WPPP Photo Congress 2010

Top: Lito Sy, Badeedadee Marl & Manny Librodo;
Bottom left: A pic of me by Terry Conceja at the WPPP exhibit
Bottom right: Bruno Marls & Mini-me Selena
PHOTO CONGRESS 2010 @ MEGAMALL
After our very successful funshoot at Paco Park on May 29th, we went to SM Megamall to enroll our daughter Selena at the Center for Pop Music Philippines for her voice and stage performance training. We were walking on the 5th level of the mall when we saw the Photo Congress 2010 at the Megatrade Hall so we decided to check it out. 
My name sticker that says SARITA:
Assistant of Manny Librodo =)

We saw that Mr. Manny Librodo, the portraiture master, is one of the speakers in the event on Monday so I just sent him a message to let him know that we were at SM Megamall and that we would love to see him. He immediately replied us that he's at the event, too, so he asked us to come in and check out the exhibit. It was great to see him after more than half a year. And seeing his photos as part of the exhibit made me feel so proud of him. But what surprised me was seeing a photo of me in the exhibit! I was really surprised! It was a photo taken by Terry Conceja during our funshoot in Baguio City last year. Mr. Manny introduced us to the best wedding photographer in the Philippines, Mr. Lito Sy.
Lito Sy and Badeedadee Marl looking
over at Manny Librodo's iPad

Since Manny's hotel is just behind the mall, we just walked him off while catching up with him with our stories. We had a great conversation with him in the lobby of his hotel before we walked back to our condo. Yes, our condo is also walking distance from Megamall. But before we went back home, Manny invited us to attend his seminar the next day after.

One of my photos by Manny Librodo
during his presentation
So on Monday, May 30, we woke up early to attend Mr. Librodo's talk at the Photo Congress 2010. We sat next to Lito Sy and his only daughter, Leann, in the front row. It was such an engaging and inspiring talk. And yes, I felt a bit shy and humbled when I knew that he included few of my photos in his presentation. I blushed when he acknowledged my presence and asked me to stand up before the crowded room. I helped him draw the winners for his exhibit photos, too. And even though he extended from his alloted time, everyone forgot their lunch and was glued to their seats and couldn't get enough of his session. Lito Sy treated us for a sumptuous lunch at Dad's along with Manny Librodo and Keda Feng. I asked him different questions and he unwillingly answered and shared his knowledge and experiences over lunch. What a "filling" lunch! :)

We went back to the seminar hall where the famous wedding videographer Jason Magbanua was having his seminar talk. I was so lucky to listen to him because I'm interested in making videos. And I was so surprised to see a long-lost friend of mine who is now a known makeup artist, Madge Lejano. And I was more surprised to know how she is related to my idol, Jason Magbanua. But ahmmm... I will stop my tongue on that topic. :-)

Top: Me at the WPPP's Awards Night; With Marl & Manny Librodo;
Bottom: Our family with Lito Sy; Jason Magbanua & me
WPPP's AWARDS NIGHT @ IBARRA'S
Because we were with Sir Manny, we were automatically invited at the WPPP's Awards Night held at Ibarra's in Timog, Quezong City. And not only that. We were invited to sing for the event, too! Weeeee! I sang one of my personal favorites, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". And when they called out for "more", I invited my husband Marl to sing a Miss Saigon song called "The Last Night Of The World". He later on sang another inspiring song called "You Raise Me Up". It was a great experience to sing to a room full of cameras and flashes! :-)

Marl chitchatting with Keda Feng
It was a night literally filled with BIG awards. We were seated at the VIP table and was asked not to stand and get our food from the buffet because our food will be served. TARAYYYY! :) Mr. Lito Sy bagged the Photographer of the Year 2010 among other big winners. We had a really great time! And this experience wouldn't be possible if it wasn't because of a great friend, Manny Librodo. :) THANK YOU SIR!!! =)

Surprising Mini-Me


She didn't know that we were going back a week after she went back to Manila from Beijing. We kept it a top secret. It was so funny whenever we'd slip our tongues and unintentionally blurt out something about the top secret holiday. But it's good that she would often be too busy on her Mac or her Android to even eavesdrop to what me & Marl were talking about.

