Lea Salonga's Awesomeness

I am such a fan of Lea Salonga--ever since her Miss Saigon days. The 25th Anniversary of the musical that made her famous worldwide made my admiration for her reach new heights.




She returned to West End in London for the gala and she has not lost her touch. I cried when she appeared and saw how much the crowd still loved her. I wish the show was longer and the same tribute was given like was given to Les Miserables. But then, the latter is more famous than the former so it was more deserving of its O2 Arena venue.

While surfing for more singing videos of her, I came across this clip of her singing in Cory Aquino's funeral more than 5 years ago. I recall crying so much during the funeral and those tears flowed freely again when I watched the clip below:


Earlier in my class, my students and I were discussing taxes and I expressed my frustration with my government. I expressed my dismay in not getting anything from the taxes that I paid. I'm still paying for the use of the roads, for water, for health, for education. Basically, I am not benefiting from my taxes other than giving our politicians more money to line their pockets. And then I wondered why I'm still here in this country when there is always the opportunity for me to leave and settle elsewhere. But after watching the video above, I suddenly remembered why I'm still here. Regardless of all the news that are surfacing about incompetent politicians and government officials, I still have faith and I still love my country. And I still have hope that one day, I will see it free from the shackles of corruption.

Ibon mang may layang lumipad
Kulungin mo at umiiyak
Bayan pa kayang sakdal-dilag
Ang 'di magnasang makaalpas.

Pilipinas kong minumutya
Pugad ng luha at dalita
Aking adhika
Makita kang sadkal laya

Party in the U.S.A.

I'm not a Miley Cyrus fan. I just posted the video as there's a very big chance that we're going to the US of A this May.

Last time we were there was 3 years ago and it was just my husband and I (see our itinerary at the side bar). This time around, we're bringing our 5 year old son with us. I'm quite excited about it and at the same time, quite scared. Basti already rode the plane when we went to Bohol a couple of years ago so he should be fine. It's just that the travel time to Newark is quite long. The shortest travel time that I found was 19 hours. That's a big difference compared to the 1 hour flight to Tagbilaran.

I'm already racking my brains on how to keep him occupied for the whole flight. Cathay Pacific, which has the cheapest fares so far, leaves in the morning. Two hour layover at HK and then the 15 hour flight to Newark. Hopefully, he'll conk out during the long-haul flight. I don't know how I'll be as the last time we went there, I barely slept on the plane (I so envied my seatmate then as she was asleep the whole flight--only to wake up during meal times). I'm praying that Basti will cooperate and will not sorely test our patience.

Anyway, we'll finalize our plans after our son's "interview" at the US embassy at the end of this month.

Ice Ice, Baby!

I've heard a lot about this animation by Disney that I bugged my husband for us to watch it. When we were able to do so, the first few minutes into the movie made me clap with glee. The little girl in me really let it go.

I grew up watching Disney cartoons. I could still remember the years when they came out with Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin one after the other and they featured the best songs from the Disney catalog ever. This movie, for the first time in forever, made me sing Disney songs once again. In fact, I've already downloaded from Itunes the whole album and have played the songs repeatedly that it has bordered to annoying (for my cubicle-mates that is).

The clip above is from the Let It Go sequence which left me amazed and impressed. Too bad we weren't watching in Imax because this would've been awesome in a very large screen.



This other clip which features another great song from the movie, For the First Time in Forever made me want to cry afterwards. The soaring ending and the pure voice of Kristen Bell really killed it.

Though I have a minor issue about the story (Anna basically grew up alone so why is she suddenly looking for "The One". I would want to think that she might be a bit dysfunctional in the romance department considering her limited interaction with the opposite sex), it did not deter me from enjoying this movie. I'm suddenly a little girl again and I so welcome the feeling.

It's interesting to note that the composer behind these wonderful songs is the same one that did Book of Mormon and Avenue Q (which both won Best Musical at the Tony's--2011 and 2004 respectively), Robert Lopez. And the guy who voiced Olaf the Snowman is none other but Josh Gad -- who played Andrew Cunningham in The Book of Mormon.

For those who wants to feel young and good again, go watch "Frozen". Not like the title, you'll feel warm all over afterwards.

Marvel vs DC

Found a couple of parodies in youtube. Really hilarious for all marvel and dc fans.
Just click on "More from this User" to see the other videos. Really funny :) Check it out: