.tHiS iS mY uToPiA.

I'M MOVING!!!

2007-07-06T05:35:00.000+08:00

Yes, I am. I'm going to miss my blogger home but I realized, since I have my own online store in Multiply, it would be much easier for me to manage my own website there as well. Plus Multiply is a no-brainer, easy to maintain site since everything is set up for you already (blog, video, music, photo albums, etc). I will miss you all here but please do visit me from time to time. It would be great if you have your own Multiply. If you do, add me ok?. If not, come with?

CLICK TO GO TO MY NEW HOME

My New Online Boutique

2007-02-19T13:51:00.000+08:00

A decade ago, I started a ready-to-wear clothing line called, What To Wear. It was just a little “sideline” that I really enjoyed doing. However, the hectic schedule of my real professiona forced me to set aside this little endeavour of mine.

But that was many years ago. Now, after the success of my other business (K9 Couture), I have decided to revive What To Wear via the internet.

I hope that you will support me in this new endeavor by adding me to your network...and maybe buying a piece or two from me. hehe!

Thanks and God bless! =)

Visit my online boutique at

www.what2wear.multiply.com

I'm Crushing

2007-02-12T00:49:00.000+08:00

It's so freaking high school, I swear! I have this immense crush on Wentworth Miller right now. Seriously! Just finished watching season 1 of Prison Break and I miss him already. Haha!

My daughter was asking me who he was so I showed her some pics of my Wenty (haha!) and she though he was cute too. I told her, "Mikah, bawal ang panget sa family ok. If you're going to have a boy-friend, he'd better look like that!" =)

I heart Wentworth Miller! And I don't care if I sound like a 15 year old! I mean look at those eyes!...*blows kisses to the computer*

Online Shopping

2007-01-21T00:18:00.000+08:00

I recently discovered the fun and very convenient alternative to shopping at the malls. And this was my very first purchase...A Havaianas/Flipflop Holder. It's perfect for the very O.C. me. Now my havies are more organized and easy to reach. If you want to order, let me know coz some friends of mine are ordering too. It comes in black, white, pink, and lavander. And it only costs 250pesos each! How cool is that?

Ok, don't mind my unmanicured hands. I've already gone to the salon since. Hehe! Anyway, this vintage-like ring I got from Stellar. Very cute accessories made by the very cute Chynna Ortaleza. I love big rings! I immediately texted her as soon as I saw these in her online store. And I got it the next day! Do you love it?

*sigh*...So many online stores, so little time! =)

FINALLY!

2007-01-10T10:01:00.000+08:00

I've been trying to log into Blogger for the past three days and thank God I finally got in!

Anyway, I wanted to write about our New Year's eve. We checked in the Renaissance Hotel in Makati on the 30th. And out of all the 5 star hotels we've tried, sorry to say, this one wasn't as nice as the others. The room was so-so, the breakfast buffet wasn't so great either. The room was pricey like all 5 star hotels but it wasn't at all worth it. The toothbrush and toothpaste weren't even free! Hahaha!

On the plus side, we were just a stone's throw away from Greenbelt and we had a magnificent view of the eve's fireworks.

Will we stay here again? Probably not. =(

On the 31st, we had dinner at M Cafe in Greenbelt. Headed back to the hotel to watch the fireworks. Yeah, I have to have a roof under my head when all the "paputok" starts. Still have this fear of a stray bullet, possibly landing on my head, and killing me on the spot. Haha! No, seriously!

Speaking of death, my hana had a friend who passed away this week and I have an acquaintance who passed on too. He was just my age! This is enough to drive me into a paranoia state. Plus, hearing on the news that Ely Buendia had a heart attack (but he's ok now) didn't help at all. To all those who know me, death is something I really fear. Gosh, there's still so much I want to do in this world!!!

Anyway, my heart goes out to their friends and families. I pray that the good Lord will give them strength. What a way to start the year, noh? =(

Cute Christmas Card

2006-12-28T02:57:00.000+08:00

Along with the gift, containing Lucy's favorite things, was a cute Christmas card from Richard, Lucy and Juliana Gomez. I'm blogging about it because I just want to show how they put so much thought and effort to make such a personalized greeting card. Isn't it neat? It actually folds 3 times and has a page with a collage of their pictures taken at the beach, at home, etc. I wasn't able to scan it anymore.

Anyway, Juliana looks so cute staring up, lying beside their Christmas Tree!

To tell you frankly, I would've been so happy just receiving the card! Cheap thrill, huh? I know I wasn't only the one who received this card but I'm just happy that I was given one. I just like receiving things like these.

I should know coz I gave something like this to my co-dancers this Christmas too and they were thrilled. Although mine was a personalized calendar that I made for each of them which holds all their pictures that I acquired from photos I took of them this year. Well, some were ripped off from their friendster accounts. Haha!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. Here's to a Happy New Year and more cute christmas cards this coming year! =)

*you may view our family's Christmas pics at my photo section.

What You Get Me For Christmas?

2006-12-18T09:37:00.000+08:00

Anything will do. Material or non-material, as long as it comes from the heart...naks :D

Xmas Stocking

leave a gift for hanagirl

get your stocking

Krispy Kreme Krazy!

2006-12-10T17:58:00.000+08:00

It was a monday night and 4 days after it's grand opening, there was still a long line outside Krispy Kreme. We couldn't care less. We wanted our donut(s)! Last time we sunk our teeth into this sinful, sinful sweet thing was in 2004. Luckily, we only stood in line for 15 minutes and there were staff people going around, handing out free glazed donuts.

Anyway, we got 1 dozen of the glazed and another dozen of the assorted ones.

That night, between the both of us...we had 8. That's so not right!

Note to selves: "A moment on the lips, forever on the hips".

Add Us Up!

2006-12-09T09:46:00.000+08:00

Just wanted to share that my hana and I created a Multiply account which holds our family pictures, our videos, my hana's recordings, etc.

Visit and add us if you have a Multiply account ok?

www.michaelandjulie.multiply.com

Thai at Silk

2006-11-29T18:35:00.000+08:00

I am so in love with Serendra right now. The ambiance is something else. So far we've been there twice and ate in restos already. Last Sunday it was at Abe which served great Filipino gourmet dishes .

Had lunch here yesterday at Thai at Silk with Ricky D. after hana's auditions for The Kind and I. The food was excellent! I love, love, love Thai food!!! Lovely owner and chef, Cecille Ysmael (wife of Louie) recommended the Tom Yum Goon, Pad Thai, some spring rolls, Pomelo Salad, some fish curry, and Jasmine rice. We washed it down with some yummy Pandan Juice.

It was absolutely to die for! Oh if only we can eat here everyday! Highly-recommended resto!

*Thai at Silk is open every day for lunch and dinner.

Located at Unit 1C12 Little Asia on the ground floor of Serendra Piazza in Fort Bonifacio, call 856-0386 or 856-0387 for reservations.

Our Creation for the Marcoses

2006-11-23T11:21:00.000+08:00

We were sweating bullets when Ms. Aimee Marcos walked in our store and entrusted us to make her mini pinscher's (Venus) terno just in time for the launch of her mother's (none other that Mrs. Imelda Marcos) acessories collection. We were starstruck and nervous at the same time. We prayed to high heavens that she would be satisfied with our creation.

And satisfied, she was. She was so happy with the beadwork and the quality that she said it looked like it was made by Jo Salazar! Whew!

It was such an honor for us to make a terno for the Marcos' and we would like to thank them for advertising us as well :)

p.s. I'm still starstruck!

Asia's Songbird

2006-10-25T07:42:00.000+08:00

...Ms. Regine Velasquez, of course. Two weeks ago was Reg's 20th years anniversary concert. As expected, the Araneta Coliseum was bursting at the seems with fans and friends who have been there for her for the last 20 years. That's me sitting on her left side. Notice that she's holding my arm. During the photo op, I was gonna go to the back but she grabbed me and said, "Uy! Dito ka!". You see, K9 Couture is the sponsor of Reg's dog, George. Oh di ba! We provide George's clothes :)

Anyway, in one of the Hotlegs numbers, she gave a lovely and touching spiel about our group. She said, "These dancers have always been with me. From the very start pa. Whenever I have a concert, andyan sila. Payat pa kami noon, eto ngayun sila payat pa rin ako hindi (laughter), bata pa kami noon, ngayun tumanda na, may mga anak na, ako wala pa rin (laughter). Pero hindi pa rin sila nagbaabago...ang nag-iisang...HOTLEGS.

And then starts the Music of Goodbye number. Please watch this and see why Reg loves us so much...

Nice noh? Reg is not JUST one of the celebrities we perform for. Through the years she has become one our closest friends. She really is a very generous, nice, funny and sincere person. For us, sya talaga ang nag-iisang... Asia's Songbird.

Oh My!

2006-10-21T10:09:00.000+08:00

This is an actual recording. Oh the pressures! And this is why I can't imagine myself working in a call center...

Here's my 2 cents...The customer wasn't being so much of a jerk. Like any unhappy customer, it's normal to complain and be really pissed about not having internet connection for days. I myself would be either angry, or kill me nalang kaya noh! Haha! So, the guy was ok except that he shouldn't have cursed. I need not explain that. However, he didn't curse AT the call center girl. So the reaction of the girl was REALLY uncalled for. If there's one thing I learned in the service kind of business is that "the customer is always right". And as much as we want to snap back, sorry, but you really have to suck it all up, breathe in and out and pray to high heavens that you will not lose your temper even if the customer is so obviously wrong . I'm just thinking she heard wrong.

What do you think?

My Pride and Joy

2006-10-16T09:25:00.000+08:00

Today is my daughter's 13th birthday. Wow, huh? I have a teenager! Has it been already 13 years since I first held my little precious princess in my arms?

Last month I accompanied her to Chat Peypoch for her graduation pic shoot (see pic below). I was such a stage mom! While all the other mother's entrusted their daughter's total look to the in-house make-up and hair stylist, I, of course, wanted to do all that for Mikah. I did so little because she has such beautiful olive, even-toned skin that I did was just put some light powder on her, comber her eyebrows, put a little blush and clear lip gloss. For hair hair, I just had to blow dry it since she already has gloriously straight jet black hair that would give any Sunsilk model a run for her money. Haha!

She's also a very beautiful person inside. Case in point, for her 13th birthday celebration, she wanted a party with the orphans at White Cross. Ain't she something else?

Take a good look at her. My heart-stoppingly beautiful 13 year old "dalaga". My pride and Joy. My daughter.

Happy Birthday, Mikah! You'll always be my little babygirl.

My look-alikes?

2006-10-10T18:16:00.000+08:00

Just for fun...

Try it and let me know who your are a dead ringer for. Well at least the ones I know coz half of my look-alikes here I haven't the slightest clue who they are!

Sunshine After the Rain

2006-10-01T21:06:00.000+08:00

I've always tried to look for the silver lining, the brighter and positive side of unpleasant and dreadful situations. So forgive me if I don't talk about the devastation of the recent storm. Good vibes only here.

We were stuck at home last Friday when typhoon Milenyo hit Manila. We had no electricity and tried for hours to get a decent hotel, but to no avail. All were fully booked! It's a good thing we stay on the 3rd floor of a condo building and God provided us with this unbelievably cool breeze that circulated from our balcony all the way to our bedroom. Keeping us cool and mosquito-free all night.

I woke up early the next day and started calling the hotels in the Pasig and Mandaluyong area. Still no luck. Then I tried Makati but just found a suite at the Manadrin that costs 12K. No way! Later on, I finally got us a room at the Diamond Hotel in Roxas Blvd. Whew!

clockwise:

1. Cooked Thai food: Tom Yum Goong, Chicken in Green Curry, and Rotti. It just seemed so suitable for the weather.

2. Our comfy room at the Diamond Hotel.

3. Our hotel bathroom. Pampered myself with a nice warm bubble bath.

4. The view from our room. Yes, that's the bay. Imagine how it must've looked like during the storm! Think tsunami?!

We also went to Mall of Asia and met Mike's boys and some friends. Had dinner and shopped. That mall is freaking huge!!! I could get lost there. It was a good thing Geoff was with us (who knew the mall so well) so we were able to get back to our car. Haha!

I've got the Diamond Hotel on my speed dial now, just in case. The room was really cheap (4,500pesos) compared to other 5 star hotels and the service was great! Not to mention, it's located near a monster mall!

What did you guys do or where were you during the storm?

My Crowning Glory

2006-09-20T15:56:00.000+08:00

Had my hair styled and colored yesterday at H Salon. Henry Calayag is absolutely the best when you want kick-ass layering. I told him I wanted to keep it long. So he just added some shape and swoop bangs that's very Nicole Richie and Madonna. Ok, I choose the latter. Hehe! I also didn't want color that had orange or red undertones so he just just used some natural shade of brown.

Henry is such a master at his craft and it's such a joy to be around him. He's very nice, hella funny and so animated! He is the hairstylist behind Gretchen B., Ruffa G., Pia G. , etc.

I love my new do, don't you?

I'm Baaaaaack Here...

2006-09-04T21:24:00.000+08:00

...and I want to go back there! Bangkok is such a beautiful place! Staying for just 6 days was really not enough. So much more to do, see and experience. Truly it was a feast for all senses: The magnificent sight of the Grand Palace and Buddhist Temples, the feel of smooth Thai silk, the smell and tangy taste of the Thai dishes, and the serenity of Ayuthaya. This was yet another memorable birthday for me. And I've got pictures to prove it!

I really don't know what the big hoopla is with the Chatuchak Market. Maybe because I've been to Divisoria and Greenhills several times? I dunno. Everything you see in Divi and GH is all there. Price is almost the same too. I fell in love with the malls though. Still didn't buy that much, just unique pieces that can't be found here in Manila.

We stayed with my friend (a former dancer for Hotlegs), Vivian, who is now happily married to an American diplomat. They both work at the U.S. Embassy. They have a great place that equalled the beauty and high standards of Essensa at Fort Bonifacio. Plus it was walking distance to the train and malls.

We will definitely visit again.

Here's a little slideshow I made from the pictures of our trip...

Sorry it's a bit blurry. Pixelated when I uploaded it. If you wanna see just the pics with better quality, just go to my photos section on the sidebar.

I'm Off!!!

2006-08-24T02:09:00.000+08:00

Next time you hear from me again I've got some stories and great pictures to share.

Bangkok baby, here I come! :)

I Am A Rent-head!

2006-08-16T14:11:00.000+08:00

And I am damn proud of it!!! I fell in love with RENT even before I saw the musical. I just heard then, the newly released CD of the musical being staged in New York. Suffice to say, I really fell in love with the music. Who wouldn't?!! Jonathan Larson (God rest his swet soul), wherever you are, I just want to say, "thank you for your music and you're the bomb!!!"

I watched musical twice when it was staged here in Manila. The first time, I didn't know my hana yet. My thought bubble was, "ah, he sing pala". And years later, when it had a repeat, he was already my hana. Hehe! He said I had to watch it again, now that I know him and all. :)

Yes, in case you didn't know...my hana played the part of Tom Collins (In the video below, he's the black guy with the beanie hat on). And yes, he had to kiss a guy, er, gay (Richie Chan who played the part of ANGEL). Hehe!

