and the race continues

... but not around the world this time, apparently.

What. A. Drag.

Okay, so I went a-hopping and a-gliding just to catch the primetime premiere of the 8th installment of The Amazing Race at a local cable channel (Thank God for AXN!).

Only to have my skyrocketing excitement and long-held anticipation go pffffffft like a burst bubble when the 10 competing families did not fly out of America! And it looks like they would be stuck in the land of Uncle Sam for the rest of the race.

Not that I have something against America.

I feel it would get a tad boring not seeing exotic landscapes and the most exciting playgrounds of the world. It is like rolling The Apprentice and the Simple Life in one time-bound relay, since the destination options in America are either the big city or the quaint countryside. Or the neverending fields where cottons are high. Or yada yada yada. Okay, I have never been to America but I just feel that this would be just it. Well, I hope otherwise.

I love The Amazing Race and this is the TV show to beat! Things did get a little interesting with the Family Edition and it is really such a riot. Family life, that is. Haha!

This early, I have listed down hates and loves.

Hate 1: The whatever-their-family-name-is sisters. Yeah, those girls with the cliche all-pink outfits. They are so damn noisy! They are like these little rodents gnawing their way into your ears or a million nails being hammered into your brain.

Hate 2: The Pablo boys. Oh. my. god. I cannot even call my dad retarded, yet one of them just did. On the first ep! Gasp! I think they would grow up to be wife-beaters or serial killers. They have so much angst inside them. Well maybe they just need some lovin, you know. Wink.

Hate 3: The Linz family. They have got the best brawns yet they suck! I thought they would be the team to beat. Well, it is indeed too early to tell, but I do hope they do not clock second to the last (or the last) again next time. You gotta love those boys. Haha!

Now the loves...

Love 1: The Weaver boy. He is keeping it together for his mom and sisters. And did I mention I love his platinum locks? Hmmm. Now I really should get one. Evil grin.

Love 2: The Gaghan kids. The girl loves nailing down tents. And she sure could carry stuff around. At least she is not some useless drama queen. And the boy! I thought he would be the most quiet one in the competition, but look at him singing in the buggy ride. He sure knows how to rub in that YOU ARE LOSING TO KIDS!!! Does he look like Arnold of Hey, Arnold? Or is it just me?

Love 3: The Pablo mom. God bless her for tolerating her kids. And God shower her the heaven when she finally unleashes her fury to her pesky pesky boys!

Well, the others seemed like fleeting images for now. I am looking forward to seeing the best and definitely the WORST in these families.

The Amazing Race airs primetime every Wednesday at 8 pm, Manila (+8 GMT) time at AXN.

sssh... i have something to tell you

Confessions on a dance floor: an update from Madonna

I want people to jump out of their seats. Never one to understate, those were the exact words Madonna used to describe the songs on her upcoming album, - Confessions On a Dance Floor. The 12 delicious tunes of pure 'unapologetic dance music' including the single Hung Up (out Oct. 17th) is scheduled to be released on November 15th on Warner Bros. Records. This time out, the original Queen of Dance Music returns to where she began and kicks it up a few extra notches.

It's in her blood says Madonna's co-producer/partner in crime, DJ and Madonna musical director, Stuart Price. 'She has a dance halo over her head. We made this record without any preconceived notions. It was straight from the gut - unencumbered -not over edited - very spontaneous,' concluded Price.

If 'Confessions' were equated to a new dance step, it would a stunning blend of musical styles with one foot in the roots of early disco (a la Girogio Moroder/Abba on ecstacy) and the other foot gloriously ensconced in the future of music - a dance step that could only be accomplished by one artist.

Confessions on a Dance Floor is all about having a good time straight through and non stop says America's ultimate Dancing Queen.

from Madonna.com.

l'auberge espagnole

L Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment) is a Cesar-nominated and awarded film about a French guy who went on a sojourn to Spain to join the Erasmus program and learn Catalan as a pre-requisite to a job he is applying for in France. After several hits and misses, he found himself sharing an apartment with seven other people of his age who hail from all corners of Europe: Denmark, Germany, Britain, Italy, etc.

Thus, L Auberge Espagnole, which also means a mixture of culture in Euro slang or as Xavier puts it, Euro Pudding.

It is a film about taking risks, jumping on that train or plane for a bout with the beyond, adapting to cultures, eliminating racial stereotypes, and more importantly, living and loving to your heart’s content.

Go see the movies and have a taste of Europe!

Cine Europa is ongoing at the Shangri-La Plaza Mall.

crazy, crazy people

Who says team building seminars are mundane group activities with cliche physical and mind games, square feasibility studies, and graded labored efforts?

Not me and my wacky colleagues from Rustans, of course! We all trooped to beautiful Sta. Elena last weekend for two days of bonding, recharging, and luxurious rekindling of working relationships, found friendships, and every crazy thing in between.

From Cranium-inspired charades (and stripteases, Arabic phrases, and lesbian kisses)

to that pool drinking challenge (how dare you challenge me, the Amoebiasis Boy!)

to karaoke (Bed of Roses, beat that!) and renditions of mushy ASAP (the Sunday variety show, yes) birthday segments

to Absolut and Bordeaux

and highly-inspired, art-directed pictorials

Looking forward to Punta Fuego, compadres!

fortune rising

So it all came down to this.

After a summer of epic performances, of haunting vocals, and of a riveting birth and rebirth of human talent and genius, JD Fortune becomes the new front man of INXS.

I must admit that during the pre-finals episode, I was still clinging to the hopes that Mig, a Filipino-born rockstar, would become the lead singer and join his mates from Down Under, despite his rather unwise (but respected, still) move of performing another Queen classic "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Come JD's lingering vocals to Rolling Stones' "You can't always get what you want" in the closing credits of the pre-finals ep, to his intense crowd-rousing performance of the Rolling Stones' hit, I knew he'd be the one.

He has proven his trademark arranging prowess and songwriting genius in the last 12 weeks. He has the warmest interaction with the audience and emanates charisma that befalls ladies on their knees. He always, always goes out of the box, takes risk, and enjoys the ride no matter where it takes him.

Imagine, from bottom three in the very first episode to being the last man standing. Now that makes him really something.

I must admit, I haven't heard of INXS before this show came on air, ringing religiously rock history week after week after week. And even to this very second, I feel that JD's newest mates are a tad old to be still performing. But with Fortune's rising, I am taking a close interest in rock music and looking forward to see and hear more from this hot* god.

*I'm just BEING HUMAN you know.

Hey MiG, you fought a good fight and you made us proud! Well done, kababayan.

go see the world

While we're on the subject of travel, let me list down the things I want to do in the countries/places I want to visit in the next 7 years. Most of these was taken from my Friendster profile, "30 things to do before I reach 30".

- Traipse across Europe, beginning in Scandinavia
- Ski down Holmenkollen
- Gaze at the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx
- Go on a cruise (down the French Riviera, freeze in the Arctic or dock at the Caribbean coasts)
- Embrace the sun in Gran Canaria
- Visit the staple Asian playgrounds of Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand. Again and again and again
- Ride a gondola and play Merchant of Venice
- Spot the Big Five in Africa
- Take my cutest nieces Bea and Bianca to Disneyland so they could see Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Ariel in the flesh!
- Walk the Great Wall of China and get cosmopolitan in Shanghai with best friend Ish
- Get rowdy in Rio de Janeiro
- Japan in cherry blossoms season
- Teen-gazing in Japan's Harajuku
- Live the high life in London
- Marvel at the Parthenon and escape to Mykonos
- Be blessed by Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican
- Shop in Morocco "Special price for you, my friend..."
- Fall in love again atop the Eiffel Tower
- Own a Mediterranean-inspired villa facing the sea or build a holiday house in Southern Spain
- Frisky frolic in Amsterdam's Red District
- Breeze past the definitive rush-hour power-walking of New York

... and there's more. Lots more! Will post some other time.

Now, where do you want to go?

best place to live in... the 2005 survey

The results are out, and after ranking countries with an index combining wealth, education and life expectancy, NORWAY emerges as the best country in which to live, for the fifth year in a row.

Now, let's all go there, shall we? Tour Norway.

Oh, Norway! You are a dream away!

a grim brothers grimm

...well, maybe not.

In fact in my opinion, it's one of the best comedic, heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat movies of recent times. I urge everyone to go see this movie.

From the production notes:
Once upon a time there lived two dashing but diametrically opposed brothers, cynical Will and Jacob the dreamer, who became known far and wide as THE BROTHERS GRIMM. The brothers roamed the land collecting and spreading fairy tales, tales of danger and mystery that to this day enchant and terrify people of all ages with hair raising stories of magical good battling epic evil and ordinary humans confronting the eternal riddles of monsters, mystical beasts and wicked witches. Indeed, the Brothers Grimm brought forth the yarns responsible for some of the world’s wildest dreams and darkest nightmares for centuries...

Trust the toad!

