Promaxination

after staying home the whole day with a fever, i have finally run out of things to read and watch online, and am thus blogging this long overdue promax post.

a competition and conference combined, promax is the annual event for those of us in this rarely understood, oft-ignored, completely accidental (as in, you only get into it by accident, not aspire to be part of it) and surprisingly big but surprisingly small (as in, i never knew there were so many career options in this line, at the same time everyone seems to know each other) industry of on-air promotions. 

promax was one of those mythical events i only used to hear about, because only the bosses got to go. back in gma, we would religiously scan winners' reels from promaxes past for inspiration -- in fact, george made me watch a promax reel when i showed up on my first day at work and nobody quite knew what to do with me yet. every year, creative services would embark on this mad rush for spots to enter into the competition, a process that always ignited this tiny flicker of mad hope in me that we -- and maybe even i -- would win something. (of course we never did. hahaha.)

so this year, in my nerdy wide-eyed way, i was thrilled to finally be attending promax. headcount at the office was so low this year that even if we were just sharing passes, everyone got to go to at least one full day of the two-day conference (even our admin, terry!). it was a combination of anticipation and stupidity that made me turn up at the arts house at 8:30 a.m. on the dot monday morning -- whereupon i discovered that the sessions were going to start at 9:45 a.m. i should have known that no event geared for creative types will ever start before 9:30 a.m.

the arts house is a former court and parliament house converted into an arts venue, which made the whole thing look very cool. as usual, i was the only eager beaver on my team who wanted to sit up front and risk a stiff neck.

the rest of the boys wanted to stay in the back, where the seats at least faced front and there was less chance of being spotted in case they fell asleep.

nerdy confession: i secretly expected promax to do for me professionally what marktoberdorf did for me as a chorister. competing in marktoberdorf  was totally fun and inspirational. i was relatively new to the world of choral music, and discovering this huge gathering of people who were so passionate about, and in many cases, so good at, this odd thing that i liked to do was nothing short of amazing for me, and completely solidified my love of choral singing. (of course, winning that year didn't hurt my love of choral singing either!)

and in some ways, i was right. in marktoberdorf, you had your spectacular, amazing performances (like, ahem, the ateneo college glee club c. 2001) and then you had your duds (russian male choirs, or lachrymose italian female librarian choirs). i guess i was expecting all the speakers to be glee club caliber. 

the first session featuring mike reiss, a writer from the simpsons, was totally glee club. he was every bit as hilarious as you'd expect a simpsons writer to be. however the awesome start he provided went over to russian male choir territory way too fast, and i found myself wondering how logo designs from the early eighties were supposed to help me produce winning promos, and how exactly 243 clips of a storm trooper wiggling his hips in the middle of shibuya was supposed to be relevant to my job.

the venue for the smaller afternoon sessions. very game k n b?

one of the writing sessions was great, but it was more like nordic chamber choir than ateneo glee club. still, it was good enough for me to take notes the lazy way -- by snapping pictures of the slides with my camera. by this time i had identified the suite de lorca of on-air promotions -- you know, the piece that everyone seems to have included in their repertoire: discovery's "the world is just awesome" spot. and while it was really just awesome, i couldn't have helped wishing i could see something else.

finally, i felt a swell of pride to belong to bda when jens, the creative director of the sydney office came up to give his session. he was, for me, the portland state university chamber choir of promax. impressive pero hindi yung pinakamagaling, may halong kayabangan, pero tumatak. (seven years after the competition, listening to portland's ave maria by biebl still gives me goosebumps.) 

especially the way he ended his session on how to work better: stay calm and smile. (and here i paraphrase him.) because really, we work in an industry with some of the most creative, fun and passionate people in the world. we do work that barely feels like work. and there is no shortage of great colleagues and great work to inspire us. what's there not to smile about?

Making a list (and checking it twice)

twenty days to go till i fly home from christmas! and i am just raring to go! being on probation (well technically) at work, i have a limited number of leaves... which means i have only december 24th to january 1 to cram in all of the things on my holiday to-do list!

• spend time with mommy (hmm paano kaya 'to with all the stuff i wanna do)
• omygod... UKAY UKAY!!!!!
  
• stock up on fresca homemade scents at the legaspi market... come to think of it, a visit to the salcedo market might be fun too
  
• eat at bellini's and schlep around cubao x
  
• chocolate buffet with the kiddies at manila pen
• see my beloved acs again! but i am so bummed that i'm not going to hear them sing or get to sing with them at all this year!!!
• meet mimi's fiance, the famous pete
  
• visit friends at gma and eat chicken inasal at jt's manukan on sgt esguerra after
  
• eat bibingka at via mare
• eat corned beef sinigang at sentro
• eat at cyma (or manos greek taverna)
  
• celebrate our first year wedding anniversary (one year already! time does fly when you're having fun!) in tagaytay -- i hope t house or the boutique still has an available room for us though
  
• buy cinnamon rolls and stock up on kapeng barako at bag of beans
  
• get a cheap manicure, pedicure and color job at azta on katipunan
  
• buy tees and funky christmas gifts for my officemates (i know, very late, but hey -- bulk christmas shopping at home will be so much cheaper) at team manila
• check out the shoes at janylin and landmark
• stock up on rogue, preview and cheap books at national bookstore (i read somewhere that the domino book of decorating sells for only Php950!)

i know, it's all shopping and eating -- and i'm supposed to be in a country where the shopping and eating is among the best in the world. but hell. nothing like manila.

now, the only thing i'm wondering is: this list really it? i could have sworn it was so much longer in my head....

Pakiusap

i have soooo many things that i want to blog about, but i have just received my umpteenth creative hipster email (you'll know what that is in a second). i've had it up to here and just want to say:

please, please please -- stab me and cut out my heart with a dessert spoon if i ever sign any correspondence with the first letter of my name.

Hi.
This is what I mean.
Later,
D

yun lang.

