HAR HAR HAR HAR!!!!!!!

It's 2:44, March 30, 2006. I sang the birthday song for myself when the clock stroke 12! Para akong sira. Sabagay, may pagka-krung krung naman talaga ako.

Kinareer ko na itong blog ko, enjoy kc eh. Dami lang dapat ayusin sa fonts and spacing. Antok na ko, papa-spa pa ko bukas, syempre birthday ko no!

Teka gawa muna ako wishlist:

1. To go to London next year to represent the Philippines in the Jazz Vocal Competition

2. To be able to get na that condo unit in QC- Morato area;

3. To be sexier this year, kahit magparetoke, hahahahahha!

4. To go to Macau, Guam and Hongkong this year;

5. To perform in Las Vegas, Nevada;

6. To finally have time to go to the dentist for a new whiter teeth;

7. To open a hole-in-the-wall artist café;

8. To be able to buy a second-hand super carry for my "tiangge" life;

9. To help some kids to school;

10. I wish myself good health, prosperity and happiness!!!!

MY BIRTHDAY SONG at 40:"IN MY LIFE"

( originally sung by the Beatles, but I like my own poignant version and Patti Austin's too )

There are places I remember

All my life though some have changed...

Some forever... not for better

Some have gone... and some remained

All these places have their moments

For people and friends that went before...

I know I'll often stop and think about them...

In my life, I loved them all....

But of all these friends and lovers...

There is no one that compares with you...

And these memories lose their meaning...

When I think of love as something new...

Though I know 'll never ever lose affection

With lovers and friends I still can recall...

I know I'll often stop and think about them...

But in my life...

I'ved loved you more...

In my life... I've loved you more....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

As March 30 sets in....

"Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are" so goes this overused quotation. With new terms and levels of friendship analyzed to fit this new world, this quote may no longer hold true right? Well I guess not if your intentions are genuine enough.

I have plenty of friends, of varying degrees, from all walks of life, of different shapes and sizes, some are very rich while some are from the streets ( nagugulat sila minsan pati taong grasa kaibigan ko, heheheehehe ). Some have spots and some are alcogel-clean. I want to be friends with everyone - they who also have genuine hearts like what I believe I have. As a-matta-a-fact, two of my best friends are dogs! Well, what's wrong with a pig having dogs as friends anyway, hahahahahahaha!

There were plenty of times I needed friends to run to in times of need. I instilled into myself that whatever support I got, I would give it back in return, not necessarily to the same person. I enjoyed the movie "Paying Forward"? for it reflected a facet of what friendship meant to me.

I want to focus this blog on my Angel's Wink Family. We go a long way. Almost all of us met and worked at Cap Phils., Inc. - yes, the pre-need company in dire straits, thanks to GMA's politicking. I was in the corporate communications department and Cesar, Love, Tita Angie (Mamsie), Sarah, Abet, Juvy and Ellen were part of the sales force. A different sales force because we enjoyed music and theater in that company.

They were choir members, quartet group, dance teams, actors and actresses. My team handled their conventions and presentations and surely we easily connected, although I was outwardly 'neutral' then since theirs was just one of the four major groups from all over the country.

Come to think of it, Beth Figuro did special projects too with the company ( she was with DSL Productions who supplied equipment for us ) and she would sway in and out of our floor for presentations. And yes, Elaine and Stella (singer-hosts) who were lounge singers like me had guested on some CAP Foundations too!

We also have bunsos: John Lee-Llacer, a kababayan and was also part of CAP ( CAP Health ) is now busy making moolah in real estate ( kaya ayaw na rumaket sa AWP, heheheehe ); Erica, my niece who is also our bridal fair's "signature model"; and Fiona, Love's seven-year old (?) daughter. Yes, she is a kabarkada. And of course my daughter Angela, who will now go on-training this summer. Atom may be older than the kids but he is also our bunso - sexy version ni Paulo Clemente and ang galing din mag-host!