This year, I watched Rent the Movie with my hana and 2 of the original members of the cast in Manila..Rachel Alejandro (Mimi) and JM Rodriguez (Mark). Of course, I respected that the three of them would have not so good reactions to the movie since they were in the musical and all. Can't blame them. Actually, nothing beats the actual musical. But I couldn't care less. The music of RENT is so captivating and, to this day, still sends chills down my spine. In fact, everyone (me included) in the movie house couldn't help but sing along!

So for all the RENT-HEADS out there (Chari, Crystal, and Roni)and even for those who haven't seen RENT (F.Y.I. you're missing half of your life), pump up the volume and hit play. here's the movie cast of RENT singing SEASONS OF LOVE at the Ellen de Generes show in N.Y.C.(feel free to sing along!)...

Sucks To be Me

2006-08-02T19:32:00.000+08:00

There's just so much to do and so little time to do all of it. Being the O.C. that I am, I just won't settle for a "pwede na yan" outcome. I don't think I've ever felt this tired...this burned out from work. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do. But it's just hard when you do everything yourself and I can't trust anyone else to do it the way I do. I digress, it's the Virgo woman in me -doesn't settle for anything less that perfect.

It also doesn't help when most of the people I bump into think I'm sick! Yes, I never though that there will be a time where I can look so...DISHEVELED. I'd probably blend in well with the typhoon victims.

I need some time off. I need to get away from my desk. I need to get far away from here. Just a few days to recharge!

I also need to stop mouthing off now and actually get some work done.

Superman is that You?

2006-07-26T12:24:00.000+08:00

Who?... Who desecrated and mutilated his image? WHO DID THIS TO MY BABY?!!

It's quite funny though. I still heart him anyways :)

Family Day

2006-07-18T12:59:00.000+08:00

There's nothing like a nice get together with family on a weekend. Last Saturday, we met up in Tiendesitas for some dinner and a few (?) beers. Our conversations covered a myriad of unrelated topics such as religion, FHM models, travel (of course), to dieting (you can do it Cathy!).

I also had a blast taking pics of Gabbys 2 handsome boys who were not at all camera shy. They eagerly posed and ask for more pics to be taken.

Geoff and Aj had their dogs groomed at our Salon. See the pics in my Photo section.

It's That Time of the Year

2006-07-10T23:09:00.000+08:00

My hana and I went the hospital for his annual liver check up. You see, my hana has Hepatitis C. This virus is only blood born, so it's not really that contageous. It's not airborne and it can't be contracted through sex. Transmission occurs when blood from an infected person enters the body of a person who is not infected.
HCV (hepa c virus) is spread through sharing needles, through needlesticks or sharps exposures on the job, or from an infected mother to her baby during birth So no need to take cover. :)

He thinks he got it when he either had his ear pierced or got one of his tattoos years back. Would you believe he wouldn't have known he had the virus until he was about to donate blood? It's really a dormant disease. You may have it and not know it at all since it doesn't have any symptoms! By the time you feel something, you already may have cirrhosis of the liver (liver cancer). So it was really a blessing that he found out right away.

The good thing with this disease is that it's manageable. As long as you keep your liver healthy 9good thing he doesn't drink), you don't have to worry. Most HCV infected people have been known to survive this, even dying later on from other causes but Hepa C. I mean, look at Naomi Judd and Pamela Anderson (yes, they have HCV). They don't look like they're gonna die soon, right?

Anyway, we held our breathes for like 10 minutes while the doctor did an ultrasound on my hana's liver until he finally said, "you're liver is ok." Whew!!!

God is SO good!

Wanderlust

2006-07-04T21:25:00.000+08:00

For the past few weeks, my feet have been itching. Figuratively speaking, of course! I've just been so consumed by this STRONG desire to travel. I've been buying Lonely Planet books left and right, constantly browsing lonelyplanet.com, and planning our trips for '06 and '07. I guess I just need a change of scene. I wanna expose my self to different cultures, try other cuisines, go to the other parts of the world. For me, experiencing the world and all it's wonders is what "LIVING A FULL LIFE" is all about.

My recent purchase...the Lonely Planet's Blue List '06 and '07. This is the ultimate travel bible, baby! It's a compilation of the world's hottest trends, destinations, journeys and experiences for the year ahead. It even has a calendar of the best places to go and things to do.

I'm leaving this August for my birthday, that's for sure. We were planning a trip to Prague and Vienna, but due to time constraints, we're postponing it to next year. So we decided to just go to Bangkok, Thailand. Come with?

I Heart Superman!

2006-06-30T19:16:00.000+08:00

(3D) Glasses bigger than Nicole Richie's! Clockwise: Superman (looking at me), Me and Friday, Raven and Mike, Eric and Reema

The last time I saw Superman was ages ago. I was still a kid holding my Lolo's hand as we stood and waited in line for hours to get into the Greenhills Theatre. And did I mention it was a veeeeeeery long line which stretched out until Virra Mall? But it was worth the wait.

After that, Christopher Reeve fell off his horse and was paralyzed. "No more Superman", was all I could think. Who could possibly replace Mr. Reeve as the man of steel?!

Veeeeery early this morning, at 1am (!), was the celebrity premiere of Superman Returns. Unlike before, we didn't have to stand in a long line this time ! Ahhh, the perks. There was free food everywhere and the Imax theatre at the Mall of Asia was bursting at the seams with celebrities, tv personalities and other VIPs.

I didn't expect much from this "new" superman. But around 15 minutes into the movie, I realized I was wrong. If Superman had a son, it was this guy. He had an uncanny resemblance to Mr. Reeve! It was like Mr. Reeve reborn!

During Superman's rescue scenes, i felt my pulse race, and deep inside I was screaming, "Go Superman!!!" For 3 hours, i felt like a kid again. And it felt good.

I heart you Superman! Welcome back!

p.s. What I DON'T heart are his news boots! May pagka GB Shoes ang dating. haha!

A Long and Eventful Day

2006-06-24T23:42:00.000+08:00

Charlie’s Birthday - I’ve never seen so much food at a children’s party. There was a gamut of food booths! Nachos, mini burgers, crispy crepes, waffles, sushi, ice cream, shawarma, and so much more. The Charlie and the Chocolate Factory themed party was, of course, a big hit to the young and old. Happy 1st birthday my dear inaanak!

Our 5th Year Anniversary - My hana and I really didn’t plan anything that special for this momentous day, so while we were at Charlie’s party, with a Filipino restaurants guide book in hand, we looked for a resto for a romanic dinner. And Chef Laudico’s was perfect for it! The cozy ambiance (situated in makati and a "reservations only" resto), the great service and wonderful, wonderful food (costs an arm and a leg, but worth it) made our anniversary a most memorable one. I can still taste the food in my mouth. It was a 6 course meal. After taking our first bite from every course, hana and I would go, “mmmmm...”, close our eye for 2 seconds, and look at each other, wide-eyed and speechless. Here’s what we had...

Appetizer: Sweet Potato Croquette stuffed with Foie Gras topped
With raspberry Sauce and Crisp Bacon

Soup: Shitake Mushroom Puree with Truffle Oil

Salad: Seasonal Salad Greens tossed in Garlic Balsamic Vinaigrette topped with Fresh Mushroom Saute

Frozen Pomelo Shooter

Mains: Tarragon Spiced Lapu-lapu Fillet Baked in banana Leaf Served with Crab Roe Cream

and

Pan Seared US Angus Rib Eye Steak with Porcini Sauce

Both served with Risoni Pasta tossed in Herbs and Seasonal Vegetables

Dessert: Molten Belgian Chocolate Cake drizzled with Kahlua Flambe

Hungry yet?... We were too busy eating, we forgot to take pictures! Maybe because I was too stuffed to eat already! My hana could barely breathe! Haven’t had great food like this in a while. Burp!

Happy 5th Year Anniversary Hana! I Thank God everyday for bringing you to me.

Erik and Reema’s Housewarming - Reema finally gets a shot at decorating her own home. Finally she moves out of her BF home. Finally she finds the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with.

It was so nice to see everyone from the mengsters to the frisbee peeps we used to hangout with. Talked about how we all loved MAC, Cayo’s love problem, Candy’s trip to Greece and Turkey, and traveling to different parts of the world.

I fell asleep thinking of 2 things:

1. How much superb food, great company, and glorious occasions can make a day so unforgettable.
2. I can’t wait to go to Greece!

See Me Dance

2006-05-29T02:38:00.000+08:00

Finally, Ya'll can get to see me dance...

That's me and Kenneth dancing for the concert king, Martin Nievera to the tune of "Mula Sa Puso" last Friday in Araneta. It might be a little blurry though and the sound isn't insync with the video anymore. It wasn't like that when I just uploaded it to youtube though. Parang wala tuloy ako sa timing. Hmph! Anyway, enjoy!

Boracay Summer '06

2006-05-02T16:09:00.000+08:00

I just really, REALLY had to book us a one week stay in our favorite island in the Philippines. Since the start of this year, it has been all work, work and WORK for me and my hana. We REALLY deserved this vacation!

Here are some of the highlights:

Just couldn't wait to dig my feet into the white(?) sands of Bora. I just noticed that the sand now gets hot. In the 80's and 90's, even in the noon time, the sand would never heat up. And it was much whiter too! *sigh* Oh Boracay, ah virgin island no more...

I tried the Fly Fish thingy for the first time! In the pic, you see Mylene Dizon infront of me, and Sports Unlimited's Jackie and Diane Castillejo. But that was BEFORE the speed boat tugged us. As soon as we started to take off, in a last minute decision, Jackie bailed out! She got too scared. So Mylene's darling, Paolo Paraiso and Prince of R&B, Jay-R joined us instead. How was it? Let's just say that I will NEVER EVER ride it again. I never liked the Banana Boat ride either. Yeah, call me boring or Ms. Chicken, but thrill rides aren't my thing really. haha! Plus it didn't help that Jay-R kept tugging my ankle the whole time! Message to Jay-R: "Tandaan mo yan, dude! The next time you have a dance number with us, gagantihan kita. Hahahaha!"

And this was my most memorable experience...being on board the M.S. Vianelle. To celebrate the 9th year of Sports Unlimited, friends and past guests boarded this trimaran and sailed from 11am 'til sunset. We had different water rides like jetskis, wakeboard, the sea biscuit, banana boat, and the fly fish. We sailed around the island and we sipped champagne as the sun was setting. I felt like I was at St. Barts and not in Boracay. My thought bubble was, "Ahhhh...this is the life!" Toasting with me and my hana are Jackie, Mylene, Paolo and Jay-R :)

For More pics, just scroll down to my photo section on the sidebar :)

Hotlegs Website

2006-03-28T02:17:00.000+08:00

Our Hotlegs website has been up and running for months now and I forgot to post about it. So here it is...

Please check it out at www.hotlegsdance.com.ph

In case you're interested to see my own page there. Just click on "Dancers" and look for my name, Julie. My smaller pics can be enlarged by clicking on the thumbnail. :)

Death

2006-03-19T03:28:00.000+08:00

My laptop died on me yesterday. Apparently, the internal fan wasn't functioning anymore, thus the overheating and melting of it's motherboard. Goodbye, my ever reliable Compaq Presario. You will be missed!

Hello, ibook!!! Well, it's not actually mine. hahaha! It was lent to me by my good friend Paolo C. while my hana and I save up for a Powerbook. Thanks Pao!

I've been out of touch from the blogging world for quite some time now. Blame it on my new found love, K9 Couture. Business has been doing very well and I'm enjoying it immensely.

But it can be a bit tiring sometimes and right now I really REALLY need a vacation. I'm so pale,Ineed to hit the beach!

My Year: Year of the Dog

2006-01-04T22:35:00.000+08:00

Well, actually I was born year of the ox. I just said that it's also my year since we're in the "dog" business. Hehe!

This is my first post for this year and it may be my only one for the month too. Been suuuuuuuuuuuuuuper busy. And will still be for the next couple of months. You see, we (K9 COUTURE) will be opening a store soon in Tiendesitas. Yipee! The construction starts tomorrow :)

Meanwhile, please visit our site at www.k9couture.com.ph

Got to go for now. Hope everyone had a blast this holiday season! I leave you with pics of our new babies... (yah, i gave birth to three in the past 3 months...haha!)

You all remember BOOGIE, right? My princess-type Shih-tzu that's such a cutie pie and lambing to the max:

This is MARSHALL. He is a 4-month old Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie) who won 3 trophies in the dog show last Dec., '05. He is super gwapo!:

And this is the youngest (2 months),a teacup Yorkshire Terrier (Yorkie) we named, CHANEL. She's my little baby sweet cakes :):

Whew!

2005-12-11T11:23:00.000+08:00

Hay...yes, I have been really busy. Setting up a new biz can be so demanding and taxing! But it's worth all the blood, sweat and tears. I've never had so much fun. We might put up a store soon. Please pray that all goes well.

We have one more bazaar. The one on the 17th and 18th at Cuenca Park, Alabang. The last 3 bazaars that we had was a huge success. I've had customers who are dog and pet afficionados, celebrities, furry fashionistas and even ones who bought pet clothes and accessories for the first time. It was hella fun!

Take a peek at my best sellers. Personalized Bling Bling collars...

Listen Up, Blogger Peeps! :)

2005-11-25T15:52:00.000+08:00

I’m all giddy and proud to announce the birth of our new business…

Pets enjoy being lavishly pampered as well. K9 Couture brings you the finest collection of ready-to-wear/custom-made luxe clothing, jewelry, bling bling collars, other fab accessories and furniture for your discerning canine.

Come see us and bring your furry fashionista to the following bazaars:

1. PAWS Bazaar
Eastwood, Libis
Nov. 26 & 27 (Sat. and Sun., 12nn-12mn)
Stall # 17

2. La Salle, St. Benilde’s Bazaar
Nov. 29 – Dec. 2 (Tues. – Fri.)

3. Pet Expo
Tiendesitas, Pasig
Dec. 1 – 4 (Thurs. – Sun.)
Stall # 10

For additional queries, kindly email me at k9_couture@yahoo.com . Oh and watch out for the launching of our online store at www.k9couture.com.ph :)

From classy to sleek, from Chihuahuas to Labradors, we have something for every dog. Go ahead… indulge those precious paws! Tinkerbell doesn’t have to be the only bitch that has everything, right? :)

Busy Bee, That's Me!

2005-11-10T07:35:00.000+08:00

Haven't posted for awhile coz I've been real busy setting up my very own business. It just dawned on me one day and I realized, this is something that I would love to do and as an added bonus, have fun in the process! Sorry I can't reveal it now. Not just yet. Baka mausog. hehe!

It's not that "fun" just yet since there's so much to do: register my company name at the SEC and DTI, have labels and calling cards made, look for packaging, source for a good web designer to make the website, look for materials, etc. etc. But I know when all this is finished, the end result will make it all worth it.

Please pray for my business my dear blogger friends. Hope all goes well. Sorry to keep everyone hanging. I promise to tell you all about it on my next post.

