I was supposed to write this long post at 2am, but the darn PC hung, and I got too lazy to get into the mood to write.

Yesterday afternoon, I had nothing to do while hanging out alone in Taft. I didn't really want to spend all my time (and money) sitting in Netopia, just surfing the internet, or stuff my face with food or even order a 2nd cup of coffee at Saje's.

So I impulsively hopped on a jeep and went to Greenbelt. Hahaha, I had decided to spend the rest of my remaining hours before rehearsal in Powerbooks Live. I ended up reading and finishing "Gossip Girl," the first random book I found near the kids' section. Interesting book. Sort of like Sex and the City for teens, but still typical chick lit.

When I returned to Taft to meet with Rain and Mish at McDo, I realized that I spent less paying fare to Greenbelt and back than spending for internet surfing or that cup of coffee, hahahaha.

While we were sitting in McDo, a couple of guys passed by. One of them was Santi, this dancer guy who was part of Stephen's thesis. I didn't notice the guy behind him, but a very familiar voice said, "Hogi?" Holy kamote, it was Red! I didn't know that he was still here in the country. I thought he was already back in Singapore. Hahaha, funny timing, I was wearing my Lion shirt that time.

Interesting talk after rehearsal today. Actually, conversations between me and a few friends have been pretty interesting. And one of those involved me. And an old, familiar situation. Oh well.

Show time is less than a week away. Oh, the anticipation.

We finally rehearsed in the theater yesterday. My golly, because I haven't performed onstage in a long time (except for that brief stint in Joseph's 2nd run), I forgot how big we had to adjust. Holy kamote. I was a midget, competing with the theater's lousy acoustics.

Mish and I were hanging out at Starbucks during the evening. While I ordered a Belgian waffle, I was staring at the guy behind the counter because he looked so much like the acoustic balladeer. Freaky, hahahaha. And the guy, in turn, was uber-polite to me. Then when I finally got my order and was about to take the tray to our table, he stopped me and asked for my name. "Huh?" I said. "Wala lang, I just wanted to know your name." Hahaha, I gave him my old nickname, which I usually give when ordering coffee.

I used to get that all the time before.

Hahaha, I woke up early Monday morning to try curling my hair. My hair is really straight, that when I tried curling it for my debut party, it went flat the moment I got home from the salon. And when I tried curling it the next time for a show, it got fried and became dry for a week.

So I didn't know what to expect when my mom and I set my hair. After 3 hours (gak), I had a head full of curls that reminded me of Shirley Temple's when she became a teenager.

Huwaw, the curls remained until I got home half an hour ago. That was a first, ahahahahaha.

Opening night's on Thursday, yikes.

First of all...

!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IAM !!!


OK, fine, I'll start plugging.

Please watch CSB Greenstage's (yes, I know some of you who've heard or are part of Blue Rep are raising eyebrows) production of Beauty and the Beast.

March 10, Thursday - 7pm
March 11, Friday - 10am, 3pm, & 7pm
March 12, Saturday - 3pm & 7pm

Tickets are P150 each.

CSB's Beauty and the Beast is finally over. What a relief. Hahahaha. Let me recap what happened these past few days.

Thursday, March 10

Our call time was initially at 8:30 in the morning, but because the lights aren't finished yet, we didn't do anything the whole morning. Then when we were finally all there backstage after lunch, it took a long time for eveyone to put make-up on. We had a paper tech that took up all of the afternoon, so we never got to have a real DTR. Hahaha, our opening show became our DTR instead. My mom and aunt came to watch, and it was so surreal to see them sitting next to Ari, and they didn't even recognize him (and vice versa). Hahahaha.

Friday, March 11

My golly, call time was at 8 in the morning, but this time, we had 3 shows, with the first one starting at 10 o'clock. Holy kamote. I guess I was kinda tulala in between shows. Ria was hilarious. She kept adding adlibs in every show. That was when some of the cast began to follow-through. Then people starting thinking of playtime. Hahahaha, I was victim to Earl waving at stage left during my soliloquy, and Drei at stage right with a flashlight to his face during another scene. Ngak, hahahaha. Oh yeah, after every show, everyone would be anticipating the lectures during company call. So whenever it was time for so, I would either be seen smiling sheepishly or with my head bowed down. But it's nice to hear from Miss Cindy that I was improving. Really?