Nga pala, kung may bunso, may senior citizen din pala kami, si Tita Angie!!!!!! Nye-nye-nye-nye! We love her dearly and glad she is with us. Siyempre, iba na ang may karanasan.... saan? Hahaahahahhahaa! She also happens to be born the same date as my Mom - March 25. She is our feisty Hot Mama.

I am glad we are a group. We were just enjoying ourselves then and when Ces and I decided to offer coordination services, we never had a difficult time getting people to help us through. For after all, these friends of ours are not just your ordinary sales people. They are the best and had the best training. They have organizational skills and team work knowledge plus their exposure to those grandiose productions we staged for years and years at CAP is something we could have full use of in our event company

We are very comfortable with each other and it reflects on our work. We are the original "jologs" long before the term was coined.We are just happy to be together, period. To be able to meet up and work at the same time, what an added bonus! Libre chicha na ( anyenye! ) may bonding sessions, courtesy of our dear clients, hahahahahaha!

I thank you guys for the friendship and I really am very glad to be part of your lives. You bring me joy and happiness and I am grateful for the opportunity. Get ready na for Baguio and Boracay!!!!!!

TRIBUTE TO SIR CES

Most of all, I would want to have a special portion here for someone since he insisted. Kidding aside, If there is one thing I am very thankful for, it is having met this brilliant guy who had been so helpful in bringing AWP where it stands now. Around 1998? I was beginning to have difficulties attending to all the wedding and other inquiries. It didn't even occur to me then nga that I will be into this full time. Anyway, I couldn't handle my schedule, follow up, etc anymore unlike when it just came in trickles but around this time it was flooding. Heelllp!

I needed someone to represent me na and since our subject, Cesarlito "Ces" Borromeo Aglipay, had very good sales background, I knew he could sell a big man and tell them he is sexy. Ako yun. hahahahahaha!

Little did we know that we would be going full time into production and events. We are even producing two successful bridal fairs annually ( "Power Weddings" every February and "Weddings... Get Set... Go!" in October, both at Rockwell )

I do not hide the fact that I have short temper most times and Ces neutralized everything. I could concentrate on my creative spins and marketing plans and I was sure he would implement all these very well. He talked to clients the way I never could. I simply cannot sell myself. Feeling ko kc I am worth my weight in gold, hahahahahaha!

And he sold me like a pimp! In no time I was a CURACHA as in walang pahinga. I've never been so gratified. Well, for one, magaling talaga talent niya, ako yun. Mwahahahahahaha!

As a friend, Ces taught me some basic values which I never would have learned if he was not the one who inducted me into them. He must have have been an angel sent from up above. I did the roller coaster ride and he made me stabilize myself and simply enjoy life's simple pleasures. Feeling ko tuloy parang when I met him, nare-hab ako, hahahahahahaha!

He made me learn how to use money well and he gave me wise investment options. He is my finance and investment man. I wouldn't have been able to save were it not for his control over money matters. This guy is a genius. Any takers? I guarantee 100%. Call me, ako naman ang agent niya, bwahahahahahaha!

Ces, if you are reading this, thanks so much for being my kasangga. Salamat sa iyong ginintuang puso. Nawa'y biyayaan ka ng Maykapal ng gintong mga ngipin pagtanda mo. Haahhahahahahahaha! O ayan, supermega puri na ako sa yo oha! Pengeng kape! Bwahahahahhahaha! Yun lang.

FRIENDS I MISS

My CAP Friends: Mrs. Lilia Reyes, Mam Estrelle, Egay & Cecille and Winston, pati na rin si Mam Lerms...
My highschool friends - Benjie, Danny, Allan, Carol, Francis, Floteo, Imelda, Dennis etc
My college friends - Karl & Jeni, Dr. Jessie Solis, Jess Yalung ( R.I.P. ),
My "Lounge years" friends - Joey Bautista and ex-wife, Ate Jean, Ruby and the Pulse regulars

PLACES I MISS:

Baguio, Ticao Island in Masbate, Cebu, Davao, Boracay, My quaint office room in CAP, Yung carinderia beside CAP, Project 6 the way it used to be.... Cafe Adriatico... ano pa ba

Things I miss: Jopay the old white car, Camel cigarette, the old sofa in our Bulacan Haus.... LOLA FELY!