High school musical

the night before the rihanna concert in singapore, i stood in front of my full-length mirror at home, held a picture of rihanna in my mind, and decided that my concert attire of wide-legged pants and tiny tee was just too 1999. after all, glamor si rihanna diba?

still i could not get over the niggling thought that i just might need to be ready to run from a riot/be crushed by the masses/get sticky and sweaty/jump over barricades/elbow crowds... in short, i could not completely dispel my years of watching concerts in manila. naman! sinabayan ko lahat ng jologs na tumalon from the general admission section to the php700 section in the bon jovi concert of 199...3? 4? and i had to trudge out in the mud, in the pouring rain, after the concert was stopped after two or three songs.

still, the next day, i dressed up my utilitarian basics of jeans, tank top and chocolate brown flats with a vintage rose necklace and lace bolero. at buti na lang! dahil pagdating ko sa singapore indoor stadium, para akong pumasok sa embassy na prom na ewan! girls were dressed to club, in little glittery miniskirts, backless tops and stilettos, and guys in this oddly justin timberlake fedora-vest-and-tie uniform. when i entered the stadium i saw why.


ang ayos diba? why can i see clearly defined rows and spaces between the seats? where's the pandemonium? the frenzied excitement? the jologs?

by some stroke of luck (probably because we came early, and they didn't sell out the venue), our seats were upgraded. an usher simply took our tickets, scratched out the seat numbers and scribbled down new ones. so we ended up here. much, much closer to the stage than we had paid to sit. my sister wasn't as lucky.


when i sat down, i found myself sitting with a pair of white giggly tween girls... and their mother. i looked around to find parents everywhere. i swear i saw more parents than i have ever seen at any kind of parent gathering at my high school. pashminas, pleated pants and floral silk blouses are the last things i would have expected to see at a rihanna concert. hello, it's singapore, moms and dads! this is the last place where you need to be chaperoning your kids to a concert!

and yes the tween level was off the scale. this is why i used the word "prom", above. if you've never heard seven thousand tween girls singing "umbrella", i can send you my recording. as i scanned the audience, i murmured to marlon, "why do i have a feeling that when the audience starts screaming, it will be extremely high pitched?"

and kids. my god. like five-to-seven year olds. i couldn't explain it, except maybe if all the moms had actually bought the tickets for their kids, thinking rihanna's last name was montana.

"eeew, so many parents," i whispered to marlon. "shush," he cautioned. "to these kids we probably look like parents too."


so the lights dimmed and the lambs tweens began screaming kasi umapir na ang lola n'yo.


winner sana ang hydraulic-assisted entrance from the ceiling. sana nga lang gumagana yung mike niya. sound crew = epic fail.


as soon as she got down from her post, she went to the side of the stage and made very big angry gestures to some invisible cowering p.a.'s. her anger couldn't have been more obvious than if she'd spelled out "what the f*ck?!" with her butt.

anyway, she got a new mike, apologized, and went on with the rest of the show -- which was, from what i hear, the same set she did in manila except without chris brown. the outfit was the same as the manila outfit too, except she kept her pants on in singapore. oh, and she wore flat boots, which i thought was nice.

i liked her makeup too -- the silver eyeliner on the lower lids. and for a black girl, she had surprisingly white kilikili.


as for the music -- it was good. perfect for the people who like their live concerts to sound exactly like the cd, or else they feel ripped off. i like a bit more variation in a live performance, like alicia keys when she came over for singfest. even if she did do this weird mariachi-ish arrangement for one of her slow songs, talagang nag-effort si bakla. you just knew she was going home completely hoarse.

si rihanna parang hindi masyadong nagpagod. pero sige lang. she did change into a skimpier, rocker burlesque kind of outfit for her last few songs. so that's something.


the concert ended after 45 minutes. which was a bit of a letdown for me -- not to mention for my sister, who drove three hours from KL.

so we went out after and had black pepper crab at jumbo, which was fun, as all the kiddies went home with their mommies and daddies.

Rihanna, puppet porn and shopping

my weekend began early. there was rihanna on thursday night. more kwento later, with pictures.

then on friday i had practically nothing to do at work because lilian was away and james was too busy fixing up the office for the promax after-party that we're hosting on monday. the evening was spent suffering for past sins, a.k.a muay thai.

today, marlon and i caught the matinee of avenue q (with, thankfully, the pinoy cast) at the esplanade. brilliant performances, and funny as hell! new urban male came out with a series of avenue q-inspired, limited edition statement t-shirts that they sold after the show: it sucks to be me, i'm not wearing underwear, and the internet is for porn. (guess which one i got for marlon!)

then we trotted down to haji lane for the street party that james told me about. haji lane is this high school hipster hangout that seems to be the shisha capital of singapore. i like it for the little interesting boutiques and relaxed vibe; i should probably go there with a camera one of these days so you can see what i mean. 

anyway this evening some credit card company held an event and the stores decided to go on sale at the same time. i discovered a cool little store called rusty button, which has a great selection of vintage and indie-designed dresses. i got a surprisingly flattering black and taupe stretchy dress with a silk-screened, kind of crazy bamboo leaf pattern for only $49! dinner was at cafe la caire, the egyptian-moroccan cafe that we've been wanting to try. yummy and cheap, but slow.

My firstborn

a public service announcement (PSA) against drunk driving (or drink driving, as they say here) for mtv and diageo. diageo had already been running an events campaign built around the idea of guardian angels who would remind you to not drink and drive. on their second year, they decided to partner up with mtv, mtv decided to call a pitch, and we decided to go for it.

it was my first time for a lot of things: win a project for my company, conceptualize and script an idea that i eventually had to actually take charge of and produce, and later on, the first time i ever had something air in four countries: singapore, malaysia, india and the philippines.this was where i started learning the ropes of production and earning the second half of my writer/producer job title. our production exec happened to be on vacation during pre-production, so it fell to me to take care of all the nitty-gritty production details from scouting for parks and bars to casting babies and caucasians, to booking the makeup artist and snapping photos of the wardrobe selections.

i learned what it really meant to work on a budget, coming from my world of virtual costs at gma. i discovered how a seemingly simple idea on paper could actually turn out to be a dizzyingly complex one when it came to execution. my idea, requiring three flashbacks, a little boy, two accident scenes, a crying baby and celebrity endorsements in 30 seconds, turned out to be the latter. i'm sure in the world of production, this is nothing, but for a first timer it was like two weeks of excruciating labor... and i mean the giving birth kind. as we spent the greater part of an hour on set prodding, poking, jiggling and startling the most cheerful baby on the planet to get it to cry (he just giggled and gurgled cutely), lilian grumbled, "deepa, next time no more babies okay???"

and it was on the guardian angel set that i overcame my fear of directing. james installed me as his assistant director largely because of his english handicap -- i could better explain to the talents what he wanted, and i had a knack for reading james' mind. later on i began making suggestions of my own, which worked, and that was great.

casting the angel was a real bitch. this was where i encountered the word "pan-asian" for the first time -- a highly prized commodity among regional promo efforts, a talent who could look like he was from everywhere and nowhere and thus work well across all markets, usually used interchangeably with "eurasian".

ngayon. sa loob ng dalawang linggo, try mo maghanap ng guwapo at murang pan-asian male na magaling magsalita, dito sa buwakanang lungga ng mga payat, singkit, at baluktot ang dila. then you will understand why rob, a research manager by day and a product of my secret casting pool, was truly heaven sent. he was cheerful, tireless despite flying back from a business trip hours before his call time, memorized his lines, and to james' great delight, registered on cam as "cute and likeable, like a chubby robbie williams". at! higit sa lahat! mura siya!

so here it is, my first born promo. i must add that after a whopping sixteen rounds of revision, the original script took a fair amount of nips and tucks. but it got out into the world, eventually, in some form and fashion. and that can only be a good thing.

