I just got older and luckier

When I tweeted yesterday that I'd rather celebrate my day quietly with my loved ones, I was truthfully saying that. My day started with big kisses at 6AM from my two loves, hubby Marl and my daughter Selena. Just the perfect way to start my special day.

It was followed by a tweet from my friend with a photo of the cover of Her World magazine October issue where I am in. Perfect birthday present! Then the rest of the day was filled with greetings on Twitter, Facebook, emails, phone calls, and text messages. I tried to respond to each message, comment or tweet but they were just too much! LOL. THANK YOU GUYS!

Then I went on to my regular schedule of appointments with doctors who would be giving me pre-employment certificate for my band's next booking in China. I saw an endocrinologist and I was referred to do a Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy (FNAB) for my thyroid cyst. If you wanna have an idea how my aspirations go, check out this video that I did last year. :-)

It was about lunch when I got done with my appointment and time to rush to Shangri-La Hotel Makati to meet up with our friend and photographer I've worked with in Malaysia, Dr. Ban Hup Teh. He was with his 12 year old son, Sheng Han. And boy, what a small world! I saw the assistant F&B director we used to work with in Kuala Lumpur, Mr. Holger, walking in the lobby. I ran up to him and he was so surprised to see me. Apparently, he's now the F&B director at the beautiful Shangri-La Resort in Boracay Island and was only assigned to cover for Shangri-La Hotel Makati for 2 months. He introduced me to the F&B Manager in hopes for me and my band to have a gig here in the Philippines someday. I guess I just got luckier! :)

Our friend/photographer Claire was so kind enough to accommodate us to take Dr. Teh for a short old Manila trip. We took him to Intramuros and Manila Bay. Dr. Teh gave me an afternoon birthday treat at Barbara's Restaurant in Intramuros. We also drove around the SM Mall of Asia to show him how big that mall is. :)

After taking Dr. Teh and his son back to their hotel, Claire, Marl, and I decided to hit up SM Megamall. What I haven't mentioned in my blog yet is that we're actually moving in our own condo - FINALLY! For those who don't know, we've been renting out our condo unit at California Garden Square for 3 years since we bought it and it's our first time to actually LIVE in it. So yesterday, we went to SM Home Appliances to get a brand new TV and a refrigerator - it comes with a TV rack and a rice cooker respectively! Weeeee! It was so exciting shopping these items on my birthday - though it was a bit stressful for my debit card. LOL.

I also forgot to mention that my friend-singer Chona is living at our condo for the meantime while she's waiting for their next booking back to Malaysia. Technically, she lived there first before we moved in. LOL. So we all adjourned in our condo unit after a tiring day and we talked and laughed about stuff to end up my simple celebration. What a great way to spend my big day! :)

Anyway, thank you for all the greetings and wishes, guys! Especially to Archael and my NoyTube family for taking some time out to make me this birthday video. THANK YOU, LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

I'm on the cover of Her World Malaysia's 50th anniversary collectors edition for October 2010

What a nice birthday gift from Malaysia!

I just got a word from friends in Malaysia that Her World magazine October issue is now out. Since it's their 50th anniversary edition, it's a very special issue which they call Special Collectors Edition. It features 50 face of distinguished women - mostly famous and known celebrities and public figures in Malaysia - on the cover of the magazine. It has a hard cover with stencils of the number "50" and guess I'm pretty lucky that my face can still be seen even under the hard cover. And I guess, I am indeed lucky to be part of the "distinguished" women in Malaysia. Weeeee!

Also inside is the feature story on my 2 dear friends, Terry Teo and Imelda Caday, who run the cheapest riding club in the whole world called Denai Alam Riding Club. These 2 people are the reasons how I landed on a full page beauty spread of Her World August issue and how Marl and I ended up in big billboards in Malaysia. Terry Teo is one of the developers of the Space U8 Mall and his family is my "foster" family in Malaysia. :)

It is indeed a beautiful birthday gift for me. I'm missing Malaysia even more than ever!!! Thank you, Her World! Thank you, Malaysia!

Thanks to my friend/sis Melinda Liew for sending me the Twitpics of the mag! Now can somebody send me a copy to the Philippines for my birthday? :)

Even with the hard cover on, you can still see my face!

The 50 faces of Her World's 50th Anniversary Special Collectors Edition
There's the cheeky me! :)

It's my BIRTHWEEK!

