The Ipod ghost

This morning I was woken up by a light sound of music playing. I reached for my Ipod laying on the couch beside my bed. With half opened eyes I switched it off but not after looking at the title of the song: Stand by Me by Oasis. I hesitantly looked around my room, almost expecting to see someone or something...because this was the third consecutive day that I have been awoken up by my Ipod suddenly playing music. Plus, it played the same song! Stand by Me...perhaps it's a message from...a restless soul who needs a friend?!?!

OH MY GOD! Is this the indication that I have a 6th sense!?!?

OH NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Before I got more spooked I went back to sleep.

The first time I experienced it the other day, I thought my Ipod was turned on accidentally because it was not locked and perhaps the buttons got touched by something inside my bag. Yesterday it was not inside my bag but was laying face down so I thought it was the buttons getting accidentally pushed again. But today, I clearly remember my Ipod was laying face up on my couch, no way that its buttons would be accidentally be pushed by something!

Of course, as a person working in the Information Technology industry, I must think first that there should be a technical explanation for this: Voila! After enquiring with my friends (which spooked them a little as well) and scrutnizing my Ipod functions, I confirmed that as I have suspected, an Ipod has an alarm setting! My Ipod was set to alarm at 6:15am!

But still, it doesn't explain it all because I did not set that alarm. So who did?

Since my Ipod is a hand-me-down from my lil sis, she must have set it. But after asking her, I learned that she did not.

*Twilight Zone theme song plays in the background: teeneeneeneen, teeneeneeneen...*

Before getting convinced that it was due to something supernatural, I had to think of some good explanation for this. I've been using this Ipod for more than 3 months now but I've not experienced this until three days ago.....hmmmnnn.
*Ting!* Ah yes! Three days ago was when I first plugged my Ipod to my laptop to add some songs! I changed the Ipod name and it must have reset the alarm setting! The song Stand By Me is the first song in the first playlist which understandably would be the default.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Although.............why 6:15 and not 6:00?

Isn't it that usually the default time setting is at the exact hour?!

AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

The book(s) that I thought I could not finish

It was #1 in my Christmas wish list last year. I've been wanting to buy this for yeeeears now. Finally, I bought it at the start of January this year as a new year's gift to myself.

My Story by Dave Pelzer is actually a compilation of his three books:
~A Child Called 'It', which relates his life from age 4 to 12 ;
~The Lost Boy, which relates his life from age 12 to 18; and
~A Man Named Dave, which relates his life from 18 onwards

I first saw the book A Child Called 'It' almost four years ago in a bookstore while waiting, I think, to meet he-who-must-not-be-named-exBF. Usually, when a book catches my attention, I would browse through the first few pages to know if it was interesting enough to buy. But pages and pages went by, and I still didn't stop reading. For tens of minutes I stood there, reading the book chapter after chapter, my eyes welling up with tears. I almost finished reading the book but I had to go so I decided that I would just finish the rest next time I return to the bookstore (hehe, yea, I was being a cheapskate =P). But many things-that-should-be-forgotten happened, so I never got to go back to the bookstore to finish it. But I think in between, when I did finally decide to buy it, I found it was already out of stock and only the 2nd book, 'The Lost Boy', was available. I didn't want to read the second book without finishing the first one. Then I came to Singapore and fastforward to last year, I saw in Border's bookstore that My Story, the compilation of Dave Pelzer's three books, was available in a good price compared to buying the books individually.

After buying it last January, it sat on my bookshelf, waiting for the right time to be read. Then last month, I decided to start reading it on my bus ride from work going home. However, just on the third page of Chapter 1, I already had to stop reading and close the book. I felt a lump build up in my throat and tears welled up in my eyes, I knew I would not be able to restrain myself from crying inside the bus if I continued further. Then days after, I attempted to continue reading it again, this time in a coffee shop. But oh no, just like in the bus, I knew I would cry if I continued to read on. So I have concluded I would never be able to finish reading this book in a public place, so it went back to sit in my bookshelf. Last week though, I craved to read a new book and thought that before I buy a new book, I should finish my back log books. So this weekend that passed, I spent most of the time reading it. By this (Monday) morning 1am, I have finished the trilogy.

Dave Pelzer's My Story is very, very moving, heart-wrenching, if I may say so. Reading it is not something that made me shed just a tear or two. I cried a real crying, intermittently, for minutes, uncontrollable tears fell one after another. After finishing the third part, A Man Named Dave, I felt like I grew up with Dave and was there with him to witness how he fought to survive as an innocent but very brave child, how he struggled to exist as a normal adolescent and undo the poisoned things that were inculcated in his mind, and how he live now to tell his story as a kind-hearted and kind-souled adult, receiving love that he truly deserved. It is an honour for me to be given the privilege to get to know Dave Pelzer thru his book, as indeed he is one of the miracles that God sends to remind us that life is still beautiful to be given up.

Oui! Oui! Oui! :)

Waking up before the alarm rings

I woke up today feeling something different than my usual mornings as I prepared to go to work...

I heard thunder and heavy rain which made me wake up before my alarm rang. But I still dozed off and waited for my alarm to ring before actually getting up.When I went out of our flat, the rain has stopped, but the clouds remained grey, the surroundings were wet, the air was cool..the kind of weather that the Philippines has during June, when school year starts.

