Cleaning Time to Make Way for Some Art...

Yesterday morning, I dropped by Gallery Frames to pick up the four pieces I had framed ages ago. I was glad that all pieces were still okay. If you are looking for really high quality professional framing services, go to Gallery Frames. The prices are a bit steep, but you're sure that the pieces are well taken cared of.

Anyway, in the afternoon, before meeting up with Carlo, I got into some "room cleaning" mood since I had about two hours to spare. So I started dusting corners and sweeping the floor and folding my clothes that need pressing. Haha! And then I asked my Dad to help me hang some of the pieces that I had framed.

Now hanging just above my bed are the two Anita Magsaysay-Ho reproductions. Though they're just reproductions, I value them so much because they were signed by the artist herself. Plus, the works above are gifts from former colleagues so that adds more value to it. I don't know if I'll ever be able to have an original work of Nana, so I'm already finding much happiness with the two pieces.

Anyway, this is going to sound weird. Half of my room is newly painted, while the other half still needs painting. I haven't had the time to buy paint because of the new job and I'm just not too happy about shelling out P1,000 for a gallon of paint. Hehehe!

But I should really get the painting job finished, because the other framed artworks are on the floor and waiting to be hung. I don't know though if I have enough wall space to hang the remaining twelve pieces. Eeep!!!

2007 was a year that I really got into the whole "art collecting" thing. Looking back now, I was lucky enough to get several original works from a couple of artists. The last purchases for the year were Claude Tayag numbered serigraphs. (This is why I want the Claude Tayag serigraph from the Love Out Loud auction. I'm planning to make a triptych of Claude Tayag serigraphs.) Next year, I'd like to get a Kiko Escora and Jason Moss, and perhaps, a Maria Taniguchi. If anyone is feeling generous enough to give works of the artists I mentioned, or works by Garibay, I'd be one happy boy. Hehehe!

Looong Friday Evening...

The last Friday of 2007 was a good one.

Met up with some friends whom I haven't seen for the longest time now - Richie, Suki, Edsel, jigs, Vince, Richard, Edmar, Mori, Frances, Yvette for the annual Queermas Party. We hung out at Discovery Suites and it was good to see them. Did some catching up.

I got a Justin Timberlake DVD during the exchange gift. I got a Lost and Found award (because I haven't been around). Uhm, traded the DVD for a Philosophy sampler kit as requested by one. And then, Richie got me some soaps from Lush.

I'm actually happy to have gotten so many products for Christmas. Aside from the Philosophy sampler kit and the Lush soaps, I got some Pinoy handmade soaps from my boss, a shower gel from Marks & Spencer from an aunt, a body spray and hand gel from Zen Zest a colleague. Someone would be smelling nicely as the New Year comes in. Haha!

I bid the guys farewell around 1AM, and then met up with Rhyz, Reena and Nova, who came from their own gimik. We dropped Nova off at her house, before proceeding to Eastwood Libis. Initially, we thought of having the buffet breakfast at Something Fishy, but instead ended up at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. We just chatted for a couple of hours. Got home at 5AM.

Last Working Day for 2007...

It's the last working day of 2007, and even if I want to write a nice "Farewell 2007" post, all I could think of right now is the long weekend. Hahaha! There's not much to do here at the office. The advertorial and press release I've been working on came out today, so that's one thing less to worry about. The other press releases will be attended next week. Uhm, I'm just working on my annual performance appraisal form. An evaluation of the things I've done for the entire year, or to be more correct, the things I've done since I started with the new company last July. I went through the published releases, the post-event reports, photos, among others, and I feel quite happy because it seems to have been a very productive six months. And I'm really glad that I got to be part of this organization, because so far, things are going well.

So that's one thing to be thankful for this year, I guess.

