Cute Boy in The 1975 concert in Trinoma!

God really has a sense of humor!

As if standing for one hour and a half, packed like sardines in a barely ventilated Trinoma lobby wasn't enough, the idea of having to go through that ordeal with a bunch of giddy and screaming teenage and twentysomething girls with naughty posters like "Marty, be my first kiss" or "George, will you marry me" was truly insufferable!

Did I have to suffer so much just to hear and see this Manchester-based band The 1975 perform live?  

Apparently God had something special for me.  There was a sprinkling of guys here and there, mostly boyfriends of the girls who are fans of this band.  The ratio was about 1 boy to 4 girls - so that's how the band's local fanbase looked like.

Buti na lang, the band came out at exactly 7PM, the time indicated in our tickets!  So we didn't have to suffer one minute more than we had to!

Anyway, after being surrounded by young girls since 5:30PM, where I had to consciously maintain a half a rule distance from, lest they accuse me of taking advantage of the packed conditions, this boy and slightly older looking girl came out of nowhere and took the place in front of me.

Luckily, the guy took the place DIRECTLY in front of me!  Big smile on my face because this guy had a muscular back.  I could feel the mountains and the valleys of his muscular back and the undulations of his shoulders and his neck.  You have to imagine that as the band came out, a surge happened, so we were all pushed forward so, ayun I could really feel the guy's body!  Not my fault huh! Fault ng mga babae sa likod ko who just rushed to the front. Echos!

And the nice part pa was - he really smelled good!  Fresh na fresh ang peg ng lola!

So I muttered to myself, si Lord talaga, nagpapatawa!  When I arrived at 5PM, I was a bit worried that I might end up mashing the girls in front of me, especially when the crowd suddenly moves forward. So ayun, He puts a guy in front of me, para di na ako madyahe! 

O di ba, not only did I really have a good time listening to The 1975 perform their songs live, I had a nice, not so bad-looking, well-built young man in front of me!  Pag sinuswerte nga naman!

I just hope none of my over 800 friends here knows him!  Otherwise I'm dead.  Anyway, I don't think he'd remember me. There was a sizeable crowd in Trinoma Saturday night!

The Battle Rounds of The Voice My Most Favorite TV Show This Week

I am not really a fan of the show The Voice, but while waiting for the Amazing Race last Monday, I chanced upon their battle rounds and I got so caught up in it!  The competition was intense!  I think everyone there deserved to win!  I enjoyed the rapport between the judges as well!

The battle rounds of The Voice is my favorite TV show this week.  I also like two movies shown on HBO Guilt Trip and Seeking Justice.  Tennis was also on the menu this week as the semi's of Indian Wells was quite entertaining.

Here are my ten favorite TV shows for the week ending March 28, 2014 -

#1 AXN - The Voice - Battle Rounds - 3 steals

#2 HBO - Guilt Trip

#3 HBO - Seeking Justice

#4 AXN - Amazing Race 24 - Colombo

#5 CN - Oggy & the Cockroaches - Bollywood cricket

#6 Solar Sports - Li Na vs. Flavia Pennetta - Indian Wells

#7 CI - Austrian Linz - DNA mistake

#8 CI - I Killed My BFF - black boy, white girl

#9 JackTV - American Horror Story Coven

#10 Fox Filipino - Babaeng Hinugot sa aking Tadyang

Another Episode of the Amazing Race My Most Favorite Show This Week

Even though the latest Amazing Race is composed of teams we already know of, I am still enjoying them immensely!  Their latest adventure in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia may have been one of their hardest tasks.  They ended up breaking so many glasses!  Too bad for the teams that chose that road block!

Anyhow, here are my ten favorite TV shows for the week ending March 21, 2014 -

#1 AXN - Amazing Race - Kuala Lumpur - glasses broken in the bar

#2 AXN - Amazing Race - Kota Kinabalu

#3 Fox - Walking Dead - zombies as friends

#4 Nat Geo - Brain Games - young vs. old

#5 Nat Geo - Brain Games - In Living Color

#6 HBO - For A Good Time Call

#7 HBO - Munich

#8 Nat Geo - Parallel Universes

#9 Nat Geo - Locked Up Abroad - Peru

#10 Net 25 - Tribe

Be Careful What you Wish For!