As the month of March ends..... PART 2

My Forty Years: A Summary in Pictures

Pictures... pictures.... pictures.... Got loads of them. I am admittedly burara but surprisingly when it came to things that matter to me pala, I have them all in one bodega - my little room, Yes it may look like a bodega but it is in my little room where my creativity becomes endless, my best works and concepts materialized there. Oops, I am here now in this little room. My PC is here too and I squat on the floor now after breaking too many chairs. Geez! I got it all here! Even the tooth which I pulled myself! hahahahahahaha!






My Lola Nene ( Clemente ) had tons and tons of photo albums for her to showoff how life had been good to her and her family. I didn't know then that what she was doing was called documentation. I was glad to digitalize the pictures hoping all these memories can be kept alive forever. I want to show the pictures on this particular blog to share my life story as captured in camera as well as some special places, events and people who made quite a mark on who I am today.







I thank my Dad and Mom for bringing me into this mad mad world. How I wished though that my Lolo Titong ( Papang's Dad ) were still alive today for it would have certainly made a big difference in our lives. He died when I was only about 10 years old but my memory of his being a great man still lingers. Now that I am 40, I have this stinking feeling I got more than my share of his traits, among which are my zest for life, my being a dreamer ( and making dreams a reality ), and my being a responsible parent I guess. I hope though I would not have his 'Telly Savalas' head, at least not in the near future or none at all. I had the chance to know my maternal grandmother more, Lola Fely. She fought for her rights, very feisty. She lost her sight due to old age but her mind was still very brilliant. She gave her best shot 'til the very end until she finally left us just last year. That "nude statue" you see reminded me of the goodlife we had. It had weathered five generations and I am glad I still get to hold her once in a while. I must have thought she was a santo when I was little...






Straight from Marcopper Mines in Marinduque where I finished my highschool, I enrolled in U.P. College of Music, took voice, solfeggio and rudiments and had a brief stint with the world renown UP Concert Chorus, where I met some 'goodie two shoes' kind of guys who were auditoning for an a capella octet. Little did I know that this stint with the TUX would take a huge part in whatever 'music intelligence' I have now. We performed with only the best of the lot and my exposure to the production side of entertainment was cemented.More than these, it was like having enrolled myself in John Robert Powers for six years. Thanks to my Kuyas.






More than aiming for the stars, I went solo because of two things: I wanted to earn more ( no division by eight, :), and I wanted to prove I can make it on my own. Except that managers wouldn't touch me for they may have thought I knew I couldn't be fooled but I was actually very much willing to be used and abused, hehehehe.

Actually, unlike my elders who had good day jobs, I couldn't find one when I finished college because Tux was already all over the place and companies didn't think I could hack work while singing. So I did the lounges and did very well. I also produced my own shows and my own album. When I won over Rannie Raymundo, Side A, Bert Nievera and Artstart Band for the 1993 Awit Best Jazz Vocal Recording, I was happy na even when my album didn't make much money, hahahahahha!

I just wished I was in the era of 'Star In A Million' where winners got loads of prizes. But in my time I won the prestigious OPM-Fe S. Panlilio Scholarship for Professional Singers. Too bad the prize was only P15,000. Arggh!

But life really has a way of balancing things and if you listen closely to your spirit, it has a way of letting you know which road to turn. At one point I got burned out. I took rest then from there I simply followed the whisper...






I had a day job! Held on to it for six years while only making myself available on weekends. Gee I really enjoyed having a different life and succeeding in another field. I ended my stint there knowing fully well I gained so much more. I learned Corporate Communications and became a specialist.






But looking back now, God put me there more than anything else so I can have the after-office hours spent exclusively for my daughter Gela who was growing up fast. Good Lord Gela grew up nicely despite the odds. She possesses inner strength and I let her grow up to be a sweet survivor. I was able to put her to a good school and I couldn't ask for more. She is my greatest achievement.

