tymeless

When my brother messaged me last night, I was surprised to see that his status message in Facebook read Christopher says "Wicked The Musical is wickedly awesome!"

Hogi: SHET, YOU SAW WICKED???!?
Christopher: napanood ko pala witched nung sabado
Christopher: wicked
Hogi: SHET KAAAAAAAA
Hogi: waaaaah
Hogi: may program ka?
Hogi: photos?
Hogi: anything?
Hogi: souvenir?
Christopher: i just have the ticket and playbill
Hogi: rawr, akin na lang! hahahaha!
Christopher: just remind me not to throw it away
Hogi: please please please don't throw it away

Haha, that photo is of him and his friend Joseph at a clumsy attempt to imitate the poster. Yes, my brother is the one wearing sunglasses. During the evening. Hahahaha.

After laptop hunting yesterday with Peachy in Park Square, I met up with Lara so we could go to rehearsal together. When we had decided to grab dinner first, she started asking if we have any other alternative ways to get to Taft. If we take the MRT-LRT route like I had suggested, she reminded me of the anaconda of a line to get inside. She then suggested we take a bus all the way to the LRT so we can just walk. I kept wondering why she insisted on walking all the way along Taft because we only do so when our rehearsal was at San Isidro. I still insisted on taking the MRT-LRT way, because even with the crazy lines, we don't have to endure the traffic jams along Buendia, especially when we only have at least fifteen minutes to get to rehearsal.

When we had arrived at the LRT station at Vito Cruz and rounded the block to St. Scholastica, Lara suddenly asked, "Is that the church na?" I then mentioned St. Cecilia's Hall inside the school. Nyahahay, as it turned out, she didn't get to read the text from Geli all that much and assumed that we're still rehearsing at San Isidro. Holy kamote, thank goodness we had decided to meet up in Makati, otherwise, she would've been waiting for quite a while in San Isidro.

So we rehearsed for the first time in St. Cecilia's Hall. Holy kamote, the last time I was inside that theater was during the restaging of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat way back in 2004. No wait, I was also there to watch a few shows by GTF, hahaha. So anyway, we ran through the first act, as we only had two hours to rehearse that evening.

It's so funny how a couple of the cast calls Lara, Jojo and I as one unit. "Hogi and the gang." Ngi. I hate it when people do that, hahaha. Another is when people call you by your role or by your character's name instead of your real name. Igh. Oh well.

tymeless

Spent the entire afternoon until evening with Drei and Carla at ATC. Southside unite! Hahaha, basically we only had plans on watching a movie, then playing it by ear. Everything turned out to be a "back-to-high-school" thing, because almost everything that we did was the same stuff that a "high school gimmick" was composed of back in our days.

Found Drei in Starbucks when I arrived in ATC. I always enjoy coffee shop moments like this. Spent a couple of hours just sitting there and talking, even until Carla had finally arrived. When it was already past 2pm, we headed to the cinemas to watch Babylon A.D. Haha, I wanted to watch Wall-E, which I've been planning to watch for ages, but because it was Drei's treat, I decided to go for what he wanted. Hey, I never say no to a freebie, hahaha. Thanks, Drei! As per tradition, food is a must when watching a movie, so off to the nearby Burger King stall. Man, we were only 5 minutes into the film, and Drei and I were already thinking the same thing. "Ang sarap ng chicken sandwich." Hahahaha!

It was supposedly a good movie, because Drei found a 9/10 rating of it. Well, the ending sucked. So the movie was going pretty well, specially with Vin Diesel as the lead, but there were a whole bunch of things that I just had to question by the time the credits rolled. What was up with that ending? Hahaha, we were kinda frustrated with the ending as we left the cinema.

