‘Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

Well, not this house, that’s for sure. Ü Christmas Eve celebrations in this extended family are drawn-out affairs, with the requisite chatter, laughter, and food consumption that goes with trying to keep awake until 12am when tradition dictates a noche buena feast be had. Nobody here waits until morning to distribute and open presents, either. Last year and this year I played party host and in-house Magus, handing gifts around to their recipients.

Occasions like Christmas, New Year, and when the grandparents are in town are the only times we all really come together under one roof, and last night I realized that we all haven’t been seeing each other as often as we should. The proof lies in my receiving clothes I can’t wear because they’re too big. It hadn’t registered with them how much weight I’d really lost over the past six months. (I could joke that I’ve lose a whole toddler’s worth of weight, but it doesn’t sound wholesome. Ü)

We used to have bigger parties, but as nuclear family units moved to distant provinces and the grande padre y madre de familia moved to Bacolod to take care of my bereaved uncle’s children, the celebrations haven’t been the same. They’ve become less about making merry and more about getting re-connected with the rest of the family. Every Christmas I am reminded that family is a gift. Every year, the people are the same, but one year older. My aunts and uncles have wrinkles! My younger cousins are growing up! I’m of a marriageable age!

I’ve got so much to be thankful for; this whole year, with its highs and lows, has been a gift in itself. I learned so much about myself in such a short span of time, and that’s never a bad thing. Ü The New Year is only seven days away, and since I won’t be around that weekend, I’m going to sit here right now and write, off the top of my head, what I have to be thankful for this year.

• Losing weight. Woohoo! I cannot believe it actually happened, but I am so grateful that it did. I still have ten to 15 pounds to go and a slight tendency to yo-yo, but it’s such a weight off my shoulders (pun may not be unintended) and a boost to my self-confidence to be in shape after trying so hard for such a long time.
• Graduating. After 19 years, I finally got out of jail school. I’m still not sure what these degrees are for, but I’m sure God will put them to good use in his own time. Hopefully, next year.
• Landing my first job. Although I miss having free time, I suppose I should be thankful that I’m now a woman with sort of independent means and that I’m not just mooching off my parents. I think that having this experience has helped me get honest with myself about what I really want in life, and it’s made me think deeply about what I am willing to do in order to get it. Passion is key in succeeding in and enjoying anything we do, and if we don’t have that, what’s the point? It’s like prisoners moving rocks from one end of the yard to the other, and then back again.

I hope and pray for God’s blessing for all of us in the last days of this year and in the coming year. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to us all!

Tags: Christmas, New Year, Greetings

Ganns is one of my favorite bloggers. Writing about topics from music to movies to simple family joys, each post of his shows an infectious joy in Christ that’s hard to resist.

Every year Ganns posts The Superblessed Christian Blog Award Winners, a list of the Christian blogs that have blessed him. This year, I was surprised to open my Bloglines subscription page and read my name and blog link in one of Ganns’s posts.

Most Enjoyable Female Filipino-Christian Blog.
In My Pocket. Noelle has been a favorite of mine for years, and this particular year, I’ve seen her grow so much in her faith and her life that I naturally can’t help but be encouraged. I know God will use her even more as He molds her, and In My Pocket will detail that growth to encourage and satisfy other Christian believers. Good job living that life, Noelle.

I’m flattered and humbled to know that my posts, fluff or not, are read and enjoyed by someone I respect not just as a blogger, but also as a person. Thanks, Ganns. Ü

Just a while ago I was in Promenade in Greenhills during my lunch break. I seem to have missed some sort of teenager bulletin (no surprises because I haven’t been a teenager in four years) that required all the kids to converge in that one small edifice. The holiday break seems to have started already, since these kids weren’t in their school uniforms. They were, however, still in some kind of uniform as they all seemed to be wearing retro-80’s clothing. Tights under skirts, short tops over long shirts, flats and Converses, stripes, polka dots, Day-Glo colors — I couldn’t help feeling a little un-trendy in my denim capris, spaghetti top, and sandals.

I can’t blame the young’uns for taking advantage of any opportunity to wear street clothing instead of their usual staid uniforms. (I used to do the same thing even though it meant looking like a fashion victim most of the time.) It’s just a happy coincidence that these kids are all in their 80’s-inspired wear on the same day that Magic 89.9 is throwing an 80’s-themed concert at Eastwood City, with Gary Valenciano as the marquee performer. Part of the event’s gimmick is a costume contest that challenges people to come in their best 80’s clothes to win some swag; if those kids are planning to take their duds out to party tonight, Eastwood City would be the place. The funny thing is, none of them were alive yet when the clothes and music making a comeback were in vogue.

