50 SHADES THE MUSICAL PARODY IN MANILA

It is truly rejuvenating to inhale other people's talent in when you are on a break. As a performing artist, I see to it that from time to time, I allow myself to be part of the audience. It gives me a refreshed approach on my usual routines and attacks.

While in Manila for an audition, I took the liberty of seeing one of the most sought after production from the humorous writer/producer, Emily Dorezas. While 50 Shades The Musical Parody is not authorised to be connected at all to the writer, E.L. James' novel, "50 Shades of Grey", in any way, it does give its audience an impact of how influential it had become in general. From its lines that is distinct to the book's storyline, to the indigenous reaction of every woman who reads it, was portrayed confidently.

I have been a long time fan of:
Loi Martinez, who played as Christian Grey
and I was in awe with how talented and skilled
Brennha Wahl is as she played Anastasia Steele.
(both were colleagues from the happiest place on Earth)

"50 Shades the Musical Parody" opens the show somehow from the reader's point of view. Three friends are keeping attuned to how far each of them have been reading the book. Society had become jittery once they had gotten hold of the mystery of the book when it first got released. Until everybody knows what it's about and then it became all of a sudden, embarrassing to be seen reading  it in public.

Some parts got magnified and everything was almost kept the same about the story, except that it was given a huge twist. Instead of a beautiful Grey as described in the book, the show had produced an opposing being: stout, no way sexy, exaggeratedly allergic to getting held and wears a disturbing wrestling unitard in going to the gym. LOL with that alone. While Anastasia was played to be ridiculously stupid and naively virgin, the combination of both humorous roles were superb. Supported by a talented cast, I felt like I was in the most high end comedy bar.

us former Whiplash dancers,
with my idol, Ms. Bituin Escalante

I am amazed with my colleague Kimberly Ann Mendoza who called the show that night. A shoutout to her, as a budding stage manager for allowing us to indulge in this show taking photos with almost everybody. I was able to keep in touch with a long time idol, Miss Bituin Escalante whom I have looked up to since I was in grade school. A versatile singer, performer and theatre actress. It was such an honour to have shared a stage with her once when I was still with Whiplash during my younger years.

On top of that, these performers were definitely aimed to please the audience with its funny and catchy lines, sans the lyrics of the song, "I have a hole inside of me." Yet they were true to their talent. Their belting skills raised me some goosebumps and Isaac Saleh's chaine turns left me in awe as it all looks serious yet funny. The irony is just but crisp as the script.

Overall, I recommend that you watch it for its last night, Mar. 20 at the RCBC Theatre in Makati. Except if you find obscene sense of humor quite not your thing, a good laugh may serve you well. It was everything that I got from this 2 hour production. And it was worth going home to Manila for it!

Congratulations to the cast of 50 Shades The Musical Parody
together with a budding stage manager, Kimberly Ann Mendoza.
Special shoutout to colleagues, Loi Martinez, Brenna Wahl, Isaac Saleh and Miss Bituin Escalante,
"Good job and keep it up!"

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2. WORKSHOPS AND AUDITIONS THIS MARCH - Attend a free financial seminar, learn from an avante grade photographer and try your luck in getting to the West End.
3. TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE - Love TED talks? This could help you out in making it from Point A to Point B in terms of your goals in life.

Amelia on a picnic...

Amelia on a picnic... by katrinatoomalatai featuring golden jewelry

Yumi sleeveless lace dress
605 HKD - houseoffraser.co.uk

Monsoon cut out flat
405 HKD - monsoon.co.uk

Mini shoulder bag
195 HKD - genuine-people.com

Kenneth Jay Lane golden jewelry
135 HKD - lastcall.com

Eugenia Kim round straw hat
2,910 HKD - bergdorfgoodman.com

Palette eyeshadow
280 HKD - toofaced.com

WORKSHOPS AND AUDITIONS THIS MARCH

I am inspired to write this post while watching "Jobs". A movie about this millennium's greatest innovator, Steve Jobs. There are so many things in this lifetime that we ought to take for granted. Nowadays, something free is misunderstood for something that can be thrown out to trash. And a lot of people think that when they pay a high price for something, it's always worth it to have it, may it be experience or commodity. The thing is, whether it is free or expensive in monetary sense, the connection of it to achieving your goal is what it's all about. Steve Jobs was able to connect a gadget to a person. How? By following his vision of making it happen. This March, there are a lot of opportunities that may help you realise what you are passionate about.