Uhm, other things to remember for 2007, off the top of my head are:

- Nana's birthday party
- Having photos taken with various celebrities (hehe!)
- Getting the phone call telling me that I was hired
- Exhibits at Gateway Mall, Mall of Asia and the National Museum
- First advertorial ever
- Tam-awan village trip
- Chats with DHO and RAU
- Mariano Ching, Geraldine Javier, Jonathan Olazo, and Claude Tayag
- Dec. 22 issue of Philippine Star
- Regularization
- Paul Smith
- Attending the Ad Congress
- Menudo/Ricky Martin performance
- Number 22
- One early Saturday morning of December

Alright, will be going to Tagaytay for the weekend. Might be back in Manila on Jan. 1.

Happy New Year to all!

Love Out Loud Auction...

While going through today's papers, I found an article on an art auction for the benefit of deaf kids. I immediately started reading the article primarily because I was interested to find out who were the artists partaking in this noteworthy endeavor.

The event entitled, "LOVE OUT LOUD," aims to raise funds for the children of the Gualandi School for the Hearing Impaired.

I checked out the website - www.loveoutloudauction.com - and I was pleased to find out that our company is supporting the project. (I'm a bit wondering though why I didn't know about this? Wondering which department is handling this event.)

Anyway, there are several fantastic pieces that are for auction. The artists are all well-respected and I can already imagine that fierce fighting would take place during the live auction this February. Hahaha!

Pieces that caught my eye were Bencab (naturally), Borlongan, Garibay, Linds Lee, Red Mansueto, Jonathan Olazo, and Lao Lian Ben.

Please check out the site, and bid on the artworks. If it's not too much to ask, can you please bid on artworks other than Lot 89? Haha! I really, really, really WANT that Claude Tayag.

Menudo, Ricky Martin at World Trade Center last Friday...

It's all just a blur now. Everything happened so fast. One moment, I could hear celebrity host Edu Manzano telling the crowd that the CSG group was about to perform. And then I heard the all too familiar opening music of Menudo's Explosion. As I faced the audience, there were just thousands of faces but they were all blurred. It could be because of the lights. It could be because I was nervous. People were screaming to cheer us. I was too focused on not missing any of the dance steps that it didn't even occur to me to try harder to look for my colleagues. I just knew they were there. There were some misses like a late entrance in another segment because of a costume change, but in the end everything turned out well. Before we knew it, the group was in its finale formation already. There was thunderous applause and cheer from the audience. What fifty people, including me, have been working on for the past few week nights was all over in ten minutes.

More photos to follow.

Banglos banca: A Christmas (gift) story...

Here's a shameless plug. Haha!

There's this article that was published last Saturday in the Telecoms section of the Philippine Star on the Banglos banca.

In case you have some spare time or need some distraction from whatever it is you're presently preoccupied, please do check it out.

Read the article here.

Weekend in Quezon...

Though still tired from Friday night's Christmas party and though I got into bed at 2AM, I still woke up at 7AM yesterday. I was waiting for a text message or for a frantic phone call from my colleague Joanne asking me why I still wasn't at the office. But neither the phone call nor text message came. So instead, I got in touch with her to see if she and Michelle pushed through with the trip to Gen. Nakar, Quezon.

And they did.

Though there were some hesitations, primarily the tiredness that I've been feeling from head to toe, I still got up and in thirty minutes found my way to the terminal boarding a van headed to Quezon. The trip took about five hours, but it was worth it because I got to go to the beach and just take a dip in the cold water.

In the evening, I had a few drinks with the local people. We hung out at the multi-purpose hall, enjoying the cool December breeze, and drank local wine called lambanog. We just chatted.

Left back for Manila this morning. Bought some seafood for Reena. The seafood was insanely cheap compared to the Manila prices. Shrimps at P350/kilo is way cheap. Back in Manila by 1PM.

In the evening, I met up with Bernice and we went to Gateway. We had coffee at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Afterwards, it was movie Elixabeth. Dinner at Cafe Bola. I received a call from Carlo who happened to be in the area as well, so I got to give him a big hug and quick chat before going back to Bernice. Finished the night with Fruits in Ice Cream.

Good Saturday and Sunday.

Tonight is the night...

