My First Anniversary Issue

...is out now! And it features first-time GH cover girl Judy Ann Santos!

Here we are at the cover shoot...

(From left) Photog Lilen Uy, hairstylist Dave Grona, me, Juday, makeup artist Juan Sarte, and creative director Carlo Vergara

Juday was such a pro and so down to earth! Read about her life as a mom and wifey in the August issue of Good Housekeeping. Other stuff in the mag:

• Your Self-Check Guide to Bumps and Lumps - We have a quick reference chart for those bumps, lumps, moles, etc. that you may find on your body. Find out if it's something you should or shouldn't be alarmed about.
• The 18 Symptoms You Should Never Ignore - Do you know what it means when you're excessively thirsty all the time? If your man's always snoring? If you're tired all the frickin' time? Find out!
• Do More in Less Time - Find out how to streamline that seemingly never-ending to-do list!
• Our 1-Week Plan to a Great Night's Sleep - Do you miss getting a good night's sleep? The type that has you waking up in the morning feeling absolutely refreshed? We tell you what could be causing your less-than-deep sleep, and how to remedy it so you can finally get a great night's rest!
• 8 Pieces, 30 Ways - With just eight pieces in your wardrobe, you can come up with a month's worth of outfits!
• Under-400-calorie Recipes - High-in-flavor, low-in-calorie meals.
• ...and so much more!

Available at newsstands, supermarkets, bookstores for only P100!

Lucky 13

Well, Ric tagged everybody, so...

1. What do you order at Starbucks?
Cranberry juice. I'm quite possibly the only editor who doesn't drink coffee.

2. What's one thing in your closet that you cannot live without?
I'm not particularly attached to any of my stuff...

3. What's one thing that most people probably wouldn't know about you?
I was not a cheerleader in high school. Most people assume I was for some reason.

4. Name one thing that you want to do before you die.
Watch U2 live.

5. What's one food that you cannot live without?
Chocolate. Although meat is right up there--a vegetarian, I cannot be.

6. What quote/phrase do you live your life by?
Age gracefully.

7. What do you like and dislike about the Blogger community?
Like: Finding really talented writers.
Dislike: Horrible grammar. People who think they're writers just because they have a blog.

8. What's your number one most listened to song on iTunes?
Hahaha--right now, it's Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow"! But if this were my old iPod, probably the Ying Yang Twins' "Shake"--great workout song!

9. What kind of style would you define yourself as having?
Someone recently told me, "You always look so put together." Thank you very much. Classic, a bit trendy at times, comfortable for the most part.

10. Favorite number?
7. It's my jersey number, and the number of diamonds I have on my wedding ring.

11. Two hobbies:
Disc and dancing. Is reading considered a hobby? I've been tearing through 800-page novels the past couple of weeks.

12: Two pet peeves:
Just two? People who stand by the elevator buttons and don't hold the door open for you. Rude people.

13: Guilty pleasures:
Eating whatever I want...and not working out. Sleeping in. Watching America's Next Top Model.

I'm also tagging everybody!

My Week as a Single Girl

Day 3. Photo c/o Ms. Marlu. Still waiting for our photo with Wash SyCip. That's me with two-toned hair. Ack. My maxi dress from Tango.

While ze huzband went off to Bangkok, Zurich, and Israel, little ol' me was left behind. Sigh. What was I to do for a week without my better half? Why, move back into Mumsy's casa, of course!

"It's like I'm on vacation!" I texted Hamil, after seeing all the Doritos, Ruffles, Cheetos, and Lay's, the French Onion dip, and fridge full of low-fat milk and Chocolait. My mom kept asking me what I would like to eat. Champorado for breakfast? Check. Longganisa Lucban? Done. Meals that I don't have to cook and dishes I don't have to wash? Score!

Being sort-of single did make me realize one thing: Outside of disc parties, I don't really go out at night anymore. Partly because I'm not inclined to (I get sleepy by 11 pm) and partly because, well, my single friends don't bother to ask me anymore. Eh. Such is life. So my week was filled with more laid-back pursuits.

Day 1. Despedida dinner for Good Housekeeping's former managing editor, Kat. The baroness, as some people call her, is going abroad to study. She made my life so much easier and so I'm really sad to see her go. But I'm happy that she has this rockin' opportunity.
Highlight: Finally trying Galileo Enoteca after years of meaning to.