in Hong Kong...

with TGFI's Floi Wycoco

Let me start off with my own passion for dreaming of a financially literate Philippines. This March 20, there's a free talk from non other than Mr. Floi Wycoco, the CEO and founder of The Global Filipino Investors (TGFI) whom we got to meet last year in the workplace on the side, while on vacation with his wife at the happiest place on earth. With his dedication to extending help to those who want to help themselves to be financially secure, he had made himself available that day to push our momentum into creating a Hong Kong chapter for TGFI. There are a lot of overseas Filipino workers here in Hong Kong who are neglectful of the importance of having an insurance, having an emergency fund and most of all, the importance of being financially free. To that, allow me to encourage you to attend this introductory talk about financial education. In collaboration with my good friend's own advocacy, the Spearhead Mission, TGFI and the Philippine Consulate invites every Filipino to this event. Check out the posters below and please do share it to the rest of your Filipino friends.

To follow that up with certainly an opportunity to start off your journey to financial freedom, here's another free seminar in the afternoon of the same day. Trust me that there's no selling involved here. It's just pure knowledge available for all who desire to be truly rich.

in Manila...

Photography requires a visionary alright. In my own opinion, every captured moment is a timeless art. Moreover, it tells a story.

This Mar. 12, in UP Diliman, I am proud that a colleague of mine from work, Martina Manalo will be holding a photography workshop that you may find helpful as she talks about how to keep all focus to the subject and how important building an online portfolio could help you showcase your work.

Details of this workshop series are on the poster below. Do remember to register by clicking on this link: http://tinyurl.com/OPTICSWorkshops2016.

Fees are at HK$150/workshop. Do contact 0917-631-1400.

Last but not the least, you could pursue your dream of becoming a performing artist by chasing them. Get in these auditions if you think you have what it takes to be the next Lea Salonga.

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2. TEST YOUR FINANCIAL FITNESS - You can only say you're rich if you are complete with these.... Take this test if you want to know your financial status.
3. RAFFLES SCHOOL OF DESIGN - if you want to pursue a career in design, check my experience with their fashion design alumnus last February, 2016.

RAFFLES SCHOOL OF DESIGN

Last February, I was blessed to come across an open invitation to anybody who's willing to participate in an intimate evening with a designer. 

As I signed up and was representing my own blog site, I found myself having an opportunity to know how Hong Kong owns a great deal of commitment to the art of design.

Raffles School of Continuing Education offers three paths to success:
1) Raffles International College
2) Raffles Business Institute
3) Raffles Design Institute.

working stations

And I was able to see what Raffles Design Institute has to offer.

Being an early bird to the event, I was given a personal tour by one of their staff, Kelvin Yeung, of the entire workplace since they were still waiting for the other guests to come. I was explained of how each room was set to cater to a student designer's demand. As for a fashion designer specifically, there's a room for cutting textiles and they are spacious and complete with whatever tool you need. Sewing is next so there's another room for that sufficed with mannequins and complete with a line of machines. If you want to test your product's commercial edge, there's a photography room to experiment with different backdrops to know what's best in highlighting the design and style. I must say, in terms of facilitative learning, they are pretty much efficient. Of course, Raffles Design Institute not only holds that much learning facilities but also, a superb faculty.

Proof of this greatness is a designer named, Grace C.Y. Lam, who was mentored in Raffles. She is going to showcase her evening wear collection in Vancouver Fashion Week this March 14 until the 20th. She will be representing Hong Kong in the said event. And as a newly emerging designer, this is quite a leap to take.