All roads lead to World Trade Center Manila tonight (well, at least for the thousands of fellow employees... hehehe!) for our companywide Christmas party. Tonight, those thousands of employees will see what the five teams have been working on for the past few weeks (on top of their usual workload. Hahaha!) I'm scared. I'm nervous. I'm excited. It's a deluge of feelings. I'm feeling a bit tired, but I hope everything will pick up within the day. It must. It has to. Ten minutes is all we've got to show our best. Hehehe! I guess the key is to have presence of mind and to just enjoy and have fun onstage. Hehehe! The teams we're competing against are doing Madonna, Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, and Gary Valenciano. Will the Corporate Support Group bring home the crown this year? We'll see. Check out the tarpaulin design my colleague Monet made for us. Wooo wooo wooo! CSG! Here we go, ole, ole, ole!

Tired... I'm Just Tired...

Been practicing the entire day. It could be annoying, but I guess if we want to win, we have to really, really, really, really, really give it our 150%!!! According to our director/choreographer, it's 150% because 20% will go to butterfiles in the stomach, 10% will go to last minute rushing, and the other 20% I forget. Hahaha! We ended with the practice at 7PM. Started at 9AM. We practiced at one of the company's warehouses, so we had to make do with the setting. Anyway, after practice, I had to go to the mall to look for a turtleneck and a vest for the other numbers I'm part of. Found the pieces I need although they're quite different from what the rest of the team has. Eeep! I hope that's fine. Anyway, I'm going home in a bit. I'm tired. And I want to take a bath. And I want to just sleep. Tomorrow's the big day! Woo woo woo!

"Ricky Martin" in Manila this Friday night...

Two days more to go before our team goes onstage for the company's inter-group dance competition. Eeeep!!! Sorry I had to change the text of the body. Can't divulge our team strategies. Hahaha!

It's (D&G) Time...

Wondering if TVCs like the one above would ever be seen on Philippine television. Hahaha! Waiting for that (D&G) time.

Toxic Week Before Holiday Vacation...

It's the week before the holiday vacation, and for some reason, the amount of work is just up there. Hahahaha! We have an event tomorrow, and then there's that website construction that's already delayed, plus other events. And then, I was volunteered to be part of a dance presentation for the company party this party. Eeep! Yeah, believe it or not, I was volunteered to be part of it. But it's all good. I'm really enjoying, and of course, I love it that I'm meeting new people. Hahaha!

Aaahhh! The madness before Christmas!!! I'm not even done with my Christmas shopping. Eeeep!

At the World Trade Bazaar

Standing in line right now waiting for the bazaar to open. There's a super, super, super long line stretching from one end of the World Trade Center to the other end. Plus, twelve buses of high school students just arrived. Apparently, bazaars are now included in educational field trip destinations. Hahaha! I imagine this would be a warzone later. And I'm not psyched for it. Eeep!

I'm Just Glad...

I'm just glad it's already Friday. I've been going home late these past few nights because of dance practice. Haha! Yeah, dance practice. To Ricky Martin's music. Hahaha! It's for this event next week. Anyway, I'm so sleepy right now, and I'm just looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight and a good weekend.

Oh wait, there's dance practice again tomorrow afternoon.

Should I Say Goodbye?

I am thinking of disposing two or three of my bags.

One, because they're quite used already (although still very much functional and quite presentable). There are also some flaws that could be fixed I guess. A little drycleaning, replacement of zipper.

Two, because I think it's going to be a "beautiful Christmas" and I just may be able to update my bag collection of sorts. Gawd! When I think about it, I have already started "updating" this year - Mexx, Zara and Paul Smith. Eeeep!!!!

Anyway, couple of years ago, I didn't think I would actually consider disposing my bags because I love them. But now, I realize that yes, every now and then, change (of bags) is good. (Over the weekend, I gave a messenger bag I haven't been using to my youngest brother. Hehe!)

So I don't know what to do with the bags I want to say goodbye to. Hand them down to my youngest brother? Give them to a man on the street? Try selling them and see anyone would go for it?

