Yearender

What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?

tried new sports (plural ito! capoeira and boxing)

subjected myself to a “fashion makeover”

won stuff online

won clothes at a fashion event

got engaged

got all romantic in paris with a loved one

spent one whole day by myself in a foreign country

watched flamenco

sang in acs’ front-and-center quartet

tried yoga

went on a month-long leave

got a credit card

traveled around spain with girlfriends

did consultancy

got an article published in the newspaper

started planning for a wedding (my wedding!)

did not eat a proper meal in over 24 hours

drove a car

got into a car accident

dyed my hair

maintained a time deposit

dipped my feet into the mediterranean ocean

commuted wearing a diamond ring

had pamanhikan

yay ang dami!

Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? i didn’t make any. this year, i’ll make a list of things to do – does that count?

Did anyone close to you give birth? aui, to beautiful little alexia maria cecilia (the most symmetrically-featured baby i’ve ever seen) on december 8

Did anyone close to you die? no, thank goodness.

What countries did you visit? singapore, hong kong, spain, france and the united arab emirates (as a stopover)

What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? i don’t think i really lacked anything in 2006, but i would love to have a fun OC wedding, time to fix my room, a wedding-dress ready figure, new skills and advancement in my career

What was your biggest achievement of the year? launching some of our network’s biggest primetime programs, going on tour with acs (and conquering fear haha), taking the next big step in my relationship with marlon, learning how to drive, facing up to responsibility

What was your biggest failure? being tamad to exercise, being magastos

Did you suffer illness or injury? i was rushed to the e.r. due to my mysterious allergy, which i had to bear with for most of the last quarter of the year. do my niknik bites from palawan count?

What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? october 21, the day marlon and i got engaged. november 4, the day we competed (and won!) in tolosa. november 17, the start of my fabulous barcelona weekend

What was the best thing you bought? hands down, my beginner’s guide to flamenco 3-cd compilation, from hmv in singapore.

the other big contenders are the black embroidered cowboy boots I bought for php795, over 50% off at janylin (they were great on tour, though I wonder when I can ever wear them again here in manila) and my sony ericsson k700i.

Whose behavior merited celebration? despite everything, acs! go acs! marlon, of course
What did you get really, really, really excited about? omigod the tour! my plans alone were almost a year in the making

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? appalled, one person in acs i’ll never look at the same way again. people i had to work with for the big account. maybe myself at some points, but usually not for long. may humabol pa – someone close to someone i love really disappointed me in the last few days of the year.

Where did most of your money go? pocket money for europe. i think i spent the biggest amount on plane fares within spain, then on my accommodations in barcelona. my big splurge was the entrance fee to casa batllo – i had absolutely no money, but i carded it because i felt so compelled to immerse myself in gaudi.

What song will always remind you of 2006? hmm. i don’t know. nothing really. my favorite live performances by club for five, which I have on their cd.

Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? happier. definitely.
ii. thinner or fatter? i have no idea. just about the same i guess, except i had a really thin period.
iii. richer or poorer? a wee bit poorer. i made more money this year, but spent a shitload.

What do you wish you'd done more of? focus

What do you wish you'd done less of? snack on junk food, vacillated over some really great purchases (and oh, the rental of audioguides! i still know nothing about the alhambra!) in europe

How will you be spending Christmas? working myself to death to advance all my plugs, attending charlie and gerwin’s wedding in tagaytay with marlon, and being with my family and fiance

Did you fall in love in 2006? all over again, yes

How many one-night stands? no one-night stands here!

What was your favorite TV program? definitely lost. and i was super addicted to my own account, starstruck

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? nope

What was the best book you read? the time traveller’s wife, care of maggie. don’t remember if i read it late last year, so just in case, fragile things, care of marlon, and notes on a scandal care of chris ong.

What was your greatest musical discovery? augh ang dami! flamenco takes the top spot, followed by (in this order) apocalyptica, club for five, massive attack, ella fitzgerald, nina simone

What did you want and got? atlantika (be careful what you wish for), to go back to europe, spend time with marlon, be a better (and a more fearless) soprano, see miikka again, and A ROCK ON MY FINGER hahaha

What was your favorite film of this year? was batman begins this year? happy feet and casino royale were great, can’t remember watching any other movies

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? i turned 25 in paris!

woke up early (for a change)

took the metro to ile de la cite to see the utterly gorgeous st-chapelle, then metro-ed to invalides

took cheesy pictures amongst the lampposts and brilliant autumn leaves of parc des invalides

wandered around musee rodin (which i have wanted to do for the past five years!)

had the best salad in the world for lunch in au petit vatel in le marais

walked home to our hotel in the louvre (stopping for a nutella crepe along the way)

attended a dinner party at the home of the philippine ambassador

did all of the above with marlon

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? having clear-cut goals and achieving them

