Unconditional love

I declare this month of February a month of dreamers! Most will say because it's the month of the hearts but that reason alone is not logical, so I'd like to add the global economic crisis as a reason.

So where do you "dream" to date your sweetheart? That will be cheaper, right? And it can be more romantic too, just talking about a dream place and dream food and drinks with him or her.

For others like me, dreaming about winning the Lotto is enough, but it leads to more dreams unimaginable (LOL)!

Well, this is also the best time to prove how much you love a person, and the greatest love of course, is the unconditional love. This economic crisis is not too bad after all, because lovers now have the opportunity to prove it's not the material things that matter because their love is unconditional.

Some good things never last

Years ago, I almost became a member of the official choir of the company I worked for, which at that time was the biggest corporation in the Philippines. But what the company really wanted was a "dream chorale", so professionals in the music industry were hired. After a few rehearsals, the San Miguel Master Chorale was ready to perform in public. It was indeed a dream chorale and I became one of their followers, trying my best to watch every performance of this chorale.

Until the inevitable had to happen. Streamlining of the workforce had to be implemented and the chorale was not spared. At least everything was done to spare the group because I could still see the members of the chorale in the company premises even after I was retired and our department was dissolved.

It's sad that some good things never last, so while they are still existing, we should take the opportunity to enjoy them. I had the chance to shoot a video of the chorale during one of their informal performances for the employees and what I'm sharing here is one of my favorite Tagalog songs sang by the chorale, "Sana'y Wala Nang Wakas". I don't know how to exactly translate this title to English because the subjects or pronouns are implied, so it can mean to say "I hope this will never end". But some good things never last, and have to end.

However, the dream can go on, and those members of the San Miguel Chorale will someday be part of another dream chorale.

Barack Obama can be a hero

For the first time in history, the world unites with a common dream: for the newly elected President Barack Obama to make the necessary change that will free the world from economic crisis.

Feng Shui followers should know that the year 2009 is a very auspicious year for leaders like Barack Obama. This is therefore a very good year for President Obama, not only as the President of U.S.A. but as an inspirational leader, and start the challenge of changing the world and be a hero.

The year 2009 is excellent for every leader if he or she has the desire and determination to succeed. To begin with, every leader should have a strong sense of self worth and confidence. Those are statements from Feng Shui readings.

However, if a leader becomes overly ambitious, he or she will encounter harmful obstacles. That is again true for every leader, and just because of that Feng Shui reading involving "The Commanding Star" for this year, how I wish all leaders are Feng Shui believers so that they will heed to that warning.

Dreams for 2009

Here are my dreams for 2009:

1. To win in Lotto! If I win the jackpot, I will go to Europe with a choir and my family, while the major part of my winnings will be properly planned for Lyca, my special needs child's program in the U.S. (if still necessary), and the organization of a foundation for artists and poor children with cerebral palsy next year.

2. To be a contestant in Deal or No Deal (LOL), and if I win a big amount, I'll continue my Interior Design course.

3. To earn more from my blogs, but this will only happen if you'll continuously visit them (please).

I can't believe only the above 3 are my dreams for this year. Maybe because I knew that my more important realistic dreams are about to come true. What are they?

1. To own a Tiens Dream Bio-energy Health Mattress.
2. For Lyca to be able to walk.
3. For Lyca to be able to talk.

Deal or No Deal

A dream that has been lingering for over a year now is for me to be selected as a contestant in Deal or No Deal. Just very recently, two contestants were offered a million pesos but they rejected the offer because four million was still on the board. What was disappointing was one ended up getting only 150. The other contestant ended up with 25,000 but was offered the one million twice! Maybe there were a lot of watchers who, like me, wished they were the contestant and have accepted the one million offer.

This is already the third season of the show that I've been waiting to be called as a contestant but maybe it's just not my time yet. The host of Kapamilya Deal or No Deal, Kris Aquino, in my opinion has already given the smartest tip, after the first 2009 show where one million was offered but rejected: "When the offer reaches one million, choose Deal", unless there are still other millions on the board.

So if you're chosen as a contestant, think of us, the TV audience, aside from yourself! Make us happy for you, regardless of your current status in life! Inspire us to dream some more, that someday we will be there too, and win a big amount like you did! I think I'll have a headache if another million is rejected if two numbers like 10,000 and 4,000,000 are left on the board!

Festival of Choirs

This Christmas season, I have really wanted a festival of choirs right here in my blog, but unfortunately, I don’t have a real videocam to make that project worthy. I can’t help though to feature Christmas carols in my previous posts, and some of the events of Novo Concertante Manila where my children are members, were my best sources.

I was able to attend two events involving two among Ateneo de Manila’s choirs too, and though my videos of some parts of those events were not good enough since I just used my cellphone, I cannot end this season without featuring videos of those choirs in just one post. Next year, if my dream to have a real video camera will be fulfilled, I can probably feature more posts of several choirs.

In the meantime, here are the choirs caught by my Samsung U600 cellphone's camcorder this Christmas Season, and they are among the Philippines’ best choirs:

Ateneo College Glee Club at the new Eastwood Mall – We Wish You A Merry Christmas:


Novo Concertante Manila at Holy Family Parish, Kamias - El Guayaboso:


Ateneo College Glee Club at the Church of Jesu - The Lord’s Prayer:


Ateneo Chamber Chorale at the Church of Jesu:


Novo Concertante Manila with University of Makati Chorale at the Holy Family Chapel, Eastwood City – Diwa Ng Pasko:


HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!

