Botox Princess

Guess who was just recently in town? It's no other than the Queen of Botox... CHARICE! Yes, Charice Pempengco ITSELF, the new poster child of Botulinum toxin. Sad, but true.

So fresh from Belo's clinic, Charice did not hesitate to show off her new face to her fans in Bangkok last Friday. Of course go ang bakla from Surigao, di ba?

I expected to see only at most 200 people to watch Charice in Siam Discovery. Afterall, who would want to watch Charice in BKK except Pinoys, di ba? So I thought it was going to be one intimate concert.

When I arrived there one hour before her performance, I was dumbfounded to see a crowd filling the ground floor of the small-ish mall. And then there were also quite a good number of people on the upper floors looking over the atrium.

Soon enough, a bigger crowd formed. I'm not exactly good at estimate crowds but the audience could easily reach about a thousand, but that's a wild guess. Of course there lots of Filipinos but the Thais definitely outnumber the Pinoys. There was a good number of Thai school girls and baklitas holding signs to welcome Charice to Bangkok. Many of them were even singing to her songs, which was played while we waited for the Botox Princess.

It was a long wait indeed because the starting time was moved to half an hour later. Goodness, my Louboutins were already killing my feet. Anyway, suffer for botox... ay, Charice.

With the time extension, more people came in and I could hardly move as the people pushed towards the stage. I was soooo not ready to die in a stampede for Charice, please lang. Mystica pa siguro, keri lang. Charing! Ay, Charice!

Anyway, there was a front act... some winner of Academy Fantasia (Thailand's American Idol). I love her, she's so skinny and tall!!!

When Charice was called on stage for the pre-peformance interview the crowd erupted in screams and cameras started flashing all over the place. First thing I had to check was her jaw muscles, if indeed they're smaller, or at least frozen. Hmmm... not really.

But I was more concerned she would have a locked jaw in the middle of the interview. I prayed to the Virgin, and somehow it worked coz Charice charmed the crowed, even saying a few Thai lines.

Also, Charice's English has improved quite a lot since I first saw her on Ellen and Oprah. Recall: "I can't bilibit!". There's a new sense of confidence from the girl this time. She seemed relaxed, although not exactly spontaneous either. There's definitely a big room for improvement on her language skills especially now that she's appearing on Glee. 

And so Charice sang about five songs. It was quite mind-blowing how such a small girl could pack a huge voice inside her. Well, that's a given of course; that's what got her on Oprah to begin with.

More than the voice, I guess she really has a strong appeal coz she could charm the crowd. She knows how to engage them, working them before she belts out an out of this world note. I could tell she enjoys performing when the crowd is responsive and so she stimulates them even more.

And no, thank the Virgin, no locked jaws during her performance.

4th of July (Fireworks)

Kelis is not selling Milkshake this time, but damn, she's back and is bringing lots of fireworks with her. While I watched with mouth open the video of her other recent single Acapella (see video here), I was more entranced with the styling and clothes than the song itself.

In this new video, on the other hand, I'm not exactly a big fan of the styling. The clothes look a bit too 70s to be taken seriously in an age of music videos in which clothes matter as much as the song. Beyonce, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga lead the pack.

So Kelis has some catching up to do, or at least her stylists do. There's a certain way to make a round girl like Kelis look more divine than what she's made to wear in 4th of July (Fireworks). She looks like she was made to wear the gowns from last months' Santacruzan in Barrio Anahaw. Besides, the choreography is just completely lifeless! Someone needs to be taught to dance by dragqueens, hon.

But please press play, don't mind the video, and just listen to the song.

I soooo cannot wait to dance to this!

Kylie's Back, Bitches...

 

It hurts
When you get too close
But baby it hurts
If love is really good
You just want more
Even if it throws you to the fire fire fire fire

The Sharonian

For some reason, I had an 80s day today starting with searching for Claire dela Fuente's Sayang on Youtube. That song is not even 80's, no? It should be something like 70s at least.

Anyway, Sayang led to Sayang na Sayang by Manilyn Reynes and then Tamis ng Unang Halik by Tina Paner, and then eventually Mr Dreamboy by Sherryl Cruz. (The links bring you to the videos.)

Now talk about nostalgia overload!

As a child of the 80s, I totally reveled with these finds.

Searching further, I stumbled into this vintage Sharon Cuneta video singing Here Comes the Rain Again on GMA Supershow. I had a fucking blast watching this video. I swear.

The set's just hilarious. It looks like it's made of Styrofoam or, I don't know, cardboard perhaps? And the flashing bulbs! Girl, it looks like a peryahan, di ba?