Mano mano

i was in a briefing this afternoon with some clients who are going to change their on-air look into something more realistic, natural and stripped-down. one of the guys on their team said, "the airwaves are too saturated," referring to the slick, glossy graphics that is a mandatory element of modern broadcasting. 

as someone who's part of the machinery that churns out such eye candy (really amazing eye candy, i might add), i had to agree. personally i'm growing a bit weary of all the whiteness and cleanness and reflections and glassy textures popularized by apple.

then just a few minutes ago, i happened upon this striking short on youtube -- "tyger," yet another work inspired by william blake's "the tyger". i am amazed at how much artistry this one piece of literature has spawned. 

"tyger" has shadows and depth that i find satisfying to look at in the midst of this design-wide obsession with blankness and glass. it has this raw, handmade beauty that i wish i could work into a project soon. mag-conceptualize kaya ako na may puppeteers o hand illustrations o paper cutting? di kaya ako hingan ng "glassy" ng kliyente, or sabihan ng humahawak ng pitaka ng aming kumpanya, "puwede bang i-graphics na lang yan?"

Freshness

still on the obama train, i became a regular reader of the new yorker online during the course of the election coverage. and right now, i am loving this this illustration over at the new yorker.

the fact that it's a collage (albeit digital) captured my attention immediately -- collage is my favorite form of visual art. it's striking, it's clean, it's graphic, it's young. it conveys all the freshness, hope, victory and history of obama's election in a single montage.

besides, you can't go wrong with that winning smile.

Craig-a-thon

i watched quantum of solace with the entire office on thursday. watching the kick-ass opening titles by mk12 with a bunch of graphic designers was fun. everyone would go "WAH!" (our company's main intercultural expression of amazement) all at the same moments throughout the sequence. for some reason, i almost fell asleep during the movie. not the greatest reaction to get for a bond flick, although my eyes could not have been wider during daniel craig's sole shirtless scene.

then i saw it again with marlon on saturday. the second viewing gave me a full understanding of the plot -- again, not the greatest reaction considering bond flicks are not supposed to be rocket science. my dislike for olga whats-her-name intensified (so robotic! what's up with the standing with legs apart, fists closed all the fricking time? and that huddling in the corner drama! tumakbo ka na kaya?), as did my awareness of the utter lack of fancy secret agent gizmos.

on sunday, marlon and i decided to re-watch casino royale at home. whereupon i confirmed my impression that this is by far the better, sexier, funnier, more compelling, more memorable and more classic bond flick of the two.

even the aforementioned shirtless scene in quantum solace, as gratuitous as it was, just induced a wee tickle in comparison to the earth-shaking girlgasm i got re-watching daniel craig's rising-from-the- sea, skimpy-shorts glory in casino royale.

we had also planned to watch the invasion, but were too bangag to sit in front of the tv for a couple more hours. i just realized this also features daniel craig. soooo... if we watch this tonight it will be a full four days of hawtness.

the craig-a-thon shall continue!

Flight plan

lately it seems that surfing for flights has been a regular activity. first it was for the four-day chinese new year weekend next year. marlon and i had decided to go to boracay during cny instead of during christmas. i've wanted to bring him ever since the philippine star sent me there on a raket last summer.

it took a while to finally narrow down a flight and somewhere to stay (the place sure fills up fast for cny!), but finally we booked ourselves via cebu pacific for four days at the true home hotel in station one. along the way, i discovered my boracay guide, which has a super-helpful, extremely detailed map of nearly all the resorts on the island.

then i found out that in 2009, singapore will have a grand total of 10 three-day weekends -- because by some stroke of luck, all the national holidays fall on either a friday, monday or sunday (which is then moved to the following monday). this drove me a little berserk as a year of seeing sold-out flights and overbooked hotels flashed through my head. see here, since everything is online, people plan their holidays months in advance, leaving tardy travellers like marlon and myself with no flights or accommodations at all. 

i decided: never again! so i sat marlon down at the dining table last weekend to plan all of our long weekend travels for 2009. which was a fun exercise, i must say -- especially when i started surfing for flights in april 2009 and found that they were half the price they would cost if we booked next year. and that was how we plunked down six hundred bucks for round-trip tickets to hanoi half a year in advance.

we had all these other trips to yogyakarta, redang and siem reap planned, too. until i went on facebook and found out that tor had gotten engaged to her boyfriend matt! aieeeee! which is why new york is now on the travel plan -- for august 2009. by then, marlon will have enough krisflyer miles to pay for one ticket. not bad ey?

who knows, maybe we will get to still take that trip to siem reap in november 2009, during hari raya. that is, if marlon doesn't travel somewhere like japan for business -- with me in tow. then of course, at the end of the year there will be christmas in manila. 

2009 is shaping up beautifully. i can't wait.

Looks like garlic, tastes like chicken

tuesday night was the first night this week that marlon was in kobe, and i was home alone. at seven p.m., james rescued me from a lonely and largely uninteresting evening at home with these words: "join us for dinner? go to geylang. eat frog porridge."

it was my first time in geylang, the underbelly of singapore. i expected some kind of singaporean sanitized version where the words "red light district" would be a laughable exaggeration (just like sentosa is supposed to be a tropical paradise), but geylang seems to meet the global standard for red light districts, if there is such a thing.

seedy atmosphere - check. trannies - check. heavily made up, peroxided, scantily clad girls - check. shops with gaudy clothing for said girls - check. neon signs - check. overall aura of cheapness - check. icky men - check. the only thing really missing, i guess, if you're a manila girl, is the feeling that you could be leered at, held up or propositioned at any given moment. but then this is singapore, and i supposed just a genuine aura of sleaze is a big achievement.

after drifting about, lost, in geylang lorong 15, we finally found the frog porridge place -- a set of big round tables in a back alley between lorong 17 and 19. benz was appropriately little-girlish (he is, after all, a little girl), squealing and demurring and protesting as we perused the menu.

buy two frogs, get one free! (seriously)

lilian, jerrold and james couldn't get why benz was so averse to the idea of consuming frog. "but you eat balut! that's even grosser!" lilian protested.

anesh gave benz a few pushes as well. while we were checking out the menu, he told benz: "this says in chinese, everything is chicken. frog is logo only. they just put frog because they think it looks very cute." when the meal arrived, he said: "frog is not here yet. here, you eat this while waiting."

our dinner was served in clay pots, several containing plain porridge. the other pots each held frogs prepared with different sauces: spring onion, kung pao (chili) and whole white pepper. i went straight for the kung pao, but the real winner, i found later on, was the white pepper. although james was drenched through with sweat after eating it (not to mention getting the shits the next day), i found it wonderfully mild and warm. not the kind of heat that burns your lips and gums... more like a steam bath in your oral cavity. and after the warmth fades away, a faint sweet aftertaste in the back of your mouth. yum.

