my Christmas Wishlist!

here's the real wishlist. :)
(some items in here are copy pasted from my birthday wishlist, but mostly, these are new stuff. :)

- Guitar. i feel like a cavewoman. atat na akong kalabitin ang mga kwerdas ng gitara at ihabi ang mga salitang 'di mabitawan ng pusong naghihilom. (CHEKE) i wanna write songs na. for the longest time. i just feel that i can be good at playing guitar if i kept playing it. sigh. but must find space for the new baby first! hahaha

- a Magic 8 Ball. i really really really want one! i'm an indecisive person, and i could really use some help. i'll bring it everywhere i go. i don't have very good decision-making skills you know. HAHA. i'm not gonna rely on it all the time, it's just gonna. HELP ME. GIVE ME AN IDEA! hahahaha (oh if you want specifics, i want the HighSchool Musical Magic 8 Ball. same price!)
- hand-painted flats by Jika Regala. (look oh, your name sounds like Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood, Rajo Laurel. HAHA) hey jeek, i know i've told you this before, and i haven't bought the shoes yet. HAHA. so. i love you. soooon!!

- Philippine All-Stars Special Edition Metallics: Rainbow on Black shirt. visit http://allstars2005.multiply.com/market to see their site. i'm a medium. HAHA


- A dogtag with the ball chain. why is it so hard to find one. i'm not after the engraving and stuff. well, yes maybe i want to engrave my name or something on it, but i can't find a decent dogtag. argh. i saw a pretty gold dogtag at the all stars' site too. of course, with the stars and the sun. it's pretty. but i don't think i want to spend 600 on just. a. dogtag. HAHAHA

- a charmbracelet. if i knew where to get the charms and the chains and stuff, i'd make my own. i want a personalized one. boohoo. i got this idea from jika though. charmbracelets with lockets so that i could see pictures of people around my wrist. cool noh?


- a laptop bag. my old laptop bag is pretty. if only it weren't heavy and if only it had more space so that i could put the wire, and the notebook cooler, and the mouse inside. because the only thing it could accomodate is the laptop. and a few papers. plus there's no handle, it's a sling bag. i don't like slings. it makes. the bag heavier. HAHA

- a lomo camera. i just want to take pretty pictures. :)

i don't know what it's called, i know there's different kinds of lomo cameras.. like fisheye and stuff... but i want the lomo camera that takes this kind of picture. help me figure it out. :)

pretty picture noh?

- internal hard disk drive. i just have sooo many files, i don't want to get rid of it all. burning it all into a dvd is just. hassle. what if i need something from my old files, i still have to find that cd?! i'm trying as hard as i can to minimize the files and photos i'm storing. i just need more. because i'm planning to change my system into Vista.

- anything that's CAREBEAR. :) you can be very specific too. :) *wink wink* HAHA

- but you can make me happy with anything that's CHEESE. :) the common cheese products that is. :) (please let me taste the blue cheese, and the smelly cheese at my own time. there will be time for that. HAHA) i eat anything with cheese. cheese floss, cheese naan, cheesecake, cheesebread, cheese, queso de bola, white cheese. you can skip the processed cheese, unless you're buying me one big slab (?!) of quickmelt. i'm good with that. HAHA

- a make-up brush set. :) i don't need the professional set, just the basics. :)
- but then what am i going to do with a brush set if i don't have the cosmetics?! hahaha what i need now is a blush-on and an eye-shadow palette. as much as possible i don't use liquid cosmetics because they irritate my skin. (nakakairita! HAHA)

- barbie/disney princesses/high school musical/carebear baonan with matching tumbler! because i think it's time i support the school's BYOB (Bring your own baunan) policy. HAHAHA. fun kaya, i mean. i don't know. the concept is just cool. hahaha. SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT!! SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT! :)

- Philosophy flavored lip shines, at any Beauty Bar branch! :) they come in different flavors!






























(hahaha i posted all the flavors i wanted. HAHAHA i just saw these online so i don't know if they're all available in beauty bar. but i'm gonna collect, so i'm buying one per month. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ADIK.)

XPRES : Entablado's first ever applicants' production

photo taken when i went back to the RMT for the strike-set. Meaning, we had to take out the stage, clean up the backstage and rehearsal room.

What's special about this production is that everyone is a newbie. The actors aren't the only people new at this. Entablado picked out newbies too to head the different committees. Everyone was new at this game. So were the directors.

