a bithday patry, cha-nis style!

i was "man-handled" by my mom to attend the 80th birthday celebration of her cousin last saturday. i wasn't really feeling it since i barely know the celebrant, more so, mostly all the people attending. added to that, i was also trying to cut down on the food intake since i had a camping trip coming (more on that later) and everyone knows what not eating while on a chinese dinner means, right? however, my mom obviously knew how to play me. a pout and a sigh later and she used the strongest weapon a mother can wield on a child... guilt. cunning.... simply cunning.

i tried to make the best of the evening. good thing i was seated beside a kooky cousin and i had a textmate who kept me company :)

here are some of the pics i took while trying to entertain myself. :)

notice the sea of blood... and the cheesy decor? :)

the wedding singer.... not really the best but bearable. at one point he referred to the party as a wedding, a slip of the tongue that EVERYONE noticed.

my grey ensemble. i stood out like a sore thumb but was commented as being artistic :) i guess ppl also grow tired of wearing red on these occasions and just wished they thought of wearing grey as well! :)

erratum

david archuleta, consistent boy american idol aspirant lost to david cook, avant guard, steadily getting cuter due to his hard working stylist, rocker.

im not too sad with the turn out of the contest. i did like david cook as well so if america decided he was more deserving, then he was more deserving. i honestly though last night while i was posting my entry about what simon cowell said about david archulets's performance. when he said it was a "knockout", it almost felt like the kiss of death for me. counting chickens before they hatch simon....
o well. america obviously doesnt like being told what to think, more so what to do.

if there is anything im sure that will happen, is that both davids will come out with albums and it will be another battle. i just hope david a.'s maniacal stage dad doesn't beat him up into a pulp first for loosing.

is there any question?

tonight airs the finale of season 7 of american idol. though i used to follow it before when it started, i kinda lost interest midway after missing a few episodes. however, despite not being able to watch it as much as i used to, i still kept my eye on my favorites and how they faired. tonight, i watch my "manok" slug it out with another singer bearing the same name. the two davids on idol's last night... who would have thought this would happen?

anyway, ever since the kid (david archuleta, that is) opened that beautiful mouth of his and released his siren voice, i was hooked. never would i have expected such beautiful sounds to come out of such a young person, and with so much conviction in his singing.. almost like an old soul. i have to be honest, for very obvious reasons, that i was also supporting ramielle to win. but she just got irritatingly, well, irritating. though she started impressive, she gradually slid down the forgettable road of just being another singer. david a, as i call him (yeah, we're close) on the other hand has been consistent ever since day one. his performance tonight sealed the deal with yet another beautiful number, capping it off with the song that made me fall in love.

here is the clip that basically handed him the prize.

God is in everything

was having a conversation with a friend yesterday and as how all things go with me, our topic slowly veered its way to life and God.

i don't really consider myself a very religious person, neither am i that spiritual. i guess since i grew up in a christian family with my grandparents being very devout, the topic of God and how He is represented in my life always comes up. unlike other people, God to me is almost like taking about what i had for breakfast. i can talk about Him in almost palpable detail without sounding like i'm preaching... well, i hope i dont that is. having a very christian upbringing has made the topic and the person of God quite normal and "un"intimidating to me, and talking about it, i found was something that i especially enjoyed quite well.

now don't get me wrong. talking about God for me is quite different from preaching. i have had my fair experience of doing that and blame it probably in the frustrated teacher in me, i always end up sounding like i'm on a lecture. conversations often end up dry and dead and the progression to such dismal states happen at very rapid speeds. probably the reason why i dont preach so much anymore. cerebral that i am, i have found that i become more eloquent, more comfortable when i just talk about God like He is a subject that is familiar with everyone, with no pressure really of saving another's soul. jobs like that need enlightened people... not those like me who lug their baggage around.

so there we were, my friend and i, exchanging views on life and love when, as expected, i asked him about God and how he was able to reconcile his identity with his faith. since accepting my true identity, part of the acceptance process for me was to make peace with God. though not always a necessary process to some people, i felt being a christian, it should be the first thing on my list of things to do. this being the case, finding out how other ppl deal fascinated me as well.

" i don't do harm to myself and harm to other's" is usually the answer i get whenever i throw this question out. though i now feel that being gay is not really so much a moral issue as the lifestyle usually connoted to it, a lot of people still feel that the mere fact that you are means you are automatically damned. but if you really are immoral, is that really so wrong? wasn't rahab an integral part of how the israelites conquered jericho? didn't Jesus go out of his way just to see the samaritan woman? wasn't it mary magdalene the first mortal that Jesus revealed himself to, even before He ascended to the Father? i feel, moral or immoral, in the eyes of God, we are all the same, we are all in need and unlike people, God has no biases.

how i made peace was to believe that i did not choose who i am but was rather born the way i am. can you really fault me if i like blue more that red? or t-shirts more that polos, guys more than girls? God made me who i am for a reason and that is what i intend to find out. my upbringing, my experiences, my struggles, all were part of this master scheme for me to reach this point, to this realization and i am happy that i did. now i can do nothing but move forward with steps of anticipation. i believe my portion is different, and though it may seem that this will mean a more difficult path, what is God but not my eternal portion. right now, i still feel like i'm not whole. i told my friend that though i can honestly say i am now comfortable in my own skin, i still feel like there is a gap that i need to fill. my relationships with self, family and friends are all taken care of now, but that with God, well, is still in the works. a deeper consciousness tells me there is a rough patch somewhere between us and i feel it is my duty to mend the divide. God has given me so much, its the least i could do.

pick me ups!

i was having a rather sour saturday afternoon. i just thank my lucky stars i had friends who cheered me up by barraging me with videos to lift up my spirits. here are some of them...

first, another teresa teng classic!! i just love her, and this video is just too cute!


macveen lead me to the following videos, this one by jason mraz called "i'm your's". fun video.


here's another by duffy, the "new" amy winehouse daw. i like thisone coz i reminded me of them old black numbers. you know back in the days when tina turner of diana ross were just starting. very retro!!


finally, Feist withthe song "1 2 3 4" just a fun video. a pile of none sense but just really fun!


thanks you guys!!!! thanks for making my day!

chinoy senti

a friend's hilarious blog got me all sentimental all of a sudden. meet teresa teng, by far one of the most famous chinese balladeers EVAH!!! her songs are timeless and known by almost every chink the world over, bridging generations and countries even!!

though her songs used to flood the airways back in the 70's and 80's, now you mostly just get to hear her in chinese restaurants over dinner or dimsum. there are also the occasions wherein chinese wedding singers or half drunk relatives hitting the karaoke machines attempt at her graceful voice but only manage to do a really cheesy number...

i found this video of one of her more famous songs "the moon represents my heart". just to show you that her songs transcend age and culture, my mom was looking over my shoulder as the song played and WE started singing together!!!! ahahahaha....

enjoy!!!!

tracks in my ipod...