the event began, George was next to me, so it was easy to get cues from him. There were a few glitches, technical mishaps and such, so I always had to keep lots of filler music (80's music) ready. One thing I have to say about the event, never had I seen so many drunk men of all shapes, sizes, color and age in one place, hahaha.

Called it a night at around midnight, because I had to wake up early the next day for Pasinaya.


For the first time since I first attended, I didn't wake up in time for the Pasinaya opening yesterday morning. Argh. I always like watching the Philippine Marines' drum ang bugle corps while they perform their routine in front of the LT entrance. The entire CCP was already booming with all the festivities when I had arrived about half an hour after the opening.

Because I had already pre-registered online, I didn't have to go through all the long lines to register and just came up to one of the registry booths to get my pass. I was told of the priority baller ID passes that cost P100 each (unlike the regular wrist strap that has a minimum payment of P20), so I decided to get that so I don't have to go through long lines after long lines for all the events that I already had in mind.

I first checked out the Batutes' poetry reading at the CCP library, but had to leave after Siege's first 2 poems so I could make it to the Batute theater in time for AC's Anatomiya ng Korupsyon excerpt. Sat next to Riki and Tuxqs, so I didn't have to sit amidst the student crowd.

Nikki was texting me while I was watching Anatomiya, and I only got to reply briefly once. I met up with her in the lobby after the show. Because the next show that I was going to watch wouldn't start until another hour and a half, we decided to grab lunch at Teriyaki Boy at Harbour Square.

When we returned to CCP, Erik and Marj were finally there. We fell in line at the Main Theater for the Zsazsa Zaturnnah preview, but because Erik and Marj had the regular paper wrist bands while Nikki and I could enter first, we saved them seats in the center orchestra. Ahahaha, we ended up sitting next to the huge group of TKM girls who were talking loudly about Tuxqs. Who was that girl who called Tuxqs her "baby"? AHAHAHAHA. Anyway, those Dodongs received the most squeals from the audience, obviously. They both appeared in "Walang Ibang Pangarap Kundi Siya," so the entire audience of the Main Theater were going crazy, wahahaha. And because Eula wasn't there as Zsazsa, it was Tuxqs and Nar who sang her parts for "Victoria, Winner, Tagumpay."

We realized we still had time to watch Sipat Lawin Ensemble's Imperio Animalia, so we headed to the Conference room, but not before having to go through a huge, tight crowd in the Main Theater Lobby. Ugh. I love the Pasinaya Festival but one of the things I hate about it is the crowd. It's one of the 2 days of the year that the place gets too crowded.

Anyway, when we reached the Conference Room, I wasn't surprised to see the long line. So I got Nikki, Erik and Marj to line up together while I ask the usher about the seating capacity (usually it's just 100, and I was right). I counted the people on my way back to the three, and I estimated that we could make it. And I was right again, ahahaha. Coolness. And I was fairly amused how Erik and Marj were enjoying themselves, being exposed to all this, ahehehe.

We had time to kill again before TP AC's Bakit Wala Nang Nagtatagpo sa Philcoa Oberpas, so we went outside to check the stalls. Erik bought a burger from the Army Navy stall while Marj got a drink from another, then we looked around a bit. At one point, we were talking about Red Anderson, one of the Dodongs in Zaturnnah, and while we were still walking, we passed a stall that was manned by Shing and some of her friends, selling magnets. Red was also there, and when I stopped looking at the magnets, Shing had quipped, "Dodong for sale." Ahahahaha.

When we were sitting on the carpet in the LT lobby...

Me: Sayang, late na ang naisip kong comeback as to magkano si Dodong.
Erik: Pwedeng pay-what-you-can.
AHAHAHAHAHA.

When we had to fall in line for Oberpas, the line was already super long, but once again, I was grateful for the priority passes. Erik and Marj had to go to the very back of the regular line that had already snaked around.

It was a shorter version of the play, and it was still pretty funny despite the fact that they had removed certain parts of it. And they had changed the ending as well, with Tad accidentally falling off the overpass, with a hilarious bird's eye view fall that was reminiscent of Bobby Strong's in Urinetown.

We were set to watch Spotlight's Magsimula Ka excerpt in the same venue after Oberpas, but we were still required to leave the venue so the next group can set up. Spotted Erik and Marj already in line, so I guess they didn't make it inside for Oberpas. But at least they got to have a good spot in line for the next show. By this time, they were already giving out old, unused tickets to old shows to easily count the number of people allotted for every show. Anyway, for Magsimula Ka, they performed a few songs in the show, and of course, including the title song.

