Qik vs. Flixwagon

I have been an active member of both live broadcasting sites, Qik & Flixwagon. I have installed both apps on my iPhone and have compared them.

Quality
When it comes to video quality, I'd go for Qik. 

Video shooting screen
The frame screen of Qik is bigger than that of Flix. So I won't have to worry about shooting just my forehead (which happens most of the time on Flix), just my nose or just my lips when I shoot a vid of myself talking nonsensely.

Capturing the very moment
Again, Qik has a function of recording videos even if I don't have a current WiFi connection. As long as I start the app, I can record and capture the very moment and just upload it later. Flix doesn't allow this. On Flix, no connection, no captured video.

After Youtube posting
Both Qik & Flix allow me to upload my videos to my SaritaFlix channel on Youtube. But I noticed that Flix vids are clearer than Qik when posted on Youtube. Why? Because Qik compresses the video first into FLV format then uploads it to Youtube. Flixwagon, on the other hand, compresses almost nothing of my videos as it is uploaded in .MOV format.

Verdict
Both video apps have its plus & minus. But I'd still go for Qik since it allows me to capture the very moment & upload it later. :-)

My Qik | My Flixwagon | My Twitter

Cheliza Padilla - FIRST LOVE (remake : JULIE VEGA ORIGINAL)

I found this on Youtube. It's the song that I have remade from the late Julie Vega. Funny thing was the picture that was posted here was not my photo - but my former co-singer Charise/Brice. LOL.

New U.R.B. site

I'm amazed with myself! I was able to make a brand new U.R.B. site in just 3 hours! I've been trying to make it for the past 2 months, but I'm always distracted everytime I sit infront of my Mac. But today, out of boredom maybe, while waiting for my hair color to turn out right (yeah, we were dyeing our hair here in the room!), I was able to make a brand new website for the band! 

Check it out at www.urb.saritaonline.com & don't forget to sign our guestbook...

Dom Perignon and a touch of blood

We had a great night at work last night. But after our work, we were drinking with a VIP guest who had 2 beautiful girls with him. Guess what we were drinking? Yes, Dom Perignon. We finished around 3 bottles of Dom and had to stay in the lobby until 4AM. Apparently, our guest owns the big, black, 10-wheeler Hummer that is parked outside the hotel. Yes, the beast owns THE beast!

One of the beautiful girls was REALLY drunk. She would always pass out in the seat and in the toilet. So her girlfriend decided to call it a night and helped her get up and walk towards the lift. They both fell - out of balance - while taking the steps from the lounge and the drunk girl hit the marble wall. OMG! I rushed and saw blood gushing out of her forehead. I panicked and didn't know what to do. Called the duty manager and let them deal with her. As for me, I had blood in my arms. :-(

Good for us, our daughter was with our friend Abba in the room. They were just watching some movies and doing some "tricks" (from the book). I went to bed at around 5AM while Twitting with my iPhone. God, I'm addicted to Twitter!

My thyroid and I

Just wanna share this video that was originally set to "private viewing". Just want everyone to be aware of their health. :-)

Another fun off day

My off day started out quite early. I had a wonderful lunch with my good friend, Wayne, at the French fine dining restaurant of Shang KL, La Fite. I enjoyed lunch even though I'm not really used to eating lunch.

Our good friend Aziq picked us up from the hotel. He and Marl had a good time following the GPS navigation feature on Marl's HTC phone. Aziq has got the new Nokia phone, I forgot the model, but it was made of carbon. Through the help of Marl's GPS handy unit, we were able to reach the Gleneagle's Hospital to visit Mel who just had appendectomy.

After the long fun visit to Mel, we went to Pavilion to buy Selena a book that she saw in KLCC a few days ago. But we didn't see it and she wanted to go KLCC instead. And so we went to Kinokuniya and got her the book. We had dinner afterwards.

On the way back to the hotel, we decided to stop by the Impiana Hotel to check out our friends who are performing the Oswego bar, Danny & Imee. The bar is surprisingly cozy, though very small. We all had a great time.

