Lolo B Joins Yoga Sessions

Last week I got a message in facebook from my dear ate Sharon Rafols inviting me to join yoga sessions because her yoga teacher from India is coming to Dumaguete to have sessions with some Silliman Medical School students and with the staff of Silliman Justice and Peace Center. I have never really been interested in yoga but this time I thought of giving it a try.

Yesterday I announced the details to all the members of YATTA because Nanay Dessa encouraged us to join during our General Assembly in Valencia last Sunday. Well, only one member, Nikki, replied and said he was interested. I was busy yesterday so I really thought I couldn't join but since Nikki wanted to go and ate Sharon was expecting us, I was forced to stop working and join the session. It was done at Ate Sharon's house in Silliman heights which is relatively far from the city. Fortunately, Nikki was able to borrow his brother's motorcycle.

When we arrived in ate Shaoi's place I was surprised that there were only three of them besides the yoga teacher and so I thought it was good that we came. We were introduced to Dada Smiht, the yoga teacher who holds the second highest position in the Ananda Marga group all over Asia. They were actually waiting for us, and so we immediately started the session.

We began with a warm-up because he said it is important to prepare the body for the exercises. He also said that we must not join the session with a full stomach because some exercises would make us feel like vomiting. It is also advised to take a bath before the session and not to touch water or eat right after the session. We should wait for at least 15 minutes until the body goes back to it's normal state.

After the warm-up we began with the exercises, and I was really surprised how he was able to execute them at his age. Some of us were not even able to execute them properly. He asked me to guess how old he is and I was able to guess it right, but honestly, without his long white beard he would look much younger based on his smooth young looking skin.

After all the exercises I didn't feel tired and he said that's the beauty of yoga. You are exercising but you won't get exhausted. He also taught us about the importance of meditation and how it improves your being - your physical, spiritual, and mental health. He explained that when you meditate you become a positive thinker, and positive thoughts lead to a positive lifestyle. When you are on the positive side you live a happy life and you begin to feel content about the things that you have.

I really learned a lot from Dada Smiht. It turned out that I was the one who asked a lot of questions. I am now very interested in this and sure I'm coming back tonight for another session. Ohm Shanti!

Lolo B's Friend, Kuya Louie

Finally, I finished making the song. I posted the lyrics in my former blog "earnesthope.wordpress.com" and I promised to post it again with music. So here's the promise, and I'm sorry if it took me more than a year.

KUYA LOUIE
I

Kuya Louie be strong
Nanay’s getting weak and tatay’s not home
I know you’re lonely longing for mama’s love
and I know you are waiting for papa to say “I will rescue you”
Chorus
Let your tears dry up like salt
And remember the flavor it gives to your past
Wear a smile, face the sunrise
Keep your hopes in your hands and pray
II
Kuya Louie be strong
Tomorrow the storm is gone and the sea will be calm
Soon the wind will kiss the sand and your prints of sadness will be gone
The world’s not cruel, it’s just them
They who pretend to be your trusted friends

(repeat chorus)

Lolo B loves OPM

Here is a favorite OPM of mine, "Sana'y Wala ng Wakas" popularized by Sharon Cuneta and written and composed by Willy Cruz.

La Diva has one of the best renditions of this song with an excellent arrangement by Danny Tan. La Diva is composed of GMA-7 singing contest winners Aicelle Santos, Jonalyn Viray, and Maricris Garcia. They are some of the most underrated Filipina singers, in my opinion. 

Aicelle for me has the most unique voice quality. I was very impressed with her rendition of Yolanda Adam's version of "I believe I can fly" - very classy! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1rmiDjCIhM)

Jonalyn is the better belter though, and her versions of The Impossible Dream and Mariah's I Wanna Know What Love Is are just absolutely superb. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUb7T3Pidig)

Maricris is my lesser favorite but apparently she makes La Diva sound perfect.
 
I have seen a lot of potentials in these girls, and I think they are precious gems that the Philippines must take good care of.

Danny Tan must be very proud after this performance because the girls were able to give justice to his work. KUDOS TO DANNY TAN and LA DIVA. This makes me proud to be a Filipino.

Enjoy the video!




(thanks to x06xjhemjive for the video)

Some interesting facts about the Philippines (Lolo B research)

I wrote this supposedly for an employer (I'm a website content writer) but he didn't reply to my e-mail and he didn't pay me for this article so I might as well just post it here. To be safe from plagiarism, I checked if it makes some hits in the internet (who knows he posted it without my knowledge) but there were none so I guess it's safe to post it now. Here are some interesting facts about the Philippines.
 

