SAND. WATER. SUN. BEACH.

In a month's time, not only was I able to spend an awesome Holy Week vacation with really awesome people (will post photos later), I'm spending four days on an island in Palawan. Gotta love the beach. :)

*photo taken by Robin James Yu

The Employed Lad

Wow. It's been a while since I actually wrote something substantial here.

A lot of things have happened already. Quick recap:

• I got a year older.
• Bummed for two months (Dec to Jan)
• Tried the news wire life
• Road ended with the news wire life
  
• Two weeks of dancing
• SFX: Decade. Vision. Dance.

And just like that, I am shoved to a corner inside an office. And work commenced.

I easily got a job shortly after my Reuters stint. Ate Iona (a UP Street orgmate) submitted my resume to her agency. And before I knew it, I am reporting for work a week after.

A lot has happened since. Calls. Calls. Email. Event. Email. Rounds. Rounds. Rounds. Follow-ups. Calls. Rounds.
Work's something like that.

Rounds. Rounds. Rounds.

I thank God that immediately got a job. Hopefully, I'd be able to perform well. :)

The Fanboy

I was a freshman then when I watched the first Skechers StreetDance Battle at the World Trade Center, December 2005. It was for free then until Skechers realized that they can make big bucks out of it.

That night started what was to become the biggest and most coveted streetdance competition title in the country.

I was a basic streetdance student under Prof. Jerome Dimalanta then, and I remember him telling the class that the Club's piece would make us, mga Iskoand Iska, proud.

The UP StreetDance Club of UP Diliman won that night. And I went home, a proud Isko, never knowing that those people would later become my family.

Auditioning for the UP StreetDance Club was tremendously scary. Let's leave it at that. Haha.

Soon after, I was on the same stage with the same people I was screaming for, six months back. And dancing with them just feels so surreal. I used the present tense because until now, I am in awe that I get to dance with people of such great talent. And our relationship does not end on the dance floor.

Skechers 2 and 3 happened. And in both occasions, I lost my voice.

It's one thing cheering for people representing your school. It's a different story when they're your friends.

It's been three days, and yet I'm still ecstatic.

Armed with a new team with a different swagger, you guys conquered Araneta with much gusto.

I thank God for blessing the Club with Skechers 5.

Congratulation UP StreetDance Club!

I will always be a fan. Always.

Pause #2

haven't been blogging lately. No excuses. But Imma update this at least twice a week from now on :) ciao!

this is IT!

This turned me into an MJ fan!

Not a Love Story

This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know up front, this is not a love story.

I'm a sucker for chick flicks.

And (500) Days of Summer has been on "YOU SHOULD WATCH" list since forever.

It's one of those films that, as my friend Abi Fernan wrote, "hits the men hard. Yes, the man gets hurt this time and I find it rare for movies to make men feel so hurt they actually TALK about the movie after and express the sadness that they feel.

And talk about the movie I did.

Obviously, the storyline was non-linear as it would jump from day 300something to day 22. But what I liked most was the French Impressionist treatment of the film. Think Amelie and you'd know what I mean. The play of cinematography and mise-en-scene was just amazing. Sorry, the Maskom in me is something I can't live without.

And the film comes with such a kick-ass soundtrack!

Vice Ganda's en-pointe Impersonation of the Mother

Battle for Terra

Donning 3D glasses, four friends and I watched the premiere of Battle for Terra at the SM Digital Theater last night.

It is very reminiscent of Wall-E as it explores how humanity itself is the reason of its demise - making Earth uninhabitable.

The film is a direct commentary to the effects of pollution, war and industrialization that is rapidly happening all over the globe.

Despite having a good theory behind the movie, the movie did lack depth in story.

Generally, the movie was good and entertaining way of disseminating the possible effects of the continuing abuse to the environment.

Maybe, we could've shown this one waaaaay before Ondoy and Pepeng?

The Online Helper

The Ondoy Chapter is far from over. A lot of things are yet to be done. And online, the campaign to raise awareness about what happened and to rally the Filipino youth was overwhelming. Platforms such as Tumlbr, Twitter and Facebook proved to be such powerful tools in mobilizing the Filipino people to help out and volunteer.

Here are some tools used during the campaign that circulated all over Tumblr and Facebook:

A poster urging people to donate goods at the Ateneo campus for their relief operations.

A poster asking people to help out and volunteer since celebrities from other countries are doing so. Why not us, Filipinos too?

A poster of the UP Sagip Isko relief ops campaign. Go Isko!

A poster encouraging Filipinos to help out in restoring, rebuilding and recreating the country.

A poster asking people to help and volunteer for those who are in evacuation centers.

A poster of the Raise the Roof benefit concert for Ondoy victims held at the Megatent along Meralco Ave.

On Twitter, a lot of Filipino personalities, politicians and celebrities utilized its powers by coordinating and updating volunteers through its micro-blogging capability. Spot.ph's article on the 10 Virtual Volunteers: helping out in the time of tweeting gave a list of ten people who were of great help while using Twitter. And I do have to give credit to Gilbert Teodoro for keeping the people updated with current situations all over the metro regarding NDCC matters and answering people's queries. (He directly replied to my Tweet regarding the supposed loose crocs scare in Pasig and Cainta).

The internet isn't just for porn as Avenue Q would argue. And during the past week, it has proved that it is such a powerful to rouse a nation's consciousness for their fellow countrymen.

Pause

Sorry for the lack of updates. Been very busy lately due to Typhoon Ondoy. But I do hope to post something soon. :)