crunch time

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

10 minutes 'til the last gap, I was still curing my segment's V.O. (voice over).  5 minutes after, our P.A. rushed my tape to the upstairs control booth.  A minute later, I watched my story air on t.v.

Whew.

The rush.  The tension.  The pressure.

Will I miss it?  I think I will.  But not if I knew I'd still be doing that for a long time.  

panagbenga 2007

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Baguio, like Bicol, is practically my second home.  I've been going there since I was a kid, invading my aunt's house, but have never ever joined the Panagbenga Festival.  So when Jen invited me to join them this year, I said yes instantly.  I mean, what the heck, might as well experience as much as I can in this lifetime, right?  What excited me more though was the fact that THE Band will be playing in one of the concerts.  Friends, THE Band, food-trippin', shopping, camwhoring, alcohol…where in this equation could you go wrong?

Brrrrrrr.  We arrived in Baguio around 4:30 a.m.  Instead of wasting precious time sleeping, we immediately headed down to Session Road to grab some breakfast.

 

The Human Walrus lost in the cold city.

 

Camwhoring in the middle of the road.  Yep, hungry as we were, we still had the time and energy to pose.

    

Volante Restaurant.  (Left) Mer, Jem, Jen, and Peter.  (Right) Sharing smokes with Mer.

 

The Flower Power Bus.

 

Men in uniform.  With our navigating skills combined, we were able to find the starting point of the parade and plant ourselves in a nice spot.

  

Little Drummer Boy and Little Flower Girl.

 

Another flower girl.

 

Tired, hungry, and supposedly sad.  Instead of a sad face, Jem came up with a sultry one!

 

Where have all the taxis gone?  Mer and I actually thought these poses would help us hail an empty cab :p

 

Cafe by the Ruins.  Around 2:30 p.m. we rendezvoused with Michelle, Tek, Dino, and Joan for a late lunch.  Afterwards, we went back to the hotel for some power-nap.

 

Fresh and ready for battle.  After three hours of sleep, the whole group finally congregated at our room in Hotel Supreme to prepare for the night's escapades. (L-R) Mer, Anne Marie, Vangie, Nenette, and…who's that pretty girl?  Oh, yeah that's me.  Haha!

 

Made up and gorgeous.

 

Cafe Azotea.  For dinner, Jem brought us to this reeeeeeally nice artsy-fartsy restaurant in Session Road owned by Kidlat Tahimik. 

 

Moi and Jen.  The food was a bit bland, but the ambience in the cafe made up for the not-so-satisfying meal.

 

Ang Babae Sa Bintana.  Oh and the view!  It was spectacular.

 

Upper Session Road.

  

Great photo op.  Of course, we didn't pass up the chance to take some great photos…of ourselves!  Haha! (Left) A solo picture, finally! (Right) Jen and Michelle in front of a makeshift house which is actually the cafe's bathroom.

 

Ouch!  Peter and his newly-shaved head.

 

Inuman naaaaa!  THE Band was late for their performance so we whiled away our time by downing some alcohol (Duh!  What else would we do? :p)

 

THE Band.  We were so far away from the stage, this was the only photo I was able to take of them.  Dino was in his element that night ("hyper" in Peter's words), responding to the crowd's unbelievably wild energy.

 

"Namiss ka namin!"  After their performance, of course, we went backstage for some quality time with THE Band.  And namiss ko rin sila!

 

Jayson and I.  After buying some booze, we went to the Prince Plaza Hotel where Pau set one of their rooms up as the "Party People" area.

  

Time for some food-trippin'.  (Left) Jem, Peter, Mer, Joan. (Right) Tek and Michelle. Dancing all night made us hungry again, we devoured four orders of Andok's Lechon Manok. After filling our stomachs with food, we then filled it with rum.  What happened after I got wasted, I don't know anymore hence the lack of pictures.  Heehee.  All I remember was that we went home around 3:00 a.m. and I was immediately transported to Dreamland!

The Panagbenga Grand Parade

Now these floats are what the festival's all about

 

 

 

  

 

And my favorite float of all time….

 

 

It's sooooo me, isn't it??

Around 1:30 p.m. we went back to the hotel to pack our stuff and catch the 4:15 p.m. trip back to Manila.  All the walking and partying made us so tired we were all dead asleep during most of the trip back home.  But not without a little sedative before boarding the bus…

 Cesar's Best Yacon Wine. Wala talagang patawad, anlupet!

Brownman Revival in Baguio!

Friday, February 23, 2007

 

And we're watching them!  Yahooooo!

FEBRUARY 18

Sunday, February 18, 2007

They say people born during the month of February have loose screws…. I couldn't agree more!  Heehee.  To

Diorella, Jen, Carlo, JC, and Viebsh…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Hating Us Won’t Make You Pretty

  

Taken during Queen Bee's surprise party last February 16, 2007.

' Yun lang. :p

what the f*#k?!

Friday, February 16, 2007

So there I was inside the cab, a groggy produce of sleep deprivation, hardly able to keep my eyes open, when the driver opened his radio to full blast and I was awoken by this awful song sung by a girl with an awful voice that resembled a 30-year old trying to sound like a 12-year old with a severe case of laryngitis.  And the song went,

"Be my bad boy

Be my man

Be my lover

But please understand that I don't need you around." 

