Met Gala 2013 at the Metropolitan Museum
One of my school’s favorite haunts was the old Ayala Museum, which had a permanent exhibit about Philippine history (loved the dioramas!). During my university Spanish class our professor required us to visit the Metropolitan Museum, which had an exhibit on Spanish artifacts found in the Philippines.
At the Met Gala 2013, I encountered a different Metropolitan Museum. Read more
Let’s dance!
I used to post a lot about Les Mills group fitness classes here, but haven’t in the last few years. This is strange because they’re a huge part of what I do weekly and a huge part of who I am, too. I know thousands of people worldwide attend Les Mills programs in order to get fit and stay fit, and they’re passionate about it.
So I’m going to come out and say I LOVE MY JOB! I love being part of a life-changing experience for my participants — the calm serenity and strength of BODYBALANCE or the madness and euphoria of BODYJAM. I love that by delivering these two group fitness programs in their essence, I’m able to help my participants get the most from their time at the gym. Everyone knows the saying mens sana in corpore sano — a sound mind in a sound body. When someone takes care of their body, the benefits translate to other aspects of their lives. The mature find functional fitness, so they are able to fend for themselves even in their age. Parents have more energy and can give more attention to their children. Yuppies feel empowered and able, so they can make the most of their prime years. Etcetera, etcetera.
These two programs have also contributed to my personal development and I don’t think I’d be who I am without them. And in my effort to become a better instructor, last year I invested in the Advanced Instructor Modules for BODYBALANCE and BODYJAM. They’re meant to help us go deeper into what each program really is and how to give our participants a great experience more consistently.
BODYBALANCE AIM1 w/ trainer Riyo Fukunaga
BODYJAM AIM1 w/ trainer Arnold Warren
This year I’m taking a big step. I’m going to Kuala Lumpur to attend my first international Les Mills Quarterly Workshop! Workshops are where instructors like myself experience the new choreography and music for the first time. It’s where we also see our trainers (who are kind of like our fitness rockstars) in action so that we can learn from their example.
If you think of group fitness programs as coffee shops, Les Mills is like Starbucks: you go anywhere in the world and the experience and taste are the same. Although the instructor may vary, you get the same high-quality music and choreography (that’s been vetted by movement experts) within a scientifically-designed class structure meant to build your cardiovascular and muscular fitness effectively and efficiently. Workshops and the quarterly instructor’s DVDs are a way to standardize our individual performance to meet that expectation.
In a few weeks I’ll be reporting back from KL on what you can expect next quarter from the Les Mills programs. I’m so excited!
My mom and I were just finishing up dinner that Saturday when I checked Twitter. I spotted a tweet from MMDA that said there was an ongoing situation at the mall.
Initial Report: As of 7:40 PM reported hold up incident inside SM Megamall Dept. Store #mmda
— Official MMDA (@MMDA) January 26, 2013
Soon, my timeline was abuzz with retweets from supposed eyewitnesses about what was happening: that shots had been fired, people had stampeded, and shops had shut their roll-up doors for security. No one was allowed in or out of the mall.
https://twitter.com/noelledeg/status/295137263174709248
Then I started seeing tweets about a hostage situation, but something felt off. It was like listening to a story becoming more elaborate the more it was told.
https://twitter.com/noelledeg/status/295139077349572608
By that time we had tuned in to AM radio to see if they had gotten ahold of more concrete details. I was wary about trusting too much to Twitter because you never know if your source saw it with their own eyes or is relaying a story someone had in turn told to them.
Then DZMM tweeted that their reporter had interviewed someone who told him a woman told him the hold-up had happened at a jewelry store and the perpetrators were wearing cosplay costumes. Yes, you read that right: the reporter reported hearsay!
https://twitter.com/noelledeg/status/295143676064174080
This hearsay started spreading as fact, and opinion turned ugly against cosplayers. There was really a cosplay event happening at the mall on the day, but I believed that had the perpetrators been in costume, they weren’t really participants at the event but had just taken advantage of it.
https://twitter.com/noelledeg/status/295144673360637952
After an hour of us breathlessly awaiting more news, finally SM Megamall and the mayor of Mandaluyong released statements.
There was no hostage-taking.
Abalos: Tapos na po. Wala pong hostage-taking. Everything is under control.
— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) January 26, 2013
Only two shots had been fired, not five and not repeatedly as tweets had reported.
Laurel (EPD): Only two shots were fired in Megamall, not five as some claim. Suspects used a pipe wrench, not a hammer as initially reported
— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) January 26, 2013
Got clarification fr @smsupermalls, what sounded like gunshots were the sound of the roll up being banged by the tenants closing the stores
— RJ Ledesma (@rjled) January 26, 2013
The suspects were in plain clothes, not costumes. (Nakuryente ang DZMM dun.)
