It’s day two of my shoot! This time in the comissary which means one thing… UNLIMITED SIOMAI AND SIOPAO!!! So it was a hectic day of shooting among machines and getting dancers to dance with rubber boots. It was a day of embarrasment as well as I was interviewing the head of the Chowking comissary on camera and MY BLOODY CHAIR COLLAPSED!!!
I guess all that siopao had an effect after all.
Direk Francis to the set
Today is the first day of the Chowking shoot and we’ve got a lot of things to do. I always love shootings. Aside from the fact that you have tons of food, shootings allow you to flex your creative muscle. As a writer, shootings are the ocassion when your creative works come to life. What were once words on a sheet of paper becomes reality. Potentiality actualized. Slowly, the vision you see in your head comes to life. And nothing can be as fulfilling as that.
Today I got a text from Chiara Cruza, a girl who I know but have never met. She said that we were celebrating today the 4th anniversary of our little prayer circle. Wow! Where did all that time go?
Just to give you a background, since my mom got diagnosed with cancer, I joined this prayer circle. It’s essentially a group of people who pray for each other even though we don’t know each other. Everyday, we receive a text message highlighting the people we need to pray for. These are kids and adults with different types of ailments and diseases, the chief one among them is cancer. To be honest, I joined the group for selfish reasons because I figured I needed all the help in praying for my mom, but as with everything, changes occur. I started caring about these people in the circle. People I didn’t know about.
There’s something to be said about praying for strangers. There’s a fulfilment that comes from knowing that you’re making a difference in their lives and the best part is that they don’t even know that you are.
My mom has long since passed on yet I still remain in this circle, praying the prayer of strangers and content that I’ve helped touch the lives of others.
God bless this circle.
After directing a day long Chowking dance, I headed off to the penthouse of a condominium unit in Makati to practice for our Bangkok Christmas party presentation. Unfortunately, due to the extreme confidentiality of our dance I could not post images here in my blog. Ganyan kalupit ang competition.
I can’t even reveal what my role is in this dance number but all I can say is that seeing everyone working so hard made me proud! This is is going to be one kick-ass presentation! Can’t wait to fly to Bangkok next weekend, but first, we have to practice to death!
I ended the night with coffee with P’Chy at Segafredo where we oggled cute guys all night while discussing about our philosphies of life. Perfect way to kick back and relax. Existential conversation combined with plenty of great looking folks!
What a way to end a hectic week. Tomorrow, class time again!
Dancing among the stars!
Watching the dancers dance to my lyrics!
Yesterday was a very hectic day for me. I started the day with an 8AM meeting, a breakfast with some of my officemates and an afternoon of a acting workshop for a Chowking event I am directing.
For this event, I wrote some songs sung to the tune of key hits from High School Musical, a fluffed up Disney musical that I like for some weird reason. One of the best songs in the musical is the song “We’re All In This Together.” I rewrote the lyrics to reflect the spirit of camaraderie that exists in Chowking stores. In essence its an ode on working together to make great things happen.
As I was watching the practice, my hair stood at its end. These people are dancing to my songs! It was really a surreal experience. Most importantly, it felt good! I guess I experienced this before in the many events that I have done and written for but this is the first time that I am actually writing about it.
All this dancing has inspired me to continue with my personal musical. You see it’s a dream of mine to write a musical of my own.
Who knows, maybe this is the start of a new musical classic?
Dancing to my tune!
Today I was given a treat. A tour of the Chowking Commissary. A commissary is the factory wherein Chowking makes all their siopaos and siomais. In essence it was like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Being here brought me back to the time when I was young and there was this commercial for the Goya Fun Factory. As a child I dreamt about going to that mystical and magical place to see the chocolates being made. So you can imagine my thrill when we went on a fieldtrip to a chocolate factory. I was disappointed because all of a sudden we weren’t allowed in the factory because it was supposed to be against health regulations. So ayun sa tindahan lang kami napunta. Felt like such a loser.
Anyway the great thing about today’s trip is that it brought me back to that magical place. In here Siopaos, Siomais, Dumplings, Buchis and assorted Chowking food came back to life. After donning our white gowns, hairguards and masks, we actually had to scrub down like doctors. So happy na happy na naman ako because I got to play doctor again spewing out lines to my co-workers like “successful ang operation, mabubuhay ang asawa mo” or “congratulations, lalaki ang anak mo. Mana sa tatay… abnormal.”
Anyway back to the tour, we stepped into the commissary and saw vast machines manufacturing different types of dimsum. The automation was impressive. Isipin mo, one siopao per second ang kayang gawin. 12 siomais naman in A SECOND!!! Hi-tech!!! This is the reason why Chowking is currently the second fastfood in the Philippines. Innovation such as this.
After seeing how the foods were made by these incredible machines, we went into the steamers where a fresh batch of siopaos popped out amidst the klaxon of sirens. We were invited to sample the freshly cooked siopaos. I grabbed one on the rack, still steaming hot and bit into it. The dough melted in my mouth and a burst of delicious asado goodness flooded my mouth. We then went to the steamer where the siomais were cooked. I must have popped six siomais in my mouth. The small buggers were so juicy and moist. Truly delicious. After the steaming rooms we proceeded to the giant refrigerators wherein my body had to adjust from the rapid shift in temperature. Init biglang lamig! It was a killer!
At the end of the marvelous tour, we were treated to a delicious pancit meal made by Chowking’s master chef. This morning was like a childhood memory come to life. Hey it may not have beenn chocolates and candy, but siopaos and siomais come pretty close.
You can’t go wrong with a title like BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENFIT OF GLORIOUS NATION OF KHAZAKSTAN. Tonight, after managing to get home early, my sister and I decided to rest and kick back by watching this comedy which a lot of websites have been praising to the high heavens.
The movie, a mockumentary about American culture from a Khazakstani standpoint shows the misadventures of Borat, a Khazakstani reporter as he goes around the United States wrecking havok and scandalizing the sensibilities of Americans from New York down to California.
Borat, with his primitive and different views shocks the living hell out of Americans as he does his scandalous antics. So for a comedy, did the movie deliver the goods. You bet your Khazakstani ass it does! Nakakabaliw siya! From the moment I entered the theater till that ridiculous Khazakstani national anthem played at the end I had to endure non-stop laughter. Never had my belly ached in such a long time. Sure there were plenty of low-brow, gross you out moments but hey, this is not an intellectual film. So if you want a good time, watch Borat. Just make sure you leave your sensibilities at the doorstep. Sit back, relax and laugh at the inanity of it all.
They say that when God closes a door he opens a window.
Let’s see where this window leads.
At long last, after downing over 21 cups of coffee… IT’S MINE!!!
THE MUCH COVETED STARBUCKS PLANNER!!!
Now I can input all my meetings because I will be awake till the end of 2007.
Note to self: There’s such a thing as DECAF!
I had my second day of classes in UA&P last Saturday and my quotable quote for the day is:
Students: The name of our group is KA-JAMM
Me: The only thing that can make this group name any worse is if it’s an acronym.
STUDENTS FACIAL EXPRESSIONS DROP VISIBLY
Me: Oh my God. It IS an acronym?
Students: Sir, they’re our names.
PATAY!