Saturday, March 12

I got to sleep in a little because our call time wasn't until 1 in the afternoon. Hahaha, the first thing that came to mind when I woke up was "Thank goodness that this is the last day, hahahaha." It was so unlike my other theater experiences where I'd get all sentimental that it's going to be over. True, I will be missing the company of the cast and the dancers, but all good things must come to an end, right?

While we were getting ready for the afternoon show, word started going around behind Eika's back that we will be surprising her during the company call. Sir Jethro will pretend to yell at her, and then segue to say that it's her birthday the following day (which is today). So during company call after the matinee, Miss Cindy began her lectures as usual, along with the notes Sir Vince gave. Then Sir Jethro looked for an excuse to scold Eika, like wearing jeans instead of black pants, her responsibility to have everyone complete in time. What made it harder for Eika was that she was the only SM during that company call. She was told that Myra and Vivien went to the restroom. Then Sir Jethro began to shout at her for shirking her responsibilities kuno, even though some of it was pretty lame, hahahaha. Then segue to "Birthday mo pa naman bukas!" And suddenly Myra and Vivs went through the lobby doors with a cake, and we all sang Happy Birthday. It was classic!

!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EIKA !!!

  

Ay nako, people started coming up with more playtime, specially during the evening show. Before the show even started, I could see people whispering about, leaving weird things in other people's hand props. I fell victim to a couple more. When I was sitting on the bed onstage for one scene, I looked left and saw Jeffrey walk by wearing one of the ribbons the dancers use and turned it into a hairband. Wahahahaha! Then right after my scene with the wolves, I saw Jerohme holding the magic mirror, with a drawing of the Beast on it. I briefly quipped that I saw it before re-entering the stage, so I prepared myself for when Ryan holds it out to me. Hahahaha, when I took it, I decided to look at the frame to keep myself from laughing. That's when I noticed that they changed what was written. Hahahahaha!

The final company call was held at Shakey's. Wheeee, pizza and pasta galore, hahahahaha. Then afterwards, a bunch of us went to Providence to celebrate Eika's birthday with a videoke machine.

Congratulations to Stephen and everyone involved in Intersection, the play that served as his thesis! The play was truly a breakthrough.

Hahaha, I got to see that show three times, from opening on Monday til closing on Tuesday. Glad to help out as well.

I had this empty, lonely feeling while I was waiting for a ride home tonight. I should've known this was coming because I was feeling hyper all day.

I delight in simple pleasures such as the company of friends, sitting and talking. I had that the whole day, and when I said goodbye, my energy suddenly dropped. I felt so lonely standing in the dimly lit street by my lonesome.

===============

"I'm sorry."
"No, it's OK. You should apologize to yourself."
"It's just that... I don't know..."

Hindsight is always 20/20.

Thank you.

We celebrated Jill's birthday yesterday at Yellow Cab Taft. There was Jill, Maika, Peachy, Lexi, Teena, Tita Sherbet and Tito Sunny. Aw, I miss the MagaGANGda, hehehe. Pizza and ice cream galore combined with lots of laughs can really fill up your stomach.

Hung out with Rain and Drei at the condo afterwards, and while they were talking, I fell asleep on the bed. Hahahaha, ang baboy, kain tulog. By the time I woke up, they were playing a prank on Mish and got Nikki to join in. Ngek.

We all went to DLSU's Yuchengco Hall to watch Labor of Love, this chorale concert shwcasing the chorale of DLS-Dasmarinas (Son's part of it), DLSU and CSB. By the time CSB's Coro San Benildo went onstage, we all started anticipating dinner already, hahahaha.

So off we went to Wok Dis Way after the show with Son and Tam. MMmmm... Bagoong rice and sisig, yum.

Just got this pic from Iam today.



Iam, me (still dressed as Sabel) and Rosa, after the closing show of CSB's Beauty and the Beast.

Ew, my eyes look too dark. Darn that last scene.

Getting hungry. I'm out for now.

Wahahaha, I found this quiz in Tricia's journal, and decided to check it out.



Which Disney Princess are you?


What a joke, hahaha.

To quote, "Lola na talaga ako." Hahaha.

Yesterday, I didn't really have any definite plans about going out, because I didn't really want to travel far and I didn't really feel like staying out until midnight. All I wanted to do was watch Mamma Mia! at Greenbelt, hang out and talk at Starbucks afterwards, then go home.

Not as I expected.

