To all of you who have sent me messages on my e-mail, greeted me on Friendster, Facebook, Applei.ph and Pinoy Musicians Network, and have shown up to greet me personally - thank you all so much! You have certainly made a "ripe" woman very happy!
Sitting on top of the hill
I can't say that I'm going over the hill now. I've just reached the peak of the hill and enjoying the beautiful sceneries. I'm relaxing and sitting on top of this hill, looking at what I have achieved so far and planning how to go through the downward slope to the other side of the hill successfully. Now that I'm entering the 3rd decade of my blessed dear life, I'm up for the great challenges and more blessings that will come my way.
Princessette's Birthday
It's my princessette Selena's birthday today and I feel sorry that I can't be with her. But I just called her and she's really happy that her cousins came to party with her at home. They'll be going to Star City tonight and I know she will enjoy her time. Just wishin' that I'm with her... Missin' my princessette...
One Night Only videos up now!
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BUTTONS
TAKE A BOW
HIPS DON'T LIE
TIME TO SAY GOODBYE
ONE NIGHT ONLY
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BUTTONS
TAKE A BOW
HIPS DON'T LIE
TIME TO SAY GOODBYE
ONE NIGHT ONLY
Our Holiday In The Philippines 2008 Highlights
Because lots of you are curious with what happened during our great holiday for 2 weeks, here is a breakdown of it. Sorry if I wasn't able to blog much while on holiday. Anyway, enjoy!
Day 1 The day when we left Qingdao. Transited in Seoul and reached Manila at midnight - 1 day wasted with traveling!
Day 2 Our daughter Selena couldn't believe her eyes when we tried to wake her up from her sleep. Marl and I sent her to school at 6:30AM. In the afternoon, we went to settle things for our condominium unit at California Garden Square which has just been fully paid after 3 years! Met up with friends Cedric and Mandi in Makati and Robinsons Manila, respectively.
Day 3 After going to our banks in Makati, we went strolling in Glorietta and Robinsons Manila. I found out then that Robinsons Manila is a free WiFi zone - I mean, the whole mall!
Day 4 Selena and I queued up at 4AM in DFA to renew her passport. We got home around 9AM to go back to bed. We left for Cebu at 7PM.
Day 5 Our first day in Cebu, we took a chance to renew our OEC Balik Manggagawa in POEA Cebu but was rejected. We just went to SM Cebu to stroll.
Day 6 We went back to SM Cebu to shop during its 3-day sale. Met up with Nora, our ex-member and another friend, Gae. We also visited Marl's college classmates, Jemela and Dem, the latter being a paralysis survivor after fracturing his skull and operated 3 times. He couldn't move a thing in his body for months, but we were quite surprised to see his remarkable recovery which was said to be "not existing in medical books".
Day 7 We just spent time with Marl's family and friends. Packed our stuff, too, and slept early to get ready for some action in Boracay!
Day 8 We flew to Boracay and arrived there before lunch. We stayed in a great mansion sitting on highest part of the Boracay Island owned by our good friend Ronnie. We strolled along the beach in the afternoon as my daughter played with Ronnie's daughter in the water. At night, we watched High School Musical 2 on the big part of the wall in Ronnie's living room, streaming from a projector.
(Ronnie Castro, who used to be a guitarist of our sister band, Long Distance Band, is now a well-known jewelry designer in Taiwan, and married to Taiwanese Jenny and blessed with a talented daughter, Princess.)
Day 9 We woke up early to catch the morning sun and hit the beach for breakfast and some photo op while Marl and I basked ourselves under the sun until 1AM. It rained so hard after that. We had dinner by the beach and bought some souvenirs before we went back to the mansion. Ronnie, Marl and I chatted until 3AM.
Day 10 Woke up early to catch a morning flight back to Manila. See my post about the horrible flight back to Manila HERE.
Day 11 It was my brother Christopher's 19th birthday. Saw some of our closest relatives but glad that there wasn't any sing-along.
Day 12 Went to Mandaluyong City Hall to pay my RPT for our condo. Went to Robinsons Manila to meet up with my friend who's a photographer of the stars and celebrity events, Noel Orsal. He bought our camera Canon EOS 300D which we've decided to sell so we can get a more compact one.
Day 13 I went to my daughter's school to get her school card then we went to Glorietta to get the pair of shoes at VNC that has been haunting me for days. I had to buy it because I wouldn't have any shoes for the show.
We arrived Habitz Bar & Grill in North Fairview QC at 9PM but the place was still half empty. I went directly to the backstage where my friend, Cedric, has a little room where I can relax. The night went on so fast. I sang 3 + 3 songs, much to the delight of the people who came there to watch the show even though it was raining very hard.
After the show, my very good friend Wilson, Marl and I hit the newest club in Makati, The Bureau. We met up with another good friend Allona who was celebrating her birthday that night. The whole place was really pumping and the music was so great. I was so thrilled to see that the DJ who was spinning the music all night was actually my half-brother, Euric! Such a small world!
