::. AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 7 MUSINGS .::

DAVID ARCHULETA - this adorable kid is my #1 bet for this season. He does sound too nasal at times but nevertheless, he definitely has the talent & charisma to make it to the final 3. He seems very humble and he's totally adorable when he chuckles over compliments thrown at him. Sooo cute. As Paula said, you just want to squish him and dangle him from your rear view mirror (or something to that effect.)


DANNY NORIEGA - he (she?) is a good performer... not a super good singer but I love watching him (her?) He is as entertaining as Christian Siriano of Project Runway... I like his snappy/sassy exchanges with Simon. Double snaps! Saw his early teenage photos shown during his profile? He makes a pretty girl. I envy his nicely shaped eyebrows! So chic!


JASON CASTRO - quite a cool dude with dreadlocks :) His guitar playing makes him an interesting performer. I actually liked his modern rendition of the Beegees song.




DAVID COOK - Ahh, the rockin' self-proclaimed word nerd. Geek is the new chic. I like his rocker voice. He pulls off the rocker appeal better as compared to (now eliminated) Robbie Carrico.




LUKE MENARD - Orlando Bloom, is that you? He is good looking but I smell a hint of gay. Especially after I saw him dance at the background while someone else was performing on stage. Got a Kenny Loggins voice but his theatrical performance sometimes doesn't do it for me.

DAVID HERNANDEZ - Ahh, if there were nude photos of Antonella Barba last season... well this season's hot gossip is that he is gay and he used to work in a gay night club. He can sing well but I don't exactly like his performances so far.

JASON YEAGER - He's been eliminated and it's okay with me. I am quite annoyed at how he sings and smiles at the same time. I can't stand it. He can sing but his constant smiling while singing really peeves me.

MICHAEL JOHNS - Nothing really memorable. I think he's kinda good looking. I don't remember any of his performances at all.

CHIKEZIE EZE - I actually liked him during his audition. He's got the soul/r&b voice going. I love saying his name chikezie eze... easy breezy.

I am not as enthusiastic in watching the girls' performances though so I have no female favorites really. Well RAMIELE MALUBAY is a Filipina, so GOOO PINOY!!! She reminds me of Lilo (Disney's Lilo & Stitch). Her first performance of You Don't Have to Say You Love me is such a trademark Pinoy videoke number.

I don't really care much as to which of the girls leave but please, I just wish AMANDA OVERMYER gets eliminated next week. I just simply can't stand watching her. Literally. I switch channels. It's probably the big Cruella De Vil - Simba hybrid hair that puts me off. And probably because she also reminds me of Dilana of RockStar Supernova. It's like she's in the wrong reality show. Oh well.

::. DEMAND FOR JOSIAH LEMING IN MANILA .::

There's a "Demand It" button over at Josiah Leming's MySpace... yeehaa!

::. MY COUSIN'S WEDDING .::

My cousin Cholo flew in from the US to have his wedding here in the Philippines. His wife Vanessa, his brother Nino & wife Marjorie, along with my tito and tita also flew in for the momentous family event. The wedding ceremony was at the grand Manila Cathedral and reception dinner was held at Manila Diamond Hotel.

more photos at http://lilacstardust.multiply.com/photos/album/33/._MY_COUSINS_WEDDING_.#30

::. ROBBERY INSIDE PINK SISTER'S TAGAYTAY .::

the neatly cut glass left on the floor at the back seat

the entire back window gone!

On our way back to Manila after our planning session at Tagaytay Highlands last Feb 22, we stopped by Pink Sisters for a quick visit. We were originally intending to buy some tarts at Angel Hills but it was on a "by order" basis so we just decided to drop by Pink Sisters to pray in the convent's church. We parked on the new parking lot across the church. We came in two vehicles: I rode with my officemate in her Toyota Vios while my other two colleagues were in a Kia Sorento. My officemate parked her car on the left side, probably like the 5th parking slot or so. Our other officemate parked on the right side just near the parking entrance, could be the 1st or 2nd parking slot. Anyway, we were only gone for abot 15 minutes to pray inside the church. When we went back to the car, I was stunned to see my officemate's car window at the back passenger side totally gone! I immediately told her that her window was broken and at first, I thought it was hit by a stone or something and then the next second, I realized it was a robbery! Her [company-issued] laptop and hand bag with some cash & digicam were stolen from the back seat! It could clearly be seen that her window was NOT simply smashed but it was cut (by a diamond cutter perhaps) in two strategic directions and then probably pushed to totally give. She also left her celfone charging on the dashboard slot but it was not stolen coz the thief/thieves were probably in a hurry. Our overnight bags inside the trunk were untouched. I did not lose anything coz I always brought my handbag with me wherever I go.