So perhaps it was why as I walked going to the bus stop, I felt this familiar good feeling, that feeling of my childhood back in the Philippines...during the time when it was the first day of school - something I was excitedly looking forward to when I was a child. It's not that I was a school nerd(hmm, well, ok to some extent, yeah), I just like the idea of new books, new classmates, new teachers, new beginnings, a new start, a new chapter of things...

It is what we call Hope...something that keeps me going and yet also something that I am afraid of sometimes, because by being so hopeful, I can become also naive and gullible. I am afraid of that cycle that usually happens when I would start to dream -- I would become like a dainty girl from Pleasantville with a big smile plastered on her face... then suddenly, one day, something will happen to make a 180 degree turn and would give me that feeling like a pail of ice-cold water was poured over my head. It's not that I am a pessimist, just that it is my way of putting my defenses up to shield me from potential disappointments. I know this is not a good way, but this is what works right now, so this is. But I do pray that one day, this perspective will change and I will no longer have to hold my breath or close my eyes.

Perhaps this good feeling is just nothing else but because I am happy that I was able to make myself call Papa before the day ended yesterday to greet him a happy birthday...

Lollipops and memories

A Singaporean colleague gave me a Chupa Chups lollipop today. She said it tastes good and can be addictive. I asked her if she's tried the Chupa Chups lollipop with bubblegum on top, the one where you have to finish the candy first until you get the bubblegum inside, I used to like it as a kid, blah blah blah... She paused and was silent for a few seconds, with a facial expression that seemed to be wondering what in the world I was talking about. Then she said a reminder that amused me for the day: "we don't have that lollipop here, that's bubblegum".

Good point.

How can I forget that bubblegum is forbidden to be sold here in Singapore? Haha. =P

So I thought of another Chupa Chups lollipop in mind, the one with a whistle (Melody Pop) and asked her about it. Her face lightened up and she replied that she likes that one too.

There ya go.

Haha. :)

Flying with Sam's Letters to Jennifer

I usually bring a book to read whenever I travel, especially when I'm travelling alone (which is often the case). However, last week I forgot to bring a book for my flight from Singapore to Manila and back. So I went to the bookstore at the airport terminal to find an affordable book. I saw a stack of books on sale, good. I searched and the book Sam's Letter to Jennifer caught my interest. After reading some of the quoted commentaries that endorses the book, it sounded ok although I was not sure if I would like to read another fiction novel having a cheesy, sentimental love story at that moment. I've also not read any James Patterson book before so I was not sure if it would be a good read. I decided to buy it, anyway, since it was just S$7, not much money to waste if ever. Besides, I thought it would serve as a preparation to start reading Judith McNaught novels again (paging Ays and chilis: pang-ilan ako sa nakapila? :).
I was not able to read it on the Singapore-Manila flight as I've expected (since I was taking Cebu Pacific Air flight and it leaves at midnight) because I slept during the 3 hour flight.
I was able to read it intermittently during my one week stay in my homeland. I was able to finally finish reading it on the flight back from Manila to Singapore. I was amazed to realize that my initial impression about the book was not close to what it really was about and that this book is like a found treasure in a stack of books on bargain. It may not be as comprehensive and as vivid as a Judith McNaught novel or as emotionally intense as a Nicholas Spark novel but it has that subtle, light touch to the mind and heart. Just what I perfectly needed at that time*. Now, I am interested to find and read his other book, Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, which is the more popular book of James Patterson and the predecessor.

*Flying with Sam's Letters to Jennifer was like flying like the flowing river, only this time the tears fell before I took the plane...

But as always, it has just to be dealt with.

***
Photo from http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/sams_letters_jennifer1.asp

8 Surprises of Galera

At last, I was able to go to Puerto Galera, one of Philippines' popular beach getaways.

Puerto Galera is a municipality in the province of Oriental Mindoro. It is popular for having many nice beaches and beautiful diving spots plus the fact that it is near and very accessible from Metro Manila. From Metro Manila, you just take a bus going to the pier of Batangas province which will just take about 2 hours and from there you take a ferry going to Puerto Galera which will take about an hour. We chose to go to perhaps the most popular beach in Puerto Galera -- White beach, where they say is "where the happenings are".

This trip was an after effect of the Bohol trip. We cousins enjoyed it so much that we had to go do another pictorial, hence, we planned and organized this Puerto Galera escapade, in time also to celebrate cousin Aldrin's birthday on the 29th. But the fun thing about this organized trip is that the only thing certain was our room reservation in one of the lodges in White beach. So indeed this trip was full of unexpected surprises.

Surprise # 1 - Going from Manila to Batangas Pier

At around 4am on Saturday, we went to the bus station. There were no advance purchase of bus tickets since buses depart for Batangas every hour. When we arrived we saw many young backpacker people like us and yes, everyone seemed to be waiting for the next bus going to Batangas pier. By 7am we were at the pier as we targetted to be since the ferry trips start at 7am. I was taken aback by the number of people in the pier though. There were A LOT of people getting tickets to go to Puerto Galera. I have to emphasize that many "fixers" at the entrance to the pier will offer you boat rides, guaranteeing you a tempting immediate departure to White beach but be warned that these are not legitimate and officially registered in the Pier. So be very careful. Being most of us first timers and having too many people can be disorienting but thankfully we were able to get tickets to a legitimate ferry operator.

