Get-Togethers and Wish List

We had our annual elementary batch reunion last 27th. We started this tradition in 2003 and have been holding get-togethers every Christmas holidays hence. This was also one of the reasons why I looked forward to coming home this December since the reunions the past years had always been a blast. Take it to my elementary schoolmates who despite having different stories to tell, decide to forget their woes the reunion evening to party hard till dawn. This year was no different, only wilder. We rented a floating restaurant on the beachfront (the beach is just a walking distance in our town which I realized is “heaven” after I studied in the metro) for just 1,000 pesos, would you believe?! Of course the food, drinks and sound equipment are on us. Party began a bit mellow with us just singing videoke and exchanging how do you do’s but when my classmate Carl played his bootlegged copy of Junior Kilat’s breakthrough CD, that’s when the party really started. Suddenly everyone just got up and danced wildly on the floor. And the heavens agreed! There was a sudden heavy downpour with thunders and lightning, mind you, which is really funny since “kilat” is lightning in the vernacular. :) We didn’t mind it though. Maybe it was the result of the alcohol or the food binge but we remained dancing, some even going outside our cover to dance in the rain. It was party heaven! I never realized my elementary friends could party like that. Man, Junior Kilat is good! For NU107 listeners, they may be alternative reggae gods but for us Visayans, they’re novelty dance gurus who know how to start a party! I got to have their album! :)

The following day, former classmate Arvin made paksiw from the leftover lechon and we went to the beach again to continue the drinking session. :)

Here are some pics, the wholesome ones at least, since most of the pics were of the adult nature. Needless to say, there was also some partial nudity involved when everyone undressed after getting soaked in the rain. :)



















***

I decided to copy Saffron Blue and write my own wish list for 2006. However, they are really wishes in the truest sense of the word since I doubt if I’m ever going to attain them in 2006. They’re also purely selfish. Hahaha! Hindi naman kasalanan ang mangarap, di ba?!? :)

1. A DVR
2. A car
3. A new but affordable apartment for Michiko, Rose and I
4. A Bora vacation
5. A trip outside the country but should not be an Asian country
6. A lovelife!

Some wishful thinking, huh?! Hahaha! :) Seriously, I wish nothing but good health and continued blessings to my family and me. 2005 has been soooo good to me! It’s the best year since I started working and I’m so grateful to God for everything. I don’t want to leave 2005! Really.:( Hay. I just hope 2006 will be equally good.

Have a safe and happy New Year, you all!

Topsy Turvy Holidays

My actual birthday started out real bad. I arrived at the airport mere ten minutes before my flight is about to depart. I had to beg for the supervisor to let me in. After some good acting, she finally said yes only to find out that I didn’t have enough money for the excess baggage and terminal fees. (Damn the cab driver who asked for an extra 100!) But Christmas indeed brings out the good in everyone, no matter how superficial the feeling may be. A nice lady gave me a hundred bucks after she heard me plead to the counter to let me withdraw from an ATM machine. (Nice lady, whoever you are, bless you!) I’ve never felt so happy when I was able to finally seat inside the airplane.

Arrived home and found out that my uncle from Zamboanga City and his family are in town and my family’s preparing a birthday party for me. Awwww! I immediately text messaged my elementary school friends to come and join the pahtay. After which, my friends toured me to my hometown’s newest gimmick venue. We also talked about plans for our annual reunion. Since I was dead tired that day, I excused myself early so I can rest. Alas, I realized that we only have 3 bedrooms in our small bungalow and since we have relatives who are staying in for a few days, my sister and I had to sleep with our parents in their bedroom. It’s okay though. Before I left home for high school, our family used to sleep together in one bedroom and sleeping together again made me reminisce the good ‘ol days I guess. Felt a bit emotional in there.

Lechon na naman, yebah!


With my elementary school friends!


In Glorieta!


Oo! Me Glorieta sa bayan namin! Tingnan nyo ang sign, o!


My sis and my insan dahil, wala lang, kadi-discover ko lang na may burst mode ang aking camera! Haha!