Ø  The country was named after a Spanish king

Once a Spanish colony, the Philippines was named in honor of King Philip II of Spain who ruled the largest empires in the world and it is said that Spain was able to reach the height of its power under his rule. This Spanish king was known to be an intelligent statesman. Philip II died in 1598 and was succeeded by his son Philip III.

Ø  It has multiple ethnicity

There are more than 180 indigenous ethnic groups inhabiting in the Philippine islands, but many of the members of these ethnic groups are already converted to Christianity and has adopted different elements of many foreign cultures. Majority of the people are actually part of the Austronesian group.

Ø  With more than 100 languages

There are 175 listed living individual languages in the Philippines including 4 that have no speakers that can be traced. The official language is Filipino, and according to the Philippine constitution, the other major languages recognized and widely spoken include Bicolano, Cebuano, Ilocano, Ilonggo, and Waray-Waray.

Ø  Is one of  only 2 countries in Asia that are predominantly Roman Catholic

Besides East Timor, the Philippines is predominantly Roman Catholic. A total of 90% of the country’s total population are Christians (i.e., 80% Roman Catholic, and 10% from other Christian denominations), whereas 5 to 10% are Muslim living in parts of Mindanao, Palawan, and the Moro region.

Ø  An archipelago of thousands of Islands

With a total land area of 300,000 square kilometers, the Philippines is an archipelago of 7, 107, mostly mountainous and are volcanic in origin causing it to be abundant in mineral deposits. As a matter of fact, it is known to have the second-largest gold deposits in the world. It also has large deposits of copper, and is also rich in nickel, chromite, and zinc. 

Lolo B breakfast with girlfriend

Mcdonalds breakfast again! Yey!! Edsel hasn't arrived yet and I'm already hungry so I ordered Big Mcdo Breakfast for 88 pesos with additional 15 pesos for a medium pineapple juice. Too bad they do not have orange juice anymore (maybe just here in Mcdo Dumaguete). It's our favorite breakfast drink here. Well, pineapple juice is fine.

Okay... Edsel is here... happy breakfast everyone!

Juan almost spoiled the plan

YATTA was expecting visitors from CEBU last Friday, Oct 15. We were also supposed to perform for them in the evening. However, their trip to Dumaguete was canceled because of Typhoon Juan. We were a little surprised by such news because it was sunny in Dumaguete last Friday and also yesterday. But when it rained really hard last night, I was convinced that there's indeed a typhoon (I don't watch local TV news programs anymore).

According to PAGASA, Typhoon Juan was last located at 320 km East of Aparri, Cagayan as of 8PM today, and it had a "maximum sustained winds of 225 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 260 kph". It is now moving westward at 22 kph with an estimated central pressure of 938 hpa.

Geeeeeeeee!!! I can finally feel it!

This afternoon I sang in the church service and I was planning to go to nanay Dessa's house after for the YATTA officers meeting. I wanted to focus on my song but prior to my singing I received several text messages from the officers bothered about the heavy rainfall. One officer said she can't come because of the rain while the other one suggested to move the meeting schedule. Another officer suggested to change the venue because it's difficult for her to go to nanay's place with the heavy rain. It bothered me so much that I was afraid my singing will be affected. And so I closed my eyes and tried to focus. I said a little prayer and decided to ignore the messages for a while. I sang and focused on the lyrics of the song. There was a part of the song that says "When the winds of winter threatens, I know He'll keep me safe and warm. And through the restless changing seasons, He's the peace that still endures". And voilaahhh!!! After I sang, the rain stopped.

Considering the weather, I announced that the venue of the meeting will be changed for everybody's convenience. Thank God! Typhoon Juan was not able to spoil our plan. Only one officer was absent in the meeting, and so I was able to declare a QUORUM.

Lolo Bastruk and Friends

Ahahahahah!! I still couldn't stop laughing. Fun fun fun!

Pulang Bato in Valencia is the favorite hangout place of YATTA and we went there again last Thursday. Just to do something new there, we thought of making a short film. Here's the product of our playful minds. OA kung OA.

Lolo Bastruk says "I Love Miss Streisand"

In YATTA, Chrizzy and I started this what we now call "YATTA recital" where some members have to learn songs from different musicales (and soon some dance routines and production numbers) and perform it to the group - performance level! One time, while searching for some broadway songs that I could possibly give to the members as song assignments, I have come across this very familiar song - "Papa can you hear me" (A Piece of Sky). I remember this song was sung by Kyla  in one of her more intimate concerts where she performed a medley of some Barbara Streisand hits (see Kyla's performance here).

