CH59: Losing Sight

"Don't dream too far, don't lose sight of who you are." - Wicked

The message that resounded most to me when I was watching Wicked The Musical was short and simple: "Don't lose sight of who you are."

Admittedly, I'm quick to adapt and adjust to situations. But in that talent of assimilation, I've forgotten that - as alchemy's rule goes - there's always an equivalent exchange. You cannot have something or become something without losing something - without sacrificing anything.

Now I'm muddled as there's a disparity between who I was pre-college and after. And the transition to become who I am now, well, I can't help but feel that though I find myself where I always dreamt or imagined where I will be - career wise - that I'm not the same person. No, it's not something like maturity. It's something else that I'm still unsure of what to call. An analogy would be selling your soul to the devil to get something you want. Well - no, it's not my soul I threw under the bus to get where I am.

But, I think for one thing, my version of morality now is very much different from what I had before college. Going through a liberal college must have something to do with it. It's not that I'm saying UP corrodes that from its students. It's more of a matter of letting myself be corroded. Also, it's not that I'm saying I don't like who I am now - but more of, not fully knowing myself because somewhere down the road, I lost a part of myself.

And that hollow space where something I used to have resided, well, I guess it's eating me up from the inside not knowing exactly what used to be there.

CH58: Mistaken

What started out as a (self) glorification (lol) on my efforts to lose weight turned nasty. Insulting.

Someone: Hey, how much do you charge for modeling assignments?
Me: (?) LOL. I'm not a model. Is this some kind of joke?
Someone: $500 SGD
Me: I'm sorry but I'm not PR or local and it's not within my employment pass to find another work.
Someone: blah blah blah (fishing for information)
Me: (this is dubious)
Someone: How about I pay you $600 SGD for sex?
Me: Excuse me?
Someone: $600 SGD
Me: I'm not a prostitute. Please.
Someone: Wasted. $600 SGD.
Me: (rolls eyes then exits)

#Boom.

Disgusting.
Do I look like a money boy? Fuck you.

CH57: Skincare

I've never been into skin care regimen - until I spent some time here in SG.

I'm lucky to have a very low acne incidence rate. Or maybe that pertains more to "oily", "non-oily", whatever skin. I don't know. I've never really bothered to check what my facial skin type is. I always assumed/thought that I belonged in the oily group.

There was a time in college when I read somewhere that a Filipino celebrity did not use any facial wash and only used water. So, when I ran out of wash, I decided to try only water. It lasted for about a year, until I was once again caught up in marketing advertisements. And, trust me when I say it feels different when you only wash with water (negative). But since I was in UP, going about different buildings for classes, well, you tend to forget about the vanities in life and focus more on your studies. So at some point, with some TV ads and fad, I got caught back into mainstream and started using facial washes.

[Review] The Descendants

I'm quite sure you've already heard about The Descendants being nominated in the upcoming (Oscars) Academy Awards [edit] and its wins in the Golden Globes. If that wasn't reason enough for you to go see it, well, I don't know how else to convince you.

I wouldn't have known about this movie had it not been nominated for several Oscars. (I'm not sure if there are any advertisements on TV here to promote the movie - as I am still undecided on whether to buy a TV for my room.) But, after having seen the movie, I'm quite pleased that it got the nominations and won some awards.

This movie deserves to be bought on Blu-ray and kept in the archives for late-night family movies.

I tweeted after watching the movie that it's a very lighthearted drama - which seems kind of like an oxymoron for me, but that's the best way I could describe it. There were a lot of scenes that made me teary-eyed only several moments later some witty and funny remark is given and suddenly, it's not all too bad/sad.

I felt as if the movie does not aim for anything e.g. make you sad or happy. It doesn't feel like it's pushing for anything to the audience to swallow accept. For me, the movie just aims to tell a story. And, it's a wonderful and touching story at that. I won't go into details on the story as it might spoil you, but here's a quote from IMDB on the synopsis:

"A land baron tries to re-connect with his two daughters after his wife suffers a boating accident."


And from rottentomatoes.com
From Alexander Payne, the creator of the Oscar-winning Sideways, set in Hawaii, The Descendants is a sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic journey for Matt King (George Clooney) an indifferent husband and father of two girls, who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family's land handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries. -- (C) Fox Searchlight

George Clooney shines through with his acting. In a lot scenes that did not involve dialogue, you can feel the emotion (the situation calls for) from him. It reminded me of my admiration for Ryan Gosling in Drive - where it was the same - just acting - no dialogue and only facial and body expressions to work with in delivery. He doesn't go overboard or over-act. He shows the caliber of being one of the veteran actors in Hollywood.