Grace C.Y. Lam is an alumna of Raffles Design Institute. Because of her unique taste and style, the institute decided to feature her works to inspire designer students. She was a graduate of law that turned fashion designer, a walking epitome of an empowered woman of this era. She is a mother of one and she had found the sense of achievement she'd been longing for in pursuing a career in design with the aid of Raffles Design Institute.

with Grace CY Lam, the designer herself

Guided all the way by her mentor, Mr. Stefan Orschel-Read, the institute's Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing Programme Director, and her dad for a sole investor, Grace had achieved putting up a collection for the whole world to see. Her designs focused on detail and rich fabrics that aim to bring out the beauty of each piece. All of her clothes are made up of small pieces of handcrafted art. And her collection somewhat represent the modern goth. There are people who might find her sense of style too deep or where a designer's inspiration comes from but I admired it. In fact, I am in awe with her creativity. 

with Mr. Stefan Orschel-Read,
Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing Programme Director,
Raffles Design Institute

Grace's workbook consisted of footnotes,
drawings, cut outs and swatches.

Her collection, called, Marie Van Goethem, was inspired by her trip in Paris. She got hold of the sacred heart that speaks of a human's inner connectivity to God and she combined it with the sensuality in every ballet dancer's gracious movements. Such Parisian concepts fed her imagination and from there, she translated everything into her workbook. This very workbook was shared during the session and it was a busy one. It's amazing to have a glimpse of how she had worked with each design. Swatches of each textile and fabric were very distinct to each design. She played with various materials and mismatched with what perfectly goes with what. Her choices were extraordinary and she hailed a lot of layers because one thing that she noticed with evening gowns is that, it's too limiting and straining. For her own designs, she infused flow and it has got to breath on its own. 

Consulting Stefan with every idea she has in mind, Stefan warned her of the complexity of putting together an evening gown collection. He didn't miss a thing in warning her that there are certain expectations. Him, for one, thought that it's got to be a whole new collection and that the least that he wanted was to look at yet, another typical line up. Secondly it's got to be wearable. But Grace conformed to these expectations and more that's why she made it in Vancouver.

Truly, creating something is hard. Putting up a collection was another story. She emphasised on how challenging it had been for her being a mom and juggling things from meeting the deadlines, handcrafting almost everything, having rained on during the photoshoot and in the end, finding models, partners and investors to showcase it; each had shared their own load on making it happen. Nevertheless, it was a success. The hard work paid off. She was able to make her long time dream come true. She was proud to say that she may not be that young like the other designers but it's never too late to achieve what you've been longing to do. It's just important to stay focused and determined. And she was proud to say that it was hers and literally, she made it with her bare hands.

I have been exposed to the fashion industry thru my sister since I was in college. She is an alumna of John Robert Powers and she had joined the Search for Supermodel Philippines. With that little of an understanding, I appreciate this event that Raffles Design Institute had opened to people. It gives expectators a different level of appreciation to a designer's craft. Fashion is a way to express for many people. We always find an excuse to dress up thru gatherings and events. And yet, we are limited to a superficial understanding of how something was created.

this was my sister, Khrista Dalino during her modelling days
Fashion Week, Makati

On top of all these good news, Raffles Design Institute extends its 3-year degree bachelor courses to Interior Design, Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Fashion Marketing and Multimedia Design. Short courses are offered too with Fashion Design, Creative Classics, Interior Design, Media and Communication, Apps and Mobile Design, Entrepreneurship and Development. This information was mind blowing to me because I'm always amazed with the people behind "any" design. To those of you who have an inclination to designing anything, perhaps, this is the place for you. Raffles also offer workshops to let you become aware of your inclination. So, it's good to check their website every now and then for updated events, requirements for admission and necessary application forms to aid you with your utmost interest.

Don't be afraid to pursue your dreams. With facilitative institutions like Raffles Design Institute, you're just one click away in making things happen.

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2. 2015 BEST PHOTOS - this is a line up of photos that remind me of how good and fruitful my 2015 was in terms of career, family and investments.
3. ON-THE-GO IN WINTER - Check out my polyvore for an upbeat woman of 2016!