So where next after watching a movie? Timezone! Hahahaha! All 3 of us reloaded our Powercards and off we went. The first thing we went to was the photo sticker booth, HAHAHA! My goodness, now what's more old school high school than that? My goodness, back when we were in high school, photo sticker booths were only simple Neoprint booths. Now they have more designs, backgrounds, multiple cameras... and wind effect? Hahahahaha! My goodness. After hacing our photos printed out and cut (manually by Drei), we headed to our current favorite game, Dance 86.4, which is a simpler version of Dance Dance Revolution. After Drei beat me in the first round, it was Carla's turn to challenge the winner. Then I declared a rematch, and I finally beat Drei, hahaha! Afterwards, we tried the Trivia game, a little basketball shootout, and then joined forces at Deal or No Deal. Hahaha, after every random pick, we ended up winning. We eventually decided to exchange combined tickets for prizes, and we each got a teeny stuffed toy for those dangly cellphone things (I don't really know what they're called), hahaha. Of course, I couldn't leave Timezone without playing my favorite game of Percussion Master, wheee. After two round of that, my arms were ready to give way, ahehehe.

Stopover at Juice Bar and at House of Obagi to meet with Drei's friend Chrissy for a while, then off to Starbucks to talk. Hahaha, common topic was propective significant others of Carla and Drei. Carla was more amusing, of course. She was so kilig the entire time that I was totally entertained. Our talk eventually evolved into drinking parties, pimping and other stuff, hahaha.

After a long while, we started getting hungry (and only realized it when Carla brought it up), so we headed to Food Choices to eat. Not a lot to choose from at 9pm, but at least we stuffed ourselves full before we called it a day.

Man, I missed hanging out with Drei and Carla and the rest of the (southside) gang. There used to be the three of us plus Nicco, Drew and Rianne, back when we were filming Kopihaus #8 (which was also brought up amidst our reminiscing). All those late nights, late dinners at SEx (Sinangag Express), and late talks outside Nicco's house as well as mine.

One funny text exchange this afternoon was with Peachy.

Peachy: Arianne's in Kapeng Malamig pala!
Me: Hahaha, you know her?
Peachy: Yeah! Hello! Sister ni Geneve!
Me: Oh shit! She was the birthday girl in 2005?
Peachy: Yes! Ano ba... Haha...

Waaaiiit a minute. So the Arianne I'm working with was the same Arianne whose birthday I crashed 3 years ago?

Hahaha, to backtrack, one time in April of that year, I went to a gig of Nyoy's to do a little surprise birthday video for Maika's 18th birthday. After shooting each of the band members' birthday greetings, Maynard got me to tag along with him, Nyoy and Nina to a couple of birthday celebrations, before we head home together. 1st was a formal debut at Manila Peninsula, then another 18th birthday at some girl's condo. The second girl was Arianne, a huge Nina groupie whose name and photos I used to see a lot in Peachy's blogs and photo albums. By the time I had arrived at the building with Memey, I was already getting stares from all the girls in attendance at the party. My goodness, you cannot imagine how uncomfortable it was standing inside the elevator with all those people, most of which were still giving me those strange stares, some with raised brows. Thank goodness another familiar face greeted me by the time we had arrived at the girl's condo unit. Camille, another Nina groupie who knew me through Peachy, started talking to me. Anyway, I think after enduring the stares of all the girls that night, I was so relieved when Memey had decided to head for home.

My golly, now I'm wondering if Arianne had remembered me from that night. Hahahahaha! I remember whispers from that time that she had really wanted Memey to be there, and my appearance with Memey was the one thing that caused all their staring and eyebrow raising.

tymeless

Uy, for the first time, my blog entry's title is in Filipino.

It's pretty disappointing when I see friends that suddenly seem to have a certain air of arrogance that they never had before. Yung parang dati, parang ang super close ninyo, pero ngayon, parang wala lang. Snob pa nga kung minsan maski andyan ka na sa harapan nila. OK, so they may be preoccupied or something, but it doesn't really hurt to give a hello, a wave, or even a smile or a simple nod. It only takes a couple of seconds to do so. Tapos may iba pa nga na dinedma na ang lahat ng forms of communication, pero may oras pa rin mag-online para sumilip-silip lang. Yung hirap pa sa iba, ikaw na ang ume-effort for their convenience, pero wala pa rin.