as for the frog: as mike said, "looks like garlic, tastes like chicken." except it was much, much softer than any chicken meat i've ever had. not bad at all. it passed one of my personal litmus tests for something good, which is if i want marlon to try it too. (we also had tofu and crispy chicken wings, and they were equally good.) i didn't bother with the frog's spine and hid it under my leftover porridge because it looked so gross, but jer just popped it into his mouth and sucked the meat off it, like marrow.

time for traditional chinese medicine 101: some foods heat up your body, and others cool them down. frog is one of the former, regardless of whether it is prepared with spices or not. (apparently this is why it's popular in the red light district.) so after dinner we had to go have something to cool us down.

and that something, it turned out, was turtle.

turtle shell, at least. the top three dishes on the menu (parallel to the chinese characters) are jelly made from pulverised tortoiseshell. i forget what the heck it's called, but it's served with sugar syrup and is supposed to offset "heatiness" and be good for your skin.

frog was exotic enough for me and i opted to have mango pudding instead, but i did try a bit of the jelly from james and mike. it was... interesting. faintly bitter, even with the sugar syrup. james' was mint flavored, which made it even weirder. i could feel my face crumpling into a befuddled grimace as i chewed, which made lilian laugh. "i knew you wouldn't like it," she said. i didn't hate it, but i didn't exactly find any compelling reason to ever order it myself.

haibo, mike and benz

haibo's wife, jerrold, ganggang (covered by hand) and anesh

lilian and james

there, you've seen my entire company (with the exception of our two admins, terry and may.) we're so tiny that a weekday dinner of nine people counts as a company outing.

Good job, USA

i was glued to the internet yesterday morning, monitoring the US election, amazed that media has moved so far ahead that i could keep such close tabs (yahoo! had an awesome interactive election map), and amazed that i even wanted to.

about fifteen minutes minutes before barack obama was declared victorious, i found myself actually doing the math on the states that had yet to report their election returns, and realizing that even if the remaining states all went to john mccain, there was no chance in hell that he would beat obama.

i caught myself for a minute there -- me, making mathematical projections on a political exercise of a country that couldn't be more removed from my daily life? hell yeah this man is inspiring.

then the announcement came and i was truly, inexplicably happy. how many more times in our lifetime will we see a politician so capable of inspiring a nation and so powerfully creating a fantastic future for his country and for the world? i am especially encouraged to see that all reports point to the fact that he is level-headed enough to put extremely capable people on his team, leaving him to be the inspiring, confident leader so many people need.

kelan kaya magkaka-ganyan sa pilipinas, ano? but then if a black man can be elected president of the u.s., which was a totally unforeseeable event given their history, then i can begin to believe that the philippines will have our great leader too.

kababawan time: i really loved it that the obamas were all terno when they appeared together on stage for the victory speech. and i know pia was like "wtf is she wearing?" but i really loved michelle obama's outfit for the mere fact that it was so not cookie-cutter political spouse. take that, cindy "stepford" mccain!

Haaaayyyy....bo

when it comes to work, the occasions when i am prompted to go "haayyyy" out of sheer satisfaction (instead of exasperation) are pretty rare. lately i've had a few of them, and they're all because of one of my teammates, our senior designer haibo.

quiet, unassuming and always smiling, haibo is one of those guys whose docile looks disguise what a freaking head case he is. for a recent project we did for mtv (a 30-second contest spot for a big slutfest dugsh-dugsh fest beach party at sentosa), we asked him to come up with a couple of style references -- animations or graphics we could show the client to give them an idea of how we wanted to execute the spot.

aba ang hitad, nagpakita ng full animated 3D scale model of singapore.


sabi ko, patay. baka pagsisihan niya ito kapag nalaman niya kung kelan ang deadline. e kinagat ng kliyente. napasubo siya bigla.

but no. within a matter of days, he produced this.


which, by the end of the week, became this.


kabog! needless to say, client loved it. (unfortunately, love is not always a two-way street. but that's another story.)

then on monday afternoon i briefed him on the requirements for a promo package based on this same spot. for the uninitiated, a promo package is a set of animated graphics with all sorts of bits and pieces that carry "branding" -- those strips on the lower half of your tv screen, logos, full page graphics where a lot of text goes (like program schedules), and more, all designed to pull a show or channel together, look-wise.

so anyway. monday ang briefing. the next day, hiningan ko siya ng work-in-progress -- screen shots to show how the whole thing is coming along. ang sagot: isang matipid na "ok. maybe finish today." (he's from beijing, so he doesn't speak much english.) within hours, he sent me not just screen shots of the work in progress, but the whole damn set of graphics. finished, animated and absolutely fantastic. nabaliw ako. and that was my first "haaay" of bliss for the week... as in "haaay. ang galing talaga ni haibo."

today, client got back to me (or as they like to say here, "reverted") with a whole bunch of changes they wanted done. i told haibo about them and retreated to my corner to play scramble (yes, it's a slow day at the office). in the middle of my third 3-minute game, he was done. alam mo yung "isang pikit lang"? yun yon. napa-"haaaay" na naman ako.

i swear this is why i'm in this job. and this is part of what i wanted for my career, come to life. i live for the flashes of brilliance and talent i see on a near-daily basis. i live for the chance to be amazed and inspired by the creations that i see and by the people who create them. and i live for my turn to create something that amuses, provokes and inspires, too.

haaay.

Muay gulay

about an hour into muay thai last night, in mid-pushup, my arms suddenly wilted into gulay (perhaps steamed bok choy, for that local touch) and simply refused to flex. this morning, while i can still rely on my arms for basic functions like opening taxi doors and resting on tabletops as i type, if someone put a gun to my head and made me do a pushup now, it would be the end of me.

yes, i do muay thai now, to fill the void left by boxing. serendipity played a part in my new choice of sport -- there's a muay thai gym called punch academy about five minutes from the office. since marlon's always wanted to do muay thai, and i figured whatever i was doing to lose weight (read: not much) was not working, we bit the bullet a couple of weeks ago and signed up for forty lessons.

if you've never worked out and been drenched head to toe with sweat within half an hour, you have to try muay thai. i don't sweat much, but i was a veritable geyser of perspiration in my first lesson. after that first class, marlon and i staggered out the door and plopped down at the next-door kopitiam for dinner. we just sat there panting and staring at each other for a good ten minutes, not knowing quite what hit us.

so far, all my lessons have turned out to be the same. it's positively boot camp, which is probably why i see boot camp bodies all around me whenever i go to the gym. perhaps, after thirty-seven more lessons of muay thai, one of those will be me. and perhaps gulay-ness is simply the first step.

