all the world's a stage!!!

The Year That Was (Highlights of 2005)

11:37 PM, Thursday, December 29, 2005 | Link to this post |

2005 has been a crazy yet challenging year for me. Let's go down memory lane and reminisce the year that was.

UP Fair 2005 (sometime in February)
At last, I experienced being at the UP fair twice this year. I enjoyed the things that I did with my friends like watching concerts, riding the 'Octopus' (twice with Glenn and Nat) and the 'Ferris Wheel' (with Ate Ste), Rock Climbing (with Kuya Arbie, Ate Frances, and Ate Shie), food-tripping, picture-taking, etc. I experienced sleeping with friends (Evy, Jairus, Laila, Imay, Francis, Glenn, and Kay) on the sunken garden grounds during the last day of the fair. Actually, Evy and Jairus stayed awake to look after us and our things. Thanks guys! We woke up with the sun almost shinning and the walls and the rides being dismantled. Hehe!!!

UP Eng'g Soc Application (January to March)
It was my first time to join an academic org in UP with friends from CCC (Dwight, Jopi, and Junie). I came to know a lot of people and I had a good time with them especially my co-apps. I became easily comfortable with my co-apps. We had a lot of fun times especially during rehearsals for the talent's night. The talent's night was fun. We did a lot of 'crazy' things. Hehe! The Final Interview was dreadful. Actually, I cried during the interview because of the pressure from the panel of interviewers. Right now, I'm a certified Eng'g Socer! Hehe!

TRUMPETS' Playshop (April 11 to May 27)
Probably one of the greatest things that happened in my whole life. It was my life-long dream to experience Trumpets and God is faithful! I'm so grateful because I was given a chance to enroll for the summer workshops for musical theatre. I experienced a lot of things especially when it comes to the entertainment scene. Nakana!! I came to auditions, sang in front of a lot of people, walked in Shangri-La in a shepherd's costume, wore tights, etc. I made friends with people (especially with Jandra, Chelsea, Anjo, Len, Arash, Bocx, Aya, William, Cyril, BA, Chogz, Wowie, Cel, Dennie, Peevee, Louise, Rina, Leslie, Dino, Jem, Monique, and Dale. Actaully, sila na lahat 'to!). Our schedule was MWF, 6:30pm-9:00pm at the former Little Gym, Shangri-La Plaza Mall. Sometimes, we end up 'til 12mn just to finish the rehearsals. We had a successful recital (Once Upon A Mattress) at the SM Megamall Cinema 11 last May 27. It was one of the best moments in my life, performing in front a lot of people. But my main goal why I joined Trumpets is 'to hear well-done from the Audience of One!'

Summer Classes (April and May)
It was my first time to have summer classes in UP. I enrolled in a 7am Math class (that's everyday) and a PE class (table tennis at 11:30am). It was quite tiring for me to wake up that early especially after each workshop day. But I did well with my Math subject. Yahoo!!! I'm finished with all my Math subjects!!

Stillwaters Leaders' Retreat (May 13-15)
I was challenged to be part of the Stillwaters leadership team. I was invited by Melvin to a retreat at the Enrile property in Nasugbu, Batangas. It was fun serving the Lord at the same time, enjoying the company of fellow Christians, tasting the sweetness of the ever-beloved s'mores at the beach. God did reveal a lot of things to me, especially the rewards of great sacrifices.

ME 63 and ES 11 (The whole first sem)
ME 63 was the first major subject that I took. It was kinda difficult! I'm having second thoughts if I chose the right course. I ended up having a 4.00 grade which means I need to take the removals. Thank God because I was able to pass the removals.
ES 11... I've got a grade of 5.00. My very first singko. :-( Sad to say, I need to take it again this sem.

UP CCC
I was challenged to be one of the junior core leaders at the start of the academic year. I made a commitment to the Kalayaan Residence Hall to be my main target area for leadership, witnessing, discipleship, and fellowship. God gave me 5 disciples this year (Ken, Don, JM, Joseph, and Mark). The difficult part is finding the right schedule for them to have bibles studies and fellowship.