Met up with Drei, Nikki and Mish at the condo, and we girls just sat on Drei's bed, talking, until Nicco arrived. Off we went to Glorietta for some dinner at Spam Jam. Hahaha, let me say, it was my first Spam Jam experience, and we all agreed that it was better if we just bought our own Spam and had it at home. Oh well. After Drei left to go to Southville for his younger brother's evaluation, we walked to Greenbelt 3, with me making the occasional snide comments about the sale crowd. Grr... One thing I hate about mall sales... Crowds.

Mamma Mia! was to be shown at the Greenbelt 3 park, that space between Seattle's Best and Starbucks, and because the chairs were only half-filled when we arrived, we had no problem getting seats. Hehehe, small talk with Julienne (who sat in front of us) before the show started, and he brought up the topic of Greenstage's Beauty and the Beast. He asked me if I was watching it, and I had to break it to him that I was part of it and that the run was already over.

The show was amusing. I sure wish they really could stage the entire musical here in Manila. I could see myself mouthing all the lyrics of the songs during the entire show, hahaha. Suddenly I remembered my 6-year-old self singing along with my parents' multiplex tapes of Abba songs (my favorite then was "Chiquitita").

After the show, we hung around with Rain (with cousin, but I'm sorry I forgot her name), Pam, Myra, Eika, Jerohme and Sir Joseph outside Seattle's Best, and then we trooped to Max's so the others who haven't had dinner yet can eat. Henry, with two friends from Godspell, joined us as well.

Most of the group wanted to go and have drinks at Temple Bar, but I really wasn't feeling up to it. Even with that, I still walked with them to Greenbelt 2. Apparently Nicco had to go to Stephen's place near school, so he said that he had to to go ahead. Eventually the rest followed because Greenbelt 2 was too crowded, and opted to go to Providence instead. Oh well.

To be honest, I wasn't in the mood for anything. My apologies to the Akakada for not going to Dish last night. I wasn't really expecting to stay out long after the Mamma Mia! show. Anyway, I didn't really feel like doing anything. Not even hang with the people at a bar, or watch them do a few rounds at the videoke. By the time we got to Prov, I ended up just sitting at a table with Mish, talking about her current dilemma.

I guess I outgrew the whole gimmick scene. True, I've been noticing this for quite a long while already. I'd rather sit and talk for hours with a friend than go someplace loud and crowded.

To Michelle, you may think na di mo kaya gawin yan, but I do believe that deep inside, you're truly a strong person. Heck, if you weren't, you probably would have crumbled right now. But you haven't. Doncha worry. We're always here for you.

During the entire Holy Week, comatose lang ako dito sa bahay. Once again, I apologize for those who want to go out, starting tomorrow, Palm Sunday. Ack, that leaves Peachy's graduation out of the picture. Uber-sorry, Peach.

Speaking of graduations, Tita Beng and I attended Grace's graduation today at the PICC. Rawr, crowds multiplied by hundreds, and I had to sit there for more than 4 hours. But... Congratulations to Beverly Grace Maliksi!

Getting hungry. The refrigerator's calling me, hahaha.

My apologies earlier if I was quiet. I can't handle tactlessness.

A friend warned himself about this situation that he avoided. Now I know how it feels.

Shhh...

Hahaha, I have a new toy.

Well, not really that new. It's actually my brother's that he left lying around the house. While he was here, I was always bugging him if I could borrow his cute little IAudio MP3 player. Now that he's working in Chicago, I don't have anything I can borrow and bring around with me to listen to.

Then I remembered that he left his Multimedia Jukebox here at home. It was what Kuya used before he got the MP3 player (when he realized how bulky it was to carry around with him. I found it last night in one of his drawers. Yay. Hahaha.



Yeah, yeah, I know a bunch of you already have iPods and stuff that are more compact that this one, but I don't care, ahehehe. This also doubles as an HD, coolness. I just hope it will survive with me, because I think Kuya had dropped this a few times before already.

I found this funny thread in PinoyExchange, in the Food and Drinks section. Someone was asking how to eat a taco.

Hahaha, the replies were pretty creative. Tilting the taco one way and your head another, crushing the taco and turning it into a taco salad, and even using another taco shell to catch the stuff that keep falling out with every bite.

Then there was this reply from one girl, mentioning a first date experience with a guy friend, and had tacos as appetizers. She figured that it was the guy's way of testing how she would react to a messy situation.

That was amusing. I mean, what would you do if you had a first date with someone and you had to eat messy food like tacos? Some girls would rather not loose their poise to make a good impression.

I, for one, would enjoy the experience, hahaha.