Surprise # 2 - The "ferry" going to White Beach?

We got tickets for the 8:10am departure but the boat was 1 hour late. There were around 50 people with us on queue waiting for our "ferry". By the word ferry, I had the notion of the usual ferry boat made of steel. But ferries going to White beach are actually wooden boats a little bigger than the usual native fishing boats in the Philippines. I am not normally a nervous person but I felt that I just had to ask one of the boat personnel if all of us would fit in the boat that seemed like could accomodate only 10 people. The boat personnel assured me that they do not overload boats and to our surprise, all 50 of us did fit in that seemingly petite fishing boat.

At least this "ferry" has a CR, hehehe (Comfort room is the common name in the Philippines for toilet)

Surprise # 3 - The splash! of our lives

The boat ride normally should take only an hour, right? But after an hour it seemed like we were still nowhere near the island of Mindoro. It was because the waves were big which made it difficult for our boat to traverse the waters. Cousin Jay and I were the (un)lucky passengers who sat at the perfect seats -- to get wet! After another half hour and with the big waves still splashing at our boat, I started to think what I would do in case the boat sinks. For your information, I do not like the idea of death by water, I would prefer to die from a plane crash than from drowning. Why? Because first, drowning is a slow death, and second, if I drown, my face and body will all be bloated, and that is not at all becoming, right? hehehe. =P

Anyways, finally after almost 2 hours, we saw hope when we had the glimpse of the promised shore of White beach. It is quite a promising sight to see a beach at the foot of a mountain.

Surprise # 4 - We're...er...everyone's here!

Finally, we docked on the shore but boy, I was not prepared to see sooooooo many people in the beach. Really, it was like there was one big fiesta. There would always be someone literally within your arm's reach. But I think that crowded state is just because we were there at the peakest peak of Philippines' summer this year (37 degrees celcius!) so everyone was going to the nearest beach. It was also noticeable that most of the people in White Beach are adolescents to young adults. Sexy girls paraded the beach in their bikinis with their boyfriends walking behind them. Suddenly, I felt so old, so unattached and so fat. =(

Surprise # 5 - Peak is a boo food prices

Yes, the food there was expensive (well, of course, for non-peso earning foreigners it would still be cheap). Food and drink sell more than double their standard retail price. But of course, that didn't stop us from enjoying grilled pork, chicken, hotdogs, taho, balut, and getting some dosage of alcohol. =P

Balut by the beachside =P

Surprise # 6 - The Mindoro sling that sings a lullaby
After lunch we decided to check out the merchandise sold around. At least the prices for these items are reasonable.

Lil sis then suggested we get a Mindoro sling. So we got one pitcher

Mindoro Sling = pineapple juice + tanduay rhum +orange juice + lime juice + cherry juice (i think) + sprite + apples + bamboo stirring rod

We went back to our room to drink it and an hour after, most of us, including yours truly, went to dreamland for a couple of hours. hehehe =P We were awakened by the arrival of my only bro and GF, Andrea, who followed since the only bro had an exam in the morning.

Surprise # 7 - Step aside Pussycat Dolls

White beach in the evening is even more alive than the day. The whole stretch of the beach was like transformed into one big bar. Music is playing in the different restaurant-bars fronting the beach. Another thing noticeable about the restaurants in White Beach is that there is always at least one ladyboy (if you know what I mean) waitressing who are friendly and who indeed cheered up the mood around. As people sat on the sand in groups, we were entertained and amused by the performance of two ladyboys in one bar who danced to the Pussycat Doll's Buttons song. Their performance was impressive I must say.

For that night I chose to stick with my Coke light. Being the eldest among us cousins who were there, I felt I had to act as Big sister so I left the drinking to my cousins. At midnight though, I felt the call of sleep so together with Ayeen and Len, we called it a night while lil sis, only bro, Andrea, Aldrin and Jay stayed on. I don't know what time they finished, all I know was that there was a bottle of tequila that night, hehehe...


Suprise # 8 - What's on the menu?

The following morning, the cousins decided to go for a quick swim in the beach. But I didn't feel like swimming so instead went to have some coffee (and a henna tattoo later, hehehe).

My cousins joined me later and then we decided to have brunch to make it in time for our ferry ride going back to Batangas pier. We checked out what to have...

Porkshop, anyone? Or how about Checken breast? =P

Finally, at midday, we took the ferry back to Batangas pier and fortunately, the boat ride was faster since the waters were relatively calm. By late afternoon, we were back in the Manila. The Galera surpises concludes (amazing how so many surprises can happen in an overnight trip) but the cousin escapades has just started. Where's next?

Luv ya cuzins! :o)

Would I like to be little miss grouchy?

Remember the little lady well dressed up in her brown blouse and beige pants with matching beige high heeled shoes emerging from the train station tunnel to have a view of her new work place?

Yup, that was exactly one year ago. Today marks my first anniversary at that company.