Though my feet were already aching (coz I've been wearing a 3-inch pumps the whole day! LOL), I still enjoyed walking back to the hotel with Selena sitting on Marl's shoulders. I love that moment. Makes me feel fulfilled.

When we got back to the hotel, Selena was so excited to do the activities from her new book. I even helped her make a friendship bracelet, which is about 1/8 done. LOL. Tried to watch the movie Bedtime Stories, but my Princessette slept right after the movie began. I finished it. Guess I'll have a great story to tell her tomorrow!

Blog overload

I know I have begun my Princessette updates from Day 1 to Day 3. However, it seems that I'm so overloaded with stuff lately that I couldn't find time to blog anymore. So I will just update my blog as often as I do with Twitter. Follow me on Twitter!

Selena in KL - Day 3 (and thyroid test results)

We all woke up at 9:30AM. We were fetched by our friend, Aziq at 10:30AM. We were going to Putrajaya Hospital for my checkup results from the thyroid aspiration that was done a month ago. Guess what? My thyroid cyst is benign and not malignant at all - in other words, not cancerous. Thank God!

After my checkup, we took some photos at the Putrajaya bridge and headed off to Tansri Arrifin's office (Aziq's dad). Then we went to Midvalley mall. I was looking forward for some window shopping but Aziq managed to "drag" me to go for a foot spa & body massage at the neighboring hotel, Cititel. I usually don't like foot spa or reflexology because it's not relaxing at all - it's never relaxing for me and would never be! It's just too painful! Maybe I've got lots of ailments in my body that's why every point was painful. Reflexology for me is a form of torture! LOL.

The body massage was relaxing and the Chinese lady who was doing it really did a great job in making me nap for a while. They then served me a bowl of some fruit soup (?) and I waited for Marl, Aziq and Selena to pick me up again.

When they came back to pick me up, Aziq suggested that Marl should try the fish foot spa. It was sooooo funny because of Marl's reaction. It's so ticklish because the moment you sink in our feet in the water, the small fishes eat the dead skin cells from your feet. Marl couldn't take it and just lasted for about 15 minutes. Aziq wanted me to try but I didn't want to. LOL. So Aziq sent us back to the hotel so we could rest.

At around 5:30PM, Selena was fetched by our godmom Susana. Marl and I tried to take a short nap before our gig. We took our dinner from the Lemon Garden buffet while we had our brainstorming with Marina (Lobby Lounge captain).

It was a great night at the lobby. I brought back my jolly character onstage and I think everyone loved it. I think I lost a bit of it and now, I've decided to bring back the bubbly Sarita that everyone knew.

By the way, our friend Wayne is back in KL (from Sydney) for a surprise visit, he came on Sunday night and boy, was I really surprised! :-)

Havin' a early night again... tah-tah... nite nite!

Selena in KL - Day 2

The princessette starting tugging me again to wake up at 12:30PM. But I made her sleep again and she woke up at around 3PM with me as well! LOL.

Today was my off so Selena was very excited to go for a swim. At around 4PM and after our 'breakfast', we were already by poolside, but since it was going to rain at around 5:30PM, we just went back to the room and had her watch some cartoon movies first. We had dinner together then at 10PM, we went to the Renaissance Hotel to check out the Sweetlove Band, who are also active members of PMN.

At around 11:30PM, our other friends arrived and we played Jenga (blocks) until 2AM. Selena was so eager to play with them. We then went back to the hotel and had an early night. Need to wake up early tomorrow at 9:30AM for my thyroid checkup.

Selena in KL - Day 1

The princessette woke up VERY early. And when I say EARLY, I'm talking about 10:30AM. For somebody who's used to waking up at 3-4PM, it's like waking up in the middle of the night.