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006? lots of black

What kept you sane? new music, sleep, chocolate

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? you’re speaking to a daniel craig convert. oh and i love angelina jolie

What political issue stirred you the most? i all but swore off the papers this year, so nothing. i realized i knew a lot about the subic rape case, though

Who did you miss? on tour, maggie, jd and loi

Who was the best new person you met? toss-up between binky and gary

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006: i quote zoe hellerman’s notes on a scandal (beautiful, beautiful book) – “after saying no, no, no, there comes a moment when you say, oh bugger it, yes.”

that, and that there are times when you just have to let change into your life – like opening a window and letting the breeze in. whether the wind that blows in will knock you over or just cool you down a bit, there’s no telling (or controlling) it. you just have to let it in.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: hmmm let me get back to you on this one.

The most touching experience you've had this year? i can think of three – the first one was the moment i shared with marlon out in the cold after he proposed. the second one, well the person involved just kind of tarnished it for me. the third is just for me.

What did you like most about yourself this year? i think i was surprisingly levelheaded for my standards. i was able to rise above my emotions when it counted.

What did you hate most about yourself this year? my procrastination and my yo-yoing weight

Was 2006 a good year for you? definitely

Heath is the new Jun-Jun

hi folks. just a quick post to say that i'm alive (just barely -- long weekend = death by plug), my favorite account is back in business, and that heath is the new jun-jun.

meet heath. not his real name of course -- i don't want the hordes at my door just yet.

okay na ba 'to, ate?

i do believe the naughty boy was trying to sneak a peek down my shirt the other day. but then that could just be too much notes on a scandal. or pure wishful thinking.

if this sixteen year-old, six-foot, adorably cocky adolescent heath ledger doppelganger is not famous by the time this season is done, i will eat my desk so help me god.

Therapy Monday

mondays are usually slow here at the office, and today is especially so. with a couple of bosses (including ze big boss) out of the office, people are taking the day's work (if any) at a slow, easy pace. the sounds are laid back, activity is at a low hum, and the vibe is therapeutic.

a resident audiophile is pumping ladytron (i don't know who they are, but they sound good) from his mac, a few teammates are debating the merits of triathlon training as stress relief (yes, there's a lot of stress to be relieved over here), and snatches of other interesting conversations (such as a lengthy discussion of pektus) drift in and out of my violet-walled cubie...

where i am making christmas cards. upon coming back from the tour, i suddenly found manila in full-blown christmas mode, and for some reason it was my hands that were itching to catch up. i used to make my own christmas cards almost every year until i hit college. the last time i sent out handmade cards was in freshman year -- i had just discovered choral singing, and photocopies of popular filipino carols were the theme of my cards that year.

with two major accounts (including my old fave) following a predictable, and actually early, daily timetable, i've miraculously found time to indulge. i'm inspired by a handful of juicy little morsels -- cutout snowflakes (a prototype in blue iridiscent paper is now stuck to my monitor), photos of tiled patterns i took in the alhambra, four-pointed stars, an inexpensive bottle of silver acrylic paint i picked up in national bookstore. i also love scrolling through d*s and dafont for ideas.

ganado ako gumawa. three cards will get made and mailed out to their intended recipients in india, belgium and finland (tipid ako on mailing this year), but it looks like a couple of extra ones will have to find somewhere to go. the ideas just keep on coming! and not only for cards -- i'm getting hit by lightning bolts for christmas presents, wedding whatnot and new scripts alike. (hmmm. i think i'm starting to reap the benefits of my one-month work-free time out in europe.)


i finished one card last night and one this morning. while i'm pleased with the results, i'm even more pleased by the process, and by the fact that i actually can do this! at the office! and it will actually, indirectly, help me think and work better!

some of the art directors i work with have stopped by my desk with smiles and exclamations -- one of them (cecil) even managed to open a bottle of gold craft paint that i've been unable to unscrew for the past two years! she even suggested i sell whatever extra cards i don't send out. and i finally got to break in a set of waterbrushes (squeezable paintbrushes with hollow barrels for water) i bought on sale about six months ago. happiness!

now if you'll excuse me, i have blank sheets of smooth white card, a silver-smeared corner of desk, and a pretense of regular monday workload to get back to.