It's pretty sad, really. So what if they're in some sort of exclusive circle? So what kung medyo umangat ang status nila? So what kung naabot na nila ang gusto nila? That doesn't give them the right to brush others off, especially yung mga super close na kaibigan mo pa. Magsasarili pa with those new people they found. Or worse, magsasarili na lang, period.

Before may mga mag-react, I'm not pinpointing just one person in particular here. Hahaha, baka may mga mag-assume na isa nanaman ito sa mga brooding entries ko na naka-blind item. Nope, it's not that.

Who knows, baka meron din kayong mga naging kaibigan na ganyan. Or I could be describing you.

tymeless

Kapeng Malamig was supposed to have a show last Saturday, but a week before then, we were told of a conflict in the venue due to an event in the school, so our September 6th show got cancelled. There were supposed rehearsals in the morning, but not all of us were needed. So Lara got me to go with her to a VTR in Cubao that afternoon.

When it comes to planning things, I've been used to keeping what was agreed upon unless someone confirms otherwise. Once the date is set, game na, unless you'd inform me if things will fall through. Apparently, Lara was used to having people confirm with her on the date itself if things are still pushing through. So by the time I had sent her a text message that I had arrived an hour early at our meeting place, she had assumed that I wasn't going because I hadn't confirmed that morning. At the same time I had sent the message, I received a messaged from her saying that she wasn't feeling up to going anymore. Hahaha, another problem was that it was raining in her area, and most of her messages were lagging. Once she got my message, she left her house in her signature dash.

By the time we managed to find the building where the VTR was at, we arrived there almost at the same time as this guy, Patton, who was also there for the VTR. Ended up hanging out with him in Gateway while Lara and I killed time as we waited for Joan to arrive. Us three girls were planning on watching The Golden Child (Filipino version) in CCP, while Patton was planning to watch The Silent Soprano in AFP. As we talked, it amused us how small the world keeps getting. Patton talked about how he was just breaking into the indie film biz. Lara ranted about how her recent stint in mainstream went. I just listened and put in my own two cents.

When Patton had left, Lara and I moved to Coffee Bean while we waited for Joan. Off to the MRT when she arrived. My goodness, the anaconda of a line at the MRT was crazier than rush hour, because of the ongoing UAAP games in Araneta. For quite a long time, they even stopped entrance of people going south, until one irate guy behind me started complaining and ranting at the guard loudly, specially because a whole lot of people simply said that they were going north just so they can get on to the southbound platform ahead of the rest of us. So on a whim, Lara, Joan and I decided to take the northbound train instead and then go back. Haha, by the time we had reached the platform, they resumed entry to southbound passengers, so we went back to the other side. Made it to CCP with at least 5 minutes to spare, hahaha.

Per usual, The Golden Child was spectacular. English or Filipino, it's still a great show. One thing, though, was sometimes Art Acuna sometimes spoke in a rush that he buckled over words. Other than that, I still have to say that the play is still outstanding. The set seemed to have simplicity but was well executed, and of course, its cast was very powerful. There were so many lines that struck me, specially that part about adapting to change (which Martha had also posted in one of her blog entries). And the simple wit just cracks me up. Bow ako sa inyo.

Yesterday (Sunday), I decided on a whim to watch Theater Down South's production of Rapunzel. Lara (which I shall call Mae for this part of this entry) and her friend Lara with son Gino also came to watch. Before I start talking about the play, I'd like to give my usual disclaimer that all that I put down is my own honest opinion. I'm not some critic writing for some high-brow publication anyway. To each his own, remember? Ria, here's what you asked for yesterday that I couldn't seem to voice out yet.