Day 2. A leisurely 5K run after a running hiatus.
Highlight: I'm so out of shape, but was glad I pushed myself to do it, at an oval no less.

Day 3. Hung out with old colleagues and good friends at the SGV Alumni Homecoming, Makati Shangri-La.
Highlight: Having a picture taken with maester Wash SyCip (who was wearing jeans!).

Day 4. I finally got my stolen (and expired) driver's license replaced! Woohoo! Plus, quality time with mom. Dinner at one of my fave restos was kind of disappointing (why did I order something I hadn't ordered before?), but we made up for it by hanging out with the kiddies for a bit (fun) before getting massages (ahh).
Highlight: Weighing in for my driver's license and finding out I'd lost about three pounds.
Lowlight: That's three pounds out of 15 I gained since I got married. Le sigh.

Day 5. Got into a minor car accident. And no, I was not driving! My mom's driver was. And anyway, it was the other guy's fault, a kid of about 19 who admitted that he "just spaced out." I was so late for training because we had to file a police report and all that.
Highlight: I still made it to training. And we ate at Army Navy afterwards.
Lowlight: Dude who hit our car asked to use my phone because he was low batt. I kid you not. I kinda felt sorry for the guy.

Day 6. Family lunch at Mom and Dad's.
Highlight: Inihaw na baboy, sinigang. Burp.
Lowlight: Not having a ticket to see my boy DRose. Sob.

Day 7. That's today! When I said goodbye to Mom, she said, "Come back soon!" Aww.
Highlight: Jetlagged husband sleeping peacefully beside me as I type.

Goodnight, everyone.:)

Five Years

To see just how much my team has grown through the years, one need only look at this...

Warriors in 2007, at our very first tournament

...and this...

Warriors at WTF 2011

We've come a looong way. Retired players are surprised when they see this latest photo because the team really has grown since we started competing in 07 (the core was formed in 05).

A bit of a backgrounder on that second photo: That, folks, was taken at the recently concluded WTF, or Warriors Tourney and Farty. It started in 2007 as the Urda Open, named after the park where we used to train. We weren't quite ready to compete at a league yet, but we wanted to have a friendly tournament and were able to invite enough players to make it happen.

My Urda Open team: Parokya ni Vino. That's me on bent knee, in all my gusgusin glory.

At the party after the tournament, with my fellow Mythical 6 awardees (the Shadow was missing). Damn, I can't fit into those jeans anymore!

The champions for this year were the Ultimate Warriors, and that's where we got our name. If we had had another champion, our team name today could very well be Parokya ni Vino, the League of Shadows, or DKNY (Disc Ko Na 'Yan)!

The following year, we moved from Urda to Camp Aguinaldo, which merited a name change. It was right about the time acronyms were all the rage (all the "OMG"s, etc.) so the team decided on WTF. It originally meant Warriors Tourney Festival, which, to me, didn't make sense. So Farty it was, since we really intended to party afterwards!

With the Dragon Warriors. Can you tell Kung Fu Panda had just come out?

The champions: Green-ada A-discs. This particular year was notable because it marked the first time that nearly an entire team succumbed to cramps!

This is kind of a bad history lesson because I can't tell you anything about 2009. I don't even know where it was. Haha. The reason? The week of the tournament, I booked a ticket to Dumaguete! It was an unlikely place for a bachelorette party, but, lemme tell ya, it was the best possible way to say goodbye to singlehood!

In 2010, WTF got fancier, as each player was given an "Adidas" jersey in his or her team color, with the Warriors logo printed on it!

I can't remember who won but Dino and Czar were definitely on that team!

This year, I was thrilled to be on the same team as Dino, who had been on the winning team all four years prior to this year's WTF. Alas, he was not meant for a five-peat. The PULAr Bears, made up of players coming out of hibernation, were the champs. No matter--I was happy enough just being able to play with Dondi again, one half of our special guests from Australia.

And I won a pair of limited-edition shorts! And a new jersey!

Mythical 6: breakthrough beginner Jane, Macky Puentevella Lifetime Achievement Awardee Macky, Lem, JM (and baby!), Mundz, and me holding our special white jerseys

So it's been five years and I still haven't won a championship. But I'm pretty okay with that. I guess in WTF, winning really isn't the point.