As for George Clooney's elder daughter - Shailene Woodley (I had to research who she was haha), she was also very effective as a supporting character to George. Her outburst scene underwater after hearing that her mother will die and that the life-support will be removed in a matter of days was one of the scenes that moved me the most. I can only imagine how many scenes it took for her, but, well - like I said, her scene struck me the most. It's how I imagine my reaction will be (minus the pool and being underwater) if and when that time comes for me - the despair, the confusion and the feeling of loss given that much has been left unsaid.

Overall, it's a touching story of how a family that grew apart (primarily because of George being too busy with work) ended up picking the pieces and uniting together - because of a familial loss. The story unfolded itself at the right pace and allowed the actors to shine through.

Hahaha, well I'm no critic so take my word with a grain of salt; see it for yourself and decide. :)

[Review] Homeland

Since hearing and reading about Homeland's win in the recent Golden Globes - and seeing some of my friends in facebook rave about it - I decided the other night to download the series. The whole of season 1. Episodes 1-12.

And to tell you honestly, I watched 8 episodes straight! Each episode averages about 53 minutes (inclusive of the recaps, intros, etc). It's so engaging and riveting. It's like getting mind-fucked. I have to correct myself though for saying that it's something similar to 24, because it's not. 24 did not captivate me as much as Homeland did. And 24 is mostly action and suspense. Homeland is more drama-thriller-suspense.

The premise of the story (no spoilers here) is when Carrie (Claire Danes) hears a tip from an informant about to be executed in Iraq. The message was simply "An American POW has been burned." And that sets off the series. I'm usually pretty good with predicting the outcome of series or at least the direction where it is generally headed, but after episode 8 - WOW. There's been a lot of "I didn't see that coming!" reaction from me. Or maybe I'm just generalizing the "good with predicting the outcome" based on Filipino series. Haha.

But seriously, you're in for a fun ride by watching this. I couldn't stand to wait for office hours to get over so I can finish the remaining four episodes - so I decided to, uhm, read the episode recaps for the remaining episodes.

Although, I can't say for sure that they're entirely deserving of the awards they got last Golden Globes - as I've not seen the other nominees, for sure, you won't be disappointed with Homeland. It's the same reaction I got from watching True Blood. The first time I watched True Blood Season 1 - I watched the whole first season straight - nevermind I had work the following day. Go watch it!

CH56: Bad Luck

Despite being a non-believer (prior to 2012) of predictions, horoscopes and whatnot, it seems I might be turning over a new leaf to someone who does.

Last Saturday, during a company sponsored Amazing-race-like-event, there were banners on the different Chinese Zodiacs and their predictions for 2012. I was born '86, thus a tiger.

The prediction goes: "This may not be the best year for you, but as a tiger, you have the courage and ability to fight off all the challenges. It could also be a good time to exercise self-control to plot your course more wisely. Take the chance to slow down and relax yourself in the process. The tranquility and peace will benefit you in due course."

For some reason, well it hit the mark for me. I've been losing sleep since coming back from New Zealand last January 3 - aside from jetlag (and 9gag) - due to obsessive thinking on what step to take next pertaining to my career.

Yesterday, I took another MC. Last week I took an MC because of problems in the nether region harhar. But yesterday, well, I had headaches and was nauseous. The doctor questioned me and I eventually fessed up that I've been losing sleep stressing over not getting stressed enough in work. Not getting stressed as well as not getting as much learning as I had hoped to. I should be happy, as some people told me, that the work is not at all stressful - that I should just wait for the work to start pouring in. And that I should enjoy the relative calm and focus on other things. But my gut feel is telling me that it's time to bail and look for better opportunities to leverage on my youth and maximize the experience. But, I digress.

CH55-2: Bungy Video

Sharing the bungy video I edited.
Like I mentioned in a previous post, I had to wait a minute or two to wait for some boats to pass by the harbour bridge before I could jump again. Hahaha, I felt like I look scared shit in those parts so I edited them out to prevent any ridicule.

[Review] Amy Winehouse

Like before, I posted on Adele. I think it is only appropriate that I post something for Amy Winehouse.

This one is from her posthumous album. I've been listening to it since getting it from Itunes new zealand (used GCs I got). The more I listen to it, the more I feel affected with the lost in talent. Her death may have put an end to any Amy Winehouse jazz-soul sound, but it did establish her as an institution (well, for me it did).

The reason I started listening to Amy Winehouse, before she even won her grammies was a review I heard/read somewhere that there wasnt any auto tuning or whatever technology that was applied to her record. What you hear on her album is unedited and raw. I'm not 100% sure that the information I heard was accurate, but, it did get me listening to her.

I highly recommend getting her posthumous album. If you're already over Adele's album, this is a great replacement. Although Adele's album is still I go back to from time to time.