The following day, I got a text message from my former boss offering me to write for their TV show. This was the 4th time that they made the offer so it was a difficult decision to make. I mean, I do enjoy working in their company and they seem to believe in me, which is a very, VERY big thing! (Of course, I also worked VERY hard to earn their trust.) The problem was I already made a commitment to my filmmaker friend to be her assistant director in her indie movie. The indie movie’s shooting sked is in conflict with the sked of the airing of the TV show. I honestly didn’t know what to do so I just told my filmmaker friend about my dilemma. Hay, I’m so blessed to have good friends! My filmmaker friend told me that it’s okay if I choose the TV show. She understood my plight since she also worked for my former boss before. I really thought for a sec that I would have a “my friendship or your career” soap opera conflict! Haha! :)

I’m nervous thinking about working for the TV show. What if I wouldn’t live up to their expectations?!? The anticipation is stressing me out. I’m aware that a text message like “kailangan ka namin” could be written simply to persuade me to accept the job, no more no less, but it’s pressuring me! Good Lord, HELP!

Even with this upcoming TV project, I still hope I can get to work with my filmmaker friend in the future though. I want to do indie production work. I still dream of someday making my own film.

Forgot the tension-filled afternoon by nighttime when I got a call from my workmate Katski. She greeted me a belated happy birthday and told me that she wanted me to talk to someone. I really had no idea who that’s why I got the surprise of the year when I found out it’s the Yael Yuson of Sponge Cola on the other line greeting me a happy birthday. Or telling me a joke about him being called the Sponge Boy. Or something like that. I actually couldn’t hear him well since I was constantly muttering some silent curses. Shet, ganun pala yung feeling pag nasa Oprah! HAHA! I obviously don’t like to be surprised but it was a pleasant surprise. That was a sweet gesture of Katski. I mean, I wouldn’t think she remembers me being a fan of the band. (She’s friends with Yael coz they’re both from Tanghalang Ateneo, I think.) I heart Katski!

Check out the new song on the radio, Pinwheel's Masayang Kalungkutan. It will definitely be in my list of favorite songs for 2005. Hope you like it! :)

Merry Christmas, everybody! Happy New Year too! :)

Videoke King?

Will be leaving for my hometown in a few hours. Annual holiday vacation. I will miss you guys. Might not be able to surf or blog as often. But just so you won't miss me, I'm taking Saffron Blue's offer. I'm posting my laughable videoke performances. LOL! :) Believe it or not, these are my subdued videoke moments...

VIDEO 1: This is me murdering Sugarfree's Sinta. Watch out for the flying sharps and flats. Yes, I don't sing. I scream! :)


VIDEO 2: This is me screaming Eraserheads' Pare Ko. (How predictable, I know! :D). "O jusku...", bisaya gyud ko! Hahaha! Watch out for Rose's "Ashlee Simpson" performance (read: lip synch). :)


Merry Christmas guys, and rock 2006! :)

My 26th!

Yep, it's my 26th year of existence today, happy birthday to me! :) Celebrated it last Saturday night with a party and dod, "I had a blast" is the overused sentence of the year! Haha! It's the first time actually that I hosted a birthday party. Heck, it's my first birthday party since I was 12 years old! :) I had some apprehension at first. The reason why I chose not to celebrate my birthdays with a party before is because I hate being the center of attention. You know, everyone focusing on you because you're the birthday boy. Don't like that! More so, I was thinking what if my guests wouldn't enjoy my party? Would hate that! Glad I was all mistaken! I'm blessed to have such cool friends who didn't mind mingling with guests whom they just met for the first time and who didn't bother to bother the party host. It was pure geeky fun with some "magic sing" videoke contest, some card gambling, some unadulterated chitchats, some booze, and some recreational drugs. I don't know if I will still have enough moolah to host another birthday party next year, but this year's was just too much fun. I confess I got teary-eyed later on, realizing the person up there really loves me so.


Birthday boy posing with the birthday food


Blowing the candles, yipee!


Emman cutting the lechon biik


With unexpected guest HAGORN, yebah! It was an honor. I mean, Jessica Zafra said he's the next big thing, what more can I say! I like his cool demeanor and unassuming stance. Bagay sila ni Michiko. I'm rooting for their loveteam! Haha! :)

MORE RANDOM PICS...

Videoke Queen

Wanna see what happens when my friends and I go for a videoke night-out?!? Here's a vid of my friend Yam channeling Alanis. Haha! Watch out for the blink and you'll miss participation of Monjam and never mind the chuwariwap guy! (Video is courtesy of Rose.)



