Feels Like Insomnia-ha-ha-ha

Yes, I am the muse that he wrote this song for.
Thanks, Noelito and Jamesy for keeping and delivering the picture to me.
You guys are love!

I never thought that I'd fall in love, love, love, love
But it grew from a simple crush, crush, crush, crush
Being without you girl, I was all messed up, up, up, up
When you walked out, said that you'd had enough-nough-nough-nough

Been a fool, girl I know
Didn't expect this is how things would go
Maybe in time, you'll change your mind
Now looking back i wish i could rewind

Because i can't sleep til you're next to me
No i can't live without you no more
Oh i stay up til you're next to me
Til this house feels like it did before
Feels like insomnia ah ah, Feels like insomnia ah ah
Feels like insomnia ah ah, Feels like insomnia ah ah

Remember telling my boys that I'd never fall in love, love, love, love
You used to think I'd never find a girl I could trust, trust, trust, trust
And then you walked into my life and it was all about us, us, us, us
But now I'm sitting here thinking I messed the whole thing up, up, up, up

Been a fool (fool), girl I know (know)
Didn't expect this is how things would go
Maybe in time (time), you'll change your mind (mind)
Now looking back i wish i could rewind

Because i can't sleep til you're next to me
No i can't live without you no more (without you no more)
Oh i stay up til you're next to me (to me)
Til this house feels like it did before (Because it)
Feels like insomnia ah ah, Feels like insomnia ah ah
Feels like insomnia ah ah (Ah), Feels like insomnia ah ah

Ah, i just can't go to sleep
Cause it feels like I've fallen for you
It's getting way too deep
And i know that it's love because

I can't sleep til you're next to me
No i can't live without you no more (without you no more)
Oh i stay up til you're next to me (to me)
Til this house feels like it did before
Feels like insomnia ah ah, Feels like insomnia ah ah
Feels like insomnia ah ah, Feels like insomnia ah ah

Feels like insomnia ah ah, Feels like insomnia ah ah
Feels like insomnia ah ah, Feels like insomnia ah ah

How To Prepare For A Dance Audition In Less Than 2 Hours

1) Choose: Go back home to get your dansneakers and rehearsal outfit or swing by Fonteyn in Wan Chai to buy them.

(If you choose the former, don't bother coming to the audition anymore. You won't make it on-time. If you choose the latter, be sure your EPS has sufficient funds.)

2) In Fonteyn, carefully examine which of the two pairs is most comfortable dancing in without a proper warm-up: Bloch's new Slingshot or the classic Capezio gore boot.

(If you choose the former, think again. Think how many danseneakers you already have and how rarely you use each one of them. You don't need another one. If you choose the latter, buy it in tan. You already have a black one.)

3) Choose which dance belt suits your specific need: the wide-band quilted Capezio, or the comfort Capezio.

(If Frankie suggests the Fonteyn dance belt, say "No" with utmost conviction.)

4) Pick a pair of jazz pants: lycra or cotton.

(Jazz pants? Really? Early 90's?)

5) Engage yourself in a conversation with the staff and forget about how much time you have left.

6) Swing by Pacific Coffee for a cup of Macchiato.

7) Take the train to the venue.

8) Get lost. Spend the 10 of your remaining 15 minutes walking around the block, following different directions from different people. Wait until you're fully drenched in your own sweat before you decide that calling the audition secretariat is wiser than asking people around for a street you can't even pronounce right.

9) Wait for the next lift. Do not take the first one, because the first one is a glass lift and, because of your fear of heights, you might faint when you see how high up you are from the ground. Waste 2 minutes waiting.

10) Get in the venue just in the nick of time. Excuse yourself, get changed, wipe off your sweat.

11) Two demi-plies, one grand plie, forward bend in first position. Repeat everything in second, fourth and fifth, varying the port de bras. Do this as quick as you can. The audition's about to start.

12) Improvise.

13) When in doubt, pout.

14) When you fall from a turn or your extensions aren't as good as they normally are, blame the floor.

15) If you get the job, blog about it and be an inspiration to others. If you don't get the job, blog about it so that others can learn what not to do.

