10 years on the road
But no, I don't consider myself like that because I still am a far cry to be called a veteran, not only age-wise. In fact, I never stop learning. Everyday is just a beginning of another learning experience. I am still learning to play guitar, maybe I would like to learn couple more instruments once I've got enough calluses on my fingertips. Maybe a saxophone would save me from future collagen injections once I've got callosities on my lips, huh! Not a bad idea!
Since I haven't done any professional training in dancing, I would like to learn some basic taps, jazz, hip-hop, street, ballroom. I would like to be an all-arounder when it comes to dancing.
As for singing, I think I have sung most of my life. I would like to give my voice a rest, maybe soon. I'm still thinking of other ways to earn as much as I'm earning right now, without using my singing voice.
I also would like to take some crash courses on things I'm interested in. Like computer-related course, make-up (cosmetic) course, photography, interior design, writing, etc. Maybe learn some good sports like golf, tennis, bowling, scuba diving, etc. I also would like to try adventurous stuff like mountain hiking, camping, sky diving, bungee jumping, etc.
Seems like a lifetime is too short for all of these, huh! Not quite. If you have the will, you'll have your way. As of now, I'm living each day like it's the last. Enjoying life as much as possible. What a life, huh?
PS: I'm still bored in Starbucks
Starbucks afternoon
It's a nice day, the weather is good. I'm infront of the park, overlooking the KLCC fountain. I haven't been here for quite some time. The last time I was here was when Selena and I went to Aquaria KLCC. I also noticed that they've renovated this part. The mist fans are now replaced by ceiling fans, thus giving a cooler environment.
Updated my Friendster, checked my mails, checked the viewing stats of my websites... hmmm, nothing more to do. Maybe I'll watch my Lost Season 2 DVD's later on. Then continue with my Alias & Desperate Housewives DVD's till we finish our contract here. I'm getting quite bored right now, I want to go somewhere but I have no idea where. Hmmmm...
What a week!
I would like to share with you all a very good Chinese restaurant where I had my Sunday dinner. My godmom Susana brought me and Marlou there. Although the restaurant is pretty much small, it boasts a lot of awards along with its owner/chef. I can't read Chinese, but I'm guessing that I got the pictures on the wall right, LOL. All of the dishes are of excellent taste and I am definitely going back there.
Because the restaurant only have like 10 tables, the only downside is making your reservation at least 2 days in advance, they're only open during lunch and dinner.
De Maw Resturant (Restoran De Maw)
No. 18 Jalan Pudu, off 3rd mile Jalan Cheras
56100 Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03-92857833
Just finished watching Big Momma 2 which I found very light. It's our off tomorrow and I don't know where to go. I just need to buy some important stuff, maybe listen to the new band in Park Royal Hotel or Renaissance Hotel. I also heard there's a band in New World Hotel. But I really would like to have a relaxing day, practice my yoga more.
Missed half of Idol
Eventhough I like some of the girls in the competition (which shows the 30% of my womanhood), I still am sold to my crushie Katherine McPhee. Honestly, her singing talent is just a plus factor for her, because she can pass as an actress with her fine looks and features. I'll just hope that it won't get into her head.
I missed the guys' performance and I kept kicking myself for it for missing half of this week's Idol. I attended a very late party then and went back early... in the morning LOL. I like the white haired guy ala-Ray Charles. I also like the Vin Diesel look-alike. I also like the Filipino guy, Sway Penala. Well, I like most of them. And there goes the 70% of my womanhood!
No, I didn't miss only half because I also missed the results. I didn't even know if it was shown because I was really busy the past few days. I only get updates from American Idol's official website and learned that the ones who were voted out, sad to say, deserve it. But I read that they handled it pretty well.
Hmmm, I'm putting the schedule on my PDA so I don't miss it. I'm checking out Star World website shortly to check the schedule.
A diamond peeling experience
While waiting, I had a chance to read about Carboxytherapy, Aquamid, Botox, Contour Threads, etc. I didn't know that Aquamid can be used to give contour to one's face or correct one's nose. You can do a lot with Botox, too, even severe underarm sweating. No, I wasn't really interested about having Botox anytime soon. I haven't done any cosmetic surgery AT ALL and haven't done anything with my body YET. One treatment that I would really die to have, but might be impossible, is for my wicked post-natal stretchmarks in my lower abdomen. I was told by the doctor in the clinic that I would just be wasting my time and money because as of now, there's still no treatment that can vanish the stretchmarks completely. Lighten it maybe, but not really vanish it. I could have prevented it, but my skin's elasticity is no good. Damn!
