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Hi Candy Girls!

Happy 2010! Just wanted to share with you what happened to me over the holidays, and what I plan to do this year.

Holiday Highlight: Despite the recession, I received more than a handful of wonderful gifts! Like a little girl, I made sure I waited until midnight to open them. (The drawing is not exactly a gift, but it was a drawing of me on Christmas Eve by a cute 4-year-old, so it counts!)
2010 Goal: Be thankful for everything I receive—may it be a compliment, a present, or even a challenge.

Holiday Highlight: It was a bittersweet time for us since the holidays gave my family a chance to bond, but alas! We were incomplete. There were a few changes (keeping in touch through Skype and meeting up on Christmas Day at my tito’s instead of going to my mother’s side), but we made the most of it by playing games like Pinoy Henyo Christmas Edition, Christmas Jingle Charades, and Merry Christmas Scrabble. It also felt good to see my sister-in-law who came home for the holidays, but it made me miss my bro even more!
2010 Goal: Keep in touch with relatives through creative means. I can send silly videos to my siblings abroad and maybe even set up a monthly get-together for my relatives here. What do you think?

Holiday Highlight: I don’t usually wake up early, but when I found out we were picking up Harry Shum Jr. (Glee’s Other Asian) from the airport at an ungodly hour, I made an effort to be at the meeting point on time and be bright and perky for him. I think all our efforts paid off because he had fun! See our teaser clip here and then read his comments about the Philippines here.
2010 Goal: Sleep early so I can wake up early and squeeze in about 30 minutes of exercise each day. So far, I’ve been failing at it miserably, but I know I have more than 350 days left to accomplish this task.

Holiday Highlight: During the Christmas break, I was scheduled to meet up with my ex-officemates when I bumped into my high school classmate at Starbucks. I haven’t seen her in years, so it was a unique experience reconnecting with her. She told me tales about being married and having a child, while she asked if I was still a workaholic. (YIKES! That didn’t sound so good to me.) After our quick chat, we parted ways and I met up with two friends who used to work for Summit. It’s always fun hanging with them, knowing that we weren’t just friends because we worked in the same company (kind of like school wherein you become friends because you’re seatmates, but after that school year, you forget about each other/move on).
2010 Goal: Work less. Play more. My friends and I plan on visiting Cambodia this year. I was also thinking of going to Canada to visit my sister, but if my brother comes home this July, I’d have to postpone my second trip.

Holiday Highlight: We spent the New Year on my tito’s roof deck, ooohing and aaahing at the marvelous fireworks lit by the neighbors. When I took this photo, I didn’t expect it to land exactly on my tito’s head. It made him look like a guy with a psychedelic ‘fro (which I totally dig).
2010 Goal: Take more pictures. I miss using my lomo cameras.

No day but today!
Mimi

Chicago!!! I’ve spent most of my vacation here where most of my relatives from my mother’s side reside. It’s been 11 years since I came back and I can say it hasn’t changed. It’s still how I left it, except for new infrastructures and malls downtown. Chicago is a big part of me (because I was born there) and I’m proud to say that it is one of the best cities in the US. Angel went there before and she loved it! Let me give you a brief tour of Chicago.

Willis Tower

Glass Balcony

103 floors off the ground

Skyscrapers of Chicago

Formerly called the Sears Tower, this 108-story skyscraper is the tallest building in the United States. We went up to the 103rd floor of the building for the Skydeck. It only took us 1 minute to get to the floor and believe me; the pressure in our ears was intense! You can see the whole Chicago from up there. You can also see far over plains of the state of Illinois and across Lake Michigan to Indiana and Wisconsin. The view was just breathtaking! The glass balcony was also a hit! It’’s not scary at all… Just don’t look down.

The Shedd Aquarium

By the steps

Philippines

It is Chicago’s #1 cultural attraction! It houses a lot of fishes, whales, turtles, and penguins too! What’s so great about the Shedd Aquarium is that they have one floor dedicated to the Wild Reefs of the Philippines. Awesome!

Navy Pier

Navy Pier sign

Horror Haunt

Fooling around

This is where all cruises, boats, and ships are parked in Chicago by the Indiana Lake. One Saturday night in October, my cousins, their friends, and I went to Navy Pier for their Horror Haunt. It was freezing cold and there weren’t much people so we thought of fooling around like little kids. Too bad the huge Ferris wheel wasn’t open because of the weather but we had a blast making fun of ourselves and make fun of the fake mumus everywhere.

Chicago Grant Park

Agora

I love Fall Trees!

Bus Stop in Michigan Avenue

This is where parks, sculptures, and a lot of trees are found. It is located along Michigan Avenue where famous hotels and infrastructures are lined up. It’s nice to place to jog, stroll around, read a good book, and just relax.

Millennium Park

The Bean

The Crown Fountain

Chicago Ampitheater

It was my first time here and I really got amazed. Here you can find the famous Cloud Gate or “The Bean,” The Crown Fountain, and the Millennium Park Amphitheater. Everything looks so modern and well made! The Amphitheater is one of the best architectures I’ve seen.

