The Weekend That Was and then Some

From what I've gathered through photos and Facebook status posts - the ACS concert was awesome! Fullhouse, wonderful performance and an overall great evening. I would've loved loved loved to have watched (watched mind you, not sing!)- the ACS mixed in some video tributes and CHOREO. SHET. I've heard the ACS sing but dance? I would've really loved to see that.

Here's one of the video's floating around, tribute to those ACS' loved ones. Yes, yes, same song (but in it's full length), but different visuals! If I knew how to loop youtube videos I would as it really does make me smile.

My weekend on the other hand was eventful- excellent dinner on Friday and a fun night out on Saturday.

I tried butter chicken with naan for the first time on Friday and I fell in love. So much so that I had to have it again on Sunday. Very tempted to go back to the Bar Bar Black Sheep but thankfully, there was an Indian resto near where I was at which had pretty good butter chicken as well. We ended the night relatively early that Friday - I think I was home by 11?

Saturday was lots of fun too- ladies night out, the F1 weekend special. We met up for pre-drinks, then checked out both the Johnny Walker party and the newly opened Pangea. Despite lots and lots (and lots and lots) of drinks, the night was not as messy as I had thought - in fact, it wasn't messy at all! Being over the hill at 29, us old ladies yawned our way to bed at a rather early time - 2ish if I'm not mistaken. I must also proudly share that I survived a night out dancing in heels - the first time in MONTHS.  4.5 inches none the less!

Sunday was spent just the way I like it - quietly. Cleaned the studio, read, went to mass, had a lovely meal (butter chicken i love you!!) and read some more.

September zipped by pretty darn quickly. Now (crazy crazy) October is almost upon us. I celebrate 6 months in SG in October and have 2 trips to take one weekend after another. Right after those trips, I have one friend coming in and staying with me, only to overlap with the trip of another friend staying with me as well. Work has also picked up; couple of new accounts to take on as well as managing the accounts of a friend who's away on and off in October.

Should be fun :)

Couple pictures from my weekend below, as well as some other random pictures I've snapped along the way over the last few months.

Bon Voyage fellow ACGCer! Best of luck in NYC!

Frozen margaritas and new conversations with old classmates

Rows of colours neatly organized! And a finger ruining my shot!

This awesome store J & I discovered (amonth many awesome
stores in that mall) displayed all sorts of Penguin books. Love love love

Mooshi Bakes' Gooey was well.. gooey

Trying out Joo Joo's assortment of yakitori

Old friends slumber partying like old times :) 

With our fancy initial pancakes for breakfast :D

I think J and I will be coming back here for more movies!

Milkshake made with TWG's tea infused ice cream flavours. TWG I love you!

MBS from afar

Love my ice cream to go's packaging!

Bus, my (only) choice of transport!

Will definitely come back here! 

Johnnie keeps walking.. 

With K & C 

Leaving Pangea

Love love the chairs, love love the colours!

Butter chicken + Naan. One of my many obsessions these last few months!

This Weekend

I knew towards the end of last year that my stint with choir singing was coming to an end. Having been in a choir ALL MY LIFE - thought this was a very bold declaration. Some of the best years of my life I've spent singing in choirs, especially the choirs I sang with over the last 6 years- the best friends, memories, lessons, experiences anyone could every ask for . But I think I arrived at a point in my life where other things became an urgent priority, so much so that singing in a choir was no longer fun for me and I knew it was time to move on.
Recently, the current members of the Ateneo Chamber Singers have been posting this on their Facebook walls. Not ACS' usual style. BUT, watching and listening to it.. I couldn't help but smile each time (yes, inulit ulit ko siya).  Made me remember why I stuck out it out for so long - especially with this group. Genuine warmth and love radiates from the members of the ACS, so much so, that I really do believe it shines through in our music.


So if you're in Manila this Friday, 23rd of September. Do yourself a favor and watch this concert. You'll be in for an inspirational, love-filled evening for sure.

In other news, it's F1 weekend in Singapore. Traffic has already started to build up on this tiny island as people are slowly flocking in by the droves and roads are getting rerouted and fixed up for the night races.

While I would personally love to hermit away at home, I'd be silly not to at least experience the energy of the weekend - and I'm not even talking about the races. I'll start the weekend here on Friday, and will end up here by Saturday. Sunday - you can find me at home, in bed, the ENTIRE DAY.

ACS with Sir Jojo during TATLO at the CCP, Manila in 2011

ACGC pictorial at ADMU in 2003

ACS with Sir Jojo performing in San Francisco 

ACGC in 2004; Mamalou's maiden performance at Philamlife, Manila

ACGC competing (and winning) in Marktoberdorf, Germany, 2001

thank you FB and my FB friends for all of these photos :)

Lesson from a Crab

Taken at Maosonon Island, Palawan in 2009

Some lessons you learn as a child, and you only really learn their value as you get older.

An iconic crab (or is it lobster) once said "You want something done, you've got to do it yourself". Ok, so maybe Sebastian of Little Mermaid wasn't the first to say this - but that's who I initially learned that lesson from.

