Memory Lane

Philippines summer 2009, my whole family and some relatives went on holidays to our hometown in Atimonan, Quezon. After some 3 to 4 years of hectic schedule due to work, I finally having a break I deserved. A hot afternoon at the beach, a chilly evening sharing food and drinks with my family, my brothers and sister, my mom and dad, my aunties and uncles, my cousins, and my girlfriend. A couple of days without thinking of work related things. That’s all I ever wanted.

Surprises really come a lot when you are on the road. I got more than what I expected.

My childhood memories.

Before going straight to the beach, we dropped by to my old grandma’s house, where I spent most of my childhood days. We passed by just to get some coconut fruit to be used for my Mom’s buko salad. While helping gathering coconut fruits, I suddenly felt nostalgic. I can see me running around the place, a kid playing carelessly in the woods and grass, not worried meeting work deadlines, paying monthly bills, and how and where to get your meals for tomorrow. The only problem I had is where will we play when the rain comes? Will grandma cook my favorite laing or fried dried fish again?


It’s precious. It's something no one can take away from me. Something that helps me rethinks how should I lead my life today. How I wanted my life to be came back clearly. Glad to meet myself again. Nice to meet you Shermel.

The Winter's Tale

Awesome! The audience including me is mesmerized. For at least 5 minutes after the show, the audience never stops applauding. I saw a girl seating behind me with teary eyes and the audience is awed with amazement.
Simon Russell Beale’s performance as the jealous King Leontes is so powerful. Even though I can’t see his face from where I am seating, his voice is full of feelings you can feel his anger while accusing her Queen, and his agony when he realizes his mistake. Rebecca Hall’s performance is remarkable, for a minute I want to scream and tell King Leontes, hey your queen is innocent, set her free! Ethan Hawke is remarkably good and different bringing tension reliever and comic relief in the show. I remember him as an actor for serious roles, but here, he brings comic relief as Autolycus, a beggar and thief with a guitar on his hand, singing and dancing!
Overall great performance by the casts and the production is excellent! 5/5 As we are now experiencing crunch time, this play is still worth seeing!

The Rebooked Ticket

Here’s my first official blog entry for this year. I should be posting today my review for Shakespeare's play I watched yesterday, but before that let me share you the adventure I went through getting the ticket.
I bought the ticket last March 15, after Simone, my friend who is currently based in London told me about it. She mentioned about this play she wanted to see but she couldn’t until May. Wait, she didn’t mention the play, she asked me how far I am from The Esplanade Theater, and that her sweetheart Simon Russell Beale will perform there. I get only able to know the play title after I tell her I’m going to watch it. Sorry Simone, I couldn’t contain it to myself, I have to spill it out.

I invited a friend to come with me and we booked ticket for Thursday, March 26. The day comes and something emergency came up at the last minute… In short, I missed it. I almost lost my interest in seeing the play until I read a SMS from a friend which I supposed to go with that night. He simply said, “Hey, awesome play! You should see it!”
So what I did, last Saturday, I went back to The Esplanade Ticket Office to get a new ticket. Sad, the same category I booked last time is already sold out. That’s category 6, ticket price is S$85- plus S$3- SISTIC Fee. So I ask for the next price which is category 5, S$120- plus S$3- SISTIC Fee. I thought they might cancel the S$3- SISTIC Fee if they will learn that I was supposed to see it but unfortunately miss it. Whoa, the lady attending me said, “Can you wait a minute, the promoter is here today, let me see what I can do for you, ok? Meanwhile let me have you’re old ticket.” So she went to a room for about 10 minutes, and after that she came back smiling at me. I can sense she has good news for me.
“We don’t normally do this, but the promoter agrees to refund your ticket. Unfortunately, the same category is not available anymore, so we offer you an upgrade to category 4, you just pay the difference, is that ok with you?”
OFCOURSE! I’LL TAKE IT! The lady’s name is Joanna, she’s very helpful. Thanks Joanna! Now my excitement is back with a better seat!