P350 for an hour-long musical was a bit steep. But considering the market is the people in Alabang who can afford it, I guess it's alright... for them. Community theater kayo, right? Do you give discounts for students and such? Because the theater was mostly populated by kids. OK, so this is a musical written by the creators of the popular sitcom Friends. So they put in that sort of humor in a children's play. But damn, that burned a hole in my wallet. Among a cast of 7, not a lot stood out. The witch looked menacing, yes, but in her efforts to be menacing as she spoke with that accent, I can barely understand half of what she's saying. Her witchiness was pretty much like a caricature, but hey, at least it entertained the kids. More caricature-ish acting from Rapunzel herself, plus the prince and his steward. Rapunzel and Prince Brian also spoke a little too fast, but at least the steward made up for it (sometimes, as his voice sometimes faded out, showing how dependent the cast was of the lapel microphones). Only a few voices stood out--The Prince and the 3 ensemble. Also, is the character of the Prince supposed to be this sort of papa's boy or mama's boy, seeming helpless all the time that the steward always has to dig him out of his own stuff? I've also noticed that there were a lot of funny lines that were sort of put to waste, as it wasn't delivered all that well. Wait, that sounded pretty bad. To rephrase, ang daming funny lines na nasayang dahil tinatapon lang na parang wala yung delivery niya. Parang mali ang timing, I guess. Then there's that scene in the palace where the four (Rapunzel, Prince Brian, Witch and King) sing this song about growing up. Do the two guards in the background have to dance like that? No offense, but dancing with your mouth open like that was a tad much of playing it off for laughs, much like some of the stuff in this entire play.

I guess that's it. Time to hide before people start pelting me with anything they get their hands on.

tymeless

Here's a thought. Because of all the conversations I had this weekend about film and theater, I'd like to hear from you guys this time.

Please comment with your opinion on film (either mainstream or indie, or both) and theater, or compare and contrast the good and bad points of each, based on whichever of them you prefer or are already involved in. And you can also cite some of your first-hand experiences if you want.

tymeless

Last week, while I was hanging out in Glorietta with Nikki, she started asking me questions about our other friends, asking about updates about them. Hahaha, it's so funny how she asked, given that she knew how I always to try get together with everyone in our crowd. As we started to reminisce at some point, I told her about my blog entry where I listed down a whole lot of notes on my thesis, where they all performed in.

Then the conversation shifted to my secret-keeper moments again, and my private blog where I wrote about everyone. Nix started to wonder again what I wrote in it about her, and also about everyone else. Hahaha. The blog first began as an outlet when I needed to let anything out even though I'm not really ready to tell it to anyone. Ever, Hahaha.

I logged into that private account earlier and began reading some of my entries. It began when I was wary with other people, when I was too afraid to talk to anyone. People started opening up to me and telling me their secrets. Of course, to keep me from squealing, I had to let it out. So I put it in the blog as well. As one friend had told me, it was tempting to hack into that account just to check out everything I wrote. Hahaha, good luck on finding it.

I even found some crazy conversations over Yahoo! Messenger that I had posted there as well. Funny conferences, weird messages, you name it. Even text messages that I had kept in my old phone were there.

Even with all the weird and crazy experiences I had blogged about in that journal, I wouldn't want to go back in time to change it. I don't really regret everything that had happened. Blogging about all of these and looking back as I read them made me feel great and glad that I had survived those.

tymeless

I easily find happiness in the simple joys that happen everyday.

I was grateful for a simple compliment during a conversation this morning. How flattering.

Then in the middle of another conversation, this time through text messaging, the message of a close friend about something I had done before also lifted my spirits. I was told that if it weren't for what I did, that wouldn't wouldn't have come close to reaching the dream that was finally there.

I was also grateful for the rain, and even the cancellation of rehaearsals (even though we really do need the time to rehearse). Because of that, I impulsively went to CCP to give Tad a surprise visit after their Mulan show. Seeing him really made my day, and I was giddy all throughout dinner as we talked and joked around.

