What do you call the dance when you put all the elements of modern dancing? Answer: Junior New System!
My goodness! These kids can rock the dancefloor! All dance elements are so present it is considered “unique”. If you love to dance, you should watch their performances. And if you didn’t liked it, then there must be something very wrong with you…
What I love about their choreography and concept is that their dancing could be uniquely genderless. These guys can perform moves from the wide spectrum of gender-role dancing. Their moves can cross over from the rough jagged power motions of a bloke, to the electrifying dancing grace of a dame, to the attitude and flair of the androgynous.
the high heeled shoes that paved the way for them to reach the grand finals (photo taken from jns’ fb page)
I hope these guys win the first edition of Asia’s Got Talent competition. Because if not, then there must be really really be something wrong with Asia.
During the preliminary round of the Miss Universe pageant, MJ Lastimosa delivered very well. She was a total stand out in both gown and swimsuit rounds. A lot of fashion and beauty pageant experts say that MJ looks like she is the one to beat.
one class act
But what I was particularly impressed about MJ was the way she introduced herself. She was unlike the other candidates who were looking too nervous or were embarrassingly screaming on the top of their lungs. MJ was so graceful and sophisticated yet she sounded like she was in high spirits and evidently having so much fun.
Her introduction exudes confidence and was uniquely high class! Call it a new form or a fresh technique, MJ’s flair in her introduction was truly something for the books. I’m pretty sure future beauty pageant introductions will be based or patterned towards this elegant style!
Now that the Pope is back in his quarters, still feeling the grand euphoria he felt when he was here in the Philippines, it is time for the Filipino people to cheer again. This time it’s for Mary Jean Lastimosa, the Philippines’ candidate to the upcoming Miss Universe pageant.
WOW! (photos taken from mj lastimosa fb page)
From the clips that I have seen, MJ Lastimosa no doubt is the embodiment of poise, grace, beauty and fun. Her communication skills are formidable. When she speaks, one can’t help but listen. Her positive aura is like sunshine and delight to all those people around her. I particularly love her bubbly spirit. Her megawatt smile, her seductively graceful catwalk and knockout sexy body screams “queen”!
Come pageant day, all Filipinos worldwide will surely be glued on the television and will surely cheer for her. MJ Lastimosa definitely deserves to bring home the crown!
It’s like a bunch of angels went down from the heavens and played us some awesome music!
This is the general feeling I felt after having watched and listened to the concert of no less than the Philippine pride, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO). Held at the outdoor amphitheater area of the Bonifacio High Street Central in Bonifacio Gobal City (BGC) the concert was entitled “A Holiday Symphony”. It was organized by the LJC Group, the BGC and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
This PPO event was free to the public that is why I did not let this rare chance pass by. What is so good about the concert was their chosen repertoire. It was pop and popular to the ear and not the usually highfalutin sleep-inducing classical tunes.
high culture in high street…
cellos and the cellists… (photos by patrick uy)
Though the program started with a classical piece – to the beat of William Tell Overture – it was nevertheless fun and exhilarating to the ear. It is because the tune was reminiscent of the background music of a Looney Tunes cartoon chase scene. I initially thought Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner would suddenly appear on stage!
One of the highlights of the show was when a good friend Edwin Santos sang two songs in the concert. He started with Pasko Na Cinta Ko (a Tagalog Christmas love song) and capped it with an explosive operatic performance by singing the Mexican song Granada. I was super proud and was cheering like mad for Edwin!
explosive performance by edwin santos…
PPO played Donna Summer songs, tunes from Star Wars plus a lot of Christmas songs crafting a very Christmas-ee feeling in the crisp November air. When the orchestra played the gorgeous tunes from the movie Titanic, I initially held on to my seat for I thought a humongous ocean wave would suddenly appear bringing Rose and Jack on the stage! But nothing beats the couple of Beatles songs they played. People in the audience were actually singing along with them!
It is not the first time I heard PPO played yet still the emotions they drew from me was something unexplainable. The nearest words that I can think of is it’s a mix of magic, glee and pride.
Call it foolish or ironic, but it was actually my first time to the premier theme park in my own country, the Philippines. I have been to a lot of modern theme parks abroad but never did I had the chance to be in Enchanted Kingdom.
where fun begins!
I always thought that Enchanted Kingdom was nothing but kiddy stuff. I thought it was not like the dynamic Universal Studios that would also cater to adults. But what I did and experienced last Sunday was far from a kiddy adventure. It was an adrenaline-charged exploit.