Gotta go. Have to pay for the domain name I had reserved at dot.PH. Gosh, and it's still so early! Well, you know what they say..."The early bird catches the worm".

Eeew.

Where Did I go?

2005-11-02T18:34:00.000+08:00

Nowhere. This little cutie kept me busy all week...

His name is Boogie and he is a mini shih-tzu (princess type). Boogie is our birthday gift to our babygirl. He's the sweetest, cuddliest, most docile dog EVER!!! We're all crazy about him. It's like having a new baby in the house. We bought him new stuff including doggie apparel. He has a military shirt, karate gi, a tuxedo, denim booties and many more! Doggie fashion at it's best indeed. hehe :)

Closing Night

2005-10-22T01:09:00.000+08:00

BOLLYWOOD: Finale Number

Last wednesday was the last night of our concert, Funkadelic. An hour before the show started, Club Mwah was already bursting at the seams with friends, family, dance aficionados, and people who have seen the show but just wanted to bring some more friends and watch it again. It was the best night ever for everyone. It was extra special for me coz my mom was there. Believe it or not, it was the very first time she saw me perform live. During my solo number, I was teary-eyed. I thought of her while I was doing my very emotional piece. She said she was welling up too. So did my hana and some of the audience. I had to stop myself from crying. Yeah, vanity soon set in. I was more worried about smearing my make-up. hahaha!

After the show we had our cast party/nancy's bday celeb at Inihaw Circle. The kohol cooked in gata was divine! Escargo sounds more sosyal. hehe! We had so much fun taking pictures while Nancy, our crazy choreographer, harassed the Eigenmann boys for a photo op (w/ the consent of their respective girlfriends of course). We were all laughing so hard, my face was aching. See for yourself. Scroll down to my photos on my sidebar. Oh and we had a show tonight at Greenbelt for Dove. Launching of their new ad campaign. You know, the extra sexy or extra large, ageing or ageless, boy or babe ads you see scattered around the metropolis. C'mon, you can't miss that big ass Dove billboard in Guadalupe. Anyway, pics of that on my sidebar too.

p.s. My mom texted this to me after the show: "I was teary eyed too when u were dancing your solo. Was one of the happiest days of my life coz you made me so proud of you." :)

Happy Birthday!

2005-10-16T12:22:00.000+08:00

My darling babygirl turns 12 today. One more year and she's gonna be a teenager! *faints*

We celebrated her birthday with some of her close friends at Eastwood, Libis. Went bowling, watched "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" and had dinner at home.

I look at this young lady and after 12 years I still can't believe that God has blessed me with a daughter that is so beautiful both inside and out. Truly she is. I must've done something great to deserve someone so wonderful. Thank you, God. You've outdone yourself again.

Told you I'm a neat freak...

Had this made a few weeks ago and it arrived last monday. It's like a rack that holds my accessories--earings, bracelets and necklaces. Neat, huh? I designed it myself. The earings screen can be rotated to maximize the use of it's backside. The bracelet and necklace wood poles are removable too (for my bangles).

You see, I used to keep my accessories in individual ziplock packets in color coded boxes but what happened was I tend to forget the accessories that I have. That being the case, I don't get to use most of them. So I designed this so it will be faster and easier for me to match them to my outfits.

I love freebies...

Dont you? I bought a moisturizer at Estee Lauder last Tuesday and they gave me free samples of their facial wash and Idealist skin refinisher (left pic). Yipee! And for an additional few bucks they give you this beige leather make-up box filled with an eyeshadow palette, blusher palette, a lip liner, eyeliner, nail polish, mascara, 4 lipsticks, 2 lip glosses, and make-up brushes in a leather cylinder case. Have a look see...

It's been a good week for me and my family. I'm feeling so blessed again. :)

Our New Trip

2005-10-10T11:03:00.000+08:00

My hana, babygirl and I have a new “thing”…restaurant hopping. We’re such foodies and we really want to try out different cuisines. Hey, you only get to live once, right? You see, we recently bought this book…

It’s a book about more than 200 restaurants in the metropolis selected and reviewed by chefs, restaurateurs, and instructors. What I like about the book is it holds important infos such as the restaurant’s address (w/ a map incorporated on it’s page), it’s branches, operating hours, specialties, dress code, parking conditions, reviews on it’s food and feel of the place, and even specifies if it’s smoking or non-smoking.

So, come Saturday, we set out for the first resto that caught our attention in the book. A quaint little place called, Café Juanita. It is nestled in a hidden area inside Barrio Kapitolyo, Pasig. It was very near our home but we it was our first time to see this place.

It had a homey feel to it and the whole place was adorned with antiques both Spanish and Filipino that were, as a matter of fact, all for sale! We had our eye on this nice “The Last Supper” metal wall art. But to out dismay, it was already reserved for someone else. Darn it.

The menu contained a blend of Spanish, Filipino, oriental and continental fare. We ordered so much food! Most of which were the ones recommended by the book. The food was sooooooooooo good. See…

Before…

After…

Mind you, that whole crisp tilapia was devoured in less than a minute. Di ba mukha syang na-rape?

We will definitely go back. I just have to have that mean toffee desert ala mode again! It's probably settling on my thighs by now. Grrr... But who cares?!

Cafe Juanita is such an ideal place for family dinners, dates and a place where my girl friends and I can come drink, food trip and talk about superficial things. Haha!

I’m already searching the book for the next restaurant to go to next weekend while beautifying my tired self...

BOO!!!

Hahahaha! As a nasal Ricky Reyes would say it..."Ang gandaaaa..."

Getting Organized

2005-10-02T14:43:00.000+08:00

I don’t handle stress very well and that is the main reason why I am very organized with everything. That being said, I have a lot of lists that help me plan my life. I love lists. Really, I do. From the simple grocery list to the complicated goals list. I love ‘em all! It’s just a vital necessity for me.

I used to just write them down in my diary but I have discovered some websites that have helped me with all my lists. And I just want to share them here.

First off, www.43places.com. It’s a site wherein you can list down the places that you want to go to and the places that you’ve been to as well. A cute feature of this is that beside the place, displays the number of people who shares the same interest in going there. You can also share stories/pictures about these cities or your country and link it to your blog. Isn’t that cool? As an example, you can visit mine here.

In connection with this site is www.43things.com in which you can lists down the things you have to do or the goals you want to attain. And just like it’s sister site, you can see other peeps sharing the same goals and you can write entries and/or share pictures too. Here are mine.

And last but not the least, www.tadalist.com. Here you can create any list that you want. This is where I put most of my lists. See here.

For books I use Barnes&Noble.com's wishlist, for cd's and dvd's I use Amazon.com's wishlist and for beauty products I use Froogle shopping list. Check them all out on myy sidebar.

All of these sites are for free. Have fun and I hope your life gets a little less complicated with the help of these sites. Mine sure is :)

And the Good News...

2005-09-26T22:30:00.000+08:00

2 weeks ago, I went to see my Oby-gyn for my annual pap smear. Good thing I did because she found 2 polyps (cysts), which she immediately took out. It was a bit uncomfortable coz the polyps were lodged deep in my cervical cavity. However, she feels there might be more inside my uterus so she scheduled me for an ultrasound in 2 weeks. And if she is right, “kailangan kitang raspahin”, she sadly informed me. Raspa is when they put you to sleep and clean your uterus. It’s what they do after a woman gives birth. I’m not sure what it’s called in English though.

Background: Before she also found 2 of these benign cysts and assured me that it is no cause for panic since “it happens” and is rarely harmful. The only hitch is that it comes back on a yearly basis and for that reason, I also have to regularly see her to have it taken out. Hassle. Another snag is that these polyps are the cause of infertility since it occupies the space needed for the embryo to grow. Crap. And that’s why I have to have it removed regularly too. I wanna have kids pa, noh!

2 weeks later…

I was really restless on my way to the hospital this afternoon. If the polyp didn’t kill me, my massive anxiety and tension would’ve. I slipped on my lab gown and looked fearfully at the ceiling, calling on to Him as my doctor probed my uterus with the ultrasound machine.

Doc: “When was the last time you had contact (sex)?”

Me: (Baffled by the query) Huh? Um, about a few days ago? Baket?

Doc: (Smiling) "nag ovulate ka na eh. Sana maka-buo".

Me: (My internal dialog: “Ah ok, so pwede ko na ba malaman kung may polyp ako? Hello?! ”)

Doc: “You’re ok! No polyps in your uterus”.

Me: (Feeling relieved and sighs heavily) Yay!

God is good.

Another good news is my babygirl tried out for her school’s tennis varsity team…and she made it! I’m just a proud momma!!!

God has been so showing off to me these days, I swear! :)

This is It!

2005-09-22T11:35:00.000+08:00

Opening night of Funkadelic was great. It was a full house and everyone’s dance was almost close to being flawless. I, on the other hand, was not able to rehearse my costume (since it arrived just a few hours before the show) so during my solo number I was a bit thrown off because of the bell sleeve I had on my right arm that seemed to slip off every time I do a sharp move. I didn’t like my costume all that much too (so did my co-dancers). As a result, I didn’t feel too good about my performance. My friends said I was fine and that I was just being O.C. Blame it on my being such the perfectionist. I can’t wait ‘til our next show date so I can “make bawi.”

As the curtains closed, everyone was jumping for joy, in tears and hugging and congratulating each other for a job well done. We did it. God, it feels sooooo good!

Here are some of the texts that I got that I want to put here in my blog so I will never forget…

Nancy (the choreographer of my adagio solo): "I love you 2! I’ve never told u dis but I rili think u r one of d best dancers I’ve seen in my entire dancing career! Grava! Dats why I love u and hate u coz ur reviving my choreo career. Haha!"

Charles (one of the resident choreographers): "I am proud of what I’ve done. But I couldn’t hav done it w/o ur love and support and belief in me. W/o you guys, I am nothing . Thanks so much J I LOVE YOU. I’m so overwhelmed with all the love I am getting. Before I was only hearing it and not accepting it. Now that I’m listening I can really feel it. I am so blessed".

Joyce (co-dancer): "Hahaha! Congrats 2 u 2 honey…I rili mean it wen I say I like ur dance and I am moved everytime I watch it :)"

Mother Christine (our artistic director): "I want to express exactly how I feel but words will do no justice. How proud I am to witness and be part of Funkadelic. Thank you for embracing it and bringing a dream to life. It is the manifestation of a lifetime’s wish to impart the love and dedication to dance. If this were the last project that I would ever indulge in, I feel I have finally achieved what I was looking for. I am so honored. Congratulations".

I feel the love! Will post pictures soon. Right now...I want to sleep.

Why?

2005-09-12T14:32:00.000+08:00

A few more days and it's the start of our very own series of concerts (FUNKADELIC). In actual fact, I am also a nervous wreck! I am a bunch of nerves ready to explode. Yes, even after more than a decade of performing, I still experience stage fright spells every now and then. Especially since this concert is OUR concert.

We've been ceaselessly rehearsing everyday and sometimes I can't seem to take it anymore (blame it on my ageing body). I find myself asking, "why do I dance in the first place?", "why did God give me this talent?" I mean, there are so many other things I can do other than dance, right? At times I wish I would've just listened to my grandparents and became a doctor, or a lawyer or anything that doesn't involve any physical activity.

Last week, direk Floi Quintos previewed all of the finished pieces, including my adagio solo, an Annie Lennox song, "Why" (how apt, isn't it?!) in which I depict an ageing diva. The music started to fade and I assumed my last pose on my prop, a monoblock chair. To my surprise, my performance drew warm applause from my co-dancers, choreographers, our artistic director, and direk Floi. And I saw some of my co-dancers in tears! They said that my dance was so nice and it really moved them. Our artistic director said to me, "That was beautiful. So beautiful! I've never seen you dance that way."

I felt really good after. And then I remembered...I dance because this is the one thing I love doing. I dance because this is the one thing I know I am very good at. I dance because dancing feeds my soul.

I dance, therefore I am.

Thank God For Pictures

2005-09-05T10:39:00.000+08:00

Due to the lack of time to blog, let the pictures speak for themselves...

1.
*...for Linggo ng Wika, my daughter plays the "kulintang" to the tune of the Philippine National Anthem and some other Filipino folk song*

2.
*...I've been sick for the past 3 days. Fever, cold, cough...you name it, I have it. This tissue box and this wonderful, WONDERFUL medicine known as Tylenol Night Time knocks me down in a snap. Thus, my deep REM sleep.*

3.
*...on the morning of my birthday, I woke up and this was at my bedside table. A lovely card from my daughter. Isn't she the sweetest?*

4.
*...BAM! And this was my hana's gift. A Sony Cybershot T7. I've been techno-lusting for this baby for months!*

5. Last night we (hana, me, mikah, geoff, ryan, cathy, AJ and kenneth) we're in Alabng Town Center and we had dinner at Tony Roma's. Geoff paid for the bill. He said it was his "happy birthday" to me. Aaaaaaw. My heart melted. Too bad I didn't take pictures though.*

My Different Facets

2005-08-27T11:17:00.000+08:00

Um, yes, that would be me on the right, wearing a white school girl uniform. No, my friends and I did not just commit the greatest fashion faux pas in history. As much as we look like green burnt victims, that is what you call a frog suit which is used during chroma shoots. We did another commercial in which the peg was: we were dirty clothes dancing and jumping into a washing machine. Meaning, we were shot in front of a green chroma screen so our body parts are not seen. Just the clothes prancing around. We had to wait from 1pm to 7pm before we started shooting. It was boring as hell but it was in a way a better option coz it was hella hot inside the suit. And shooting in the afternoon wasn't such a bright idea. We started at about 7pm and ended by 10. What is it with us and catsuits these days? First, the yellow, then now green. hahaha!

Last night, we were at Government in Makati Ave., promoting our up and coming kick-ass concert, Funkadelic. We were outside selling our DVD's and tickets. AT 1:30pm we rendered a special dance number for everyone there. There wasn't any space on the dancefloor and did everything on the ledge. Thank God for my Orange ledge days because even in my 4-inch stilletos, dancing on a 4 x 2 cemented ledge easy as pie. My matte silver and fully sequined long back bolero got so much praises. Props to my friend Twinkle Zamora for her wonderful execution of my design, making me look like a stunning glitterati.

It's gonna be my birthday in a few hours. Gosh, I'm turning 24!....bwahahahahaha! sure! God I'm old. 30-freakin'-2 years old, baby! How do you make time stop? Where can I find the fountain of youth? Anyone? Anyone? Please?

This pic was taken during our company's photo shoot. Can still pass for a 24 year old, di ba? hahaha! Cge na, lie a bit. It's my birthday naman eh. Or you like me better in the green frog suit? Hahahaha!

Analyze This...

2005-08-21T00:33:00.000+08:00

Just came home from work a few hours ago. We had our annual Avon show in Araneta Coliseum.