As the month of March ends..... PART I

My birthday falls on March 30. I am gonna be a year wiser and I am glad I am still a cutiepie. Oh well... love your own. This is my blog and I couldn't care less about your own comments, tsura nyo lang, ahehehehehe.
I remember preparing my picfiles for my website and found it. Now it breathes here first. Actually pictures of myself from the time I was born up to the present.




Whoahhh.... now you know I was born with my eyebags and big eyes. Above is a montage of myself from zero age up to about 12 years old. YOUNG & INNOCENT YEARS. Cute ko grabeh! :)

Here's a picture montage of myself from age 12 to about 16. I can call it my HIGH SCHOOL / PROVINCIANO YEARS. Cute pa rin & kinda innocent pa rin , negro nga lang!

Sweet 16 to sexy 22 -TUX / COLLEGE YEARS : PAPAble talaga. Deliciously & salaciously cute! heheehhe! :)

From 22 to 32 thereabouts ( LOUNGE YEARS ) : PAPAngit na ata ng papangit, heheehehehe...

Now here is my picture montage from age 32 to present. I did a full circle from the artist type to corporate look, clean and suave. Part-time komedyante. Magician kaya next time para pati kids party i-raket na din. Di kaya matakot sa kin ang mga kids? heheheehehehe :)

When I joined weddings super full time in 2003, I kinda looked even more wholesome, mukhang pastor na nga eh! hehehehehe ( if they only knew.... anyenye! :)

When I turn 40 on March 30, I gotta have a new look. Oh maybe more on the shape. I wanna be... sexier ( asa pa kayo diyan, hehehehe ) Dr. Vicky!!!!

Finally, here on the left is a pic montage I made from the studio photos done for me by the great LEE LLAMAS ( www.leellamas.com ). He captured through his images my "New York State of Mind".

More of Charito & Badong - BABY PICS ETC

Badong is one lucky dog. He's much like a spoiled brat growing up and has all he wants. He loves Spaghetti from McDonalds and he took it from his Mom Charito. Charito knows if it is not from McDo. We would buy at Wendy's, Jollibee, KFC but Charito would know and she wouldn't finish it. Badong is less scrutinizing though and would lick Charito's leftover to the last string.

If there's one thing I don't like about Badong, he doesn't know how to "fold" his paws when he reaches up to me. Now my once flawless legs are full of scratches, grrrr. And he kisses like a maniac but I enjoy it when he kisses my ears to wake me up. He also ruined my walking shoes and poohed and peed in my computer room not just once. He also ruined the little black wooden chair I just newly bought. He got his share of some spankings, ako pa :). Oh well, kids are kids and now that he is already a young boy he doesn't do things like that anymore.

Charito on the other hand was more often than not prim and proper and kinda snooty. She is always neat and doesn't smell. She cleans her feet as if she were a cat. Oh she surely knows how to make me happy by simply looking into my eyes and tell me she loves me dearly. I also know if she's not feeling well. She also acknowledges that her Ate Gela is her señorita. She enjoys running after cats and I think she is a farm dog in nature. One thing I hate about Charito is... she goes crazy over mosquitoes and flies inside the house! ... as in lamok at langaw! I don't know if she abhors them. She runs after them like crazy and wouldn't stop til she gets to munch one. Yuck!

We were very protective of her being a dalaga and wanted her future assured by once "pimping" her to this very old but uber rich daschund of our friend who lived on the 12th floor of an exclusive condo but she would have none of it. She hated the old dog like hell! Little did we know she would end up with a stray village dog and simply howl like a seasoned streetgirl instead of protecting her.... and it was all over in seconds! I meant the howling. Haay... and of course the result was Badong. Yes, she only had one little doggie.

CAMERA-SHY CHARITO

For a while I really wondered why Charito became really scared at the mere sight of a camera. We really couldn't get a nice picture of her since she would really bow out of the scene.

But I remembered we left her all alone one rainy night outside the house and she must have seen a lightning! It's the flash of the camera that she must be fearing.

Somewhere here are pictures of Cha when she was only about three months old and she was still clueless about lightnings.