Anyway, she was vacationing at my mom's place in Paco, Manila. And as per my instructions, she was supposed to meet with Marl's sis at McDonald's infront of her school to buy her textbooks and uniforms last Tuesday, May 24. It's also the same day that we were coming back from Cebu. When I walked in the fastfood resto, I could see how surprised she was. She couldn't react loudly and was instead abashed that she was surprised by me. LOL. This was maybe the 3rd time that we had surprised her and it always works everytime. :-)

She will start her school for the 6th grade in June 8. And I'm just as excited as she is, preparing her things for school and helping her out with everything. Then I suddenly realized... I missed school. LOL.
Posted by ShoZu

Unexpected Holiday

We got a word from the management of Shangri-La Beijing two weeks ago that we are indeed going back to the Philippines for a very short holiday. Why? Because they weren't able to extend our visa so therefore we must leave China and apply a new visa in Manila. My reaction? I jumped up and down but had to compose myself because we wanted to surprise our daughter Selena, who was then going back to Manila after her vacation in Beijing.


So we flew out to Manila on May 20 and spent a night in our condo while pretending that I was still in Beijing whenever I chatted with Selena. On May 21, we flew out to Cebu to spend the weekend there. We spent our lunch at the beach near our house in Talisay with my siblings-in-law and their family. All I did in Cebu afterwards is to sleep, rest, and nap. =)

We flew back to Manila on May 24 and surprised our daughter Selena (details on the next blog). It's definitely great to be back HOME with my little family in our little condo. It's my first time to actually take care of my daughter's school needs before school opening. And it feels great.

We will surely savor every minute of it. It won't be too long before we fly back again to Beijing to continue our contract. 

Posted by ShoZu


Selena in Beijing - Issue#1

At laaaaaast! Here's the video of our daughter's adventure here in Beijing. In this video, we took her to these places:

  • The Village at Sanlitun
  • Beijing Zoo
  • Olympic Park
  • Chaoyang Park
  • Beijing Planetarium
.... and many more other places in the next issues! ENJOY! :)


Our fun daytrip to Baguio City, Philippines

This was my FIRST time to go to Baguio. Only spent a day to tour around Baguio and half of the day after was my photoshoot with Baguio's Best. :) The trip wouldn't be this crazy and fun if it weren't because of our friends Chona, Claire, and Dior. We really had soooo much fun. Please enjoy this video.

Bloopers: Song Requests

I love funny people and hilarious moments. As entertainers, we have lots of bloopers on and off stage. And one of them is so inevitable - when we get funny song requests being requested for us to perform. So I just thought of starting a post about BLOOPERS series on different things and let me start off with Song Requests. I will try to update this blog every time I'll have a new thing to share on this post.

These are just for laughs. We don't mean to mock on anyone. These are first-hand experiences by me and my band.