As soon as I and my friends (Ludette, Beth, Red and JB) entered the square, we challenged ourselves to venture into the most extreme highlights of the park. We skipped the other rides which we consider weak and anemic. We settled to take the 4 most treacherous rides! We started with the least tormenting (among the four) and capped the day with the most terrifying.
The Anchors Away (Pendulum Ride); Disk-O-Magic (Spinning Pendulum Ride); EKstreme (Tower Drop); Space Shuttle (Roller Coaster)
reaction: a mix of fear and fun
level up with disk-o-magic ride with red and dette
extreme drop with jb, beth and dette!!!
adrenaline rush infested ride!
These fun rides may not be at par in terms of the extreme kick in adrenaline as compared to the newest and most intense state-of-the-art thrill rides found abroad. But what add up to the uniqueness of these rides are the added edgy hazards and dangers of riding it.
EK extreme thrill rides are like waging your life to chance. It is because EK is a 19 year old theme park that looks rundown and under maintained. Taking those old thrilling rides is basically like a death defying stunt.
I suppose inhabitants of first world countries and modern thrill-ride enthusiasts would not even dare take those rickety rides due to safety issues and out-dated mechanical concerns. This maybe the reason why I only saw a couple of foreign tourists inside the square (one Korean and two Caucasian dudes who were tagged along by their Filipina girlfriends).
Don’t get me wrong though, because I totally enjoyed my first Enchanted Kingdom adventure! It was one rare feat!!!
Silly as it may seem, this blog can be a testimony that I truly adore going to museums. This is especially true during my out-of-the-country journeys and adventures. My trips abroad would usually have at least a day spent at a museum. Me and my friends would usually call it “the cultural day” segment of the adventure. This is the time when I would further immerse myself to the abundant culture, beautiful art and rich history of those far away cities.
What is so strange and striking is that I actually have not gone to the very national museum whom I consider my own. The very museum that features my nation’s culture, my nation’s art and my nation’s history. The very museum that does not need an airline ticket to visit but just a 10-minute taxi ride from my place of stay.
super like!
the old session hall of the senate of the philippines is now the national museum…
proud of my museum!
Thankfully, this strange and striking irony has been resolved. This is because I have been to the National Museum of the Philippines Thursday night to attend an art exhibit. The one of three domains of the museum that I particularly have been to that night was the main and the grandest domain, the National Art Gallery. The other two components (The Philippine Planetarium and The Museum of the Filipino People) of The National Museum are housed in an equally splendid buildings.
Being inside the building of the National Art Gallery already evokes some exquisite emotion. I was like being transported through a time capsule to the grand and auspicious era of the Philippines. The feeling was like being inside a gorgeous art piece, breathing with it and being part of it.
i love this shot! the hallway leading to the dimasalang exhibit. that man is f. sionil jose the national artist for literature.
Before and after the program formalities of the beautiful art exhibit I attended (housed in one of the glorious galleries of the building), I and my colleagues got the chance to view the other galleries of the museum. Museum directors graciously opened all galleries in all floors of the whole museum that night for all event attendees of the art exhibit to see and appreciate! The night time ambiance with impressive lighting mood inside the museum galleries further add up to the already massive emotions I was already feeling.
Aside from the penetratingly dramatic Spoliarium painting by Juan Luna and the massive yet gentle looking Diwata sculpture by Guillermo Tolentino, I will not be posting any photo of the art pieces on display. It is because I want you to go there and experience the same emotion I had.
a super huge oil on canvass painting! spoliarium by juan luna
diwata by guillermo tolentino
I never knew how rich, magnificent and stunning the Filipino-made art pieces were until last night. Those precious works of art were so beautifully intense it felt like those were interpolating divine messages directly towards me.
The visit to my National Museum was an outstanding buffet that fed my soul to the brim. It was no doubt an invigorating assault to my senses!
The National Art Gallery of the National Museum of the Philippines is open Tuesdays to Sundays, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Its free admission on Sundays.
Never did I posted anything about the new X Factor Australia winner, Marlisa Punzalan, while the show was running. It is because I don’t want to cause any sumpa (curse) or negative effect to her fate and universe.
x factor australia 2014 winner
But honestly, I have been watching this young lady ever since the X Factor Australia has started this year. I know for a fact that she is actually the first one featured during the audition segments of the show. I followed this newly concluded talent show, maybe because of the reverberating feelings of joy and my overindulgence in its 2013 version when the superlative Dami Im won.