Four's Majeure

It was only 6 in the morning. The sun has just risen, and most of the city was still asleep. But in one corner of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, it was already noisy and bustling with activity. That's what happens when you put 50 performers together-- you get an overwhelming dose of noise and nonstop chatter, especially when they get all excited. On top of that, add the family members, lovers, and friends that each one of them brought (or each one of them was forced to bring), so as to make that sweet, cinematic goodbye scene happen.

Past Step 1, which was the Overseas Employment Certificate validation at the OWWA office, and Step 2, which was going through tight security to get into the airport lobby for check in, the crowd thinned. Well-wishers weren't allowed in that section anymore. All that was left, were the passengers bound for Hong Kong. The extra crowd was already gone, but the noise wan't. It did, however, evidently turn from excitement to panic. Most of them went over the limited baggage allowance, and very few were prepared to pay the penalty. They were going to be gone for 18 months, at least. It was just right to bring everything that could help them bear with homesickness.

Few more minutes later, the whole group was already at the sitting area by the boarding gate, which looked out to the tarmac. The chatter has died now. The ridiculously early call time must have hit most of them. Excitement, no matter how big, can only conquer body clock for so long. For those whose body clock wasn't a problem, there was a different hit.

A plane with a huge Cathay Pacific insignia emblazoned on the side, wheeled towards their designated gate. "Finally!", exclaimed Noel Rayos. All conversations stopped, napping eyes opened, and everyone's head truned to the same direction. It was CX 912, the flight that would hold what was then, the most sensational export the Philippines dealt. Tex Ordonez then said, "Ito na ba iyun? Ito na ba talaga yun? (Is this it? Is this really it?)". She shed a tear. She was going to leave her newborn baby to work, and to be part of something new.

About two hours later, they were at the HK Immigration desks. Some of them, the first ones to get their passports stamped, had to go back and redo the whole process. The immigration officials overlooked their working visas, so instead of a year-long permit, they were given just two weeks to stay as visitors. Gladly, it was HK Immigration that they were dealing with. The procedure was swift and stress-free. Imagine if it happened in Manila.

Shortly after, they were greeted by two chinese ladies, Winnie and May. One was cheerful, plump and quite talkative, while the other was skinny, coy and soft-spoken. They both had their Disney nametags on and were very welcoming. They asked the group to form two files, arranged alphabetically according to surname: one for the males, and one for the females. They were then brought to the private bus that delivered them to Gold Coast Hotel.

It was only lunchtime. Their rooms weren't ready yet, so they all left the hotel lobby to grab their first HK lunch. Some headed straight to McDonald's. It was the safest option. A few immediately went to try the restos that dotted the Gold Coast beach. Others, those who decided to play safe with their budget, opted for Circle K and had the cheapest microwaveable lunch they could find.

It was June 5, 2005. It was the first day of their 18-month gig with Disney in Hong Kong. They were batch 2 of 3 batches of Filipinos in the Opening Cast. Some were excited, some were stupefied. Some were already thinking of shopping, while some were already calculating how much money they'd be able to bring home after 18 months. Some were already homesick, some eager to start a new life. Some would, later on, discover new avenues that Hong Kong would open for them. Some would go home. Some would stay. One of them would find himself getting close to the point of no return. That is today. The major fourth anniversary. The stage at which he will decide whether he will stay until he gets permanent residence, or go back home while it's not too late.

Just last night, he called his boyfriend to say that it felt a bit weird that none of his batchmates organized a get-together to celebrate the anniversary. His boyfriend said that somewhere down the line, people will stop celebrating it anyway. It just happened earlier than he had anticipated. Today, he got a message from his friend, Jojo Mamangun. They shared the same sentiment. He then decided that he will never stop celebrating his HK anniversaries. Because more than the memories of that Sunday morning, more than the disdainly meager first lunch in HK, more than his Disney stint that had already ended to make way for more adventures, more than the financial plans that he has yet to fulfill, June 5 marks something bigger. It is the beginning of something that changed his life in more ways than most people can imagine. It wasn't just a move to Hong Kong. It was a move to a new life.


