Coffee Break

A friend sent this advert to us. I won't be able to check if the stores here in the Philippines will be participating in this event because I'll still be in bed. I'm just hoping they do, it's time to give back to the loyal supporters of their expensive coffee. I blame them for becoming the benchmark of coffee shops in terms of pricing. Heck, a drink at Figaro, with their homegrown beans, are priced as much.

*A big Yay!!! to Kopi Roti. At about a price of a coffee cup in Starbucks, you already get your drink and your choice of either a coffee bun or toast plus change.

Bertday

I received a text message from our QM Manager last Saturday informing me and the other leads that we have to come up with a simple surprise on Monday because it was our new manager's birthday. Pressed for time, we decided to come early on Monday and just get everything from the nearby malls.

On our way out, we met Rhommel (our manager) at the lobby of the building. We made up an excuse and hurried to Galleria and Megamall. After having been to a couple of malls you'd think that we already completed our purchases, however, since we were already lugging the huge cake, we purposely left out buying the sodas.

After hiding the cake, we then left once more to go to Shangri-La. On our way there, we came across Rhommel again this time at Lourdes Church. He was just heading back to the office after buying something from the same mall. (Kamusta naman at akala nya wala kaming ginawa kung hindi mamasyal during office hours)

Except for the picture where he was blowing the candle, Rhommel is not in all the other photos. This was because he left at around 8pm when everyone got in to have dinner with a friend. We had to call him under the guise that we have a meeting with our regional manager.

High School Musical

We watched the last show of the 2-weekend run of High School Musical. This was the same show that our group was interested in getting but plans didn't push through. I met with Hogi and Zshali at Megamall around lunch time but instead of having lunch, we decided to stay at Starbucks to catch up on each other's lives...um, let me rephrase that...to catch up on Zshali's life.

Zshali didn't have the slightest intention of watching the musical but having travelled all the way from Laguna, she decided to join me and my sister. Hogi, on the other hand, decided to stay at the tech booth after having seen the musical twice.

I am a big theater fan. Most of the time, I overlook a show's shortcomings that way I always enjoy what I watch. The same goes true for High School Musical since I am taking into consideration the fact that I am not the target audience of the show but I do have several noted areas of improvement. Before that, I have to say though that I love Karel and the effort that the cast put into the production. I also loved the call back scene and the finale.

Brimming with actors, the stage was chaotic. Most of the time, you have to search for the actor speaking or singing in the crowd. Also as Zee pointed out, they could have done more with the set design. It was boring. Ditto with the choreography, I believe the high school musical production number at ASAP was better. I think part of the reason was the fact that they barely have room to move in the stage, much more dance. The lights were also distracting, there were instances that you feel as if you're clubbing instead of watching a show especially during the last few scenes of the second act.

There, most enjoyable for me was watching the enthusiastic kids responding to the cast especially during the audition scenes. I just hope that they get a better venue for the rerun.

Final Bow

Tanghalang Pilipino officially ends their season with the final performance of "The Pretenders" and being fans of the said play, we simply can't miss the show. We trooped over to CCP at around 2pm. Feeling flustered because of the heat, we decided to stay at Starbucks while waiting for the open house. That was a mistake because when we got back to the theater we were already last in line, thus we were faced with the option of seating far back or sit at the 2nd row directly in front of a group of students. We chose the latter. Despite the fact that the students were very distracting because of the loud discussions and side comments, I still managed to enjoy the show. True to what Tad said, he looked hilarious. The moment he stepped on-stage the crowd burst into loud peals of laughter, also he has a speaking part this time around.

Both leads are still at their best, they still managed to move me to tears with their performances. Their final bow leaves me deeply saddened but I look forward to the possibility that TP might restage the play back to back with Mass. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Now we wait till June for the Virgin Labfest and Zsazsa Zaturnnah and till August for the next season.

Philippine Bedtime Stories

Once again, thanks to Ms. Yvette, we got to watch Philippine Bedtime Stories last night. I didn't expect that she'd make good on something she said in passing.

