A Day in the Life

I had the opportunity to go with My Sissy and my niece (aka Mini Me) to my niece’s first “cattle call” audition Thursday and it was a blog-worthy experience for sure. The show is X Factor and there were literally thousands of people from all over the country auditioning in Dallas. This was my first experience with a situation like this and I was not impressed with the lack of organization on the show’s part. It seemed like they didn’t properly anticipate the amount of hopefuls and nothing went as smoothly as it could have throughout the day. Still tho, it was fascinating… They got all registered on Wednesday morning and brought me a copy of the image release, I’ve never seen such a thorough document in all my life. It actually said they have the right to use any image they got of me throughout the universe and for eternity…I could not make this stuff up. I signed it even though I’m not thrilled by the thought of images of me running around without my control but I had to go support the...

Okay yes, I realize I'm not in the Philippines anymore but I ran across this post that I wrote while I was there and thought I might as well post it anyway. Hope y'all enjoy! ------------------- Here locally, it’s very clear that the 80s came here to die. It’s so strange to me to hear Air Supply, Asia, and Journey on the radio on a regular basis. Okay, seriously, am I in a time warp? The strangest thing is that they don’t play any of the really good music that came out of the 80s (there was a ton), they only play the really sappy love songs. And it’s not on the oldies station, it’s on the popular station, mixed in with hip hop, dance, native pop music, and a Xmas carol thrown in every now and then for variety. So very strange, this soundtrack… A couple of weeks ago, Eric and I were sitting in a bar having lunch and the parallels between now and our time in Cali together (sans romance, of course) were notable. We’re on an adventure together in a strange place where Madonna play...

The national religion here is Catholicism and oh boy, it shows. There are pregnant women and kids literally everywhere. The religious imagery at the stores is a bit overwhelming and elaborate. Of course, I live in a mainly Hispanic neighborhood back home, so it’s not complete culture shock. Here’s something strange: every day at 6 pm, there is a moment of prayer. The first time Mike and I witnessed it we were at the grocery store and this disembodied voice came over the loud speaker which caused everyone to literally stop in their tracks. We just looked at each other not really knowing what was going on and if we should keep shopping or what. Total wtf moment. Apparently it happens in all the public areas like stores and malls daily. The girls in the cafeteria at work listen to Christian radio every morning, so we’ve started joking that we eat breakfast with Jesus. It’s actually quite surreal but sometimes when they’re on the “thought of the day” part there’s a message there for me. Gu...

More picture links for those not on Facebook... Our Halloween party: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=233578&id=588038946&l=9bbee5f156 Island Hopping: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=234517&id=588038946&l=80b5c8c176 Downtown Cebu and Magellan's Cross: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=235583&id=588038946&l=64dcc26208 The Amazing Show: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=236115&id=588038946&l=ccb7fad2b1 Day of the Dead Cemetery Tour: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=237122&id=588038946&l=7bda504e83 General Pix of the Trip (updated): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=226582&id=588038946&l=5010c126ca I'll try to do an actual blog soon. :)

We chartered a boat and spent a day out on the ocean and wow...it’s breathtaking out here! It’s so beautiful I almost can’t get my head to register that it’s real. I’ve been taking lots of pics but they really don’t do the reality justice. It’s like a movie or a video game or something, heh, Philippines the video game. LOL! Everything is crazy cheap…we got the boat rental for $50 for the whole day. Six of us went, so we split it and it became ridiculously inexpensive. We made friends with a local who lives near our house and he organized the whole thing for us. Francis is totally the man for that, and we’ll most definitely be using his services again. I’d really like to do this boat thing at least once a month while we’re here. We got a late start because we went the morning after the Halloween party at the house, that’s also the reason for the small group. The flake factor was high that morning. I wasn’t a hundred percent myself, but there was no way I was gonna miss the adventure. Ev...

Hey all! Sorry I'm having trouble finding my voice right now...my cat back home passed away and I've now basically missed celebrating my favorite holiday. In the interest of not saying anything if I don't have anything nice to say, I'm staying quiet. I hope to be able to change my attitude soon and get back on track. In the meantime, for those who aren't on Facebook, here are some links to my photo albums: Our overnight in LA: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=226579&id=588038946&l=b5f20aa0be Us at the airport in Korea: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=226581&id=588038946&l=d1689d94e3 The neighborhood we live in: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=229634&id=588038946&l=1b65144242 General pics of the trip: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=226582&id=588038946&l=5010c126ca

Yes, it’s true, I have been mostly starving since I’ve been here...which, with my blood sugar issues, is definitely not a good thing. Let me see if I can explain why. I have an overdeveloped sense of smell and when things smell bad to me it throws my appetite off. The smells here are very strong and mostly fish-like, whether it’s the local food or the tide being out, it’s all fishy and therefore stomach turning to me. Thankfully the longer I’m here the more I’m getting used to it, so I’m now able to eat in spite of the smells. Also, the local fare has a lot of fish/squid/random sea creatures so it’s like having my nose assaulted at every turn. The food being mostly Asian of all types (Filipino, Korean, Thai, etc.), it doesn’t sit heavy on you or stay with you. No matter how much rice I eat, I’m having trouble feeling full and when I do feel full I’m hungry again in a few hours. Normally I eat about every 4-5 hours, but here I need to eat every 2-3 and I almost never feel full. I never ...