Thursday, January 08, 2009

Pagudpud, Vigan and other related adventures




As mentioned in my last post, me and my family, my girlfriend, my sister's boyfriend, and my grandmom all went to Pagudpud for the long holiday. Pagudpud can be found at the northernmost tip of the Philippines' biggest island, Luzon. Click here for some more info about Pagudpud.

Monday, January 05, 2009

Obama, Dureza, AI, and the end of my 11-day Holiday

Obama will be US President on January 20, 2009. The question now becomes: can he live up to all the hype? I sure hope so.

But in any case, we Filipinos shouldn't worry. Sec. Dureza says, we are, along with China, the 2 most resilient economies in the East. I suppose it's just a fluke that the equity funds I own are now almost half the value. Hehehe...

AI is coming too! That's American Idol. On the 15th! (Or is the 16th?) And again, I'll be hawking away at youtube, trying to find the clips before it gets taken down.

My 11-day vacation is over.
It was actually too long I almost forgot I even work. Haha.

My family & I, with my lola, my gf and my sister's bf, drove 2 cars up north to the white sandy beaches of Pagudpud. We were not disappointed, the beach was great! We had so much fun "fighting" the waves and losing, and rolling around on the sand. Haha.

We also took photos of the windmills. Awesome clean energy!
We had lunch at Vigan. Passed the Patapat Bridge. Jumped off the northernmost tip of Luzon. (Don't worry, I'll post pictures of this!) And visited relatives in Cagayan.

Kudos! NLEX and SCTEX rock! lol.

It's great to spend time with your loved ones. :D I highly recommend it.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Family, Friends and Memories

It has become a sort of Christmas tradition of mine to send out a Christmas greeting to everyone I've met from around the world. Usually, a lot of emails bounce because either email accounts have been closed or their inboxes full (hopefully of Christmas & New Year messages like this one), but most get through, and it gives me great satisfaction to think that somewhere on the other parts of the world, a friend or family is reading my holiday greetings!

Sometimes a few reply with the fondest greetings and some even with photos. That's the coolest thing about it really: that even though we have not seen each other in years, and even if it is just once a year, we remember and smile for the memories. :D

A WARM MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR from me & my family!!!

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Seeing Stars

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A couple of weeks ago, I had my eyes checked. Turns out, the contacts and the glasses I am using now are already obsolete for my requirements.

So I bought new contact lenses (which cost a fortune) and tried them out last Saturday.

That evening I went out to the balcony to look at the stars.
For the last few years, when I looked at the stars I saw them as blobs of overlapping double images. They didn't even twinkle.

But that night, I saw them again. For the first time in a long time. As stars, and not as blobs of white.

And then at that moment, it was worth every centavo.



Wednesday, December 03, 2008

It's a Holiday?!?

I never thought I'd ever be this disappointed to hear about a new holiday...



Monday, December 8 is a holiday in the whole of Batangas Province.

Arfgh!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Googling "UP Concert Chorus"

Last night I was Googling "UP Concert Chorus", more out of habit than anything else, and found my old blogsite on Xanga. My first post was on Saturday, March 27, 2004. Wow.

At the time I was, 22 and still in college (ha!), I was with Liz for 1 year, I was President of the UP Concert Chorus, and we were preparing for a 3 week tour of Germany, Italy and France scheduled later that year... We had performances left and right, twice a week rehearsals for the coming tour.

Going on tour with the UPCC was really the highlight of my college life. My first tour in 2000 was my first time (ever) to be away from home for more than a week. I was 18 (and young and innocent haha!) and when you're touring the world at that age, there's just so much to learn and so many things to see. You could say that my first tour really globalized my perception, it opened the world to me, literally!

My second tour in 2003 was my toughest but most exciting and most memorable of the three. First, because Liz and I had just gotten together a month before we left for the tour. They say the first few months are always the make or break period in any relationship, and yes it was difficult at times, but we made it through, and with a tighter relationship too. ;)

Second, I was UPCC Stage Manager and Soloist. It was not such a difficult job on tour since most places are already equipped with stages and lights, etc., (although there were times where we had to move altars and benches, and huge tables...) but I did manage to enjoy both, especially the latter one. Haha! Hey, after all, I am The Tenor. lol... (a private joke which came about during the time when a lot of UPCC Tenors left for the San Miguel Chorale and there were some shows where I was the ONLY tenor there, hence the title...)

My third and last tour, the 2004 tour was my most relaxed tour. Hehe. I was President of UPCC, and I was graduating the following year. It was a short 3-week tour during the semestral break, which means none of the homesick teenagers, and petty quarrels over nothing. We went to Bochum, Germany for the Acapella Festival where I got to sing "Ikaw Ang Lahat sa Akin" to this awesome audience (and I have a video!). We also went to Cascine San Pietro in Italy, where one of my dearest host families live, the Pizzocherros and the Sudatis. :D And finally we went to Paris. Yes, Paris. :D My only regret during the 2004 tour was that Liz couldn't go. :_(

Anyway, it's late and I better get to bed. I'll ramble more about it some other time. :p