Home alone

i just dropped marlon off at the airport for a four-day business trip to kobe (as in beef). and while i love coming home to the quiet solitude of our little place with its cozy lighting, newlywed furniture and manic kitten, i could use a sleepover at someone else's house just about now. 

agree or disagree: sleepovers are a staple of a girl's life. do guys sleep over as much as we do? i don't think so. 

my sleepover history started in second grade, when my mom and her then-BFF tita nettie decided to introduce their daughters to each other, spawning a lifelong friendship and a spate of almost-weekly sleepovers. i still remember my first sleepover at chiara's house -- she told ghost stories that ingrained in me a staunch refusal to sleep with (1) my hair spread out over a pillow, (2) feet pointed towards a closet or door, (3) with closet doors open, and (4) in front of a mirror, to this very day.

i think i stopped sleeping over at friends' houses when i lost touch with chiara and nash, two of my childhood best friends (probably because my mom didn't trust any of my school friends enough for me to go and sleep over at their houses). 

in college, when my mom decided she would rather entrust me to friends then make me commute home in the dead of night after glee club rehearsals or performances. thus began a sleepover renaissance, and my kaladkarin days: sleeping over at leo's, pia's, dianne laserna's, justine's, gids', lesley/mags', eunice's, gutsy's, chris', gp's, maggie's, mimoy's. (omigad ang dami. i'm sure kulang pa yan.) 

while they were mostly necessities, college sleepovers were also the most fun i ever had. maybe it was because they usually were with big crazy groups of people, involved cry-your-eyes-out laughter and eat-till-you-burst food, and were flavored with anything from adversity (preparing for a tour, reviewing for philo orals) to whimsy (midnight baking frenzies) or obsession (marathon tv series) for that extra kick.

what do you know, i started out sleepy -- now i'm just sentimental. that tells me that it's time for bed. good night.

Post # 500

to mark my five hundredth post on this blog, i would like to post the following thought-provoking questions. to uphold the true interactive thrust of the web, and to invite spirited banter and stimulating dialogue from all of you, i ask:

1. where the f*** are my archives?
2. why can't i post my friends and links and all that crap?
3. does anyone know xml or how to figure this s*** out?

losty loo loo.

that said, i really like this new layout. i thought it was very me with the notebook and paisley, uses my current favorite clean fonts (arial and helvetica -- boring i know, but all designers seem to love helvetica), and isn't as precious and frou-frou as some of the notebook layouts i've seen out there.

it was slightly discombobulating to re-enter the world of templates and blog settings. habang nawiwindang pa ako sa bagong buhay, bagong trabaho, nakapag-move on na pala ang blogger. i felt profoundly older learning how to install this xml template than i did celebrating my 27th birthday (which was 2 weekends ago). my disorientation was even worse than the feeling i get when i look at miley cyrus, the jonas brothers, katy perry and wonder what the big deal is (and why i don't get it).

A bit of tweaking

if you haven't noticed, i got a bit bored with blogging. so, perhaps some change is in order. 

a new template may be the first step to getting back in the groove. let me just get it all sorted out.

Tag-along wife

do you love geeks? i do.

there are many advantages to loving (and eventually, as i have) marrying one. excellent conversation, mental math and electronics/furniture assembly skills aside, marlon's geekiness has garnered him many, many takashimaya and borders vouchers for various awards at work. like the proverbial neanderthal dragging home the carcass of its sabertooth tiger as a trophy for his waiting wife, or (sige na nga) mythical knight galloping home with the head of a dragon proudly skewered on his lance for his lady to see, marlon dutifully turns over these vouchers to me year after year, translating his forte (geekdom) into mine (shopping).

this time, my beloved geek brings home yet another trophy. a promotion! hurray! and with his new role comes a little wiggle room in our budget and a whole lot of travel. meetings in hong kong, shanghai, bangkok, kobe (japan) all within this month and the next. which means i get to tag along!

it is a testament to my complete cluelessness that i chose to book a weekend flight to bangkok to dovetail with one of marlon's meetings. if mickey hadn't even told me about the unrest, i never would have guessed. hell i was already upping my walking and cutting down on carbs with thai-sized clothing in mind. but it's all up in the air now as p&g decides this friday whether or not to let marlon fly.

apparently it seems to be like manila. mukhang super gulo from the outside, pero pagdating mo ok naman pala. but we'll see...

since there's another trip i can tag along on, which is hong kong! wheee! a bit more expensive and the flight schedules are a little inconvenient. but then again... what's a little inconvenience when there's h&m?

in october there are meetings in shanghai (same weekend as a big shoot, so no go) and kobe (the weekend of my birthday). now, do i want to go to japan? or just save the money and the leave days, and go to boracay in december? hmmm.

Rogue, day 2

so yesterday was our second day with the kitten formerly known as charcoal. we spent most of the day out, leaving our little rogue to mew mournfully after us as we left. me to rogue: loka ka! kagabi dinededma-deadma mo kami, ngayong paalis kami saka mo kami iiyakan? i jest, of course, in my usual babaeng bakla fashion, but i was getting a bit worried by the time we left because she still hadn't eaten or done any business.

the morning was spent attending mass and a lunch for ateneo alumni at the parish of st. ignatius because our beloved fr. ben (dumbledore!) was visiting, along with the OAA director and my philo 104 teacher fr. nemy, and marlon's favorite math teacher ma'am jo. i can't tell you what a beautiful, beautiful feeling it was to sing filipino jesuit church music.

i was also completely moved by the opportunity extended to ateneo alumni in singapore to help with funding for scholars. that's pretty much because i was a scholar too. i was stunned to learn that 14% of ateneo college students are on scholarship -- not because it's a small number (it's actually more than decent), but it really hit me how lucky i was to have been that 14% in my time. also how lucky i was to be among the 250 scholars a year who are given scholarships out of the 850 who apply. so marlon and i agreed to set aside a little amount each month to contribute to the scholarship fund, because i know just how much difference a little bit can make to a scholar who really needs the money.

afterwards, we went all the way down to harbourfront to shop at charcoal/rogue's foster parents (FPs) pet store of choice. as the cashier rang up our cat food, cat-away spray, feeding dishes, scratch pad, cat carrier, catnip, cat collar and various other cat paraphernalia, he murmured: "first-time cat owner, huh?" you'd better believe it.

maryosep tantanan n'yo na kami

actually, walang tatalo sa pagka-first time cat owners ng mga FP ni charcoal/rogue. after we got out from our afternoon screening of WALL-E, nagpumilit lang naman silang dalawin ang pusa, ostensibly para i-turn over ang mga natitira nilang mga kagamitang pang-pusa... kahit tumanggi ako (politely of course) at sinabi kong nakapamili na kami. but no nagpumilit pa rin sila. k fine. baka nami-miss lang nila. pagbigyan.

ang mga kasangkapang dinala: litter tray and litter sand (kahit sinabi kong meron na kaming binili), cat-away spray (ditto), pagkain, flea spray para sa carpet, flea powder para sa pusa, mga samu't saring laruan, at... dito ako muling tumambling. shampoo. dahil araw-araw daw nila itong pinapaliguan.

diyoskoday. naloka ako. unang-una, naiimbyerna po ang mga pusa kapag sila'y nababasa. ikalawa, ang mga pusa po ay may katangi-tanging abilidad na paliguan ang kanilang mga sarili.

