Tagaytay

Went with the family to Tagaytay. We originally planned to stay until Saturday morning, but decided to leave today because Papa had a sudden business meeting.

It was disappointingly warm up there... just a teeny wit better than Manila. :( And the TV didn't work. Stil, there was the fresh air. And the scenery! Gorgeous.

Read quite a bit while up in the Cleanest City in the country... Stephen King's SALEM'S LOT, CARUSO AND THE ART OF SINGING, reread AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (probably THE best mystery novel EVER written) by Dame Agatha Christie, and Spzilman's memoirs, THE PIANIST.

It's a shame my discman's out of order... I've dug up my old HISTORY OF WESTERN MUSIC cd's (a dozen of them! woohoo!) and I was hoping to listen to gorgeous music without being pressured to memorize up to 90 tracks, and their respective composers.

Am looking forward to next weekend... I'll probably be in Baguio then (crosses fingers). Cold weather = smaller pores = less oil = a more beautiful moi! haha am so mababaw...

Didn't eat meat today... for a die-hard meat lover, 'twas no small feat. Will set aside more time than usual for my daily talk with Our Savior.

a quiz

Your Irish Name Is...

Caoimhe McLoughlin

What's your Irish Name?

A few pics from our Opera Workshop recital (Beauty and the Beast/The Old Maid and the Thief)

A few pics from my younger bro's grad...

Wonderfully Hi Tech

Whoever made it possible for UP students to be able to check their grades online through the CRS site is the kindest computer genius ever!! (whew! what a run on)

Seriously. It lessens the hassle and the stress, not to mention the anticipation. No more hours wasted lining up at the FC, nervously wringing hands and mumbling the rosary as you wait to get your class card. Please Lord, if you let me get a high grade in ________, I swear, I'll never make fun of my profs again. Never mind if they're b*tchy as hades and ugly to boot.

My profs were so kind to me this past sem, I swear. I shouted with glee/disbelief when I saw the grades they gave me. Well, most of them, anyway. Still no sign of a grade in MuEd 100... aaaaa the suspense!!! GRrrrrRRRrrrr isa na lang, and then I can compute for my GWA.
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Went swimming on Monday with Tata. It was GREAT to swim again! Honestly, I haven't realized I've missed the water that much. It felt so nice, to feel oh so light and cool in the water while the hot sun slowly baked me ten shades darker from above. 

I want to go swimming some more but it looks like i have to find an indoor lapping pool... can no longer afford to swim in the cancerous rays of the sun.

Dang it all, I'm no longer the innocent twelve year old who could get as dark as she wanted. I'm 19 now... dalaga na... I have to lather on sunblock whenever I go out of the house and put baby powder on my face to keep the oilies at bay... all this trouble for the sake of beauty (*looks at self in mirror* WHAT BEAUTY?!?!?! hahaha) 

Waaaaaa I want to swim!!! Now na now na now na.

Besides, swimming's great for singing. Dean Acoymo said he could hold his breath and swim at the bottom of the pool for one lap (25 m). I tried doing this on Monday, hehe, and came up in the middle of the 25 m lap, gasping like a drowning fish. Grrrrrrr. Oh well. Surely he didn't do it on his first try.

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I haven't sung for two weeks now, since my major finals. (Singing Mahina for Ate Joan last week doesn't really count, it was only one song)

Bad bad bad. All the great singers vocalize everyday for about an hour. I still haven't the discipline to do that. 

I feel guilty for wanting to have a break from it all. DARN IT! I deserve this break!!!! (Ignores the voice in my head that tells me: "But you will NOT have time for practice anymore when summer classes start...")

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Watched Eric Ferrer's 1st recital the other day, he sang Schumann's Dichterliebe accompanied by Kim 'Bogz' Feliz, the composer/repetiteur. Eric did very well, but I was more impressed with Kim's piano playing. The colors, the emotion!! Sure, he made a couple of mistakes, but Ma'am Gay summed it all up when she complimented him afterwards: "Hindi na namin napapansin mga sabit mo, dahil ang gaganda ng mga linya mo. You have THE TOUCH. Keep it up! You're sure to be in great demand as a repetiteur someday."

Woohoo! Not bad for a composition major who only recently started practicing piano seriously. :)

Eric, Kim, thanks for the wonderful music. And congrats!

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I hope I get allowed to watch 2 concerts/recitals this weekend, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. 

APPASIONATO on Saturday will feature UST's best singers and 2 piano profs. I've never heard anyone from UST before, and it's about time I find out how well the UST voice majors can sing. (Haha scope out the competition ba daw)

Siyempre, biased ako. U.P. FOREVER!! Hehe

And on Sunday, a friend will have his first recital.

Operas and Recitals Galore

Hell weeks in the College of Music are the longest in UP... what with recitals stretching until the last day before summer enrollment. Officially, my sem was over this past Wednesday, but I helped out with Ate Joan's and Kuya Paul's recitals on Thursday and Friday night. I'm positively poofed as a result, and I'm sooooo exhausted. Too exhausted to feel happy that my most hellish of sems is, finally, over. Haha I survived 21 units, and 9 subjects!! :) With a lot of distractions along the way hehe. But it's all finished, wahoo!

Congratulations to all the people who are through with their recitals, especially to Kuya Paul!! Waw graduate na kayo!! :)

Moral lesson: Don't get an opera with a chorus.

Darn it, it looks like I won't be getting into a PI 100 class this summer. Better luck during the regular sem enrollment. (Ohmygosh I'm going to be a senior?!?!)