A week before the grand finale, I already had the impression that this young lady will win. The reason is not because of her tender age, nor her looks and neither her amazing talent. Three coherent reasons rolled up into my mind right after the semi-final round.
Winning the Toughest Battle
This is because during the semi-final bout she defeated Reigan Derry, the most excellent and the most seasoned among all contestants in this series. I cannot imagine how perennial favorite Reigan Derry being beaten by the other 2 finalists, Brothers 3 and Dean Ray. Reigan with her incredible pipes would easily beat these two other finalists to smithereens in case Dean or Brothers3 would be at the bottom two and perform back-to-back with her.
best showdown of the series!
Thus, before the grand finale, Marlisa Punzalan has already successfully hurdled the hardest challenge she would be faced with during the entire run of the series. For me, the semi-final round was actually more exhilarating than the grand finale. The grand finale was just a matter of confirming Marlisa’s crown.
Australia’s Enduring Love for the Underdog
When Marlisa got into the finals, everybody thinks that she would simply end up being a third placer. Even judge/mentor Redfoo after the semi-final round immediately predicted that Dean is the one to beat. Even online betting website SportsBet predicted that Dean would be bestowed the 2014 title. Dean Ray exhales the funky rock of breath trough out the show that is why everybody expects him to win.
the three rays of sunshine…
funky rocker!
Nonetheless, the whole Australia was gearing Brothers 3 to possibly snatch the title from Dean because these “three rays of sunshine” got the ever reliable cutey-boyband formula. Also, they have been identified halfway through the live shows to have received the most number of votes. Moreover, it would have been a very good promotional angle of story in case the first ‘wild card’ contestant wins the show. Thus, Brothers3 and Dean Ray prior to the grand final were considered the un-proclaimed winners. They were simply the Goliaths of the program!
But Australians (like Filipinos) love an underdog. They would not let a simple-looking lady lacking of self confidence be simply in the side light. It is of human nature to feel that those who have less power are deemed virtuous and noble. Human beings in general love the underdogs because each of us knows what it feels like to be a loser, to be brushed aside or to be a David in a world full of Goliaths.
Let me cap this reason with Ronan Keating’s beautiful wisdom when he was commenting on Marlisa’s performance during the semi-final, which illustrates Marlisa being an underdog. That he is still faithful on the thought that not all good girls finish last. That statement I suppose struck a nerve to the whole of Australia.
Shining at the Right Moment
At the initial phase of the show, Marlisa exhibited good performances but nothing spectacular compared to other contestants. I particularly loved her performance during the boot camp portion of the program, Jessica Mauboy’s Never Be The Same. But during her performance in front of John Legend, who would assist Ronan on picking his top 3 contenders for the live shows, she faltered big time.
During the first few weeks of the live shows, she was simply sailing through. Viewers and even other judges/mentors were particularly concerned because Ronan could not seem to tap the right song that would best fit Marlisa’s age, tone and range.
She was lucky enough that other contestants gave inferior performances compared to her. She even performed the worst performance in the whole show when she sang Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi while suffering from severe illness, in which, she was nevertheless praised by the judges for her guts and professionalism. During these times, other contestants were delivering the best performances of their lives. They were peaking at those moments.
Unfortunately for these other contestants (except for the shoo-in Reigan Derry), they failed to sustain the high points in their performances while the show near its end. Fortunately for Marlisa, she seems to simply just starting to oil up. She was gaining confidence in her stage presence, she was starting to feel the mood/s of her song/s and Ronan is commencing to realize and tap the exact songs for her. She was slowly peaking up!
She only sparkled at the last four or five weeks of the entire series. I totally agreed with Danni Minogue who was stuck to her seat and would hardly stand up after every Marlisa’s performance week after week. That Marlisa’s rendition of Sia and David Guetta’s Titanium performed on the 9th week of the live shows was truly Marlisa and Ronan’s game changer. The Titanium performance of Marlisa made Danni stood up to her feet and cheered for the young lady!
All throughout the TV show, Marlisa seem to be the last contestant to shine. And what is so amazing about her shining is that she was able to sustain it and even progressed further every week! Australians then realized that something special was with this young lady.
sis-boom-ba! (photo from Gilas Pilipinas Facebook page)
Long hours of grueling drill and practice is not needed to be acclaimed as one. Rehearsals would virtually be impossible if it would involve the whole population of a nation. What’s simply needed is the devoted and enthusiastic ‘heart’ of everyone.