What I hate about going to skin specialist clinics like that is waiting. I was quite lucky that I could get a wifi signal in the clinic. At least, after reading all those pamplets and brochures, I still could enjoy surfing while waiting. I also enjoyed guessing what the clients came there for. Like there was this one lady who came out from the treatment room. I judged her by her size, she's considered skinny and she's fair-skinned. So I got intrigued what treatment she went there for. Not until I saw her when she sat opposite me and noticed her "pouting lips". But of course, all these observations were kept under my watchful eye and didn't spill the beans to Brice and Mama Siah, who I went there with, until we got out of the building.
Alas, my 2 hours wait was over. I was led to a hallway of about 6 rooms, each with different treament. I entered the room which has two beds, divider in between. I was asked to lie down but wasn't asked to change into anything, unlike in other skin clinics where I went to before. So there I was lying down when the assistant activated the machine next to the bed.
First, she cleaned my face before "sucking" the dead skin cells with a tool that looks more like a pen with an open hole in the middle that's connected to the machine. The edge of the tool was coarse and felt "sandy", I looked at it and didn't see any sparkling stuff in different carats but rather something that looks like a sand paper stuck on it. I was told that it's where the fine diamond crystals are placed to slough off dead skin cells and promote new collagen and skin cell growth. Diamond Peel provides a gentle, mechanical peeling of the skin called micro-dermabrasion. It's painfree, just feels like a small vacuum cleaner sucking half an inch of your skin, only tingling sensation after the treatment. The whole procedure lasted for an hour and a half, including the pink mask they put on my face after pricking some pimples out, which was the only painful part by the way!
After the treatment, aside from the redness caused by the pricking, my skin really felt great. I can actually tell the difference. Diamond peeling can only be done once a month. I went out of the clinic, looking like the lost reindeer from Santa's sleigh who's late for next Christmas Eve gathering... yeah, the one with the RED NOSE!
No pain, no gain
The yoga postures that I've already mastered were the basic ones which goes with the right breathing. And it took me a while to master it because of my inconsistency with my workouts. But now I'm more willing to do it, especially while recuperating, doing maybe something that concentrates with the breathing to strengthen my abdominal muscles.
Manic Friday
I got so disappointed when I went up after work and was only able to catch the last contestant of the guys' performance in American Idol. Was hoping to catch the last repeat a fewa hours later, but we had to go to Concorde Hotel to wish Kuya Edil, the "tatay" of the Peach Apple Tree band, a happy birthday. Of course, they asked me to sing again, but only just one song. What swept everyone's feet was Marlou's rendition of "My Baby You". Even I was swept away by it.
We then continued celebrating in their room upstairs. They had few munchies and all we did was talk and laugh - until 7:30AM!!! When Marlou and I went back to Shangri-La, I was hiding my face behind him because I was still in my makeup!
Woke up at 5:30PM... what a life!!!
Let's talk Idol, girls
Katherine McPhee is not my best bet among the girls but she's adorable. She has the whole package of being a celebrity, if not a singer or even an Idol. She's charming, cute, and did I say charming? OK, there goes the 30% from my womanhood... yeah, I have a new crush! *giggles*
I really enjoyed all of the performances of the top 12 girls. Tomorrow, it's the top 12 guys' turn. Can't wait!
Overflowing lounge
Although there were lots of people and most of them had to stand in the bar, I'd still consider the night a bit boring. Boring because we were playing for the unattentive crowd who came in groups to talk about business. But knowing URB, we always try to make something out of nothing.
Even the hotel itself needed 400 rooms for all the delegates and participants of the conference. We're lucky we weren't asked to check out, though the hotel needed one of the rooms of the local band of The Pub.
It will be very busy until Friday night and of course, Saturday will be very busy too, being a weekend. Time flies so fast. It's almost the end of February... then we'll still have another month to go... and we still don't know where we will go after this!
Like a box of chocolates
Shangri-La Mactan Hotel in Cebu, Philippines wanted us to play there. They have contacted our agent, Mr. John Chacko, and negotiated with him. If the plan pushes through, we'll play in Shangri-La Mactan from May 2006 onwards, thus giving me time to recuperate after my supposed surgery. It's favorable for us because we'll play in our country and at the same time, "might" get paid in our asking budget. However, Filipinos are very hard to please when it comes to music. But we would like to give it a try.
