Sparta

Day 12 of the 30 Day Challenge - Whatever Tickles Your Fancy

I don't remember where I found this but this really made me smile.

Portrait

Day 11 of the 30 Day Challenge - A Photo of You Taken Recently

This was taken Valentine's Day 2010.

The whole family was just at home watching DVD and taking pictures.
One of the rare times that I'm the one in front of the camera
rather than behind it.

First Major Role

Day 10 of the 30 Day Challenge - A Photo of You Taken Over Ten Years Ago

A really old photograph taken the first time I performed as Thenardier
in Les Miserables way back around 1996.

Mall of Asia

Day 9 of the 30 Day Challenge - A Photo You Took


Just a random photo from my folders, this was taken during my first visit to SM Mall of Asia in Manila in June 2009. This is the view outside the mall taken from inside.

The Prey

Day 8 of the 30 Day Challenge - A Photo that Makes You Angry / Sad

Pulitzer Prize winning photo taken in 1994 during the Sudan famine.

The picture depicts a famine stricken child crawling towards an United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away.

The vulture is waiting for the child to die so that it can eat it. This picture shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child, including the photographer Kevin Carter who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken.

Three months later he committed suicide due to depression.

Gibo 2010

I had a rare free time on my hands last night so I decided to make this, to show my support to the man who's the best fit to become the 15th President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Happiness

Day 7 of the 30 Day Challenge - A Photo that Makes You Happy

My daughter always makes me HAPPY.

ALWAYS. ♥

Ballers

Day 6 of the 30 Day Challenge - Whatever Tickles Your Fancy


With 76 days before our National Elections, I have carefully weighed all the candidates for President and after all the researches that I've made, I've decided to support Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro. I also learned that my whole family and a lot of people that I know are supporting him as well. For me, he's the most capable and most competent to lead the country.

Yesterday, Gibo came to Cebu and I was there to support him. I am proud to be a member of The Green Team, and I'm wearing my Gibo Ballers to show my support.

No, that's not my arm. I'm not that hairy. :p

Happy Birthday Raki!

Happy 29th Birthday
Rochelle "Raki" Vega-Siu!

More power and more blessings!
We miss you! ♥

I Live and Believe

Day 5 of the 30 Day Challenge - Your Favorite Quote

I shall pass through this world but once.
If therefore, there be any goodness I can show,
or any good thing I can do, let me do it now
for I shall not pass this way again...

For the longest time, I've always lived by this quote. It's a very old quote dating back as early as 1859 with different authors attached to it, but until now it's still not known who really said it.

This has become like a motto for my life, to do all the good that I can, for all the people that I can, in all the ways that I can, while I still can.

Life is too short.

Les Miserables

Day 4 of the 30 Day Challenge - Your Favorite Book

I am such a loser when it comes to books. In my 29 years of existence, I have only read a few books from cover to cover, excluding textbooks I was forced to read in school. I just didn't have that much time to really read a lot. Yes, I know it's a lame excuse. It's kinda ironic too, considering I've authored a reference book a few years ago.

Another irony is that my favorite book is the longest book I've ever read. It took me more than a month to finish it but I consider finishing it as an accomplishment for me. I forced myself to read it when I joined the musical just so I can understand the story and the characters better. It helped me tremendously.

Yes, my favorite book is the source of my favorite musical: Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

Although there are a lot of parts that are boring, it's a good read overall.

Before him he saw two roads, both equally straight;
but he did see two; and that terrified him
--he who had never in his life known anything but one straight line.
And, bitter anguish,
these two roads were contradictory.

-Les Misérables (p.1320)

Supernatural

Day 3 of the 30 Day Challenge - Your Favorite TV Program

Right now, I'm into a lot of TV programs, Smallville, Glee, Heroes, Prison Break, Dexter and House, but one series I'm looking forward every week is Supernatural.

Although I'm never into horror flicks or shows, I love Supernatural because of its realism despite its being a sort of fictional series. I'm saying sort of because in my many researches about real supernatural and paranormal occurrences, a lot of them have been tackled in the episodes of the series. I don't only get entertained, I learn from watching as well.

The cast and the storyline are superb as well. I got hooked immediately after watching the first episode of the first season. It's something I look forward to every weekend, my relaxation after a stressful week of work.

Beauty and the Beast

Day 2 of the 30 Day Challenge - Your Favorite Movie

Another very difficult topic.