I am talking about the Philippines being awarded as the Most Valuable Fan – Best Country category in the recently concluded FIBA Basketball World Cup held in Spain.
I guess this is the first time in more than a lifetime that organizers of FIBA Basketball World Cup saw for themselves, how Filipino fans cheered in full thrill and hysterics. I am supposing that these organizers do not watch the annual Ms. Universe pageant where Filipino viewers would elicit similar fits of frenzy and hysteria.
Considering that at the start of the game, it has been predicted that the Philippines will most likely not gonna win any game, I was not surprised that still cheering was like a party for every Philippine game. This is simply because Filipinos are mad about basketball.
FIBA officers must have been told that the cheering shindig does not only happen inside the venue. The immeasurable passion of the Filipinos are present at every household in the Philippines making the country deserving such an award. The recognition actually seem so hollow and futile that other countries must be laughing at us because of such a silly consolation. Yet I and my fellow noisy bunch of Filipinos feels so proud and honored. This is simply because we are so in love with the sport.
I don’t remember when was the last time I purchased a magazine or a CD for myself. This is because these items are slowly waning and fading away from the realms of present humanity. These are soon to be extinct.
This is due to the ever growing popularity of the reliable internet where everything that everybody seem to need is available. Today’s magazines are already easily available online in the form of blogs, e-zines or webzines. While songs can easily be purchased and downloaded via iTunes, Amazon MP3 or Google Music.
But last Sunday, I know that I just got to have these soon-to-be-inexistent stuffs. However, with such a purchase, I have yet to establish if I purchased a magazine with free CD or if I purchased a CD with free magazine. Whichever freakin’ way you may want to put it, one thing is for sure, I have with me a cool piece of Philippine pop rock history.
a soon-to-be-precious-collectible
I’m pretty sure this magazine with enclosed complimentary CD or a CD contained inside a free of charge magazine will – in a couple of decades – be considered a valuable collectible. This is because these incorporated items enfolds the reemergence of one of the greatest Filipino bands of this country, the Eraserheads.
CD containing “Sabado” and “1995”, the two new songs of eraserheads
a very interesting read
As a proof that I am breathing fanatic, here’s a six year old post I wrote in the past. Press this link: ERASERHEADS
luis gabriel moreno (photo grabbed from filipino.china.com site)
It’s not Alma the actress. It’s not Isko the politician. It’s not Tito Germs the TV host. Neither is it a moreno (brown olive) skinned human being. It is a Moreno-surnamed-athlete who made me so proud and so happy today. Luis Gabriel Moreno, an archery events athlete just won a gold medal in this year’s Youth Olympics presently being held in Nanjing China.
With nothing to watch on TV today while I do my laundry, I settled watching TV5 network this afternoon. Not even aware that Youth Olympics is ongoing, I settled on watching a Mixed Archery event upon knowing that one of the athletes competing was a Filipino.
The sports feature started during the quarterfinals match of Moreno with his Chinese partner, Li Jiaman. I was initially not expecting anything because before the game started a sports anchor announced and flashed on the screen the medal tally of the ongoing Youth Olympics. And to no surprise the Philippines – as usual – has yet to win a medal.
a true green archer in every sense of the word (photo grabbed from philippinestar.com)
But interest and uneasiness about the mixed archery game fired up when Moreno and his partner won the game to qualify for the semi-finals. And when the tandem won their match to qualify for the grand finals and compete for the gold medal, I was already ecstatic.
I was so nervous watching the event and I was clapping my hands every time Moreno and his Chinese teammate hits the 9s or the perfect 10s. I was screaming ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’ And I was praying to the heavens to give this event to the Philippines and China.
The general feeling was reminiscent of me watching the tennis matches of Roger Federer or me watching the boxing bouts of The Great Manny Pacquiao on TV. When Moreno swished his last arrow to clinch the gold medal beating the Malaysia-Germany tandem, I was shouting, clapping, jumping and earnestly praying saying thank you.
The TV anchor then appeared looking very proud and equally ecstatic saying that this is the first medal for the Philippines in this year’s Youth Olympics. And that the young Moreno is a student of De La Salle, thus literally living up to the bill of being a true Green Archer.
Well, today is the National Heroes Day and I am glad to be feeling proud. I guess Luis Gabriel Moreno achieved something great, worthy of being called a young hero of this country.
Nengkoy 