The Lai-Lai Sheraton Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan, is another option for us. We played there 6 years ago. But having played for Shangri-La Hotels in China and Malaysia for the more than 5 years now, I bet it's better to stick with the chain. It won't affect our record, though. Besides, Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur wanted us to come back here again on October this year.
China World Hotel in Beijing, China which is also under Shangri-La Group, was another option. We haven't been to Beijing so we haven't seen the Great Wall of China in person. There are other great places of interests there and lots of bands, too. So I guess we'll enjoy it there.
Only until yesterday have we known about the Shangri-La Golden Flower in Xian, China wanted us to perform there again. There had been changes in the management since we played there in 2004, but they still want us to play there. The only problem we have about it is they want us to perform in April. So I might postpone my surgery if that happens and only do it in September. This might be favorable for us again, because we can go back to the Philippines then maybe celebrate my birthday with Selena!!! Yipeeee!
Whatever the choice will be, we'll have to make sure that we'll come back here in Kuala Lumpur on October. Good thing we have an agent who knows what's best for us, at least we can skip the headache of beating our brains out as to where we really want to go.
Hell of a night...
... for my tummy, that is. I've had indigestion after dinner. I had just spaghetti bolognese, but I ate it so fast because I didn't have much time. I drank lots of water after that. My stomach felt so bloated during the first set.
I had my coffee after the first set. It just worsen my indigestion as everytime I felt like I needed to burp, acid would come up. And the lounge was full and we had a good weekend crowd. I only felt better after the 2nd set when I had a glass of champagne.
Lots of my friends told me I lost weight. Music to my ears. Diet, Pilates and yoga are starting to pay off. Yeah, I intended to lose weight in preparation for my upcoming surgery. I know I won't be able to workout or exercise after that for a month or more. I'm doing this just to compensate for some future weight gaining once I sit on our dining table in Manila with my mom's irresistible dishes and those pan-de-sals and banana-que! Argggh!!!
Now that my tummy's in top shape again for food, so gotta rummage the ref for some junkies. Then hit the bed after that. It's Sunday again... time really does fly so fast! Tuh-tah!
Only 99.9% natural woman
Celine also had hernia surgery
Hernia is the most common operation in the world. Lots of known figures, athletes, celebrities have undergone hernia surgery. Strain, stress, and lifting can cause this. Some are congenital.
Hmmm, that is a bit relief for me! I really don't feel like a girl with a bulging "ball" in my groin anymore, hahaha! Oh yeah baby, now I can feel like I'm a 99.9% natural woman!
Madonna treated for hernia
I adored her and still love her, but I definitely never idolized her that much that I even wished to have a hernia like her. I think my 8-year-old hernia is older than her - her hernia that is LOL. Yes, I read in Yahoo! News that she has undergone a hernia treatment recently and is "absolutely fine now".
Damn! Well then now, I don't feel like I'm alone. At least, I'm sharing agony with Madonna for being one of the rare women who has this. I don't have to prove any longer that I'm really a 99% natural woman, even some of my friends are speculating that I might have been born to be a man or gay, hahaha! I guess, I would rather accept the crown for being what we call in the Philippines, a "babaeng bakla" whole heartedly! Hahaha!
Malaysia Airlines Travel Fair
You can choose from a wide selection of places to go, not only from or to Malaysia. You can go or you can come from different countries in Asia, Europe, USA, South Africa, Australia, etc. Planet Mars coming soon, I heard. LOL
Don't forget to check out the Manila or Cebu flights. We'll be in Manila on April and we might be in Cebu on May. We might play in one of the hotels there, still negotiating... Maybe we can take you around - at an extra charge! Hahaha! Joke!
Check out AirAsia also and compare www.airasia.com
I messed up my blog!!!
Lovapalooza 2
The annual Valentine celebration in the Philippines called "Love-apalooza" has once again made its mark last weekend. Like last year, couples in the Philippines were invited to take part in the record-setting Valentine smoochies.
Last year's Love-apalooza was so successful that it was entered in the Guiness Book Of World Records for the biggest number of kissing couples simultaneously for no less than 10 seconds.