I grew up in the 1980’s but I don’t really remember much of the music distinctly, aside from songs by Gary V, Michael Jackson, and Jem and the Holograms (hahaha). My parents were more of the classical-music people. I only heard Madonna, Debbie Gibson, the Miami Sound Machine, and others while watching Classic MTV and films from the decade, although now that I’m hearing them played on the radio they do seem very familiar; I think I’m familiar with them through osmosis. At least now I’m getting to experience some of what I missed back in the day.

But yikes! I am old if a fashion and music era I lived through is coming back around.

Tags: 80’s, Gary Valenciano, Friday Madness

Up until last Saturday, I looked like this:

Today, though, I look like this:

Why the change, you may ask? (And it’s a pretty drastic one to transform from Andy Sachs of The Devil Wears Prada into Betty la Fea.)

I got green colored contact lenses for my birthday last July and had no problems with them until October, when the left lens suddenly developed a deformity on its curved surface, irritating my eye. I got a replacement for it, but the same thing happened three weeks later. I got a different kind of colored lens (same brand though) four weeks ago, but the problem reoccurred. Frustrated, I decided to give contact lenses a rest. I also needed a new pair of eyeglasses, so I went out and got these. Supposedly, dark-colored thick plastic eyeglass frames are the in thing this year, but God help you if you are ugly girl you are prone to making silly faces or have a naturally goofy grin.

I’m giving up on the colored contact lenses, but I’ll have new clear disposable contact lenses by next week. Meanwhile, my officemates, family, and friends may enjoy having Noelle La Fea around. I don’t mind getting laughs out of this look. Ü I can always show them that I can look like this (read more about this picture at the Man Blog):

Tags: Contact Lenses, Eyeglasses, New Look

Last Friday I gave an MP3 CD compilation to Clark, my hiphop instructor on Monday mornings at 6:30am. He’s been looking for new music for our classes, so in a way this also benefits me. I helped him import them to the iTunes on his laptop.

Clark also happens to be one of the two program heads for BodyJam here in the Philippines. (In fact he was one of the judges at the audition for instructor training last September.) So, his iTunes had a BodyJam playlist. And it wasn’t just any playlist: it was the list of songs for the upcoming release 39, to be launched in mid- to late December 2006. I ribbed him about getting a sneak peek at it and he just laughed at me and said it was too bad he’d ruined the element of surprise.

Anyway, since the launch is coming up it’s been increasingly easy to find sneak peeks into BodyJam 39. The tracklist has been posted to the many different Les Mills and BTS message boards, so at least I know what kind of music we’re in for — and what dancing styles are involved. DON’T LOOK IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS! You’ve been warned. Ü

Warmup
1. Canned Heat – Jamiroquai

Isolations

2. Buttons – The Pussycat Dolls

BollyJam

3. Mundian To Bach Ke – Panjabi MC
4. The Power Of Bhangra (vs. Motivo) – Snap!

Reggaeton

5. Hips Don’t lie – Bamboo – Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean

Latin

6. Boom Boom – Chayanne

Recovery

7. Deja vu – Beyonce feat. Jay Z

Dance4Life

8. Mesmerized – Faith Evans
9. Sexy Back – Justin Timberlake
10. S.O.S. – Rihanna
11. London Bridge (Oh Shh) – Fergie
12. Dance4Life – Tiesto feat. Maxi Jazz
13. Love Sensation ’06 – Loleatta Holloway

Groove Down

14. I’ll Do 4 U – Father M.C.

From this playlist there are a lot of dance styles in this release (and a mix of old and new songs!). Turns out that Les Mills is now affiliated with Dance4Life, the global campaign against HIV/AIDS, and that this release has a special track mixed by DJ Tiesto, who is the campaign’s ambassador and a famous club music DJ. The style of the main cardio block (Dance4Life) might be “contemporary club,” like we had in BodyJam 38 because it doesn’t look like there’s a strong hiphop component aside from the “Sexy Back” and “S.O.S.” dance rehearsal tracks. Fellow BodyJam fanatics surmise that the moves set to this music in BodyJam choreographer Gandalf Archer‘s YouTube video of their Euro Summit demo could be very similar to what we’ll encounter in release 39.