Totoo nga ang kasabihang "Be careful what you wish for, you might just receive it!"

During my hip hop days in FF, my friends and I would sometimes complain about having to do the same routine for months. Nowadays, sa G-Force, mas malala! I have to do a different routine for a different song with a different teacher almost everyday!

Add to that the different teaching styles and forte of each teacher, not only does the whole process become a physical exercise, it is also a test of one's mental prowess to process so much information in just seconds!

Cheme's Production Style Hip Hop Class

I skipped Cheme's class before because I heard that his floor works was a bit difficult, and with the current conditions of my knees, it would not be a good idea to punish them if I still want to continue to dance.

Anyway, during our chika chika the other night, I nicely told him na sana if I attend his class, the floor works would be more simple.  And he was so nice!  

His routine last night is now one of my favorites among all the classes I attended!  He was very cool, very precise, very encouraging and he doesn't embarrass people, which is a plus! And lalaking lalaki ang choreo and music niya, rap kung rap, nakakaloka!

I also love the fact that he treats the class like a production number!  Which was really fun to do!  We had placements and choreo timings and emote emote - and it was one of the rare times that I actually liked how I looked in the video!  Kulang na lang talaga ako ng pitik - pero pagoda na ako e after more than an hour!

Laura Ditches Ballet For Hip Hop

Laura has just ditched her ballet classes for hip hop! Well, she actually can't join all the classes because some of them are really not for kids her age but she's enjoying it immensely, she's excited to dance with some of the other teachers this week. 

I told her that she's so lucky because her teachers appear on TV and dance with the celebrities in some local programs. No effect.

Buti na rin yun, para she can really concentrate and listen to the teacher's instructions. Even when we dance in the house, she corrects my form! "Straight arm Papa C, not bent" O di ba! Ako ang kinorek!

Dancing to K-Pop is so much Fun

I feel so bad for having snubbed the K-Pop dance classes for the past month now. They're so much fun to dance! I also figured it would be one of the classes that would not stress Laura out, and she really enjoyed it! 

But don't get me wrong! Myka (our teacher) was so meticulous with the details, we'd do a 1 8s choreo again and again until she was satisfied that everybody was on the same page. I also loved the transition from complex choreography to simple since it really encapsulated what K-Pop is all about - just pure, silly fun!

A Critical Handsome Man

My beautiful friend is crazy in love with this guy, yun lang, she had a tanong for me which I could not answer kasi, wala naman akong na-experience pa na ganun.

The guy kasi is medyo pintasero, critical, parang movie critic, napapansin lahat. People call him masungit na nga behind his back.

Pero he's so guwapo and tall and nice body talaga - kaya yung fault na yun parang nafoforgive na lang nya. In other words, nagbubulag-bulagan ang lola nyo!

Kaya I joked her, naku, baka pag kayo na, pati sa kama, pintasan ka niyan, makaya mo kaya ang sarcastic jokes niya? 

Ang tanong is, ang person ba na 'critic' ang peg sa ordinary life, pintas here, pintas there, pintasero din ba sa kama?

We and JB do Some JT Moves

I swore on class today that I'd really get serious about losing some weight. We had to do some steps from a sitting down position and in just a count of one, immediately stand up. 

It's a move that I could maybe do quickly, five years ago, but now that my left knee is a bit weak and my ass as big as Botswana, it would take me about four counts, which by then, everybody else would be doing something else!

We basically cleaned the floors of the studio today as we had to lie down for about 2 8's doing really cool choreography. I just really wish my knees were still strong.

Everytime JB said, get down, it freaked me out since I feared I might force my knees to go down the wrong way. And the movement was so sudden, from standing position to kneeling down in one count!

Yet, I persevere and continue because dancing hip hop is one of the perfect ways to relieve myself from a stressful day!

