You are a Serious ALDUB Fan If…

I went to the MAC counter yesterday to buy a tube of lipstick because my current fave color, Toledo Barbecue, is just a few centimeters away from the bottom and is begging to be replaced. Okay, honestly, pwede pa naman siyang pagtiyagaan. But I was intrigued to visit my friendly MAC suking tindahan to check out the lippie color Yaya Dub supposedly used in her McDonald’s TV ad.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Screen grab from Youtube

When I first saw it, I was sure it was Ruby Woo--the blue red color, the matte consistency. My UPCC friend Cynthia Guico introduced to me the MAC color two years ago, and it has been my holy grail of red lipstick ever since. When it was revealed by the make-up artists of Yaya Dub that this was the same color they used on her, I was sure that a lot of people would rush to the cosmetic counter to try it.

Screen grab from Youtube

My suking MAC Lady confirmed that indeed, Ruby Woo is almost out-of-stock in Manila. But never fear, Cebu Ladies! You can find the lippie color at Rustan's Cebu, kaya go na! As for me, I still have my Ruby Woo in my makeup case because I use it only on special events. I was itching to buy and hoard one, but logic (and yes, budget!) prevailed. I bought another very nice dark fuchsia matte color in Flat Out Fabulous instead.

My MAC faves: Toledo Barbecue, Ruby Woo, and Flat Out Fabulous

Ooops, sorry as I disgressed from today's topic. Heto na talaga. Here is a test if you are seriously addicted to ALDUB:

1 You postpone your work/school/pasada/benta sa tindahan until the day's Kalyeserye is over. You don’t want to miss Yaya Dub’s wacky facial expressions and Alden’s cute dimples, right?

2 You have already watched the Kalyeserye live at its regular time slot, but you wait for the uploaders on YouTube at night to watch it again. And again. And again. Until 2:00 in the morning.

3. Ms. Pastillas, who? Out of curiosity though, you may have visited the YouTube videos of the “other" network,  or switched the channel during EB's commercial break, but just to check if there is really stiff competition, as the other camp claims. You breathe a sigh of relief, for your Yaya Dub is miles and miles away from all angles and aspects.

4 You over-analyze every facial expression and gesture of Alden and Yaya Dub. The YouTube videos suddenly bring out the psychology expert in you, based on the comments you post. "Check the video at 1:04, and watch how both of them secretly smiled at each other. Kilig!" or "Alden's smile was pilit, maybe he is not really serious with Yaya Dub?" or "Yaya Dub’s eyes look sad when Alden wasn't there. Where are you, Bae?"

5 You refresh your Facebook page every minute to search for write-ups about Kalyeserye, Alden, Yaya Dub, the Tres Lolas, and even about Joey de Leon, and you want to be the first to comment. Or after you have posted your comment, you ask beg others to click the Like button. Or more importantly, you are always on the look out for negative comments of bashers, and make a counter comment, kasi nakakasakit nga naman sila.

6 You never fail to check what the hash tag of the day is, and show your support as part of the ALDUB Nation by tweeting until your nails are pudpod na.

7 You never care for commercials until now. You sit in front of your boob tube so as not to miss the product endorsements of Maine and Alden (McDonald's and TNT), or Maine and Lola Nidora (O+ Phone), or Maine (555 Sardines). And didn't you hear from someone or read from somewhere that there are more ads to come? You are never touching that remote nor going to take a pee break from 12:00 to 2:00! And yes, you are SO eating Chicken Fillet ala King Meal and buying 555 Sardines next time.

8 You get jealous and turn into a green-eyed beast if any girl celebrity takes a picture with Alden (except Ai-ai, of course). Plus Alden being absent for one whole week? What? ONE WHOLE WEEK? Without any video message? Or any answer to Maine’s tweets for that matter? And that Instagram Dubsmash message? Ang ikli naman! Ano, pampalubag loob! Grabe ka naman, Alden! Yes, you have all the right to make tampo for Yaya!

9. For the first time in your life, you can't wait until it's Monday. Monday can be a b@#ch to many, but the mere thought of watching AlDub and the three Lola's inspire you to wake up smiling on the first working day of the week. And the rest of it, for that matter. Plus you can't wait what surprise they are cooking up on Saturday.

10 You dream, no, you TRULY BELIEVE that Maine and Alden will live happily ever after in real life.


How many points did you get? I checked six out of ten. Geesh! Time to get a life.... :-)

A Princess Named Lea

No, not that Princess Leia of the Star Wars saga. I’m talking about Lea Salonga, the Philippines’ pambato in the international music scene.

A lot of accolades have been said about her--and they are all well-deserved, of course. I won’t enumerate all of them here because the list is long. Besides, Mr. Google can give a biography of Lea more accurately, lest I be accused of copy-pasting. Please allow me to mention here some highlights of her extraordinary career that made a personal impression on me.