*bleep YOU

What the *bleep were YOU thinking when you stained my CBox with your three lowly words of hate? Did it do you any good? Did it give you the orgasm you or your partner never had? Did it make you feel macho when you couldn't even identify your *bleep-ing self when you made that post?

You see, this blog has no room for bashing twats like you. Why don't you drape your burly shoulders with your Union Jack and *bleep-ing stick the Big Ben up your bloody arse? You see, I love London; what I don't like are *bleep-ing bigots like you.

You see, we've torn down hatred at the Stonewall more than 30 years ago. Where were you when that happened? Apparently, either just a speck of prurient imagination of your parents (Heaven bless them for bringing you into this world) or a low-life bloke who was so far fetched from the evolution of the social times.

Are you still as blind today as you were before? Haven't you noticed us marching down the avenues countless times cloaked in the colors of the rainbow? Haven't you noticed that ripped god you shared the gym shower with? Or your next-door neighbor with the sleek flat that makes your place a rotten hell-hole? Or the fashion designer luxuriating in his billion-dollar empire and adorning the runways with his creations that you can only dream of? Or your occassional plumber who does not only expertly drain your pipes, but also skillfully tube the pipes of your bestfriend? Or your son, your daughter, your cousin, your boss, your girlfriend or boyfriend, hell, even your mother or father?

You see, we are here to stay. We may not be like you, nor act like you (thank God we are not you!), but we are definitely here to stay. Deal with it. Live. With. It. Who knows? You might actually end up on all-fours or giving some guy a head and actually enjoy it. Maybe, just maybe, only then can you stop being the coward that you are and start living fabulously like us.

Peace, out!

tracks

Back on Track
I am back! Thankfully, my laptop's up and running again. Apparently, after around three years of use and misuse, my hard drive has given up being my reliable bin for work, love, and the-thing-we-all-do-but-hardly-speak-of files. It, too, has been the depository of snapshots of all my travels and random captures from everyday life.

Though I may not have been able to back-up all the files in my measly 20GB harddrive (who would know when your computer bows out on you? oh well, that's the point of backing things up), I am still glad that I have my digital life back! And I have so much space to fill in. Oi! My cousin's husband, who (plug ahead) owns Cooltoyz located at Ash Creek, Greenhills and expertly brought my laptop back to life, told me that I should just use half of my available disk space at maximum. Now, I know the way to longer lasting laptop-life.

Rock Tracks
Oh my, MiG Ayesa is in the final three of Rockstar: INXS and his fate (fronting INXS who's rising from the ashes after their lead singer's scandalous death) would be known next week. Sweet Suzie McNeil gave a really good fight, what with her strong vocals and amiable personality, but bye bye for you now... Of the three contestants left, I am fine with either MiG or JD fronting the band and taking them to (as Marty said) "a new level." MiG gets my vote not only because he has Pinoy roots (call it patriot-patronizing if you must) but I also find him more apt for the sound of the band. He just needs to lose the somewhat stiff and rehearsed moves, and keep losing the jacket. Haha! JD could have my swing vote simply because he is stunning with hard-edged creativity and pure talent. He scored it big with INXS and the audience with his original "Pretty Vegas." He's got some cockiness though, but shouldn't rockstars be cock-gods? Well, I can't wait to see the finale next Wednesday night! At least the final salvo has only the best talents around, unlike American Idol which pales in comparison.

What viewing pleasure! courtesy of rockstar:inxs

God it feels good to be back!

men, music, mayhem

Meet the bachelors and the centerfold men of Cosmopolitan Philippines.

You just gotta love these men.

mid-week madness

Madness 1:
Losing track of time busy fixing my hair, I was still home at around 9:20 a.m. when I have a 10:00 a.m. meeting at an Embassy for a Rustan's-partnered event. So rushed to Makati I did, arriving at the venue 4 minutes earlier than the scheduled time.

Madness 2:
Tall orders from the Embassy about the publicity handling of this month-long event. I'm excited, though. No, I'm psyched. There's gonna be loads of work but I know that with a fabulous team of publicists, we'd be able to pull this one off.


Madness 3:
I was called to attend a meeting after the aforementioned, only to learn upon arriving that we'd just be wallflowers. We should have just spent 12 minutes of ecstacy on those very inviting Osim massage chairs.

Madness 4:
PR crisis handling for one of my fine jewelry accounts. Shuttling calls between the brand assistant, an event photographer, and offices of two newspapers' lifestyle sections. Not to mention choosing a birthday gift along the way.