After that, Erik had decided that he and Marj already line up for Spit's show in the Conference Room, while Nikki and I had to stop by the ladies' room. Whoa, a longer line for SPIT, so Nikki and I headed for the priority pass line. Some of the AC plus Tara walked by us, trying to get seats for the show as well, but I don't think they made it. Tara, on the other hand, sneaked into our line together with me and Nikki, and even though the usher asked for her ticket, she still let her in, hahahaha. And my goodness, as our luck would have it, we ended up sitting next to Tuxqs' boisterous school-based fan club for the second time in a row, ahahaha. The improv group was playing a game in the acting area while we were being seating, and not only that, they were talking in gibberish. I was still trying to figure out how their game worked when they called for a volunteer, and once Nar had taken his place with the group, I finally figured out their rules, which was similar to Zip Zap Zoom, ahahaha.

Anyway, without fail, even the short performance of SPIT kept cracking me up right on until the very end. And of course, my favorite segment of all time is still the most hilarious. The Oracle always comes up with the craziest answers, as long as you ask them an open-ended question.

Favorites were...

Question: Paano makapunta sa langit?
Oracle: Mamatay ka muna!

Question: Bakit ang ganda ko?
Oracle: Ilusyonada ka kasi!
(This answer was pure win, as the question came from the aforementioned boisterous group.)

After the show, Nikki and I were getting pretty hungry by then, so by the time we had met up again with Erik and Marj, we decided to go to Army Navy to eat. I haven't had their burgers in a while. But what was disappointing was that they were out of Freedom Fries, which is one of my favorites. Even though we had to settle with regular fries, and even practically had to cover them entirely in salt and add the Army Navy sauce, I still missed the Freedom Fries. Oh well.

We missed the closing gala at the Main Theater because we were still eating and talking the time away in Army Navy, but it was alright. I still had an awesome time the entire day.

More on my blogging, and then some.

Just when I had just blogged about how I feel towards people viewing my blog, it's pretty ironic to find out the following morning that one of my superiors at work read my entries, hahaha. Apparently we have the same hobby of reading other people's blogs.

I've been blogging for almost 10 years (I recall starting in September 2001, first using DiaryLand), and I also love reading other people's blogs because it's an interesting way to connect with other people in the world wide web. Their blogs are like windows to their lifestyle, their lives, etc. Bien had noticed that my photo blog in Tumblr made it seem like I'm a happy (-go-lucky?) easy-going person with not much stress in life whatsoever. I just brushed it off and said that it was sort of plastic, in a way, showing those things. I don't really dwell much on the stressful things, let alone blog about it in detail online. That's what my public cryptic entries and private blog posts are for.

Speaking of cryptic, wow, I can't believe it's been that long already. And yes, I do mean that. And that.

Without realizing it until later, I noticed that little by little that the card reading Lara did for me was true. Not that I'm rationalizing things, but it's sort of pretty creepy how it rings true. I may have decided to be a bit selfish and devote more time and effort on myself, silently declaring this a "me" year. In fact, I already have something set for myself later this year, and I have to admit that I'm a bit excited to go back into it.

Rambling, pondering, whatever.

I honestly don't know how many people still read my blog, and I'm usually unaware of who views it on my Multiply account unless I actually reach the very end of the page where I can find other Multiply users who had viewed the page. Sure, I do get curious from time to time but not really all the time.

The thing is, sometimes I don't really want to talk about certain topics that I put in my blog in person. Unless I'm comfortable enough to talk about it. That's the very reason I just write it down here. And sometimes, I try to make an effort to be discreet, so long as I just get to let it out (then put it all down in a private entry later).

Anyway, a friend of mine just recently said that based on my recent entries, it seemed as if he sensed something. Something that used to be of significance. I don't know how he could sense that, and I didn't even know that I'm even exuding that particular "something." Or maybe it's just an excuse to tease?

In relation to that, I heard something he said another time, in passing, just as a joke, another excuse to tease, the truth based on a gut feel, or whatever. I don't know if it's true, as he said that he just had that feeling.  Even if it could be true, I don't want to dwell on it too much, especially coming from another person. I didn't really want to ask, and I didn't really want to hope for something that might be possible yet could also be an empty promise.

Whatever. I'm rambling. Time to curl up with my current book.

Spontaneous Sunday.

After mass this morning, I decided to go to the CCP area for two purposes--a different branch for Starbucks solitaire, plus I wanted to talk to Paulo about getting tickets to Zsazsa Zaturnnah's run next month, as he wasn't replying to my texts (he later said that he didn't have load, ahehe). The TP Actors Company has a 3pm show of Anatomiya ng Korupsyon anyway, so for sure he'd be there.