The bags I'm referring to are:

1.) my ultra favorite Fino messenger bag - I super love it because it's gotten so many compliments. Hahaha! And because it's Coach-inspired. But seriously, Fino is one company I super, super, super love! It's Filipino owned and the bags are just truly world-class! I'm so proud of it.

2.) an Adidas bowler bag - Bought it as a birthday present, but haven't used it for some time. The flaw on this one is on the lining of the handle. I don't know what the material is, but it's starting to chip off.

3.) a Jack Spade messenger bag - Uhm, I think this was my first Jack Spade. And I super love it too. It's roomy enouvh for all my stuff. And it's simple. The flaw on this is on the zipper. Needs to be replaced. Plus, I had it drycleaned once but I think it wasn't handled pretty well, so it's now a bit slouchy.

4.) a GAP brown canvas backpack - Again, a favorite. Compliments have been given to it as well, so I like it. The flaw is one buckle is missing. I lost it when I went to Palawan not too long ago. I don't know where you can get one. But if only I can get another buckle, then that bag is still fantastic.

So, if it's going to be a "good Christmas," I'd probably get some stuff to replace the ones above, if I do decide to dispose them. Hehehe! If all goes well, I'm eyeing Fino (naturally), and possibly, possibly, a Rafe.

Let's see.

New Issue of T&C...

Hey, hey. The new issue of Town & Country is now on the newsstands. Saw it when I was buying some stuff at the bookstore over the weekend. Of course, I had to get a copy. Nina Huang looks gorgeous. And I was in for a treat. Check out the Reader's Mail section. Hehehe! Can't wait to read the rest of the new issue!

Two More Photos...

Spent Saturday night at the grounds of the iMax parking area at the SM Mall of Asia for a concert.

Went there for work though. Had to cover the event and prepare post-event publicity stuff for it.

It was fun though.

Arrived at SM Mall of Asia around 5PM. It seemed like the entire country were in that mall because it was SO, SO crowded. Ack! By 7PM, I went to the concert venue and met up with the organizers.

Stayed till the concert ended at 1AM. There was a good lineup of performers. They were all really good!

Highlight of my night was having the photos above taken. Two more photos to go to my "Celebrity/Fan Pic Wall" project. Hahaha!

If You Missed the First One, WHYNOT? Make Sure You Don't Miss the Second One...

Yup, yup. It's time for Why Not? Forum 2.

See you there!

Celebrity/Fan Pic Wall Project...

I'm thinking of making one of the bare walls in my room into a "Celebrity/Fan Pic Wall" to give it some character.

While going through some old photos over the weekend, it dawned upon me that I now have enough fan pic to frame and hang on a wall. Hahaha!

Photos with various personalities, from (almost) National Artist Anita Magsaysay-Ho to celebrity hunk Sam Milby to Hollywood actor/director Quentin Tarantino, would be nice to hang on a wall, right? (Even if it's just me who's going to see those pics. Haha!)

Hmm, I started having these fan pics taken when my friends and I started on the magazine. But even before I've always been a "fan" of sorts. Haha! Initially, I was a shy to ask for fan pics because I'm too proud and vain. Hehehe!

But then, when you realize that you could probably never see that person again. Perfect example: when will Quentin Tarantino be in Manila again? What are the chances of bumping into him at an exclusive cinema, right?

So my rule now is whenever there's a fan pic opportunity, go for it. Just go for it!

Winter 2007 Time Style & Design is here...

Woohoo! Look what's on the bookstore shelves already?

The Winter 2007 issue of Time Style & Design.

I was at National Bookstore yesterday with my colleague, Monet. We needed to buy some paper for invitation cards. Of course, as soon as we stepped in to the bookstore, I drifted towards the magazine section. Hahaha!

When I saw the Time magazine with the free supplement, I couldn't be more happier. Gawd! As I've complained in previous posts, it's so hard to get hold of the Style & Design supplement. It's only published four times in a year and I don't know when it comes out. Boohoo! Plus, I've noticed that the Asia edition is different from the US issue. Another boohoo!

Just kidding. I love, love, love Time Style & Design.

In fact, I haven't even opened the issue I just got. I'm going to read it over the weekend.