Guess what, I outsmarted her when I bought a new cellphone with a camera and got to take her pictures without knowing it! She thought I was just holding my cellphone, mwahahahahaha!

Great shots with her bitchy Mona Lisa smiles so obvious! Too bad I still don't know how to transfer the file from the cell to my PC since I think my cellphone needs a more elaborate transfer gadget than most Nokias. One day soon. For sure....

Angéla Francésca

This is my one and only daughter, Angéla Mei Francésca.
Angéla because she was born 1989 and the name of Ms. Universe '89 is Angéla, accent on the 2nd syllable. Mei is the name her Mom added; actually a Hawaiian word that means pretty ('ata). Francésca from Kuh's daughter Isabella Francésca. I was busy with Kuh's Music Museum then.

We call her so many names - Gela, Gelay, Potski, Potskidoodles, Anggé, etc. depending on the mood. When I am mad, I call her GEEEEELLLLLAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahaahhaa!

Of course I have a life but she must be the reason why I keep myself going. She gives me love that only she can give. I love this little girl of mine so much. I wouldn't be working hard were it not for her.

My only goal for Angéla is for her to be happy. She's sweet 16 na. I like her so much because like me, she can both be jologs and be sosi as the need arises.

O sige na nga, may pagkataklesa din 'tong batang to. May pinagmanahan ata, hehehe. Nakakabuwishet din minsan... ay, di lang pala minsan! MARAMING BESES!!!! Pero super love ko siya talaga. Cutipie eh! We are actually the best of friends more than I am her Dad and she my daughter thing.

In the picture, she's holding my doggie, Badong. Badong is actually Gela's pamangkin. Badong is the unico hijo of Charito, my other dog. Her full name is Charito Makahol. Charito is AWP's Security Guard, actually. I got Badong's name from my coffee friend who is tisoy but has short legs. Badong's full name is Salvador Makahol del Calle. Badong's dad kasi is asong kalye, pero sosyal na asong kalye ha, village boy ba, hehehehehehe.

Whew............

All the while I thought I would be able to put something here immediately after our bridal event at Rockwell last Feb. 4 & 5 ( POWER WEDDINGS YEAR 2 ). I was still on a roll and before I knew, it is already March 20! 11 days to go will be my....... 40th birthday!

I felt kinda uncool when I turned 20 coz I was no longer a teenie. When I turned 30 I felt scared I was getting old! When I turned 32 I felt bad my age is no longer part of the calendar. Now that I am turning 40 on March 30, believe it or not, I feel..... GREAT!

I know exactly why I feel this way. It is because I know I am happy where I am now. I may have a few more wishes but I am fine where I am. I remember vividly when I was young that I dreamed to be a singer someday. At age 16 I became a pro with this group called TUX. I went solo in 1989 and I had my own share of glam and small triumphs. I was in a rut by 1995 but that gave me a chance to find other things I could do and I proved my worth in the corporate communications field... but little did I know that one day, I would be back doing what I love most... singing ( and of course hosting too)!!!

I am happy where I am for the following reasons: 1) I am not a "hungry artist" ( obvious ba? heheheehehe) ; 2) I never stepped on anyone at anytime to reach my goals; 3) I gave my best shot in everything I did and I learned and became wiser with all the not so good things that passed through my heart, body, soul, mind - I am still a complete person - my battles have been won and I am ready for whatever lies ahead; 4) I got to use all the things I learned and I am reaping the benefits today; 5) I am happy because I just never stopped learning, keep getting interested in a lot of things, I still keep dreaming! 6) I have a daughter who is smart and beautiful... and she loves me very much, warts and all; 7) I am happy because I have been able to give my daughter the best education I could possibly give her; 8) I am happier because I raised a happy child; 9) I am happy because I have a life! and finally, 10) I am happy because turning 40, I still look great! and when I said that, I wasn't facing a huge mirror.. just big enough for my face! hahahahahahaha!

So it is true LIFE BEGINS AT 40!!! Time to begin working out I guess and feel sexier. I have this stinking feeling I would need Dr. vicky someday soon... pero mahal ata... jogging na lang!!!