Then in comes Sharon in a billowy neon fuchsia dress that completely swallows here up. Actually she's wearing a kind of maternity dress here coz she was pregnant with KC Concepcion then. Pero chica pa rin! Gosh, those shoulder pads! I wonder why they're back in fashion. And the hair, dahling, the hair. Should've cost us the ozone layer to keep them hair stiffly up in the air.

Sharon's very pretty here though. I've always been a Sharonian and I remember I had her single in one of those black discs that you play in a bloody turntable. What do you call them again? In fact one of the pop songs I first learned was Bituing Walang Ningning coz I had her album in a small black thingie. They're called plaka!

It makes me cry every time I see Sharon these days. She looks like a freaking cathedral!

Thank God we still have videos like this to remind us of the good old days of Sharon Cuneta. She was probably the most popular star then. I love it when, courtesy of 80s TV technology, she's made to float over her fans. Classic, di ba?

Here's the video anyway. And do wait for it to end coz no other than German Moreno, the Master Showman ITSELF, will come out to greet Sharon.

Lady Gaga in Talk Asia

All excerpts below are from an accompanying article on CNN.com, which says that apparently Lady Gaga had to be "pacified" from practically walking away from the interview.

The full article is found here.

Part Uno

"I'm sort of a musical pop music misfit," she said in her slow New York drawl, and "a relentless bitch" in response to how she had got to the top of the music industry.



Part Dos

She claims Lady Gaga is not a persona and it seems she is committed to living as closely to the wild fantasy shown in her videos. More at home on the stage than in the interview chair --"We could sit here and talk, but you will never know who I am unless you see me live" -- even Gaga's faithful make-up artist (in attendance throughout the interview) thought she was crazy because she sleeps in her wigs.

Was it to keep the persona up, stay in character? No, "I just like wigs," she said with an unintentional comic deadpan.



Part Tres

Composure regained, "You can ask me about scrutiny, but I'd prefer if you didn't..." Gaga said.

The Czarina of Penang Runs to BKK

Dios mio, kapagod the weekend tawas (for the kili-kili)...

As mentioned in a previous post, THE Czarina of Penang sneaked into BangCock for three days. He arrived last Friday and left this afternoon. The Czarina is actually on a run from the Malaysian immigration bureau (read: visa run ito).

Well, needless to say, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) had to send their best person to show the Czarina of Penang around the City of Angels. Yeah, that best person is me no less. *Blush.*

So on his first evening here he was given a grand welcome by top BangCock celebrities Bubbles and Liawayway. Us four girls had a drink at Lang Suan. We tried our best to maintain our finesse as we drooled over the many exquisite male species surrounding us. More drooling happened when we ended up in the Silom gayborhood.

Oh, you should commend us for our self-restraint. Now let's say this together... CHOOOZ!

The next day, I brought the Czarina to the Golden Mount where we had a 360-degree view of the Rattanakosin Island neighborhood. The Czarina nearly broke his knees climbing the tall temple. And then he also nearly broke his frail back from too much crouching and kneeling all in the name of a good photo.

From there we hopped on one of those long-tail boats that traversed a foul-smelling, yet charming, canal in downtown Bangkok. We eventually found ourselves in major tourist trap MBK where we had lunch with Heidi and Hye Kim Park.

Crossing over to the Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre, we met met Bubbles and explored the recent exhibit, which was about motherhood (I did not read enough of the captions).

Goodness, it was utong (nipples) galore!!!

Shout out to Lyka Bergen at this point. Tse!

Going back... of course Bubbles werqed the art pieces... or wait, he is an art piece himself, no?

In the evening, the Czarina and I had to step into our couture gowns for Lea Salonga's concert with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. Her brother Gerard Salonga was the conductor. See Lea Salonga's Wikipedia entry here.

The Czarina and I were surprised to see the humongous Queen Sirikit Convention Centre fully packed. There were of course gazillions of Filipinos in the crowd.

It was a dream come true to watch Lea, my first time in fact.

At the start of the concert she said that she just came out from a hospital in Bangkok where she was treated for a serious case of tonsillitis and some kind of throat or respiratory infection.

Nonetheless, she managed to deliver a goosebumps-inducing performance of popular Disney songs and pieces from Broadway and West End musicals. The crowd was on its feet when she finished a haunting rendition of "I Dream a Dream" from Les Miserables.

Interestingly enough, she invited a male audience member to sing "A Whole New World" (from Aladdin) with her. Eventually four men ended up on the stage with her, two Thais and two Pinoys.