bigla kong na-realize kung bakit ang dialogue ng mga FP ay panay ganito: "gusto sana namin ng pusa, pero wala kaming oras eh." e gaga pala sila. kung pinapahirapan nila ang mga sarili nila sa araw-araw na pagpapaligo at pagpupulbos at 2x kada araw na paglilinis con johnson's baby wipes ng isang hayop na napakalinis sa sarili nitong katawan, e mawawalan talaga sila ng oras!

eto pa ang maganda. ayaw daw nilang makaistorbo, pero bibisita raw sila every two weeks para tingnan kung inaalagaan namin ng mabuti ang pusa. talagang nagkatinginan kami ni marlon sa napakandang non sequitur na ito. buti na lang ay kaagad kong sinabi na mas mabuti kung kada buwan na lang, kung hindi baka napagulong pa ang aming mga eyeballs. haha sorry naubusan ako ng tagalog. siguro dahil ganun na lang ang kabuwisitang naramdaman ko sa taong nais magpulis sa aming pet-rearing skills.

all's well that ends well

...because at the end of the day, we have our rogue and she's worth it. TV time has turned to kitty time, as we discovered the singular pleasure she takes in being cuddled by two simpering humans at one time. in the midst of some heavy-duty double cuddling, she fell asleep in the cozy hollow created by our bodies as we watched TV on our tiny two-seater couch. really, marlon and i completely melted.

that TV cuddle seems to have finally impressed upon her that marlon and i are good humans to have around, because this morning she actually came out of her favorite sub-coffee-table hideaway when we came out of our bedroom for breakfast. plus, she actually came to me when i called her! marlon hasn't quite succeeded yet, as he has yet to undo 26 years of dog training and stop saying "here, boy!" hahaha! but not bad for just two days eh?

A Rogue in our home

there's a new member of the paul-plazo household. she's five months old, covered in sleek black fur with lovely white streaks from each of her eyes up to her ears, and a long hooked tail. her name is rogue, and she is a beauty. 

the cat idea had been floating around since late last year, when i realized that moving out of our askal-populated home in mandaluyong meant that i could have a cat again. though marlon has always been a dog person, he warmed to the idea of a cat when he took into account our busy schedules (cats are way more low-maintenance) and living space (70 sqm is not enough for an active pooch). so we both agreed to get a cat at some undefined point in time, but never really put any work into getting it done. 

then i got really bored at work. with my two big pitches and a couple of promo projects all finished last friday, monday was the first day ever that i actually spent a full day at work without actually doing anything related to work. after making the rounds of my usual online haunts (chuvaness, pep, facebook, et al) there was nothing left for me to do except... google "singapore cat adoption." patay!

the days that followed were completely cat-crazy. i looked at the spca and cat welfare society, learned about the horrifying tale of the cat hoarder,  sent links to marlon and discussed many a prospective pet over yahoo messenger with him. i must have emailed and texted over 10 cat rescuers and "fosters", mostly asking about pure black kittens aged 3 months to over a year old. 

hello charcoal

i got a couple of encouraging responses, but the one i really wanted to hear from was davis, foster daddy to a beautiful pure black cat named charcoal. to see the adorable-ness that sucked me in big time, check out the last cat posted on august 12 here.

and when i finally heard from charcoal's foster, boy was it a whopper of a reply. for a brief moment, i knew what it was like to be angelina jolie, or even madonna. because the adoption requirements and screening process was just... 

basta. as my boss james would say: "have a look."

Name : Charcoal
Age : 3 months
Sex : Female
Type : Mixed black tabby

Note : Needs patience & time to get her warmed up to you as she was a stray kitten and has no contact with human before at very young age. Near missed by a vehicle & rescued. Traumatized due to siblings knocked down by a vehicle. Probably weeks or months to get her warmed up. Once warmed up, she will be very friendly and will stick to you very closely and follow you where ever you go. Very nosy (kay po) & curious, and would like to follow you & see what you do everyday.

Favourites
1. Enjoys running around & playing with you or toys.
2. Loves to be cleaned on her head and face with your wet fingers.
3. Loves to be bottle-fed with milk before going to bed at about mid-nite.
4. Loves to sleep on a hammock.

Dos (Her Routine)
1. Litterbox / toilet trained but need to guide her initially before each meals to familiarize your place.
2. Litterbox : A tray with newspaper and sand (preferred brand : Fussie Cat - Lemon @$7.00 per 10litres pack).
3. Clumps to be removed from the sand (otherwise she will play with the clumps).
4. Clean her feets & bottom with wet serviettes after using the litterbox.
5. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Supper with dry food & water.
6. Dry Food (Science Diet or Eagle - Chicken Flavour) or whichever you can introduce.
7. Play with her after each meals as a reward.
8. After supper, clean her with your wet hands (with very little cat shampoo and anti-flea spray on your hands).
9. Feed her with milk in bottle max: 15ml at least once a day (Preferred Milk : Animalac Milk Powder)

Don'ts
1. Open windows and open doors that she will jump out as she's very nosy and curious.
2. Toilet bowls and plug holes to covered as she's very curious to jump in.

cue tumbling! may brand preference ang hitad. saan ka pa? pero siyempre feeling ko hindi na yan routine nung pusa kundi ng taong umampon sa kanya. 

at kung tumumbling ako sa listahan na yan, nag-nastia liukin floor routine ako sa listahan na sumunod.

I would like to know a little more about you as the caregiver to check if you're suitable to love & care for Charcoal. 1. Do you want the kitten for yourself or is it for a gift?
2. Do you have any experience with cat / kitten?
3. Are you above 21 year old? Are your working or studying?
5. Do you live with your parents, landlords or do you own or rent your apartment?
6. What's your working hours? Do you spend most of your time at home and how long?
7. How many adults & children live in your apartment?
8. Who will be responsible for the kitten & how long you or whoever will responsible will look after the kitten?
9. Do you have any pets now or in the past?
10. What are they and how long did you have your pets?
11. Will this kitten be an indoor or outdoor pet?
12. Do you plan on having the kitten de-clawed?
13. If you moved, what would you do with the kitten?
14. Does everybody in your family want an adopted cat / kitten?
15. Is anyone in your household allergic to cat / kitten?
16. Do you have carrier, harness & leash, enclosed yard, cat-proof fencing or enclosure?
17. Do you have the financial resources to pay for the kitten - food, litter, medical fees, incidentals & etc?
18. Do you plan to sponsor the kitten for vaccination (asap) & sterilization (6 month old) and regular vet checkups?
19. May I visit your home to see how and where the kitten would be living?
20. Will we or CWS members to visit the kitten / cat from time to time within reasonable limits to see if it is well-taken care of?

suddenly makes you wonder what the adoption process for children is like in the philippines and if it's even half this stringent. 

