Month: July 2008

“I Letter to You”

Noelle De Guzman

It’s amazing sometimes the things people leave behind. I found the following letter lying on the street. Or maybe I didn’t. Anyway, I didn’t write it, and here it is in its entirety, including punctuation, syntax, and spelling. I added paragraph spacing to make it easier to read — if you can get past several major obstacles *cough cough*.

Dear,

Hi How are you? I hope before you accep my letter nasa good condation ka at good mood… By the way, before anything el’s I woul’d like to great to your circle family relative’s and mos’t specialy to you.

Actualy I letter to you because I have importan’t matter and I hope you under’stan’d me. Tao lang ako. No man is infallible.. at isa ako jan. Aminen ko I mad a mistake. 4R relation shef. Piro alam mo kong anu ang dahilan f nagkaganito… Before begin relationshep… You cannot trus’t me. Mahirap yon para sakin. I know jealousy is the cause of trouble. Diba. Piro hinde yan maiwasan..

Minahal kita I know you diba… Piro date yon. Hinde na ngayon. Because I cannot comprehen’d you’r klay’s… Dati tuweng nag uusap tayo. Sinasabihan mo ako. Bakit ganon ka. Alam mo I can’t make out what u mean’s. Date but now I realize… gusto mo palang malambeng ako sayo. Sory kong ganon ang pinapakita ko sayo non piro kahet papano minahal din kita… Piro alam mo I was pining for the gone by day’s.. mga hapening natin…

Actualy my answer to your question me… I don’t know anything concering that matter. Plz don’t misunder’stan’d me.. Alam mo. Pari pareho lang naman tayo it is easy to be a man but it is difficul’t to be real man…

I’m sosory ha.. Alam kong andito ka parin sa puso ko. But I cannot analyze the problem me… Kaya nag kaganito… I understand naman… Dati tinatanong mo sakin.. what is your belief about love… Answer to your question.. love is spor’t.. Like anything.

But I realize.. I mad ah mistake 4r answering you. Because. Love is very importan’t all woman…

[unsigned]

Um… It’s like the culmination of all the funny signs I see in the metro!

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Audition Me

Noelle De Guzman

Not many of you know that I auditioned for a lot of different things this year. Amazing Race Asia 3, a hosting gig for Ube Media, Survivor Philippines (in a private casting call at GMA7, no less) …

http://images.multiply.com/multiply/multv.swf

…None of which I got a callback for. Haha. But in true bullheadedness I went to two auditions the past week. The first one was casting hosts for a Studio 23 lifestyle show catering to a “high-end market” (their words). So I was told to come dressed for cocktails and bring a set card and portfolio.

I said, “PORTFOLIO?!” Well, thankfully it wasn’t really a requirement, but when I got there I was confronted with the sight of a dozen women and half a dozen men — all commercial/print models — bearing “black books” of their most attractive photographs (and maybe collaterals of their ads). Some of them were even familiar-looking.

Anyway, I got through the audition process, which was my first for a major TV network. Maybe I was reaching a bit too high for my first time out, but at least it’s toughening me for further rejections along the way. Ü

Well, tough enough to handle not getting a callback for another audition I went to, this time for Globe Telecom. We were asked to say, “Bakit ba?” (Why?) using different emotions. I waited three hours just to say that in front of a video camera five times.

Though tortuous, these auditions are actually a lot of fun, particularly when you start observing the kinds of people that go there. (Yes, I know I can be put under the same scrutiny.) There are those who dress scantily and skankily to get noticed. Then when it’s a casting for specific roles, everyone who comes in has the same look about them. Coming from an outsider’s perspective, it’s all pretty funny and surreal.

Can’t wait to do it again!

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The Incredible Shrinking Woman

Noelle De Guzman

I took a tape measure to myself this morning, despite last Saturday’s binge with friends which took us from Banapple to Dairy Queen to Mexicali and finally to Starbucks. To my surprise I measured vital stats of 33-26-33. The last time I took my measurements, I was at 34-27-35. For someone who’s been in the Battle of the Bulge for the past six years — in active combat, so to speak, for the last two years — it’s big news. Well, never mind that it spells trouble for the “twin peaks” (I still have enough, and at least my hips are the same measurement).

Thing is, I haven’t even been trying particularly hard. I have, however, started to internalize my job as a group exercise instructor more. Les Mills‘s push this year is all about fighting “globesity”; its instructors are “warriors” in the battle against sedentary lifestyle. This quarter’s launches have really challenged my fitness, and in the build-up to the launches I had to be wiser about food choices and lifestyle so that I could look the part.

transition to Warrior 1
Work 'Em Hips!