After tiring up myself dancing in The Bureau, we checked out The Warehouse at 4AM. The place was still half-full with people dancing and relaxing on the sofa. We just stayed for a while and went to Wilson's new condominium at Wackwack 8 in Greenhills. We rested there until 9AM and then we went back home to take full rest the whole day.
Day 14 We went to SM Mall of Asia late in the afternoon to meet up with our friend Cedric. Then we went to meet my dad and his family at The Silk Restaurant in Serendra, The Fort. We also had a chance to meet Denise Laurel who happens to be my halfbro's girlfriend. It was almost midnight when we parted ways. We still went to Malate to meet up with Marl's friend, Myck Mondejar, who used to be a member of That's Entertainment, too. I was really tired when we got back home.
Day 15 Our last day in Manila. Did some last minute shopping and packing. Left Manila at midnight...
HOLIDAY'S OVER!
Rested well
After a long time, I must admit that I have rested well last night. Yes, we were on vacation for 2 weeks but we weren't really "resting" all the time. In fact, our daily schedule during that time was really toxic. Manila-Cebu-Boracay-Manila. But it was such a great with the family. Our daughter Selena enjoyed her time in Boracay. I made her skip school for a week, their 1st periodical test is over anyway. Oh, and she's top 7 in her class of 49 (students - have to make it clear that they're 49 in the class because her friend Princess only have 6 classmates in her class at Brent International School in Boracay!).
So, our first day back to work was very good considering we all didn't have much rest since our midnight flight from Manila on Monday night.
Our GM, Mr. Frank Wen, had his farewell party at 6PM yesterday at the Qbar. We only had to sing 2 songs and they were kind enough to give us a room in the hotel after the party so we could all rest well before we went back to work at 8:30PM.
Because I was so tired last night, I just checked my mails and went to slumberland and ZzzzZZZzz myself away. It's great to wake up in the morning again and not think of where to go and what to do for the day. Oh, we'll have soundcheck, our sound system sucked big time last night. :-)
So, our first day back to work was very good considering we all didn't have much rest since our midnight flight from Manila on Monday night.
Our GM, Mr. Frank Wen, had his farewell party at 6PM yesterday at the Qbar. We only had to sing 2 songs and they were kind enough to give us a room in the hotel after the party so we could all rest well before we went back to work at 8:30PM.
Because I was so tired last night, I just checked my mails and went to slumberland and ZzzzZZZzz myself away. It's great to wake up in the morning again and not think of where to go and what to do for the day. Oh, we'll have soundcheck, our sound system sucked big time last night. :-)
Back to work, back to Qingdao
We're already back to our apartment in Qingdao. It's still the same as before of course, but the stinky smell coming from the kitchen was really strong. When we opened the kitchen door, we saw maggots in the fridge. Ewwwww! No one dared to touch it (but I guess Marl is cleaning it now).
Nway, we'll take a rest for a while & then we'll go and have a soundcheck at 2PM. Haven't unpacked yet, will do it later. Back to work again! :-)
PS: Pic above was taken on a taxi an hour ago :-)
Midnight Plane to Seoul
Time does fly so fast. Two weeks have already passed and now, our R&R is over for us. We boarded a midnight plane from Manila and we're now at Incheon International Airport in Seoul. We're way too early to have arrived here as the Transfer Desk is still closed. We need to get our boarding passes for our flight to Qingdao. It's good thing that they have free WiFi here...
Posted NEW PICS!
You can now see my Boracay pictorial and some of Cebu pics on my website! :-) You can see the Boracay gallery right away because it's under the portfolio galleries on top of the PIX page. But the Cebu 08 gallery is on the China2008. Will fix it when I get a better connection. I'm going back to China on Monday anyway... :-(
Thank you, God... Thank you, Universe
I'm blogging this while stuck in a traffic jam on a taxi along Roxas Blvd. under a raging typhoon at Signal #2...
It's midday but it felt like we've had too much of an adventure today after a great time in Cebu & a fantastic holiday in Boracay.
Woke up at 7:30AM this morning & left Ronnie's house an hour later to the Cagban port to ride a pumpboat to Caticlan. We had breakfast first before we decided to check in for our 11:35AM flight. But we got offered to take the 10:35AM flight so we were more than eager to board the Cebu Pacific flight 5J 898.
Little did we know that a very traumatic experience was about to happen. The weather was gloomy in Boracay since yesterday afternoon, but our take-off was okay. We had fun during their inflight fun game & I also bought a souvenir sling bag, just for keepsake. But no one told us that there was a typhoon in Manila. No one.
While we were making our final descent to Manila, we were experiencing unusual air packet on the plane. Before it landed, our plane had to make couple of turns because of the strong wind. Our plane tilted badly on its left while it was making its third attempt. We were so scared that we'd be hitting the ground as I was seeing the gray skies though the left window and the runway on the left. I think the left wing of the plane was only a couple meters away from touching the ground.