For more about BodyJam 39, check out the official Les Mills sizzler. I’ve also found some videos on YouTube of BodyJam master trainers Kylie Gates and Tracy Minnoch at a Les Mills workshop showing off the new moves. Check out the isolation track and the BollyJam track: they look like fun! I’ll be studying these clips in preparation for Kylie Gates’ special class at Fitness First Ortigas on Wednesday; I’ve been told we’ll get a taste of this release there. Ü I can’t wait!

UPDATE (December 13, 2006): BodyJam with Kylie was awesome! After starting us off with the warm-up combo from release 38, she said, “Let’s do something different.” And then the strains of Punjabi MC’s “Mundian To Bach Ke” started blasting through the speakers. BollyJam! We also did the two Latin tracks off release 39, and after the recovery track (Gwen Stefani’s “Luxurious” from release 37), Kylie taught us the Dance4Life block. Our groove-down, “Tusk” by Fleetwood Mac, came from release 38.

My initial reaction to what we sampled from release 39 was excitement and delight, particularly when we were doing BollyJam. It brought back my memories of the Nike Rockstar Workout Bollywood competition, even more so because I had just received a CD of our pictures from there.

The BollyJam block ended rather abruptly, though. The Latin block was also too short, building up but then failing to hit a climax before ending. I guess we’ve been spoiled by the long and elaborate Latin block from release 38. As for the Dance4Life cardio block, it was fun to learn, but I think it’ll take me a few more classes before I can actually party to the music. I love the spins and turns in the choreo, though. The “London Bridge” crump segment in the middle of the Dance4Life block was puzzling because it didn’t really add anything to the choreography and felt like it was tacked-on just to have one more Top 40 song in the mix.

I’m glad I was able to keep up with the choreography and minimized any mess-ups; I was in the second row right in front of Kylie and didn’t want to embarrass myself. Ü I’m excited for the launch so I can see the release in its entirety.

SPECIAL UPDATE: I noticed I’m getting a lot of hits not just for BodyJam tracklist search queries, but also for the tracklists of other Les Mills programs. There’s a fantastic resource out there called Totally Les Mills, an unofficial site run by Mel, a certified LM instructor. It not only has the tracklists of all LM programs (BodyJam, BodyCombat, BodyPump, BodyStep, BodyAttack, BodyFlow/BodyBalance, RPM) from the time they went international with their releases, but also has news about these programs and information on how to become an instructor.

Tags: BodyJam, Dance Workout, Fitness First Philippines, Les Mills

We thought we had been spared from Typhoon Durian (Reming), the super-typhoon that was supposed to hit Metro Manila but instead hit Bicol and other southern provinces. The typhoon is already off to Vietnam, but it seems it’s also still wreaking havoc here in our office.

While I commiserate and sympathize with the people who suffered most from the typhoon’s devastation, I’ve really got to say something about the misery caused by not having an Internet connection at the office. Shallow? Yes. Insensitive? Maybe. But really, I’ve got work to do on our websites and web presence and I’ll be damned if I let a typhoon get in my way.

I think for maintenance reasons our ISP decided to switch off its servers prior to the typhoon hitting, but now can’t seem to restore proper service to its DSL clients. It’s even worse than the way things were back in the early 1990’s internet scene here in the Philippines. At least then, computers still had dial-up modems — never mind that they connected at (the relatively snail-pace rate of) 28.8 kbps. Our desktops have LAN cards, but no dial-up modems to speak of! Ü
Right now, I’m in a Netopia cafe here in Greenhills answering emails and checking Friendster and Myspace (*ahem* that’s part of my job description, actually) on the company dime. There used to be a time (long before my time) when this company conducted all its intra- and inter-office communications through fax and computer print-outs and actual door-to-door messenger services, but in this age of email and high-speed Internet connections it’s easier to fire off one email CC’ed to several people, or to email high-resolution photos to the press instead of getting prints made and then having those delivered.

I didn’t realize how much took our ISP for granted until this happened — especially since the job I’m trying to define for myself relies so much on being online. It’s gotten so bad that I’m actually looking for work to do. I was able to complete creating a database and writing a report; alas, the lack of internet access means I’ll have to wait until God-knows-when to send those files to my supervisors. Or we could always use floppy disks (so 1990’s!).

