The Silver Victory Dinner

- July 26, 2013, Friday.

- Last July 7, 2013, the CKSC School of Music had its silver-anniversary concert named "Silver Soiree: Celebrating 25 Years of Music," and was held in the St. Cecilia's Hall of St. Scholastica's College. After warmly applauded and well received by the audience, the Chiang Kai Shek College administration decided to treat all of us participants to a victory dinner in the CKSC auditorium tonight. (Of course, I had to be in one of my best glittery polo.)

- I was happy to be reunited with most of the participants of the concert. The rain decided to pour earlier this afternoon, so some of us were not able to make it to tonight's dinner. The CKSC school president and vice-president, some members of the board of trustees, the alumni association, CKSC staff and administrators were also present. Aside from a sumptuous meal, our concert was showed to us via projector.

- Jet also performed a variation piece of "Magtanim ay 'Di Biro" in the middle of the dinner. We gave him a standing ovation. Haha.

- After the dinner, we felt that all our effort in preparing for the concert paid off well, especially seeing that our mistakes weren't too noticeable in the audience's point of view, although many of us made some mistakes here and there, but hey, that's the reality of performance -- and the reality of life. Haha.

The Malate Adventure

- July 20, 2013, Saturday.

- Malate is known as a red light district, and its rows of Korean and Japanese restaurants, particularly within the vicinity of Adriatico Street. Today, my friends Margarette, Melissa, and I found ourselves walking the streets of Malate after Margarette told me that Melissa wanted to satisfy her Korean food craving. Makati and Teacher's Village, two other places with many Korean restaurants, were too far, and since we only commuted, and it was in the middle of the afternoon, I proposed that Malate would be a good bet.

- We walked Pedro Gil towards Robinson's Ermita, but saw an interesting church along the way. I don't know why I had not seen this church for years, even when that part of Malate was supposed to be very familiar to me. I had a hunch that it was the Malate Church, and discovered that my guess was right. There was also a wedding going on there, which made the short visit to the church a little bit more special.

- We later went to Jang Chung Dong, a Korean restaurant in Malvar Street. Melissa introduced the restaurant to Marga and me, and told us that she only recognized the restaurant by its pig logo, not so much for its name.

- We had a feast in Jang Chung Dong. We had a giant bibimbap for sharing, a seafood pancake platter, and bibimmyeon (sweet and spicy Korean noodles, and my favorite.) We all felt that Jang Chung Dong's bibimmyeon was too spicy, and the spiciest that all of us had tasted in our lives. I enjoyed it though, but I do agree that it was a bit too spicy, even for my taste.

Marga laughing after recalling some fond high school memories. Haha.

- We later had a short trip back to Robinson's to cool off, stroll, and for my companions to enjoy a small dessert; I was too full. We headed back afterwards....and arrived home just in time for dinner - that is, if we could still eat.

Maximizing Saturdays: Dimsum and Noraebang

- July 13, 2013, Saturday.

- My friend Margarette planned to make the most out of her last free weekend before she goes to her new job on Monday. She first asked me and Clarisse to have a dimsum afternoon once more, since we really can't get enough of dimsum.

Lucky number??

- The three of us met in Golden Fortune at around 2 in the afternoon and stayed until around 5. We ate like there was no tomorrow since the dimsum there are always well-done, moist, and best of all, discounted. (At least during afternoons and late nights.)

- After our dimsum tea party, Marga and I went to get her car to fetch Melissa, to have a Korean K-Pop night. Marga planned to have a karaoke night in Music 21, located at HK Sun Plaza at Macapagal Boulevard.

- We discovered a nice Korean restaurant named Song Do Weon, also located in HK Sun Plaza. Although the payment scheme was cash-only (so far,) the food was great, and authentic. Like most awesome Korean restaurants, the side dishes were free and refillable. Since Marga and I were still full from the afternoon dimsum, we ordered significantly less than what we usually order.

- We spent two and a half hours in Music 21, a few doors away from Song Do Weon. Aside from singing K-Pop songs, we had some fun singing songs from the past. Marga and Melissa said that passers by who might have heard our room might be confused, since we sang Spanish, Korean, Mandarin, Filipino, and English songs -- had they offered Indian songs, I might have gave it a shot too, they said.

- We finished around 10:30 in the evening, and quite tired from all that singing. At least we were sure that we made the most out of our Saturday, despite not being too fond of going home late any day of the week. We may need to wait a long time again before we get to get all crazily-wholesome like this, but at least bits likes this Saturday created yet another nice memory.

When Mainstream Media Recognizes You: GMA's Motorcycle Diaries Pre-Departure Orientation

- July 10, 2013, Wednesday.

- A friend of mind who works in GMA 7 messaged me immediately after someone informed her that GMA's Motorcycle Diaries was looking for me to give them a pre-departure orientation for their trip to India, initially schedule of departure being July 7. Apparently, GMA called the UP Asian Center, and the Asian Center was kind enough to refer them to me (my prof in Indian Studies is currently attending a conference abroad, and I'm the only Indian (not yet, but hopefully in the future) specialist left.)

- After numerous changes to the schedule, I was finally able to give the orientation this afternoon. The GMA service van fetched me from my house to GMA, where I was joined by Arcie and Em, the segment producer and one of the show's researchers. We immediately went to Moto Market in Libis. Needless to say, Moto Market is a store for motorcycle enthusiasts.

- The orientation was held in a small conference room in the second floor. After setting up, Mr. Jay Taruc, Mr. Joseph Almeda, Dir. Rember Gelera, and other GMA staff. The main orientation was about Indian culture and society, and some more in-depth information about the specific places that they were going to.

- Everyone actively participated in the orientation. Some of the questions were hard to answer because they dealt with sensitive issues in India. Some were hard to answer, just because the outcomes were on a case-to-case basis (ie. what would happen if a guy touches a girl, etc.) It's difficult to answer these kinds of questions because the Indian society is very pluralistic, meaning they are used to living with all kinds of people on a daily basis - people who come from different, even contradicting linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and even linguistic backgrounds. Therefore, one action may offend one person, but may not offend the other at all.

- The orientation took longer than expected, but the warm and engaging staff and crew made it all worthwhile. I also had the privilege of riding the GMA van all the way home.

- GMA's Motorcycle Diaries is a travelogue-style documentary that airs in GMA News TV channel 11, every Friday 8pm. My episode will be aired some time August. The show's Indian expedition was done in celebration of the show's second anniversary. (I hope I'll look nice in the telly.)

Do's and Don'ts in India.

Testing some devices/gadgets.

With Mr. Jay Taruc and Mr. Joseph Almeda.

Motorcycle Diaries. Haha.