P.S. What also made me happy when I went to NBS was I found several LGBT fiction books in the bargain bin. Woohoo! 50% off. I just wish those books would still be there on Monday. Hehehe! And for the selfish reason that I want to get those books for myself, I'm not going to mention which branch of NBS I'm talking about. Hehehe! Sorry, but we're talking about LGBT fic lit here, so no Mr. Nice Guy. Haha!

Christmas is just around the corner...

Christmas is just around the corner and I haven't started shopping yet. With the way things are going, it looks like I'll be doing some last minute shopping this year. Hehehe!

Some Thoughts on Dating...

Twice my friends have been trying to set me up on a date. And twice, I have said, "No, thanks." And it's not because I'm feeling egotistical or too self-confident.

It's actually the opposite.

After the breakup two years ago, I was sort of feeling less enthusiastic about getting involved again, or even just dating, for that matter. Did I really want to do the whole dating game again? Did I really want to stand on the edge of an emotional cliff once more?

Hmm, the answer is yes. I would love to go out on a date again. And it doesn't have to be because I want to get into a relationship again, but if only to feel that "mushy" feeling again, I would go out on a date.

Though I must say that I sort of have a new perspective on dating. People should really "just go as they are."

Yeah, yeah, people would always say, "That's the basic rule. Go as yourself." But seriously, how many people do that? Hours before you meet your date, you find yourself taking a little more time in the bathroom, spending couple minutes more finding what to wear, squeezing out a little more hair product to get your hair to look better, spritzing more than the usual of your favorite cologne.

What I'm saying is we should probably just stop keeping Dr. Jekyll inside the closet and let him have a cameo during the date. If you're the flipflops kind of guy, why show up in dress shoes? If you're the vintage tee, torn jeans kind of guy, what's the point of showing up in tjuzed shirts and designer jeans? What I'm saying is I'd already like to see my date's Dr. Jekyll side on the first date. And the date would also get to see my own Dr. Jekyll side.

It's a bit risky, because the first date is usually meant to impress the other person so that there'll be a second date. But sersiouly, isn't seeing the "flaws" of the other person on a first date something to be thankful for already?

Maybe then we'd even appreciate our date's honesty and transparency. Maybe then there would be less "surprises" when the two of you do get into a relationship. And maybe the chances of knowing whether you really have a chance of getting into a relationship with this other person becomes easier to assess.

Does this make me appear too cynical?

Some Ad Con Photos...

I didn't get to listen to all the Ad Con sessions, even if they were all interesting, because the main reason why I was part of the team that was sent to the Ad Con was to cover the company's participation in the huge event.

We had a lot of promos for the delegates. We had two booths that featured the newest products and services of our company. There were several model-esque promo hunks and babes roaming around the convention center talking to people and introducing our newest products and services. There were a bunch of Brazilian models who did the same thing. We had a raffle where people won iPods, laptops, Philip Stein watches, to name a few. There was also a yacht party for invited guests. Not bad, eh?

When we were on the road to Subic, the highway leading to the province was lined up with banners of our company. Community stores, houses, machine shops, markets along the highway carried our company's banner. One blogger described the whole thing as something "...like a presidential campaign trail." Hahaha! I have to admit that I am just in awe of how great our local merchandisers are. And seeing all these tarpaulins lined up along the highway just made me feel proud to be part of this company.

Back at the convention, I got to bring home several loot bags from various companies. From toothpaste to body wash to notebooks and ballpens to shirts and caps to CDs and USB sticks to chocolates and chips, there were a bazillion things that were given out for free to all delegates.

On my way back to Manila, my luggage was even heavier because of all the free goodies. I just loved the event. Haha! I wish I would still get to attend the next Ad Con in 2009.

Trick...

Uhm, here's one of many favorite movies. JP Pitoc and Christian Campbell were great here, I thought. I used to have a copy of this movie, but I made the mistake of lending it to someone who accidentally lost the DVD. Augh! I've been searching for this since in local video stores, but I haven't found one yet. Sigh.