It's the 8th week of Season 4 of "Dancing with the Stars" and just like the past 2 seasons that I've watched, I am totally hooked on this show!!! :-) I guess it's the ballroom dancer in me that really enjoys watching these celebrities train week after week, learning a new dance everytime. I've been so inspired by this show, that earlier this year, I enrolled in a ballroom dancing class and also seriously considered (and actually started) spending a few hours a week with a personal instructor to teach me dance routines! (not just social dancing). Unfortunately, my schedule got so incredibly unpredictable that I couldn't commit to a regular schedule with the instructor. Oh well! The good thing is, I've discovered that ballroom dancing turns out to be my favorite form of exercise, so I should really go out and dance some more!
As for "Dancing with the Stars" - I can't decide who I want to win... but I'm rooting for any of my top 3 favorite celebs... Laila Ali, Apolo Anton Ohno and Ian Ziering :-) Hope one of them wins! Billy Ray will probably go next, so no threat there. But the other guy, Joey Fatone has been on the top spot quite consistently, so he's a major contender for the championship. Counting down to the finish line... a 5, 6, 7, 8...! :-)
p.s. - I just have to say... I love Maksim Chmerkovskiy!!! :-) :-) :-) hehehe.
When I was a little kid, one of my most favorite cartoons was "Charlotte's Web". My cousins and I would rent a Betamax tape of the movie and watch it over and over and over. I remember I would be so touched by the story that I would cry during the emotional scenes :-)
And so I was thrilled to find out late last year that Paramount Pictures made a movie version (with real people) of Charlotte's Web!
Entering the theatre, I had pretty high expectations of the movie. And I'm happy to say that it didn't disappoint me one bit! I loved everything, and still cried even if I knew the story already.
Anyway, this entry isn't about my review of the film. It's about a line in the movie that really struck me. The baby pig Wilbur, who was new at the barn, was asking the other animals if they could play with him. They all turned him down coz they were busy going about their own businesses. So Wilbur, who was probably wondering why the other animals were not interacting with each other, asked aloud "Aren't you all friends here?" (or something like that). Then one of the animals (the cow or goose, I don't remember) replied that "Yes, we're all living here together, aren't we?" (or something like that). Wilbur's reaction to this is what really struck me:
"Just because you're all together in one place doesn't mean you're friends." (or something like that).
It made me realize that this was so true. And it applies to many situations... just because you're together in an office doesn't make you automatically friends with everyone there. Just because you belong to the same organization doesn't mean you're all friends there. And the same goes for a community and even your own family! Just because you all live under the same roof doesn't mean you're friends -- in the real sense of the word.
Friendship is about talking on a deeper level, really knowing one another... it's about going out of your way for one another... it's about loyalty, and sacrifice - putting others ahead of you... it's about caring, and giving. And loving people for who they are and not for what they can do.
Some pig indeed. :-)
My best friend, who's a caterer, never gets to relax throughout the Christmas holidays as its the busiest time of the year for her. So last weekend (Jan 19 to 22), we went on a post-Christmas vacation to the city of Dumaguete for some much deserved R & R. It turned out to be a really really wonderful, laid back weekend (except for that hike we took!) and it was a great way to the start the year.
-- Watch out for my TRAVEL BLOG (under construction), where I'll write more about this trip and a retrospect of some favorite trips over the past few years! --
Aside from swimming, snorkeling, lounging, watching the ocean, eating, and sightseeing, we took the opportunity of being right by the ocean to do a simple ritual that we'd been wanting to do since 2007 kicked in: write down on little pieces of paper, all the negative things that we wanted to get rid of this year - and toss them out into the waters... hopefully banishing them forever. We didn't expect the little sail boats to actually drift out into the big blue sea... so we settled for having them crushed by the strong waves!
And so we wrote... "Away with impatience!"... "Away with anxiety!"... "Away with... etc. etc. etc."
And then we threw them into the water, watched the waves eat them up one by one, until we could see them no more. Here's to a better year for all of us!
I just realized that I didn't mention anything about the actual Pyro Olympics in my previous post. Well, all I could say is... it was worth the long wait!!! Each show was a magical and awesome 30-minute display of lights, blasts, colors, and resounding "BANGS!" :-)
The huge crowd present that night went "ooooohhhh" and "aaaaaahhhh" in a chorus. Children (and adults alike) squealed in delight. And there was the occasional "whhhhooooaaaa!" when a particularly impressive firework lit up the sky. WWHHHHHEEEEE!!! Hope there's another one next year! :-)
P.P.S. - Thank goodness we were smart enough to have our driver park far far away. I think it was a good 15-20 minute walk to the car, but at least we didn't get stuck in the traffic which could have easily taken anywhere between 2-4 hours!
Last Saturday, my friend, her daughter and I, bravely went to the Mall of Asia to join thousands of people to watch the last day of the 2nd World Pyro Olympics. We seemed crazy to push through with our plans, considering the horror stories of traffic from the previous year, but we really wanted to see the fireworks, so we said, "What the heck, let's go!"
We went as early as 4:30 pm, in order to secure our reservations at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf restaurant. Knowing that we would be in for a long wait, I brought with me some books, sheets of paper and my newly discovered Schneider sign pen (sorry, I'm such an office supplies geek!). While my friend and her daughter went into the mall to shop, I stayed behind at our table that had an excellent view of the bay and the slowly setting sun! I found myself in a brainstorming mood and scribbled page after page of ideas for various projects I am currently working on! :-) In other words, the view totally inspired me!!!
I realized that maybe all I need to finally write that dream book is to make the effort to go to Tagaytay or a nearby beach with a laptop and write, write, write! For that matter, I should spend more time writing or working in my lanai or garden for some sense of nature. :-)
Well, at least I finally got this blog "journle" going! Hehehe.
This is one of my new year's resolutions - creating and pursuing a blog! :-) Wish me luck.
It's the 8th week of Season 4 of "Dancing with the Stars" and just like the past 2 seasons that I've watched, I am totally hooked on this show!!! :-) I guess it's the ballroom dancer in me that really enjoys watching these celebrities train week after week, learning a new dance everytime. I've been so inspired by this show, that earlier this year, I enrolled in a ballroom dancing class and also seriously considered (and actually started) spending a few hours a week with a personal instructor to teach me dance routines! (not just social dancing). Unfortunately, my schedule got so incredibly unpredictable that I couldn't commit to a regular schedule with the instructor. Oh well! The good thing is, I've discovered that ballroom dancing turns out to be my favorite form of exercise, so I should really go out and dance some more!