Horrible, horrible! The lone security guard who was posted right by the door of the church said he did not see anything and he said he has gone to eat his lunch (which I doubt, that in a span of 15mins he left his post coz when I went out of the church to take its picture after being inside for abt 5 mins, the guard was still there. I went inside again and a few minutes after, me and my officemates went out and hung out by the garden right in front of the church as we waited for our other officemate to finish praying inside. I clearly remember the guard still seated there on his post.) The only suspect was this espasol vendor who was there at the parking lot when we left our car. Veggie vendors who had a good view of the entire parking lot from the perimeter fence of the convent said they saw nothing/no one except for the espasol vendor. From where the guard was stationed, the area where we parked cannot be fully seen. What can be seen from there was just the tops of the parked cars.

We don't know who did this. The espasol guy may or may not be involved. For all we know, there might have been a vehicle who just parked beside my officemate's car and could have quickly done the crime in less than 5 minutes and left the church without raising any suspicion. Who knows, really?! The police said it was the first time for something like this to happen inside the Pink Sisters convent. There were reported bukas-kotse incidents in Tagaytay restuarant/fast food areas but not at the church.

It's still unbelievable how something like this could happen inside a quiet and holy area like Pink Sisters. It feels kinda surreal for me when I clearly remember that second in my mind when I saw the broken window. Horrible, horrible.

::. PLANNING SESSION @ TAGAYTAY .::

foggy tagaytay highlands


Me and my officemates held our annual planning session at Tagaytay Highlands wherein we were cooped up at the Texas room of Highlander Steakhouse the entire day of Feb 21 and the morning of Feb 22. It was cold weather to begin with in Tagaytay and way up at Highlands, it was super super windy, foggy and cold. I remembered Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day! Sulit the jacket and the muffler I was wearing but I did wish I wore rubber shoes with warm socks instead of sandals. I was like "oh gee, watch my toe nails turn pale purple in the cold!"...

We had a hearty lunch of a 10 oz. rib eye steak which is so so huge that I only managed to eat 3/4 of it and I lessened my intake of baked potato and veggie sidings to accommodate more steak since it's such a waste not to finish the juicy yummy steak.

After the day's meeting, we proceeded to The Boutique Bed and Breakfast near Day's Inn. The four of us split into two rooms: I Escape and I Dream. It is more oriented towards couples hieing off to Tagaytay for a getaway -- this we realized after having a long laugh over discovering that our room's had umm sexy CRs. Our room, I Dream (its immaculate white bed pictured below), had a completely see-through glass panel beside the shower wherein one can be seen in all his/her bathing glory from the private terrace and also by the rest of the Taal people down below. I called it "The Pornstar CR"! The other room, I Escape, had a see through glass panel with a view of the garden and also a glass door for the CR such that one can see you doing number one or two on the toilet seat! Not a comforting thought! And so they had the glass door covered with a piece of cloth. Actually, I Dream's CR had a piece of cloth as well which you can hang like a curtain on hooks installed on the glass panel's frame.

our pornstar toilet & bath :)



The hotel's room rate includes a complimentary 10-min. cold stone facial massage, choice of bath soap, shampoo & conditioner (I loved the Lavender scents we chose!) and room scent, and hot chocolate & churros served before you go to sleep. The hotel had an in-house Hawaiian restaurant. We just had salad & spicy chicken wings for dinner since we were still full from the steak we had during lunch. I had swedish massage in our room using a Jasmine Rose scented oil. It was a little bit hard to fall asleep though coz it was very windy outside and I could hear the terrace glass door vibrating and whathaveyous banging around due to the strong winds.

more pictures at: http://lilacstardust.multiply.com/photos/album/32

::. DINNER WITH MY MIRANDA COUSINS .::

My cousin Cholo who resides in US is here in the Philippines for his wedding with Vanessa (who is also fr the US). His brother Nino and wife Marjorie also flew in from the States for the big family event. Being so, us Miranda cousins had a dinner get-together at Sentro (Greenbelt) last Tuesday Feb 19 :-) Missing in action were: Kuya Bernie, Kuya Arnold (who's in uhhh I forgot which Arab country he's in now...), Che Che, Maricar (uber busy with taking up Med at UST), Harmon & Jay. In attendance were: Me and my Ate Chinkee, Ate Christine, sisters Rin Rin & Maan, brothers Nino & Cholo with their wives Marjorie & Vanessa respectively.

Sentro's famous sinigang na corned beef disappointed me this time. I first got to taste it back in, hmm, 2005 I think... and that was super good. However, last Tuesday's sinigang na corned beef was blah. The sizzling tofu appetizer was delicious though.

Ate Christine and I went home ahead of the rest after dinner. The rest of my cousins went to a comedy bar in QC to cap the night.

::. REALITY TV DISAPPOINTMENTS .::

Okay, first thing that sucks is that Marc & Rovilson finished the Amazing Race at a painful 3rd place after winning 1st place on various legs of the race. Loved watching these buff guys for the crazy humor (Rovilson) and hot looks (Marc). And I love their statement shirts ("Real men ask for directions", "Rovilson's stunt double"...) 'Just bummed that it came down to national flag knowledge which Adrian of the Singapore team happened to be such an ace on. All the while I saw the Sony HD commercial on TV, I had this hunch that Adrian & Collin won coz they're the only ones who appeared in a Sony TVC as tandems. (Rovilson appeared in a Sony TVC with one of the Amazing Race girls, forgot her name...)



Another big upset is Josiah Leming being booted out after the Hollywood week of American Idol. Who could resist this innocent-looking blue eyed crybaby of AI? Sooo adorably cute. Really sucks that he did not make it to the top 24 coz he screwed up that Stand By Me audition after dismissing the AI band. Anyway, after much surfing, I stumbled upon Josiah Leming's myspace page. Quite talented kid. Nice songs posted on his page. Also saw some homemade videos of his piano performances on youtube. I wish he gets a record deal and/or comes back to AI next season.... Such a waste and such a shame if he doesn't get anywhere but his car (which he calls home).

::. V-DINNER WITH FAMILY .::

Went to San Miguel by the Bay (beside Mall of Asia) last Friday to celebrate Valentine's Day with my family :-) We stumbled upon a branch of G-Squared, the same
"palutuan" that cooks yummy tempura at Dampa Macapagal. We were so hungry at around 8:30pm that we devoured the tempura (the first dish to arrive at our table) before I could take a picture hehe. After having late dinner there, we proceeded to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at MOA for some cheesecakes and coffee.

more photos at: http://lilacstardust.multiply.com/photos/album/30

::. HAVE A HAPPY EMO WEEK .::

For the ones in the same boat as I am... emo for the drama queens! I loooove this Typecast song...

BOSTON DRAMAStandard pick-up lines that seems to wreck your bones
Can this be a sequel of my dying hope?
Chasing down a never ending make-believe
But you're a perfect match of consistency

Will you come back in a heartbeat?
Don't be confused of what a great thing we could be
We'll take a walk on the same street
Can you tell me how Boston is like without me?

You're image is stamp beneath the insides of my heart
Now you're gone I don't know where to start
The evidence is showing like a stable apprehension
But you're the only one who's apt for this affection

::. TO PEE OR NOT TO PEE .::

I went on VL today to take care of my long-delayed driver's license. I only had a student permit and I needed to get a non-professional driver's license before it expires this May. To avoid the hassle and ensure that I won't have to do the practical test, I coursed my application thru A1 for a rip-off fee of Php1,300 (accdg. to the LTO info board, non-prof license is just around Php300+).

The first step at the LTO was the medical exam where, surprisingly, I was declared having a 20/20 perfect vision. Duh, I wear eyeglasses in the office and the girl even asked me if I wore one. But yes, I did manage to read the smallest number posted about two armlengths away from me. Next was the drug test. Before going to the LTO, I actually drank a 500ml bottle of water already. However, a pee-machine that I usually was, I had a hard time "conjuring" a pee session that MUST fill up the lab bottle (I'm guessing it was around 60-80ml). Weird! And so, I bought another bottle from the canteen (rip-off price of P20 for 500ml of just purified water) and downed it as I stood by the aircon to make me feel cold (thus: pee). Took me about 30 minutes more to psych myself up and finally deliver a successfully filled up pee bottle. It was sooo NOT me to not feel like peeing! I am THE Pee Queen! I think I was too pressured & stressed about it that it dried up my bladder! haha!

Anyway, it was such a tiring day at the LTO! We were there around 11am and we left around 5pm! Oh by the way, I got 37/40 on the driver's license exam :-)

::. AWESOME VISUAL DNA .::

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