the next level

mejo nabuwisit ako sa simula, especially since hindi naman talaga kanila yung pusa. pero go lang, kasi ang cuuuuuuute cuuuuuuute cuuuuuuute niya talaga. so sumagot naman ako. and i realized marlon and i have lived with enough pets to open a small zoo. our combined pet history covers: one poodle, six spitzes, five german shepherds, one husky, ten mongrels, three rabbits, four hamsters, god knows how many fish, five turtles, four turkeys, four maya birds, a cage of parakeets, an indian cockatoo, a duck, a chicken, fourteen chicks and generations upon generations of rescued stray cats. 

so this super jologs version of the twelve days of christmas must have impressed charcoal's foster parent, because he replied quite speedily, revealing the next stage of the adoption process: a house inspection. sa tumbling na ginawa ko, i swear puwedeng-puwede na akong isali sa chinese olympic gymnastics team.

marlon and i hosted a lunch for his officemates today, so it was perfect timing -- the house was clean and we were in a rare social mood. at quarter to six (well over an hour after our agreed time of 4.30pm), davis and his wife jennifer brought over our little charcoal. at dahil mukhang pumasa naman kami sa mag-asawang umampon sa kanya, naging "our" little charcoal talaga siya in less than one hour.

in fairness hindi naman sila super lukaret, which i kind of expected after reading their lists. na-attach lang talaga sa pusa, at super concerned. they gave us a "starter kit" of packed kitty litter, food, toys and even lent us their cat carrier with the cutest DIY hammock inside. they even offered to accompany us on the kitty's visits to the vet. which was nice but a bit strange because i think if marlon and i can relocate, establish careers abroad, furnish our own place and manage our household siguro naman kaya naming magdala ng pusa sa vet diba? 

ewan. inisip ko na lang na super attached sila. after all, they did rescue the poor kitty at 5 weeks old from the middle of a major intersection... after its sibling had been splattered all over the street. they loved her and took care of her until she got over her skittishness and trauma. so i figured a little weirdness is justified. kahit pinapirma pa kami ng adoption contract. sige na.

kitten, thy name is rogue

as our new kitty quickly staked out its favorite spot under our two low, circular coffee tables, marlon and i lay on the living room floor thinking of a new name -- charcoal wasn't quite doing it for us. we went through a couple of names -- ash (after aishwarya rai, since the kitty was all eyes), pepper, even the completely silly beyonce, bulbol and kili-kili. then i saw the spine of one of the magazines on our coffee table, and knew we had the perfect name: rogue.

and so the evening has been a quiet one at home, as we let rogue get used to her new digs and to having the two of us around. she's warmed up quicker than i thought -- we had a great time lying on our stomachs on the floor, stroking her back and her jaw as she purred like a motorboat gone mad. she even let marlon carry her into the TV room for a little bit of cuddly while he watched wrestling. now she's back under the coffee table -- kind of an odd spot for a cat, but hey, who are we to complain now that we have her?

later i decided to tack on blair to make a full name -- blair after blair waldorf, my favorite character on gossip girl (pretty, snooty, naughty) and after the blair witch project, because this kitty can look absolutely creepy when she stares out at you from under the shadows of the coffee table. 

so her full name is blair rogue paul-plazo (ang landi!), but mostly she's just rogue. and just perfect. :)

oh and please excuse the crappy photo -- i can't find my digicam cable and we just have our camera phones, and this kitty wriggles like crazy!

Taka nga muna...

it's for events like 100 katao, 100 taka that i wish i were back home. after reading about it on carlos celdran's blog, i went to the website of manlilikha, the organization that's putting this exhibit together, to learn more.

100 katao, 100 taka brings together 100 people (mostly artists, but some writers, politicians, designers and random others as well) who have each painted a taka, or papier-mache figure made by folk craftsmen from paete, laguna. i actually checked out each and every one of the 100 takas (yes, i have nothing to do this week) and was blown away by quite a number of them.


some of my favorites, from left to right: (top row) juan sajid imao, kusina salud (two figures, a woman and a horse), josie sison, arturo sanchez; (bottom row) eugene jarque, ferdz valencia, tado jimenez and karen flores.

then i found out you can bid for them when the exhibit is over! dang, i really wish i was home. thanks to marlon's promotion, we have a bit of leeway for luho this month, and a bit of art would be just perfect. what particularly draws me to the taka project is its filipino and folk art character. and i loved seeing all the hundred different directions a simple papier-mache figure can go.

i actually emailed manlilikha to see how i can participate in the bidding from way over here, although i am rather dubious about getting an actual response from an "info@..." email address. fingers crossed for this month's art fix, and for this year's addition to my wee but growing art collection!

Winding up for the pitch

tomorrow morning will mark yet another first in my life as lilian and james have decided to bring me to a big client pitch. it's a pitch for not one, but two channel launches, the culmination of a currr-azy week where i crafted two pitches simultaneously. 

i should probably be nervous, but i'm ecstatic -- because i know they wouldn't bring me along without a good reason!

i'll have more to say about it soon because i should be getting ready for bed, but all i can say for the moment is: i've picked out a great outfit that hides my bilbil and involves a vintage dior handbag. what more could a girl need to kick some serious ass?

Boy-watching at Beijing

marlon and i spent most of our weekend taking care of the ironing in front of the tv, which was tuned into the beijing olympics. it's the first time i've ever really sat down to watch an olympics and it just blows my mind!

i found myself shrieking out loud when romania's poor marian dragulescu landed flat on his ass at the very end of his floor routine, and again when he went completely ker-SPLAT on his face on his second vault... after an almost-perfect, gold medal shoo-in first vault. my heart broke for him... and i'm not even really into gymnastics! i mean, we almost expect to be awash in glorious olympic moments that bring us to our knees in awe, but i didn't know olympians could fuck up so badly either! either way, it's great tv!

one more reason to shriek: spain's bad boy hottie gervasio deferr (okay ang bantot ng pangalan), who won a silver for his floor routine.


shet sana ako na lang yung medal.

In the mood for...

i thought of making a mood board to show what my morning at work (and a little bit of last night) has been like.


now that's what i call a mood board.

working on this new project has reminded me of a lot of things, and i'm glad the references are coming to me so naturally, for something i didn't think i would take to so well.

some of the things i'm drawing upon: morning classes back in college spent doodling eyes in notebooks with justine. the word malikmata -- i'm so frustrated that i can't find an adequate english translation. manila urban legends and my ghost stories, particularly one involving a keyhole that never fails to elicit the shivers from anyone i tell it to.

what are you in the mood for today?

Suddenly seeking singing

i don't know why, but this evening while getting ready for bed, i started telling marlon about john tavener's "the tyger," my most recent ultimate favorite acs song of all time. ah, i remember now -- i was reading tracy chevalier's girl with a pearl earring. i had spotted another tracy chevalier novel in the library, which captured my attention with its title: burning bright. yes, as in "tiger tiger" etc etc. which led me to thinking about the tavener piece. and of course once i started trying to describe it, marlon wanted to hear it, which is why i'm still online at two in the morning.

i miss singing that song. i found a clip of the acs singing it on youtube, and wished it could have been a clearer recording -- i was hardly satisfied and just wanted to be bowled over by the sound, as i always am.

sana meron akong pwedeng salihan dito na makakakanta nun ng maganda. pero parang wiz eh. 

sadness.

