Music in My Life

I went to Rockestra last Friday, 6 OPM rock bands performed with the Manila Symphony Orchestra. I’m pretty sure it was a first for the Philippine music scene and I was thrilled to have seen it.

I found out about Rockestra through an email from a Segment Producer I used to work with. The following day I told my teammates in Txtube about the concert and they all agreed that it was definitely something Live Out Loud that we had to feature. We called the organizers and asked for permission to shoot the event.

I loved Imago’s performance the most. Aia’s voice is unbelievable, even when hitting the high notes her face was so relaxed. You knew that singing was something that came easily to her.

I was reminded how much I miss singing, coz I used to be part of the UP Manila Chorale. Mind you my voice is not beautiful, but I can carry a tune! I was classified under the Alto section, and sometimes even Alto 2! So I’m no songbird.

This got me thinking on how music has been part of my life in one way or another.

My mom told me that when I was little in the States she would hang out with friends in a Pinoy resto and there was a karaoke machine. After dinner I would go on stage and start singing, my favorite was the Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston.

Then when I came to live here in the Philippines, Miss Saigon and Lea Salonga was all the rage. So my friends and I would sing and act out the musical.

When I went back to the States, I went to public school and my mom found out about the music program of my school. She signed me up for Orchestra and bought a violin for me. Since violins are kinda expensive we tried our luck at a pawnshop and we struck gold! There was a Stradivarius remake, and I think we got it for $200. This was back in 1990 so it was really cheap!

I liked playing the violin, even with the stigma that those in Orchestra were nerds and dorks. I could care less coz it was a source of pride for me. I even played in the All-City concert, where select students were chosen by their conductors to represent the school. After my first year of playing I went to my Dad’s for summer vacation. The day after I left my mom received a letter inviting me to a summer program with a music institute. Shit! I was already in Sacramento and couldn’t go…

I continued playing the Violin through middle school until I moved back to the Philippines for high school. Once I got here I signed up for private lessons, but the tutor wasn’t nice and I lost interest. I started turning to singing and since I could read notes and know what note to sing, it was easy. So I joined St. Scho’s high school choir and in college tried out for the UP Manila Chorale.

When I started working I found it hard to go to practices since it was in Manila and I worked in Makati or Quezon City. But now I find myself working for a TV show that’s all about OPM music – Txtube! Music is still very much part of my life.

And since Txtube promotes Pinoy bands and anything to do with music, I’ve learned to appreciate Orignial Pilipino Music. And it’s reminded that Filipinos are really talented musicians and that we should listen to our music just as much as we listen to western music.

Fiance

There were four of us in our barkada in high school - Michelle, Monica, Raquel and Me.

I met Monica in the 6th grade when we were both actors in our grade's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I was Helena; she was the fairy queen Titania. Michelle was a classmate of mine that I begun to hang out with towards the end of the year. The following year we were still classmates and had lunch together till I left for the States.

When a summer vacation of mine became living here in the Philippines, I applied and was accepted as a sophomore at St. Scho. There was a section that could accommodate one more student, and so I became the last student of 2A.

Monica and Michelle were also in the same section so I immediately started hanging out with them. While in 1st year they were also classmates and Raquel was part of their barkada. So we became a quartet. And even though we weren't classmates in our junior and senior years we made it a point to hang out once in a while.

Seeing each other became even harder when we got to university. It was reduced to birthday dinners. Monica and Michelle were best friends and neighbors so they talked a lot. While Raquel and I were close so we'd see each other often. Same thing after college, but last year Monica moved to the US. We all gathered to wish her luck, swap stories and cry.

I haven't heard much from Monica, so I check her Friendster account every so often. I was so surprised to see her status - Married. So I call Michelle asking her what's happening and she explains about this guy that Monica's talking to and that No she isn't married. I was relieved!

Michelle and I catched up and then she told me that she had to tell me something:

M: I'm getting married!

B: What?! I'm old na!

She had been engaged to her boyfriend of 4 years last June. I wasn't really surprised that she had gotten engaged, I always thought of her as the marrying kind. I even predicted that she, then Raquel, then Monica, then I would be the order that we'd get married.

We promised that we'd get together soon and have dinner. Of course months passed and no such thing happened.

It had been a while since I had heard from Raquel so one night I called her and we made plans to meet the next day. That day Raquel told me that Michelle would be joining us later; I was happy coz we'd finally have a girl’s night out. We catched up, sharing stories about our Moms and problems (or sometimes lack of problems) with boys. She had also told me that her relationship with her boyfriend was better and that they were preparing for the future together.

I thought that Michelle would be alone but she had brought her fiancé with her. Hmm...I couldn't share with her the things I'd been going through coz I wasn't all that comfortable with her soon to be husband. Then Raquel's boyfriend shows up. Grrr! I'm not a person that can talk easily about myself with people I don't know well. I mean I know that Michelle and Raquel would talk to the guys about what happened and that's fine with me. But I can't tell them myself about my issues in life!

Anyway, we were having dinner when all four start talking about wedding plans and how to go about it.

Wait a minute. Raquel never told me that they were engaged! And the guy announces that the following day he'll be asking her Dad for her hand in marriage. What?!