Warriors = love!

Like Fashion?

Then you'll lurve this girl. Nikki is OK! Magazine's former fashion editor, and she's finally blogging about her tres chic outfits! While I probably can't afford half the stuff she wears, it's still fun taking a look-see at such fabulousness. And before you start hating on how gorgeous she is, I gotta tell ya that she's very nice. Happy blog-stalking!

My Longest Relationship

Well, this is it. Goodbye to 12 (or is it 13?) years.

I started reading Harry when I was a college freshman or sophomore. It was still pretty much unheard of here. I had read about it in Newsweek, I think, and asked my ninang send me the first book from the US. I remember staying up late ("Just one more chapter..."); reserving succeeding books before they came out; spending entire Saturdays just reading, reading, reading; laughing, crying, being depressed and puffy-eyed for days after Dumbledore died. I've read each book at least twice--the first time, always in a frenzy, just to find out what would happen; the second, at a more leisurely pace, to savor the story and catch little things that I missed the first time around. I'm pretty sure I've read some more than twice, just because I missed the characters. So I looked at the impending official end of the series with both excitement and dread.

For Frances and me, it ended last night. Her husband isn't a fan, mine is just too busy, so what were two Potterheads to do but watch together? I gotta tell you, it wasn't pretty. We both cried. And cried. And cried! (SPOILER ALERT) That Snape flashback was just heartbreaking.

Sigh. There's a little bit less magic in my life without Harry.

Hullo, Bandwagon

And now I am reading...

Just started because I had to go to seven danged bookstores before I finally found a copy! But am liking it so far. Fantasy's one of my fave genres. I love LOTR to death but I gotta say this is a much easier read!

On a related note, Harry officially ends tomorrow. *tear

Party Rock Is in the House Tonight!

We jammin' to some reggae beats. We were just getting started. (Photo by Ian Villar)

One of the best things about the Philippine ultimate community is we definitely know how to party. Proof: As I was leaving last Saturday's "Summer" League party, some dude stopped me outside the venue.

Dude: I'm not from here. Is it always like that in there?
Me: Uh no. There was just an event tonight--a Frisbee party.
Dude: So if I take my friends there another time, it won't be the same?
Me: Nope. If you wanna go clubbing you could try the Fort or Republiq or...
Dude: I went to (name of club) and it was lame.

And he seemed genuinely bummed that his friends weren't around to see what was going on.

In Shanghai, whenever we would invite people over to Manila Spirits (an annual international tourney) and tell them that the parties here are off the hook, players from other countries would say, "Yeah, we heard!" So as you can see, we have a bit of a reputation!

With Garon and Sib, two non-disc-playing friends who recently discovered the awesomeness of PUA parties

Last Saturday's party was planned by Breakfast Club, a super fun team recognizable by their pink jerseys. (One of their former players, a big white dude, would wear a pink skirt to go with it sometimes.) The theme? Playboy Mansion.

That collar and bowtie was a hit that night. Um, don't ask.

The Hotlegs (from BC) had some hot hot hot performances. One team had a "magic chair." One guy was wearing a thong. But that's all I'm going to say about it to protect other people's dignity privacy.:) Suffice it to say that I think we've been banned from yet another venue.

If you've got a disc-playing friend, maybe you could try tagging along to the next party. But don't say I didn't warn ya!

Still on a Kylie High!

Just wanted to give a shoutout to the Candy girls, who let me watch Kylie with them and their friends, and who saved my husband's street cred and kept him from being possibly the only straight guy in...well, practically the entire coliseum.

In my fave Express gold sequined top. "O, nandito na pala si Kylie!" my friends joked. I kinda knew the show was gonna be filled with sparkle. I just wanted to match. Haha

Now, just to give you an idea of how spectacular VareKylie was (really, it was kind of Cirque-meets-Aphrodite!), here's part of the first number from her encore. Sorry, ran out of memory! I kept furioulsy deleting old pics from my cam just to make room for videos!

And lastly, just wanted to share the London version of one of my fave numbers of the night. Aaaah I would kill to be part of this number!!!

Can you tell I'm still savoring the Aphrodite experience?

Wow, Wow, Wow, Wow!