So she started tugging my ears and said, "Mommy... mommy! I'm already awake... mommy? Mommy! Are you already awake?!". Then I just said, "Hmmm?! Hmm-hmm... hmmmmm". I hugged her tightly and told her to go back to sleep. She did for an hour, but I felt like it only lasted for 2 minutes. LOL. Then she didn't give up until I opened my eyes. I reached for my iPhone and loaded the game that she likes to shut her up a little bit and for me to catch up on my sleep. But she kept on asking me what to do with the game, etc. etc. In other words, I was forced to finally get up at 12:30 noon. We had our little breakfast; she had her chocolate muffins with chocolate drink, I had my donuts (which she brought for me from Manila) with coffee. After her shower, we checked out what the kids' activity on Sundays' lunch downstairs. She just did her sand art, jumped on the inflatable tent and asked the clown to make her a balloon sword.

We then went upstairs and woke Daddy up. My friend Edlyn came and we decided to go to KLCC for a stroll. Bought couple of sandals from Vincci and ate some pretzels at Auntie Anne's kiosk. We went back to the hotel, just in time for us to prepare for work.

After work, we all watched Benjamin Button on DVD. I must say that it's a very unique story and very nice movie. But towards the ending, when Benjamin was becoming younger and younger while his wife was getting older, it becomes awkward and we were laughing at the side comments we're making till the movie ended. LOL.

It was really fun having the princesette around... now, our room doesn't have any dull moments anymore, except when she's asleep. :-)

Princessette is back in my arms...

My daughter Selena - The Princessette - has already arrived and is now sleeping beside me. She was picked up by my godmom Susana from the KLIA airport, was sent here to the hotel before 2AM. I really missed her and now we could make fun stuff together again.

Princessette has finally arrived KL...

But I haven't seen her yet. My godmom Susana picked her up at the airport and they're on the way to the hotel. But I'm so excited. I'm gonna see her in, say, 30 minutes! Yeheyyyyyy!

Princessette is arriving tonight!

Yes, my daughter Selena is arriving tonight. I can't wait. From tonight onwards, I gotta wear my SuperMom attitude and gear. LOL.

What do you want from the URB band?

Since the U.R.B. has set foot back to our favorite hotel,  Shangri-La KL, we have been 'tamed' down from the usual U.R.B. like how we used to be. It was okay, because as I said before, U.R.B. can adjust easily to what our job calls for. 

We were told that we need to wear long gown, so we did - every night. But people and our regular guests from the past complained as the gown limited our performances and expression to most songs that they'd like to hear and see.

U.R.B. band's repertoire boasts almost 2,000 songs from different genres, so there shouldn't be any problem in dealing with different requests. Eighty to ninety percent of what we play every night are mostly requested songs. So here, we were told to only play easy listening songs. But still, the crowd knows what we are capable of, based on our previous performances. But they get disappointed because as they said, our sound sucks. They expect better, if not the best sound system among the hotels here. Shangri-La Hotel is a 5-star hotel anyway.

So, if we have to put our guests' needs first, majority would have wanted us to "go back" to the old U.R.B. style. But then again, it's the management who hired us and who would pay us. We're torn between these choices, really.

What do you want from the U.R.B. band? Leave a comment or just send me email at webmaster@saritaonline.com. 

Horseback Riding of the Energizer Girl

Managed to drag ourselves from bed at noontime. I got a little bit confused as to what to wear for the day. My friend Edyn came just in time. It was raining a bit when we left the hotel to catch the van that would be our service for the whole day.

We were in the van with other musicians from Concorde and I think I was the only one with a fully recharged battery - in my body, that is. Everyone else was sleepy while I talked nonstop and nonsense-ly.

THE LUNCH
We arrived the luncheon of Terry and Imelda Teoh for Space U8 Mall in Shah Alam after almost an hour of trip. Endless photos here and there while we took our lunch. The Indonesian Batak Boys performed for a few songs while the rest of us - singers - do our own contribution... DANCE! LOL

HORSEBACK RIDING
It was almost 4PM when we all headed to their ranch for the highlight of the day - horseback riding. Again, most of them all occupied the seats in the ranch while Aretha and I go and checked out the horses first.

There were around 9 horses in their ranch (there are more in their other ranch). It's my first time to ever come near an animal  other than dogs and cats, face to face. I realized how beautiful the horses are and when I look in their eyes, I feel for them. But I can also feel the strength inside them. They want to run unbridled and set loose and free. Why do I know? I was born the year of the horse.