Awitan (December 12)
This is my major activity for the Eng'g Week. I was given a chance to join the said activity and show UP what Eng'g Soc has got with its members. I've made a lot of sacrifices just to attend the tiring rehearsals. But you know, it's all worth it! We ended up at 3rd place which is quite unexpected. This was the first time Eng'g Soc has joined this competition and grabbed a place on the top 3. God has been so true to us! We really prayed hard for this competition. And God never failed us.

After all these things, good and bad, I'm still here alive and kicking! God is my strength and refuge...

- Gian

New Year! New Look!

9:31 PM, | Link to this post |

Hi Guys! What can you say about the new background? It took some time before I finished it. The New Year is just around the corner, the same with school. Haaay!! I feel like I don't want to go back to school anymore. I love the Christmas break. I've done a lot of things. I enjoyed every second of it. Two weeks were not enough! Plenty of schoolworks will come along my way as the new year starts. And that's the main reason why I don't wanna go back to school. I'm gonna have two exams on the first week of 2006 and another (maybe) on the second. I expect that time will run so fast (as what usually happens after the Christmas break). It's like waking up one morning and finding out that you only have two weeks before the class ends and you haven't done anything good since the sem started. It happened to me last sem and I don't want the same mistake to happen again. That's why I'm studying my lessons once in a while during the break.

Hope you'll have a wonderful New Year! God Bless!!!

- Gian

One Year Of 'Making Memories'!!! Happy 1st Birthday Memory Lane!

5:27 PM, Thursday, December 22, 2005 | Link to this post |

Make a joyful noise!!!

Thanks to the people who journeyed down memory lane with me!

God Bless!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Memory Lane!
still 'making memories in your hearts'!!!

- Gian

How's The Break!?!

5:12 PM, | Link to this post |

It's been a while since I last posted here. 3 days to go before Christmas...aren't you excited? How's my break? Well, I'm making the most out of it. You know, studying my lessons once in a while... hehe! Need to prepare for the coming year. But there are times that I feel so tamad so I resort to watching t.v all day and eating a lot.

At last, I've finished The Chronicles of Narnia yesterday. Kudos to Mr. C.S. Lewis! He really did a great job! He made me believe more in magic. Each book is unique in its own special way. But my personal favorite is Prince Caspian, 2nd would be The Last Battle and 3rd is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. But generally speaking, all seven books were excellent. That's why it's difficult for me to choose my personal favorite (no one's forcing me to do it anyway).

I'm so excited to watch Narnia! Can't believe that it's now on #2 because of King Kong!
Hope you're having a great time with your family and friends! A Blessed Christmas to all of you!!!

- Gian

And the winners are...

12:19 AM, Thursday, December 15, 2005 | Link to this post |

1st place - UP Cursor
2nd place - UP Alchemes
3rd place - UP Eng'g Soc Yeah!!!!

Grabe!!!! This is more than enough for us! God has been really so faithful! It's really worth the sacrifice. It's a great feeling performing in the UP theatre for the first time and being victorious in the end. This is truly a remarkable event for us. Astig!!! Know what? Even though it's our first time to join Awitan, we still made it to the top 3. Galing! Another thing that really fascinates me is the fact that we hire no professional musician to train us and to conduct us. There's more!!! After the competition, 2 of the 3 judges approached Jemy (our conductor) and expressed their frustration. They said that it's only because of a little change in the original piece why we got a lower score. We could have ended up as the Grand Champion of the said competition if only not for that little modification on the original piece. It just proves that we can be the best among them.

These things would not be possible without God's guidance. Every rehearsal, I pray to God that we will be patient and we will not give up easily if we find everything difficult. We couldn't have done it without Him. Galing talaga ni God! I personally thank God because He gave me the chance to express my faith through the prayers that I've made before and after the whole thing. It was really my desire to be a light to them and wow!!!... God didn't fail me! I thank God for giving me this voice and giving me the opportunity to minister to my orgmates.

I want Jesus to be seen through me. I want God's words to be heard by them through me. These things would be impossible if I keep on pleasing people. I should please God more than anything else. I wanna tell the world how faithful He is to me, that He answers your prayers if only you believe in Him.