The Czarina and I laughed at the idea of doing a karaoke session with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. Good gawd, now we know who to invite on our next birthday parties, no?

Apres the concert, the Czarina and I rushed to the Moon Bar at the Banyan Tree to meet Neomie Lenoir, his BF Chutima Durongdej, and a number of his friends for some "farewell drinks". Neomie has finished his internship and is going back to France tomorrow.

From Banyan Tree we moved to Silom for yet another night of dancing squeezed between the ravishing men of BangCock.

I will end this report with a note to Czarina...

Gagah kah, di pa tayo tapos sa processing eh nang-iwan kah nah. Tseh!

Khop khum maak kha for the latest additions to my modeling portfolio. Asus!

And please don't forget to fill out the Tourism Authority of Thailand feedback form because my promotion rests on that. Hope you had a wonderful time in the Land of Smiles and see you again soon, mare.

(All photos in this post are by the Czarina of Penang.)

I Covet: Fierce Ears

What's with these animal ears?

I first saw the bunny ears on Louis Vuitton, which Lola Madonna also wore to the Met Institute Gala. The latter obviously raised eyebrows - and wiggled ears - in the fashion world.

But I love it on her!!! Only Madonna, bitches. Only Lola Madonna.

And here come fashion icons Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. As featured on Tom and Lorenzo's Blog, the twins are wearing Maison Michel lace ears in kawaii capital, Tokyo. How apt, no?

We all know the Olsen sisters are major trend-setters and it is safe to predict that animal ears are the way to go in the coming season.

Get yours, bitches.

The Devil Has Spoken

I'm still downloading this video as I type this entry, but I've seen some snippets of it somewhere and truly this is an interview that has a lot of bite to it. After all, it's Anna Fucking Wintour.

She's currently promoting the documentary called The September Issue, which is an insider's look into how Vogue produces its most important issue of the year.

I'm dying to see that film and I wonder who I need to blow for a copy like NOW.

Go watch the interview below...

“I’m an ice queen,
I’m the Sun King,
I’m an alien fleeing from District 9,
and I’m a dominatrix.
So I reckon that makes me a lukewarm royalty with a whip from outer space.
What do you think?”

"Chasing Pavements" by Adele

I'm freaking KUHRAYZEEEE over Adele for the past two weeks now (see her Wikipedia entry here). I've been listening to her album day in and day out and I could not seem to get enough of her music.

And she's even fat! How can I like her that much when we all know that I have a strict body mass index requirement of 19 (and that's already generous) for the people I like? (Joke, bitches.)

Anyway, I first discovered her while watching the runway show of Burberry Prorsum (I could not remember the season) wherein her fantastic song Hometown Glory was used. (Watch the video here.)

I instantly fell in love. She has this amazing soulful voice that just haunts me.

Lately I've been listening to Chasing Pavements, which also appeared in her 2008 debut album 19.

I've already posted a link to this video on my Facebook site but let me post it here nonetheless.

Should I give up,
Or should I just keep chasing pavements?
Even if it leads nowhere,
Or would it be a waste?
Even If I knew my place should I leave it there?
Should I give up,
Or should I just keep chasing pavements?
Even if it leads nowhere

Oh, I'm yet again taking a blog break until perhaps Sunday as I'm flying to the north of Thailand tomorrow for a meeting. Will bring you full-blown campiness when I come back.

Oh Lara!

Now who landed her 15,000th cover on French Vogue, March 2009?

Carine, ma cheri, you really know how to show your adoration for our dear Lara here, don't you? You dedicate an entire issue to her with editorials by famed photographers Nan Goldin, Steven Klein, Patrick Demarchelier, Peter Lindbergh, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, and Hedi Slimane.

I'm having an orgasm right now.

Merci Carine for keeping us maricones inspired.

And Lara, Lara... you and I should have coffee one day, dahling. The world knows that we are bound to be best friends.

Below are from Peter Lindbergh for an eight-page editorial called "Lara a la Mer".

And these are by Hedi Slimane in an editorial titled "Lara by Night".

Kantahan Na!

On my first month in the Land of Smiles I Limewired some Lani Misalucha and Sarah Geronimo songs. Ok, I also added Regine Velasquez to the list, and we all know how gay that really is.

For days after that I was listening to their songs on loop, even my Singaporean colleague who used to sit beside my cubicle noticed how much wailing blasted from my speakers.

At that time it was the only way for me to reconnect with home.