Madness 5:
TGI Friday's gave me the wrong order. I ordered a Kid's Fingers set (with 6 chicken fingers, honey mustard dip, and fries), but they gave me a full Chicken Fingers dish (with 7 fingers, same extras plus coleslaw) which is priced almost twice that of my original order. I actually didn't receive the dish when it was served since I was trying to make a special order at Powerbooks Glorietta. My colleague Aileen did the receiving and decided to just go for it and split the bill with me. Not bad, a meal shared is money saved.

Madness 6:
The demonstration at the People Power Monument triggered by the closing of the impeachment case against GMA created traffic havoc all the way to Makati and Manila! Okay, so YOU went marching and all. Now what? Traffic was stalled to turtle pace. People were stranded along main thoroughfares scampering for available PUVs. Taxi drivers turned evil offering insane fixed fares for a few miles of airconditioned travelling. I had to make a detour which costed me three hours of road time, four commuting transfers, and a few kilometers of walking. I just hope what YOU did would be worth all these trouble. Otherwise, it'd be just another lost case.

Now that's mad. Really mad.

Photo credits: "The Scream" Edvard Munch, 1893.

hello, world!

I recently installed a hit-counter in my blog to see if people, other than from my little circle of friends, actually visit my blog. Call it vanity, if you may. You see, I'm happy with my current readership (errr... less than the fingers in my right hand?), but a little extra headcount is such sweet bonus, isn't it?

Anyway, after checking three days worth of blog activity, I'm quite surprised and happy to see that people from chile, malaysia, u.s. of a., germany, and dubai, aside from hitters from the philippines, have dropped by and spent some chunk of time. Well, thanks to blog-rings such as Pinoy Blog and Blog Explosion for making my site available out there in the clutter of blogs. It's also very fortunate to get linked from high-profile bloggers such as Dean. I also get the occasional hits from search-engine results such as "manila body massage" which led them to my Sanctuario sessions bit.

It's really fascinating how the world wide web breaks distance, space and time and brings together people of the same interests, fields of experience, and wavelengths in a click of a mouse. While we're at it, let's just keep riding this big rip curl called Blogging and the Net and I hope to see more of YOU here. :)

farewells, fanatics, and fashion

no goodbyes, only love

Tonight was a night of mixed emotions. It was a night of merriment that I wished had never ended. It was also a night of sad so-longs tinged with heartfelt well-wishes for a very dear friend who is set to take on the world.

Tomorrow, my best friend Ish, is flying to China to follow what her heart desires and be with the man she dearly loves. Although we would never know what's waiting for her in the next bend and it saddens all of us to see her go, we sent her off with our warmest wishes, our lingering smiles, and a round of mango daquiri to celebrate what was and what will come embracing her when she lands in her whole new world.

I will miss you, Ish! See you soon!

Cheers for China! Moja, Ishbel, Me, Bel and Cres

Best friends for life.

the BIG BROTHER beckons

For two weeks now, I have been following the lives of 12 housemates in the Philippine franchise of global reality TV phenomenon Big Brother. My friends are talking about it. We are talking about it over lunch at the office. I think it's the proverbial Peeping Tom in every one of us that keeps us glued for 30 minutes primetime and sometimes, even for an extra 30 minutes of insatiable voyeur time in the ungodly hour of 1:30 a.m.

That's why it was so surreal when, after having dinner with friends in Timpla (ingenious use of longganisa, eh?) at ABS-CBN's ELJ Building, we stepped out right in front of the Pinoy Big Brother House. I almost went scampering towards the house gate when we saw some people seated in the garage area, thinking those were the housemates. Apparently, they were part of the production crew and not some housemate who's on his or her way to national celebrity status. The Pinoy Big Brother House was actually smaller than it seemed on television. It actually looks just like any house in any city residential block. But still, the feeling of awe came unto me. So what do you do when such feeling grips you? Take pictures, of course!

fashion over comfort

After wrapping up our two-day fashion shoot for our little Holiday PR campaign, I splurged a little today. I bought this spanking jacket from 4YOU, a Danish label available at Rustan's. It had a thick quasi-thermal lining which makes it look bulky than your average sweater or rain jacket, and thus not so ideal for wear in tropical Philippines. Nonetheless, I fell in love with it the first time I saw it, with its dark chocolate body and red-yellow-white stripe accents. I am sure I could use this later on, in a place where the temperature drops to below zero and where buying this certain jacket would have cost me an arm, a leg, and maybe an ear, too. Just the same, I would love to wear this very soon, so heaven, please rain on my parade! Oh, wait. Isn't that thunder I am hearing? Ahh, luscious!