Book Review: The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith

HBO's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency was one of my favorite TV shows when it was shown here a few years ago.  It starred R&B singer Jill Scott in the titular role of Mma Ramotswe. I loved the show because it was set in Botswana and although it was a show about detectives catching bad people, it was not violent or made you really tense.  It was practically relaxing to watch it!

I learned later on that the TV show was actually based on a series of books by Alexander McCall Smith.  I was lucky enough to buy one of his books in Book Sale and this one was entitled "The Kalahari Typing School for Men".  It's a very relaxing read and it's both funny and entertaining because you see a different Africa here - very polite, very respectful, and definitely poverty porn.

I wish I could find more of Mma Ramotswe's adventures soon in print.  Will be scouring for them one at a time!

Oscars 2014: My Most Favorite TV Show This Week

I am actually almost one week delayed with my Oscars 2014 watching, as I wasn't really able to see the live telecast since I had a very busy Monday morning the day it was shown here in Manila.  However, I was able to view the replay, almost a week later, in ABS-CBN, so it becomes my most favorite show for the past week.

Here are my ten favorite TV shows for the week ending March 14,2014 -

#1 ABS-CBN - Oscars 2014 replay

#2 Solar News Channel - Half the Sky

#3 Fox News - MH airline coverage

#4 bio - Hoarders - roaches and rats

# 5 beTV - Teen Wolf - Japanese-American

#6 Fox News - The O'Reilly Factor

#7 Solar News Channel - Mary Louise Parker brownies

#8 PBO - Anne Curtis movie

#9 TLC - Valencia

#10 CI - I Killed My BFF - 2 Cowboys

Movie Review: Dallas Buyers Club

People who are suicidal and feeling depressed and sorry for their themselves should watch Dallas Buyers Club before they slash their wrists or jump on the rails of the MRT! They should be ashamed of themselves.

The characters portrayed by Oscar winners, Matthew McConnaughey and Jared Leto, have also as much right to kill themselves and feel sorry for themselves, but do they curse God for their fate or shoot themselves in the head? Nope, they decided to choose life, and to live just a little bit longer, even if the doctor told Matthew's character, Ron Woodruff, that he had only 30 more days to live.

Jared's character, Rayon, is not far worse off as he plays a drug-addicted HIV+ transgender named Rayon. With almost no one taking care of him at the lowest point in his life, and shunned by his family, he still chose to share his AZT medicines with other people who were dying, and he always appeared cheerful and pretty, whenever he can.

The scene where he asks help from his Dad and the scene where he gives all his remaining money to Ron, are beautiful and heartbreaking. For Jared's character to be grateful and generous when his own family thinks he's a worthless piece of s*** speaks volumes as to who really is the generous one in his family.

The scene when the two first meet in the hospital is just a joy to watch! A homophobe macho man and a transgender - together - in a hospital ward! Just great! I love the way Rayon's character tries to bond with Ron here using cards as an icebreaker.

I'm sure it was tough for Ron, that's why Matthew portrays him as angry, really angry. I don't fault him for that, because even the FDA was giving people who were dying, like him, no possible legal avenues to live, even just a little bit longer.

And live he did, for seven more years - even if it meant smuggling drugs from abroad, just so he can give many people like him, who were dying of AIDS, a little bit of time, to live just a little bit longer.

I admire Ron's spirit for never giving up. I admire that he allowed a transgender person into his life and become his partner in business. In his previous pre-AIDS life, people like Rayon, would never have been part of his macho Texan life.

Although in real life, many of his friends said he wasn't a homophobe, in the movie, he is portrayed as one, I think, just for dramatic effect.

Just Like One of the Boys

I'm just really happy that these guys treat me like I'm one of them.  One of my fears before was that the instructor might give me special treatment because of my age, or that he would modify the steps just because I might not be able to follow them.  

I was wrong!  They don't really care!  You have to keep up with them or you're free to walk out. No space for pussies in their studio.

While I'm here just for fun, these guys are actually G-Force trainees so just imagine how much work I have to do just to keep up with them, because they're so good and their bodies are so freakin' flexible!

But I'm learning so much from them and it has really improved my self-confidence and my memorization skills - and now, I do check my form na in the mirror, something which I never did before.