*click pic for larger view or just visit my kodak moments at the sidebar*

We ended around 7pm (though our call time was 8:30 AM!) so we decided to go have dinner at JT's Manukhan. It was my first real meal for the day! Hurray! After, about 5 spoonfuls of my chicken ass and garlic rice, my stomach started to hurt like hell. It hardened and it felt like everlasting hammering blows to my belly. Last time I felt that much pain was during childbirth! I think I ate too fast (and downing my food with beer wasn't such a good idea either).

I managed to finish my dinner, bid goodbye to everyone and immediately headed for home. The pain was so unbearable! When I got home I went straight to the throne. Apparently, it was just gas. (rolls eyes)

I turned on the TV and caught the start of "Bruce Almighty". For some bizarre reason, I started crying during that scene when Bruce gets to see his girlfriend's (Jennifer Aniston) prayers. It just sort of reminded me of myself, being that my prayers are mostly for my hana, my babygirl, my family and friends. Rarely do I pray for myself.

After that, I jumped to Hallmark channel and also caught the start of another tear-jerker that I haven't seen (but read the book already) yet..."5 People You Meet In Heaven". God, I knew I was setting myself up for at least 2 more hours of crying!

It also didn't help that my hana (in Bataan for work) and babygirl (spending the night at my grandma's) aren't home. Even the freakin' maid (day-off) isn't home. I'm so alone here in the house!

So I was asking myself, why did my stomach hurt so much? So I could come home early, catch these two movies, and completely turn my night into a big crying-fest? Is it a sign? Does it mean something? Am I suppose to learn something from it? Or is God just trippin' on me? :) Or am I just being so overly dramatic and analytical just coz I lack sleep and has just concluded a hellish week today?

Ok, I pick the latter.

p.s. check out the new LO I made. Dali! click on the link below to take you to my digiscrap blog.

WTF?!

2005-08-12T18:23:00.000+08:00

Today my daughter logged on to her blog and there was a sick prick that left a message on her chat board calling her a "bitch", "asshole", and a "mother fucker" and said that her site is "bullshit". My daughter has no enemies and is probably the nicest kid I know. And she's only 11 years old! She left an answer on her chat board saying, "Y? I don't even know you?". She was so shocked! She's so naive, I swear.

What's the world coming to? As much as I want to protect her from all these bad things, I can't. I feel so helpless.

Dog (?) For Sale!

2005-08-07T11:19:00.000+08:00

Got this in the mail today. Just wanted to share...

I need a favor !!
Our neighbor has a puppy he's giving away (FREE!).
It's a Dachshund, it's house broken,
and it's great with kids.

He's giving it away because his wife
says the dog 'stares' at her when she is undressing, and
that creeps her out. I think she's just weird !

If you're interested, or know someone who is, let me know.
Here's a picture of the dog (see below).

Bwahahahahaha! Gotcha! :)

Tweet Tweet!

2005-08-03T10:54:00.000+08:00

Introducing... the latest addition to our family! We got them 2 days ago at a pet store in Megamall.

Bebe and Baba

...They are Normal Parakeets (baket? are there abnormal ones?). Bebe (pronounced as Beebee) is mine. Bebe because the color of her feathers are bebe(baby) blue. Kainizzz!!! The one on the right is Baba, which is my hana's. Baba because my hana can't possibly think of a name for his bird so he settled for the male version of my bird's name saying that it goes well with Bebe. Ok fine :)

Haru and Chiru

...these are Mikah's. They're called Pied Parakeets. But in the pet store sign it said, "DIED PARAKEETS". My though bubble was, "kaya pala mura kasi dead." Later on, we were infromed that this was just a case of bad handwriting. :) Anyway, Mikah named them Haru and Chiru. Reason being...I could only think of her obsession with Anime or anything Japanese for that matter!

Here's the thing though...we're not really sure which ones are female and which are male. We sort of forgot to ask the peeps at the pet store. We got them purely for their aesthetic qualities. Hahaha!

But I must say, their tweet-tweeting is such a refreshing sound. Kindda makes you feel like you're in the province or something.

P.S. You see the yellow birds up there? Scroll down to my entry before this one last and look at the second pic...Oh di ba? Bagay kami sa cage?! "I tot I thaw a puti cat!" :)

Bad Sightings This Week

2005-07-30T23:39:00.000+08:00

1. I guess you can call it a pet peeve of mine, but I just really get so appalled when I see a woman take her footwear off in public. Even if it's under the table, like so. I mean, it's so improper and so unbecoming of a woman, isn't it? This was taken while we were having pizza at PriceSmart. Yah, I know...bad hanagirl, bad. I just had to take a pic, didn't I? hehe :)

2. Karma is indeed instantaneous! A few days later, I had to wear this for a show. It topped the list of the worst costumes I've ever worn. It's a spandex, bright, canary-tweety bird-crime-scene tape kindda yellow catsuit. I couldn't look more Hepatitic than this!

It wasn't our bright idea to wear this, OBVIOUSLY! The client required it coz it matched the hues of the product that we launched. I look like a freaking condom! Yup, I'm the one in the center with the thunder thighs...

3. This has got to be the worst thing I've layed my eyes on this week. Just came back from Rockwell. And this scene from "The Machinist" made me gasp so loudly. That's Christian Bale at 121 lbs.(and a 26 inch waistline!) F-R-E-A-K-Y! Imagine, after losing so much weight, he had to gain it all back (and more) to shoot for Batman! Dang!

My Latest Addiction

2005-07-25T00:43:00.000+08:00

...is Digital Scrapbooking. I've been at it for days, creating atleast one new layout everyday. In fact, I created a whole new blog to showcase my work. Please come visit and let me know what you think of them, guys :)

Come inside my other world...click here.

What I've Been Up To

2005-07-20T16:50:00.000+08:00

Funny how my days are filled with extremely numerous rehearsals, shows, and dance classes but I still manage to squeeze in some chores and other extra curricular activities. It's a must for me, I guess. It's what keeps me sane amidst the daily grind of work.

1) I had a dresser made and fixed it up real well. Finally, my own little niche in our home where I can doll up in peace! And yes, complete with the lights around the mirrors like those in artists' dressing rooms. I love our carpenter :)

2) I was at Greenhills at exactly 10am when it opened and my main goal wasn't to buy clothes (I did that last week. hehe!)but to purchase more indoor plants to create a more homey feel in our living room. And I got these two...

The one on the left is called a Bromiliad and the one on the right, I fondly call "pom-pom plant" coz I haven't the slightest clue what it really is (anyone?). Pom-pom plant doesn't really match my other existing indoor plants but it was cute, so I got it anyway. Might just put it in Mikah's room where it blends more with her sweet, girly interiors.

3) A few months ago I bought an expensive plastic shoe rack in Make Room. Alas, it only lasted for about a month. It couldn't carry the weight of my Imeldific collection of footwear. So again I had to call on our trusty carpenter, Mang Eddie. And voila!...

...sturdier wooden shelves. One for my hana (left side) and one for me (right side). I meticulously took a picture of each and every pair of shoes and stuck each one on their respective boxes. Whew!

4) Last but not the least, I discovered this new (to me) hobby called Digital Scrapbooking while browsing through Bambi's blog. Instantly, I got hooked. It took me awhile to figure it out though. Ehem...and now, with so much pride, I would like to show my very amateur-ish first attempt at digi-scrapbooking.

*click on pic for larger view*
CREDITS: Blue Winds Freebie Kit Created by Marcee J. Duggar

I actually have a kid sister named, AJ but I don't have a pic of her on my pc. Not to worry J, I'll make a special one just for you :)

Anyway, not bad, ey? Or maybe it was the beauty of my sisters that made my work look so pretty :)

And this is my second shot at it...

*click for larger image*

CREDITS:Diva Page Kit Created by Amanda Behrmann

Oh di ba?! I know, I know...it's a little (ok, maybe more than a little) narcissistic. Pagbigyan nyo na ko, friends. :) Just for practice purposes :) Thanks again to Bambi for the advice. This whole digital scrapbooking bit is way too addicting!

Who Died and Made You God?

2005-07-18T09:58:00.000+08:00

WARNING: This is entry doesn’t fall under “good vibes”. I really don’t like ranting in my blog but I really just have to let this out. You can turn your back now by either skipping this entry by scrolling down to the others or by clicking the X on the top right corner. Sorry folks, I really can’t hold this in.

I really detest people who judge me. Don’t you? They take one good look at you, who you’re going out with, who your friends are, or maybe they hear a little story somewhere and they think they know you. They think that gives them the right to condemn you and worst, talk to other people about it (“Chismis” is another popular Filipino past time that I dislike. But that’s a whole different topic altogether).

There are two types of judgmental pricks. Those that blatantly scoff or criticize you face to face and those that smile at you and probably even kisses you on the cheek and gives you a warm hug but says the worst about you when your back is turned. For the life of me, I can't seem to figure out which is the most evil kind!

There are too many of this bad breed of people and so little time to confront all of them. The truth is, I don’t want to waste even just a millisecond of my time on them (not including this entry). I tell you, they are on Karma’s top list. They should really watch their backs. This whole thing will boomerang and when it hits them, it’s gonna be much worst than what they sent out.

Here are my last words for those foul-mouthed people in the world…

Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

A Tale of Two Shows

2005-07-11T22:54:00.000+08:00

I'm baaaaack....

Maharlika Dance Company's 25th Anniversary Show

We arrived in Davao at the break of dawn last Friday. A glittered banner welcomed us. It was so sweet of the local troupe, noh?

After checking in at the Apo View Hotel, we slept for just about an hour and a half then we headed to the school's stage to block our dance. After that, we drifted off to a much needed deep REM sleep for about 4 hours. Woke up at exactly 5pm to put on our make-up and get ourselves ready for our first show.

James, one of our male dancers, made a mistake of bringing with him the costume for the female dancer. That really cracked us up. In fact, we even called the other dancers back in Manila just to tell them about this big, funny booboo!(check out the "text of the week" on my sidebar) Here's a pic. He's the one on the left side. The one on the right is Ken, the smarter guy wearing the right costume. See the difference? Hahaha! You're the best James!

"...the molders of the Maharlika Dance Troupe...please welcome, the Hotlegs!", the emcee mused. We weren't prepared for what we heard, it was the loudest welcoming cheer we've ever received! The audience were screaming wildly as if Tom Cruise stepped on stage. For a couple of seconds we got thrown off with our counting as we entered from the wings of stage left. What an awesome crowd! We never knew we were this popular. During our second show the next day, people were asking for autographs, to have their posters signed and to have their pictures taken with us. This is too surreal!!!

First flight out was at 7:30am and we went straight to Araneta for the Ford Focus launch right before the UAAP DLSU-Ateneo game.

FORD FOCUS LAUNCH

We got there at 9am but didn't perform 'til about 4pm! Geesh, I wanted to go home so badly already. Thanks God my hana stayed with me the whole time.

Just as we feared, when our music started playing we couldn't hear a damn thing! The loud screams of the Ateneans and La Sallites resonated around the jam-packed coliseum thus drowning our music. Our dance depended on musical cues but since that wasn't possible, we just relied on gut feel and a miracle from God. We weren't sure how we were able to pull it off, really. I guess at that point I couldn't care less. I was just glad that this long weekend was over.

Although I was tired, my hana and I still managed to go to Gateway Mall. I'm never too tired for a bit of shopping. Hahaha! :) It's definitely my catharsis! :)

ah...can't think of a title!

2005-07-06T01:21:00.000+08:00

Nothing new. Still busy. This maybe my last entry, well, atleast until I get back from Davao this sunday. We're leaving on Friday at 4 freaking 30 AM! Doing 2 shows there (friday and saturday). Hotlegs are the guest dancers for the Maharlika Dance Troupe anniversary celebration. They say that they are our number one fan. *blush*

When we get back on sunday, from the airport, we will go straight to Araneta Coliseum for the UAAP opening. Yes, we're dancing there also. Death of hanagirl!

I have nothing better to post because I have no life. Rehearsals forever! But, of course, that's a good thing coz that means there is work. But I also long for a social life. I want my beer!

I digress...is it just me or did War of the Worlds suck? The biggest hole in the story is this...if the aliens where here for billions of years studying us, why the hell didn't they figure out that they can't breathe our air and eat our food? I mean like, a big DUH?!!

A Bunch of Assorted Stuff

2005-06-26T21:04:00.000+08:00

I've been away from the blogging world for more than a week I almost posted another hiatus sign. The last 2 weeks have been extremely hectic. Check it out…

1. Kuh Ledesma’s Show – took mom to Kuh’s last show at the Mandarin coz she promised me she wouldn’t scream and pass out when she meets her. Hehe! Finally, my hana and mother dearest met. Ended the night having Filipino breakfast at the lobby of The Pen.

2. Mom’s Birthday – had lunch at Via Mare with her, my hana, my babygirl and my sis who was also with her boy-friend. The last time I saw Celine, she was just 11 years old! She’ll be 18 on August 27. My birthday comes after hers, on the 28th. Neat, huh? Couldn’t stop looking at her. She’s s really beauty. Here’s a pic of her and me.

3. Rehearsals – relentless, never-ending, tireless rehearsals for ASAP and for taping of CLUB TV this Tuesday. One show down, 1 more to go.

4. Anniversary – Celebrated our 4th year together by having lunch (coz I had rehearsals in the pm) at Oody’s. I know, not much of a celebrate-your-anniversary resto but I was in the mood for some Pad Thai so…Anyway, after which I rushed to ABS-CBN for ASAP rehearsals…crap. Good thing we ended really early so hana and I was able to catch a movie at Shang. “Monster-in-Law” was quite amusing. The Jane Fonda and Wanda Skyes tandem was greatly effective.

5. ASAP – I wasn’t so happy with my performance today at ASAP. In our second number the music somekinda overlapped with the intro so we (the 2 pairs) didn’t hear the start of the music, which was extremely vital for the start of our lifting. We only had 4 counts to kill before the start of the partnering and we were 4 counts late. So the partnering looked more like a canon. *sigh* Oh well. It happens. Mom says it looked fine. But she’s my mom. :)

Thank God it’s Sunday ( night) and I’m finally home. Tomorrow’s another busy day…

PROMO TIME:

We have a show this July 21st at Zirkoh, please come watch. Tickets are only 300pesos so just leave me a message if you’re interested. You should be. Haha! C’mon guys, it’s only 300 bucks anyway :) Here’s our poster. What you think? Can you see me? :)

Daddy Dearest

2005-06-19T11:43:00.000+08:00

*sorry for the blurry pic

My dad and I are so alike in so many ways. Like they say, the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree. In a nutshell, my father is hardworking and is a real jack-of-all-trades. Allow me to break it down for you…

Hardworking

Dad cannot stand being idle. He doesn't know what it's like to “bum around”. In whatever work he’s in, expect that he will do his best. Very early in the morning, he’s already on his feet, more than ready to seize the day.

Case in point, about 3 years ago my dad accompanied my grandfather to the U.S. and never came back. In a span of 6 months, he was able to 1) find a job (with a good employer that was willing to petition him and his wife) 2) get his own apartment 3) buy an SUV. Also, my step-mom and two siblings were able to follow him there.

Now, I know they’re working extra hard to buy their dream house. Oh, and dad got another SUV. Lucky? Maybe, but it really has a lot to do with his attitude toward work - A great combination of perseverance and hard work.