It's been ages since I last made a Friday five entry.

1. What is your favorite movie of all time?
It still has to be Noises Off.

2. How often do you watch this movie?
I don't have a copy of this movie, but when it was shown on Star Movies, I watched every screening, hahaha.

3. What's your favorite line out of the whole movie?
I have 3 favorites...
"Lloyd, since we're stopped, I just want to say that I've worked with a lot of directors. Some were geniuses, and some were bastards. But I've met one who was just so, totally... I don't know."
"And on we blindly stumble!"
"I've started to know what God felt like when he sat out there in the darkness, creating the world... Very pleased he'd taken his valium."

4. Who's your favorite character from this movie?
Dottie Otley, played by Carol Burnett. Hahaha, she was hilarious.

5. What scene do you love the most?
When everything was going crazy backstage while the play was still progressing onstage. Hahaha, you could hear the actors onstage and chaos was going on backstage without any noise. Hence the film's title.

I caught this reality show on MTV called Faking the Video. Hahaha, it was the first time in ages (OK, a few years) since I last tuned in to MTV. Basically, new PA's (production assistants) are hired to assist in the making of music videos. But what they don't know is that everything is fake and they're just being tested with all these situations they would encounter as a PA. In the end, only one PA will survive and end up working on the production of a real music video.

When I saw it this evening, they were already down to two PA's, a girl and a guy, and they were doing a JC Chasez video.

Hahaha, if they'd do the same kind of reality show here, I probably wouldn't hesitate to join.

Yesterday, while I was sitting by my lonesome in McDo Taft waiting for Peachy, someone was calling my phone. It was Ate Sally from Atlantis. Yep, I knew they were waiting for Holy Week to end before they call me. She asked me when I was free so I can be interviewed. I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible, so I set it for this morning. Woohoo...

We celebrated Cris' birthday last night at the club in Multinational Village. There was Rain, Mish, Nikki, Drei, Son, Lav, Arni, Arman, Rosch and me. Hahaha, let me just say... A few drinks and a lone lollipop can make people do the craziest things, HAHAHAHAHA!

After the party, we stayed over at Arman's house and caught up on a couple of hours of sleep. Actually, I was supposed to leave the party at 11 last night, but we were already going crazy at our own table so I decided to stay. So when my mom told me to just wait for the morning before going home to get ready for my interview.

I was at home long enough to eat breakfast, take a bath and get dressed, and then off I went to Makati.

One thing I noticed when I stepped into the office were the chairs. Most of them were actually used in previous plays. The love seat I was sitting on was from Baby, the painted wooden chair next to it was from Proof, and there was another chair next to one of the computers that I recognized from Dreamgirls. Hahahaha.

So there, I bagged the job to help Ate Sally at the Atlantis office. I have 2 months as a trainee, and then if they think I'm worth keeping, I can work with them until August or even longer than that. Wheee... I start work this Friday. An office job, but at least it's related to theater. I can learn more about the business.

I'm sitting right now at a computer terminal in Netopia here in Taft. I'm gonna say goodbye to lazy afternoons in this area for now.

I've been listening to Seussical since last week, and I got hooked, hahaha.

Late Tuesday afternoon, when I found a bit of quiet alone time, I suddenly felt so depressed and couldn't figure out why. I remembered listening to this particular song in the musical.

HOW LUCKY YOU ARE

When the news is all bad,
When you're sour and blue,
When you start to get mad
You should do what I do-

Tell yourself
How lucky you are...

When your life's going wrong
When the fates are unkind
When you're limping along
And get kicked from behind
Tell yourself how lucky you are...

Why decry a cloudy sky
An empty purse
A crazy universe?
My philosophy is simply
Things could be worse!

So be happy you're here.
Think of life as a thrill
And if worse comes to worse
As we all know it will
Thank your lucky star
You've gotten this far...
And tell yourself
How lucky you are!
How lucky, how lucky, how lucky,
How lucky, how lucky you are!

It made me feel a little better. Just a little.

Then I listened to it again now. Just a little background on the song. This part is somewhere near the end of the first act of the musical, when everything was going crazy. Then the Cat In The Hat suddenly appears and freezes everything, and begins the song. When he unfreezes the people one by one, the cast members' attitudes instantly change from terror-stricken to carefree. Hahaha. Just thinking about it makes me laugh.

And then I tell myself how lucky I am.

I just have to share this.

How to Fold a Shirt

Hahahaha. And I actually took out one of my shirts and tried it.