We danced to a mash of an Aaliyah song and that Little Mermaid classic, Under the Sea.  The song was so cute but the steps were quick and snappy.  Arrrraayyyy my legs talaga!  

And Ishii video-ed it!  That was cool!  Don't post it lang on my wall hahaha

Book Review: Ben Elton's Blast From the Past

When I buy second hand books at Book Sale, I normally just base it on my meagre knowledge of today's hip authors or if it has a flashy front cover or not. 

This one fit the latter. 

I can't believe I bought this book for only 10 pesos! Ben Elton turned out to be one of my favorite British comedians who was in and wrote for Blackadder - one of the earlier comedies that Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) was in.

This book is not a comedy though. It has only two main characters and around four secondary characters. I think half of the book happens in one area only, so this could either be a good play to adopt or something an indie outfit can film.

The first part was interesting enough and I got kinda bored in the middle but events escalate into a dramatic ending. When I reached 2/3ds of the book, I couldn't put it down anymore!

I liked the book because I never expected the ending to end that way! I was very surprised at how things ended and pleased of course, mainly because even if unpleasant things happen towards the end, there is hope for a better future for the lead protagonist, Polly in the end.

I see that Mr. Elton has written other books so if I do find some of them in the bargain bin, they're definitely going to be part of my collection. It would need a clever writer for me to be at least interested in Jack, the overly ambitious lead military character in the book.

As I was reading this book, my imagination had the following actors playing the scenes in my head, di ba for extra fun!

Jack - Russell Crowe
Polly - Kate Beckinsale
Peter - Benedict Cumberbatch
Harry - Gerard Butler
Peter's Mom - Brenda Blethyn

One of My Most Favorite Advises in Life

When I was still teaching, and my students would come to me and sulk and complain about their parents' bad moods, this is the advice I always told them, something I decided to do when I was 13 years old. 

That's why I'm always amused when people here in FB rant about their reactions when other people affect their moods. Ako, I can have the worst day of my life, and you can say the nastiest things to destroy my day, but I will still choose to be in a good mood. Life is too short e......

Dancing With Young People!

One of the things I've learned from controversial TV host Joan Rivers was that you should have many friends who are much younger than you, and not stick only to your age group, she said, because when all your contemporaries die, you'll be alone and lonely.

She also suggested that when it's your birthday, try to mix the group and invite young people and not only your age group, so you can be comfortable with younger people.

Of course, she did not say these in a nice way. She's not a b****y comedienne for nothing!

I've kept Ms. Rivers' lesson to heart and if you multiply by two, each of the ages of these guys in this picture, pwera Jennifer Sy , I think I'll still be older than them! Just don't call me tito or sir. Hindi kita pamangkin o estudyante o kliyente, ok? Madam or Senyora is better.......JOKE!!

Having Fun With JP of G-Force

Thank you Lord for people who generously share their talents with mere mortals like me - and do it with the maximum of fun! 

And that they are hot and goodlooking as well, is just icing on the cake!

Groovin' To Bruno Mars' Treasure!

Ram taught us some nice choreo to Bruno Mars' 'Treasure' today and I had so much fun doing it!  

Considering we were so many in the class, he still had his hawk eyes on all of us, correcting one's elbow movements here or telling us not to jump, but to slide!  It's as if we were actually going to dance this song in ASAP!  

Finally An Oscar for Spike Jonze

Of all the Oscar winners this year, my favorite is Spike Jonze, who finally wins a screenplay award for Her, which incidentally, is showing now in Manila. 

You have to watch it na kasi last day na niya bukas, unless of course the distributors change their minds, but sa Trinoma nga last week, 2 screenings a day lang siya....

Which is sad, because Spike is a very original writer - and I love his previous work in Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, where he was able to direct the great Meryl Streep and Nicolas Cage - and yeah, both got Oscar nominations for their performances.

His ideas are pretty original and out of the box and for the Academy to nominate Her in the Best Picture category really means a good portion of the voters really dig this love story.