For the past two months I've caught my self watching loads of Lea Salonga, Regine, and even freaking Charice on Youtube. I've even caught a few performances of those crappy Sunday wailing-fest called ASAP and SOP. I've spent hours and hours poring over these clips especially late in the evening when I'm free to turn the volume to max. Don't ask me if I do dare sing with Regine, which I might actually have. Hihihi.

If there's any thing I missed about the Las Islas Filipinas it has to be our music. My BKK-based Pinoy friends and I were talking about this recently and we all agreed that we do take music seriously back home.

Not that any one of us was trained to sing but we know what is good singing and what is not. It's easy for us to know when a song is sung from the heart. You can tell that the singer is telling you a story. You feel it in your gut. You can feel the passion.

Take for example this medley of George Canseco songs by Regine. [Ok, I'm not exactly a big fan of the girl, but she can sing... uhmmm, albeit she's irritating most of the time.] This nine-minute clip is composed of Hanggang sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan, Kung Ako'y Iiwan Mo, and Ngayon at Kailanman.

I love the lyrics of Ngayon at Kailanman, which is roughly translated into Now and Forever. The song is a staple in most Pinoy weddings.

Sa bawat araw ang pag-ibig ko sa ‘yo liyag
Lalong tumatamis, tumitingkad
Bawat kahapon ay daig nitong bawat ngayon
Na daig ng bawat bukas

The poetry of the song is just astounding. I attempted to translate to English the above segment of the lyrics but I totally ran out of words trying to give justice to the beauty of the original.

But how do you exactly translate Filipino songs without losing its essence? How do you translate for instance Langis at Tubig without making it sound like a commercial for Petron and MWSS? Or how about Kastilyong Buhangin without making it sound like an ad for a resort in Boracay? Haggard, di ba?

Ok, for those who are into English songs by Filipino composers, here's a nine-minute sample of Ryan Cayabyab's Sometime, Somewhere, How Can I and Now That You're Gone from the same Regine concert (kahit sumabit sya sa pinakadulo).

Don't you just love how she sang Now That You're Gone [4:00]? Such emotions! Since I discovered this clip I've been listening to it over and over again and the song never fails to enthrall me. It just makes me want to cry every time. I swear!

Recently, a Vietnamese friend told me that he used to work with a Filipino who goes home during lunch-time everyday to: 1) lafang and 2) sing karaoke using his Magic Sing that he brought all the way from Manille to Saigon. He did that every freaking day otherwise he would appear listless in the afternoon. How haggard can that be, aber?

So where did we actually get our passion for music? I've wondered about that my self. But we all grew up surrounded by music anyway: from the noisy neighbor who sings Frank Sinatra day in and day out to the blasting music in the jeepneys that we ride to school everyday.

Also, didn't our parents put us on top of a table during family parties and coerced us to sing? Well my parents certainly did. And I remember always singing something from Annie when I was about five. I think the song is Tomorrow. Now please don't wonder why I turned gay, di ba?

Anyway, the point is, we grow up in this culture infused with music. There's never an occasion not worth singing for, even funerals, which have some of the most haunting and poetic songs in memory. Even if we are brought to distant lands, we always find ourselves armed with one Magic Sing microphone, crooning through life's pains and joys. How can you exactly imagine Pinoys without music?

Quince

Just a quick note on my fifteenth month in BangCock as I just couldn't help ticking the months as they come.

On this occasion, I choose to write about love. (Sabay hawi ng hair.) I always remember love when it's Halloween. It was Halloween when I broke up with my last BF. That was five years ago. Seems like a long time na noh?

For many years I was too occupied with work to even think of, much less have the time and energy for, dating again. I thought being in a relationship just too much effort. Besides, I was very fortunate to have been surrounded with amazing, amazing friends with whom I emotionally connected on such astounding proportions. So there, I settled in the wonderful company of my friends not noticing the years of singlehood slipping by.

Looking deeper, however, I've always had this immense fear of opening my self to the prospect of loving. For a time, I completely swore it off, especially when I was still fresh from my breakups. It's not really loving that petrifies me but it's aftermath. I've never seen a worse version of my self as when my relationships end. All my weaknesses and vulnerabilities resurface. For five years pride kept me away from all that.

But then sometimes, if we don't watch ourselves, we slip into the precipice of falling in love. When we land at the bottom with a thud that's when we have to lick your wounds and wait for our cuts and bruises to heal.

Much as I loathe going through that mending phase again, I have never discovered so much of my views on relationships as when I was reeling from my latest brush with love. It jolted me to confront, reassess, and redefine my perspective related to amour. I had the chance to challenge my vanity and my pride, together with seriously questioning my fears. These are the walls that not until recently I refused to pry open.

