Tarzan: The Musical

I grew up watching plays by the Ateneo Children's Theater and the Repertory Philippines' Children's Theater. And I fell in love with the theater and musicals when I saw my first Broadway musical when I was eleven - Miss Saigon. So I was filled with glee when I got tickets to see the latest play by Viva Atlantis: Disney's Tarzan.

The cartoon Tarzan was released back in 1999 and I was not really that fond of the movie since the story was a bit too wild for my taste. But boy, I was surprised when I saw the play. Everyone did a great job of giving justice to the characters and the songs. I am never a Rachel Ann Go fan, but now, I am one! I did not expect her to do a great job in acting but I discovered she is a natural. I was taken by Jane Porter the moment she sang her first song. Singing and acting at the same time is no easy feat. Her diction was also clear and good. And to have all those lines memorized and adding a little humor in certain parts? Hands down, I was impressed!

Tarzan was played by former Glee star Dan Domenech (although I can't remember him in Glee). It was fun watching him swinging on stage. And he portrayed Tarzan in a way that made me like the story.

The props were very simple but it did its job in helping the audience visualize the setting and follow the story. At least the focal point were the actors and their singing and dancing.

I was particularly fond of the little Tarzan and the little Terk. They are so talented at a very young age. Kudos to the kids who realize their dream early in their lives.

I can't wait to see the next play of Atlantis Productions. See you soon Rock of Ages!

Photo from Atlantis Prod Facebook Page

Photo from Atlantis Prod Facebook Page

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I love all of the arts. I love motion pictures. I love stage. I love theater.

Ray Bradbury

App Review: Visual Budget

Three years. That's how long I'm working with Wacoal. And surprisingly, I don't have much savings. I've been telling myself for the longest time that I will start to save for the future (to no avail). And I can't really complain that I'm not earning enough. My salary may not be as high as the others in the industry but how come I was able to save more when I had my first job and my salary was a measly P10,000?

I think it's more about the lifestyle. As the pay grade gets higher, we now have more dispensable income to spend. So I have all this gadgets I barely use, a closet full of clothes with some still with tags and a dresser overpopulated with make up and beauty products. But I'm not liquid!!! The habit I never formed was setting a fixed amount that goes to savings. What happened was whatever was left, it went to savings (which was almost nothing most of the time). I've been struggling with saving since forever and I never really had much of an improvement. :(

So I discovered this great budgeting app. I've tried countless apps already but they all don't seem to fit what I'm looking for. With the Visual Budget app, I get to track all my purchases and I also get to set a budget for each expense category I have. And it produces all the reports and stuff in pie graphs. With this app, I noticed that most of my money goes to shopping, dining and small little things that when added up, costs a great deal. And I can totally customize the categories according to my expenses. With this, I can see if my goal of minimizing my unnecessary expenses have improved.

The only drawback of this app is I have to be careful when importing and exporting the data. I accidently imported the data instead of exporting it and one whole month of my diligent recording was gone. :( Lesson learned: be careful and focus when backing up data.

Other than that, I don't mind paying the $3.99 payment for the app. The app actually appears free on the Apple App Store but after inputting 10 transactions, it will prompt you to buy the full version.

Categories

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Overview and Reports

Lookie! There are many reports you can generate!

I just love the pie graphs they have! I can instantly see where I spend my money the most.

Man of Steel: Super Hot!

I was never really a Superman fan. Well, I used to watch Smallville religiously back when I was in highschool but my interest gradually faded after a couple of years.

Staying up late on a Wednesday was worth it. The movie was great and Henry Cavill is HOT, HOT, HOT! I don't know the original story since my comic books when I was a kid were Archie, Barbie and Sabrina. Some people said that the story was way way different. Well, my take is that's fine since you can't tell the same story over and over again. The writers are allowed to deviate, right? Oh well. The movie was also a bit long and there were about three times I thought the movie was ending (not!). Other than that, it was great! The effects were good, the movie was not too dark and the humor was ok in certain parts.

I just had some ideas bothering me when I saw the movie. 

• One was it was the Philippines' Independence Day and the Filipinos were flocking to the cinemas. Believe me when I say that the seats were sold out.
• Why do all Clark Kent characters look alike? Signature jawline and there's something else I can't pinpoint.

Who's the hottest of them all? Photo from supermanhomepage.com

• And speaking of look alikes, I don't know the about the other Lois Lanes but don't they look old mature? Come on, Amy Adams does not look young and hot at all. And there's something about Lois Lane's facial lines in Smallville as well.

So those are my thoughts and babble about the movie. To those having an internal debate on whether to watch Man of Steel (or World War Z), watch Man of Steel! I'm still thinking if World War Z is my next movie. Ciao!

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Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. Then the trust thing comes afterwards.

It's not an "S",on my world it means "Hope"

"What are you smiling about Captain?" "I just think he's kinda hot."

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And then the camwhoring in the parking lot began. Thank you Tani for the photos! Haha.

From heels to my comfy car slippers! <3

Niko. Caution: will break your heart. Lol. Kidding :p

Freedom

I have always been worried when we would bump into each other. I'm not sure how I will act. Will I play it cool? Will I be a snob? I don't want you or other people to think that I am still affected with the series of events that happened several years ago. The thing is I always reprimand myself for being young and stupid back then.