Jack-of-all-trades

Yes, and he’s a master of all. It’s unbelievable how my dad knows how to do a lot of things. He can fix anything from computers to appliances, even build and remodel homes! He knows a lot about cars, guns and can even whip up a mean steak meal. I’d like to believe that I got this amazing trait from him.

During his younger days, dad was a real lady-killer. He was a dead ringer for William Martinez. I swear! Even at 48 (yes, he’s very young. He had me when he was only 17), he’s still “gwapo”.

Dad is not your typical father that hugs and kisses you and tells you he loves you. Sometimes, I wish he were though. He has always had a problem showing his emotional side. But somehow, I have learned to accept my dad, for his shortcomings and for the mistakes he has done in the past. Who am I to judge anyway? We’re all human.

Just like what I said about my mom, my father may not be the greatest there is, but he’s my dear daddy, and I love him immensely.

So to daddy dearest, Happy Fathers Day!

Mrs. Hanagirl Smith

2005-06-13T12:22:00.000+08:00

Saw the movie (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) yesterday and I was so smitten by both Brad and Angelina! What a beautiful couple! If I was gonna turn lesbian now or if I was born a man, Angelina would abso-freakin'-lutely be my type.

I swear, in a parallel universe, I am married to Brad Pitt. Just a gut feel, that's all :)

Tired and Depressed

2005-06-09T12:01:00.000+08:00

Tired because…

For the last 2 days my co-dancers and I have been shooting this oral care tv commercial (sorry can’t mention the product until it comes out) and it had us waking up at 4 o’ clock in the morning! The first day was really exhausting because the shoot was outdoors. So there we were…all clad in our 70’s garb enduring the volatile weather. It would rain, then shine, rain, shine, rain, shine (I’m surprised I didn’t get sick after). It was like that the whole day. Thank God they only wanted the “day effect” so they kept us until late afternoon.

The next day, was a whole lot better coz we shot indoors. We had the comforts of air-conditioned rooms, sofas, and stores and restaurants near the studio so we can buy food whenever we wanted. Our roles that day were call center peeps. Computers, desks, headsets and funny-looking, double-breasted, well-padded, Gary V.-like blazers. Hahaha! See…

Depressed because…

2 days ago, when I got home from our commercial shoot, my daughter got her very first menstruation. This may be a milestone for most parents, but not for me. I knew it would come soon but not this early! She’s only turning 12 this October. My hana was jumping up and down and was really excited but in contrast, I tried to keep a straight face to screen my misery. MY BABY GIRL IS NOT A BABY ANYMORE!!! Waaaaaaaaah!!!! :(

On Sickness and On Health

2005-06-02T19:25:00.000+08:00

My hana is sick. His brother and sister-in-law too. Must be the drastic change of weather or there must be a mean virus creeping around. I’ve been playing (sexy) nurse to my hana since last night. Giving him sponge baths, feeding him, taking his temperature, giving his medications and all. Thanks to my latest defender called Berocca, I haven’t gotten the flu…yet. *fingers crossed*

There he is on our bed, lying helplessly and weighed down by 6 blankets (to make him sweat)… my heart bleeds at the sight. Kawawa naman my hana :(

And talk about bad timing…we will be having a despedida party tonight for our dancers that are leaving for HK Disneyland and Japan here at the penthouse of our condo. *sigh*

Here comes the rain…

Take heed everyone, local news says there’s a typhoon coming our way. I guess that’s the end of summer folks. Rainy season is here. I love the rain but not when it pours down mercilessly and excessively causing so much flood and ill health in our nation. Blame it on our poor sewerage system that may never be solved. Hello to our government, hello?! You might want to look into this matter coz people are dying every year because of this?! geez...

So to my dear blog friends, load up on vitamin C, always have an umbrella with you, and pray. Pray especially for the less fortunate who will definitely be so affected by the bad weather yet to come :(

O.C. With CD's

2005-05-30T23:16:00.000+08:00

Just when I thought I was gonna relax all day I notice my dishevelled home wanting, needing and screaming for my O.C. attention. Chores, chores, never running out of chores.

One specific task that my hana and I tended to was organizing our cd collection into this special new tower we had made. Got the design from Pottery Barn.

It looks like this...

Then when you open it, it looks like this...

Cool huh? Yes, and arranged according to genre. Now how O.C. is that?

The Delinquent Blogger Named Hanagirl

2005-05-27T21:26:00.000+08:00

Yes, I am still alive and I have not quit blogging either. One week away from my pc is very long, well, at least for me. :) So what have I been up to?

STAR DANCE

Yes, Ryan won! He deserved it though. Here's a story I heard. Since his family was so poor, they didn't have money to buy him costumes for the contest so they approached Lipa mayor, Ms. Vilma Santos. As expected, she helped them and even assured them that she will call ALL the Vilmanians to support Ryan. Galing noh?!

STAR WARS

Watched with the cast of "Once On This Island" in Rockwell. Loved this movie! Yoda was so cute! hahaha! Had beer and pizza at Rastro after.

SCHEMING ME

At the last minute I decide to throw a surprise party at Luce for tomorrow to celebrate my hana's birthday . Just invited his family and some very close friends. Between texting all day and my cellphone "mysteriously ringing", he didn't suspect a thing. I asked Rem (the bar owner) to prepare 10 of Insomnia's Famous crispy pata. Now, how was I gonna lure my hana into going to Luce the next day? I told him that Rem needed to borrow some costumes that I had from the show that we did before and that it was also his birthday that day and that he will be celebrating in his bar tomorrow so we can drop off the stuff before heading for his "birthday dinner" in Brazil Brazil, Rockwell. A very lame excuse indeed, but he bought it! :)

Also, our brand new armoire and cd storage that we had made arrived today. Yipee! It's a beauty!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HANA!

I panicked when ryan texted me and asked me to stall coz they weren't at Luce yet. So I got the charm-chained belt that I was gonna wear and purposely entangled it. But I underestimated my hana. He fixed it 5 minutes. Damn. So I pretended that I couldn't decide if I would fold my pants up or not. He looked like he was getting really irritated coz I was taking to damn long.

He stopped the car right in front of Luce and said that he'll just wait for me in the car. I told him , "You come down na. It's rem's birthday. He knows you're with me. Don't be rude and come down and greet him." Although looking more pissed, he agreed. The three off us (my babygirl was with us too) got off the car and you can just imagine the rest. Most of the guests were there already. He was so surprised! After getting over the intial shock of seeing so much people that are very close to his heart, he approached me and gave me a big hug. Sarap!

*sigh* A room full of punch-drunk and slaphappy friends that caroused all night...it was a success! And instead of just 10 crispy patas, we had 12! Burp!

Seeing my hana so happy that night...PRICELESS!!!

*will post pics soon... haven't uploaded them yet

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOLA MAMA!

Had my hair colored from black to dark brown. Turns out the salon I went to before to have my hair dyed black put henna, making it difficult to lighten the color of my hair. I was in the salon (SYMMETRIA) from 1 to 5:30pm! The had to strip it (the old color) and dye it but it didn't work so they had to rinse my hair in bleach for 5 minutes then cellophaned it. Still, the colored wasn't even so I was asked to go back next week coz if he colored it again my hair might not be able to take the stress. I wouldn't also. My hair may be dead now! I need a treatment very very badly.

Had dinner at JT's manukhan with the fam for my lola's bday. Yum yum yum, as usual.

We finished just in time to catch "The Contender" finals. My Sergio won!!!! Yipee! Have been rooting for him since the very beginning. My hana was rooting for Jesse though. Ha! Never underestimate the "Latin Snake" just coz he's thin and all.

Sergio Mora, if by some bizarre chance you read this entry...Congratulations man! You truly deserve to win for being such a good son, brother, Christian and boxer! Your have both brains and brawn dude! Enjoy the 1 million dollars! :)

HOTLEGS PICTORIAL

Had a pictorial today for our new website. My call time was at 10 am but was done at around 11pm. We have 28 members and we did 2 layouts so, go figure. It was all worth it though. We all looked smashing! The first layout was your own sexy denim and black. Second was, the flashdance look. We had different J.LO pics all over our make-up room. She was our peg for the shoot. Unfortunately, yours truly forgot to bring her own camera so I don't have one single pic. Grrrrr.... Will have to wait 'til we launch our new website :(

HOUSE HUNTING

We're getting really tired off living in a condo. We need more space. Met up with a broker to see some townhouses near our area but to no avail :( They we're even smaller than our condo!

I finally got to rest today. I had a long siesta and yes, finally I can blog. I can't believe I've been gone for about a week!

I am now ready for a whole weekend of fainéant "me-time" bliss. No work, no stress, and more sleep :)

Just Kill Me, Why Don't You?

2005-05-20T00:09:00.000+08:00

Just came home from rehearsals for the last episode of STARDANCE. We started at 1pm and ended at 11:00pm. Our dance numbers aren't really that difficult (although the tango number can be quite confusing). It's just that we had to teach ALL the talents today. They didn't all come at the same time so meaning, we had to teach the same routine again and again and freaking AGAIN.

I am soooo tired. No, tired is an understatement! I cannot feel my legs. I'm numb from the waist down and my back is killing me! Tomorrow will be another hectic day for us coz we're blocking and rehearsing our numbers with the talents in Aliw Theatre. They usually don't turn the aircon on so good luck nalang, right?!

Ok, I closed my eyes just now and almost dozed off. I'm gonna hit the showers, put my feet up (need the blood to flow back to my brain), watch this weeks episode of LOST (replay) hoping I won't fall asleep before it ends, and then I'm off to lala land folks. Gotta get enough zzz's coz tomorrows gonna be a looooooooooooooooooong day. Thank God for the 3pm call time!

Later.

Some Things Are Worth Sharing

2005-05-16T14:38:00.000+08:00

My godmother emailed these to me…

See the crocodile?

Sssshh…there’s a cat sleeping.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no, it’s an ANGEL!

A heart from the heavens.

What’s a teddy bear doing in the sky?

Galing, noh?! God is truly a brilliant artist. Besides creating these breathtaking landscapes and images, he also made wonderful human beings like you. Be thankful for that :)

Breakfast of Champions

This is SUPER cute!

DIRECTIONS:
1. Finish reading these directions first.( haha!)
2. Go to this site: http://www.angelfire.com/mac/lilecko/cerealmilk.wmv (remember not to right click or you will get logged out. Just copy it manually. sorry.)
3. Pump up the volume
4. Return to my blog and leave your note-worth reactions on my comment box.

Hehehe! Enjoy! :)

Party Peeps

2005-05-12T15:19:00.000+08:00

Last night we celebrated Desiree's (Des) Birthday at Rem Zamora's (owner of the now defunct Orange and Insomnia) new cozy bar called, Luce . Des is also a dancer for Hotlegs , a stylist, a commercial model and Ralion's better half. She'll be working in Hong Kong Disneyland soon. I will miss her so.

Anyway, because it was her special celebration, I decided to wear the mini black and gold bolero that she designed and made especially for me. I tell you, modesty aside, there wasn’t a single person that night that didn’t ogle or praise Des’ fine creation for me. It was really the bomb!

Here again, is another futile attempt to make a collage. As usual, it sucks coz I just stuffed everything pell-mell, but it will have to do for now.

For larger view, click here

P.S. I have a new thingy on my sidebar under itsie bitsies called Phlogger. I can now blog from my cellphone! What can be cooler than that?! My hana’s reaction to this?…one big *sigh*

My Mom

2005-05-08T00:05:00.000+08:00

I grew up without a mom and a dad. They both got separated even before I came to this world. I was raised by my grandparents (my dad’s parents) and my dad’s sisters.

I remember growing up and thinking about my mom endlessly. What she was doing, what she had for dinner, what she dreamt about in her sleep and if she was thinking of me the same way too.

She would pick me up once in awhile to go and see a movie or get me the latest Barbie, however, goodbyes were always so difficult for me…because I’d never know when I would see her again. I grew up missing her so much. Crying myself to sleep every now and then because I needed her in my life.

Then she got married and had another child (my lovely half Belgian and half Filipino sister, Celine). Mom became really busy with work and with her new family. I saw less of her by this time. And because her husband’s work entailed for them to live out of the Philippines, they moved from one country to the next. This gypsy lifestyle I envied so much, but mom said to me recently that she has grown tired of this and is ready to return to Manila and establish their permanent life here (fingers crossed). Moreover, she promised to "make up for lost time". It has been years since I’ve last seen mom. My daughter was still a toddler then (she’s turning 12 in October). That’s how long it has been. Too, damn, long really!

Anyway, so early in the morning yesterday, I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. It was mom. She’s already in Manila!!! What a lovely surprise! I really hope to spend more time with her this time.

*sigh* …I thought that I would someday outgrow this yearning. I thought that being a mother myself would somehow conceal and diminish it. Maybe at the slightest bit it did, yeah. But I still do miss her terribly and long for her from time to time.

You see, my mom may not be the greatest there is but she IS my mother and I love her dearly.

Happy Mother’s day, Mommy! Can’t wait to see you! :)

Update (May 9, Monday):

Met mom in Shangrila Mall yesterday at around 10:30am. She looked so pretty and it felt great to hug her and to be hugged back. It has always been so refreshing to see mom. She's like a breath of fresh air. We talked nonstop for hours in Cibo. We separated ways at 2pm. We promised to see each other at least once a week. Can't wait for our next meeting when I finally get to introduce her to my hana and she can finally see how beautiful her grandchild has become.

I'm Back!

2005-05-01T17:48:00.000+08:00

Eat--sunbathe--eat--sunbathe--frisbee--beer--eat--gimmick
--more beer.

That pretty much sums up my whole bora trip! Plus of course a couple of highlights like:

Getting my cool glitter tattoo

Pictorial to death with friends

Learning how to do the fire dance with pois

Other highlights:
1. Brownies, calamansi muffin, pesto omelet at Real Coffee and Banana Peanut Shake and Margherita Pizza at Jonah's
2. Boating/snorkeling by crocodile island
3. Choriburger almost every night
4. Boracay Dragons winning the Frisbee tourney against the
Korean team
5. Being in Sports Unlimited and guarding Diane Castillejo
6. Having the famous Baby Back Ribs in Gastof for dinner
7. Hana and I hanging around with the 20 year olds. Hahaha!
8. Being the first few guests of the newly opened ultra cool chillout place/restaurant called Bamboo Lounge
9. MY GREEN HIBISCO HAVAIANAS GOT STOLEN!!!! GRRRR!!!!
10. Tried skimboarding.

And this is how dark I got…

Took out my glitter tattoo and I got a cool hibiscus flower on my skin :)

*check out my sidebar for my photos

Today is the Day

2005-04-19T08:27:00.000+08:00

This blog will be quiet for the next 10 days. Can you believe it?! Oh I miss it already! My hana says I’m gonna search for an internet café there so I can still blog. Hahaha! It actually never crossed my mind until he mentioned it. Hmmmm… good suggestion though …hehe!

Take care, peeps! I’m off to the beautiful island of Boracay. I promise you loads of pics when I get back.

