Reminiscing 2003

It’s true that life has its ups and downs. I’ve been through a lot of those this past year. For one last time, I look back on 2003…

January
The year started out fine, but then I found out that my friend Mich got into an accident with his motorcycle. He was admitted in the ICU in the hospital, had 2 operations, but never woke up from his coma, so he passed away that month.
Then a bright future opened up for another close friend of mine. Karlo got married to his (then) girlfriend, being the first member of the Funky Bunch to lose his bachelor status.

February
I started my job as trainee for the musical Dreamgirls. Rehearsals reigned over my leisure time. Heck, even in between classes, I’d go to rehearsal and come back to school for evening class. This was also the month when I realized I started having guy trouble with my (then) boyfriend.

March
The month when Dreamgirls opened and and ran for the entire month, at the OnStage Theater in Greenbelt. I was also getting confused with my relationship, so I opted for a cool-off period with Ari. Of course, it didn’t really help that I was also crushing on someone at almost the same time.

April
Started work for Trumpets Playshop, at the same time taking advanced musical theater classes there. It overlapped with the closing of Dreamgirls and final exams, but thank goodness I managed it pretty well, which was a relief. This month was also the first time I frequented Hard Rock Café to watch the gigs of Nyoy Volante and the Mannos. Nyoy, being a cast member of Dreamgirls, used to invite us all the time to his gigs, and I realized then what a talented musician this guy was. I started to enjoy listening to acoustic music.

May
I was occupied this month because of rehearsals of our Playshop showcase, Bye Bye Birdie. Our class bonded because of common complaints and late dinners after classes. We kept pouring our frustrations over food and coffee. At the same time, I was also juggling admin work (thank goodness it was also for Playshop so it wasn’t a hassle) and going to the gym every morning. Oh yeah, I was starting to become a fan of NWM, but I was so in denial then, hahahaha…

June
Not much highlights during this month, I guess. I do recall that a bunch of us in my CINMATO class got involved in a TV commercial, heeheehee. And we all went for the money, not the exposure.

July
Auditions for Urinetown was held this month. I was having 2nd thoughts about trying out, ahahaha. In the end, I got shy and didn’t go through with it.
Officialy broke up with my (then) boyfriend this month.
This was the month when Jill and I first met online. After a while, we finally got to meet in person. Then because of our online talks, there was the birth of the Official Nyoy Volante with Mannos website and the NWM Forum as well.

August
STAGFX class during this month. That was the funnest weekends I had while taking a class from 9 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon.
And yes, the first EB of the NWM Forum at Dish was one of the most significant things that had happened! I met new friends that I knew I would keep for a lifetime.
I also got involved in the rock opera, Ritmo Enkwentro, which served as the thesis of a bunch of my friends and classmates.

September
September’s what I now like to call my real groupie month. Watched gigs of Nyoy Volante with Mannos whenever I could find some people to go with me. Mostly Anne or Lyn or Jill or whoever. We also held our second forum EB then at the Hard Rock Café, but most of the people who came were the people who had been to the first one.
Then I secured another racket, which was for Nyoy’s Eclectic Acoustic Concert Series. Usually ticket sales and meetings with our boss, Myron, took place during this month.

October
I started the month still concentrating on selling tickets for the Eclectic Acoustic Concert series. Of course, there was the frustration because people expected that we were also selling tickets to their first major concert. Nyak. But the Eclectic series was actually fun. Myron was right about the joy of seeing your hard work being paid off.
Of course, despite that, I had to go through more guy trouble. I went out with a guy I once liked to know what it was like again to date. But then going out with him turned out to be a mistake. Thank goodness I realized that soon. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have known what would have happened.
But I learned how to be civil and professional. Once again, I applied what Tita Menchu taught me about not letting your personal feelings affect your work.

November
I prayed for peace of mind for this month. So I decided to lie low. I wanted to keep myself busy. Sure enough, my prayer was answered. I bagged another racket. This time a concert with the AKAfellas.
Still trying to keep my mind off things, I talked to close friends. They were the ones who really helped me with all the things that have been bothering me.
Then immediately after the concert, I finally got a paying job for Atlantis in Urinetown as wardrobe supervisor. Woohoo! I didn’t mind the rehearsals or the frustrating search for costume accessories. I was still having fun.

December
Mostly Urinetown kept me busy this month, specially during the weekends.
Ahahahaha, I almost forgot to write this down. I celebrated my 22nd birthday during this month. It was a day like any other day, really.
Another highlight was Tita Sherbet’s birthday celebration combined with another EB at Dish. After a month and a half of not going to NWM gigs, I came back.
Then I followed it up with the last day of recording of their 2nd album. A bunch of us got to go to the recording studio to celebrate the last day of recording, merged with a little Christmas party for us. We even got the opportunity to sing backup for one of their songs, coolness. And to end that eve…uhm, morning, I was asked why I was gone for a while. Hehehe, I’ll pass on that question, please. 

Whew.

I finally managed to do this summary. Hahahaha. I’ve seen this format in a couple of blogs, and I’ve been wanting to do it as well, but got too lazy. And here I am, still awake during the first few hours of 2004, typing this.

To the people I met and friends I made along the way, thank you. It wouldn’t be 2003 without you guys. You made my year complete. For the friendship, the love, the laughter, the tears, the memories we shared together, I raise a glass to y’all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!