Tags: Internet Dependence, Workplace Woes

My friends have said about me that whenever I try to help with something, I involve myself fully in it. It’s like I include part of myself, they wrote in my high school yearbook. I get an adrenalin rush when people tell me, “You did good, kid.” I don’t believe that I’ve done something well until someone actually takes note of what I’ve done. Validation from others is important to me.

I realize that this clashes with my old concept of self as an iconoclast, as someone who never cared what other people think or how I affect other people. Sure there’s a part of me that’s tactless or can be thoughtless or is eccentric, but all along, I’ve been motivated by the desire to please the people in my life. It can be a good thing and a bad thing.

The good thing is that I’m driven to see things through to completion because it’s my duty to certain people: parents, teachers, and more recently bosses. The bad thing is I can also drive myself to exhaustion and depression. This wasn’t apparent during my college days (all 365 x 8 of them) because I had a lot of downtime. Now, with regular work taking up eight hours of my time plus additional responsibilities (gigs and events with press people attending) that require staying on after hours, I only just have enough time for regular exercise and sleep. I suppose for other people that can be enough, but I’m restless and think that there’s got to be more than this.

Deep down inside I’ve always wanted to be not just behind the scenes, but until recently I didn’t believe I had what it takes to be out there hosting a travel show, which is my ultimate dream (Ian Wright is my hero!). I’ve always been that girl in the corner of the shot because I didn’t want to seem overeager to get exposure. (It didn’t help that I also thought I didn’t look like someone who should be in front of the camera. That never stopped Jessica Soho or Mike Enriquez, though. No offense meant.) There’s always been that extra step to take, but I never quite knew how to take it.

It comes down to this: I’m not quite sure I’m doing well at what they’re having me do. I want to help this company: there’s got to be a reason I’m here in the first place. I want to please my bosses and my family: I know they mean well and want what they believe is best for me. However, I also want to be joyful and fulfilled in my work, and right now that isn’t happening. Maybe I’m just frustrated that I’m not an instant success at it, like I’ve been with other things. Maybe I’m scared that I won’t learn from the mistakes I’m making and that I’ll commit a fatal mistake that will cost the company or its artists.

You know when you know what you’re doing is not what you should be doing? It’s like that for me right now, or at least, I think it is. Hopefully something changes in me or in the nature of my work over the next four months. I can’t stand being discontented and always feeling like I should be doing more, or something else.

I know that what I’m going through right now is for my own good. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” It’s just damn hard to keep plugging away.

Tags: Work Stress

Aside from doing BodyJam, I also engage in another Les Mills group exercise program, called BodyCombat. It’s a cardio and conditioning workout based on various martial arts, and it can get very intense because the combinations of punches, kicks, strikes, and katas are easy to remember and repeat. If you know the sequence, you can increase the intensity. I’ve even heard you can burn up to 1000 calories during the hour-long class!

I miss my Wednesday 7:30am class at Fitness First Greenhills with Mader Fhe; she could really get her students hyped and pumped up. Mader Fhe’s motto for us all was, “If you make a mistake, just smile!” She’s also the BodyCombat program coordinator for Fitness First in the Philippines, and I think she’s really whipped the program into the best shape it can be. The instructors now always show how to perform the moves properly, which is a good thing because doing the exercises with poor form increases the chance of injury.

We, her regulars, knew each other by sight and we all had our preferred spots within the group exercise studio. It even got to the point where we’d gossip about other regulars. There was this one guy who always dressed in matching colors: for example, if he was wearing a red shirt, he’d wear a red sweatband, wristband, jogging pants, and shoes to go with it. He’d wear his jogging pants hiked up to wedgie-height, too. He claimed he was an aikido black-belt and really liked showing off in class; problem was, he was off the choreography by about two beats and we all tried to stay clear of his flying offbeat kicks and punches. But it was all good because we were there to sweat it out no matter what others around us were doing anyway. Mader Fhe’s class always left us with endorphins pumping through our bloodstream. It was impossible to be in a bad mood afterwards.

I used to attend BodyCombat classes twice (sometimes thrice!) a week, but had to cut down to one class, on Fridays at 6:30am, when I got hired and couldn’t fit the later-morning classes into my schedule. I can’t not do BodyCombat, though; it’s different from my dance-based classes and works out different muscles which don’t usually get targeted when I’m dancing. BodyCombat always leaves me aching all over, but it’s a good kind of pain. Ü

Tags: BodyCombat, Group Exercise, Fitness First Philippines

You know those cute shirts with messages like “I’m with the band”? I should get one. I’m not saying I’m a certain band’s groupie because I’m not, but last week I was with a band for three consecutive days. I got to work for hang out with Salamin, a rock band whose first album comes out next week.