Side Planks
Dancing, Rocker-style

I told a friend today, “Do what you need to do to perform well. If you get smaller, but you’re still healthy, that’s OK.”

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Gone for the Weekend Laoag: REMIXED!

Noelle De Guzman

Hey everyone! Living Asia Channel loved our trip to Laoag so much they had it re-edited and re-voiced a few months ago. Now, they’re re-airing it next week from July 21 to 27. Ü

Here are the days and times you can catch it:

  • Monday, July 21: 7am, 8pm
  • Tuesday, July 22: 4am, 12pm, 5pm
  • Wednesday, July 23: 1am, 9am, 2pm, 10pm
  • Thursday, July 24: 6am, 7pm
  • Friday, July 25: 3am, 11am, 4pm
  • Saturday, July 26: 12am, 8am, 1pm, 9pm
  • Sunday, July 27: 5am

Living Asia Channel airs over SkyCable channel 99 and Global Destiny channel 28.

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Car Trouble

Noelle De Guzman

Last week on a routine commute around the city, I stopped for gas. When the time came to start the car again, the dashboard lights wouldn’t come on and the engine wouldn’t turn over. My power locks didn’t even work!

You know, I could have just popped the hood and cleaned the battery contact points so my electrical system could come back to life. But no, I had the car pushed into a parking space, and twiddled my thumbs while waiting for my dad to come to my rescue.

Seems to me I might just have a tough time of it traveling by myself out of town. I mean, this happened to me only within Metro Manila. What if this had happened in Pampanga? OK I was able to drive there last month and nothing happened. But still!!!

So while I was waiting for my dad, I decided to relive the times my family and I had car trouble. (I was bored.) I remembered two instances:

There was this one time we went up to Baguio to meet up with some of my aunts and uncles and their families. We made a pitstop at the Riverview Restaurant (it’s the one near the junction leading onto Marcos Highway) for lunch, and then it was supposed to be a quick ride up the mountains. Unfortunately, the car wouldn’t start and we ended up pushing it to get the engine to turn over. Picture this: three women throwing their weight against the rear of a car while my dad was in the driver’s seat. What made us even more self-conscious about it was that all eyes from the restaurant were on us (and none of the waiters helped push). We made it up the mountain, yes, but that was about it for the car.  We had to hitch rides with our aunts and uncles during our stay, and then our trip down from Baguio had to be taken excruciatingly slowly so the car could make it home in one piece.

Sometimes, car trouble comes in the form of vehicular collisions, like what happened recently during my Holy Week trip. Coincidentally — or not? — this happened in Baguio too. My friend was parking our van in front of Cafe by the Ruins, in a space just vacated by a jeepney. Suddenly, the jeepney started backing up on us; because we hadn’t completely slid into the parking slot, the jeepney’s rear fender crumpled our front bumper. The driver hadn’t even been looking, and he was moving in reverse on a one-way street because he wanted to enter another street (what an idiot!). The worst part is that it wasn’t our van; we’d borrowed it from another friend (who thankfully was on the trip with us). So the traffic police came by, booked the jeepney driver, and we had to call the owner so he could go to the police station and file a report for insurance’s sake.

My dad finally arrived at the gas station and helped me get my car restarted, which put an end to my reminiscing. But I realized, I am such a damsel in distres when it comes to traveling! Hopefully I have more street smarts than I give myself credit for — but I’d rather my street smarts not be called upon at all on my next trip. 

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24

Noelle De Guzman

Well, this is the last day I’m living as a 24-year-old. When I wake up tomorrow morning I will be celebrating my first quarter-century on this planet.

When I was young I used to think that upon my birthday, magically overnight I would become a year older and wiser. It was only when I got much older that I realized aging is constant and doesn’t come in spurts. And wisdom? You have to seek it because it doesn’t come naturally to us foolish humans. Ü Still, each birthday I do some soul-searching, thinking about the past year and what I can do to live the upcoming year better.

There’s a song by Switchfoot called “24”, and it was written by frontman Jon Foreman on the eve of his 25th birthday.

http://media.imeem.com/m/h_xMPx2e__/aus=false/

I have some favorite parts in the song, when the lyrics go, “Life is not what I thought it was twenty-four hours ago / Still I’m singing Spirit take me up in arms with You / And I’m not who I thought I was twenty-four hours ago / Still I’m singing Spirit take me up in arms with You… See I’m not copping out, not copping out, not copping out / When you’re raising the dead in me.“

There were some really rough times in my 24th year. But I’m not copping out, as the song says. I’m clinging even harder to my God, who’s seen me through it all. My 25th year will be a great blessing, I’m sure of it.

Happy Birthday to me!

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