Indeed, seeing you again has been a little bit weird. But surprisingly, I no longer harbor ill feelings. I just realized that what's done is done. There is nothing else I can do about it. What I can control now are the things that I will do now and in the future. Being mad and hurt will no longer change what happened.

I wish I could have seen you earlier. But then again, I guess things happen for a reason. I'm just glad that I was finally able to set myself free from the regret that was eating me.

More Boracay Photos 2013

I was fooled by this photo!

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It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Always a New Experience in Boracay

It's my nth time in this beautiful paradise and I thought there would be nothing new for me to experience. How wrong was I. There was nothing in particular I wanted to do but lounge under the sun and get a decent tan (Jessica Alba ang peg ko - sadly, my color never turns into that golden tan). Whatever the rest of the group wanted to do, I would just tag along. After all, I already tried some activities and there was only one thing left that I wanted to do - cliff diving. But I'm still terrified of heights and I can't swim so more likely I'll drown (but wait, read more about my surprise).

Anyway, here are the new things for me on this trip:

• Swimming without a life vest!!! I know, I just said earlier that I didn't know how to swim so it was a big revelation to me that I can float in the middle of the sea without the very uncomfortable vest. Almost all of my friends knew how to swim and I somehow felt that I'm safe in case I start gasping for air, someone will surely save me. I was so happy to frolic in the sea that there were times that my friends were busy taking photos on the boat and I was left alone to do some snorkeling. So yeah, I can float but I can't dive and swim in the deep waters so I was mainly on the surface all the time. But what the heck, this still goes on top of my list.

Yup, that's me without a life vest!

• Dining at Aria. I've been seeing this restaurant since my first time in Boracay but I never actually got to try it until now. Food was superb but don't eat here if you're super hungry since their food takes about 15 minutes to be ready, which is really normal. We were just very hungry then. Meals were a bit pricey but when you think of it, it's actually quite reasonable since it's really good.

Quattro formaggi pizza: pecorino, feta, parmesan and mozzarella

Boscaiola: creamy sauce of mushroom, ham and parmesan cheese

Chocolate and strawberry gelato

• Alcohol-hoarding. Well, technically, it's not just me and I'm not actually sure if this is a first-time but if not, it's been a looong time since we last did this. So, because of the election liquor ban and the rumors that it was to start three days earlier than usual, we panicked. Vacation of the summer will not be complete without booze! And then there was a temporary restraining order on the liquor ban, so we decided to go out and finish all that alcohol (well, they did finish the stash).

THE STASH

Yummy Mojito from Epic

• Summer vacation with people I've known more than half my life (this time, without any parents!!!)

I know my pose sucks but this is the only photo where everyone is really underwater.
Thank you Bryan for taking the photo.

• Playing Philippine games on the beach. Reliving our childhood memories by playing tumbang preso, patintero and agawan base. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I'm not good in any of those games. Sorry.

Strategic planning

• Visiting the other side of Boracay. It was peaceful and very quiet. There were parts where there were some grass on the shore and the sand was not as fine as the other side. It was also not advisable to go swimming since there were worms and sooo many seagrass (maybe, even some snakes). We rented a tiny boat and rowed ourselves a couple of meters away from the shore since swimming is impossible. We even got stuck for a while since there was a shallow part near the "island". The experience was fun but terrifying.

• Winning in the scratch thingy. I won P40! Haha. 

So I had lots of fun during this trip. I told myself that I won't be back to Boracay anytime soon as I want to discover other places but I still believe that when I come back, there will be something new in store for me!

Click here for more photos from this trip.

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“Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.” 

– Francis Bacon

Boracay Beach Resort

When I was told we were staying at Boracay Beach Resort, I was like "What? Where the heck is that? Aren't all accommodations in Boracay beach resorts?". But when my friends told me that it's the one with the mermaid along Station 1, my thoughts were "Oh, I see, I can remember it now".

The tiny sign I often overlooked

The lounge/ reception area

Welcome sign!

Our room, with a balcony/ terrace or whatever you call it. I loved it because it has a hammock!

The path to the rooms

The resort actually has two types of rooms - the cottages (where we stayed) and the zen type rooms which were newer, and then it just depends on how many a room can accommodate.  Our room was actually good for three persons since there was no more "room for two" available. Our other friends already got the last one. It was ok though since we had more space (which I really need)!

The room for three was P3,500 /night and the room for two was P2,500/night - both with breakfast included. Not bad since the usual resort in station 1 beach front was minimum P5,000/night. The cottages were also a bit old already and the wear and tear is visible already. But if you just need a simple CLEAN comfortable place to sleep, this place will definitely pass.

A tip though for those who are interested in booking a room here. BRING LOTS OF OFF AN INSECT REPELLANT! I'm not sure if it's just the season or what, but there are TONS of mosquitoes. There are super many plants and super many mosquitoes, we even had to buy katol.

The bedroom

They even had a beach bayong with beach towels

The TV and other stuff may be old but it's not that bad considering the room rate and location.

The welcome drinks - I love the mangoes, it was so ripe (or was it just the sugar?)

The mermaid landmark

The best part of the resort? Its beach front!

Breakfast: daing na bangus, eggs and mango

Breakfast: tapa, eggs and mango

Breakfast: Pancake, bacon, eggs and pineapple

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“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” 

– Robert Louis Stevenson