"... For happiness is anyone and anything at all that's loved by you."

Hahahahaha. I'm such a giddy little cheeseball.

tymeless

We finally did a run-through of Kapeng Malamig during yesterday's rehearsal. The past couple of rehearsals were sort of a mess, what with hardly any people coming on time, some people still had to polish their songs and the choreography always had to be rehearsed over and over again as well. Even without Tiffy, I guess I can say that we made progress on Friday when we did so.

So yesterday afternoon. Arrived a few minutes before call time, only to find that Och/Rose was the only one there. Geli was going to be late because forgot her wallet. Oh well. A few minutes after 2pm was the only time the people started trickling in. Waited for Jerome to arrive so we can finally polish the choreography and adjust it to the stage. My goodness, those warm-ups reminded me of what we used to do in Roeder's class, hahaha. At least it helped a lot. A brief exercise in sharp movements kept our sharp poses in the opening scene in check. But darn those chaines turns. In Angel's song, a whole of bunch of us had to do right-handed turns, so chaines were included in the warm-up... but left-handed turns? Arg... Oh well, at least the chaines were way easier than the pirouettes Roeder used to make us do when he taught us some basic ballet steps. So anyway, we polished "Kapeng Malamig", "Angel's Song" and "Sayang Naman" before we started the run-through.

It was a fairly OK first run, even with the pacing that seemed slow and there were a bunch who were adlibbing extra lines and missing cues. Plus because the door at stage right that led to the music department's hallway was locked, we had no choice but to use the house as a crossover.

Still no costumes and set, as both will arrive on Tuesday. Oh well.

After rehearsals, I went to Karlo's house (which is walking distance from mine) for Mano's despedida. Hahaha, I was the early bird, as usual, so Karlo was the only one there. Got to talk to his adorable 5-year-old son Luke until he had to go to bed as we waited for Mano, Dave, Barry, and Mano's friend Jinky to arrive. My golly, I missed these guys. It's just sad that I doubt the Funky Bunch will ever be complete again. I was always "just one of the boys" when I'm with them back in high school, and I don't think anything had changed at all while we talked last night over Karlo and Barry's vodka mix. Domini had arrived from work at around 11, and she joined us for more talk, jokes and photo ops. Too bad I had to leave after the 2nd pitcher of drinks. But man, I'm so glad I got to see them again. They've been my big brothers since our track and field days and anime days.

tymeless

The past week had some ups and downs, and Kapeng Malamig closed in quite an interesting manner. 

We were told that the set pieces were to arrive on Tuesday, but it was moved to Wednesday. I had to come in after lunch because we were told that the props and costumes were coming in from the Kapeng Malamig HQ that afternoon. Due to certain complications that Ren never fully explained to us, we never saw any of those props and costumes. Resorted what we could find when we had to run the show and never finished. Another problem was that none of us hadn't received our rehearsal fees, which were promised that day after being delayed the day before. "My bad," that was all we've got, even though Gino and Apple had voiced out that it wasn't fine with some of us, plus it was already agreed upon in our individual contracts.

No rehearsals on Thursday and Friday, due to a recital in the venue during those two days. I didn't mind, really, as a personal issue arose the entire Thursday, where I spent the entire day holed up in my room, not even bothering to come out to eat. Stupid move, as after I had tried to eat a late dinner, I threw up not once, but three times, because of the food intake and dehydration. Then I got the bad news that Ren and Arvin cancelled all 3 shows of  Kapeng Malamig, giving a stupid reason that there were technical problems and the audience wasn't enough. They called a meeting for the following evening to voice everything out. Didn't get to go, as I still wasn't feeling well that day. But I did hear that everyone did voice out what Ren needed to hear. Because of that, the shows were back on.