The planning of this production took Entablado two years. And i think this is the most perfect time to put up a production like this, now when there are lots of newbies in ENTA. The good thing about it too was that the newbies from last year got to audition too. :) That was my batch. I was a newbie last year. :)

Jika Regala, my dear jikapoop, was also invited to join XPRES.
Old members who didn't really act during their stay in ENTABLADO were invited to join.
Thus Riz Paras as Dulce, Geoc Battad as Balae 1, Kayzee Fama as Manang, and etc.
(picture taken during one of the rehearsals. we were lipsynching "JUST STAND UP")

It's now December 3, 2008. Exactly 4 days since XPRES ended. and usually, it takes a week for everyone to heal from the prod fever. everyone has been blogging about XPRES and how they're bidding farewell to it. I've been thinking about how i'm going to blog about mine, and so this is it. This blog took me two days, and a gazillion of drafts to create a shorter but meaningful blog about XPRES. :)

photo by Cam Ronquillo, when i tried on St. Anthony's halo. :)

this is the shortest i can get, so forgive me if it seems lengthy. :)


I remember last year when they announced that the newbie production rehearsals were over the sembreak. This just broke my heart, as i was going to prepare for my debut that semestral break. It was an unfortunate news though for most of the people in ENTA when they learned that the newbie production could not be pushed through. For me, i was hoping that i'd be given a shot at this newbie production.

During the first semester, I remember during that EB (executive board) and deputies meeting when we were giving updates about the projects of each committee. When they brought up the newbie production, they were planning on allowing only the newbies of this year to join the production. Well, some of us didn't agree, and demanded, fought, spoke up that the newbies of last year should be allowed to audition for the newbie production.

Thank God, He let the stage welcome me.

XPRES poster

The newbie production was called XPRES, connoting how quick instances can be a catalyst and change our lives.

The whole production featured plays from the PETA Writers' Block's 10x10x10: Sampung Tigsasampung Minutong Dula ng Sampung Mandudula (Ten 10-minute plays by 10 playwrights)

I remember that day when i auditioned for the role of Eileen in Alvin Dacanay's Eyeball.

I wanted the role because i felt that should be easy for me. I believed i looked the part. I believed i could pull it off. I was so ready to be Eileen.

my good friend dianne scored the role of Eileen. and i must say she did a good job. :) Opening Night photo by Kevin Tatco

But instead, i saw this on the bulletin board the following day:

St. Anthony, Pray For Us ni Liza Magtoto
Toinette - Emelou Therese Gorecho

i quickly picked up a copy of 10x10x10 at the ENTA Room and scanned through toinette's lines. sure, i skimmed through the play, and even wanted to audition for the role of Angel in that play. But i didn't notice how long and monologue-ish toinette's lines were. This intimidated me. Perhaps because i was never good at memorization, and the whole thing was a monologue for me. I got through the first script reading, and the first script analysis before finals week started. After that, i left my script somewhere, and has not touched it till sembreak began. I tried memorizing the prayer so that it would appear "automatic" when i orate it on stage.

first day of our rehearsals. we still had our scripts.
we rehearsed at the Colayco Pavillion.

We kept rehearsing and rehearsing. I kept on postponing my rehearsals because i wanted to distract myself from depressing myself. I stayed for a whole month in the dorm, all alone. I stayed over the sembreak to rehearse for this newbie production, which, at first, didn't seem appealing.

one of the days when we used the SEC FOYER for rehearsals.

our director, Kuya Kalil, decided to put lipstick on our faces everytime we did something wrong. miss a line, wrong blocking, forget blocks and stuff. and yes. that was how messed up i was. HAHA

I was re-thinking if it was all worth it. I had to do something to distract myself from feeling depressed being away from my family, missing out on vacations and stuff. This went on for almost a month.

during the XPRES photoshoot. everyone was waiting for their turn.

with my co-actors, John Carlo Dulu as the Angel and Gabby Gonda as St. Anthony

When we moved in the Rizal Mini Theater, things began to change.
The date of our Opening Night moved closer and closer. Tension was in the air.

we each had our own spaces in the long table. and if you know me well enough, you'd notice my spot over there. where my inhaler is. :)

a few times during the production i've probably lost passion in what i've been doing. I probably have said a few times that this was a wrong move, that i should've never stayed in the first place. And that probably, theater is not for me. i've been through good runs, and bad ones... i've lost my voice, got sick, had petty misunderstandings, and problems and stuff. before opening night, i still didn't really understand how i've managed to stay up to that point.

Opening Night photo by Kevin Tatco St. Anthony, Pray For Us was the first play of the opening night. technically, the play opened the production. pressure. but i think i handled it quite okay. haha

during the ENTABLADO plevsem, we were asked to write a one-liner "blog" on paper and have people comment on it. my last phrase was: "...i hope it's all worth it." and people who commented on the blog seemed to have a common theme... that because i chose to do it, it means it's worth something.