Adios Amigos!

Yesterday (What a crumby title!)

2005-04-17T14:41:00.000+08:00

1. Went to the hospital to visit my lolo papa. We talked for a long time about so many things- music, gadgets, family, etc. He asked me to help him write a letter to this corporation he has been serving for almost 50 years which, to this day, has not given him his retirement pay yet. shame, shame. Was with him for 3 hours. I wish I didn't have to leave but I had so much to do.

2. Got my nails done at Nails Spa. Now they're havainas-worthy feet! :) See...

3. Had dinner in Crustacia to celebrate AJ's birthday.

Our bill was ridiculously expensive but it was worth it. Crabs amd shrimp are really expensive anyway. Imagine ordering 4 monstrous crabs each cooked differently. We also had dimsum, 2 kinds of chicken, 1 big fat lapu-lapu, shrimp pancake, bagoong rice, yang chow fried rice and so much more. We were all stuffed!

4. Watched Hide and Seek, to my dismay.

I don't normally watch scary flicks but this was what our dear b-day boy wanted. I'm super chicken sh!t-duwag! I don't like getting gulat coz I get this piercing pain in my chest. That's why when friends make me gulat, I scream and get all angry at them. So no one would dare startle me :) So, my babygirl and I, being the biggest scaredy-cats on this planet, didn't get to see much coz half the time we were hiding behind our jackets. Losers!

Happy Sad

2005-04-14T13:19:00.000+08:00

Happy…
Promise, this will be the last time I will talk about our trip to Boracay (fingers crossed behind me. hehe!)
*mouseover the images

I am so ready for Boracay…what you think? Hehe! :)

Sad…
My lolo papa is sick. He got confined in the hospital 2 days ago because of fever. He’s 79 years old but he doesn’t look like it at all. He’s a medical doctor in St. Luke’s and he’s still practicing to this day. His staff, colleagues and patients love him dearly. They call him the “charity doctor” because he never over charges. Like he said to me one time, “You know, we could’ve been so rich. But I’m not that kind of a doctor.”

One time, a veteran actress here told my hana a nice story about my lolo papa. When she found her hospital bill too expensive she asked my lolo papa,
“Doc, baka pwedeng humingi ng discount kasi medyo mabigat?”
My lolo papa smiled widely, “Of course! Magkano gusto mo?”

My lolo papa is really something else, isn’t he?

His cardiologist ran a couple of test on him yesterday and he (my lolo papa actually saw it first) found something in his heart. It’s like a scar but could be cured through medication only. Hopefully, there would be no need for an operation. He just needs to rest in the hospital a bit more so he can be monitored well.

What’s even more depressing is that we’re going to have our much awaited family reunion this Saturday at a private resort in Los Banos and he won’t be able to come. What’s the use if we’re not complete? But my lola mama says we should still push through with it.

I’m still praying for a miracle. Hope it comes before saturday.

Today

2005-04-11T23:11:00.000+08:00

Today…we went to SeaAir ticketing office to move our flight to Boracay from the 18th to the 19th. My hana has work. What sucks is that the only available flight on the 19th is at 2:40pm. We don’t like taking afternoon flights coz we’ll be wasting one whole day! As if staying there for 10 days won’t be enough! Hahaha!

Today… I finally got my long overdue haircut at Propaganda. I always look forward to going there coz Jing Monis is also a good friend of mine. I enjoy our conversations immensely. And since I only go once every 2 months, there’s always a lot to talk about. Plus, of course, I walk out of the salon with a stunning new hairstyle.

Today…I met up with another good friend whose back from NY. She just went through a bad separation (she left her husband in NY). To make things more complicated, she’s 5 months pregnant! I sat there and listened to her fears of having and raising her child alone. No matter how much I assured her that all would be well, I knew that she was still not free from anxiety. My heart weeps for her.

Today…while looking at some iPod accessories at Greenbelt, a foreign guy asked me... “Excuse me miss, but are you a Filipina?
Me: (no, I’m Caucasian, duh!)” Yes I am”, I answered back politely.
Foreign dude: “Oh, you’re so beautiful!”
Me: “Thanks!”, I replied with a cool and somewhat that-sh!t-ain’t-gonna-work-on-me tone. And I walk away. Style mo bulok, man…

Disney Drama

2005-04-10T07:03:00.000+08:00

It was only last month when there was so much hoopla on the Hong Kong Disney auditions here in Manila. My friends from the industry (singers, dancers, musicians, actors) scurried to San Miguel Corp. to submit their application forms and resumes. And days later came the auditions.

Since Tuesday, I found out that all of my friends got “the call” already -- Kuya Jaime (my cousin from Powerdance), Ralion (Alonzo, remember him from EZ Dancing?), Rony (musical director and great keyboardist/pianist for some of my hana’s plays), and 9 of my co-dancers from Hotlegs are definitely in. They’re off to Hong Kong! Congratulations you guys!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lying down on our bed, my hana turns to his side to face me. I gaze into his eyes and smile brightly…waiting for him to say something sweet to me.

Hanaboy: (deadpan and looking at my smile) “metal mouth.”
Hanagirl: (frowns)
Hanaboy: “You’re an abre lata!”
Hanagirl: (pauses for a moment)
Hanagirl and Hanaboy: (cracks up) Bwahahahahahaha!

Great, my hana says I’m a can opener.

An Open Invitation

2005-04-06T15:21:00.000+08:00

You are cordially (naks!) invited to come visit my new food blog.

*click on image to open in a new window*

I just got bitten by the cooking bug again and just can’t stop whipping up special meals for my hana and my daughter. Well, there goes my hana’s diet -gasp- and just weeks before we go off to the beach!

Also, please come and see the online painting that I made.

*click on image to open in a new window*

Let me warn you, however, that it doesn’t come close to a Matisse nor to a 5 year-old child’s doodle. Hehe! May I ask that you add your own personal touch to this work of art? Just click on “add to this painting” and draw, paint, doodle to your heart’s desire. Oh and don’t forget to click on the “save and send” button so I can see your masterpiece. I will find a spot for this magnum opus of ours in my blog for all to see when it’s done.

Enjoy!

My Celebrity Look-A-Like?

2005-04-02T12:10:00.000+08:00

I visited this site. It analyzes your face and gives you your celebrity match. This was my result…

Race Analysis:

29% Middle Eastern
26% Anglo Saxon
18% South East Asian
28% Chinese

Personality Profile:

Intelligence 5.4
Risk 4.4
Ambition 5.4
Gay Factor 1.4
Honor 5.2
Income 5.6
Sociability 5.2
Promiscuity 3.5

Personality Profile:

You particularly enjoy the traditional way of life. Having drinks with your friends, attending parties and relaxing while watching TV are some of the simple pleasures you indulge in. You may also enjoy physical exercise. Your driving force is to retire as early as possible, so that you can do the things you enjoy more often. Your main source of ambition comes from this desire. You dont particularly like your job but you do it without complaining. You realize that the income that it provides is essential to your lifestyle. You are friendly yet competitive with your co-workers. This competitiveness may lead you to squander your earnings to match other peoples' possessions. You operate most effectively when there is a set power structure, and the lines of authority are clear. You know your place in the ranks, you play by the rules, and will deliver what is expected of you. You do not care for responsibility; you would rather be care free.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, I basically agree with what’s said here except for the last sentence on my personality profile coz I do care for responsibility. Coincidentally, I bumped into Lucy Liu in 2001 at Melrose Place in L.A. She’s petite like me and so sexy (like me? Hahaha!). But the truth is, I’d rather be a dead ringer for either Catherine Zeta-Jones or J. Lo. Hehehe! PLease? :)

*Props to Di for discovering this site.

Home For The Holy Week

2005-03-28T21:04:00.000+08:00

While most of the people went out of town, my hana, my baby girl, and I decided to hang out here in Manila. And this was how our area looked like…

Yes, it is a Metro Manila driver’s dream, isn’t it?--- No traffic, no gridlocks, no cars, no people! I took this picture while my hana and I were walking to the gas station where we left our car to be cleaned. Silence greeted us. It was a real treat to really hear the birds chirping. If you live in the heart of Ortigas Center, you’ll understand what I’m saying. No hustle and bustle on the streets, just us and the birds. I was actually waiting for some tumbleweed to roll by. You know, like in a real ghost town. We even imagined Clint Eastwood coming out at the end of the street in western garb and complete with background music saying, “C’mon, make my day!” Hahaha!I also made use of this long weekend to domesticate myself. I fixed up our humble abode, did some gardening and cooked. See…

You like my apron? Hehehe! Those are Danish Meatballs (hana’s favorite) and Pasta Aglio with Prawns (which Mikah liked so much coz she loves shrimp). My hana couldn’t breathe after eating. He stuffed himself full! One million “beauty” points for me! Well, you know what they say, right? That, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Listen up ladies! This, I guarantee to be true. Oh Toni, back me up on this one will you? Hehehe!

Happy Easter, y’all!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEOFF!

2005-03-23T15:54:00.000+08:00

*my braces looks so gross, noh?*

Today is a special day because it is our dear Geoffy’s birthday.

Last Saturday he had this big birthday fête at Casa Ibarra in Timog that was paid for by his numerous sponsors. 400 hundred people were invited. A mixture of family, friends, and paparazzi! Yikes!

Last night was a more intimate celebration (just family and close friends) at Capone’s in Makati, drinking and dancing (oh and singing) as if there was no tomorrow. And the only cameras that where there were mine, Sheeva’s and Ryan’s. It was suppose to be a surprise party until geoffy asked, “What’s my dad’s car doing here?” Damn it. Nonetheless, we all had a GREAT time! Right, Sheevs?

*For more pics, check out my sidebar

Just 4 Fun

2005-03-18T23:45:00.000+08:00

Need a good laugh. Check these out. Just click on the images...

the truth behind the split up

to all AI fans out there

paris hilton's cellphone

***Thanks Sheanne! Just want to spread the laughter :)

What Women Want

2005-03-14T20:47:00.000+08:00

My hana, my babygirl and I saw "Hitch" yesterday. To be honest, I really didn't want to see this movie at first. I thought that it was the type of film that I'll just go watch when it comes out on HBO or Cinemax. God, I was so wrong! I'm glad we didn't wait too long to see it.

Don't get me wrong. It's not the type of film that's gonna be nominated for the Oscars next year ok? It is merely a light, romantic-comedy chick-flick that can make women relate to certain situations, laugh and giggle in harmony... and with just the right dose of "kilig"-factor for about 2 hours to boot.

Will Smith, being extra charming and overflowing with so much sex appeal said something in the beginning of the film that is still lingering in my head at this very moment. And I'm afraid it will remain there forever.

He said, "Life is not about how many breaths you take, it about how many times your breath gets taken away."

C'mon...let me hear it. All the women in the house say, "hell ya!"

I'm A Grandma!

2005-03-09T17:57:00.000+08:00

Our yellow labrador retriever, Mango, gave birth last Saturday. 7 cute, healthy pups! 4 black and 3 yellow ones. I opened our bedroom door and there it was, her first born. And the rest kept on coming and coming. It was my very first time to see something like that. It was a different kind of experience. I just couldn't bear to look at Mango while she ate the placentas though. Eeeew! Anyway, here are the pics...

Aren't they the cutest thing? Isn't Mango the prettiest mama dog? Doesn't my knowledge at photoshop suck?! What an ugly collage! Sorry, a bit lazy to spruce it up.

F.Y.I. These cute pups are for sale. If you're interested, just email me in private ok? Will give you a good price since we really can't have any more dogs in our house!

Mishmash Of Events

2005-03-04T13:43:00.000+08:00

My hana got this text from a friend. I know it's suppose to be in my sidebar under "text of the week" but it's so down right funny, I feel that it deserves it's own entry in my blog. Here it is...

HEADLINE KAHAPON NGAYON ANG BRODKAST:

Tahanang walang hagdan, inakyat!

Birthday ng may ari ng piggery, binaboy!

Plane crash, patay lahat ng pasahero ayon sa mg survivors!

Unanong madre, napagkamalang penguin!

Bulag nakapatay, nagdilim daw ang paningin!

Tindera ng suka, tinoyo!

Teacher nagkamali, tinuruan ng leksyon!

Basurero nagsampa ng kaso, binasura!

Tubero, nagkatulo!Misis ng photographer,nakunan!

Hahahaha! Isn't it funny? Ok maybe not so much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bikini Hunt

I scoured Rustan's yesterday, in search for the perfect bikinis for our trip to Boracay this April. Yeah, it's still in April but we already have our tickets with us and I'm already thinking of what to wear! Hehehe! I like to wear different bikinis everyday. Ergo, my extensive collection of swimwear. I was about to give up until I saw this store. Aaaaah! I thought I was in bikini heaven. I got my Rustan's discount card (finally!) about a week ago and it totally rocks my world to get a good discount in Rustan's. Hence, I bought 3 bikinis and one white, gossamer-like cover-up! They even threw in a few freebies -- a planner (like starbucks' although more voguish) and a cute, cute beach towel in a cute terry cloth bag. I love Rustan's. And I think it loves me too. I should actually be a stockholder. Hehehe! Boracay here I come! Sa April pa eh! Am I excited or what?

The Little Shop Of Horrors

Watched this musical last night at Onstage. I encourage every parent to bring their kids and let them experience this cute musical.

Afterwhich, we went to Italliani's for a nightcap and some chitchat with our friends. Don't you just love having smart, brain-stimulating conversations? Beats gossiping and personal problem sharing, doesn't it? None of that bad vibe last night. Just great friends, good food, ice cold beer and a bottle of Merlot.

Movie Marthon

2005-02-28T12:50:00.000+08:00

It has been a movie week for me. Whether it may be at the theatre or at home (original dvd copies, of course). And here are my reviews:

The Aviator: Bleagh. I found it too dragging and a tad too long. Maybe I expected too much from Howard Hughes’ biopic, I dunno, all I know is my hana and I fell asleep.
Was it just I or did anyone else perceive that Leonardo was a miscast for Mr. Hughes and that DiCarpio had only one expression on his face most of the time(this somewhat smug look with his eyebrows meeting together)? Cate Blanchett was a perfect choice for Katherine Hepburn though. Couldn’t think of anyone else that could’ve done a better Ms. Hepburn. I personally don’t believe it deserves to win best picture at the Oscar’s today. If Martin Scorsese wins for best director, it would probably be out of pity since he’s always a nominee but never a winner. Sorry Martin, but I don’t think this can be in the list of the best films you’ve ever made.
My Rating: 3

The Manchurian Candidate: Bleagh. Bleagh. Bleagh. Denzel, why oh why did you agree to star in this film?
My Rating: 1

A Series Of Unfortunate Events: This film was quite amusing, in a dark, eerie, unsettling kind of way. After the movie, I actually had the sudden urge to trudge down to the bookstore to buy the other books. Sadly, it was 5 past 9pm and National Bookstore was already closed. Jim Carrey was just right for the part of Count Olaf. His rubbery face and body proved to be very useful in portraying his many disguises. Meryl Streep, ah… not enough positive adjectives in the English dictionary to describe this talented woman. She was as usual, astonishing. ‘Nuff said.
My Rating: 4

House of Flying Daggers: That “Echo Game” scene of Zhang Ziyi was the bomb! I want to learn that type of dance. Now, now, now! The cinematography was breathtaking. The richness in color in every scene completely blew me away. The swift moves in all the fight scenes were speedier than the cars in "The Fast and The Furious"! Dazzling choreography indeed. Zhang Ziyi, even after a good beating, was stunning. Takeshi Kaneshiro, conversely, had this uncanny resemblance to Diether Ocampo. Serously! Hahaha!
My Rating: 4 ½

I’m watching the Oscars now (who isn’t?). I drove my sleepy ass out of bed at 9am to watch this much awaited awards night. I so want Jaime Foxx to win best Actor! Let’s see…

Rant-Kitty-Rant

2005-02-23T19:38:00.000+08:00

* It’s so difficult to eat with these darn braces! I can tolerate the pain caused by the pressure of the braces but not that of the brackets’ constant rubbing on the sides of my mouth. Bactidol is now my best-friend. One time, I dipped a swab in a bottle of that aforementioned wonderful pink oral antiseptic and placed it on the side of my mouth (which, by the way, really provided so much pain relief and cure for my singaws). Would you believe I fell asleep and woke up with that swab still in the same place, in my mouth?! Bwahahaha!