It has been a fast one year at work. It has been a sometimes train and sometimes roller coaster ride. When I am asked if my work is hard, I actually don't know how to answer it, because I don't know how I can actually explain my status. It is not like a walk in the park as it seem to be. It can be a crazy run around a rocky road as well just like now when due to a sudden organizational restructuring, I have become my own general and army in facing the battles ahead. I have been doing my best in coping up with the challenges of my work. My approach was to see each challenge as an opportunity to learn, further yet, I try to see the humourous side of it. Most of the time it works, just that there are times when I just dont see it as funny anymore, especially when it coincides with the not so funny personal aspects of my life as well. Like yesterday, when I was almost at the brink of deciding that the little miss congeniality turned supergirl will now become little miss grouchy that I was so tempted of actually wearing "the attitude". Yes, the attitude that says "I dont care and I will be unreceptive just like them" attitude, back to back with the "I don't care and I am just tired from the bad side of people" attitude. But while I was reading entries from my Our Daily Bread booklet I was struck with one entry about maintaining character by David McCasland where he quotedJ.B.Philips' translation of Romans 12:1-21:

"Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands, and moves toward the goal of true maturity."

Wow. It was enough to make me realize that I should not give up being miss congeniality. I would rather be the recipient of grouchfulness than be the source. I would like to spread the joy and not the misery so if I would submit and clam up because of the bad forces in this world who tries to make me to, then I will become an instrument of sadness, the same sadness that tries to turn my heart into stone and I know how terrible that could be. So I won't, I won't give up. Let's not give up making the world a better place to live in.

We just need some recharging... ;-)

Dearest Capt. Marvel

It was my kindred spirit that was missing, but thankfully I am starting to bounce back now. My trip to Malaysia last weekend with my friends helped as well as the encouragements I got from you and my friends. I think a big factor in the sadness I have been feeling was the adjustment I am having at work but now that I am getting the hang of the changes, I am feeling better. I think I also have been thinking too much deeply so right now I'm just trying to live life with a light heart and mind. You are definitely right, we choose to be happy so that's what I'm trying to do as I wake up everday, although it is hard not to think too much, because I am starting to feel that time is running fast, that I am getting old and now I want to be in the place that I know I will belong for the rest of my life and retire. I don't even know if I prefer uncertainty to certainty right now, because if being certain would mean I would be stuck where I am now, I feel sad just thinking about it, cause if I would be indeed I am almost sure I will be forever by myself, trying to earn money to sustain my material needs and fulfill my responsibilities...I don't want my sense of existence to just be that. Uncertainty, on the other hand, can offer opportunities for a better change, but of course the other side of the coin it could also mean the worse. But it's not that I detest my life right now, I don't. I do still keep in mind that I am thankful for all the blessings that God has given me. I do acknowledge that I have my family and friends who love me and appreciate me. Just that I feel this void, this nagging void who keep creeping up and trying to drain my energy that keeps me going as little miss congeniality. I am trying to fight it off, by now trying to be supergirl. But I discovered that even supergirl can feel frustration.

Here I go again, thinking too much. But I'll be fine, don't worry, I will shake this off...

Sizzling Hot: The 2007 F1 Malaysian Grand Prix

Yes, it was sizzling hot, literally.

The temperature was up so high, we were sweating like pigs.

If the heat was that uncomfortable for a tropical girl like me, I wondered how terrible the heat was for the caucasians.

But the temperature is negligible for F1 fans, everyone was still cheering.

We had good seats, we were on the first turn of the track. The seats were almost red because of people wearing red, for Ferrari of course.

But the Mclaren cars won suprisingly, both the first and second places, hehehe. Good job to Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton!

Well, I guess Ferrari's prestige halted together with Michael Schumacher's retirement...? =P

Then again, what do I know, I'm not really an F1 enthusiast and I'm not following all the races, but I do am interested in driving and cars.

But indeed it was a good experience to try out watching an F1 race though, it was fun meeting and travelling in another country with my good friends.

We had a one of a kind adventure . (Thanks for the fun, fun time, Deb and Vinci! Til our next travel... ;o) ).

Tips on watching the F1 race in Sepang, Malaysia:

1) Better just purchase the ticket for the actual race only (it's a 3-day event: day 1 - practice, day 2 - qualifying round, day 3- actual race). Then be in your seats an hour before the race starts so you could watch the drivers parade around the race track beforehand.

2) Better spend more on good seats with actual seats and shade than buy seats that do not have seats (you'll sit on the grass only and no shade at all in some parts!)

3) Buy the F1 merchandise on Day 1 or 2, too many people on the actual race day.

4) Don't attempt to bring water or food inside the race track as they will just confiscate it without even posting a sign or something that you cannot bring in food and drinks inside. They will just say "may I check your bag?" and then just get your food without explaining to you why. (I'll tell you why: so you're forced to buy drinks and food inside whereprices are 400% over the usual selling price, tsk tsk).

5) Bring earplugs if you cannot sustain hearing the loud sounds of the F1 cars. Better yet, bring an am/fm radio with earphones so you can tune in to the commentary and listen while you watch the race so you'll have an idea who's on which position (to save 100 Malaysian ringgit from the radio headphones they are selling there!). The race track is very big and it would be impossible to have visibility of all parts (except if you are in a helicopter of course!).