So, to everyone who was also part of the opening team--- to you who are still here in HK, and to you who are elsewhere; to you who still hold dear the experience we had together and to you who choose to forget it; to you whose opinions about HK have changed, whether for the better or for the worse; to you who have other plans; to you who are now living your other plans; to you who will continue to celebrate your HK anniversaries like me; to you who have already stopped; to everyone who holds a Opening Cast shirt or jacket or Mickey hat, allow me to say, "Happy 4th anniversary!"

About The Whales In Cape Town

55 whales die after mass beaching in South Africa

Sunday, May 31 11:33 am

At least 55 whales stranded on a beach near Cape Town were put down or died after rescue teams failed to return them to the ocean, a sea rescue institute said on Sunday.

Scientists shot 42 of the false killer whales on Saturday and 13 others perished, possibly from internal injuries, at Kommetjie Beach, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.

"We don't know if any of those we managed to get back to the water had survived ... one of them just washed up at the rocks around the Kommetjie lighthouse this morning and this could continue over the week," spokesman Craig Lambinon said.

Marine scientists and volunteers worked all day to try to get the whales back into the water, but many were pushed back ashore by waves.

Rescuers had battled to keep the beached adults and calves wet and used earth-moving equipment to try to save them.

Lambinon said it was unclear why the whales had come ashore early in the day and it was the first mass beaching of whales he knew of on the popular stretch of coast.

He said tests would be carried out on samples from the carcasses to try to establish the reason for the beaching.

Rescue teams had contemplated taking the whales to a nearby naval base and transporting them on boats to the deep sea, but the idea was abandoned because the animals' condition deteriorated rapidly.

The NSRI first identified them as pilot whales, but said later they were false killer whales.

Whale-watching off South Africa's coast is a popular attraction with tourists, who often line roads at strategic spots to catch a glimpse of the giants of the ocean.

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

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*copy-pasted from http://uk.news.yahoo.com

Hit And Run

A younger dancer that I know from the dance school I am an alumnus of in Manila passed away a few months back. She was hit by a speeding car as she was crossing the street, shortly after what was to be her last performance. It was a big news in the States, where she was pursuing her dance career, and at home. She wasn't only a gifted dancer, she was a well-loved young lady as well. According to investigations, the car had the green light, therefore, no charges were pressed against the driver of the car that claimed her life.
---

A good friend of mine buzzed me repeatedly on YM tonight. Despite my attempt to appear invisible to everybody, including to him, he wouldn't yield to the idea that there was no way he could get a hold of me online. I felt the sense of urgency he was sending me, so I asked why.

He wanted to rant. Another friend of ours has been giving him the cold shoulder. And apparently, this "cold shoulder" friend even swore never to talk to "ranting" friend until he (cold shoulder) receives an apology from him (ranting).

Because Cold Shoulder Friend's version of the story is all that I've ever heard of, I asked Ranting Friend his version. If he wanted to hear my take on the issue, and I was sure he did, he might as well spill it all out to me, which he did. After lines and lines of messages popping out of our chat window, he ended his piece with, "I won't say sorry. My conscience is clear. I know in my heart I didn't want to hurt him."
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My dear friend,

If you were the person who was hit by a car because you were jay-walking, wouldn't it be nice to know that, even if the driver had the right of way and in the law of man, he could never be responsible for your injury, he would not run away from you?

Sure, you didn't mean to hurt him with your actions, but you did. And while you can't be held responsible for that, can't you be human enough to apologize? Never mind the kind of person you are, or the kind of person he is. Never mind which one of you is stronger, or which one has less to lose. In the end, no matter how "big" a person may seem, no matter how sturdy he may be, and no matter how unbelievable it is, the truth stands that he is still a human being, who, like every single one of us, is capable of hurting.

And please, enough with the "It wasn't my intention to hurt him, so I won't say sorry." In the first place, why would you say sorry to someone you've hurt, when the intention was to hurt him anyway? Isn't that a bit hypocritical?