If you click on my profile, you can see that I have a lot of favorite movies, and that list is not even complete. One of my most favorite though is Disney's Beauty and the Beast.


I was 11 when the movie first came out, and I immediately fell in love with it. It's filled with charm, wit, romance, humor, adventure, and plenty of songs and music that it may be the best animated movie of all-time.

As a child who was very shy and low in self-esteem, the movie was an inspiration to me that even if you're not beautiful outside, people will still see what's inside of you. For the longest time, the Beast was my most fave character and became my dream role when Beauty and the Beast opened in Broadway in 1994. I've played a lot of roles on stage but the Beast is a character I have been playing my whole life, but never on stage.

I've always considered myself a real-life Beast, and I still do. And yes, I've found my real-life Belle many years ago. We're still on our way to our happy ever after with our beautiful daughter, and we're enjoying each moment of our journey.

Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
Ever just as sure
As the sun will rise ♥

Ikaw ang Pangarap

Day 1 of the 30 Day Challenge - Your Favorite Song

This is a very difficult question.

I have A LOT of favorite songs from then until now, and my list will continue to increase as music is a part of my life. I can even say that in a way, music is my life.

But if I have to choose what song is my favorite right this very minute, it would be Ikaw ang Pangarap, composed by Ogie Alcasid originally recorded by my idol, Martin, for the teleserye, Lobo.



It's a very beautiful yet challenging song. It's one of my new additions to my repertoire for wedding gigs.

To Do List

I saw this while blog hopping. Supposedly, this should be done for a whole month but since I think this is very interesting, I'm not going to wait until March. I am going to start tomorrow, for this 30-Day Challenge! :)

Day 01 — Your favorite song
Day 02 — Your favorite movie
Day 03 — Your favorite television program
Day 04 — Your favorite book
Day 05 — Your favorite quote
Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 — A photo you took
Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 — A fictional book
Day 14 — A non-fictional book
Day 15 — A fanfic
Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 — A talent of yours
Day 20 — A hobby of yours
Day 21 — A recipe
Day 22 — A website
Day 23 — A YouTube video
Day 24 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 — Your day, in great detail
Day 26 — Your week, in great detail
Day 27 — This month, in great detail
Day 28 — This year, in great detail
Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 — Whatever tickles your fancy

We are the World 25

I was barely 5 years old when the original song came out and helped millions in Africa. It's so touching to hear this song again for Haiti.

Happy Hearts' Day!

One of the most romantic songs for me is Grow Old With You composed and originally sung by a genius named Adam Sandler. It's from one of my most fave romantic movie of all-time, The Wedding Singer.



Happy Hearts' Day, everyone! ♥

Love Rocks Vid

I was able to record most of the songs in the concert. My fully charged cam was fully drained before the end of the show so I used my phone as a back-up just so I can document as much as I can a truly historical moment for AP and for Cebu.

Here's a short clip to see what happened on that amazing evening.

Most of the songs are already uploaded on my You Tube account.

Love Rocks rocked Cebu

OMG!

Arnel Pineda is a Rock God! He really is. And he rightfully deserves all the success and blessings that he has now because of what he is: A very humble little man with a big heart and lungs of steel.

Cebuanos have always been critical music lovers, and one of the most difficult to please audience. That is the reason why the Concert King, Martin Nievera, for the longest time would always start his year in Cebu. And in all the concerts that I've been to, I rarely see the Cebuano audience rock and dance while watching.

Tonight was an exception.

The Pacific Grand Ballroom of the Waterfront Hotel was total electric. Arnel's energy was simply amazing from the sound check a few hours earlier (yes, I was that early) until the end of the concert. If I'm not mistaken, AP sang 34 songs, including a surprise that brought the house down: a medley of Journey hits.

I'm also very proud that of all the great artists around, it was Shin Shin who was chosen as guest in AP's first major solo concert. As always, she did not disappoint as she rocked with AP.

Wow! I'm still high from attending my very first rock concert. Well, technically, this is my second as I watched the After Image band when I was way younger, but yeah, I witnessed Arnel Pineda rock in the flesh belting out all my favorite rock and a few slow songs.

I am a witness.

First Full Trailer

OMG! The first full trailer of The Last Airbender is finally here!



I'm crying watching this trailer! What's wrong with me?!

Excited much?

You bet I am! :)

Ticket

At last, I finally have a ticket for Love Rocks on Friday.