The older I get, the shorter my patience grows. When I get excited about something, I'm learning not to expect that same level of excitement from others. Or at least, same level of translated action. If I sit around and wait, I set myself up for disappointment. In my new mind frame of molding my own life (and not letting life mold me), this particular phrase has become a glaring mantra that needs to be practiced lest I pull out my hair.

This being said, I'm glad I've finally got a pending plan going since the idea first popped up start of the year

Summer '11: Florence, Italy

Birthplace of the Renaissance, how could I not go? A rather painful-to-the-wallet trip to take for a day but we did so anyway. As we only had a day, like in Rome, we opted to explore the city instead of spend hours in line for museums. Next trip around, I'll hopefully get to check out the thousands of arts pieces Florence has tucked away in their museums. 

Oh Italy, I can't wait to see more of you in the future!

• Lunch at Mercato Centrale (nom nom nom)
• Capelle Medicee / Museo di Casa Martelli
• Basilica San Lorenzo + street market @ Piazza San Lorenzo
• Palazzo Medici Ricardi 
• Catedrale di Santa Maria del Fioro + Piazza Duomo
• Gelati (nom nom nom)
• Piazza Annunziata
• Piazza di San Marco + shopping along via roma
• Piazza della Repubblica
• Piazza della Signoria + Palazzo Vecchio
• Ponte Vecchio
• Dinner at Le Antiche Carozze
• Ponte Santa Trinita + Museo Ferragamo
• Window shopping along Via Torna Buoni
• Palazzo Strozzi + Piazza Santa Maria Novella

Social Media Detox

Taken at Arles, France (0711)

It's been two-ish weeks since I decided to take a break from social media, which meant:

1. No Twitter
2. Limited FaceBook (going on to do specific tasks ie: finish posting all my freaking trip pictures, & at that, limited to the weekend)
3. No chatting - facebook chat (which I've always hated), gmail, YM, & skype. 

Twitter was harder than I thought. There were a number of times I had something I wanted to get something out of my system, or an observation I wanted to share- why it's come to the point in my life that I want to disperse these into Twitter universe is beyond me, but yes, harder than I thought. But have succeeded thus far!

Facebook wasn't too bad as I really didn't cut this out of my system completely. I cut out the "aimlessly checking for any status/photo updates" bit of it (which is also what I wanted to avoid on Twitter). I've been on once or twice a week to post my own photos or to respond to mail directed at me. Admittedly, I have been tempted to check- usually when there's something at work I'm avoiding doing, hehe. But yes, I'd think  it's been a success as well! 

Not being readily available on chat programs has been good too. Gives me less reason to focus on what I'm really supposed to be focusing on. I am now also in the process of decluterring the millions of yahoogroups I've been a part of since forever. 

The flip side to not being connected to what everyone else is doing is that huli ako sa balita. A lot can happen in the social media world when you disappear for a while. These sites have really been a source of ready connection to the "outside" world - even reminders about people's birthdays I've left up to Facebook etc to remind me about. I still keep my Facebook account pseudo active by sharing photos - I don't want to become one of those Facebook users who annoyingly have NOTHING on their page (I have a number of friends who are like this.. you know who you are! lol). The day I stop participating on Facebook, I'll delete my account. Which makes me think, should I delete my Twitter account? 

Isolating or hermiting myself away? Ehm.. hindi naman. I just want to give my life my 100% undivided attention. So I've been emailing, reading, planning, muni-muni-ing, doing little things here and there that I believe are keeping me in the now of life. 

In the absence of social media, I've found myself missing people more. But I figure, if I want REAL connection, I'll drop them an email or a text message. Now whether or not they respond, is a whole other story ( ya ya ya, I know some of you know what I'm talking about!), but at least my friends know I'm thinking about them? Likewise, if people really need to find me, they'll know how to do so. 

No idea if this plan is forever, I mean, I don't want to regress into a cavewoman here. But in the meantime, I do think I'll keep it up. 

Summer '11: Rome, Italy

I've always always always wanted to go to Italy. So when I knew I was going to Europe I made sure Italy was on the itinerary even if it was a complete departure from the areas we were coming from- thankfully my travelmates were game to head here as well. Luck was on our side when a flight from Nimes to Rome opened up A WEEK before we left!

We also lucked out in the place we stayed at (MyGuest Roma) - awesome awesome bed and breakfast. Charming charming place and perfect for our little tour group - a great mishmash of contemporary furniture, vintage pieces and quirky touches. We rented a flat so it was rather spacious. My favorite part was the living room / kitchen where we spent our evenings unwinding from a full day. Owners were awesome and took the time to really make our stay comfortable and convenient.

We figured Rome was a good place to immerse ourselves in Italian culture. Though it wasn't built in a day, we ran through all the major sites in a full day.

• Colosseo 
• Palatino / Foro Romano
• Piazza Venezia
• Via Dei Giubbornari (for a bit of shopping)
• Lunch at Camp de' Fiori
• Piazza Navona
• Pantheon
• Gelato break!
• Fontana Di Trevi
• Piazza di Spagna
• Via del Corso (for some more shopping)
• And what to eat for dinner in Italy?! Burger King. lol

Not bad for an extremely hot hot hot day noh?