Chicago’s Architecture

Chicago

Chicago is famous for their unique infrastructures and building architectures. It ranges from modern to old style buildings. Fun Fact: Batman Begins was filmed in Chicago.

If ever you plan to visit Chicago soon, make sure to visit these places and you’re trip might probably be one of the best you’ll ever have.

See you on my next stop,
Roch <3

Because it’s Thanksgiving weekend!

1) Waking up and going to work with an amazing set of people. I’m truly honored we can influence and empower you girls through our magazine each month!

2) Listening to songs that make the heart soar. I’m liking Glee’s tender renditions of “True Colors” and “Imagine” right now. I’m very thankful for Ryan Murphy for creating this addictive show. (You can still become a GLEEk by watching it on ETC and Jack TV.)

3) Having the chance to bond with different sets of people over the long weekend. My schedule’s packed to the brim. Friday night: Throw a special party for Mia. Saturday: Hang out and watch the Sweeney Todd play with my choir buddies. Sunday: Go Christmas shopping with the family. (I hope I get to buy them what they want and finish shopping by this week!) Monday: Have my first ever Thanksgiving dinner with travel pals.

4) Finding out that most American TV shows are taking a holiday hiatus. This gives me time to catch up on my show backlog and catch more Zzzs!

5) Belonging to a family. Some of my family members are crazy, some of them are cool, but all of them have shaped me into the person I am today.

What about you? What are you thankful for?

Mimi

One week, eight songs. Here’s how my week went!

Saturday: “Thinking of You”
Spent the longest five minutes of my life with arms raised, trying to record Katy Perry performing this song live. I got goosebumps all over! However, I got so excited that I accidentally sang before her at one part… and it was captured on video. Audio fail!

Sunday: “Smooth Criminal”
As a toddler, I tried to (unsuccessfully) teach Jared how to sing a part of Michael Jackson’s hit with the signature “Ow!” at the end. He surprised me by singing it correctly when we chatted on Skype. Aww! He’s all grown up.

Monday: “I Gotta Feeling”
Roch is back from her vacay! I don’t know why but this Black Eyed Peas song reminds me of her. Somehow it feels like she never left… That same night, I saw the Saturday Night Live episode with BEP as musical guest. I couldn’t help but look at Fergie the entire time. I wonder if the rumors about Josh Duhamel cavorting with a stripper are true. Sad for Fergie since they only tied the knot recently!

Tuesday: “Bad Romance”
Love Lady GaGa and her new songs from The Fame Monster, but I was altogether disappointed with her short guest stint in the Gossip Girl episode. She didn’t even interact with Blair! Would have loved to see Chuck flirt the (under)pants off her. Guess I’d have to settle with watching GaGa’s edgy music video.

Wednesday: “Dreaming of You”
My sister forced me to realize how cheesy I was by emailing me the lyrics to this song I secretly sang for one particular boy. In hindsight, he was a douche. Sadly, I was smitten. More than 10 years later, I still love this cheesy tune. Thank God I’m over that guy.

Thursday: “1901″
Had a cover shoot for our prom special. The photographer was digging this French alternative rock band called Phoenix. I realized I had some of their songs on my iPod because of Gossip Girl. Thank you awesome music supervisor, Alexandra Patsavas! (Speaking of TV soundtracks, check out my top 10 list on Spot.ph.)

Friday: “Possibility” and “Satellite Heart”
Experiencing a post-New Moon haze. There are 13 other great songs on the soundtrack, but the haunting tracks by Lykke Li and Anya Marina are my current favorites!

What about you? What songs moved you this week?
Mimi

After more than a month’s delay, Katy Perry is finally in town!!! I know I’ve already written about her Rocks for Relief concert, but after seeing Katy in the flesh, I couldn’t resist blogging about her and her concert cohorts again.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m still sad that Boys Like Girls won’t be playing anymore, but I’m happy for Macy and Mia that the boys of Mae are here instead!

Look who’s wearing a big grin on her face? Haha! That’s MaCe with Jacob of Mae. See what I did with her name? Teehee!

Even Journey’s Neal Schon and Arnel Pineda (all together now: “Don’t stop believin’!!!”) as well as Jed Madela (whose house got flooded during Typhoon Ondoy) signed on to perform for free just so that all the proceeds could go to the Philippine National Red Cross.

The first thing I noticed when Katy came in was how tall she was (ooh! Love ‘em heels!) and the non-existent fruit accessories I’ve come to love in her quirky get-ups.

She looked a little tired (jet lag, maybe?), but she was still very warm and accommodating. She laughed off comments that she looked like (500) Days of Summer’s Zooey Deschanel, explained how she’s outgrown wearing cherries on her hair (but expect a lot of pink tomorrow night), and loved the fact that she finally got to hold a huge-ass check for the Red Cross amounting to P1,000,000!!!

See more snippets of the Katy press con on our CandyTV page!

If you’d like to see Katy, Mae, and other special guests perform tomorrow night, it’s not too late to buy your tickets at Ticketworld for P3500, P2200, P1200, and P400. Remember, they’re doing this for a good cause (namely the homeless victims of Ondoy and Pepeng) so let’s help them make the event a success!

Crooning to Katy’s songs…
Mimi