ramblings, random musings, fascinations, rants, raves and revelations

I was watching ASAP earlier when I saw Vina Morales. Suddenly, I remembered she was being wished goodluck before for a competion. I google-d her and this is what I found out...

On August 5, 2007, she won the right to represent the Philippines at the 2007 IKON ASEAN Singing Contest. She went on and bested contestants from Malaysia and Indonesia during the finals nights on August 12 and took home the solo title, while fellow Filipino band Kjawan took home the group title.

I then wikipedia-d the contestants...

Jaclyn Victor d/o Joshua Thanaraj Victor (b. December 4, 1978) is a singer who won the first season of Malaysian Idol. Victor, popularly known as Jac, was the first to gain the title of Malaysian Idol. As a result, she won a recording contract under Sony BMG Entertainment. She is under the management of The 8 Unit.

Vina Morales [born Sharon Garcia Magdayao 17 October 1975, Bogo, Cebu, Philippines] is a Filipina actress of maternal Spanish and paternal Cebuano descent. She played the title role in the film The Sarah Balabagan Story. She is the older sister of teen actress Shaina Magdayao.

Lamang agad si Jaclyn Victor diba?

The issue about the “not-the-best singer in the Philippines” Vina Morales defeating the “best singer in Malaysia” Jaclyn Victor at the recently-concluded Ikon Asean competition continues to be discussed, almost violently, by fans of both singers.

Some Jac fans claimed that she was robbed of the title [sa sarili mong teritoryo?], while others say that she wasn’t at here element. Meanwhile, some Pinoys even criticized Vina as below par, that the likes of Regine Velasquez should have been in Ikon [Asia’s Songbird didn’t join]. Others even joked that Jaclyn wouldn’t even win “Tanghalan ng Kampeon” [Champion's Stage, our version of “Star Search” back in the day]. We Pinoys never seem to run out of naysayers, ano?

And I don’t wanna even delve on the “ad hominems” on how we Pinoys are being “teased” by our Malaysian neighbors as their maids and prostitutes. That’s another story.

Here are the performance clips of the two singers and we shall analyze it one by one. Now don’t get me wrong, I adore Jac and I used to call Vina the lone female member of “The Maskulados.” That makes the analysis even.

Read it after the jump.

Let’s start with Jaclyn’s first song choice, a medley of three songs composed by P. Ramlee.

They say that she was pitchy in places, but I barely noticed them. The problem is that even though she sang three different songs, it sounds monotonous to me. Oh, did you notice how she handled the mic? I’ll talk about that later.

Then we go to Vina’s first song, “Pangako Sa Iyo” [A Promise to You].

It was not surprising that she would sing this in Ikon Asean. It’s the theme song of the soap opera of the same title, which was very popular in Malaysia. It was a great choice for Vina because it definitely connected her to the dominantly Malay audience, and it also has a lot of high and long notes giving Vina a lot of chances for her to show her vocal range without having to ad lib like in Jac’s case.

Now here are the second performance videos. We go back to Jaclyn and her winning song back in Malaysian Idol, Gemilang.

At least Jac rebounded here. She hit the notes almost right and she made good use of her really powerful voice. However, I’m really bothered by the way she handles the microphone. You know, once she sings the high notes she puts the mic on her forehead. I know that’s called style, but where I come from, putting the mic away from your mouth when singing the high notes means you’re cheating. Jac made it appear that she couldn’t reach the high notes so she would put the mic away from her mouth and it wouldn’t sound too obvious.

You would never see that on Vina Morales' performance. In fact, if you watch Vina’s Pangako Sa Iyo video, she would even put the mic closer to her mouth when she sang the high notes.

Anyway, back to Vina. She performed a dance track “Feels So Nice.” Ang kulit nung nagpa-cute siya sa gitna ng performance.

I understand that she chose this so she would show off her dance skills. Catch is, singing and dancing at the same time is pretty tiring, and you would hear Vina catching her breath in some instances. But overall, she performed well in this song, and by that time her fate was sealed anyway.