So anyway, I was second in line to ride the horse. The space for horseback riding wasn't that big but enough for the 'basics'. And yes, it's my very first time to ride a horse. EVER. But yeah, after knowing the basics from the instructor, I rode the white horse named Dato K like it wasn't my first time at all. Well thankfully, the instructor was just nearby and was telling me what to do with Dato K. The other white horse is named Siti Nurhaliza which was ridden by our friends' son, Joshua. Dato K and Siti Nurhaliza in the ranch - for reall! :-)

After my turn, none of my friends would dare to ride the horse so we just had drinks over to the side of the ranch while still seeing the other visitors who would like to ride the horses and while overlooking the distant view of the KL city. The guys were in the van taking some short naps. We were just watching while Joshua was still riding Siti Nurhaliza (that didn't sound right LOL). Joshua was still riding the horse named Siti Nurhaliza (sounds better). Suddenly, Siti Nurhaliza sped off thus throwing little Joshua on the ground. We were all shocked when we saw that. But knowing that Joshua was OK, it made us breathe easy again.

GOING and GOING
We finished the day by having a great sumptuous dinner with everybody. Terry and Imelda's little adorable Jasmine was beside me all the time. I enjoyed playing with her, she's 5 years old. Everyone had a great time and I surely did. On the way back to the hotel, the Energizer girl still couldn't stop talking. I just kept going and going.

And going. LOL.

PS: Please keep posted for the photos and videos - THIS WEEK!

Shoooooes

Who doesn't love shoes? If you do, then you must be from the Neanderthal times. 

Shoes and bags are my weaknesses. I don't get to use them quite a lot because I also am loyal to my "favorites". But seeing that I have them gives me a sense of satisfaction. Is that bad? I don't think so.

Take for example, my working shoes, or shoes that I use every night at work. They need to be sturdy and comfortable and they have to have a strap around the ankle so they wouldn't fall off my feet when I start dancing. I could buy different kinds of black shoes but they really need to be comfortable. When I'm in KL, I also have my dancing shoes custom-made.

I like to play dress-up when I'm off from work. I have lots of dresses from my now-defunct SMC Republic boutique, but I only brought some of them with me. I love skirts and cute dresses and of course, I would always need shoes to match them. When I'm in KL, I'm always tempted to buy shoes/sandals from Vincci - or what we call in the Philippines, VNC. They're much cheaper here than in Manila.

When I came to KL in mid-January this year, I left most of my shoes in Manila and just brought 3 pairs: dancing shoes, sandals and sneakers. But now, I have 8 more pairs! LOL.

If you want to know my shoe size and want to DONATE some of your unused ones to me, my shoe size is 6, or European size 37. Give 'em to me babyyyyy! LOL.

Twilight

Just watched the movie Twilight a while ago. Very nice love story. Talk about immortality, hmmm... If I can be who I want to be, I'd love to be a cool vampire with diamond skin at daylight too! LOL. At least, I won't have to put on some shimmery lotion anymore! LOL

If I can be a mom, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a friend, a singer, a dancer, a blogger, an entrepreneur, and what I want to be, why can I be a vampire?

LOL.

I know, I know! I need to sleep now. I know how to self-destruct, too!

LOL

Blogger widget on the Dashboard

I know it's so passe but I've been having difficulty in logging in and out of my Blogger account. So like what I did with my Twitter, I also installed a Blogger widget on my dashboard. Works great! :-)

Our 10th Wedding Anniversary

Yes, we've been married for 10 years 2 days ago. I had problem blogging about it & it wasn't going through. I made a special video about this. Go to http://www.youtube.com/saritac to see the video. :-)

The 2012 Apocalypse

I'm currently watching a documentary about the controversial apocalypse that is set to happen on December 21, 2012. It's kinda scary to think that it will happen 3 years or more from now. But ancient people already knew about this during their times but the thought was scraped off because they were, ahmmm, dead long long time ago. LOL.

But now that the 'supposed end' is just 3 years from now, it's becoming one of the hottest topics right now. So the question right now is, is this true? Or will it be another just like the Y2K myth?