Rock of Ages

Last night truly was a memorable one for me. First off, I got to see Lea Salonga IN PERSON!!! I was literally hyperventilating the moment I caught a glimpse of her! She's my childhood idol, and there she was: just a few paces away from me! Too bad, photos were not allowed to be taken with her. Talk about being famous, like Tony-Award-Winning-Famous! Haha!

Fan-girling aside, we watched the Philippine production of Rock of Ages, and it was superb! The cast was amazing. They delivered their roles flawlessly, and their voices...just WOW! Actress Vina Morales is just fitting for the role of aspiring-actress-turned-stripper "Sherrie". Local singer Nyoy Volante impressed the audience once again with his musical chops by playing the role of music underdog "Drew". And, MiG Ayesa marked his Philippine stage debut with a bang by reprising his role of rockstar "Stacee Jaxx". The supporting cast was superb as well. It was a rollicking good time, singing songs from the 80's with a crowd who had been alive in that colourful musical era. 

After the show, we got to meet the entire cast. And knowing my Broadway-freak cousin, he went crazy again. I managed to take decent photos of him with the actors. But the photos he took of me with them, geez! Blurry!!! Making my eyes look more distorted than usual. Anyhow, here are the photos. 

♥Andz

The First Harvest

OK, so I was a little bit too eager to harvest the seeds of the sunflowers I planted, and most of the heads I cut contained premature seeds! I was really frustrated, and it's not because I managed to get only a few good seeds, but because I got so carried away again by my excitement. Geez! I never learned to wait. Patience really is something I need to work on. 

♥Andz

Happy Father's Day!

It's 10 PM of a very tiring day, but I hope I'm not too late to wish all the amazing fathers a 

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

♥Andz

A Rosy Saturday

Another week of school has ended, and I'm piled with school work - as usual. I have to memorise the exact locations of rivers, seas, capitals, cities, deserts, and what not in Asia for Geography. Try not to puke on the statistical tables. Read more newspapers. Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. Anyhow, I'm happy in school. I just love being busy!

But sometimes, being busy exhausts me too. So, to loosen up, I took some photos of the roses my grandmum bought at the market this morning, after we visited Lolo's grave - the colours are just stunning, and the petals are simply lovely. I also napped a lot (gotta catch up with my ZzZz's). And right now, I'm watching Taare Zameen Par (English: Like Stars on Earth). So far, so good. It's about this dyslexic little boy. I'll see what happens next. So... LATERZ!

♥Andz

Book Review: Trash

In a place where trash is not trash but a bridge to food and life, come three dumpsite boys – Raphael, Gardo, and Rat – who are about to embark on a dangerous journey that will change their lives forever.

One unlucky-lucky day, Raphael finds a black leather bag in the vast mountain of garbage, where he lives. Inside it is a wallet, which contains a few bills and some other interesting stuff. He decides to keep it. But when the police starts to search his area for a lost black leather bag, and offer a desirably large sum as a reward to the one who finds it, Raphael realises that his simple decision of keeping a piece of trash signed him up for the biggest mystery he and his friends are to face.

This fast-paced thriller by British author Andy Mulligan will tag you along in an unforgettable and heart-racing adventure that will help you unlock the dirty agendas of corrupt politicians, brutality of police officers, and the endless injustices the poor experience in a Third World country.

Trash is a great story about friendship, courage, and hope that doesn’t come by very often. It will keep the readers turning the pages till the very end, and make them realise how blessed they are to have a book in their hands, instead of a hook – like what the heroes of the story have – to help them get through everyday.

♥Andz

World Day Against Child Labour 2012

Today's not just the Independence Day of the Philippines, but also World Day Against Child Labour. So, to participate, I decided to post one of my favourite literary pieces that I wrote a few years back, Somewhere, Right Now. It's about how poverty affects children. I wrote it during a very boring Physics class in my senior year in high school. It's very special to me, as it's really hard-hitting and it became one of Teen Ink's top rated articles in 2010. 

SOMEWHERE, RIGHT NOW

Somewhere, right now, in this big, big world are children and teenagers just like you, setting their calloused and wounded feet on the ground, enduring the pain and the heat of the sun as they run down the busy streets, trying to find a way to sell those trinkets slung on their tired and fragile shoulders; while you sit in class, counting the minutes until the next bell rings.

Somewhere, right now, in this vast land are our young, sneaking behind a fast food restaurant, untying bulky black bags that contain something they call food, which would satisfy their stinging empty stomachs, while you turn away from the table, just because you don’t want the food your mum prepared for you this morning.

Somewhere, right now, as you write your boring lessons on your notebook with a pen you can buy a thousand times over, are students just like you saving those tiny pencils in their hands for the whole year ahead.

Somewhere, right now, in this unfair world are dirty little hands, saving those pennies they earned from a hard day, searching for bottles and scrap to be sold at the junk shop, believing that a little amount at a time would save them from their present pain, as you splurge on that gorgeous dress at the mall or waste your money on some rubbish computer game you’ve played a million times.

Somewhere, right now, as you curse your teachers for giving you a heap of homeworks, are teenagers avoiding the prying eyes of the cops, to sell those tiny white crystals in similarly small sachets to people with those scary dark circles around their raging red eyes.

Somewhere, right now, as you switch your bedside lamp off, are sold bare young bodies pressed against somebody else’s, crying for help and justice, hoping that someday, somehow, they’ll have a good night’s sleep just like yours.

Now, tell me, how lucky are you?

♥Andz

Book Review: Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT

Say hello to the cruel world of college, where professors continue to terrorise, and students continue to mug.

In his rollicking and feel-good debut novel, Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT, Chetan Bhagat unveils the many struggles and mayhem any student at IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) might face if they don’t think straight during their excruciating four-year stay.