That’s why, I think, Vina won. Pero I won't deny the fact that magaling talaga vocal prowess ni Jaclyn after all she's a Malaysian Idol diba?

Who is Vina Morales, the beautiful actress/singer? Damn, was she good! She captured my attention from the first note to the last. She has that depth in her voice and phrasing that Jac really didn't have. Yes, maybe her ability to sing like a black mama was not as good as Jac, but technique is not everything. Jac's singing, though flashy at times, didn't touch my heart. But Vina's did. She conquered the judges with music, not technique, that is just so much more important. But of course, she's born with a beautiful voice too.

All in all, I was very happy with the result of the competition, and I think that the judges made justice to the Pinoys. And I do hope that the Malaysian contestants would get a lesson from this: Being famous in Malaysia is just a beginning, only seriously making music --- with your hard work and heart work --- will make you the real deal, not by posing and syok sendiri on the stage. The four judges taught us a lesson without saying a word, bravo!

End of ranting, my dear Malaysians.

Oh by way, can I just say that the female host in Ikon Asean was so inconsiderate. Can’t she explain her lines in English for the benefit of non-Malay speakers… like us? Buti pa si Angela Chow kada koda niya ng Chinese sa Miss World may-I-explain agad sa Ingles.

I was on my way to SM North Edsa one sober morning and since I was coming from the extreme end of Sta. Mesa, I had to take LRT2 ride from my point of origin to Gateway Mall Cubao first, before riding another LRT going to SM North. [That SM mall is one of the world’s ten biggest!] I’m one person who reads everything I could see – the newspapers, magazines, labels, signs, billboards, and even faces [I could even remember Mom scolding me because I used to just grab anything with letters or pictures along the way for reading]– so there’s no way I would miss that gigantic billboard just atop that footbridge in front of that mall.

Although this time, the first thing I noticed wasn’t the letters encrypted therein but the almost naked Adam … and another picture of one almost naked Eve … and another almost naked Adam. That’s three gynormous billboards arranged from top to bottom. Call it a threesome. I forgot seeing a single word at all but I can certainly guarantee they’re another Bench schemes. Those three generous models [Jake Cuenca, Francine Prieto and Bruce Quebral, if I got ‘em correctly] bared too much skin to have their fans [me included] and bulge-hungry faggots human beings celebrate life. Looking at them was like praising the gods of naked bodies particularly when the background illustrations were blue skies and ice crystals.

While we may celebrate or pant over those hard-ons and tits, I wonder [I love to wonder!] how they would appeal to the young minds. I may sound like a total KJ right now, but I still think that this new series of Bench ads are excessively unsuitable for public exhibition. Spreading those through magazines like FHM or Icon is perhaps more appropriate. Is Bench running out of ideas to sell more but through sex-inducing images?

[That’s something to ponder over this weekend.]

I have to thank Tita Nhia also for telling my Mom that intelligent people do those things. Picking up trashes as long as there's something interesting printed on it. The way she quipped it - "Si Medel din ganyan, pinupulot kahit ano basta may mababasa."

And I just wanna share this too :

"Devil wears Prada, beggars wear Bench" *hahaha not that I stand by this cruelty, I just think it's so kulit.. FYI I have Bench underwears and I love 'em!

This afternoon I was grousing about a colleague whom I got offended and a friend who just went too far from joking [*dinuro duro ba naman mukha ko] but we'll be okay I know. I love her... just that she over-acts and goes way too bitchy at times.

Upon hearing me whining over, Chris quipped:

"Be nice to people, Hon. They outnumber you 6.5 billion to one!"

Good one! [BTW - He didn't make it up. He just read it in a book and was all too happy to share the wisdom with me!"].

And yeah, I'm too excited to post these pictures. They're my new friends from SQ department.

"At the end of the day,

when it comes down to it,

all we really want is to be close to somebody.

