Maligayang Pasko!

*<(:-{)}

tedbits...

... December is really a month that I find myself very busy because of all the activities that I attend and the things that I need to do. By the time the end of the month nears, I feel quite tired and exhausted. This December was even more hectic and tiring than usual, I got sick twice this month. I even shopped quite late for gifts unlike in previous years when I usually completed my list by the end of November...

... It is definitely the season of shopping (what with all the people/crowds I see in the malls who are busy doing last-minute purchases)... but it is also the season of coughing and sneezing. I hear a cough or a sneeze every few moments as I walk or ride the MRT. Because of the weather and the crowds/proximity of people, the cold virus easily spreads...

... Almon Marina also serves lasagna priced at P115. The serving is adequate and it is meaty and cheesy. I rate it 3.5 stars. (mental note: be sure to take pics next time)...

... I already finished Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror (on the PSP). I give it 4 stars. The game is basically short. There seems to be no new interesting enough PSP games to be released in the upcoming months. I find myself looking at online reviews of previously released games/ PSP Greatest Hits in order to help me decide the next game I'd like to play...

University of the East Chorale

The Univeristy of the East Chorale under Anna Tabita Abeleda-Piquero was the featured choir at Glorietta Park last Dec. 20, together with Soprano Camille Molina, Trumpeteer Robert De Pano, and Pianist Greg Zuniga.

The show again started late. De Pano performed Mighty Lord and King All Glorious from The Christmas Oratorio. This was follwed by Molina singing O Mio Babbino Caro from Gianni Schicchi. Her next song, Habanera from Carmen was accompanied by the choir.

Camille Lopez Molina, Soprano:




What I liked about this group was that they were really all smiles and performance-level in their singing. They started out with A Merry Christmas. Their rendition of Deck The Halls was the best so far (for me) this season. They had good group dynamics while singing Feliz Navidad. As they were singing the next three songs (La Vie En Rose, Arin and Mas Que Nada) droplets were starting to fall in the open-air venue. I subsequently left and I don't know what happened after that. It was unfortunate that it rained since they were a realy good singing group.

This is the last free Christmas concert that I'll get attend this season. They were all a lot of fun and I look forward to going again next year! :-)

wish list again...

I got 5/10 items in my last wish list as last year went by. I've come up with a new list for next year. These are not things that I really need nor absolute must-haves, but rather things that I'd really like to acquire if I had the extra money or the extreme luck to win them in a raffle or something like that. Who knows, maybe by the time 2009 ends, I'd have had 5 of them again already?! :-)
1. Dark Knight DVD
2. Britney Spears' Circus
3. Nike Triax watch (w/ HR monitor)
4. PSP 3000 or PS3
5. desktop or new laptop
6. new DC Universe Encyclopedia
7. Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke
8. iPhone or touch-screen phone
9. a dSLR camera
10. classical guitar

Ateneo de Manila College Glee Club

The Ateneo de Manila College Glee Club was established in 1921 and is the Philippines' very first university choir. They were the featured choir in Yuletide Evenings at Glorietta yesterday. Also featured were UP Voice Major and Tenor Ervin Lumawag and Saxophonist Januario Dulce. Jed Balsamo was again the pianist.

The show started with Dulce playing Christmas Song, accompanied by piano. By far, in my opinion, he has been the best instrumentalist featured in the free concerts at Glorietta. The second song then already featured tenor Lumawag singing Granada. He was also mush better than the previous tenor. He was more relaxed and even provided short intorductions to his songs. His rendition of Groban's When You Say you Love Me was very fluid.

The next song, O Holy Night, was initially sung by the tenor (still accompanied by the sax and piano) but the choir then entered a little later. The Glee Club then rendered the audience different Christmas and popular songs: Ding Dong Merrily On High, The First Noel, Fum Fum Fum, Carl of the Bells, African Noel, Vezzosi Augelli, El Guayaboso (where it was noticable that the rest of the choir at the back were not singing), Let's Do It, Jingle Bells, Diwa ng pasko, Pasko Na Sinta Ko, and Pasko Accapela Medley (which was a good vocal arrangement by them). The choir looked young and a little nervous at the start. They warmed up and performed more relaxedly as they went along.