Through the words of IIT student Hari Kumar, and a few from his best friends, Ryan Oberoi and Alok Gupta, the reader is taken on a wild ride of college life mishaps, which include failing grades, falling in love with the daughter of a well-feared professor, and a near-to-death experience.

Hilarious, zany, and highly relatable, Five Point Someone is a great break from the emotionally and action-charged novels of today.

If you want a good laugh and a good read at the same time, do yourself a favour and grab a copy of Five Point Someone. It might just be the book you’ve been looking for.

♥Andz

Tricycle

Though there are thousands and thousands of tricycles here in the Philippines, it's not everyday that you get to see such a cute sight like this - two kids chatting atop a tricycle, their dirty feet swinging about. Now tell me, how adorable is this?! Although I didn't take the picture (my cuz wass seated in the passenger seat, while I was in the back seat, so I let him take the photo), I'm proud enough to say that I'm glad I brought a camera along today, even if I was just on my way to buy school books. Without it, this lovely image won't land on this blog. Capturing a scene like this just makes me smile.

♥Andz

Confession

I'm pretty sure, you're fed up with all my I-had-a-crappy-summer drama. But, I just want to remind you that this is my blog, and it is I who decides what to publish in here, which means, you don't have much chance of changing the nature of my posts. Feel free to complain at the comments section, though. They'll be a worthwhile read.

Anyway, my first week in school just passed, and I'm very confident to say that it went well. More tension, more crazy professors (I think), and more school work, but there's nothing I can't handle, so yeah, I'm cool..... 

Of course, I'm fibbing! 

If there's one thing in the world that would describe me right now, it would certainly not be cool, or anything near it, because I'm totally freaking out! I have to memorise all the capitals of Asian countries all over again, since one of our professors in history (we have two history courses this sem) requires it. We have to stalk some random person, and take note of all his actions for psychology. One word: STATISTICS. And since we have a news writing subject now, we will have to read the newspaper everyday to keep track of current events, so we could deliver something sensible to our journ prof whenever she asks us to recite a news story.

I have a confession to make right here and right now: I hate reading newspapers. Politics makes me puke. Business does the same. And, crimes make me jelly in the stomach. I only touch the newspaper for celebrity gossip, Sunday comics, and puzzles. 

Why did I take Journalism then? Because there's nothing else close to creative writing in the only university that admitted me. I could've pursued literature, but there's a certain tone in my mum's voice that put me off when I gave her the idea. So, I didn't put lit in my application form. 

When I found out that I made it in journ a year ago, I knew that I just have to endure the scent of newspaper and ink in my hands for the rest of my life, and that there's nothing much I could do about it any more. Not that all journalists are stuck in the newspaper area, but most are, and which I'll probably become in the near future. My fate is sealed - secured. I'll be a journalist in the second most dangerous place for journalists in the world. 

On the bright side, I just finished reading Five Point Someone, and I loved it! I couldn’t blame Chetan Bhagat for claiming that 3 Idiots is 70% inspired by it, instead of the 5% Rajkumar Hirani (3 Idiots director) says. I wouldn’t go further about that though, since the controversy had already cooled down a long time ago. I'll post the review soon!

Oh well, gotta catch up with my dad's classical guitar. I kinda missed it :)

♥Andz

Back to School!

After a really boring summer, I'm glad that school kicks off tomorrow. Though I'll be waking up at 4 in the morning everyday, and will be facing more challenging subjects this semester - never mind this year - I'm really, really, excited to be back on the school track, which includes piles of bloody homework and projects, constant cramming, rumoured strict professors, and relentless worrying. I guess being busy and anxious keeps me sane, rather than making me otherwise. Plus, I can't wait to read Five Point Someone: What Not To Do At IIT by Chetan Bhagat. I swore that it'll be my companion on the bus tomorrow, so yeah...

♥Andz

I Swear, We Are Infinite

After the long wait, here's your chance to catch a glimpse of Perks. Quite awesome, isn't it? Logan Lerman and Emma Watson together in a movie - now, that's a good move. And, judging by the trailer, it's safe to say that the film will turn out fine. I've read the novel by Stephen Chbosky, and I loved it; almost missed a station while reading it on a train in Singapore during the holidays. It's that good.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower hits theatres on 14 September this year.


♥Andz

Q&A: A Book Review

I have always thought of giving reading Q&A - a.k.a. Slumdog Millionaire - by Vikas Swarup a go, since the day I saw it on the big screen back in 2009. I loved the film’s story, and I had no doubt that I’d love the book as well. However, for some unknown reason and despite its availability in the country, I never got hold of the book until last Sunday, when I finally decided to grab a copy of it. 

Eighteen-year-old Ram Mohammad Thomas is arrested for winning the biggest prize offered on a quiz show: one billion rupees. His surprising win generated suspicions of cheating, for the producers and host of the show could not believe how could he answer all twelve questions correctly, when he is nothing but a mere waiter at Jimmy's Bar, who has never had formal schooling?

In his own words, Ram Mohammad Thomas narrates his whole life story with full honesty to a lawyer who came in his defence. He tells her about the cruelties he faced in his childhood up to his adolescence, which included being abandoned by his own mother when he was just a baby, working for a vain actress and an Australian colonel, and posing as a Taj Mahal tour guide to foreigners, who knew very little about the landmark. All of which are important clues to answering the questions in the quiz show Who Will Win A Billion.

With Q&A, Vikas Swarup uncovers the many aspects of social injustice and the divide between the rich and  the poor in a farcical and clever manner. Q&A is an unforgettable read filled with twists and unexpected turns.

I have no regrets on buying Q&A three years after seeing Slumdog Millionaire, as it only heightened my dreams of visiting India, which I’ve been having only lately. Five stars out of five!

♥Andz