I do not know that much about Barbara Streisand, but I'm a fan of her amazing voice that can carry both contemporary pop and broadway songs beautifully. I know few of her songs and versions of some great hits, but after listening to this song I became curious about her and the movie.

I screamed in facebook asking for a copy of the movie Yentl, and thanks to Ranran I found a way to get a copy of the movie. I watched it and I loved it! Barbara sang Papa Can You Hear Me with full of emotions and I broke down in tears in this part of the movie because I remember my late father. The movie was also very moving especially that it talks about doing what you think is right despite the possible negative judgment of your community. I can relate to the movie that's why it has become an instant favorite of mine. I hope you can watch this movie too.

Some critics say that the essence of the movie has been overshadowed by the ego of Miss Streisand (it was a musical but only Miss Streisand sang in the movie - except maybe that part where Hadass did some humming). Well, I can't blame her. She was already THE Barbara Streisand when she did this movie, and she directed this movie too! It didn't destroy the movie at all in my opinion. It was just the fulfillment of an artist's dream - a movie with strong orientation supported by great music and superb performance by a legendary artist.

                                                                         


 
YENTL (photo from www.imdb.com)

Thus the blog name Lolo Bastruk

My joining in YATTA was God's plan. I have watched several shows of the group but I was not interested in joining them. First, I thought, I already had my good theater days and those were enough. Community theater back then was really fun, but I didn't think I can make a career out of it. "This is Dumaguete City. If corporate people have to double their efforts just to survive in this city, how much more the people in the arts?" That was me and my skeptical mind.

My friend Ranran who was playing banduria for the group kept on convincing me to join them because he thought I would really like it there, but I never took his invitation seriously. I'm done with theater... I thought.
Until one day, I received text messages from Ranran and Pia, who happens to be with the group too, informing me that YATTA is in need of an actor to play an important role because the actor who originally played the role was not available. And then they called me on the phone, and later I was speaking with Dessa Quesada-Palm, the group's director. I was in a state of shock. I knew Ms. Dessa (now I call nanay Dessa) as a big star: a senior member of the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). I am a fan of PETA ever since the day I knew theater. I can't believe it's Ms. Dessa who I was speaking with on the phone, asking if I can meet her to talk about the musical play. How could I say no?

To make the story short, I met with her the next day. She gave me the script, discussed with me the musical play, and I just found my self saying "yes, I'll be in the rehearsal tonight". The play was "Kikay Kalaykay" and I was going to play the role of "Lolo Bastruk".

Lolo Bastruk is the grandfather of Kikay - a scavenger who courageously dreamed of finishing her studies through hard work and perseverance. Lolo Bastruk was her support giver and adviser. He gives her the necessary guidance in order to fulfill all her dreams.

Anyway, the rehearsals turned out to be really fun, and true enough, I liked it being in the group. Ranran was right.

The group has performed Kikay Kalaykay for numerous times already, and I can't remember how many times I have played the role of Lolo Bastruk. As I've said in the previous blog post, it was not easy at first to play such role because I didn't have a clear image of a grandfather, but it turned out to be fun later on.

Lolo Bastruk is an old man who shares a lot of beautiful stories and gives a lot of important advices. He is so full of wisdom that everyone listens to him and ponders upon his words. How I wish I can be like Lolo Bastruk especially now that I am playing a very important role of being the president of YATTA.

                     Lolo Bastruk with daughter, Nang Karya




    Lolo Bastruk with Nang Karya and Kikay

Lolo Bastruk Starts Blogging

I dedicate this blog to my grandpas.

I never had good memories with my grandpas. Lolo Victor died before I was born, and Lolo Ramon...I can only remember his face, his smile in particular. He died for almost a decade now. I never had a close relationship with my grandfather, which made it difficult for me the first time I played the role of Lolo Bastruk. Now, having played such a character for more than ten shows already, I begin to wonder how it could have been if I had enough time spent with my Lolos.

Many people, even street kids in Dumaguete call me "lolo". At first it felt awkward, but remembering how beautiful the character of Lolo Bastruk is, it makes me proud. Perhaps in this new blog I can share with you some good thoughts, ideas, experiences, and stories like Lolo Bastruk can. Let us enjoy it here and don't hesitate to share your thoughts too.