Inside Mall of Asia at Christmas

Sometimes there is an activity we’d like so much to accomplish but because of the hassle we have to undergo to do it, we just forget it if it’s not important anyway. That activity becomes a dream, until destiny suddenly brings us there. For me, that activity is simply to go to “Mall of Asia”, which they said is the biggest mall, not only in the Philippines but in the whole of Asia. The place is too far from our residence and there are a lot of shopping places nearby like Megamall, Robinson’s Galleria, Eastwood City malls, Gateway, Trinoma, SM City North, Hypermart, Tiendesitas, SM Marikina, etc. We are actually in the middle of all these malls.

Until one day, my son and daughter told me that their choir, Novo Concertante Manila, will be singing at MOA (popular abbreviation for Mall of Asia) and I immediately answered “We will watch!”. I couldn’t think of a better reason for me to go there. The day of their performance was December 22, Monday. We expected a lot of traffic so we decided not to bring the car. Fortunately there were already jeepneys going to MOA waiting for passengers from the MRT, so it was really easy.

When we were there, I was expecting a large structure and I was disappointed not to see any. I realized though that what really made MOA the biggest is its sprawling low structures connected by bridges. At the far background of this photo with a “cute” open shuttle is a blue bridge. The next photo is a shot of this same place from that bridge.


At Christmas, inside a big mall is of course a big Christmas tree, and a stage where various shows are held. Choirs singing Christmas carols are indispensable, especially if they’ve won in a contest, like the first prize for church choir category won by Novo Concertante Manila in the recently concluded “Vivere Chorale Competition 2008”, a popular annual chorale competition in the Philippines. The host of the competition is Vivere Hotel, an elegant hotel in Alabang. Maybe one day I should visit that hotel and blog about it (another dream, LOL).

What a wonderful way for me to go to MOA, and listen to Novo Concertante Manila sing one of my favorite Christmas songs, a German song titled “Frohlocket Ihr Folker auf Erden”, which exclaims the joy and thanksgiving of the world for He has sent His son for the redemption of mankind.

Merry Novo Christmas!

Merry Novo Christmas! The "Novo" of course means "new" and it can be a short single word for "May your dreams be fulfilled this Christmas!". Do you like that? I like that too, very much in fact, so I'd like to thank the annual Christmas event of Novo Concertante Manila for coming up with that title for their traditional Christmas concert.

For this year, the "Merry Novo Christmas" concert was held just a few hours ago, on December 20, at the Holy Family Chapel of Eastwood City in Quezon City. The video shows a part of the concert where Novo Concertante Manila sang a Filipino Christmas song titled "Kampana Ng Simbahan", a well choreographed rendition. Just brighten your screen a bit to appreciate the choreo since it was a far shot just using my camera.

Singing with Novo Concertante Manila

Novo Concertante Manila is one of the best choirs in the Philippines. There was a time I dreamed to be a part of this choir but it was not a serious dream. Until my son and daughter became members, because the conductor of this choir, Arwin Tan, was the former conductor of the choir where my children were members.

Our family sings with some of my children's former choirmates, at the Holy Family Chapel at Eastwood City every third Sunday of the month (11 A.M. mass), with my daughter as a "passive" conductor. Until some members of Novo Concertante Manila joined us, including their conductor who doesn't conduct this time, but sings as one of the basses. I feel proud to sing with the choir's sopranos, though sometimes I prefer to sing as an alto because the sopranos are obviously very good and there are just a few altos. I'm contented to just sing with them informally during the mass, primarily because the choir won't need somebody like me LOL.

In this video is a song of Novo Concertante Manila, which showcases their very talented sopranos and an alto. The title of the song is "Ili-ili Tulog Anay", a Filipino lullaby in Ilongo dialect. Their performance made me very happy that I was part of the audience and not the choir. I took the video just using my Samsung U600 cellphone during the Thanksgiving concert of the choir at Holy Family Parish in Kamias, Quezon City, last December 6 of this year.

Ilonggo

Ili-ili, tulog anay,
Wala diri imong Nanay,
Kadto tienda bakal papay,
Ili-ili, tulog anay

English Translation

Little one, little one, sleep now
Your mother is not here,
She went to buy some bread
Little one, little one, sleep now.

My own version, to put Lyca to sleep (LOL):

Sleep, sleep, my little one
Mama will stay to sing for you
I will be here to watch you sleep
Sleep, sleep, my little one

The Dream Match: Pacquiao Wins!

"The Dream Match: De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao" is probably the first “David and Goliath” match for so many years. For this “Dream Match” with Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao has been the underdog. For the last seven years, he had been an underdog, in 2001 against Lehlo Ledwaba and according to some, to Erik Morales in March 2005. But in those two fights he was an underdog, he emerged as the winner!

Today’s fight of these two boxing giants will end all speculations. They said that Oscar may win by knockout, while Manny may only win by decision.

Here's an unofficial outcome of the Dream Match:
1st Round: Pacquiao's learning curve has accelerated
2nd Round: Pacquiao lands more than half of his shots
3rd to 5th Round: Pacquiao dominates the fight
6th Round: Pacquiao wins the 6 rounds
7th Round: De La Hoya weakens, Power punches: De La Hoya 34%, Pacquiao 57%
8th Round: Pacquiao still dominates the fight
9th Round: De La Hoya's doctor advises to stop the fight before this round started!

Pacquiao wins by TKO! Power punches: De La Hoya 31%, Pacquiao 59%