So this thing where we all keep our distance and pretend not to care about each other,

it's usually a load of bull.

So we pick and choose who we want to remain close to,

and once we've chosen those people, we tend to stick close by.

No matter how much we hurt them.

The people that are still with you at the end of the day,

those are the ones worth keeping.

And sure, sometimes close can be too close.

But sometimes, that invasion of personal space,

it can be exactly what you need."

When did this happen?

And why it did?

When did the sexes get all confused?

Somewhere between gen X and Y, they blended and made XY...
I'm not even sure bisexuality exists.

Although I claim to be one.
Or we just over use it?

I think it's just a layover on the way to gaytown.

Everybody who is not straight means gay.

Isn't that next to Ricky Martinville?

Or Michael Alley?
I think it's great.

We're open to all experiences.

We're evolved.

It's hot.

It may not also be that hot.

It's greedy.

We're double dipping.
Is sexual flipping the wave of the future?

I have both eyes opened but I’m still lying on my bed with the right side of my face dropped on the sheets. The pillows are gone, that was already expected. All things that were on my bed before I slept are either gone [you can find them under the bed] or in totally different position as if Milenyo just mercilessly blustered the place. That’s all because I usually sleep like a cyclone, always startling. I heard knocks but I’m still too drained to response to the disturbance. I laid still, no movements but my eyes.

I heard whispers and I realized the radio is still on in my phone. I checked its screen and I could see JC, Chris, kate and Myah staring back. I bet my shuffle is still connected to the USB port. I was that pooped earlier when I got home that I just fell asleep leaving all disorganized.

I know I should be thankful because I managed to get off of the crazy feeling [*or at least trying] before it hit me big time. Bakit kse napaka-charming ng gagong 'yon?

There are people na may mas malaki problema sa puso. Myah, whatever happens I'll be there for you. Fuck you ka Rhea!

Since I'm working for a different department now, I can't help but to reminisce those funny yet kabuwiset moments being an agent. Here's a dusty old post that I found laying around in the corner of drafts file about a bad customer. I thought it should come to light before I turn out the lights for good.

"Today was one of those days that working in customer service makes you hate humans in most of their forms on this planet. I spent the day being abused by people as I tried to collect money to pay for their mistakes.

Its amazing that people can be so ingratiating at the start of a transaction, but then when things go wrong, how few people are able to really keep their cool. They become petty, mean, abusive and downright nasty.

A customer had a transaction that went way wrong. When I called him to explain why he had lost so much money he explained to me that he cancelled that transaction and should not have to pay for it. When I asked him for a confirmation number, a time, a name of a person he spoke to, he had none of that. I reminded him that our calls are recorded and ever entry is time stamped as notes are put in the computer and there was nothing to back up his claim.

He would have to pay.

If he refused willing payment, his escrow would be emptied and he would be banned from any further transactions with us. He explained that he did so much business with our company that would never happen. He was going to call the vice president of operations and I would be sorry.

"Fine. I don't care who you call. I called the vice president and HIS boss before calling you. No one in this company is going to change this."
"We'll see!" was followed by a loud click and the asshole was gone. "

I felt very tired, very sad, and very ready to hit the door. It's not grumpiness that really gets me mad, I can handle that. It is the continual dealing with these, "people" that think customer service means I am in a lower caste than them. That it means I want to be abused by them, and the money they possess entitles them to act any way they want.

If you are grumpy and having a bad day, I can understand that. If you explain to me in direct tones why you think this is unfair and speak to me as an equal, I may even go out of my way to help you. But when you speak down to me and explain how the rules never have to apply to you and that you are probably the single most important and valuable customer that ever pried a dollar out of that titanium tight wallet of yours, well, I think less than charitable thoughts about you.

But the thing that gets me every time is that these same people think there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I imagine some fat-cat, robber-baron type in a charcoal pin-stripe suit with a Trump-wanna-be haircut appearing in vapor before me to explain why its ok...

"Because it's simply the way business is done. Its simply the bottom line, don't you understand that son? Maybe if you took business as seriously as I do you would not be a call center employee, and instead be a captain of industry like me, feared by men and adored by women, even if I do have a sloppy combover."
He grins slyly and disappears into nothingness...

Yeah...

Being a good man or woman of business does not negate being a good person. If you are a liar and cheat who refuses to keep their promises, you still suck ass as a human being no matter how much money you have.

Extra sweet ending-four months after writing this post, after the company actually stood up to this schmuck and refused to do any more business with him, his assistant called me and sheepishly paid all the penalties and we reinstated their account after they agreed to abide by our practices. It was a good day.

Saw this while browsing... let's support it's cause.

Kahapon nagpapatulong ang buntis na si Kate na ikabit ung jack ng headset sa CPU niya, I obliged naman. Malay ko ba namang makikita ko nalang siya sa ilalim ng table at magmamagaling? Eto panoorin natin siya sa Bitoy's Funniest Home Video *hik hik hik...

We were in our usual adventurous mood to hunt for new good eats last sunday. We skipped makati where we usually hang around in and headed over to podium instead. We decided we wanted japanese. The pick and choose process for a place to eat dinner took a bit of a heedful thought for there was quite a lot of japanese restaurants to choose from. After a while, we walked in to yaku. Of course, we ordered our all-time favorites — sashimi, chicken teriyaki, yakitori, maki rolls and we were pleased! We will definitely come around again as they have a variety of appetizing choices on their menu to sway back customers for another go, unlike sumo-sam, that we've sworn off. We had dinner at sumo-sam in Shangri-La once and we were disappointed. The food didn't taste as good as they looked in the menu. Also, sumo-sam can be too crowded that it can almost give a food court feel. It was April fool's day when we went there that’s why we now have a good laugh thinking that the whole sumo-sam experience was a big practical joke.

Romantically, I choose to move on an easy, carefree tempo because I subscribe to the whole “choose your love wisely” way of thinking. The last thing I want is to feel rushed and to get things serious fast. I also used to think that being preoccupied over one person would screw up my chance for becoming a more interesting person.

So there, I was happy to be going out but I was careful not to let love dip. My peers could not get it so they relentlessly tried to curb my semi-attached convictions. Still, the greater the pressure they put on me, the longer I temporized within the confines of my self-protective barriers.
Until one evening, they found me a good-looking, creative and snobbish guy who cunningly played it cool. Heedlessly, I was smitten. How shrewd.

Soon after my love and I settled on becoming just friends [*or should I say - I stopped dreaming, there's no way he'll consider getting serious with me], I voluntarily boot myself out of the dating game but of course I have to put up with some friendly-stalker messages from ex-flings. Actually, there’s this darn, boring fling who sort of tried to lodge some niggling doubt in my mind after finding out that I was already hooked-up. He annoyed me so badly that I had to dismiss him ruthlessly *sigh.

Of course being happily solo is a cool idea. I have dated untiringly and had loads of fun doing it. Now that I have stopped dreaming myself waking up next to the man who greets me “ I love you” as his eyes flutter open each morning of our lives, I guess I can already rest easy in the hope that the search is over or at least for the mean time.

I just love doughnuts. Eating doughnuts calms me down.

Its my comfort food. I eat doughnuts when my mood swings to extremes. When I’m too excited or when I’m beset by stress. I crave when I’m feeling unappreciated and underpaid. I’ve been eating doughnuts lately. Yes, I’ve been stress eating and It's got my love eating, too.

I don't know. I should not be eating. I've made it this far on dieting. I have not been eating rice on weekdays for almost a month now and yet I crave for doughnuts. I just had one last night, and a siopao the morning after. Whew! the pain of dieting.

Honestly, I'm not much of a tiangge person. It is more convenient to shop where there are dressing rooms, credit card consoles and the guarantee of a return policy. Of course products at a tiangge have lower prices precisely because of the inconvenience, but sometimes the quality is questionable, and, I'd rather go to Divisoria.

But I plunge headlong and experience the tiangge rush, gladly, twice a year, during the third week of November. It is fortunate that both the tiangge I go to are held during the same week, and during the happy time when the Christmas bonus is safely in my pockets, albeit raring to be spent.

I make exception and go to these bazaars because of several reasons. First, convenience. Second, most of the vendors in these tiangge are present every year. So I've acquired some suki, and I've developed some trust as to the quality of their products. I still smile every time I see the tie-dyed dusters for DJ- bought at one of these bazaars for barya, as they have survived about seven years of being tossed and stretched by the washing machine and still manages to be decently wearable, not having faded at all. And a friend, who marks his birthday in November, still raves about a long-sleeved polo from the tiangge which I gave him as a birthday present some five years ago.

Just when we thought that everything is going as planned, life throws us a curveball that left both of us badly shaken. After getting over my initial shock, I know that it was up to me to decide ow we're going to deal with this challenge. We can take it negatively and consider it a problem or look at it positively as an opportunity. We choose the latter.

Life is unpredictable and maybe curve balls are thrown our way to keep us on our toes all the time. To train ourselves to be flexible, to teach us to let go when things don't go your way, and more importantly to teach us not to avoid the curve balls but to grab a mitt and try to catch it instead.

Due to pressure, lack of sleep and the new environment [not to mention the paranoia I'm feeling-- I just feel like some of the iPrint people, ayaw sa 'kin] I'm working with, I thought of having a break. I even asked Agnes [my co-QA] for us to at least go somewhere far, maybe out of town. She then suggested that we go to Baguio. To which I immediately agreed to.

I'm a Baguio lover. Volante, Legarda, Nevada, Camp John Hay, Citilights, SM, and the market near Magsaysay - 'yan ang mga paborito ko. I used to visit the place anytime I feel like going. I don't know... there's something about their pasta, the coffee, of course the weather, pizza, omelet, ethnic cuisines like native chicken, mountain rice, strawberry wine presented in creative ways and the people soothe whatever hardships or problems I'm going through.

When I was still in Winsource, I have some clothes rested in my locker. So when the itch of going out of town hits me, It's Baguio straight ahead. This is one sanctuary that is specially reserved as a watering hole when my very good friend Lester invites me to come over. Im really a Baguio dweller... A staple favorite is Ruins' Coffee-- reasonably priced at 25 bucks, I could have a maximum of three servings. I usually go on food quests. The criteria would be [not necessarily in particular order] taste, price [the deal I get], and ambiance... I actually have successfully replicated the same taste as the one in Ruins' coffee. Just looking at the picture makes me want to mix one, right now. To Cafe by the Ruins, may you forever be a staple fixture that distinctly makes life in Baguio all worth it!

Suggestions?

Bliss Cafe - Leonard Wood Road - awesome vegetarian dishes.

Cafe by the Ruins - Otek Street.

Eve's Garden - Lamtang Road - finding it is an adventure in itself and definitely worth the trip with 10 varieties of organic lettuce freshly picked from Evelyn Bond's garden.

Little John's - Camp John Hay - must try their chocolate fondue with strawberries, banana and marshmallows.

O'Mai Khan - Otek Street - the old favorite Mongolian barbecue place with lots of crisp highland veggies.

Palizzata - Porta Vaga - a quaint little Bistro with a great view of Session Road. Their Tandoori chicken is a personal favorite.

Pizza Riccio - Governor Pack - you must try Bob's fantastic lasagna. All I can say is that I can eat his pizzas everyday.

Pizza Volante - Session Road - with 24 hours dine-in and delivery service. Great pizzas and pasta at very good prices.

Rito's - Marcos Highway - cheap bulalo and crispy pata.

Rose Bowl - Harrison Road - One of two great Chinese restaurants with family-style service.

Star Cafe - Session Road - The other great Chinese restaurant famous for their Star Rice and Joey Rufino's personalized service.