Laurel (EPD): We're looking at 4-5 suspects in SM Megamall robbery incident. The suspects were wearing ordinary clothes, not in costumes
— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) January 26, 2013
And the suspects had gotten away in the first two minutes during the initial panic and confusion. They’re still at large.
#Megamall trended, but the hashtag perpetuated a lot of the initial wrong reporting. It wasn’t just a Twitter problem, either: Philstar.com reported it too (and still hasn’t retracted the article). The next morning I found myself still reading reactions from people especially about what the suspects were wearing and whether there had been a hostage situation.
Yes, Twitter and Facebook provided a lot of real-time updates at a time when people were desperate for more information. It’s also during those times when it’s most important to discern what is factual and what is not. The nature of the internet and social media being what it is, wrong information sticks around longer (due to search engine caching of uncorrected articles and tweets). Because I’ve been an internet user for a long time, I’ve learned to turn a critical eye toward “news” I see spreading on social media. However, there are thousands of Filipinos who are new to this and don’t know how to fact-check for themselves.
I think it’s important for people to start educating themselves on how to use social media properly so they aren’t swept up and carried away by every trending topic.
In 2009 when I took an improv acting workshop, our mentor Jourdan Sebastian told us about “red ocean, blue ocean”. This was adapted from a business strategy book called Blue Ocean Strategy, which posits that instead of attempting to compete within the existing market (a red ocean full of sharks in a feeding frenzy), a business should create new demand in uncontested market space (a blue ocean).
improv workshop activity
After the workshop period ended, we each went our ways. My batchmates went on to make (bigger) names for themselves:
To tell you the truth I felt out of my depth in that workshop. Everyone there had a “blue ocean”; for instance, Abby could sing and rap, and now that she’s open about her alopecia it to set her apart. Gee could talk a mile a minute, which attracted attention from TV networks that cast her as a host.
What was I good at? What did I have that nobody else had? Looking back now, I didn’t turn out the way I thought I would in 2009. But I think I’ve found my blue ocean, and it’s online. It’s not going to be without difficulty that I make my own mark; I’m not the first female running blogger, nor the most famous. But I do have my own unique skills that no one else has. I’m hoping that makes the difference for me this year. 😉
I used to say that I only had one cup of coffee a week. Then it grew to two. Then three. Before I knew it, I had a full-blown dependence on Starbucks lattes. It didn’t help that for the previous month I’ve been trying to rack up enough stickers to claim a planner.
So I went cold-turkey. And that’s where this belated Christmas basket from Lipton Philippines comes in.
Thanks for the Christmas basket!
I go through phases of what kinds of drinks I prefer. I had this whole orange juice phase, and I’ve just gotten past the coffee phase. The cycle’s coming back to tea, and as I write this entry I’m brewing up a cup of Lipton Yellow Label. Read more
I use my credit card for online payments especially when I purchase apps for my iPod Touch. However, there are websites in the US, like Amazon.com, that won’t ship to the Philippines — or if they do, there’s a hefty shipping charge.
That’s why when Globe Telecom introduced the GCash-AMEX virtual card last October, I jumped on the chance to order some books and DVDs I’ve been dying to get for the longest time.
using an iPad to activate my GCash-AMEX virtual card
Along with media and bloggers, I was invited to the launch and learned that Globe had struck up a partnership with American Express and My Shopping Box to make shopping from US stores easier. Read more
This month it seems the cartoons I watched in my childhood are coming back around. I’m impatiently waiting for the Jem and the Holograms DVD box set I ordered from Amazon. I just watched the live action adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin. And this Saturday, I’m attending the Superbook Reimagined Family Fun Day!
If you never watched Sunday morning cartoons on GMA7 back in the late 1980’s you might not remember what Superbook is. Let me refresh your memory.
Superbook
This is a secret I rarely share with anyone, but I love stuffed toys. We’ve moved house twice in my life, and I’ve always brought my little friends along.
But there always comes a time one has to let go of them. There just isn’t a lot of room in our condo. I asked over Twitter where I could send these six stuffed toys for charity. I didn’t want to dump them in the trash, and I know there are children who don’t have any to call their own.
I will miss you *tear*
It’s also been shown that integrating stuffed animals into therapy for young children can provide a sense of security. Remember last year after Typhoon Sendong? A little girl started a toy drive for the children in CDO and Iligan affected by the typhoon.While there are a number of places I can send my toys to, most people recalled that Jollibee launched the 18th “MaAga ang Pasko” charity drive. So that’s where my well-loved friends are going. May they make another child’s life as happy as they did mine.
The YouTube ID of vG7Cn0mtzvM?version=3 is invalid.
Follow