Who doesn’t love taking photos? I sure do, especially if I’m looking particularly snazzy on a certain day. That’s why, along with probably the whole social media population, I’ve been obsessed with taking OOTDs. I don’t get the chance to take an OOTD (Outfit of the Day) photo every day, but when I do I make sure to follow these 5 easy steps for taking the #PerfectOOTD.
People always wonder and ask why I spend a big chunk of my salary on voice lessons. I know I’m not going to have a recording contract or perform on a cruise ship in my lifetime so why do I spend so much just to sing and vocalize for an hour in a tiny little room with a piano and a voice teacher?
Many don’t understand the joys of taking voice lessons not to mention the life lessons attached to it, so I’m gonna help you out.
Here are my top reasons why I take voice lessons.
I got my very first copy of MVNDO Magazine when I watched PETA‘s Rak of Aegis two weeks ago. I went out during the intermission to get some siomai but my short attention span brought me to the MVNDO booth. The magazines were hung on a sampayan, complete with sipits and all. I loved it! At first, I thought the magazines were for sale and looked pretty expensive too. To my surprise, though, the MVNDO magazines were being given away to theatergoers for FREE! Each page is in full color. (Even the ads!) And the paper is of high quality! It’s not too light that it’ll ruin your bag and not too heavy that you’ll regret getting a copy. Sorry, I’m slightly obsessed with paper, stationary and stuff. 😛
“Paras! Pokémon ka pala.“
These words confused me as hell when I arrived one morning at school. This was the first time I heard about Pokémon. Initially, I had a hard time pronouncing it. I forgot what grade I was in, maybe fourth or fifth, but regardless, a grade-schooler would not dare say a word that’s sounds like the word pertaining to the pechay.
Though I can’t remember which came first, the card or the Game Boy video game (Wikipedia confirms it’s the latter), fads were all the craze in the 90’s. For some unknown and bizarre reason, even in the absence of the internet, fads easily spread like wildfire. Elephant pants, spray-painted shirts, teks and many, many more were all the rage. Just like any other “cool” fad of the time, I caught (pun intended 😉) the Pokémon bug a little too late. My mom only bought me and my brother our first and only big yellow Game Boys when everyone already had the colored version and those awful magnifying lens.
My last name is “Paras” and I soon learned that there’s a Pokémon with the same name: the crab-like Paras. It amused me to find out something was named after me (even though it wasn’t really). My amusement was short-lived though when I realized it’s short for parasite. I made sure then that I had my own pad paper and crayons so I won’t be a Paras(ite). 😂😭
I know, that’s sad, but Paras’ Pokédex entry was unexpectedly even sadder. Paras is a bug host that has mushrooms on his back called tochukaso, which could grow larger as they gain energy from the bug host. When a Paras evolves into Parasect, it means that the mushroom had already taken over the bug host. 😢
The only Pokémon game I got to play was Pokémon Red. And I didn’t even finish it. My brother, who was 4 years old then, played with my Game Boy and overwrote my data. I knew I had a save file before I arrived at the 8th and last gym in Viridian City (led by Giovanni). But I turned my Game Boy on, and found myself back in Pallet Town. My profile name even became “AAAAAA.” I did not reach Mewtwo! Wahhh 😭 I tried to play the game all over again, but I never got to finish. The Pokémon fad faded and I had to deal with puberty. 😝
But now Pokémon fever is back via Pokémon Go. It makes me so glad that now I get to start my journey as a real-life (almost) Pokémon trainer all over again. I even bought a new 20,000mAh power bank to support my journey to being the very best.
Here’s hoping I can go all the way to the top this time around without any more overwrites. Bye for now. I have to fire up my Pokémon Go and catch ’em all. Paras included. 😃
How about you? Did you finish any of the old Pokémon games? What’s your Pokémon story? How’s your Pokémon Go journey so far?
I turn 27 today. But before last year, I can only count the times when I considered myself genuinely happy. Maybe because I used to see life as a competition where I need to emerge as the winner, the fastest or the best. I believed I had much to prove. I wanted to make everyone proud including myself. Probably I was just wired that way. Or it’s insecurity. That constant need to validate myself. Whatever the reason, it took a lot of tears and disappointment before I changed the way I see happiness. True happiness.
For most people, success brings happiness. To have a successful career, specifically was my goal after graduating college. But the real world hit me really hard years after getting my first job. I won’t go into specifics but sometimes, even if you think you’ve done everything correctly and that you are in control, everything can still go opposite of what you’ve expected. To sum it up quickly, I didn’t get promoted and it affected me in ways I never knew. I got depressed. I cried every day and every night and turned as bitter as a kulubot na ampalaya.
It should have been me. I was hurting and I knew I couldn’t do anything about it. I just had to accept the reality and move on.
Moving on and choosing happiness wasn’t easy. I prayed a lot. The Serenity Prayer helped calm my emotions. I enrolled in different classes and workshops to distract myself. Acting. Sketching. Singing. I also joined company activities, charity events. You name it. Kulang na lang basketball clinic. I figured if I was good and preoccupied with other stuff, I won’t feel as worse. Traveling also helped. Traveling changes you and your perspectives. Being in a foreign land makes your problems seem smaller vs. the world. I made happiness a choice (even if it’s VERY hard). Siyang tunay, I did feel better but these were just temporary distractions because at the end of each day, I’d still go back to square one and start all over again.
This was my cycle for quite some time but indeed, time healed all wounds. It may seem simple and funny but I stopped crying after watching Frozen.The lyrics of “Let It Go” spoke to me. The past is in the past! As much as I related to Elsa’s character journey, I also really envied Anna. I envied her because I used to be like her. Cheerful, carefree, always positive and smiling. I remembered the old me and realized how much I’ve changed. And I decided that’s got to change.