Thanks to the people who prayed with me for this competition. I wanna share this victory with you. Thanks to those who watched (Revin, Dwight, Lai, Ate Shie, Jenny, Jopi, Ate Vict, Ate Melai, and Ate Astrid) and enjoyed our performance. This is more than just a dream come true for me because I let God do His work.

Thank you God! I love you!

P.S. I'm gonna miss the Awitan people. We really had a great time with each other. 'Til the next Awitan... First Place na tayo!!! (may pressure na!!!) God Bless!!!

- Gian

The things that I should be thankful for

9:24 PM, Sunday, December 11, 2005 | Link to this post |

in no particular order:

TRUMPETS (for taking me out of my shell)
UP CCC (for bringing me much closer to Him)
UP Eng'g Soc (for the nice company)
Awitan (for making me realize that I need to learn more)
Sir Arthur Gonzales (for accepting me in your class)
Darwin and Vincci (my co-tenors, for correcting me when I'm singing off key)
Jemy and May (for being so patient with me during the rehearsals)
Bianca (for giving me an opportunity to be a part of Awitan)
Stillwaters (for giving me a sense of responsibilty)
Kuya Ju (for tolarating my kakulitan)
Ate Vict (for the nice pictures and for sharing your food with me at world tops)
Melvin (for being in my dreams twice)
Laila (for giving me pressure every 9:30pm)
Revin (for being kind to me)
Evy (for always being there for me)

...more to come

- Gian

Excited for Narnia!

9:12 PM, | Link to this post |

I've seen the special 9-minute trailer twice. Astig!!! Click here to watch the trailer. Enjoy!!!

- Gian

Too tired!

1:36 PM, | Link to this post |

Hi guys! I just came from the Awitan rehearsals and I barely slept. We started the rehearsals at 11pm and finished at 930am. We only have a 1 hour break and we slept for less than an hour. But it's all worth it! Though we feel tired and sleepy, we still managed to do everything that we can do, pouring the last drop of strength that is within us. God never failed us because He was able to give us the strength that we need. Our voices were great! We enjoyed each others company. We somehow developed a sense of closeness with each other. Sleeping together on the floor, rehearsing on the bus terminal while waiting for the others, playing with echoes, drinking coffee together, playing at Tom's World, and many others, these are the things that I enjoyed the most for the duration of our rehearsal.

We rehearsed the two songs a lot of times (that's what rehearsals are for right?) taking note of our mistakes. It's good too see everyone enjoying the rehearsals and encouraging each other to do his best.

We somehow feel pressured because we will be the last to perform for tomorrow's competition (my fault actually). But this didn't make us weary. It somehow challenged us to do our best and give everything that we have.

Guys, please pray for our performance tomorrow. By the way, the competition will be held tomorrow at 6pm at the UP theater. Hope to see you there.
God Bless!!!

- Gian

Only Heaven Knows

2:56 PM, Friday, December 02, 2005 | Link to this post |

This is the first thing that came into my mind as this page opened. Well, I'm in a struggle with Awitan right now. I was so frustrated of what happened last night during the voice rehearsals. I think my voice is getting worse. I can't hit the right note. It was really awful. I can hear my voice and it sounds very bad. Our conductor,together with a few orgmates, tried to help me out. But it just led to my disappointment. I'm the only one in the group who was given a remedial lesson of some sorts for singing. They said that I'm developing the bad habit of singing from my throat. Our conductor really had a bad time with me. I almost cried during my one-on-one lessons with the conductor. No matter what I do, no matter how I sing my heart out, I can't still do it. It was the worst rehearsal I ever had. We finished at 9pm.

I didn't have the chance to go to Laila's party because it's too late. I'm still thinking if I'm gonna attend the rehearsals late this afternoon. I'm planning to have a break first since I sacrificed a lot of time for Awitan. Quitting is my option. But how can I quit when there are people out there trying to do their best to make me smile and to encourage me that I can do it? They are so patient with me even though I slouch during rehearsals. Anyone can say that I'm the worst singer in this whole wide world but no one can say that I'm a loser. Even though it's not my nature to be a better singer, I can still sing to glorify God, my only Maker, the Creator of all beautiful things. Indeed, God has given me this voice not to please people but to be able to proclaim His word to those who need Him. He is the only One who can bring out the best in me not just in singing, but in every aspect of my life.

- Gian