  • In Beijing, someone came up to the stage and asked if we can play "New York, New York". I belted out the classic broadway hit originally from Frank Sinatra. He shook his head. I thought he shook his head because he was "feeling" the music. Then he handed me a paper that read "Empire State of Mind" by Alicia Keys. LOLLL.
  • In KL, a guest handed a request onstage that read "Proper Face". I looked at my band and with my saliva bursting out of laughter, I realized she was requesting for "Poker Face". I couldn't make it through the song without laughing when it gets to the part when I had to repeat the phrase "Po-po-po-poker face".
  • In Beijing, a staff went to the stage and told us that a guest was requesting for "Morning I Can Say". I told her we don't play that song, thinking the guest meant "Morning Has Broken". But the staff insisted that we do play this song - all the time. I got intrigued. She suddenly sang "Woh-oh-woh, yeah-yeah... I love you morning I can say". She meant "More Than I Can Say". LOL.
  • In Shanghai, someone requested for "Shalalala". We played "Shalala" by the Dreamhouse. The guest meant "Every shalala, every woh-hoh-hoh... still shines", a line from the song "Yesterday Once More" by the Carpenters.
  • And in Beijing, a kid requested for "Shalala" during our 1st set. Because we haven't played it for such a long time & forgot the words to it, we spent our 1st break searching for the lyrics online & wrote the lyrics in a paper. Then we started our 2nd set with it. Turns out... the kid was requesting for Carpenter's Yesterday Once More "Every shalalala... every woh-hoh-woh-hoh..." Hahahahaha! TOINK!
  • In Beijing, my eyes teared up from laughing onstage because I got a request "Smoke Gas In Your Eyes". LOL. That must have been a painful prank, eh? :)
  • There are song titles that are easy to identify because they are always repeated in the song. But there are songs like "Unchained Melody" that never mentioned a thing about an unchained melody within the song. So we get requests like "Oh My Love" (pertaining to its first line) and "Unchange Melody". The funniest was when got a request called "The Gos", then erased it and wrote "The Goes". TOINK!!!
  • The song Casablanca is one of the all-time favorites here in China and we usually know what they meant when they request this to us. But there was a time when a guest told me he wants "Casabank". Wasn't sure then if he wanted to get some cash in a bank. LOL.
  • We all know that "Anak" is the most famous Filipino song internationally. But sometimes we do get requests like "Anuck", "Anna", or they'd say "Anax". I'm sure Freddie Aguilar wouldn't like his song to be "an ax". LOL. And sometimes, they just request a song by the artist named Freddie Aguilera. Related to Christina Aguilera, eh? Wahahaha!
  • I remember one time, a yuppie came up to and asked if I can sing a song from Nojo. It was out first set and we were playing in the lobby, so I thought he was requesting for a dance song from Modjo so I immediately apologized to him. Then he said, "Anything! Maybe 'Don't Know Why' or 'Come Away With Me'?". Ahhhh, Norah Jones. That was way too slang, man!
OH MAN! These funny memories made me laugh while reminiscing them. There are a lot more bloopers that I can't think of right now so I'm pretty sure this post will be updated once I remember them - or once there are new bloopers. So keep on checking, aight? :)

My Mother's Day gift from Selena


My daughter made me this beautiful collage and tagged me on Facebook with a written note that goes:

to the bestest mom in the whole universe !!!!.... i dont have a gift to give to you but i made this picture that shows the real you<best mom in the world> even most of the times were apart but i know you love me with all your heart If I could have just one wish Now wouldn't that be fine I'd wish that every little kid Had a mom as good as mine HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOMMY! :*** i ♥ you!!!


I'm deeply touched! What more can I ask for? :)

Because it's Mothers' Day...

Because it's Mothers' Day, everyone on Facebook is changing their profile photos to their mom's. This is to pay tribute to the one person who has bore all the sacrifices and hard work to raise us to what we are now. I do understand others' sensitivity on this occasion, especially if they're not in good terms with their mothers, or worse, they haven't even met their mothers. But it's Mother's Day. We all wouldn't be here in this earth had it not been for our mothers. Time to set aside all the grudges. Hug your mom and tell her that you love her and that you're thankful that she made you live this wonderful life.
My mom :)

To my mom, Rose Jimenez, I love you. We might have had our ups and downs, our differences and our misunderstandings, but it sure doesn't take out the fact that I am only your child and I came from your womb. Thank you for all the lessons you have taught me in life. For being there for my daughter when I couldn't. For all the laughters and jokes we will forever laugh about. And most of all, for the unconditional love you have given me since birth. I love you, Ma!


Let me share with you a video of me and my princessette Selena which I have always shared during Mother's Day for couple of years now. It's the song called "Mama".

Colours by Badeedadee

Colours by Badeedadee
It's been half a year that I didn't have a shoot and I certainly missed having shoots with creative and talented photographers. Hubby Badeedadee has recently edited my photo from a shoot that we did in November 2010, just before we left for Beijing. Well, at least, something new to add to my porfolio! :)
Click on the photo to see the whole album on Facebook. Thankssss! :)