6) Wear your most comfortable summer clothes and shoes. I'm telling you, the heat was really incredible.

7) Sepang is an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur without traffic jam. But better to go to the race track hours ahead the event to avoid getting delayed from the traffic jam the surge of spectators would bring.

8) It is not worth being trampled over just to have the autograph of a race driver (I backed out at the last minute from having Ralph Schumacher of Toyota F1 sign a cap, and it was a good decision because I am still alive in one piece, hehe).

Putrajaya, Malaysia

Half an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur (without traffic jam) going to the South is Putrajaya. It is one of Malaysia's states and it houses Malaysia's federal government officials. The place has very nice landscaping and impressive architectural structures. It is clean and beautiful. I loved the decorated lamp posts along the roads (I don't have pictures of it though).

We didn't go much around Putrajaya as we really didn't know the whereabouts and the what to do's plus it was very, very hot and humid, the sun was all out and the sky was so clear. I am not sure if there was a public transport going to Putrajaya, I think there is. Although what I am sure of is I didn't see any public transport within this city so definitely you would need to have your own wheels to go around. We hired a random taxi we just flagged from KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Center) to bring us there and show us around and bring us back to KL. The price would depend on how you can bargain for a good deal with the taxi driver. Vinci (bestfriend Debbie's boyfriend) was a good bargainer, he got it only for 60MYR (1 Malaysian Ringgit is around 0.30US dollars) ;-)

~~~~~~~

Photocredits to bestfriend Debbie

The Petronas Towers of KL

The Petronas Towers is the world's tallest twin towers. It is located at the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Petronas Towers is the corporate headquarters of the government-owned Petronas oil company. It is Malaysia's grand national landmark. And indeed it is very grand, especially at night when it is illuminated brightly with beautiful white lights. There is an extraordinary glow that makes it tantalizing. If you remember the movie, Entrapment, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sean Connery, then you'll remember that the Petronas Towers was featured in the climax of this movie.

Connecting the two towers is the Skybridge, located at the 41st and 42nd floor. The 41st floor is used for visitors while the 42nd is used by the tenants of the towers. Access to the Skybridge is free, but you just have to line up and get tickets for a certain alloted time. There is a limit of visitors per day so usually by mid day, all tickets for the day have been given out. And the earlier you go there, the earlier time slot you get. Like for us, we got our tickets at around 10am and we were already on the 5:30pm slot.

There's a nice exihibit there though, that you could see while you wait. It features facts about the Petronas Towers, a documentary of how the Towers were built, its history. Then there are also telescopes/cameras that's like The Eye of Auckland's Skytower. However, the image resolution was not that good and zooming is not as zoomed in as that of the Auckland Skytower, so the view didn't really seem like real time. But the Petronas have this cool device that's simply entertaining, a device that measures your height and calculates how many times the Towers are compared to your height. You can also select other skyscrapers like the Empire State building and Sears tower to be compared to your height. Then there's also a miniature model there that is used to demonstrate what would happen in case a lightning hits the towers. A simulation is shown with electric currents hitting the miniature towers.

Upon the free tour of the Skybridge, there is first a short 3D film showing about the background and history of the Petronas towers. Then the group will be led by a guide to the 41st floor and will be given a few minutes (around 10 minutes) to look around there and take some pictures. I am impressed that this tour is free, and inspite of that, everything is well-maintained and are of quality, including the good the service of the personnel.

Another great thing about the Petronas Towers is that it has Suria KLCC at its foot. Suria KLCC is one of the biggest malls in Kuala Lumpur. Something I don't recommend though is to go to the Twin Towers on special ocassions where there would be many crowds of people. We did that for New Year's eve of 2006 and we just got mobbed by crowd and after getting out of the crowd, my friends lost their wallet and cellphone. So just be cautious. It's only in Singapore that you can wave your phone and wallet in the streets without worrying that someone would snatch them right from your hands.

~~~~~

Photocredits to me :)

So What

I start to just exist and cease living

I sigh instead of breathe...

I start to murmur instead of speak

I walk and not stroll

I look but I do not see

I hear sounds but not music

Everything becomes senseless

Suddenly I am going around in circles

Where is that kindred spirit?

Has it gone adrift?

Somebody take my hand please

I am drowning, help me...

The Phantom that will haunt me forever

The greatest consolation (and the highlight of this month) for me from all the stress I have been having is watching Andrew Lloyd Webber's broadway musical, The Phantom of the Opera at the Singapore Esplanade Theatre. Me and my friends have long been waiting for this day to arrive. We have bought our tickets five months in advance.

My fascination with The Phantom of the Opera started in High School. I had some classmates who were so into broadway musicals and particularly, my classmate, Jimmy, was a fanatic and as I was his pseudo slave during Grade 7(1st yr highschool), I had no choice but hear him sing this musical's songs over and over again (peace, Jimmy!).I did not know the story actually, I have not read the novel it was based from (Le Fantôme de l’Opéra , a French novel by Gaston Leroux) but I fell in love with its music and I remember I tried playing two of the songs on the piano while I sing (oh yeah, step back Alicia Keys, hehehe). So"Music of the Night" and "All I Ask of You" have become my favorites as they were the songs from the musical I got familiar with. In Grade 9 (3rd year high school), each class was to perform an excerpt of a broadway musical. Our class performed (the very sad) Les Miserables, but I was much in awe to the section who performed The Phantom of the Opera, I became more fascinated with this musical as I got to know the synopsis of the story. They did the scene at the boat where the Phantom was taking Christine to his underground hideaway.