1. She made a breakthrough in the international scene in 1989 when she was chosen, among the many hopefuls around the world, as the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon. At a young age of 18, she enthralled audiences in the West End with her pure, crystal clear, magical voice. In 1989, Lea won the Laurence Olivier Award for her role in the musical. She would reprise the role of Kim in Broadway, winning the Tony, and other prestigious awards in the US.

                                                                                                                                                                           From Youtube

                                                                                                       From Youtube

I must have mentioned sometime in my blog that I was part of the UP Concert Chorus who toured the world in 1990. London was part of our itinerary, and luckily, we were able to watch Miss Saigon with Lea playing Kim at that time. After the show, all the Korus members wanted to be Kim. Scratch that. All of us wanted to be Lea. Getting out of the theater, we held our heads higher after seeing her perform. We felt prouder to be Filipinos. 

Me, (third from the left), with the 1990 UPCC Members at West End, London.

Bonus: Lea was kind enough to meet us back stage after her performance.

Photo by Lionel Guico

Of course, after watching the play, we jammed by singing the Miss Saigon libretta in between our UPCC practices and concerts. We learned the songs by heart. Needless to say, some of our members were so inspired by Lea’s success that later on, some of my UPCC friends became part of the Miss Saigon cast when it was brought in other countries.

Oh, and they celebrated their 25th Anniversary last year, and the original cast was there to recall the feelings..and jeez, the kisses!

                                                                                                       From Youtube

2. In between Miss Saigon, she lent her singing voices to lovable characters, most notably, Princess Jasmine and Mulan. Correct me if I’m wrong, I think that she is the only performer who had sung as two different Disney characters.

When Lea became Princess Jasmine, I was already starting a family. I sang “A Whole New World” over and over again to my first born daughter. When Lea became Mulan, Issa was already three years old, and it was my daughter’s turn to sing the Reflection song repeatedly. Even my daughter wanted to be Lea!

Just last night, I watched on the internet how Lea and Brad Kane reunited to sing A Whole New World again.Yup, twenty-three years may have passed, but I will never get tired of listening to Lea's version of this song.

                                                                                                                                                                          From Youtube

Sorry for ramming this to your throats, but hey, don't you want to see the young Lea and Brad when they first recorded this?

3. In my humble opinion, her performance at the 10^th Anniversary of Les Miserables as Eponine was the best ever. Sorry, maybe I’m being biased here. But I get teary-eyed everytime I see these clips on Youtube. Everytime.

She first made the Filipinos proud more than 25 years ago. And she is still at it, mga kababayan. Our Lea is continuing to shine in a role written for her in a new musical called Allegiance. Thanks to Youtube, we can take a glimpse of how glorious a performer she still is.

Kim, Princess Jasmine, Mulan, Eponine, Fantine, Cinderella…the list is dizzying. Now can you blame me if I call her Princess Lea?

Two Heartbreaks on a Saturday

Let it be said that October 3, 2015 was the day when my heart got broken twice.

First was when the UP Pep Squad  was declared 2nd Runner up in the recently concluded UAAP Cheer Dancing Competition.

I was already squirmish when I heard they were opening the event. More often than not, the first contender doesn't win--unless, of course, you do something extraordinary that can be remembered until all the participants have performed. And boy, did UP deliver more than what I expected. They were almost perfect in their pyramids. Their dance routine was snappy, cool, in unison. The music was apt to their theme, Utak at Puso (UP, in case you missed that). By the end of their performance, when the electrically amplified UP Naming Mahal reverberated in the air, I had goosebumps creeping up my arms. And when they formed the human heart, I was teary-eyed. I was proud to have been an Iska. I was proud to be Pinoy. Where in the world can you find a cheer dance performance that could pull all those emotions?

But Lady Luck (or should I say the Cook?) looked another way. I'm not often bitter about losing. I see logic and reason when my bet doesn't bag the prize. But for heaven's sake, let's all be honest here, what did the judges see in the others that they didn't see in UP's stunt?

In the end, we know that every UP's performance in the Cheer Dancing Competition always sets the benchmark. Inaabangan. Hinahangaan. Pinag-iisipan. 'Nuf said.

The second heartbreak came later at night when Gilas Pilipinas bowed down to China at the 2015 FIBA Asian Championship. Honestly, I was prepared for the worst---biased officiating, noisy homecourt crowd, young fresh-legged giant Chinese players. But what the...? Forgetting to charge the electric bus they were assigned to ride to the game? Tickets were not available to the assistant coaches? Fixing the net during their warm-up practice? I didn't know China was that insecure! If that was not sabotage, then I don't know how you might call it. The Gilas was already at a clear disadvantage, but the organizers made sure that our team would be psychologically damaged even before the game started.

But Gilas Pilipinas fought valiantly just the same. Again, they played with this thing called Puso, and the whole Philippines is proud of them!

Photo from FIBA

Bitter na kung bitter. But two heartbreaks in a day? Isn't that too much for an old hag to bear? Hay, buti na lang may Kalyeserye sa Lunes.