Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009!

2008 passed like a blur for me. Started it off with 16 plane rides in January and then I don't really remember anymore what happened till November. I remember though that I was hospitalized in November and so I guess 2008 was definitely a BUSY one. At least I remember what happened this month. I just worked, stayed at home and did not attend any party (by choice!). Inasmuch as the whole year was a flurry of activity, I managed to hunker down and celebrate Christmas simply, just family and very close childhood friends. 

I failed miserably with the priorities I had set for 2008. I'm not even pasang awa and I guess I won't list any new priorities just yet for 2009 (well maybe tomorrow when I feel like it). At least I can say I managed to learn how to edit videos and so to celebrate that one bit of accomplishment I present to you an experimental vlog. Watch how I get abducted by a virus and brought back to the age of dinosaurs (oh noes!). Makakabalik kaya ako?

Happy new year! 

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Dino Alive World Tour 2008 Manila

Mall of Asia (front of SMX Convention Center)

November 28, 2008 to January 11, 2009

Tickets: 

Adults - PhP400

Children (under 1m) - PhP350

Family Package (2 Adults + 2 Children + 1 free ticket) - PhP1,600

MMFF Review: Iskul Bukol and Tanging Ina Nyong Lahat

Every year I try to watch a couple of the Metro Manila Film Fest movies. I don't remember though if I managed to watch any last year, but I do remember doing a movie marathon once with my childhood friends and we ended up cross-eyed by the end of the third movie. It's fun though and you should try it. 

I've watched two movies so far this year: Iskul Bukol and Tanging Ina Niyong Lahat.

Iskul Bukol

major head slap ala Plurk

I was forewarned by Sweetie about a not-so-good reviews on Iskul Bukol, but I felt guilty about changing plans since my high school friends wanted to watch it. I watched Iskul Bukol when I was a kid and thought it would be great to see them again. I remember I used to laugh a lot at their antics and thought that Miguel would appreciate the show too.

Less than 5 minutes into the movie Miguel was already elbowing me and I was yawning. The movie was very predictable and had all the elements of a TVJ show. Scantily-clad girls, goons, toilet humor, lots of chancing, carabao English and green jokes. The punch lines were just so 80s and old, some of it still made us laugh though. We finished the movie though since we weren't really set to do anything else. 

Tanging Ina Nyong Lahat

ROFL

I originally wanted to watch "Baler", but the titles changed over the weekend so since it was still early we decided to watch another movie and chose Tanging Ina Nyong Lahat. I watched the first movie with my parents when it came out and it was really funny. I was worried though that the sequel might not be able to make me laugh the same way the first movie did. 

Unlike Iskul Bukol, I was hooked five minutes into the movie. Aiai and Eugene's tandem is a powerful one and I ended up laughing along with the audience. I also love how the movie managed to tackle important issues (national and family) in a light way. There was also a smattering of movie and telenovela spoofs, but if you're not Kapamilya you might want to watch some videos about their shows (Caregiver, Maging Sino Ka Man etc.). 

Be merry! Watch Tanging Ina Nyong Lahat!

And tomorrow I shall watch Dayo! Here's the video blog I did a few months ago when I got the chance to visit Cutting Edge Productions when they were still making Dayo. Notice that I had an uncanny resemblance to Ana. 

 

My original post about Dayo is here.

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An Apple a Day on ABS-CBN "Upload"

I dozed off after watching a few segments of "Upload" on ABS-CBN last night since I was quite tired from the trip to Tagaytay yesterday. I was quite curious about the show since I was contacted earlier this month by ABS-CBN News, they wanted to interview me about a video I uploaded in my Youtube channel. I've been terribly shy about getting interviewed and have been shying away from it for more than 2 years now. 

Anyway, I was awakened by a call (and loads of text messages) at around 11:30 p.m.. Sweetie said that the spoof of the McDo TVC we did a few months ago was shown in the feature. I was mortified! Among all the videos I have online, it's the one video that I've wanted to delete for many reasons.  (Well this video was directed by my bestfriend, I edited it).

I dunno though if I should be happy or not about my video getting shown on TV. I feel embarrassed. I'm not mad that it was shown on TV (they could've told me though since they already contacted me, grrrr!), I'm just really embarrassed since I wasn't ready for it. My friends said that it was okay and quite funny and that the video was clear. Right. And one of my friends said that he watched it via TFC. 

OMG. 

Yeah, yeah, I'll probably get over it after a few days. 

But until then I think I'm going to bury my head first like an ostrich. 

A New Look

I kinda got bored with how my blogs look like, so I changed some things a bit. I'm not yet happy with the header here on An Apple a Day. Hopefully I'll get inspired and manage to fix it up soon.

An Apple a Day

Lakwatsera Ako

Twisted Wedding Planner

And here's a new blog I've been meaning to put together since 2007!

Lamp Art (Adventures of the Light)

The Christmas I Got Slapped

Our parish priest was an hour late for mass on Christmas morning. He was the only priest left in our parish since all the others went home to their families. Martyr po siya. He said he just wanted them to be happy that's why he allowed them to go, so he ended up tending to all the masses in the parish. He's still quite young that's why he can handle everything, but he gives the best sermon (and we usually spend about 90 minutes in Church with him every Sunday). It's like being slapped every single week, and I mean that in a positive way.