And as what the supreme Barbra Streisand said: We're children, needing other children / And yet letting our grown-up pride / Hide all the need inside / Acting more like children / Than children. Check out this vintage Barbra singing People in Funny Girl.

Amy Says It All

Tears Dry on Their Own
by Amy Winehouse

And this regret I had to get accustomed to, Once it was so right
When we were at our high, Waiting for you in the hotel at night
I knew I hadn't met my match, But every moment we could snatch
I don’t know why I got so attached, It’s my responsibility
You don’t owe nothing to me, But to walk away I have no capacity

He walks away the sun goes down, He takes the day but I’m grown
And in this grey, In this blue shade
My tears dry on their own

I don’t understand, Why do I stress a man?
When there’s so many better things at hand
We could've never had it all
We had to hit a wall, So this is inevitable withdrawal
Even if I stop wanting you, And perspective pushes through
I’ll be some next man’s other woman soon, I shouldn't play myself again
I should just be my own best friend, Not fuck myself in the head with stupid men

He walks away the sun goes down, He takes the day but I’m grown
And its ok, In this blue shade, My tears dry on their own

So we are history, Your shadow covers me
The sky above, A blaze that only lovers see

He walks away the sun goes down, He takes the day but I’m grown
And its ok, In this blue shade, My tears dry on their own

I wish I could say no regrets, And no emotional debts
And as we kiss goodbye the sun sets, So we are history
A shadow covers me, The sky above a blaze, That only lovers see

He walks away the sun goes down, He takes the day but I’m grown
And its ok, In this blue shade, My tears dry on their own

Models Resurrected

Hmmm... why are Super Models (yes, in capital letters, dahling) coming back? Linda Evangelista was on the cover of Vogue Italia for June 2008, followed by Naomi on ID, and even Kate Moss is on the cover of Vogue US for August 2008.

And now, Christy on W Magazine (see the full spread here).

I'm not complaining of course. There never had been any REAL supermodels after these girls. And they can werq as long as they want and I'd never get bored with their fierceness.

Title: Champion

Magazine: W Magazine (August 2008)
Model: Christy Turlington
Ph otographer: Michael Thompson,

Photo Credit: Foto Decadent

The One and Only Naomi

Now this girl woman is still werqing hard. Can't help loving her.

Magazine: i-D August 2008
Photographers: Inez & Vinoodh
Models: Naomi Campbell & Stefano Pilati

Photo Credit: Modeling News

Di-fucking-vine

Oh my God. Spice Girls' new video of Headlines (Friendship Never Ends). This is precious.

Baby Spice is obese.
Sporty Spice looks like a woman for the first time.
Scary Spice is so unremarkable.
Posh Spice is freaky.
Ginger Spice I love. I fucking love the body. She owned this video.

Doesn't this remind you of your childhood? It does for me.

I Heart Uncle Karl

“I don’t want to be real in other people’s minds,” he declares. “I want to be an apparition.”

I wish I had the brilliance and bravado to say that. Of course, only legendary fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld can get away with such a scintillating line, as quoted in a New York Times article (read full story here) that reviewed the newly-released 89-minute documentary centered on him.

Photo credit: NY Times

I Heart Amy Winehouse

Okay, okay, I know I'm way too late to obsess over Amy Winehouse. Yes, I've heard of her for quite some time now, but the press she's been receiving is more about her decadent lifestyle (drug overdose, alcoholism). I never realized that behind the image is a stupendous artist who can spew amazingly soulful songs.

Her landmark album is of course Back to Black (2006), a big hit in the UK and the US. Many weeks back I downloaded the songs from the record and it has since been playing on my PC incessantly. I'm crazy over the moving Love is a Losing Game, which appears in the video below.

I Heart Kylie

Sigh. Kylie Minogue is back. Here's a peek into her video, 2 Hearts, from her soon to be released album.

Bitch is still fierce!

But I'm SUPER CRAZY about this particular Kylie song, Stars, which had been on constant replay on my PC. Click here to play Streaming Audio.

Hot or Not?

Milan Fashion Week S/S 2008 is in full blast starting last weekend. God, I wish I have the time to research and post some of the orgasmic clothes and models I've been obsessing so far.

But I just couldn't help it. Agyness Deyn (which I wrote about here) has turned brunette! I can't decide if it's bagay or not. But certainly she gained good ground from her platinum blond hair and I'm not sure why the change.

Does that make me love her less? Not really. In fact Agyness will always be The Deyn, blond or not.

Photo Credit: Model Couture