I don't know if anything I write could ever do justice to the spectacle that was Aphrodite! I am still on a Kylie high!

Allow me to share a video of one of my favorite performances of the night, the jazzy burlesque version of "Slow." This one was taken at her London show; the stage here wasn't quite as fantastic (no spinning, elevating platform where the back-up dancers are strapped) but it was still one of the most elaborate setups I've ever seen--giant screens, half-naked flying men, and sparkly, sparkly costumes!

OK, I got nosebleed seats again (that recent Shanghai trip kinda didn't leave much for another big expense), so I didn't have a closeup view, but I gotta tell ya--it was the most sulit P845 ever! Her set list:

1. "Aphrodite"
2. "The One"
3. "Wow"
4. "Illusion"
5. "I Believe in You"
6. "Cupid Boy"
7. "Spinning Around" (possibly my most favorite Kylie song evurrr)
8. "Get Outta My Way"
9. "What Do I Have to Do"
10. "Everything Is Beautiful"
    
11. "Slow"
12. "Confide in Me"
13. "Can't Get You Out of My Head"
14. "In My Arms"
15. "Looking for an Angel" (a beefy male back-up dancer dressed as an angel went soaring from the center of the stage)
16. "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)"
17. "Love at First Sight"/"Can't Beat the Feeling"
18. "If You Don't Love Me" (this was when I realized that Kylie doesn't just have that elusive X-factor--she really does have vocal chops!)
19. "Better the Devil You Know"
20. "Better Than Today"
21. "Put Your Hands Up"
22. "Especially for You"--the first time she ever sang it on the tour, as requested by Manila! We were Jason Donovan (or Kermit the Frog).
23. "Locomotion" (but of course!)

Encore:

1. "On a Night Like This"
2. "All the Lovers" (which ended with an explosion of gold confetti)
   

To be completely honest, I didn't know some of the newer songs--my Kylie fandom was at its peak during her Fever days--but that didn't really take anything away from the experience. The show was just...sigh. She was just...sigh! I've said this before and I'll say it again: When I grow up, I want to be Kylie!

Can You Believe It's July?

So half a year has gone by and what have I got to show for it? I went to Seoul and Shanghai for the first time, stayed at a luxurious villa in Cebu, ran a half marathon, went on a quickie Boracay trip, competed in my first international tournament, watched Janet Jackson live, got a promotion (sort of), had a few TV appearances and radio tours, got my first call from a headhunter...hmm, I wonder what the second half of the year has in store for me? And what's it got in store for you?

Well, this is what you're getting, for this month at least!

Did you read that explosive cover story in Yes! Magazine last month? Well, Jennylyn Mercado is our cover girl this month. If you did get to read Yes!, you'll know everything that this girl has gone through. Now how does she handle all that and still go through life with that lovely smile on her face? We found out, and we're sharing her secret weapon against all that stress!

A few of my favorite features, as seen on the cover:

Restaurant Copycats - Our associate food editor, Roselle, tried to replicate some restaurant faves. We don't name 'em in the mag, but we have tofu sisig (inspired by a certain chicken place), Kung Pao spaghetti (inspired by a pizza chain), and corn muffins (inspired by another chicken place), among others. I got to try some of the dishes and they really do taste like the restaurant versions!

"I Lost My Husband and My Daughter to Cancer" - Can you even imagine what this woman had to go through?! Such heartbreak! To lose two of your nearest and dearest--and within one year of each other! But the thing about this story is, the five women I interviewed went through so much, yet they turned all the difficulties into something positive. Amazing! Find out how this particular woman used her experience for good.

Other women in this feature: a woman who gave up her day job so she could spend more time with her kids (she ended up joining Avon and making MILLIONS), a woman who found out she had lupus, one who got an annulment, and another who "always felt like something was missing." Such interesting, inspiring stories!

How to Get Angry Effectively - We have a four-pager on learning how to manage your anger. I have a pretty quick temper so this was very helpful. I'm sure a lot of people have a hard time getting a hold on their rage, especially in this day and age when there are so many triggers--shorter attention spans, more horrendous traffic jams, and techno-stress!

Sooo many other features! Plus this month, GH is bundled with...

Get both magazines for just P125!

And have a great second half, everyone! Let's finish strong!