And yes, Superman is guarding my lone ticket. ;)

Last Airbender Superbowl Spot

As promised by the creators, a cut of the full trailer of The Last Airbender was shown during the Superbowl. It looks awesome! Can't wait for the full trailer to be released by the end of this week, or next week.



And since this is a Superbowl spot, let's see if you can spot Appa the Flying Bison in the short trailer.

Monitor

My one year and two months old HP monitor broke down. It just went all black. I will have it checked tomorrow, hoping it's nothing serious because buying a new monitor is just something we can't do right now.

In the meantime, I'm using our TV as a temporary monitor. Everyone at home is not happy about it though.

In fairness, the TV actually looks good as a PC monitor, it's just not advisable because it's too expensive compared to the actual PC monitors, and our PC is on almost 24 hours a day.

May Bukas Pa

After being a part of our lives every weeknight for a year, May Bukas Pa finally ended last Friday, and it was the biggest series finale ever for a Philippine teleserye. All the stars who appeared in the show before, came back for the final episode, and the Philippines' best singers sang the theme song during Santino's wake.

Congratulations to the cast and crew of May Bukas Pa. The lessons and message of the show will be in our hearts forever. I really didn't expect it to be THAT good. The show, most especially the finale, just blew me away.

Though I don't normally watch teleseryes, this is the first ever teleserye that made me cry.

Dexter

Eureka!

I finally decided to start watching Dexter and luckily, it's only 12 episodes per season unlike the usual 22 to 24 episodes of the other shows. They're currently on a break after concluding the fourth season, which means I still have a lot of time to catch up.

The series follows the day to day events of Dexter Morgan's life, a forensic blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department, who also happens to be a serial killer in his free time. He was taught by his adoptive father, Harry, only to kill those "who deserve it"; mainly, other killers who have escaped the traditional legal system or were never suspected in the first place. It shows him balancing an everyday life with his secret identity all while keeping up a facade of normalcy.

So far, so good.

Happy Birthday, Concert King

Today, my greatest musical influence turns 48 years old, and is still the Philippines' reigning Concert King. Almost 30 years in the business and Martin Ramon Nievera is showing no signs of slowing down.

Mabuhay ka, Martin, and may you continue to touch and make a positive difference in the lives of many people around the world as you have made in mine.

Happy Birthday, my Idol!

Can't Decide

As I'm already up-to-date with Smallville, Supernatural, Heroes, Glee, and Prison Break is already done, I am looking for another series to start with. I was following House before, but I kinda grew tired after a few seasons. Maybe I will continue with it soon, but right now, I am looking for something new.

There are a lot of old and new series available on DVD that it's quite confusing to choose which series should I start watching. There are a few suggestions from friends, but I'll be researching more about them before I decide.

Yup, this is what I do when I arrive home from work: Watch DVDs. It's my way of relaxing after a stressful day.

Bread from Heaven

I always pass by Bread Talk every time I go to the mall, and though I'm hungry a lot of times, I've never really tried eating there.

Yesterday, I finally did.

I bought 2 different breads (I forgot their names), and Oh Man, they were so delicious! For the first time in my 29 years of existence, I can really say that I've tasted bread from Heaven. It was THAT delectable.

Now I have something to look forward to every time I visit the malls. :)

First (International) Trip

Hong Kong, here we come!

We finally have our tickets for our trip to Hong Kong. It will be our first family international trip, and because we'll only be staying there for around 3 days, we'll make sure to make the most of it. If it's possible that I won't sleep, I definitely won't.

Because of this coming trip, I'm seriously thinking about going to Singapore after, and then maybe Malaysia. Just want to go there for vacation, but at the back of my mind, I also want and hope to maybe find work there. I spoke to my sis about this yesterday, and I was surprised that she also wants to go.

Woohoo! I'll be planning this well so hopefully, we can go together.

*crossing my fingers*

MJ Honored at Grammys

What a way to start the Love Month than to witness the children of Michael Jackson receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for their father. The Earth Song performance by Celine, Jennifer, Carrie, Smokey and Usher was amazing, and the tribute ended more beautifully with the surprise appearance of Prince Michael and Paris. It was an emotional moment seeing them as I was reminded of the last time I saw them when their father died 7 months ago.

"Our father was always concerned about the planet and humanity.
Through all his hard work and dedication,
he has helped through many charities and donated to all of them.
Through all his songs, the message was simple: love.
We will continue to spread his message and help the world.
Thank you.
We love you Daddy."

-Prince Michael Jackson