A few months ago, I saw a DVD of The Phantom of the Opera movie at the gym I go to so I rented it out, watched it and that was it! After seeing the whole story and hearing all the songs, I have declared to myself that I have indeed fallen in love with this musical. It has this magical feeling of elegance and beauty that lingers on. I rented out the same DVD at the same gym at another time, I was just hooked. Thanks also to Chuvanescense for giving me his VCD copy, I can now watch the movie over and over again. I just had a little reservation though, because knowing that I will be watching the broadway play soon, I was not sure if watching the movie would do me good since I would now have a point of comparison. We know that movies are different from plays in that movies can have take twos, threes or more to make the movie perfect plus the locations can be chosen and special effects of computer graphics can be utilized, but in live plays they are only allowed take ones, notwithstanding the challenge of changing backdrops and props along the different scenes.

So yes, I did have expectations before watching the play because I have seen the movie and I was wondering if the play would have the same magical feeling that the movie could give since I was not sure how the play would create the effects that was done in the movie. After watching the play though, I was gladly surprised that not only did it meet my expectations, it exceeded it! The set and props of the play was perfect! It was amazing how they did the effects almost the same as in the movie. I have to give special mention to the scene in this play where the Phantom takes Christine on a boat going to his hideaway, as it was truly incredible, and way better than in the movie!

I only have praises for Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera broadway musical. Indeed, it's a musical so enchanting that its music you will keep on singing by heart.

~o~

Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera is playing at the Singapore Esplanade until May 13th. Tickets are still available at Sistic.

Photocredits: The Phantom of the Opera Official Show site and Sistic website.

15 hours of zzz and 300 oohlalas

The weekend that has passed was....hmm...I can't find the words to describe it...

Perhaps I have been so deprived from a cool and comfy sleep for the last week because of my defective aircon that last Saturday after it was temporarily fixed by the aircon contractor (they just topped up gas again but they said it will eventually stop cooling again since apparently the gas is leaking and the pipes need to be replaced), that at around 6pm I felt my eyes were so heavy and I fell asleep on my bed. I woke up at 9am the following morning and that makes a 15 hour record breaking sleep! And too much sleep is not good, especially when life has been getting stressful, as it starts unthinkable thoughts to play in your mind, thoughts like becoming a 40 year old virgin, quitting your job and becoming a bum, or disappear from the mainstream and live as a hermit.

But good thing that before getting eaten by the sadness monster, I was able to push myself to do my Sunday routine -- go to the gym and then go to mass. Sunday night was supposed to be also my tennis night but my teacher was not available so tennis was cancelled. That left me with a lot of time for the evening so I decided I'd go watch a movie. There have been a lot of good movies lately and most of my friends have watched at least one of them, so I thought I should at least try to watch one. I decided to watch the movie 300 at the mall a few blocks away from our condo. Alone and armed with popcorn and cola, I sat there and watched in awe at 300 oh so wow abs and legs of men. The movie was great, not because of the sexy men (well ok, fine, it counts as well) but the movie in general, good cinematography, graphics, and storyline. Plus, I have to give credit to the abs and bodies really, because contrary to what most think that those abs and sexy bodies were part of the movie special effects, those are actually the actors' real 6-pack abdomen and muscular torso and legs. I've watched the interview in TV of the lead actor and they really worked out for months to prepare for that movie.

Anyways, I'm just glad that I made a good decision to watch a movie, even by myself. It was the first time I watched a movie in a cinema by myself here in Singapore. Well actually, it's just my second time to watch a movie by myself in a cinema, my first time was waaay back in highschool and I needed to kill a couple of hours to wait for my studio pictures to get developed (I know, I know, that was so pathetic, hehe). It's a good quality time for myself, to just relax and forget about the hussle bussle of the real world. Yup, I think I'd do this again, moreso, more often. ;)

