We (still) got rhythm - 9 years later!

A Theme Thursday Post

"Each morning I get up with the sun..."


Below is a video of the UP Concert Chorus performing a medley of Gershwin's songs, taken during one of our concerts in Norway way back in the year 2000.

I remember that the stage was huge, the lights and the sound systems were perfect - and the audience was amazing. We even had Norweigian visitors we met at a festival that we attended earlier that year.

St. Louis, Missouri and the Gateway Arch

 One of the many stops of the USA leg of the 2000 Millennium Tour of the UP Concert Chorus was St. Louis, Missouri. It was a short stay, just a couple of days, and a couple of concerts, but we managed to squeeze in a trip to that giant steel arch they call The Gateway Arch....

Interviewed by an American writer

I consider myself a newbie blogger - by all normal standards (Alexa Rank, Feedburner readers, etc. - and all those uber important metrics) and so I was a tad bit hesitant when I was asked to participate in a group interview about my thoughts on blogging - with some veteran bloggers, a few probloggers and winners of the EIB 2009. To top it off, the interviewer, Holly Jahangiri, is a professional American writer! Needless to say, I was both honored and pressured to give each question some long deliberation (and proof-reading) before I sent my answers. Lol.

I'm joining TheWeblogZone Blog Contest - and you should too!

Here are the reasons why I am joining this blog contest:

1. I want One year hosting with Hostican (Base Host Package)!
2. I want the Thesis Wordpress Theme – The best search engine optimized Wordpress theme.
3. It would be AWESOME to have a custom Banner/Logo done by a professional graphic designer and with a satisfaction guaranteed clause at that!
4. I'm interested to read the Problogger Book by Darren Rowse and Chris Garret
5. I want $100 (Payable through Paypal) - and I don't need to say why. doh!

If you're interested to WIN the above items too... head on over to The Weblog Zone and join The Weblog Zone Blog Contest today! (and I mean TODAY, because today's the last day!)

Highschool Life Meme - Pisay '99

For the non-Filipino speakers, please pardon me.

This is a meme I got from some high school batchmates, several of them have answered the survey and posted it on their Facebook. I do have an FB account, but I prefer to put this on here! :D

As a brief background - Pisay is a nickname for the Philippine Science High School - the premier high school in the Philippines.

If you want to take the PSHS Competitive Entrace Exams or have a son/daughter/niece/nephew/neighbor or anyone who want to take it - Click HERE for some details.

Here goes:

I was beginning

A Theme Thursday Post

Zero

I was beginning to get bored
inside my mummy's tummy
so I kicked the joint and split
through this passageway so tiny

It took me three whole days
it was a special trilogy
until at long last I was born
on that night of a syzygy

Puberty

I was beginning to grow
hair in places that you know,
and my voice was always cracking
Oh, what about my singing?

So I went to the Doc
To seek medical support
But instead, he circumcised me
Now I'm no longer "supot".


Lol.
*supot is a Filipino word that means "uncircumcised".



Subscribe in a reader

Look who ate my mom's Periwinkles

We have a small garden with a small pond in front of our house - with a few potted plants around the cascading water fountain, a tall fortune plant on one side, and a row of flowering Periwinkles with pink, white and yellow flowers...

...well, we used to. THEY have eaten almost all of the leaves of my mom's Periwinkles. There were about 8 of THEM - none of them shorter than my longest finger - THEY were fat with chlorophyll, had purple and teal eyes with a sinister glare, tiny white dots form a row on either side, and they had these clawlike appendages near their heads. Caterpillars have invaded our garden!

French bulldog puppies and a newborn Yorkshire Terrier

Tweet

Are you a dog person?

My sister and her boyfriend both love dogs - and even though I don't (lol) their presence in our home have made me kind-of-fond of them too. We currently have two female Yorkshire Terriers - their tiny barks fill our home with warmth, they are attention demanding, sweet little critters. :p

After being in Batangas for 2 weeks for work, I was surprised to come home to a house full of doggies - not just the 2, but 4 doggies and 5 puppies! 5 French bulldogs and 3 Yorkshire Terriers! A few hours later, another dog arrived - an English bulldog (unfortunately I wasn't able to take photos of that one!). :D Come see the photos of the dogs...

I am now a Patay Gutom Blogger

I just published my first ever post as a Patay Gutom blogger - and I'm stoked about it. Woot!

It's 3AM, and although my high can also be attributed to the 2 hour travel from Manila to Batangas, and the Starbucks Cafe Mocha I consumed a few hours ago - I am more excited to have published my first ever food blog post - and on no less than one of the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2009!

The Symbology of Ninoy, a Filipino Hero

Why is it a holiday today?

Last night, one of my younger colleagues asked us over dinner the reason why it was a holiday today. We all laughed at her naivete - it was common knowledge: today we remember the 26th death Anniversary of Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino.

On a separate occasion, another friend asked if whether it was Ninoy's birthday or his death anniversary we are commemorating on Aug 21.

While both mistakes can be attributable to memory gaps and are forgivable, it made me wonder about myself: Do I really understand why it was a holiday today? Or am I just happy that I don't have to work? If I, who was already alive at the time of Ninoy's assassination (albeit too young to remember) can so easily forget, how much more so for those who were born much later?

The Cure for Pink Eye

Tweet

Have you ever had Pink Eye?

Overheard:

"Oh! You know what, a friend of mine from work recently gave birth. She was worried her baby was not drinking enough milk from her breast. She said her breasts always felt full like they were about to burst, and the veins on the sides were showing like those on an angry person's neck..."

PSHS Entrance Exams will be on Nov 7 (for SY 2010-2011)

I got a note in my email that sent back memories of sharpened Mongols #2, mind numbing fear and excitement, eyeglasses, Zesto snacks and hundreds upon hundreds of nerds all in one place.

Yep, the Philippine Science High School (PSHS or Pisay) is now accepting applications for Scholars for SY 2010-2011. PSHS Admission Exams will be on November 7, 2009.

On their website, it says: "The one-time screening is composed of scholastic aptitude test (SAT) which is designed to measure Scientific Ability, Quantitative Ability, Abstract Reasoning and Verbal Aptitude."

I reminisce...

Watch the Perseid Meteor Shower Tonight!

I just found out that there is an ongoing meteor shower called the Perseid Meteor Shower, and that it is peaking TONIGHT (Aug 12)! It's a great night to sit under the stars and wish on a shooting star (or a hundred shooting stars just to be sure). :D

So, tonight, get you boyfriend, your girlfriend, your special someone to spend a few minutes looking at the sky. Make sure it's dark to get a better view of the night sky. I guess, a candle-lit dinner will be perfect. ;)

Details of meteor shower, where to look, i.e. what constellations to look for, and other geeky stuff after the jump...

Here is the info excerpt from the PAGASA Website:

"The famous Perseids meteor shower will be observed with its peak on the late night of August 12 until dawn on the following day...occasionally, an exceptional shower may show tens or even hundreds of meteors per minute, but around 50 meteors per hour is more typical."

The Perseids meteor shower is the most reliable one, which is best seen during August 10-14 every year. Under most favorable clear sky condition, there may be 60 to 100 meteors per hour."

If you see a shooting star, what will you wish for?

Subscribe in a reader