The participating couples, who registered in the booths set up on the night of the event or pre-registered online and in schools and malls, ranged in age from 18 years to elderly. The city's Mayor Atienza said the participation was restricted to married couples because of the country's conservative Catholic culture, but a casual check of participants found many of them were not married.
When it started in 2004, the event was led by Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, 67, and his wife. It was well-attended by 5,122 couples which broke the then-record-holder Chilean city of Santiago for the largest number of kisisng couples. There were 5,327 kissing couples in 2005 not to mention the other kissing couples which were televised from different parts of the Philippines.
This year, it was held on February 12, 2006, still at the Roxas Boulevard's Bay Walk in Manila. As usual, it caused massive traffic in a city where heavy traffic is common. I'm not really sure how many couples there were this year, but it was really a huge event that couples look forward to every Valentine's season since 2004. Last year's event was to break the record, this year is for the love of it, I guess.
The event has been sponsored by Close-Up Toothpaste for 3 years now and supported by local politicians with their spouses, as well as known celebrity couples distributed
I know it sounds funny but if I was just in Manila last weekend, I would have gone to that event - with or without my husband. Joke! Hahahaha!
AirAsia vs. Malaysia Airlines
I checked the flight with Air Asia to Clark International Airport (Manila) within their promo period, one way costs less than RM 120.00 (around US$ 30.00 or PHP 1,610.00). This is dam cheap! The earlier you book, the cheaper it is.
I wonder if Malaysia Airlines can top that. Malaysia Airlines is having their Travel Fair from February 17-26. They are offering up to 70% off with their airfares and there are no long queues or specific venues. Just like Air Asia, they will have their promotion through online booking.
If you're planning to travel with either of the two airlines during their promo periods, then you better reserve a seat to CEBU, PHILIPPINES from May 2006 onwards. We got a word from our agent that we might play in Shangri-La's Mactan Cebu (not yet sure though)! So book now!
Rainy Valentine's Day
Now, it's flooded in front of Caltex and Shangri-La Hotel. Poor people who have something special for today. As for me, I'm gonna hit the gym and work on my body, mind and soul.
Happy Valentine's Day to all!
What's your song?
I, myself, have lots of favourite songs. One of my favourite ones is "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" by Celine Dion which brings tears in my eyes everytime I hear it. Yeah, it does remind me of something but it's more on the emotions that Celine has poured into it.
Broadway musicals have a large influence to what I am right now - because that's when I really started singing professionally. Miss Saigon and Les Miserables pieces are so meaningful to me, not because they're my most favourite musicals, but because of the words and meaning given to the songs.
Other songs like "From This Moment On" by Shania Twain, "Colour Of My Love" by Celine Dion and "Forever Love" by Gary Barlow are songs that would squeeze my heart with love.
My latest favourite song is "Goodbye My Lover" from James Blunt. It's the song I've been listening to over and over again. No particular reasons. Just love the way he sings, I guess. I love songs from Philippines' local acoustic group called M.Y.M.P. (Make Your Mama Proud).
When it comes to being patriotic to my country, I guess every Filipino knows the songs from Orange and Lemons called "Pinoy Ako" (I'm a Filipino), which was the theme from the Pinoy Big Brother show and has a very catchy tune and beautiful words.
This coming Valentines' day, I'm sure most of you are in a loving mood. I have songs playing in my head all the time. So what's yours?
Fair or unfair?
The strolling band was still singing at the coffeeshop because there's one Dato, one of the hotel's regular costumers, who would always request them to sing for him and his friends. That is their job, to entertain patrons who want to enjoy music while they're having their meal.
And there was a black man, a foreigner, sitting nearby with his 3 friends. And maybe he doesn't enjoy the music so much because it's mostly in Bahasa, so this black guy shouted at the strollers to stop singing. I guess he was drunk and wanted to relax. The dato's bodyguards handled the situation in their "own" way by going to the guy and asking him to shut up. But this black guy didn't stop at all, even making gestures and complaining to the management or something like that. The bodyguards, since they didn't want to lose face in front of their boss and other people, they went to the black guy and provoked him. They banged his chair causing him to fall on the floor. We then stood up because they were getting into fist fight. I saw one of the bodyguards held up a fork he got from the table and I was really really scared for the black guy.