Like Toinette, thank you for letting me find myself too. XPRES. photo by kevin tatco

"...thank you sa lahat ng tao na kasama ko ngayon sa bilog na ito. salamat sa pagpapakita sa akin na ang lahat ng ito ay totoong worth it..." (thank you to everyone gathered in this circle... thank you for showing me that all this is truly worth it.) - this was the first time i spoke in a BILOG althroughout my stay in enta... this was also during XPRES' last show.

XPRES, thank you for proving to myself that i can be more. photo by Kevin Tatco

"...sa pangungulila, higit na nadarama ang halaga..."
- Sir Jethro Tenorio on my PLEVSEM blog


Thank you XPRES for being my family.

photo taken after the first gala night. everyone was in bliss. it was a succesful night. :)

During the sembreak, i've been desperate for some family loving. I've stayed over my tita's house, traveled to and fro Tandang Sora to visit my other tita, and worry sick about my lola who got hospitalized, and my sickly little sister. I've been desperate for some family loving, that i have failed to see you guys as my family too.

"...eh minsan naman kasi nasa harap na niya, di pa niya makita!!"
- Angel, St. Anthony Pray for Us
My family. :)

Thank you XPRES for making me feel at home. for making me feel secured and safe in the corners of the stage. Thank you for making me feel that i belong. Thank you for every single day that we have spent in preparing this production. This is the prod that we can truly say it was "ours". Every 10 minutes spent during the preparation of this production has been special. People have put in their efforts, time, talent, passion just to create this. XPRES is OURS. :) It was OUR TIME.

the whole XPRES team.
it was OUR time. :)

Most people think that theater is a lair of lies. People go on stage to pretend to be someone they're not. It's all fictional. Nothing is real.

The XPRES stage set design by Jesus Joseph Ignacio (http://jesusignacio.multiply.com/) photo by Kevin Tatco

No, i don't think so. I think theater is a beautiful avenue for expressing the truth. People just want to see what they want to see. That's the beauty of it all, that theater is able to send across it's message subtly. It's not just a hobby, or a sideline, or something to do with your free time. It's a lifestyle. It's not a joke having to juggle academics, theater and one's own life altogether. But i guess it's what theater people get from this love and passion for this art that makes them stay.


It was a fun journey. Now i'll always know that wherever i am, the stage is always my home. That ENTABLADO will embrace me for whoever i am or for whatever i chose to be. That despite the lack of an intimate relationship with the opposite sex, i will always be contented with my life, with my family, my friends, and theater. :) Thank you for showing me that, XPRES. :)


Thank you to everyone who have made XPRES a very memorable experience.
I cannot believe it's all over.
But i guess this is just the beginning of something better. :)


Thank you
Kuya Kalil, Dolly, Gabby, Jose, Fred, Ekha, Harald, Geoc, Ryuji, Jika, Riz, Judge, Pedro
Leinard, Danica, Papa Z, Kz, Miguel, Karl Louie, Yves, Terri, Jen, Meeyo, Pam, Portia
Pat, Dianne, Robert, Mich, Cute, Vian, Omar, Ia, Bruce, Cam, Condom, Tonio, Lem
Sir Jet, Sang, Miko, Dick
Pao S., Nicole, Aaron, Karl Beki, David Beki, Bianca, Say, Andrei, Sam, Kaila, Mike

if i forgot anyone, forgive me. :) i love you all.

December 1, 2008

Some of the cast from ENTA's UNANG BABOY SA LANGIT (www.entablado.co.cc) went to Mang Jimmy's for dinner after the rehearsals. If any of you guys live near Katipunan, or in UP Diliman, they said it's impossible for you to miss it. HAHA. Apparently, that was my first time in Mang Jimmy's, and in fairness, they serve good "lutong-bahay" food at very affordable prices. (especially when you're with 20 people) Mang Jimmy's is the place to be!!!! :)

After dinner, some of us headed to Trinoma to catch Twilight. I wasn't a fan or anything, it's just like watching Spiderman or Batman even if you're not really into it. You're just into the "fad". hahaha.

Sir Ariel mentioned earlier that the moon was making a smiley face with Jupiter and Venus. The two planets were beside each other, and the moon coincidentally situated itself under the two planets. It was a pretty sight.


like karl louie fajardo's blog, it's a beautiful reminder for us to smile. :)

XPRES. :)

we just had the best show ever!!! ever since we started a week ago. :)
and i'm very very very proud to say that although sick, i did quite well, even better during the show awhile ago. :)

(gahd. by blogging this, it only means i'm procrastinating again, with the million of stuff i have to do. and i need rest.)