I arrived pretty early on purpose, so I could just sit in Starbucks with my tea latte and read my current book du jour (it's currently "Seeing Redd," book two of The Looking Glass Wars trilogy). Gino, Rayna and Kat appeared much later, so when they headed back to CCP, I walked with them, as Gino had said that Paulo was already there in the lobby. I finally got to talk to Paulo about the tickets, and then killed lots of time in the lobby. With a bit of teasing and prodding, I ended up watching Anatomiya up in the gallery of Batute along with Riki and Russell, hahaha. Which is just as well, because when I first saw their recital, it was just a TDR without a curtain call. Congrats again, you guys!

I left almost immediately after their show, and upon boarding a bus that was headed to ATC, I decided to call Lara about Noelle's gig in the evening, which she had texted a few days ago. So another spur-of-the-moment decision, I headed to ATC instead of going straight home, as I haven't seen Noelle perform live. Lara said that her siblings will just meet me there, as she was already with Noelle.

Haha, Johmie immediately found me when I had just arrived at Corte de las Palmas, where the gig was, so I sat with her, their Kuya Jorhez and Brandy. Lara later joined us, and because of the crowd, we didn't have enough seats, so we put the seats together and managed to make us all fit, hehehe.

It was a pretty good mall gig, as Noelle really did make good rapport with the crowd. Her musical prowess on the harp was amazing, so I'm hoping to catch more of her gigs in the future.

To sum it all up, today's spontaneity made my day. And it's only the beginning of the week.

Randomness, just to update.

Wow, this is only my 2nd blog post for the year? I can't believe I don't blog as often anymore. I guess I've just been looking for more things to blog about before I sit down and start typing away.

Nothing much has been going on, really. But one thing I liked about beginning this year is that there are more things to look forward to, there are more goals to set, and well, more expectations of myself.

Lara did another card reading and pulled out a card for each of her friends for this year. I got Judgment. She recently sent me what it meant.

You're more free to make decisions and are transforming. You take account your past actions and know better. By revaluating and reviving, you drop your old values to embrace new ones. Accept things they way they are.

Make choices without blaming others or yourself. You have a new insight into how you handle your relationships. It is fine to shrug your shoulders and think 'what's the point?' This is your chance to start afresh, let go of the past and stop feeling guilty for your actions.

Interesting. Part of it is already true, which is creepy. Or maybe I'm just rationalizing things again. But so far, I like how 2011 has been for me.

I like that I've been reading more books right now. I didn't really count it as a resolution. I just liked the change. I did skip a Sunday Solitaire last week, but more on that later. I'm just glad that I've been hungry for books to read lately. Plus thanks to my LJ friend Aisa, I received 2 books in the mail last Monday. I saw a list of books in her blog that she had read in the past year, and I a couple of them caught my eye. When I commented that I was curious about those, she offered to send them to me, and she did. Thank you so much, Aisa, for letting me indulge in my more-than-2-decades-old hobby, hahaha.

Anyway, about skipping Sunday Solitaire, I opted to go to Peaberry last week instead of Starbucks, and I ended up hanging out with Aris and Karla during the early part of the evening, then later with Erik until closing time. I love days like these, just spending the evening talking the time away with good food, drinks, and the cozy ambiance. It's also good to know that I have more friends that are in my vicinity.


It's sort of awkward to have a teacher or a professor become your co-worker or colleague (though it's not too weird and happens all the time in our industry). But what's awkwardly funny is having your colleague become your teacher, hahaha. Yun lang.


I love hanging out with random friends and talking about the most mundane things. This past week was no exception. I found Anna, Isab and Russell off to an audition for a thesis film in CSB last Wednesday, and we ended up having dinner plus dessert in the area, talking about having your own country, crazy currencies, sovereignty (yes, pa-deep muna), actors equity in the country, to crazy new names for actors' networking sites, gang names, and pop-up bills for money, hahaha.

Another similar occasion was yesterday (as I write this post). After work, I had nothing to do but I didn't really want to go home just yet, so I went out with Faye, Julie and Meeko for lunch at Greenbelt. At first, we had no idea where to eat, but after a freaky cockroach experience before we ordered at the first restaurant that we decided on, we decided to change and walked directly to Conti's. Crazy conversations galore, and we ended up in various stages of food coma by the time we were finished with dessert.


A new week is starting. I wonder what's in store this week.

A hodge-podge first entry for 2011.