For those requesting for a pic of my metallic smile...

I know, the pic is too small. I deliberately resized and cropped it so you won't see how ugly it really looks. Only 6 months, baby. I can do this!

* Someone emailed me and straightforwardly asked if I was a lesbian. Haller?! Blogger buddies, what can you say? Me, a lesbian? Hahaha! He did apologize though.

* Our yellow Labrador, Mango, may be pregnant! Aaaaargh! We already have two labs here and I cannot possible stand to have any more! Labs anyone?

Never Running Out Of Stuff To D

2005-02-18T12:58:00.000+08:00

I thought I ‘d be able to relax this week…NOT! Errands and housework have mounted up in the past two weeks and is biting me in the ass already, forcing me to fulfill my duties and obligations as woman of the house.

FEB. 14, Monday

Aaaaah, Valentine’s day. We went to the show of Christopher De Leon and Tirso Cruz III at the Dusit Hotel Nikko. My hana had to be there early it so I left him and drove off to Rockwell to buy this shoe rack.

I assembled the new shoe rack with Mikah helping me out. Obviously, I need another shoe rack since I have too many shoes. Moreover, I know that there are more shoes to come. Hehe!

We all know about that dreadful thing that happened on Valentine's day, right? If I were 2 hours earlier passing edsa on my way to Dusit Hotel, I might have gotten hurt in that bus bombing. Good thing the only horrible thing that happened to me that night was driving around in circles looking for a way to get to the hotel since there were road blocks all over the area!

Most of the crème de la crème and the ubiquitous luminaries of the showbiz industry were watching show -- Vilma Santos with husband Sen. Recto, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Rudy Fernandez with his still stunning wife Lorna Tolentino, and the list goes on. The show was awesome!

After, my hana and I buzzed off to the lobby of Manila Peninsula Hotel to have dinner. Yeah, like around 1am! Didn’t get to eat much at Dusit and I was famished! I thought it was funny that my hana and I were in a classy hotel but I ordered for tocilog (tocino, sinangag rice, fried egg) and my hana got the tapsilog (same as mine but w/ tapa meat instead of tocino). We should’ve just gone to Rufo’s or Tapa King. Haha!

Another funny thing I noticed was that the janitors were taking out all the beautiful red roses that adorned the Pen’s lobby and they were stashing it all in a garbage bag! What a waste! I wanted them all for my home. However, there were others who fancied them too. My hana, along with 5 other people bare-facedly asked for the roses. And now my house is filled with stunning red flora.

Hana’s gift: Patent red and white Nike sneakers, a lovely top, and a Philippe Charriol bracelet.

FEB. 15, Tuesday

-- Cleaned and organized the house. Even if I have an O.C. maid, there are some things I want to do myself like putting our newly ironed clothes back in the closet.
-- Organized files, cleaned jewelry, etc.

Feb. 16, Wednesday

-- Went to two banks and took care of some” business”.
-- Had a new bed and side tables made for the room. Wohoo!
-- And finally I went to Rustan’s Shang to do the grocery. My pantry is now happy.
-- Watched “Ray” in Shang with my hana. TEARS!!! It was a heart-felt, touching, beautiful movie. Jaime Foxx really deserved to win all those awards. He was Ray Charles incarnate!

Feb. 17, Thursday

I have braces!!!! Metal mouth! Wahahaha! Sooooo high school, isn’t it? I actually needed them for my lower only and retainers on my upper but my orthodontist said that I need them too on my upper. Darn. My hana giggled when he first saw me and said that I really look like a kid now. Hmph!

Watched “Constatine” at the Podium. Darn, I really hate those kinds of movies. But it was what hana wanted to watch. I’m really not into movies that make me jump out of my seat. So, half the time my eyes were covered.

Feb. 18, Friday

Back to work, back to reality. I’m casted for A.S.A.P. this Sunday and I have to get ready for rehearsals now. Bummer…

Thank God It's Sunday!

2005-02-13T23:07:00.000+08:00

*In our white and denim costume for the finale. Check out my sidebar for more pics of the concert.

DAY ONE: QUEENS…ON FIRE!

The 2-day concert was a huge success! Very taxing , but successful.

When we went to ULTRA last Thursday for our technical rehearsals, and was surprised to see that the stage was really small. Too small to hold all 12 dancers plus the two singers. We had to re-block and adjust all the dance numbers! And that really isn’t the easiest thing to do especially on the day before the show. To cause more panic, our director, Rowell Santiago, asked that the 2 flamenco pairs (angel, des, charles and I) stay for the whole number which was just suppose to be a short transition to “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman”. We had so much to do we weren’t able to add more to that number that day. We finished blocking SOME numbers a little past 12 midnight. We were so dead-tired already. We simply couldn’t finish re-blocking all the numbers! So we opted to just come in early the next day (on the day of the concert!), at 10am to re-block the rest and to add more to our Flamenco dance.

No one could talk to me that day. That’s me when I’m faced with a plethora of downbeat emotions. I keep quiet. I was frazzled, scared out of my wits and outrageously nervous. The re-blocking was already too much for me to hack and learning more steps for the flamenco? …I was already begging for them to get a gun and shoot me.

There were 3 numbers after the opening. Yes, 4 numbers, straight! We’ve never done this before and that is why I felt I was going to collapse due to exhaustion. After the Flamenco number, I was breathing easily. I made it. We made it! Not one of my most notable performances, but I survived.

***During the finale (80’s medley), Pops gave me her microphone and there I was, in front of 15,000 people singing…”long long distance love affair, woh-hoh, I’d call you on the telephone, but you’re never home…” . I did not realize that when Pops handed the mic to me that she stepped back and when I turned to my right, THE ASIA’S SONGBIRD, Ms. Regine Velasquez was at my right side singing the second voice of that song”. Waaaaaaaaah! This is too surreal!!!! I can die now! Thank God, my hana was there and got it all on video.

BAD DAY FOR MY HANA

Speaking of my hana, it was such a bad day for him. He lost his brand new Moto Razor cellphone in ULTRA. You see, during the finale, everyone just went in front and started taking pictures of the two artists. People were crammed together. My hana was holding the video camera with both his hands and he did not feel that a scumbag thief reached into his sling and stole his phone. The thief was probably a pro since my hana’s man- purse was slung right in front of his body. Also, at the parking lot, a so “fucking stupid driver” backed into our car and hit the front bumper. The plate number fell and there were traces of dark scratches on it. Some people!

I was so tired but I knew I had to do everything to cheer up my hana…even if it involved doing cartwheels in circles or anything to make him smile. Well, at least the phone was only 4k. The next day, our good, no, AMAZING friend from Globe arranged for my hana to get a free optimum sim card and a discount on a new moto razor. Not as big as the last time, but it’ll do.

DAY TWO: QUEENS…ON FIRE!

The second day of the concert was so much better. I was more confident with my steps and with my blockings. I suddenly panicked when I saw Goma with her lovely wife, Lucy Torres (on her column in Philippine Star before, she wrote a write-up about Hotlegs saying something like, “ Hotlegs is really the best”). I also know that she dances the Flamenco. Oh, we just had to be superb in our Flamenco number! And we were. I felt like I was Catherine Zeta-Jones in Zorro. And most likely, so did my gay partner. Hahaha!

In that number, we did the “superman lift” that we did in Star Dance. It was so death-defying that we actually heard everyone in the audience gasp and upon our “landing”, there was a second or two of silence and then came the big round of applause! It really was beautiful.

I love my job. It can be tiring and pretty demanding at times, but at the end of the day, I thank God for giving me this wonderful talent.

Burn Out

2005-02-10T03:07:00.000+08:00

*Note: Edited post. Original posting date: Feb. 10, 2005

burn out (noun) - exhaustion of one's physical or emotional strength.

My body is numb and my mind is mentally exhausted. ..We have a total of 11 dance numbers in the Regine and Pops concert. All in all the whole show has 20 numbers and more than half of it, we'll be in it. Segue to DEATH!!! The concert is this friday and saturday already and we still have to learn 3 more dances. Damn it, I can barely remember the others! I think I really am getting too old for this sh!t.

Per contra, in a parallel universe... I am a on my private yacht sipping a strawberry margarita, in a white bikini and wide-brimmed hat looking so urbane and soigne, and working on my tan.But then I realize, I'm stuck in this lifetime, in this universe...*sigh*

OFF TOPIC: my hana got his new phone two days ago. He got a Moto Razor.

It's real price? 34 K. But he got it for only 4K. How? a combination of loyalty awards, upgrading his plan, connections in globe and charm.

But then again I'm also getting a new phone, for free. And it will be delivered first thing in the morning!

The best things in life are indeed free...

Another Plug

2005-02-05T14:21:00.000+08:00

Watch the pilot episode of our show tonight! Saturday, Feb. 5, 6:30-7:30pm.

SYNOPSIS
(taken from abs-cbn.com)
Hosted by: Marvin Agustin, Archie Alemania, Bianca Gonzalez, and JC Cuadrado

Put on your dancing shoes because this show is sure to keep your booty shaking all the way to stardom.

STAR DANCE: SEARCH FOR THE DANCE IDOLS is the first dance reality show in the country.

Thousands of hopefuls will be screened but only 10 wannabe dance icons will strut their way to the finals.

It’s more than just a dance show! The pains and joys, tears and laughter, challenges and triumphs will be highlighted as out star dancers reach for their dreams.

So who will reign supreme in the dance floor? Your guess is as good as ours. But for now, we watch and dance the night away!

The 4 premiere dance groups in Manila will be involved in this show… Streetboys, Maneouvres, Powerdance and my group, Hotlegs. So please tune in and support the show. Thank you!

*I had an exceptionally horrible Thursday and Friday! The other day, we taped until 5am and had to come in again at 1pm that same day for the taping of episode 2. Today we finished at 6 am! And I have rehearsals today for the regine/pops concert at 6pm. Pretty messed up, huh? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! But am glad that it’s all over now. Will post pictures and talk more sense when and if I get at least 8 hours of undisturbed sleep with nothing to do when I wake up.

Hanagirl out…for now.

Fun Fun Stuff!

2005-02-01T02:54:00.000+08:00

Please wait for it to load. It’s worth the wait anyway.

1) Move your cursor around the image. I’ll be watching you :)

2) Figure this puzzle out to see who I am hugging…

3) Move your cursor around the picture of my baby. Be careful, don’t drown her :)

Pretty cool, huh? Hope you had fun :)

Signs of Aging

2005-01-28T11:49:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, from 6pm to 12 midnight, we started rehearsals for our new dance reality show in ABS-CBN called “Star Dance”. When we were experimenting on a death-defying lift, I acquired bruises on my right knee and left wrist and scratches on my right elbow. Not to mention I smacked my right cheek and mouth on my partner’s knees quite a few times. It’s pretty difficult to describe the lift but I call it “superman”. Go figure.

I just woke up and my body is hurting in a gazillion different places. Imagine being run over repetitively by a train. Sigh… I think I’m getting too old for this shit.

The sore body, the dead beat countenance and the desire for more sleeping time -- I do really need to hie off to Boracay. I desperately need a vacation!

A Tsunami Story

2005-01-24T15:12:00.000+08:00

A mother that was swept away by the waves of destruction. In her arms were her two kids. One was a 4-month-old infant and the other, a 6-year-old girl. She tried to hang on to something as the water kept rising and the pressure of the waves were getting harder to bear.

Later on she was faced with a choice. In order for them to survive, she had to let go of one of her children. She simply did not have the strength to hold on to both of them any longer. If she didn’t release one, they would all certainly die. She cried out for help, but no one came. She had to make that choice quickly.

The pain of having to let go of her 6-year-old daughter was unbearable. It was a choice, that God forbid, any other parent out there should ever be confronted brazenly with.

When all of it was over, with only her 4-month-old baby in her arms and with full of regret and sorrow, she walked the streets trying to look for the body of her 6-year-old.

And you know what? She found her! She was alive! Her daughter was standing by the street all wet and pretty shaken up. Apparently, her daughter hung on to a tree and survived the whole tsunami nightmare.

What a story, huh?

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

2005-01-21T19:47:00.000+08:00

* I got featured at you.inq7.net as Tuesdays blog addict. Check me out here.

* My baby girl has her own blog already. Hmm...I wonder who got her into it :)

Odd Schemes and Senseless Shoot Outs

2005-01-18T17:49:00.000+08:00

Watching the daily news and can be really frustrating and terrifying at the same time.

* WET BLANKET SCHEME: “Under the scheme, blanket-sized pieces of cloth, with words "Maglakad at Mag-abang sa Bangketa," are attached to poles fastened to MMDA service vehicles and sound trucks. MMDA personnel on board the sound trucks warn the commuters that they have arrived and those who refuse to heed will have wet rags plopped on their heads.”
–abs-cbnnews.com

What is up with that? It was observed that right after the blanket passed by, commuters would hop back into the streets. I say fine or send them to jail! Brutal, I know. But obviously it needs more than just a wet blanket to discipline these people.
And what are loads of the MMDA officers doing? Isn’t it also their duty to initiate order among pedestrians and commuters? Trenchant, intelligent, and honest law officers, that’s what this country also needs. Ha! I may never live to see the day.

Last year, 2,415 were injured and 281 dead because of jaywalking.

* There was a shoot out between cops at the Ati-Atihan festival in Aklan. 7 died. One of them being an innocent child that was hit by a stray bullet.

* Another shoot out took place just about a stone’s throw away from where we live in Ortigas! The reason: Parking space.

What do these say about our people and the country that we live in?

My Other Calling

2005-01-13T19:43:00.000+08:00

I used to do make-up for Metro magazine. Not too many people know this.