There I am surrounded by 2 couples talking about their wedding plans. I wasn't feeling self pity at the fact that I don't have a boyfriend or a wedding in the near future. I just wished that the 2 guys weren't there so that I could have quality time with my friends whom I haven't seen in the longest time and ask them the things I wanted to know about. Plus the fact that Raquel didn't tell me that they were engaged, just that they were making plans. Those are two different things right?

HHHAAAAYYYY!

Oh well. I'm hoping I can see either of them soon. Alone. Good luck sa akin! ;-)

Mercury in Retrograde

When Mercury is in retrograde, technology is affected. So true! Because the computer we use for airing txtube conked out on us!

Since I was out sick (refer to previous blog entry) I didn’t know that the RTX machine was acting up. When I got back to work we had a studio shoot so I was clueless.

The shoot ended earlier than expected so I was happy. But when it was time to preview the show for airing I couldn’t coz the machine was shutting down on its own. So at around 1030 we decided to shut down the machine and let it rest. Keeping our fingers crossed that it would turn on. Luckily it did and our tech boys assured us that we could air.

Then came the actual airing and we could hear the audio but there was no video. NO, NO, NO! We had to stop airing and on came the GMA logo. One of the systems boys joked that we were privileged, coz we were the first to use the logo. It had been redesigned. Yeah, ha ha.

Anyway we decided to try again and when we hit the play button, the show resumed. But it didn’t start from the top, but from where we cut it off earlier. OH MY GOD.

Since Txtube is a texting show, the tech boys were trying to get the texting program up. I told them that it wasn’t necessary, but they had to try. They were fiddling with the wires when the video flickered and the screen turned black. I was like no more texting! We don’t need it, it’s better to have the show on air. We don’t need the texting!

After that I couldn’t stay in the booth anymore. I got their word that they would let the show air as is. Then I went back to the office.

Funny thing was our rating for that night was 3.8! That’s high for a Wednesday night at our time slot. Our team was so proud! Roughly 200,000 people tuned in to see the show. Then again it means that 200,000 people witnessed our technical difficulties!

But with the RTX machine out of commission one of our editing machines had to be transferred to take its place. And up came another one of our perennial problems – disk drive space. A lot of our files of past episodes had to be transferred to another computer. So I gave a list of files to be transferred. When I checked the files, that of Xtig karting, there was a folder but it was empty! No one could explain how or why it happened. Now all we have is a VHS copy of the segment. Poof! Gone!

Needless to say, Thursday and Friday’s airing was more of the same. That was a really stressful week. So far the computers have been nice to us. Now it’s back to the normal level of stress! Thank God!

intense stomach pain

I had barely gotten any sleep when I woke up with a piercing pain. My stomach really hurt! Did I have to go to the bathroom? No. Did I have gas? Nope. But the pain wouldn’t go away. I even tried lying in a position that my sister claims to help alleviate stomach pain. You have to lie face down and then bend your knees so that your ass is up in the air. Sorry Sis, it doesn’t work!

So after 4 hours of wondering why I was in so much pain I throw up. That’s it! I wasn’t going to be in pain and smell horrible too. Luckily I didn’t feel like throwing up again so I got dressed and went to Makati Med.

By then the pain was still there but I was shaking. The doctor checked me and gave me antacid. I was like – what this is just an upset stomach?! Why does it hurt so damn much? But of course this was all in my head…hehe

Still the pain was there and I couldn’t stop shaking. Finally the doctor decided to give me pain killers, but since my stomach was acting up, they had to inject the pain killers. I don’t know what they call the contraption they attached to my hand. But it hurt! Pretty soon I fell asleep, so I knew that I was better.

Before I left the doctor gave me a prescription and informed me that I have gastritis. According to the fact sheet that I was given:

It’s a stomach irritation often caused by medication, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, spicy or acidic food, skipping of meals and emotional stress. Symptoms are stomach pain at the upper portion of the abdomen sometimes felt as a crampy/burning sensation, indigestion, nausea and vomiting.

Out of the things that cause irritation nicotine and medication are the only things that are not on my list. For the symptoms I felt everything but nausea that morning.

I left the hospital and got my prescription, and bought C2 so I could take my meds. When I got home I lay down and a couple of minutes later I threw up. What did I throw up? The C2! At least this time the vomit wasn’t foul tasting. Haha

So I reread the fact sheet. I have to stay away from spicy food, acidic fruit juices, softdrinks, coffee, tea, milk and milk products.

Whoops! C2 is iced tea, wow instant reaction…

I’ve always said that diets don’t work for me coz I love to eat. If I want to lose weight I have to resort to working out. But ever since I started working I can easily come up with a reason or excuse not to go to the gym. But now that’s not the case!

I really can’t eat a lot of the things I usually enjoy - softdrinks, tea, milk and milk products. And do you know what composes most of the milk and milk products? Dessert! Ugh. I have a sweet tooth. I love dessert.

And now I have to make sure that I eat when I feel hungry. I don’t want to miss meals, so I’m trying to get myself use to eating small meals, but frequently.

So there is a silver lining after all? We’ll see…