Sayang lang Scarlett Johansson could not be nominated for Best Actress here. They should have a category for Voice Acting (just like what happened to 'Precious' in the LOTR series). He too deserved an Oscar, at least for voice acting, because we couldn't really see him, only the visual effects of the character he was portraying.

After 48 Years.....

I was able to dance with Kevin again tonight! 

He dances na pala in ASAP and other ABS shows. 

Hanggang dun lang conversation namin. After 48 years ko pa siguro makukuha number and FB niya. Everything is slow motion in my universe!

Afternoon Tea Crowd at Fitness First Trinoma

My FF Trinoma post afternoon workout kape and cookies crowd

Pretty Girl in my Dance Class

Yes, may pretty girls din sa hip hop class! Would you believe this girl is only 13 years old??!! And yes, she can dance! Hindi siya lost! Won't be surprised if she enters local showbiz soon but I don't know if she can speak Tagalog.

While I can sense that the straight guys were making porma sa kanya, ang mga beki naman sa mga cute na guys. Ang real world walang pinag-iba sa high school noh?

Conga Dancing with Ishii of G-Force Poppers

How can these guys look so cute and well put together after class! Ako haggardness na and pagoda na sobra! To think they really exaggerate their moves!

Ishii did a great choreo for the classic Miami Sound Machine hit, Conga tonight! I really enjoyed dancing to it kasi ang saya saya ng steps! Super snappy!

One Happy Conga Night

Would you believe that the classic Miami Sound Machine song, Conga, can be danced, hip hop style?! Ishii was talking about locking and how it's done pero since wala naman akong plano maging historian ng dance form na ito, ayun, nakikinig lang.

Would you believe din na yung intro ng song na eto, we had to do in 30 minutes? Four 8s pala sya of complex hand movement and luhod sa floor tapos biglang tindig! Aray sa knees ko bata ka! Next time, I should make baon knee pads!

Had so much fun though! Me encanta la musica de Gloria Estefan y Miami Sound Machine! High school vibes lang ang dating!!

JB of G-Force Poppers Teaches Body Party by Ciara

Cute, straight men should never dance to Ciara's Body Party! Do they know how f*****g sexy that song is?!! 

Di ako makaconcentrate kanina kasi our teacher JB, was making giling to the left, to the right, to the front, on the floor and multiply that with the other trainees including cute Kevin on my left, OMG, birthday ko ba at may nagiistriptease na boys around me?!

Amazing Race Episode: My Most Favorite TV Show This Week

The second leg of the 24th season of the Amazing Race is my most favorite TV show this week.  The teams are still in Guangzhou, China, but this time, the Kentucky team, which led in the beginning of this episode, after doing the car assembling thing, lost their lead after one of the team members left his backpack behind!

Here are my ten favorite TV shows for the week ending March 7, 2014 -

#1 - AXN - Amazing Race - lost back pack - Kentucky duo

#2 Cinema One - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow - Vilma Santos, Maricel Soriano

#3 HBO - Argo

#4 ABS-CBN - Rated K - Faith dog, pig in wheels

#5 TCM - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

#6 ABS-CBN - Cheska Kramer guests in GGV

#7 CI - Evil Twins Colorado

#8 Nat Geo - Scam City Bogota

#9 Fox - Walking Dead - burn house down

#10 Nat Geo - Taboo - child marriage

Happy Birthday Budz!

Happy birthday Budz! Thank you for the wonderful party! I really enjoyed the food  and the kwentuhan! Wishing that all your dreams come true!

Kevin - Cute GForce Trainee

I swear my legs nowadays feel like a ton of bricks but when teacher JP paired me with Kevin, my cute dance partner kanina, ayun, milagro, biglang naka-pas de bourree twenty times! Para siyang Ponstan, fast-acting relief!

Ang Hot ni Angelo Ilagan

It's a pity Angelo Ilagan had to leave showbiz because of attitude problems before.  Ang hirap kaya bumalik lalo na't marami namang fresh diyan and hot.  He did do some butt exposure sa Unfriend so that should up his stakes a bit.  He can also act so that's a plus for him.  Hindi naman unusual for an indie actor to make it to the mainstream. Coco Martin can attest to that.