I got a sneak preview of Salamin’s songs last month, when I had to proofread the lyrics copy and match it with the mixed recordings. I’m no rock chick, but the album was a surprisingly good listen. It probably helped that I was reading the lyrics, so I heard the songs’ message above the screaming guitars and throbbing drums. (Check out a few sound clips off the album on Salamin’s Myspace page.) It’s gonna embarrass the guys, but I found the lyrics inspirational. Ü I was also present at the meeting two weeks ago when the album’s cover design was finalized; I’ve gotta say that when it hits record store shelves, it’ll catch attention.

Salamin is going to be the MTV Rising Star for the month of December, so on Thursday they were scheduled to shoot their specials at the MTV studio at the Fort. My supervisor wanted me present so that I could meet the people from MTV and so that I could at least see how things worked. I only stayed until 10pm because I do have a day job (haha), but being there gave me an idea how the guys worked and gave me an appreciation for how hard it is to get up there and perform.

The next night, a friend invited me to Hard Rock Cafe since his radio station was providing the bands for a benefit event to be held there. Salamin was the opening act. Even though I wasn’t on official business, this was my first time to see them perform live in front of an audience (their MTV Sessions was shot in front of a bunch of cameras and a wall). I found myself singing along to their songs and screaming to get the rest of the crowd hyped up; at least I was sitting with two of the guys’ girlfriends, who were up to the same antics as I was.

Saturday afternoon, Salamin were slated to appear at the MYX MO! pre-show from 4pm to 6pm at the CCP Open Grounds. I wasn’t supposed to be involved in any way, shape, or form in this, but the person who was supposed to assist them wasn’t available because her father had suddenly died that morning. Guess who was sent? Yup, me. (I seem to have turned into the company’s pinch-hitter, since I was sent out as artist support the other week as well. Not complaining here, though.) So I drove all the way from Greenhills to Pasay to make sure the guys got set up right. Unfortunately MYX had only allocated time for one song for almost all the acts, so all that effort on our part was for one brief moment under the klieg spotlights in front of a sweaty rioting audience. But hey, if it gets Salamin more exposure, why not?

The guys shot the music video for their first single yesterday and I was supposed to go as well, but my supervisor decided to give me a break. I can’t wait to see the finished product, though. Ü

Salamin’s band members are: Paolo Valenciano – vocals; Miks Bersales – bass; Justin Alfafara – guitar; Bogs Paterno – lead guitar; and EO Marcos – drums. Their self-titled album debuts on November 22 at the press launch at Cafe Saguijo.

Tags: Salamin, Rock Music, Band

I’ve taken to talking rather obliquely about who I work with in my job. It’s not because I’m contractually obligated not to talk about them, but I am in media management and it’s part of my job to oversee the flow of information that gets out about the artists we handle. I don’t want to say anything that may come back to bite me in the rear, like accidentally revealing personal information, or schedules, or routines.

I never thought I’d be working in this field. In fact, I never even watched shows like “The Buzz” or “S-Files,” and I’d roll my eyes at the showbiz segments on our nightly news programs. I’d say, “Is this really news?” when some bar fight between two starlets makes the segment.

These days, I’m coming to realize that although these programs and segments aren’t exactly news per se, they’re ways of getting the word out about an artist’s upcoming projects or keeping an artist in the public eye. it’s just how you use it that matters. The gossip and mudslinging is the dark flip side of this whole thing, although some people will take any and all publicity whether negative or positive, true or untrue.

For the first time in my life, I’m actually witnessing how ugly showbiz rumors get started. Last month an artist’s impromptu answers to a radio program’s quiz segment were blown out of proportion by one of this country’s prominent gossip columnists. More recently we’ve had sustained attacks questioning the popularity and mass appeal of two of our young artists.

Our artists are persons, too. Under the facade created by fame are people with dreams that can be dashed, feelings that can be hurt, souls that need nourishment. It’s just that they live their lives in the glare of public attention, without the shielding privacy that we anonymous faces in the crowd don’t even realize we enjoy. I’d like the people I work with to know they can be themselves around me without the nagging thought that something they may say or do will make the gossip rags the next day. Ü