What the f*#k…?!  Nice way to ruin my morning.  God, this is gonna be a loooooong day.  And it doesn't help that the song keeps playing in my mind.

Oh, baby be my bad boy!  Ampotah!

To Old Friends

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

MINSAN
By Eraserheads

Minsan sa may Kalayaan tayo'y nagkatagpuan
May mga sariling gimik at kaya-kanyang hangad sa buhay
Ma ilalim ng iisang bubong
Mga sekretong ibinubulong
Kahit na anong mangyari
Kahit na saan ka man patungo

Ngunit ngayon kay bilis maglaho ng kahapon
Sana'y huwag kalimutan ang ating mga pinagsamahan
At kung sakaling gipitin ay laging iisipin
Na minsan tayo ay naging
Tunay na magkaibigan

Minsan ay parang wala nang bukas sa buhay natin
Inuman sa magdamag na para bang tayo'y mauubusan
Sa ilalim ng bilog na buwan
Mga tiyan nati'y walang laman
Ngunit kahit na walang pera
Ang bawat gabi'y anong saya

Minsan ay hindi ko na alam ang nangyayari
Kahit na anong gawin
Lahat ng bagay ay merong hangganan
Dahil ngayon tayo ay nilimot ng kahapon
Di na mapipilitang buhayin ang ating pinagsamahan
Ngunit kung sakaling mapadaan baka
Ikaw ay aking tawagan
Dahil minsan tayo ay naging
Tunay na magkaibigan

 

There was a time when our lives were intertwined, when we thought the world was against us and we had no one but each other to rely on, when we shared smokes, shared heartaches, shared victories, when we got drunk 'til the wee hours of the morning, when we happily drowned ourselves in inanities, when we scoured the mall like our second homes, when we fearfully AND courageously ventured into the so-called real world, when we laughed like there's no tomorrow, when we spent hours psychoanalysing our lives, when would inflate each others' egos with torrents of outrageous compliments, when we would finish each others' thoughts, when bitched around and couldn't care less who hated our guts because we had each others' backs, when we fantasized about how filthy rich we'll become in the future, when we travelled and explored, when we fought and patched things up, when we simply had a good time together.  But I guess things happen. People change.  We change.  We head towards different directions.  We grow.  And we just don't connect anymore.

The future may see a rebirth of our friendship, or we may just become total strangers in the long run.  I guess I just miss how we were in the old times.  But we are in the now and whatever happens to us, I'd like you to know that it was one helluva ride, my friend.

It’s one of those days…

Friday, February 9, 2007

…when everybody seems uncooperative and hard to communicate with.  Kainis.  Or maybe it's just me.  Still, kainis.

discovery diving

Monday, February 5, 2007

Scuba diving–CHECK!

Another item ticked off my "To Try Before I Die" list.   Thanks to the  oh-so-generous Sister Extraordinaire Slash Sponsor, I finally had my introduction to scuba diving last Saturday in San Luis, Batangas.  

Intro divers.  Me, Jen, and Nika.

It was quite an experience!  I always thought, why invest on a ridiculously expensive hobby when I can just go snorkling?  I got my answers while I was fish-feeding 31 feet underwater.  The sight was magnificent.  There's a huge  difference between seeing the corals and fishes from above and being surrounded by them.  I felt like Ariel, the Little Mermaid, except I had plastic fins!  I think I was thrilled the most when I saw baby Nemos.

Here we go! 

I was shivering all throughout and kept giving Rob, my dive instructor, the "not OK" sign because I thought I was having a hard time equalizing.  Then I realized the water was freezing!  

After we surfaced, Rob told me that what I saw was actually nothing compared to the sights they encounter when they do check-out dives in other dive sites.  There are more unusual fishes and there are larger arrays of rich corals.

But before I can do a check-out dive, I would have to be certified which means I'd have to take lessons first.  Nowadays, diving lessons costs about 11,000 pesos (and I think that's still minus the equipment).  Oh, how I wish I could take them… (Ehem…ehem…Ate Ains, are you reading this?  Heehee).

Oh well, one at a time.  I'll get a chance to take those lessons someday.  Right now, I still have more items to check off  that  list

 

—–

 

I never noticed how I'm always on guard until last Saturday when I was going through the experience like it was some kind of test or challenge.   When Rob was teaching us how to clear our regulators and masks, I was listening so intently that I was actually tense!  It's the same feeling I feel everytime I'm producing a segment–the pressure of always having to prove myself, to show people my worth.

Even during my check-up this morning, when the doctor asked me to read the letters on the wall, the thought running on my mind was, "Dapat pumasa ako dito kundi…"

My God, what has working for the media done to me?  On one hand, it's an advantage because it keeps me on my toes.  It makes a survivor out of me.   On the other hand, I couldn't even go through a freaking eye check-up without tensing up!  Geez.  I better get a hold of myself.  

 

Diving lessons.  Rob and Joe teaching us -three basic steps:  regulator clearing, mask clearing, and equalisation.

"silhouettes"

  
Taken last February 3, 2007 after my discovery dive in San Luis, Batangas.