"A birthweek is a weeklong celebration of birthday(s)" - Sarita Carreon

My birthday is still on Wednesday, September 29th, but I don't know why I always end up having a BIRTHWEEK instead of just a day. Last Saturday, my Aussie bestfriend Wayne and Malaysian buddy Tan came to Manila just to have a birthday dinner with us! Wayne's birthday is on the 2nd of October and Tan's is on the 28th of September. We had a special Chinese dinner at the Summer Palace of Edsa Shangri-La Hotel with couple of their friends and hubby Marl. And yes, they just came to Manila for that birthday dinner. Now that's true friendship! Thank you Wayne, love you my Aussie bestfriend! Of course it marked the start of the birthweek celebration...

Triple celebration for Sarita, Wayne, & Tan
Another celebration is my daughter Selena Marie's birthday which falls on this day - 27th of September. She just turned 11 today. Oh my, how time flies. She's couple of years close to becoming a teenager. Oh no. LOL.

My bestfriend Edlyn Serenio celebrates her birthday today, too, as so with my boss' daughter Janine Cherrie Chacko and my gurlfriendsis Lhey Bella. More people and friends celebrate the same birthweek with me like Jeff Cifra (24th), my cousins Ronald (24th) and Annie (25th), MsRazberries (29), RashidiRashid (28) and few others.

HAPPY BIRTHWEEK TO US!!!

Our condo unit is ready again

We have a small loft-type unit at California Garden Square (CGS) in Mandaluyong City. Honestly, since we bought it in 2006, we haven't had the chance to actually live in it because we always travel. Besides, the revenue its generating every month can cover the expenses and utilities that we pay for.

Our long-time tenants didn't finish their 3rd year contract and ended it in April. So I was told by my real estate agent that there are some stuff to fix in it before we can have rented out again. But I told her that I'll be putting it on hold since we're going to go back to Manila in August anyway.

So when we arrived in Manila, I formed a small group of people, headed by my brothers, to clean our unit. I contacted a CGS insider to take care of the repainting of the walls and minor fixes. We paid P23,000 for the whole thing. After a few days, our condo looked as good as new. We thought of using our own unit instead of staying at my mom's apartment in Paco, Manila so we can start living on our own, but it would be useless since we only get to go back once a year. Guess it's better for it to generate a monthly income.

The California Garden Square is situated along Libertad Street cor Calbayog Street. You can see the sample units and amenities on their website. If you know someone who wants to rent a 2 bedroom & 2 toilet/bathrooms unit, please leave your name and contact details at the comments so I can have my agent to get in touch with you.

UPDATE as of Oct 26, 2010: It's not for rent anymore. We're comfortably living in it now and we're happy about it. :)

Things happen

So much things are happening with us right now - thankfully, in a positive way - that I don't get to blog about them. Castings, shoots, fashion shows, traveling, meetings. But I don't want to blog in a concise way because you'll miss the juicy parts in them. So allow me flood my own blog today.

Updated my online portfolio - finally!

Yesssss! Finally, I've updated my portfolio. Honestly, I found it hard to update my portfolio because I've got tons of photos from different workshops and shoots in Manila and Kuala Lumpur recently. I always end up opening my website editor and just staring at my piled up photos. So anyway, after my useless contemplating, I've finally updated my portfolio. Weeeeeeee!

CLICK THE PIC TO BE REDIRECTED TO MY ONLINE PORT
From the recent Manny Librodo workshop, by Sonny Camacho

Old City, New Passion - A Manny Librodo Workshop in Manila

For more than a year of being a professional model, specifically in Malaysia, I've had my share of good and bad experiences with different people I've worked with on most shoots. But one photographer I enjoy working with - no matter what - is one of the top 5 photographers in the world according to Scott Kelby and who my husband Marl looks up to, Mr. Manuel "Manny" Librodo, Jr..

I have worked with him in Kuala Lumpur for 2 workshops and have had some fun shoot with him after those workshops. Fun shoots are usually done just for fun - it's not work - but still carefully planned and conceptualized. And this time, we did it again in my hometown... MANILA!

OLD CITY, NEW PASSION

When I worked with Manny during his second workshop in Kuala Lumpur this year last July, he mentioned to us that he'd be doing a workshop in Manila and is looking for models. Since I knew that we'd be coming back to the Philippines by then, I volunteered to be one - who wouldn't want to be his model? So after weeks of communicating with the organizers and the stylists, the day had finally come.