~0~

Photocredit: Image from warner bros shop official site

F for 4th Friday, frustration, fondue and friends

It's the fourth friday of the month and it means that it's been four weeks that I have been getting frustated at work. The everyday waking up to go to work starts to get to be a heavy thing to do. The weather is becoming hotter everyday and what perfect timing could be for the aircon in my bedroom to stop cooling again and needs to be repaired. Something inside me would like to scream and run amok. I'm just so stressed out.
Omar said he observed my self esteem is low lately...then later on in the afternoon he invited me to meet him and buddy Wit for dinner and drinks at DXO. Unexpectedly though, he got a little held at work so Wit and I started dinner without him at a Japanese restaurant, Haru at One Fullerton. Had he made it in time when the ika sashimi was served, I'm sure he would've taken a picture of it's presentation and would be featured in his foodblog. But nevertheless, here's the fondue we ate at Max Brenner in Esplanade mall, after we had that Japanese dinner. We were so full with all the food. But wait there's more, we went to DXO bar for some drinks and what do you know, it was ladies night so I got in for free plus free flowing drinks! The band playing was a Filipino band and they were good. There were not much people though, perhaps because it was just 10:30pm and it was early for a clubbing night. I was looking forward to the free flowing drink for the ladies so that atleast I could get a little tipsy but after I had 2 glasses, I concluded it would take me atleast 10 glasses of those drinks before I could attain my goal. You see, my first glass was a shot of vodka and lime juice, diluted in gallons of water (sorry, im exaggerating) and the second glass was a shot of vodka and ribena soda, diluted in liters of water (ok, im still exaggerating). So, I took the liberty to snatch Omar's half full glass of tequila plus sprite drink from the "real bar" and tadah, it served its purpose. ;-)
We went home after staying half an hour at DXO. It was a fun night, simple but I really enjoyed it because of my dear, dear friend who's never been at DXO before and I think, just wanted to lift my spirits up because he knew that I've been wanting to go to DXO because I told him before that I hear the band playing really good whenever I eat at Makansutra (the food centre beside DXO). How can you not help but be cheered up by having such a thoughtful friend?
Thanks Omar, that was really sweet (na-touch ako ha). :)

Tell me this is not how journalism is here

I read in the newspaper today about a restaurant supervisor being stabbed by one of his kitchen staff and he died right there in the restaurant. The article wrote how the family and colleagues of the victim were surprised that the victim could be in a heated argument with the staff that would lead to a violent act as the victim was a diplomatic person. At the end of the article, it writes:

"The restaurant is closed today in respect to Mr..., according to Mrs.., the restaurant manager."

Then right after that the next paragraph reads:

"The restaurant has other branches located in...."

Now I don't know if it's because I didn't have enough sleep last night, or that I am stressed out at work that I am easily irritated but I am in quite a disbelief at how this article was written. I mean, can somebody tell me what is the significance of that second paragraph!?! Is it just me or is it really that insensitive to do indirect advertising?

March is fastly marching by

After that fabulous NZ experience, I am back to the real world, back to my routine, back to facing the sad monitor of my computer at work. I do expect that March would be quite a challenge for me because of work -- I have a 1,001 tasks that I need to accomplish and I would be doing it alone. And there are no travels for me this month, so I will not be going anywhere outside the 4 corners of this island of shopping centres and malls.

The first 11 days of this month seemed like it have zoomed fast though and I don't know if I'd be happy because this dreaded month will be almost over or if I'd be scared because quarter end is always is a critical period at work for me and I have to be prepared to face it alone.

Let's see what this month given has me so far:

the hoorays:

• After three weeks of not being able to go to church and hear mass because of my travels, I have finally spent quality time with Him again these past two Sundays. It was a heartwarming, teary-eyed reunion.
• I have accomplished a big initiative I have been leading at work: finally, our database is 3 bundles upgraded and less bugged, this would be my first bundle application in my almost 5 years in the InfoTech world. Ahhh, my baby, my bundle of joy! ahehehe.
• Had a fun time when we celebrated Aoisoba's sweet 16 + 12 birthday with literally a round of different handcrafted beers of Brewerkz in our table (really enjoyed that, chilis!)
• Was able to recharge a little and finally able to do some writing after spending some quality alone time at my spot, my sanctuary (besides church) yesterday.

the boos:

• My second semester of French class has started and I have not been studying diligently, unlike the previous
  semester where I would do extra reading.
• On our Chinese new year dinner at the first day of this month, I was chatting with my colleagues that I shared the dinner table with, and this French guy colleague called me a pervert after I told them I lined up for almost an hour in Disneyland Paris just to have a picture with Mickey Mouse. I am considering his limited English for having used that adjective. But then he also crashed the tiny hope left in my heart when he asked me the qualities I am looking for in a man and when I told him a man who is loyal, hardworking and who loves life, he said I must be looking for a priest (reminded me of Mon Homme Idéal), otherwise the man is inexistent. Ouch!
• The two consecutive strong tremors from the two earthquakes in Indonesia last March 6th left me so nauseated at work that I had to put on some scented balm to keep me in my senses. Our office is on the 26th floor and I don't know why it seemed like it was only me and the second big boss who felt the tremors and reacted upon realizing those were tremors and not just a sumo wrestler running around in the office.
• I have been so stressed at work for pushing myself to be supergirl that last Friday I just realized that I have been coding directly in our Production database (and yes I have clicked the save button already!). If you are in the programming world, this would be like one of the greatest mortal sins you could ever commit. I felt like my blood was drained from head to toe when I saw the database name I was working on.
• I got okrayed* twice by pseudo BF Omar when we met for dinner one after-office night: 1) He said I looked like I was wearing pambahay** clothes (I was wearing slacks and blouse) and 2) He was greatly disturbed upon hearing me speak in Singlish in talking to the taxi driver that he had to send me an sms that night and called me at work the following morning to remind me to take care of my English.
• I cancelled my tennis tonight because I ate a lot of different food which led to an attempted stomach revolution and a successful lazybug infection.

OK, now let's see the score: 6 is to 4, in favor of the boos! oh noooooooooooo..

