Miraculous Money Matters

When the gold bars under my bed have melted away (damn manila summer!) and polly has flown away with all my doubloons (arrrr..), there is nothing like:

• finding a bill in a "secret" wallet compartment or stashed away in a junk drawer
  
• a generous friend
  
• having enough change (5 & 10 pesos please..) to purchase something relatively substantial & necessary
  
• someone returning money he/she previously borrowed
• surprise payment for past performances / services rendered

Sure money doesn't make the world go round (daw!), but in times of world and well.. personal financial crisis' - these serendipitous events become almost miraculous.

wedding watch

having been singing with a choir for YEARS, one can only imagine how many weddings i have attended. ok.. let me rephrase.. not attended, but sung for :)

there a lot of variables in my experience singing for weddings. there is venue of course: out of town weddings in intimate chapels, and massive city weddings in airconed churches. there is costume: official costume with full make-up, suot bisita, or combini's. there is the singing of course: from a list of popular wedding choices to specially arreglo-ed songs, instrumental, accapella, in dry or wet accoustics. hmmm.. and perhaps several other elements that do not come to mind right now due to the crazy summer heat that has my brain making sense only in blurts.

there are a lot of fun things about singing for a wedding. a miss universe comment would be that its a wonderful feeling to be able to soundtrack that special day in a couple's life. a practical comment would be that it is also an opportunity to earn a bit of transpo / after wedding gimik / shopping money. a useless but perhaps most "in the moment" relevant and amusing answer would be the running commentary on wedding fashion.

many of us crane our necks to catch glimpses of the outfits of guests, entorage, wedding organizers (a favorite) and of course, THE dress of the moment, the wedding dress. in hushed but excited whispers, exchange of eye contact and small but telling gestures inbetween songs (ok.. sometimes during the song), my choir becomes a forum of opinionated fashionistas. its always a thrill to see fabulous ensembles, but even more thrilling sometimes is to see some agreed upon faux pas milling about. hehehe :)

bump its

I went through a phase where i loved wearing my hair in a fake "teased" half ponytail. Very Indonesian Ibu actually :) Or as sir jojo called it.. the "siopao" in my hair. Nothing I like better than a poofy crown of hair!

I saw this today mentioned on a show and I had to google it. It's a product called "bump its" (kaineezzz) - hair volumizing inserts. You insert it under a portion of teased hair to create that volumized "siapao". I WANT!!!!!! :D

http://www.bighappiehair.com/

Colored Pencil

During rehearsals today, I noticed Ate Staly using one of those colored pencils that instead of having single colored lead, had instead a pinwheel of rainbow colors. Back in the day, I probably had a few of those pencils at several points in my life. It also reminded me of this really random "multiple-colored-face-paint-in-one-crayon" crayon that I found in NB recently, where in one crayon it had stripes of different colors as well. I was so tempted to buy it, tear it open, run to the nearest bathroom and draw a line down.. heck.. i dunno, my arm.. just so i could see the stripes of color transfer and adhere itself onto my skin.

Anyway.. drawn to colors, I had to compliment Ate Sta on it. She then gave it to me! Flabergasted as I was.. I accepted. I was so giddy the rest of the rehearsal.. I kept thinking of what to doodle on my music pieces. Ironically, couldn't think of anything to doodle for my new possesesion's virgin voyage.

Thanks Ate Sta! You made my day :)

week three walking

as much as i may bitch and whine about getting my ass into sweats and my feet into sneakers to literally, walk the dog for an hourish every night, i've been enjoying it!

it has become an excuse to slowly get some movement into my otherwise sedentary life with the ultimate goal of leading a healthier existence. i figure i just need to keep fooling my mind into believing that i'm not exercising but instead, doing things like, clearing my head, pondering life, figuring out what to wear the next day, looking for pattern inspirations for a painting, day (well.. night) dreaming, etc. i could also just keep at it until it becomes routine for me... but i don't want to go there until routine-building and self discipline have become second nature to me.

despite terribly humid days, the nights have been miraculously cool and even windy. outside of the running conversations in my head, my eyes do a lot of mindless wandering too. strangely enough, my route is the same, but everytime i look at the homes i pass, i notice something new. this is good as i'm not (yet?) bored.

i've been consistent over the last three weeks - a wonderfully long period of time considering my health hiatus over the last few years. i remember jogging manically in place in my tiny studio apartment when el nino kept me from getting my butt to the gym for boxing, aerobics class or a jog on the treadmill. jeez.. the thought of my attitude back then still amazes me when i think about it.

i'm on my way to accomplishing one of the many declarations i've made for myself for 2009. a few months late.. but hey, better late than never right?

compact first aid kit

ok.. well, that was a bit of an exaggeration, maybe not a compact first aid KIT.. but the "compact" & "first aid" part i think i got right.

A friend bought these for me at a small convenience store at the airport in Bali. I was nursing a cut from an overzealous foot spa-er / pedicurist from a salon in Jakarta. I don't blame her actually.. I saw what she was fighting :)

Anyway.. isn't it cool? It's anti-septic in a q-tip! You snap off the blue tip (snap AWAY from yourself people.. lest you want to be speckled in dark brown antiseptic) and the antiseptic runs down into the white part of the cotton bud. Cool huh? Anyone know if you can find these in Manila?