Hogi, Micah and I were the first ones to get to Tanghalang HB and we stayed at the lobby briefly discussing the one-act plays included in the show. I was not familiar to any of them thus I didn't know what to expect. I am however excited at the prospect of seeing a production that is a collaboration between a Japanese theater company and our homegrown theater group. It briefly reminded me of a play that opened in Singapore last year where actors from three continents interact with each other live via satellite.

They presented two versions of "Ang Unang Aswang" and it is interesting that the Japanese version is as fluid as that of the Pinoy version. The tagalog version and "Ligaya Sa Isang Pinoy Bar" are my favorites though. Laugh out loud! And agreeing with Hogi, Yuko, playing a Filipino who knows how to speak Japanese is simply adorable.

Pa rin?

I was meeting a friend at Glorietta at around 8pm yesterday. I purposely left the house earlier because I intended to have a haircut first. Yes, I arrived early but not as early as I would've wanted. I opted to make time pass at the bookstore instead.

Since I have been so enthralled with "The Pretenders", I wanted to know what becomes of Pepe thus I picked up a copy of "Mass". I have also been continuously listening to the music of Larawan so I looked for a copy of Nick Joaquin's famous elegy. I have previously read the material when I was still in college but I don't have a copy of my own. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was available, albeit a little dirty and dusty. Finally, before heading over to pay for my purchases, I searched "The Pretenders" for the lyrics of the song that Carmen hears before she finally goes deaf. I was not able to do so at home since my copy is with Zshali. I did this in preparation for the LSS that I was sure to have once I watch the final performance tomorrow.

"yo sin su amor no soy nada
Deten el tiempo en tus manos
haz esta noche perpetua
para que nunca se vaya de mi"

For those of you who want to know what all the fuss is about with "The Pretenders", you can still catch the play today and tomorrow.

Updates...

Today marks the end of a series of trainings scheduled by the training team for us (although meron pa daw for March kaya lang wala pang na-se-send na calendar) so for the meantime, I'll be having a little more flexibility with my schedule.

We'll also be having a new manager on board this Monday. It's been almost 6 months since Mina's resignation so it's gonna be another long period of adjustment for everyone on the team. We'll see how it works out.

Zshali and I were supposed to watch The Pretenders last Sunday but Paolo informed me that there were no tickets available for that day. We're rescheduling it to this Sunday, the show's last performance, yun eh kung sasama pa rin si Zshali.

Watched The Pretenders with my sister, Hogi, and some of her friends last Saturday and may last song syndrome pa rin ako come Monday.

Some of my colleagues and friends already expressed excitement over Avenue Q on August but not so with ZZZ this July. Although some of them expressed their support for the last run by buying tickets from us. Tama ka Hogi, segragated din ang theater-going crowd dito sa atin.

Pretenders uli!

I haven't been able to post anything since I was busy with work. I attended a data analytics training class half of the week, on top of that, deadlines for staff appraisals, monthly report to senior management and the monthly business review presentation were also due. If that's not enough, I also received a complaint from the account and attend a site meeting where several new policies were put in place. Hectic!

Come Saturday, I went to Rockwell with a friend to unwind. The cool weather provided for a long leisurely walk that cleared my head.

Sunday after church, since I wanted my sister and cousin to see "The Pretenders", we headed over to CCP to catch the show.

I loved the show even more as did my sister and cousin. I don't know if there were changes but I felt that the story was more tight. I was literally moved to tears in several of the scenes and this early, we're already planning to watch either the last show or the show next Sunday. Ang galing nila!

Thanks to Ms. Yvette, who as soon as she heard that we're headed over to CCP gave us a couple of compli tickets.

The Pretenders

I loved TP's The Pretenders and I am doubly glad that I finished the book before watching the performance. As I was reading the book, I was wondering how they will adapt it on stage since the story is told through Carmen Villa who is reading the diaries of her deceased husband, Tony Samson. Being that it was already written in the diary, most of the events are highlights in Tony's life.

Lights and sounds played major roles in the story and the set design is ingenious. My friends and I were already discussing the significance of every prop on stage. Also, the story requires a train to pass through every now and then as transition points and how they're able to do that, you have to come and watch.