Breakfast in bed

it's saturday morning at around 11. mom is ironing more of marlon's shirts in the living room when he passes her en route to the bedroom -- with a glass of milk, a plate of toast and a smidgen of lime marmalade for me, his slumbering wife.

mom to marlon: "aba ano 'yan, service deluxe?! gisingin mo na nga iyan, at tuturuan ko siyang mamalancha!"

Cheap thrills

after dealing with an at-times-infuriatingly finicky mother during the week, i was chuffed to have finally hit upon a weekend activity that my mom loved: a little india afternoon!

i thought she would be bored going to little india again after we had already done a jaggi's lunch on racecourse roud last saturday, along with a stop at the touristy little india arcade. but no, i totally forgot about the powers of mustafa!

she went wild over the selection of bangles, just like i did on my first visit to mustafa (and to singapore) four years ago. i forgot how much alike we can be at times, and this was a great reminder. we spent close to an hour hunting through the racks of bangles, offering suggestions to each other and trying on this and that bunch, as marlon whiled away his time in the bollywood dvd section. he came away with a boxed dvd of om shanti om, shah rukh khan's biggest blockbuster and personally recommended by my cousin muniya. looks like next saturday night will be bollywood night for the now-nagtitipid paul-plazos.

my mom cried "iwan mo na ako dito ng buong maghapon!" when she saw the mustafa basement full of textiles and sari material. marlon quipped, "okay, i'll just go watch hellboy and come back for you guys in two hours."

now she is cooing over her bangle (and pashmina) booty in the guest bedroom, much like i do with my own bargain finds, and is an extremely good mood. nice to see her that way, and nice to remember that i am still my mother's daughter.

Lady of the house

it's midway through my mom's visit, and the house is cleaner than it's ever been.

consider: all my clothes are folded, which, if you know the usual state of the walk-in closet, is a blooming miracle. all of marlon's polos have been ironed and arranged from left to right by color, as well as in the order of my mom's tastes. "ito yung mga gusto ko," she said, pointing to the neatly pressed left side of the closet. "ito naman yung mga mukhang mamang-mama,"she said, turning up her nose and pointing to the right side, where the polos were not quite as wrinkle-free. 

the miniature payatas of grocery plastics we reuse as garbage bags have been folded into a single paper bag, the ripped ones thrown away. the bed is immaculately made every day, the cosmetics on my dresser lined up in neat rows. there are fresh rolls of toilet paper in both toilets and no dirty dishes in the sink at the end of a long workday. 

in fairness naman to us, we cook her nice dinners. it's nice to see my mom liking what marlon and i cook, and sharing the secrets of jamie oliver with her.

as my mom washed the dinner dishes this evening, marlon murmured "there's a new standard for the woman of the house," hugging me to soften his giant, none-too-subtle hint. 

"excuse me noh! she's had years of practice!" i protested. 

but it really is amazing. moms -- you gotta love them.

My first pitch

the biggest challenge of my first three weeks here at bda was learning how to craft a proposal, or pitch. and not just any pitch -- a galloping 96-slide powerpoint presentation on a full branding campaign for a completely new channel.

it was mind-blowing. at first i struggled to grasp the fact that james, the creative director, or lilian, the boss lady, weren't going to approve or disapprove my ideas. they just didn't say anything!!! kaloka!!!! then, when i figured out that silence meant that i should forge ahead in the same direction, i fought to overhaul my "creative diarrhea" style -- i vomit dozens upon dozens of options, you choose one -- in favor of the "you ought to know best, so just give us one good one" style that seems to work around here. and THEN i had to wrap my head around the fact that none of them intended to muck around with my ideas. ownership and responsibility were big lessons for me.

but the mind-boost! feeling ko maiiyak ako sa ganda when i read all the pitch presentations from our sydney office. i never thought i would ever be so inspired by a powerpoint, and wondered how i could ever conceptualize and write so clearly. (ganyan din ako when i first saw a promax showreel and charlie and ayee's enca plugs on my first day in gma.) and i really had to constantly plow through all my "am i doing this wrong? could this be better? is this good enough?" or i would have frozen up completely.

by friday last week, the powerpoint became so unwieldy with all its little parts and pieces that james had to keep kicking my ass just to make sure i had everything in place. (kakabilib siya grabe. hindi napipikon.) swimming in my gargantuan soup of bugs, straps, junction breaks, mockups, endpages and idents, i was forcibly reminds of my first days at gma when i had no idea what the difference between a rider and a bumper was, and wondered how the hell i was going to learn all the jargon. (answer: by osmosis, almost naturally.)

this resulted in my latest overtime ever in singapore... 8:30 p.m. isang malaking HA. HA. HA. overtime na raw ba yon?! flashback to countless overnights and sleeping under my desk at gma. apparently, yes. in fact, it was considered so bad that i was entitled to a glass (or two) of red wine while working. marlon also picked me up from the office and met the team, which was nice.

so imagine how i felt today when james texted me at 5pm.

"just got out from presentation. they loved it."

truly awesome.

i actually don't know if we're going to win it, since pitch period ends wednesday, but let me just hug this happy feeling to myself for a while.

and maybe have some more of that red wine. :-)

Update

isn't it funny how i'm quietest -- blogwise -- when i'm happiest?

just a quick update to relay the following bits of information:

i love what i'm doing at work. i love getting to know the people i work with, and finding much to like (and admire) about them. i love the mindboost i'm getting on a daily basis, and doing so many things for the first time -- crafting a pitch, brainstorming by myself (vs with a partner, like i used to do at gma), taking ownership of a project, going home early (before 7!), even having red wine at the office during the one time i had to stay past eight. love love love it.

my mom and sister came down from KL on friday night, and we had a fantastic touristy weekend -- little india, the night safari, orchard road, jumbo. i think marlon was a little shell-shocked with how much we shop/window shop. i have really missed spending quality girly time with my family! now my sister is back in KL and my mom's staying till next monday. i love having her here -- although she DID try to get me and marlon into bed at 9:30 p.m., saying, in a very mommy-ish way, "matulog na kayo, may pasok pa kayo bukas." hahaha.

i'm flying home to manila with my mom next monday to give a track (a.k.a. career) talk to jonathan's comm 100 class, and i'm totally excited to tell people what i do for a living! oh and to get my cheap fix of manila salon services! yay!

happiness all around :-)

Burning the midnight oil

magpo-propose ako ng bagong segment for cinemax.

it shall be called... chizMAX!

puro kabaklaan!

i probably should not be brainstorming past midnight.