My most memorable shoot was with Mr. Jim Paredes. He was our photographer for the Metro Magazine’s Millennium Bodies issue. Mr. Paredes complimented my work on this baller that had a really, REALLY bad breakout on his face. After taking a quick peek through his lens to check how the guy looked, he gave me a gentle pat on the back and whispered, “good job!”. Modesty aside, it really was good. It wasn’t easy though. But his skin was flawless! So before Dr. Belo, there was me. Hahaha! Just kidding.

Anyway, Just when I finally got my big break, ill luck stuck me…well, actually it was more of stupidity (on my part). 5 years ago, at the "zenith" of my career, I lost my make-up box. I left it inside a taxi cab. Yes. I sh!t you not.

- My extensive collection of eye-shadows from Shu-Uemura, MAC, Make-up Forever…gone.
- My brand new Chanel foundations…gone.
- My loose powders and concealers, a wide variety for light, medium and dark skin tones…gone.
-Lipsticks, lipliners,… the list goes on.
…all GONE.

I wanted to die. It shook me to my very core. Why? I just lost around 6 digits worth of top-of-the-line maquillage, that’s why. I lost part of my life…part of my future.

I swore off doing make-up. I was so traumatized I never bought that much stuff anymore. Just the bare necessities. About 5 eyeshadows, 3 lipsticks, one foundation, etc. Just what I need for my shows, my personal use. I stopped accepting clients and turned down numerous shoots for Metro and other magazines.

But that was 5 years ago. Several of my friends have been wheedling me to give this career another shot. With statements such as, “dancing is not forever”, “I can take you in our team and we’ll do commercials together”, etc, etc.

After carefully contemplating on it for years, I have finally decided to give it a go again.

Thank you my dear hana for getting me the MAC make-up box for Christmas. That’s a good start.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hotlegs will be so busy this year. A concert in Feb and a new reality t.v. show. Forgot the title (something like, "Dance Superstar"). The premise: a search for the nation’s top dancer(s). Somewhat like American Idol, but for dancers. The Hotlegs style will be one of the groups (there are 4 other professional premiere dance groups) that the contestants will attempt to achieve/ reach. This ain’t your mama’s dance show. Expect to see excellent performances from us, the 3 other dance groups, and with a bit of luck, from the contestants as well. Hehe! :)

At this point, 2005 looks really bright. Thank you, God!

Baby Got Back

2005-01-09T01:13:00.000+08:00

Rehearsals for A.S.A.P. got cancelled yesterday so my 3 co-dancers and I headed for GH (greenhills). And this completely blew me off my tracks…

I’ll give you 5 seconds to guess what in heaven's name this is…
Ready?
1

2

3

4

5

They’re girdle-like undies with butt pads! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha!
Bra pads are ok, but this is something else. Weird. Creep even. I’ve never seen this before. I never even knew there was something like this! Well, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do to be bootylicious, right?

Hey, I didn’t buy them ok. Don't need 'em. Naks! Hehe!

But you have to admit that it looks funny, right?

Ok, I'll shut up now. Karma is indeed instantaneous.

A Series Of Unfortunate Events

2005-01-02T20:49:00.000+08:00

Did you ever have a bad day that seemed to carry on until the next day? Then you realize that you’re not only having a bad day, but a bad week? And for some God-forsaken reason, it all took place before, on, and after the New Year?

Is this a precursor of hapless things/events yet to come for me this year? Just when I vowed to shun all sorts of negativity in life, it ruthlessly comes right after me…on a daily basis.

Trivial as some of the incidents may be...

still...

what a way to start the year…

In The Nick Of Time

2004-12-29T23:37:00.000+08:00

My hana’s sister, along with her husband and two kids left for Phuket, Thailand last December 25.

When they woke up, she and her husband thought of going to the beach while the kids were still asleep. They decided to go to the second floor of their hotel to have coffee instead.

From there they saw the first big wave hit the shores of Phuket. Panic-stricken, they rushed to get their kids. When they came down to the lobby, it was already flooded. The walls had bloodstains (from the poor people that rammed into them when they got swept away).

They saw it…they saw those poor people on the beach being eaten up by the tsunami. In a second, they were gone.

The same day, they were relocated to another hotel. Up high in the mountains. Later on, they found out that the second wave wrecked their hotel, completely.

There were a lot of people in the airport. Chaotic. It was like a relief center. People were crying. Many of them wounded (who got first priority on the flights out of the island).

They saw an elderly man still in his swimming trunks, dazed and confused. His wife, dead. Other tourists offered him clothing.

A 7 year old child walking aimlessly. His parents, gone.

My hana’s brother-in-law, because of the unnerving experience, broke down and cried. How could one possibly handle such a tragedy?

They’re safe and ok now in Bangkok. Still a bit shaken, but ok.

Thank you, God. Thank you for putting them in the right place, at the right time.

*Let us all include the people of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Somalia, Maldives, India and Sri-Lanka in our prayers.

A Real Merry Christmas

2004-12-27T11:40:00.000+08:00

I had a GLORIOUS Christmas Eve (…and day)!

Everyone (ok, almost everyone) was at my hana’s sister’s house in Valle Verde. We usually celebrate Christmas in our place but this year, we needed a bigger venue. Wine and beer kept on coming and we kept on drinking. Our night was basically…eat, drink, talk, take pictures, eat, drink, give out and receive presents, eat, drink, opened presents, karaoke, eat drink, and dance. Oh and did I mention, eat and drink? Stayed up until 6am!

This was our Noche Buena…

From Left to Right: Appetizers - Pita Bread and Hummus, Brie cheese, grapes, ham, almond and cashew nuts, bread, and caviar. Entrees – Tuna Mousse, beef dish with gravy (sorry forgot what it was called), Pot Roast and Tiger Prawns with Lemon Butter.

I got my hana 3 presents with the hopes of “out-gifting” him. But guess what? He got me 5 gifts! All 3 things from my wishlist…

From Left to Right: MAC makeup box, D&G Light Blue (EDT) set, MAC eyeshadow pallete in 6 colors, Lacoste Pink Canicule polo shirts and another one in baby blue.

Don’t have a pic of my gifts for him but I got him the ACCA KAPPA cologne set ( with after shave and lotion), a distressed Cow Leather sling bag (a.k.a. “ man purse”) and funky red Nautica shoes.

The next day we went to White Plains. To my side of the family. Finally made amends with my Grandmother. We had this argument sometime last February. Long story. Anyway, I mustered enough courage to call her. She was so happy to hear from me after so long, it was like nothing happened. She wanted us to come and see them right away. My God-mother said my grandma missed me so. I missed her too.

I learned later on that her blood pressure has been very high lately and that she had occasional dizzy spells. Something like vertigo. She’s scheduled to have an MRI test after the holidays. When she told me, I tried so hard to fight back the tears. I swallowed it all in, managed a smile and encouragingly said, “That’s nothing, Ma! You’ll be fine.”

You see, I consider myself lucky, coz in all my 31 years, I have only encountered two deaths in my family – My great grandma and great grandpa( knock on wood). They both lived until their late 80’s. Point being, I CANNOT handle death…specially of a loved one. So please pray for my Grandma. I’m still hoping that it’s really nothing. I am willing it to be nothing but mere stress or nothing a grand vacation won’t cure.

I’m glad I called my grandma. I’m glad that I swallowed my pride. With all the deaths this month (FPJ, KC, etc.) I realized that life is short. It’s too darn short! You’ll just never know when, you know. If it’s your time, it’s your time.

Note to self: Live a life of love (no more negative feelings), be a better person (girl-friend, mom, daughter, granddaughter, friend, etc.), be more altruistic (devote time to the less fortunate), and be a better child of God.

Hmmm...I don't do resolutions. Never did. But there's always the right time for everything, right? Well, let's just see how good I am at accomplishing t them.

Here comes the bride...

2004-12-19T15:23:00.000+08:00

This is me walking down the aisle…

…YEAH RIGHT! Hahaha!

That’s my co-dancer, Kristine who got married last Wednesday to Bong who is also a dancer (Maneouvres).

While saying their vows, it was Bong who was crying. Grown men crying equals 1 million pogi (handsome) points! These two people are really meant to be together. Everyone can tell. They’re very sweet to each other and always laughing and joking around.

They’re definitely not your everyday normal couple.

For example: their term of endearment is “panget”(ugly) or “ ‘nget”, for short. I mean, who in the world would ever think of calling your dear loved one as ugly? But when it comes from their mouths, it doesn’t sound like such an ugly or negative word.

Last Halloween, they decided to impersonate each other. Kristine was wearing Bong’s Maneouvres costume-- a basketball jersey, shorts, and trucker’s hat. And Bong was wearing a mini denim jacket, Kristine’s Hotlegs shirt, a mini swing skirt and leg warmers. Hahaha! I couldn’t decide if he was cute or ugly.

I’m very happy for my good friend, Kristine. She has finally found (and married) the right man for her. If only every woman could tell right away if she’s with perfect one for her or not then it would really save a lot of tears. But us women, we aren’t that fortunate. Most are not spared of the pain and heartache. Kristine, however, was lucky. She just had one hurt and then Bong came along. He was her knight in shining armor.

*sigh *

Perpend: Do you want a man that you can live with or a man you can’t live without?
How do you know if he really is the “one”? Can you really tell?

*for more pics of their wedding, check out my photographs on my sidebar.

Not Your Ordinary Kind Of Weekend

2004-12-13T20:14:00.000+08:00

Saturday was Pops Fernandez’s concert. For the first time she hired a team of make-up artists and hair stylists for us. She wanted a certain look for the opening number: high fashion and big, BIG hair. See for yourself…

Reminiscent of the last John Galliano fashion show, don’t you think?

After the first two numbers, the stylists had only 20 mins. to change our look: Golden girl, bootylicious Beyonce…

Perfect Beyonce look a likes!

The day after, we had a bridal shower for our dear co-dancer who is getting married this Wednesday. We all laughed so hard while playing the games and watching the stripper. One game was a relay of some sort. First person wears a thong and then puts a condom on an eggplant. She then takes off the thong, passes it on to the next girl who also wears it. That girl also unzips the fly of the (gay) guy and after that, the (gay) guy eats a big banana. When he finishes, the last girl and the gay guy assume any sexual position. Ok, confusing isn’t it? I though I lost you somewhere. Anyway, the other game was a trivia about the soon-to-be-married couple. I was able to answer one, so I got a price. Yipee! By this time, everyone was clamoring for the stripper to come out.

“Showtime na!!! Showtime! Showtime!” , everyone chanted.

The hosts of the program promised us that he would come out soon after we play one last game. So, the bride-to-be chose 6 girls. Me, included. She explained that it was like musical chairs, but with a twist…the stripper will join us. Everyone dances around the chairs and when the music stops, we have to find a seat. If you don’t, you are forced to sit on the stripper’s lap and you’re kicked out of the game. The winner of the game will either give or be given a lap dance (bride-to-be’s decision). Guess what? I was the first to get kicked out. Hahaha! I’m such a loser.

So finally the stripper started his dance number. He had 3. For the finale, he left nothing on! As in! He even got the bride-to-be’s hand and let her touch his “Willie”. The less trepid among us danced with him. I, on the other hand, hid behind my gay friend and took pictures. Loser! I didn’t know if I would pity the stripper or laugh at him. He really danced funny. You know, with the matching locking and strut moves. It was hilarious!

Hahaha! What a weekend!

*For more pictures on the concert and bridal shower, go to my photographs located at my sidebar. Wasn’t able to include all photos though. Too explicit!

My iPod, Alligator Pumps & A Date Rape Story

2004-12-08T11:38:00.000+08:00

Being the blog addict that I am, I actually found the time to post a new entry in spite of my chaotic schedule. Anyway, here’s the latest…

Weeks ago I finally got my Apple iPod. It’s the white one. It just looks like a mini iPod coz it’s in a blue silicone casing/protector. Wouldn’t want to scratch it, of course. Good thing I waited a bit, coz I got the latest 4th Generation one. Actually, my hana and I were suppose to share it. Well, that is, until he heard some of the songs I uploaded…

Thought he likes Usher and Beyonce. He’s not really into hiphop and R&B. So he said that I can have it and he’ll just get another one for himself. Yipee!

Here’s my iTunes playlist. A total of 150 songs uploaded. 4,850 more songs to go. Wow! Take note, all these were not downloaded from the net. These all came from our CD collection.

Remember the pink alligator-skin pumps I so wanted for my birthday last August? Well, at long last, I got it too. It’s not actually the one I really wanted (Steve Madden, baby pink, 4 inch heel) but it’ll do. The one I got is fuschia pink, alligator skin with a 3 inch heel. And it’s half the price of the one from Steve Madden. What a steal!

Ok. Enough of the material girl talk. Here’s a story I read from this month’s issue of Good Housekeeping (Is Your Son Gay…by Veronica C. Uy).

It’s pretty horrendous…

CASE#2: PARENTS ARRANGED LESBIAN’S RAPE
Very Feminine in her gestures and choices of clothes, no one would think that Cindi is a lesbian. Although she has always been attracted to other girls, she only had her first serious lesbian relationship when she was 20, with a classmate at an all-girls college. Her rich Chinese family was totally against it. “My parents tried everything to keep us apart. They took me out of the school. They assigned a driver/bodyguard to me. They didn’t allow me to go out by myself.” But Cindi and her lover, who is also from a rich family, still found ways to meet each other. Thinking that a sexual experience with a man would “cure” her, Cindi’s parents arranged for her rape. They begged her to date a “suitable” man. Even if she didn’t want to, Cindi wanted to please her parents and agreed. During dinner, she drank something that made her groggy. Her date took her home and her parents told him to sleep over. “I was drugged and wasn’t aware of anything anymore.” The following day, Cindi woke up naked beside her date. Her parents told her she had to marry the man to save the family from shame. “[My parents] didn’t see what they did as a crime. The still think that what they did was for my own good. But I was appalled. I couldn’t believe that they could be capable of something so horrible.” She eloped with her lover and they have been in hiding since. Cindi is now 26.

Violent reactions, anyone?

aaaaaaargh!

2004-12-02T22:47:00.000+08:00

This is my third attempt to post today. Both entries were accidentally deleted twice. I'm an idiot.

Because am too tired and lazy, let me just outline what I typed earlier:
--learned that I have rehearsals everyday for many shows until the 20th.
--meaning, I only have two days to shop for presents.
--raided the malls yesterday and today.
--was able to get gifts for most of the people on my list (about 80%)
--suffering not over since I had to wrap them all. All 74 of them.
--miraculously, I still have the energy to blog. I may collapse after. hehe!

As I've mentioned, I will be busy for the next couple of weeks. I will miss blogging. But knowing me, I will find the time. Somehow. Anyway, I would personally like to invite all the ladies and gentlemen of the blog world to come watch out 2 major shows (I don't care if you're in another country. Get your ass here! hehe!).

Regine Velasquez's

Reigning...still

December 3 & 4, 2004 Friday and Saturday @ 8:30pm
Araneta Coliseum

More Info here

and

Pops Fernandez's

It Girl

December 11, 2004, Saturday, 8PM at the PHILSPORTS ARENA (ULTRA)