7am call time. When I arrived 5 minutes before call time, the venue was still locked. Oh well. By the time it was opened, we all did some, uhm, minor adjustments to the stage. And because there still weren't stuff from the HQ, we all provided our own costumes and props. Everyone gave the Friday absentees a full description as to what happened the night before. Everyone was totally pissed off at Ren and Arvin. They pulled off the stupidest stunts I couldn't even imagine.

No particular break whatsoever, so after an Italian run, we all rushed to get ready, and our first show was already pretty delayed. During last Wednesday's runthrough, I was contracted by Arianne and Vanie as a dresser for their quick changes, and I managed to plot everything in my head, including my own costume changes. Fortunately on Saturday, Vanie found an easier way to change, so I ticked that off my mental list. But Noah also needed a dresser as well for his 2 costume changes in one scene alone. Easy as pie. Arianne's changes were the trickiest, but we managed to pull everything off smoothly.

After the first show, we were an hour late, so we immediately prepped up for the second show. Was already starving because of hardly any food intake, though I did have a couple of packages of crackers and a bottle of Gatorade, plus there's the ensaymada that Chieboy had brought along with some boxes of Zest-O juice. Everyone was more revved up during the 2nd show; it was such a blast. People said that the 2nd show was our best run. Bwahaha, during the scene between Shanna and Lester in the 2nd act, Geli somehow got trapped in the coffee shop set because she had to get the props that Arianne had needed.

Final show. Still starving. Mikko and I had indulged in one of the unopened ensaymadas during the 2nd show, and we still hadn't finished it. It was still a good show, but it didn't really top the 2nd run. Well, we still gave it our all, though. Congrats to everyone!

Company call after the 3rd show to discuss the talent fees. Ren and Arvin's audacity to fool everyone with their stupidity still amazed us. Everyone was still raving mad at them, and I even surprised myself by also speaking up, especially because I didn't get to have my say during the Friday meeting. No one wanted to leave until all accounts were settled. Hello, what can a check for 200 thousand pesos do for us when it was issued to Arvin AND it was dated for the 23rd? What if the check bounced? We were counting on all fees to be paid AFTER THE SHOW. Breach of contact, people.

We all moved the party to Ministop, as we had to vacate the campus. Everyone was still mad, and we caused quite a scene, especially when Geli's mom and brother turned up as well. And Ren and Arvin's faces never changed. It pissed all of us off that they still had the gall to lie in our faces even though they were already in deep sh*t.

To finally settle things, we all decided to take them to the nearest precinct, along Mabini in Malate. To make a long story short, we couldn't sue them yet until after the check would be encashed on the 23rd. If the check bounced, that's when we could file a case against them. And when we were all ready to finally settle with that, more and more issues came up, just with the simple action of checking what was inside the message inbox of Ren's phone. Voices rose for the nth time that night until morning when the sun was about to rise.

So to everyone who will come across this blog and had the patience to read all the way through, please watch out for KAREN CAPUNIHAN, former general manager and production manager of Creative Impact Productions. She owes about half a million pesos to several people (and companies) and seems to have no intention of paying them back.

Panalo ang weekend na ito. Daig pa ang isang cast party ang nangyari. Cast parties have drinking, eating, laughing and puyatan until after the sun rose. Puyatan din kami sa nangyari. At least we still managed to laugh at some points from Friday until yesterday morning.

"I'm not shouting, but I'M SHOUTING RIGHT NOW!"
"Good thing I don't even remember your name, because your name will live in infamy! X ka na sakin."
"I wanted to say the same thing, but I'm glad that this time it didn't come from me. Salamat, Baks."
"You know what I could do to you when I'm this near to you?" ("Spank" ba naman ang i-reply imbis na "slap"? Siguro mukha nga kasing pwet, hahaha.)

Teka, wala na akong ma-recall. Maybe I'll add to that when I remember, hahahaha.

tymeless

Martha, this is all your fault, hahaha!