Performances are great. I loved Romnick and Kalila. Both of them are present in almost every scene and shifting from one emotion to the next is something that they've impressibly mastered.

The Glass Menagerie

I finally got a chance to catch Tanghalang Ateneo's staging of "The Glass Menagerie" tonight. When I first heard of it, I originally intended to catch the Feb 3 (Saturday) performance because I reckoned that I will no longer be busy with Zsazsa Zaturnnah. As it turns out, Zsahli received complimentary tickets courtesy of Arnold Reyes to tonight's performance and generously shared it with me. As Zsahli puts it, sino ba naman ang tatanggi sa grasya?

I hurried to meet Zshali at Quezon Avenue since we both don't know how to get to the theater. We arrived fairly early and I was surprised that the crowd was mostly made up of students. I know I shouldn't be since it's being staged at Ateneo but I half expected the patrons to be a little bit older.

As one can expect from the title alone, the dialogues are laden with metaphors and listening to it uttered with conviction sweeps one to an entirely different world. (Never mind if I had a difficult time trying to decipher what the deeper meaning is at times). I enjoyed the play and I was awed by Laurice's performance and I'm not saying it just because everybody knows and expects that she's great. Her presence was commanding and as Amanda Wingfield, I can't help but feel for her in spite of her controlling manner.

Arnold Reyes was also a revelation since both Zsahli and I already pictured him with Dodong in mind. You immediately fall for his character, here's a gentleman caller who's funny and takes a genuine interest in crippling and shy Laura until you realize that he's a sugar-coated insensitive prick that finally breaks the already fragile household.

Do catch the show while you still can. Again, thanks Zshali and Arnold!

More Zsazsa Zaturnnah?

Tickets to all performances of Zsazsa Zaturnnah were hot commodity the past couple of weeks. It only goes to show how addicted people are to this musical. There were those who even went to CCP on the performance date itself to try their luck when they heard that tickets from CCP and Ticketworld are all sold out.

As early as now, there are news that another run is being prepared by Tanghalang Pilipino this June. They are possibly mounting the show at RCBC, double the seating capacity of Huseng Batute to accommodate more people.

Daisies

Last night, a special tribute was held at the CCP for Daisy Avellana, National Artist for Theater, to celebrate her 90th birthday. I am glad to be part of this special event thanks once more to Yvette. Ms. Avellana is best known for her role as Candida in Nick Joaquin's Portrait of the Artist as a Filipino. MTP's musical adaptation of the same play is one of my favorites and the performances of the theater luminaries though short is nevertheless grand.

Update: I just viewed my blog using IE and apparently the embedded media player is not playing. Apologies for that, will have to figure it out as soon as I have the time to play with the scripts. (Ang hilig ko sa play!)

Literary Gems

Hogi and Zsahli both attest to the fact that "Last Order sa Penguin" is a great and fun read. Zsahli told me that she'll lend me her book but after hearing what she went through just to get her own copy I realized that it must really be good so I decided to look for a copy myself.

I finally saw a one at National Bookstore in Glorietta last Thursday and also seeing F. Sionil Jose's "The Pretenders" in the same aisle, I decided to purchase both books. I've always wanted to read the Rosales novels but I just keep putting it off. What finally triggered me to pick up a copy of the 4th novel last Thursday was the fact that we'll be watching Tanghalang Pilipino's adaptation on Friday courtesy of Ms. Yvette and I wanted to at least be aware of what it's about.

I finished Last Order in one sitting and am halfway through with The Pretenders. I immensely enjoyed the first book and find the last one very interesting and deeply absorbing. If you're into reading, go get your own copies. Another great thing is that both books cost less than P300. Less than what you'll pay for the ho-hum contemporary novel that you'll most likely pick up the next time you're at the bookstore.

Amazing Race All-Stars

Apparently Rob and Amber haven't had enough...after a multitude of reality shows, they're back in Amazing Race 11. Joining them are previous contenders though I don't know most of them since I stopped watching the show after the 6th season when I found out that the two of them were cast for the 7th race.