This is quite a record for me. I haven't blogged since 2011 began, as my last post was the previous year in review. So yeah, I owe this blog an update. But because of how much time had passed, maybe I won't go into lengthy details.

Anyway.

Dingdong and I turned a Peaberry session into an annual year-end tradition. We had met up and hung out at Peaberry on the afternoon of New Year's Eve back in 2009, and so we decided to do the same for 2010. We had also invited Lara to join us, but because of the date and all the crazy traffic jams, maybe another time. Even after Dingdong had left, I still had company, thanks to Marj and some of her high school friends. Erik was also supposed to come but he got a little tied up at home. But thank goodness Marj, Erik and I live in the same village. At least now we know where we can find each other for Peaberry, hehe.


I posted this status message on my Facebook profile on January 2nd: "Life really just happens. May mga dumarating at may mga nawawala. Yun lang."

For some reason, I have this bad feeling that a close friend has certain issues with me, yet I can't pinpoint what. Bigla na lang hindi nagpaparamdam, eh kasing dalas kong katext yun sa (then) boyfriend ko. I still don't know if I did something wrong or what. Is it because I flaked out on one particular day that we were supposed to meet? Or my being non-committal to certain projects because I have other commitments? I wish I knew the answers. I messaged that friend once, asking a few questions, and I got short answers. Then I asked if there's anything wrong. Dedma. Oh well, maybe in time. But for now, I guess kailangang mawala para may ibang dumating, at (in the words of Roobak) para magkaroon ka ng mas maraming panahon para sa sarili mo.


I got to attend DUP's Orosman at Zafira presscon on Wednesday last week, thanks to Toots. I was so excited when I first heard that it was going to run again, as I've seen both the 2008 and 2010 runs (though for some reason, the latter had more impact on me). The entire cast was amazing each time, and the music can be spine-tingling.

I got to interact with the bloggers I see a lot at other presscons, and it was my first time to chat with them. They were a happy tight bunch, and I'm glad they let me join in, even for that one day.

One thing I've learned, kailangan may dala ka ring baon sa presscon, hindi lang sa class o sa rehearsal. When the presscon's open forum began and Toots opened the floor for questions, he singled me out as having seen both previous runs of the show and requested that I ask the first question. I was so unprepared that I ended up throwing them a lame question, ahahaha. It was so embarrassing.

(Anyway, I'll try to do a separate blog post about the event another time.)


The following day, Thursday, I spent the afternoon having lunch and hanging out with Carms, Jay and the adorable Evan. The last time I saw all three was way back in September, the day after Carms had given birth to Evan. And I only got to see Evan through the glass window of the ICU. At least this last visit, I got to see and touch him up close.

I just love this little family, even back when Carms and Jay were still engaged. Despite the fact that Carms and I rarely get together and we haven't been friends that long, I feel as if she knows me so well. She always seems to give the best advice at the right time, and I feel as if she's an older sister even though I'm biologically older than her. And I'm glad she found an awesome husband in Jay, who's equally quirky and compliments her perfectly. And now with Evan here, there's more reason to go all the way up north to visit.


On Saturday evening, Rosa and I went to Hard Rock Cafe to watch Nyoy's gig. It's been about six or seven years since I last set foot in that place, and almost the same amount of time since I last watched one of Nyoy's gigs. My goodness, it's been that long? Anyway, as Rosa had been curious and hasn't seen any of this guy's live performances, we decided to go on a Hard Rock night.

We first thought of having dinner somewhere else, but eventually settled on eating inside Hard Rock. Good decision. At least we managed to nab a good table that's far from the speakers, but still a good view of the stage, should Rosa take photos. I think we had way too much salad that night, as we already ordered a big salad to share, but then the other dish we got also had a salad on the side, hahaha. I got to introduce her to Maynard before the show, and to Maica as well (who later joined us at our table along with Mars).

Sitting there sipping my banana-berry colada made me feel old. Hahaha. I remember excitedly sitting among groupies with a glass of iced tea, trying to talk to the others over the music. I realized that hanging out with that group in that particular place wasn't really that conducive to talking. And I actually enjoyed it before? Hahaha. This past Saturday, I just sat back and enjoyed the music.

It was refreshing to hear that familiar music again, along with new songs and new versions. I have to say, I should do this every once in a while again, but not as obsessively as before, of course. It's a good way to end the week.


Speaking of every once in a while, I started reading more often again. I spend Sunday evenings at a nearby coffee shop armed with a book and a tea latte. I missed reading. I love taking the time just for Starbucks solitaire once every week. Maybe I'll keep doing this. It's very cathartic.