August 21 (Saturday) was the day I was so looking forward to. I think my Twitter friends would have agreed on that because I've been tweeting about that and even underwent to a very strict diet and workout just for the workshop.

Days before the shoot, I would send SMS to Sir Manny because I'm worried about the gloomy weather. It had been raining on & off for days and we heard that there was a typhoon coming. But with a full determination, he replied to me a day before the workshop with a quote worth writing about:

"Makikisabay ang panahon sa atin bukas. Kung hindi.... tayo ang makikisabay sa panahon. :)" - Manny Librodo

The day started very early at 6AM. And with the bright blue sky & the morning sun shining bright, I knew that Sir Manny was right. We all met up at Orchidarium in Luneta Park. The other makeup artists, stylists and models followed and we all started to glam up for the shoot. I am my own makeup artist - and boy, was I soooo thrilled!
Behind the scenes (click to view)
THE FIRE PRINCESS

The stylists and their muses (1st set)
My first set was a Fire concept. My stylist, Tiffany Cheung of Lifestyle by Feliz, gave me pegs of the look she wanted me to have. I did my makeup for an hour because I had to hide my eyebrows with an eyebrow sealer. The fun started when I wore the red wig and the gown created by Jearson Demavivas. It fit me just great like it was really made for me... and yes, I love how my cleavage looked in his creation! Hahaha! But panic started when I tried the red contact lenses, it just hurt! But after a few attempts and shedding real tears for that, I managed to pull it off just fine. Jearson also painted some fire thingy on my shoulder and chest. Loved it!

We then went to Puerta Real Gardens in Intramuros, a short drive from Orchidarium, where the photographers were waiting for us as they finished Kharunisia Jazmin's first set. Along with me were the other concepts: Fire and Indian. We were assigned by Manny to different locations in the garden as he divided the group of participating photographers into 3 - one group per model at a given time. I love the dress but since it's a corset dress, I couldn't bend my midsection so much thus limiting me with some of the poses I've conceptualized before the shoot. But it all went well. Thanks to my stylist, Tiffany, who was always there to assist me from my tangled wig to carrying my sandals for me. Love you, Tiff!

THE SAFARI PRINCESS

We were then asked to change into the second set... mine was the Safari theme. My stylist this time was Rica De Leon of Lifestyle by Feliz with a dress created by Jerome Salaya Ang. I super love this concept because I love earth colors and I feel good in them. Doing a brownish tinge of makeup is my forte as I've always loved to be tanned. I backcombed my hair and sprayed it with an extreme hold hairspray and a gold color hairspray. The dress was a bit too tight on my thighs, but as the other stylist named Lia said, "Tight is good!".

The Safari theme on me was cut into two sets, a quick photoshoot at the Baluarte de San Diego where I was photographed with a carriage and after lunch at Orchidarium itself. The lunch at Orchidarium was a great bonding time with everyone. Food was great but I couldn't eat - I was still in an adrenalin rush. Afterwards, we sang a birthday song to Kharu as Sir Manny presented a birthday cake for her. Then we went for a short retouch time. Feliz Diestro, the head stylist and a known prenup stylist, lent me more props and more accessories to wear. Weeeeee!

I was so much in my element at this time even though it drizzled on and off. Working with Manny in the past has made me feel at ease during this workshop that I even craved for more difficulty and challenge. Manny even had me lying on the pavement in my designer dress! I trust Manny in everything he wanted me to do because I know how he visualizes each shot. Soon enough, we were called for a group shot and Manny did a simple thank you speech to all of us. It was indeed a great workshop with lots of energy from everyone! :)

Manny Librodo with the models, participants, stylists, MUAs, organizers
Thank you "major major" to the effort of our hardworking stylists, especially to Tiffany Cheung and Rica De Leon. Thanks to my husband Marl who assisted me and for being my fashion and beauty consultant all the time. Thanks to the Image Nation for organizing the workshop. To all the participants who have tried their best to capture the best shots, galing nyo! And to the master, Manny Librodo, thank you so much for the opportunity again!

NEXT UP... CEBU!


And I'm fortunate enough to work with Manny Librodo again in his Cebu workshop on September 12, 2010. See you there, Cebuanos! :)

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO BELOW TO SEE MY UPDATE PORTFOLIO


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