Balang Araw did a great job on stage.


I hope St. Anthony can top that. :)


i'm positive we will. :)


and in desperation, i finally went to the doctor to have myself checked up. it has been a long time since i last visited my doctor. haha. i like going to tito rey's clinic because he doesn't make me feel bad about my condition, unlike some doctors there. and he explains to me everything i need to know about my condition. which is. wonderful. :)

and so. here i am again, on medication.
he put me on steroids for 2 weeks. (dianne and gabby, quit insisting that i'll grow an adam's apple and have a deeper voice, because it doesn't make sense. i don't think steroids work that way. HAHA) and he said, if the symptoms of my usual allergies don't go away, i'll have to continue with the steroids. not only that, i'm back on seretide. seretide is just the expensive inhaler that i used to have. i like seretide because i don't get asthma attacks in like, 4 days. so yeah.

(this is educational) coz he explained that asthma attacks go in two ways: the blocking of the airway, the swelling of that membrane of the airway, which simply makes one have difficulty in breathing. the other one is the late phase of the asthma... there's inflammation and stuff involved... not only does the membrane around the airway swell, there are stuff in the airway that clogs it. swelling+clogging=hep hep hooray! making air difficult to pass through. and apparently, that's what's happening to me now.

i've been using my ventolin inhaler for maintenance. as what i've always known, i'm supposed to use it WHENEVER I NEED IT. apparently, my doctor thought "that's bad." because the ventolin pump should be used only every 4 hours. and taking it 3-4 times an hour is really. bad.


so tadaaa. :)

hey, a plus to why i can never be a nursing student. baka ako pa inurse ng pasyente ko. :) haha



Atty. Nick Pichay watched the show today, and he loved it!!!!!! :) Thank you for watching!
For a newbie production, i must say, WE'RE DOING REALLY WELL. :)
(newbie actors, directors, committee heads, etc)

i heard a few other playwrights are watching our remaining shows, and i hope the other plays do well too. GOOD LUCK TO ST.ANTHONY PRAY FOR US! gahd.

i've been thinking about this for awhile, i've shared it to others as well.
how a playwright must feel seeing his/her play being brought to life. :)
putting myself in the shoes of a playwright, and maybe i will be more biased because i'm a newbie at writing plays (no, my hs plays were. a blah. haha),
i'd feel honored and consider it as a favor for me, that these people are staging my play..
i'd be ecstatic seeing the characters born out of my imagination, coming to life on stage, seeing them in the flesh... hearing them...
i'd be roused hearing the background music, the sounds, the lights of the play i've written..
i'd be thrilled to see how the director understoof my play, and how he/she brought it to life.


this reminded me of the play i was writing for entablado's writers' bloc. :)

(i love this photo. this is going to be the cover)

i'm actually more excited seeing it on stage than finishing it. HAHA.
i'm not yet done, not even halfway, not even 1/4. HAHA.
scene 1. that's all i have. out of 8? i forgot.
it's a short one act play. a psychothriller. watch out for it. :)

to be able to see it on stage, i have to actually finish it. so yeah, i WILL finish it. :)


gahd i love theater. :)
it rouses me. :)

ano nga ba ang pwedeng mangyari sa loob ng 10 minuto?

hindi ko hiniling na mahalin mo ako.

Kahit ilang electric fan, stand fan at aircon ang nasa bahay mo, mahirap palamigin ang isang mainit na ulo.

Kailangan mo pa bang magkape sa umaga kapag ang headline naman ng iyong araw ay sobrang shocking talaga?

Ano ang halaga ng isang pangako kung wala naman itong anumang bahid ng katapatan?

Buhay ka bang talaga kung puro lihim na lang ang bumubuo sa pagkatao mo?

Wala na ang lahat sa iyo. Kanino ka pa tatawag kung puro answering machine na lang ang sumasagot sayo?

Maghihintay ka ba hanggang sa taong 3000 para lang iwanang muli?

Paano mo ipapakita ang iyong pag-ibig sa isang taong hindi naman tumitingin sa direksyon mo?

Maaangkin mo pa ba ang bahagi ng buhay mo na nabili na ng iba?

Aaasa ka pa ba sa katotohanan kung ang katotohanang iyon, pag nagpakita na sa iyo, ay hindi mo pala gusto?

Hanggang saan mo madadala ang sarili mo para lang makakuha ng trabaho?

***

Xpres
Nobyembre 27, 28 (7pm)

Nobyembre 29 (3pm at 7pm)

Php 120

Rizal Mini Theater

Ateneo de Manila University

xpres2008.multiply.com

ANG TANGING HILING KO LANG AY PANOORIN MO ANG DULANG ITO.