Martha had sent me a text message a few days ago, asking if I still had my copy of Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Unfortunately most of my scripts were packed in a huge cardboard box in our annex, and I have no idea which scripts were still there. I remember lending a huge bag of those to Nicco at least a couple of years ago and he hasn't returned any of them yet. Anyway, I promised Martha I'd hunt for it, even though my copy was the edited version, because it was the script we had used for our acting workshop.

Then I found out from her Multiply that she's looking for a whole bunch of plays, two of them was already produced by Atlantis (Proof by David Auburn and Doubt by John Patrick Shanley), and both of which I had worked at backstage. Told her that I could lend it to her, and off I went hunting for all three plays. Proof was already in my room, so that was easy enough.

When I searched for the 2 remaining plays, I found them together. Haha, no surprise there. I was juggling work for Doubt while I was taking the acting workshop and rehearsing for the recital of Our Town. I also found a brown envelope tucked inside my Doubt script. Hahaha, inside the envelope were the 2 artworks Bea had done as opening and closing night gifts for the entire cast and crew. I had to laugh at the closing night artwork. Aside from the usual cartoon drawings of all of us (as she had done in the opening night artwork), she had put quotes from the play that applied to each of us. Mine said, "Do I perform?" Hahaha! I remember bringing along my Our Town script to every rehearsal, and during breaks, I would ask Bea to help me with my lines.

Other favorite quotes:
"Art. Waste of time." (Sister Aloysius, for Bea)
"I've been longing for my peace of mind." (Sister James, for Chie)
"I thought you were satisfied with me." (Sister James, for Kuya Egay)
"Where's your compassion (and notebook)?" (Father Flynn, for Nic)
"He's after the boys." (Sister Aloysius, for Manman)
"He had alcohol on his breath." (Sister Aloysius, for Johnsy)
"Boys are of a different breed." (Sister Alousius, for Bobby)

Hahaha, and the list goes on. We had a preliminary list for that that we Bea, Chie, Mia and I keep talking about over the headset, but the ones listed above were only some that made it to the cartoon.

I read the script again this afternoon, and kept wondering. Was Father Flynn really guilty of the crime that Sister Aloysius had accused him of? Nic's performance every night kept confusing me. I heard that he and Chari were the only ones in the production who knew whether Father Flynn was guilty or not. I couldn't tell because during some shows, Nic played it as if Flynn was innocent. Then during some, he played it guilty. I remember catching one of the last weekend shows that he played it off guilty, that he looked so desperate to convince Sister Aloysius and to get Sister James on his side. Arg. Paging Chari and Nic, can either of you let me know? Hahahaha!

I also read the Proof script (for the nth time) as well. When I first started re-reading it sometime last year, I kept hearing the voices of Lea, Tita Menchu, Mike and Joel as they performed it. So I decided to read it differently each time, giving each character a different voice. It was actually fun, because each line could have different interpretations and subtext.

I didn't read through Our Town, as I started getting sleepy by the time I was finished with Proof. But I remembered watching a production early this year by students of the PHSA, and they gave a different twist to it and calling it Our Flavored Town. They were amazing. Reading the script or watching any version of it, I always have tears in my eyes during that moment when Emily went back in time, trying to take everything in, and eventually losing grasp because everything passed so quickly. Looking back at our own performance in the Batute, sitting by my lonesome as Mimay delivered one particular line, my eyes had filled with tears because it applied to all of us.

Speaking of which, Mimay's off to the US again, indefinitely. I'll miss you, Mims. Mwah!

Aw, senti mode.

tymeless

Over a year ago, while I was a newbie at Virgin Labfest 3  in CCP, Tad fessed up through text during the wee hours of morning that he loved me, and would gladly quit the play we working at together just to keep things from getting awkward. The feeling wasn't mutual then, but we've been pretty close since we became friends. I refused his offer to quit, and would handle things professionally. In other words, we barely talked during rehearsals and shows, except on the day after he had an accident at the Little Theater during a show (he fell and hit his head and started bleeding during a staged reading) and while I was helping another ASM with their play.