Teri and Ian are also back, most hated couple of the third season! Ugh! Add to the bunch Team Guido who I can't stand! Then there's Charla who's both endearing and annoying.

The only saving grace of the show for me are Kevin and Drew. One of my favorite team's from the first season.

Selle...si Teri at Ian!!!

Day 6

The sixth season starts with America already in chaos and Jack Bauer en route to his homeland from captivity in China. How he plays a part to stop the carnage, I won't tell.



The first 4 episodes introduces several new characters but also retains some of the characters that we have come to love like Bill Buchanan, Curtis Manning, Karen Hayes, Wayne Palmer, and of course Chloe O'Brian. According to reports we will also be seeing the return of fallen president Charles Logan and his wife Martha Logan.

Watching the show, I can't help but feel that this season has much more intensity and emotion based on how the plot is developing. The overall feel of the episodes are more somber but don't get me wrong death toll are higher than ever and shocking turn of events are still present. If the Arab community is complaining on how they are portrayed by the series, this season tries harder than ever to thwart the implications brought about by them being constantly portrayed as the bad guys.



Though the season is still peppered with the usual plot lines (how many can you come up with with every episode more exciting than the next), it has considerably made an effort to effect changes to keep it fresh for viewers. For one, the mastermind is already revealed and the terrorists plans are already in play.

For those of you who haven't seen it, I have to say that a shocker awaits you. Different in intensity from the Day 5 premiere but still devastating.

Jack's back!

Zsazsa Zaturnnah Update

2 weeks before the scheduled show and we are already out of tickets. This is something that I am truly happy about but something that I didn't expect since most of my friends are not really inclined to watch musicals. I also expected to have just a little difficulty selling the tickets. In fact, a few days before we signed the contract with CCP, my two friends backed out on me. We eventually pushed through with it and we're glad we did.

I am really thankful to those who helped us promote our slot and to those who bought tickets without thinking twice in their efforts to make our lives a little bit easier. I won't be naming names, you all know who you are. See you all on the 28th!

By the way, visit asian theatre circuit for the latest news on Philippine theater.

A Better Workstation Through and Through

After the cramped workstations that we had to share with non-employees of the company, can't help but post a pic of the new and definitely better work area.

24 Season 6 Leak

Last November, Fox announced that they will be releasing "24 Season 6 Premiere" on DVD. This will be right after the 2-day back to back 4-episode season premiere of the biggest tv hit. For fans who can't get enough of all the action, this is great news. Imagine getting the DVD right after watching it on TV.

However, a week before the premiere, there have been news that the 4 part premiere episodes are already available for download. Apparently, somebody got a copy of the unreleased DVD, ripped it, and uploaded it.

Moose Murders

Rep opens their 70th season with Moose Murders. I haven't heard of the play so I decided to read about it online and was frankly surprised at Rep's decision. The first thing that came to mind was why "Moose Murders"?

It is notorious as a famous broadway flop closing it's doors to the public only after one performance.

"So when people ask me if I saw Moose Murders, I have to answer: "Yes and no." For I lasted--I mean this--11 minutes, still the shortest time I've ever spent at a show."

'"as soon as the curtain went up on a rustic lodge in which several moose heads were mounted. "Though the heads may be hunting trophies," Frank Rich of the New York Times would later write, "one cannot rule out the possibility that these particular moose committed suicide shortly after being shown the script that trades on their good name."

"Those of us who have witnessed the play that opened at the Eugene O’Neill Theater last night will undoubtedly hold periodic reunions, in the noble tradition of survivors of the Titanic"

'I asked Gable if she knew that Moose Murders stunk by the time she got to page four. "I knew it was very weird," she conceded. "I didn't want to take the job, but my agent at the time said to take the money and run.'

If Rep decided to gamble on this play then I guess they must have seen something good in it. I will keep mum about it until after I see the play.

Sidenote: Tickets to Zsazsa Zaturnnah Ze Muzikal are selling fast! Get your tickets now!