I will post my own performance video when I get the guts. LOL! :)

L-O-S-E-R

Danni won Survivor: Guatemala.

The Linzes won The Amazing Race Family Edition.

Nene was the big winner in Pinoy Big Brother.

I'm losing my favorite game. SUCKS!

Ultraelectromagneticfun!

I forgot to tell you about November 29. It was definitely a fun night for my friend Yam and I. We went to watch the concert launch of the tribute album to the Eraserheads. Got nervous for a while a day before when Yam text messaged me that Jams announced that the concert tickets are sold out already. Called the station right away and thankfully enough, there were still a few tickets to spare. Felt really excited on the night of the concert. While I had doubts over the selection of some artists in the tribute album, I just didn’t freaking’ care. The fact was, the Eheads magic would be relived and for a longtime Eheads fan like me, that was something to look forward to. :)

If you want to see my "la lang” review of the album and concert, click HERE. (I also posted the same review in Peyups.) A bit of warning, I wrote it while still on high after the concert so I’m not sure if you’ll get what I wrote. There are more sensible reviews after or before my post though, so you can still check it if you’re interested to know what the others have to say about Ultraelectromagneticjam.


The epitome of jologs - Yam and I posing at the concert venue's lobby. Notice how we were oh so proud to have the tickets! And notice how empty the lobby was! YES, WE WERE THAT EARLY! Haha!


Siyempre, hindi mawawala ang picture taking sa harap ng concert venue mismo! Haha!


Me and a very sugar high Ebe!


I love his pic with Yam more, though.


Does the moonlight shine on Paris! Yebah, Paolo!


Yes, I still am not a fan of 6cyclemind but it doesn't mean I'm no longer a camera whore when it comes to posing for pictures with celebrities. Haha!

Check out the new blog background song! It’s Imago’s cover of Eraserheads’ Spoliarium, my favorite Sticker Happy song and my favorite song from the tribute album. :)

Emman's Birthday

I’m back! Not that I went away or got busy with work. In fact I’m actually “beatlebum” these days – no work, all lazing around. After 2 weeks of not planning any thing though (carpe diem, ah the best!), finally sat down last night to lay down the plans. That’s why I’m here! Because I put “write blog” in my list of things to do today. Hehe.

I think I’m going to blog about Emman’s birthday first. Man, that was fun! I think I’m officially an artist groupie now. I have a housemate who’s bound for Sundance. I hosted a birthday salo-salo for a Cinemalaya director, that’s Emman of Sarong Banggi for you. I was group mates in Taboo (the board game) with the directors of Cinemalaya’s crowd pleaser Big Time (Mario Cornejo and Monster Jimenez) and the director of another entry Isnats (Mike Dagnalan). Haha! Okay I’m a geek. I’m delirious that I got to play Taboo with today’s promising young filmmakers.

Taboo’s groovy too! We finished playing the first round past midnight already and even opted for a second round that lasted till six o’clock in the morning. Those, while an Omen marathon (from the orig to part 4) is playing in the background. Haha!


The banderitas are courtesy of Monjam. Haha!


My team ready to "potpot" the clue giver of the other team


The other team ready to "potpot" our clue giver


Olive giving clues to her team, while my teammate Jade is getting ready to "potpot" her. Hehe!


Clang, the scorer, sleepy already. The game's 1st to 100. Haha!

Morning after and Emman was still restless. He took some happy artsy fartsy pictures of me, Rose and Monjam at the front and back of our apartment. I’m sharing with you my favorite pics. Hehe. I’m a narcissistic geek, okay.

Solo shots...





Rose and I...





Rose and Monjam...(the new loveteam?!? :D)



Rose and Emman, the birthday boy (yebah!)



What’s more groovy is that Clang, editor of Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros, happens to be a big Eraserheads fan like me. He’s friends with Marcus Adoro and he’s got some interesting Eheads tales to tell. After the juicy stories that he shared, I shall never listen to Eraserheads “Spoliarium” and “Kananete” the same way again. Party ended at 10am.

P.S. Hope you can hear the song in the sidebar. It’s my favorite Sponge Cola song in their Palabas album. I’m hosted by Ripway and they have a maximum number of downloads per day so there’ll be times when the song won’t play. Hopefully when my new web host finished setting up (Wink, wink, whoever you are! :D) I can already share another favorite song.