For a couple of seconds, I looked at my daughter who was scared as I was. There I was on the plane with my family, back from a very great holiday which bonded us well, memories flashing so fast as everyone thought, "this is it, I'm gonna die here". The captain made the right decision to take-off again before the left wing touched the ground. Our plane soared through the strong wind and once again, we were hundreds of meters away from the ground. At this point, I saw everyone's reaction, all their faces were as pale as mine. Everyone had their expression of relief from that supposed traumatic landing.
Everyone was really quiet on the plane, holding our breath, as our plane tried to battle the strong winds that hit our small plane. It was trying real hard to land the plane. For a moment there, I was wished that we can fly longer in the air until the typhoon is finished. I wished and wished, but to no avail. The plane was making its attempt to land again. I closed my eyes as our plane tilted on its left then on its right until BAM! I closed my eyes. The plane's wheels hit hard on the ground but hey, we made it! We're all alive, nobody's hurt.
Come to think of it, we were one of the last passengers because we were NOT supposed to be on that plane at all. We were supposed to be on the next flight, but since they could accommodate few more seats, they politely asked us if we wanted to take an earlier flight.
But glad we're safe back home. Everyone aboard that flight 5J 898 must have felt lucky to come home even Manila was flooded everywhere.
Well... as for me, I'm finishing off this blog on my Mac, connected to a verrrry slow dial-up connection...
PS: Thank you, God... Thank you, Universe...
It's midday but it felt like we've had too much of an adventure today after a great time in Cebu & a fantastic holiday in Boracay.
Woke up at 7:30AM this morning & left Ronnie's house an hour later to the Cagban port to ride a pumpboat to Caticlan. We had breakfast first before we decided to check in for our 11:35AM flight. But we got offered to take the 10:35AM flight so we were more than eager to board the Cebu Pacific flight 5J 898.
Little did we know that a very traumatic experience was about to happen. The weather was gloomy in Boracay since yesterday afternoon, but our take-off was okay. We had fun during their inflight fun game & I also bought a souvenir sling bag, just for keepsake. But no one told us that there was a typhoon in Manila. No one.
While we were making our final descent to Manila, we were experiencing unusual air packet on the plane. Before it landed, our plane had to make couple of turns because of the strong wind. Our plane tilted badly on its left while it was making its third attempt. We were so scared that we'd be hitting the ground as I was seeing the gray skies though the left window and the runway on the left. I think the left wing of the plane was only a couple meters away from touching the ground.
For a couple of seconds, I looked at my daughter who was scared as I was. There I was on the plane with my family, back from a very great holiday which bonded us well, memories flashing so fast as everyone thought, "this is it, I'm gonna die here". The captain made the right decision to take-off again before the left wing touched the ground. Our plane soared through the strong wind and once again, we were hundreds of meters away from the ground. At this point, I saw everyone's reaction, all their faces were as pale as mine. Everyone had their expression of relief from that supposed traumatic landing.
Everyone was really quiet on the plane, holding our breath, as our plane tried to battle the strong winds that hit our small plane. It was trying real hard to land the plane. For a moment there, I was wished that we can fly longer in the air until the typhoon is finished. I wished and wished, but to no avail. The plane was making its attempt to land again. I closed my eyes as our plane tilted on its left then on its right until BAM! I closed my eyes. The plane's wheels hit hard on the ground but hey, we made it! We're all alive, nobody's hurt.
Come to think of it, we were one of the last passengers because we were NOT supposed to be on that plane at all. We were supposed to be on the next flight, but since they could accommodate few more seats, they politely asked us if we wanted to take an earlier flight.
But glad we're safe back home. Everyone aboard that flight 5J 898 must have felt lucky to come home even Manila was flooded everywhere.
Well... as for me, I'm finishing off this blog on my Mac, connected to a verrrry slow dial-up connection...
PS: Thank you, God... Thank you, Universe...
Breakfast in Boracay
We're having our breakfast at the Red Coconut Beach Hotel in Boracay right now. We took the initiative to go & explore the beach in the morning since Ronnie is still sleeping. I'm planning to soak up the sun. :-)
In Manila!
Hey guys! I know it would sound surprising to some of you to learn
that I'm in Manila right now! :-) We're having our 2-week holiday and
I wouldn't want to waste a minute of it - I'm spending quality time
with my daughter, Selena. She didn't know we were coming back and so
she was surprised when I woke her up after midnight of Monday. Was
she glad!
that I'm in Manila right now! :-) We're having our 2-week holiday and
I wouldn't want to waste a minute of it - I'm spending quality time
with my daughter, Selena. She didn't know we were coming back and so
she was surprised when I woke her up after midnight of Monday. Was
she glad!
We're taking a trip to Cebu and make a short trip to Boracay
(yeyyyy!) before we come back to Manila again. I'm having a mini-show
at my friend's bar, Habitz, in Quezon City on September 13, 2008. How
could I say 'no' to a dear friend?!? He's already done the posters 3
hours after I said 'yes'. And have contacted the dancers who will
back me up. It'll just be a 30-minute show. My friends and family are
thrilled to know about this.
Will blog more soon... stay tuned!
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