All the featured performers then capped off the night's show with beautiful renditions of Have Yourself A Merry little christmas and A Merry Christmas. Another enjoyable free Christmas concert!

The fireworks display after the concert:

The tree at the Greenbelt 3 lobby:

Christmas tree display at Greenbelt 5:

:-)

falalalalalalalala...

On December 6, Yuletide Evenings at Glorietta featured Coro se San Sebastian, Aizel Izza Prietos, Christopher Oracion and Jed Balsamo. Coro de San Sebastian has been around for 15 years and has had 11 chorale championship titles. Marivic Llamas is the Conductress of the group. Aizel Izza Prietos is a soprano voice major at UP; Christopher Oracion is a flutist also from the UP College of Music; Jed Balsamo is the featured pianist.

The show started late. The first performance featured the flutist accompanied by the pianist in playing Czardas. Soprano Prietos then sang La Capinera and then followed by Les Oiseaux Dans La Charmille with accompanying flute. Prietos voice was quite good.

The choir started out with You Raise Me Up. They looked young but their vocal dynamics was relatively remarkable. They performed Let There be Praise, From A Distance (from which the groups energy then picked up, although the group did not smile much during the entire concert performance), Polka Sa Nayon, Naranyag a Bulan, Better World, Minsan ang Minahal ay Ako (where the soloist was not that strong/good), Jingle Bells, Wana Baraka, Tuloy na Tuloy Pa Rin Ang Pasko. The last two songs (Payapang Daigdig and Ang pasko Ay Sumapit) featured the soprano and the musicians as well.

The noise that evening was relatively higher than usual, such that the ambiance and listening conditions were not too favorable. The fireworks were supposed to be at 7pm, but since the show started late it also got delayed. The display was kind of boring at first, but as it was finishing became more exciting and had a great finale. Ther will be fireworks at Glorietta every 7pm for all Saturdays of December.

I end off with this... the tree at Gateway Mall! :-)

The Appeal

The Appeal is John Grisham's latest legal thriler. Grisham is said to be one of the best American storytellers today, but I would have to beg off because of this book. With several characters but with no clearcut lead, Grisham ends up mixing too many dishes in one pot. He belabors developing the subplots in the first hundred pages or so but then rapidly finishes everything near the end. The ending is also a major disappointment, with no closure or resolution that can leave the reader hapilly satisfied. There is also not much courtroom drama but more of the wheeling and dealing behind the scenes. The only upside of the novel is that it portrays how politics and the judiciary mix to the detriment of both morals and the justice system.
2 stars.

...btw, Congratulations to the DLSU-M WVT for winning 3rd place in the recently concluded Shakey's V-League 5th Season 2nd Conference! :-)

to be jolly...

There are already a lot of things and events around that remind us Christmas is fast approaching...

While walking through SM Makati on my way home, I saw the Power Rangers! A lot of kids were having their pics taken with the group... it reminded me that I still have to buy gifts for my inaanaks. :-p

Here's the latest pic of the very tall Christmas Tree at Araneta Center, that dwarfs any that I have seen so far in Metro Manila:

I was also able to watch The Philippine Madrigal Singers sing at the Glorietta 4 Park. The group was conducted by Christopher Borella and the show also featured New York-based tenor Edwin Santayana and Cellist Josef Raymundo of the UP College of Music.

I have already seen/heard the Madrigals before, also during free Christmas concerts at Glorietta. Sad to say that this performance was not as good as the previous ones I went to. The show started quite late and the tenor was not exceptionally good.

Of the songs that they performed, I found their William Tell Overture to be great and their Abba song medly quite good. They sang Funiculi, Funicula, Night and Day, Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel, Paru-parong Bukid, Jingle Bells, Kasadya ning Takna-a, Let Heaven Rejoice, Deck The Halls. I noticed that they were at their best when singing choir music, and when they sang popular songs that they rearranged they were quite at their element. Buthcikik was their most applauded number. The finale of the group was O Holy Night and they did Adeste Fidelis as an encore.

...Only 24 more days to go before Christmas! :-)