-----------

*Okrayed - a term in Tagalog slang for giving negative criticism

**Pambahay - a Tagalog adjective pertaining for the house

Hamilton Gardens and the one-legged duck

Around 2 hours drive from Auckland going down to the South is the city of Hamilton where they have the Hamilton Gardens, a 58 hectare area of a variety of different gardens. The gardens are grouped into 4 garden collections. It is owned and is well-maintained by the Hamilton City Council and admission is free (kudos to the Hamilton City Council! ;)

Missy's sisters, Ate Jojo and Ate Joan, left us there to explore the whole afternoon and would come back for us by late afternoon. So Missy, Beth and I toured the first two garden collections and on the way to the 3rd collection where there was a Rose garden, we decided to get some coffee and then rest on an open field and as the grass was too inviting, we took a nap and by the time we were woken up by the rehearsing country band for a concert that night, Ate Jojo, Ate Joan and John (Ate Jojo's bf who resides in Hamilton) still found us on the grass slouching and we could only grin when Ate Jojo asked how was the Rose garden.

We had a picnic of a bucket of KFC chicken (by the way, there's also no gravy sauce in KFCs in NZ like in Singapore where there is no gravy but chili sauce...I wonder now if is it only in the Philippines that there is an overflowing supply of gravy in KFCs?) with a number of ducks that seemed to want to join us and the other picnickers. This is how we discovered the one-legged duck. We thought the duck was just hiding his other foot under its feathers (to amuse us and get the food? hehe) but after more observation, we saw that it just really had one leg. But the amazing thing is the one-legged duck looked healthy and seemed like it doesn't have difficulty with having one leg as it just did a little duck hop instead of duck walk. It looked cute but at the same time it made you feel pityful, as obviously this one-legged duck was singled out by the other normal ducks. So we gave the special treatment to the one-legged duck, it was only to it that we shared our food (the bread we had and not the chicken, ok? :-P we didn't think a duck would like to eat its relative, chicken). Funny how even animals behave like human beings on singling somebody out because of its being different from the usual. I admire this one-legged duck for despite its abnormality, it has managed to survive healthyly and was moving with the other normal ducks. This makes me wonder, how people who are called "abnormal" could actually live normally and are happy while some people who are born "normal" feel incomplete. But the again, is the one-legged duck really happy?

The City of Sails

That is Auckland, New Zealand.

It is the most dense place of New Zealand, having more than 25% of the population of the country residing there. It is very understandable though, because indeed this city has so much to offer. It has a charm that attracts you and makes you want to stay...

What makes it different from all the other cities I've been to is that amidst it being a busy and dense (but not crowded) area, you can have your space and relax. Perhaps because it is a city that blends the beauty of urbanity and rurality. It has the usual huffs of a city -- the cars and traffic jams, the tall buildings, the people walking along the streets, the bars, the red light district, the lights, the urban ambiance but at the same time the sky is clear, the air is clean and fresh, there are beautiful parks and amazing harbours that simply make one tiring busy day conclude with a big smile on your lips for sure. They have the perfect summer weather: sunny but cool. It is very conducive to having nice strolls and naps in the parks, something I found hard to do in the summer of Singapore (too hot), or the summer of Ireland (too cold), or the summer of Paris (too unsafe). It's no wonder I felt at home in Auckland, it was like I am so familiar to the place that I enjoyed going around the city by myself during the day, lie down on the grass in parks, and end in Starbucks to wait for Missy and Beth after office hours. What happens after we meet up is even a whole new wonderful and exciting adventure around the city, so exciting that time can be forgotten and you realize the car got locked in the parking lot! :)

There are many things to see and do in Auckland but aside from the natural landmarks like the harbours and volcanoes (oh yes, Auckland is surrounded by 50 volcanic fields!) there's two man-made landmarks that you shouldn't fail to go to:

Skytower - this is like the Eiffel Tower is to Paris and the Empire State building is to New York. It is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. Though it does cost a bit much to go inside it (23NZD), I think it's worth it because you can get to see a good view of Auckland from the observatory above. Plus, the interesting thing is, the Skytower has this device called "The Eye" where you can zoom in to areas around Auckland in real time and you can get a clear visibility of the place, too clear that I actually had an ingenious (i think) idea: that it is a perfect spot for proposing marriage -- you could for example, ask someone to hold up a "will you marry me?" placard in the garden of Albert Park, and then you go into the tower with your girlfriend and you innocently ask her to zoom in to Albert Park and voila! Sweet as! :)

Auckland Museum - is one of the best museums I've been to. As you know, I am not really into museums so it took me quite some effort to convince myself to go inside Auckland museum. It is quite a big museum, all 4 levels of it but amazingly, I enjoyed going around it because the exhibits are really interesting and interactive. Plus, the museum staff are really friendly and accomodating.

Though I wanted to try to take the public transport to go around the city and be non-touristy, I decided to take the Explorer bus anyway, a hop-on-hop-off shuttle service that tours you around the city as I could not afford to do a lot of experimenting since I didn't have the luxury of time (besides, I have a high tendency to get lost whenever I do my "experiments") . And I am glad I took it because it was really worth it for 30NZD -- you get to have a recorded commentary which is very informational and you could chose where to spend your time among of the 14 attractions it goes around to.

(Sigh) Ahhhhh...the awe of Auckland...