The guy went to the corner of the restaurant, just below the CCTV camera, and told the bodyguards to kill him there and then. He was very brave and quite smart, he knows the camera can film everything from that angle. But what he wasn't thinking at all was he bumped the wrong person. And to make the situation worse, he kept on shouting bad things about Malaysians. I think he forgot that he's in Malaysia, and why is he here in the first place? This provoked all the other Malaysians eating there, even the local band boys wanted to get a piece of him. He just couldn't shut up and I was really praying that he would just shut up. This went on for about 20 minutes.
What puzzled me most during that time was the lack of security in Concorde Hotel. One of the singers even had to go to the lounge to ask for help because the security wasn't doing anything. Luckily, they had one guest whose job is into security and he managed to be the middle man. But he still couldn't keep the guy to shut his mouth. He still kept on cursing while he was being dragged out from the restaurant.
We thought it was all over because we saw a police car came and the guy was already outside. But he went back in and reported to the police what happened, pointing to the guys who provoked the fight - still shouting and cursing Malaysian people in general. The local guys were so angry that I guess 6 guys trampled him to the floor and started kicking and punching leaving the guy bleeding. I'm sure if they weren't stopped, they could have beaten the guy to death.
Funny thing was aside from the lack of security, the police man who was standing there didn't do anything to stop it. He just let those guys beat the black guy up. And the guy, with blood spread on the floor, wasn't helped by anyone at all. No one even picked the guy up to bring him to the hospital, not even the police who was there. Some hotel security people just helped him stop the bleeding by wiping it and putting some pressure on it. But he lay bleeding on the floor for 10 minutes or so.
I can understand that the man who the black guy bumped into is one of the notorious and powerful man in KL. So what? There is still a law here, right? Is this a clear indication that justice doesn't prevail anymore? This is the Malaysian law we're talking about. I'm not being political here, but as a foreigner myself, I also need security here. But then I guess that's the worst case a foreigner can encounter in another country. And that's what you get when alcohol starts to take over your brain causing you to do stupid things.
I still love Malaysia, don't get me wrong. One big lesson learned today: Make sure to stay out of trouble when you're not in your territory. And if a foreigner do get himself into trouble, he might just as well accept the fact that he's literally alone. (Or maybe just get off the scene! Hahaha!)
Lazy off
We then had a dinner at Tarbush Restaurant in Starhill, which is owned by our friends who frequent the lounge. The owner was the one who personally cooked our dishes. I had the lamb chops I've been drooling about for the past months., while Marl has sish kebab. It was so tasty and really really good.
After dinner, we just went straight back to the hotel and watched "Pinoy Big Brother" on DVD which was brought by the new band in Concorde, who just arrived last week from the Philippines. The whole DVD lasted for 4 hours and it wasn't that boring as I thought because there were lots of twists and challenges, as well as comedy.
After the film, Marl and I prepared our things to be sent to back home. We separated things for Manila and Cebu. We finished at 5AM. But I still went to bed at 7AM. Hmmm... not much interesting things done huh?
Stayin' alive and healthy
I'm not really into losing weight because I still love my curves. I think I just need to rethink about getting serious with Pilates and Yoga plus a simple diet, of course. I love chocolates still so I don't think I can give that up. And no, I won't be doing any bulimic or anorexic kind of thing anymore - yes, "anymore".
And besides, my body really has to get used to this lifestyle change because I won't be able to exercise or strain myself after my hernia surgery in April. Plus, vacation means pigging out. And... oh yeah, it's already 7:30AM, have to go to bed now.
It's our off woooohooooooo!
Lost post
I've also lost the new posts which I have posted 10 minutes ago. Checking Blogger's Help Center for any clue or answer to this.
I have lost some posts before and it's such a waste of effort just to lose them like that. Have to find a way to retrieve them!
Manila stampede update
Unrevealed portraits
PS: They were shot by Marlou using just available lightings in the room and Canon EOS 300D.
Shuzzz!
Wi-Fi with iPAQ
2 more months to go
Tonight was also the last night performance of The Venture Band (Filipino) and Dynamic Touch (Malay) in Concorde. We just dropped by to give the CD I burned for the Venture Band, full of our pics together.
A lot of bands had their last nite performance tonight. Aside from the Concorde bands, the Thai band in Hard Rock Cafe has finished their contract as well. I don't know about other venues.
We still have 2 more months to go and time really does fly so fast... and it surely will...