Today (since I'm still up even though it's the 26th already) he gave a very important reminder that Christmas is not about YOU. It's not about sulking in your room singing Pasko na Sinta Ko or ranting to your best friend that your still a member ofSMC (Samahan ng Malalamig ang Pasko). Or for those who are sad because their loved ones are away. Christmas is not about that, it's all about Jesus. His birth. His coming. His BIRTHDAY! 

See that's why I feel like I'm being slapped awake whenever I get a chance to listen to Fr. Ramon's homily. All these years I had mistakenly equated Christmas with MY own happiness. There was even a time I dreaded Christmas coz I was also a member of the SMC and was just plain unhappy with how things were going in my life. 

Fr. Ramon proceeded to tell us that during Christmas you HAVE to be happy. Because you have EVERY RIGHT to be happy. It's the time to celebrate His birth. Remember when you were a kid how happy and excited you were. Helping Mom decorate. Eating half the food in the kitchen even before it's served. Staying up waiting for Santa Claus. Going to Cubao to watch the puppet show/display on the mall's frontage (it's in Greenhills now). Driving down Ayala just to see the lights. Learning how to wrap gifts. Carolling. 

When I was a kid everyone in our street put an effort in placing Christmas lights and lanterns. The number has been dwindling through the years. And I think only about 3 to 4 houses placed Christmas lights outside (we almost didn't). Fr. Ramon said it just goes to show that people have forgotten what Christmas is for. 

I was teary eyed when we stood up to sing "Angels we have Heard on High" once again. I felt like a huge burden was taken off my shoulders. I finally realized what Christmas is really for. 

Happy Birthday Jesus! Thank you for being there despite all my you-know. 

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Oh and Fr. Ramon saluted all the couples who attended the mass together. I noticed that most of those who attended mass this morning were indeed senior citizen couples who are still very much together after all these years. That's one of my dreams. 

Here's my Mom and Dad on Christmas Day. They will be celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary next weekend.  

And this is me just being a kid again.

I hope I managed to make my boys really happy this Christmas. One got a gadget (a pen tablet and I guess I'll blog about it over at YGT). The other one got this uber cool Optimus Prime die cast thingy (original Transformers and not from the movie, collector's item the clerk said, I'm glad my best friend's husband helped me get it). 

And guess who got it! Merry Christmas!

Christmas! It's Christmas!

I'm so happy that I'm spending Christmas at home. We originally planned on spending it somewhere else, but I kinda vetoed it due to work and my health. I've experienced celebrating Christmas in other countries and it was just plain depressing. I just can't bear not being home for Christmas.

A friend of mine buzzed me earlier and asked, "How's Christmas in Manila?" I told her that Manila is the place to be during Christmas. 

Why?

1. We have the longest Christmas season which usually starts in September when radio stations start playing Christmas songs and malls start decorating for Christmas (skipping Halloween!). 

2. We go out of our way to decorate our homes (and workstations/rooms... even our blogs!) and usually hang a parol (Christmas lantern) out front. We also have the belen which some place in their garden or under the Christmas tree.

3. We even have special Christmas food! There's puto bungbong and bibingka and hamon! And a whole lot of other food we only prepare during Christmas like chicken galantina, special salads and a gazillions of pastries!

4. Kris kringle/monito-monita is something we always have in offices. Year-in, year-out you have to get something long, something green, something hard, something soft or whatever crazy theme HR or the Christmas committee can think about. 

5. The newbie dances! I'm so glad that I work remotely since I've just had enough of those annual newbies-must-dance-and-look-dumb thingies. I got transferred a lot in different companies and I found myself practising for those thingies each and every year. 

6. Who can forget the traffic? `nuff said.

7. Endless parties and reunions. It's the time of the year where you just really need to see everyone and you find your calendar filled-up with parties and reunions. I kinda skipped it this year and will just likely catch up with friends in January.

8. Shopping! Aside from malls there are tiangges where you can get great gifts! And don't forget to go to Greenhills!

9. Gifts! Gifts! Gifts! It's the time of the year where you get lots of mugs (LOLz!), frames or shirts! To avoid this, what my friends and I usually do is come up with a wish list and just coordinate what we buy. We've been doing it for several years now and it works!

10. Christmas carols, especially local ones always give a warm, fuzzy, happy feeling.

I do hope you have a Merry Christmas dear friend! 

Back to Back to Back

Photo by JayDJ

Last December 1 I got the chance to watch the "Back to Back to Back" concert of Side A, Freestyle and MYMP at the Araneta Coliseum with Sweetie (special thanks to Titikpilipino.com and Viva Records!). It was a rare chance to see all three super-loved OPM bands in one show and the venue was really jam-packed.

I had wanted to scream along with other fans, but I had a bad cough back then and all I could do was wave my hands. Aside from the hits of the three bands, Michael of Freestyle brought the house down with his rendition of "Give Love on Christmas Day" ala Michael Jackson (at age 5). It really brought a great feeling to everyone and was a good way to mark the beginning of Christmas (since it was December 1). People also started dancing when Leevon (Mica's newest crush) and Joey Generoso of Side A  made everyone stand up. I stood up as well and ended up dancing a bit. 

It was really a great night and I hope next year I'll get to watch more concerts!

Other concerts I watched this year:

Eraserheads Reunion Concert

Swing Out Sister

George Benson and Al Jarreau

MYMP (a surprise Valentine gift!)

and a whole lot of other shows by favorite Filipino artists like Richard Poon