Il Divo on Babs

...This adventurous attitude they [Il Divo] showed was imbibed from working with Barbra Streisand who asked them to participate in her tour. David [Miller, the American divo] saysIl Divo and Barbra spoke nil about personal stuff during rehearsals and even their sit down dinner to discuss their numbers. All dialouge was about work, work and yet again, work. "Barbra is a very emotional persona. We learned just from how her mind works and how she sings live that she essays a song differently every time. As opposed to opera singing that's regimented in technique--almost to the point of leaving out the humanity factor--the music Barbra does gives her license to give a new show every time she steps on stage no matter if it's the nth installment of the tour. She's master at improvisation. For her, time--whether hers or her audience--is too precious to be wasted on redundancy,' says David."

from the Manila Bulletin, January 28, 2007, p. L4.

life in manila

i now have a few things on my mind since i've gotten >7 of sleep, threshold for creativeness and optimum functioning (based entirely on my own opinion).

first, i remember the reprimand we got from RVG, all points well taken. i felt embarassed about myself (though i passed the exam) because here i am, now getting all my 'requests' so i can study better and yet im doing 'just ok.' the truth is i've never been the one to exert 100% effort, i don't know why. i'm happier with minimal effort with acceptable results. what can i do? i'd have better than average grades but i'd be bitting everyones heels all the time? i don't want (nobody wants) to see that patootie. well, i think from what i've learned from RVG, i'd better start not thinking about my comfort level but how i can do this effort thing for my mom and dad. they worked their ass off for me, so i better perform.

living in manila's a blast! i don't have all the ammenities of my house but i'm near everything i can't believe it. the best thing though is waking 6 am when i've been up till 3 am reading (i'm speaking as if i'm enjoying doing it hahaha i do not!). the other day i saw my first cockroach (hahahaha) in my apartment, i'm not sure if that's whether i'm starting to be a slob or if it's a foreign visitor. i do hope it's the latter, but i certainly did gave what it deserved. i'm surprised im more responsible cleaning my house in sampaloc than at home, maybe because it's "my own" place.

i finished the first of a series of sketches i'm planning to hang on my wall since they're barren except for my calendar, i have not even hanged the mirror i brought from the house. i hope i can make a watercolor if i find the time so i can a little bit of color in there. i'll post the sketch i did here soon enough. it's based on notre dame in paris, but it's not an exact copy.

steff gave me a lot of ma ling hahaha really nice ^_^ and i coerced verle into giving up her blue half liter pitcher HAHAHAHA. sigh... i gotta accept it, i'm enjoying time away from home.

Streisand 2006 Tour: Cover Art

nice. they made her look thinner than she is. she's not fat but she's not this thin too. i can't wait to get my hands on this album! ^_^

MV Doulos

MV Doulos aka. The Floating Bookstore

Manila International South Harbor

we spent our post-prelims free time onboard MV Doulos and feasted our eyes on books we really wanted to buy ^_^ well, we were broke so we just drooled over the numerous books, cheap i may add that we wanted to buy (p.s. drooled literally since we wanted a lot of cookbooks) hehehe

more pictures here >>

Candice's Surprise Birthday Party

our classmate tish set-up a surprise birthday party for candice, another classmate of ours. the whole class was invited and we went to see the beautiful one roxas triangle where kris aquino owns a unit. w-o-w really nice place ^_^ verle wasn't present, her bag got slashed in quiapo the day before so she was still sulking. she got over it pretty quickly though, i heard she was in embassy while we were wondering how sad she might be while enjoying the party hehehe, anyway her pops got her a more expensive phone ^_^

jc, steff, me, nina, sandy, kim, ron

helen, kim, nina, sandy, me, candice, tish, steff, christian, pat

helen, nina, kim, sandy, me, steff

more pictures here >>

My "Apartment Warming"

kaye told me she'd be cooking something up for the irregregs so i thought i'd take advantage and set-up my apartment warming with it. i served pesto and hotdogs, the others brought spaghetti and siomai and kayes goodies? cheescake and crema de fruta! i felt relieved we fit inside my apartment hehehe

ron, steff, verle, aubrey, kim, kaye, me
sandy, me-an, nina

more pictures here >>

pictures from last year

section a 2008 christmas party
alumisin residence, tierra pura, quezon city

(l-r) kim, verle, niña, ron, chris & steff

the irregreg christmas lunch get-together
'wok with me' dapitan

ust paskuhan 2006

chris & sandy

our clerk friends, tin & tin, ivy, and aids joined us

(top l-r) aids, tin, verle, tin, ivy, steff
(bottom l-r) sandy, me-an, chris

in the medicine building lobby

kim, steff, verle, chris & sandy

ust paskuhan 2006

My Exodus

it's neat living a few steps away from your school. i can go back to eat lunch or if i forgot something. but the best thing is that i can sleep just a little bit more, and it makes all the difference ^_^. a lot of exams next week, and i don't have a lot in my mind that i can post. well maybe except that i've seen the third season of house m.d. and im loving the storyline in the new season. just great.