Back at the wheel

i drove to the office today for the first time in over two months. getting back behind the wheel was something i had shrank from ever since that nasty little sideswipe on shaw. so i was wary and tense, with shoulders tight and hunched over the wheel, as max and i puttered along the streets of mandaluyong.

at first i was a menace to the motoring public by virtue of my complete wimpiness -- "speeding" at 20kph, meekly letting everyone and their second cousins cut into my lane (marlon barking "guard your lane! guard it!" at me was but a faint memory), keeping an abnormally wide distance on my right, and slowing to an almost-full stop at the sight of delivery trucks.

i must have slowed to about 0.5kph on shaw, as i approached the very spot where i had my accident. it was a good thing my favorite feel-good track from club for five's album was playing at that moment -- i couldn't resist singing along and smiling.

and somewhere between the shaw mrt station and megamall i realized so much had happened to me since the accident -- so much that had made me tougher and better and less likely to fold in on myself. (mostly i was thinking of how i dragged my suitcase all over spain.)

thus emboldened, i reached staggering speeds of 60kph on edsa, valiantly guarding my lane from a renegade kia van, and parked in one smooth movement in front of my office. hurray!

Singapore silliness

... and for once it's not with my boyfriend fiance.



yes this is what acs does in such an esteemed venue as the esplanade -- choose the most unphotogenic corner (in this case, a backstage emergency exit), huddle together and let 'er rip. or at least the soprano 1s did. from left: perpetually sleeping jett, round and giggly liz, plain old me, boobic beauty elaine and hyperactive nutcase stalee.

but here's the token boyf photo anyway. elaine took it on the bus to the airport monday night, right after our concert.



marlon has become such a tour fixture that mimi gave him his own official acs count-off number in lah-lah land (# 35). see, i finally got him to wear pink (also got him to wear subtle embossed florals); i think he kind of likes it now. and he looks cuter than me here. hmpf.

Pockets of comfort

my mind is still buzzing with thoughts about getting married and moving to singapore, which i touched on a couple of hours ago, and which i feel rather anxious about at this point.

but i was lucky to find little pockets of comfort while surfing the net at work:

- when i was nine, i saw a bed like this in an old issue of architectural digest. i decided then and there that i would have one just like it someday. they have it over at ikea singapore. oh, and this one is lovely too.

- in an old post (and column), jim offers wonderfully reassuring insights on marriage.

- and the dresses at pronovias are absolutely beautiful. (still got a little bit of a spain hangover there.)

Reality check

this post marks my return to philippine time and to normalcy after a three-week, europe-sotted, abhorrently unproductive haze. i slept before midnight last night, woke up at 8am for work, and started actual scriptwriting at 2pm (it's a slow day). i am happy to finally attribute whatever sluggishness i feel at the moment to a lack of exercise, and not to a seriously screwed-up body clock.

---

i flew to singapore with acs over the weekend to perform at the esplanade with japan's gaia philharmonic choir and singapore's syc ensemble singers (more on which later). ironically, it was in lah-lah land where reality finally caught up with me. and i actually expected that to happen.

mostly it was because of marlon. "whenever i see him, life just begins all over again," i once wrote of him in my journal, over a year ago. i told him that a few hours after i arrived (at the ungodly hour of 1:30am -- cebu pacific's "new filipino time" is disturbingly similar to the old filipino time). i also told him, "this time, i really need it to begin all over again," as i shed tears that surprised even me. it was only then that i realized how physically and emotionally exhausting drifting in my post-europe limbo had been for me the past three weeks.

"i have something real that's waiting for me," i also wrote of marlon, more recently in my little tour notebook. so reality didn't so much hit as it did embrace me. it was a gentle, warm, reassuring reunion.

---

over the past three-and-a-half years, i have made for myself a play-and-pause pseudo-life in singapore. i have routines and favorites, peeves and preferences, memories and secrets there, and a person who is like home to me. but my pseudo-life in singapore will actually become an actual life in singapore very soon. that was another reality i came face to face with this weekend, and it wasn't so bad.

i left all the sightseeing to my friends and just spent time doing my typical singapore weekend things: spending a couple of hours on marlon's ps2 (final fantasy 12 is gorgeous), waking up late, stepping out of the house well after lunchtime, walking around bishan and orchard, enjoying a massage, jumbo dinner, and a movie (marry me daniel craig!).

i didn't feel in a rush to do anything. mostly because it occurred to me that next year, i will have all the time in the world to do whatever i want to do in singapore. okay, maybe not all the time in the world; the deal marlon and i struck is a year to a year and a half in singapore, tops.

that's a lot of time in lah-lah land, time that i didn't count on spending there, and pretty soon i'll have to figure out how to fill it. part of me is actually looking forward to that -- the part of me which was fearless and kebs and used to make life lampaso on a regular basis. she's been buried under a lot of things the past couple of years, and it's time to trot her out again. this should be interesting.

--

resurfacing to my reality is like watching a flat piece of paper slowly morph into a three-dimensional object (or at least what i imagine that would be like). there isn't just one thing to consider anymore; i had been staring so long at photos on a monitor and stamps on a passport, that i had almost forgotten that life is so multifaceted and deeply layered.

i'm back. hurray.

(don't worry, i still plan to blog about europe.)