When Labfest ended and Minette immediately gave me another project under TP (Pilipinas Circa 1907), Tad and I started getting closer. I frequently visited the male dressing room to say hello to him, Henry, Kuya Bong and the rest of the ensemble when I arrive at the theater, and even after I had finished setting up my laptop and projector (which only took a few minutes). On crazy days when I first encountered problems with the computer I had first started using, Tad took the time to check up on me even when he still had to get into his costume and makeup. He knew I usually skip meals when I'm harassed, so he would buy me dinner even without my asking and keep it in their dressing room until I found the time to grab a bite.

On the day of the cast party, I invited him to have lunch with me before call time "just because it's the closing day." I kept refusing to go to the cast party after the show, but still ended up going even though I still had work the next morning. When he took my hand in his during the ride to Ana's house, I didn't let go. During the party, even though we all had our own share of crazy, Tad and I mostly kept to ourselves, and I told him that we can give this a shot.


Exactly a year ago, we finally became official. The evening seemed casual, and when I told him, he even thought I wasn't serious, hahaha. We celebrated over a banana split and a rehearsal of Insiang. Hahaha, the cast of that production were the very first people who had heard the news.

And now, one year later, we're still going strong.

To one of my bestest friends, my number one critic, my counselor, my confidante, my partner-in-crime, my voice of reason, and my inspiration, I LOVE YOU! Thank you for always being there, even when I didn't know I needed you. I will always remain your biggest fan. =)

tymeless

Rosa, Iam and I had had this huge craving for sushi since the beginning of the month, and even before then, so we wanted to have another sushi party at Omakase or even try the eat-all-you-can thing at Red Kimono. Unfortunately we all had schedule conflicts, and budget was also an issue on my side. We agreed to wait until Kapeng Malamig was over so I can get paid first.

Well, that didn't happen. Due to the fiasco the show producer had done, we didn't get paid. People were still trying to work on things to put an end to this problem, and I decided not to dwell on it and take my mind off it for now. So Rosa proposed a "feel-better" sushi party at my house, and yesterday was the day. Rosa got sushi and spicy tuna salad (which I was really craving for) from Omakase, and Iam picked up pre-ordered kuchay pie and dumplings from Mister Teo (thank you to all those who posted the website!).

Cooked the dumplings and kuchay pie at my house, and finally it was time to eat! Hahaha! The food from Mister Teo came with this big jug of soy sauce mixed with vinegar and garlic, and we started reliving our grade school and high school days with the kuchay pie and dumplings. Haha, Zobel alumni, diba kailangan pang itusok ang bote ng toyo sa kuchay pie to get the seasoning in? Yun na lang ang kulang namin, pati ang mga white blouses na natuluan ng toyo.

Girl talk as we ate, and once we were stuffed, we retired to my room to hang out and watch a little TV. Na-okray pa namin ang Lipgloss, that local rip-off of a US TV series, because Iam was pretty curious about it. After one reality show on ETC, we started prepping up to go to Antakya in Festival Mall for some drinks and a comedy act.

Antakya is an open-air bar and restaurant on the ground floor of Festival Mall, near the exit where McDonalds can be found. Got a table near the bandstand, and chuckled at the song selections the band had for their first set. Puro para sa mga walang syota, ano ba yan, hahaha.

Waited for the band's set to end because Rosa had mentioned this stand-up comedian who performs whenever she goes there. Kim was funny, and he never runs out of funny quips for anyone who wants to sing videoke onstage. There was even this adorable little girl named Alex, and she's got a beautiful set of pipes. As it turned out, her mom's a band vocalist, so everyone requested for a song by Alex and her mom. Love that kid. I think Iam has a video of her singing.

Headed home after the first set of videoke. All in all, yesterday was one of the best days I've had. Much-needed quality time with my 2 best friends was exactly what I needed. Thanks, Rosa and Iam. Love you both! =)