Just in case you wanna know me.
I grew up studying piano and ballet so my summer school breaks were never dull and boring. I'd be taken from one lesson to the other. I even tried playing violin though I never got past "Mary had a Little Lamb" and the violin would squeak everytime.
We shift onto my college days. It's too difficult to remember my childhood days which seems so long ago and what is very vivid in my memory is all we do is study.
I grew up hearing the popular '70s songs that my sister and cousins listened to. I wasn't interested then but I'm still familiar with some of them when I hear them being played now. Then they started listening to Earl Klugh, David Sanborn, David Benoit, etc. I remember, I bought my first cassette tape of Chick Corea. During this time, trips abroad were usually with the family and I wasn't so keen on exploring the places where we've been. Classical music played a big part in my life. I wasn't very good in piano but I was able to win scholarships during contests and recitals. It was my sister who was aiming to be a concert pianist and who excels in it. She would practice for hours sometimes as early as 4 AM. My favorites are Bach and Mozart. My sister introduced me to the music of Jean Pierre Rampall and Claude Bolling and I love it.
In the early '80s, I was in college and the music was the top 40s and disco . Still wasn't interested but I dance to these music. It was in my university days in '84 when I became a Michael Jackson and Boy George fan. I used to collect all their albums, posters and magazines which featured them. It was the start of my MTV days. Then came New Wave and Punk, so I started listening to Tears for Fears, The Fixx, Depeche Mode, Men at Work, Echo and the Bunnyman, Siouxsie and the Banshee, etc. I still love this type of music. By this time, my music collection started to grow. It was in '88 when I first visited the US and my sister was in Seattle. I was very much into Punk then listening to The Cult, The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite, etc.
In '91, I travelled alone for the first time on a short trip to HongKong to see my sister who was doing research then at the Chinese University of HK. From then on, almost all my trips abroad, I travelled and explored by myself. I'm glad that women travelling alone has become an accepted fact and has become alot safer. It was also during this time when I learned how to drive and we bought a dark blue Toyota van for me which lasted 5 years before I sold it and bought another Toyota van, a turquoise blue color. These were my babies and I named both Mykel. Also in '91 when I went to Thailand as a treat to my nanny who has been with us for more than 24 years and took care of me while I was growing up.
It was one summer in the '90s when I got hold of "Crime and Punishment" and from then on, I started my serious reading and began collecting the works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and other Russian writers. In '91, I started studying French and came to love anything French be it movies (I've seen many versions of Les Miserables and I cried everytime), wine(I love Beaujolais), cheese(Camembert and Brie for me), music(Michel Sardou and Patrick Bruel) and books. Alliance Francaise offered a study tour to France in '92 which I joined. A cousin suggested that I visit other countries in Europe too since I'm in the continent already. The trip opened my eyes to art, architecture, history and more literature.I started reading Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". He gave a very detailed description of the cathedral and I almost weep when I saw Notre Dame for real. Our first stop in France was Rouen which means Gustave Flaubert. By then, I've already read "Madame Bovary". We were brought to Giverny and that was when I came to love Claude Monet and his works. In Paris,of course I went to the Louvre (for the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo), Orsay(for more Impressionist paintings) and the Rodin museum. In Amsterdam, I went to the Van Gogh museum and the house where he used to live.
One very interesting memory around the time in my French studies was I dated my French teacher Bruno a couple of times. I remember the first time he entered the room, I immediately had a crush on him. He is so funny. After the dates, I lost interest and came to a conclusion that he wasn't quite special after all.
On the left is my hotel. Nice building.
Upper right is the Lion monument
Lower right is the famous Chapel Bridge
Travelling was put to a halt and only started again in '96 when I went to see my sister in New Jersey and New York then we went to Edmonton,Canada where she stayed for 2 years. In Canada I went to Vancouver, Montreal and Jasper. Went back to Edmonton again in '98 to help her move back to New Jersey and this time we went for a long drive to Banff and Calgary. I like Banff alot and am hoping to return someday. The drive made me appreciate the beauty of nature and loved the Canadian Rockies. The scenery is perfect!
In 1998, I met Steve personally in LA. Plus I visited friends on the West Coast and Midwest. Then another trip to the US in 1999 for more explorations. I stayed mostly in New York, which is one of the cities I love (the other is Paris). I'd attend free park concerts, go for long walks, people watch and go to libraries. It was fun although I was mostly by myself. I immersed myself in the NYC way of life and savoring every minute of it. I spent days browsing musuems, then another day shopping at the East Village, strolling in SOHO or just sometimes just feel the world go by me. On days my sister can spare time with me, we went food hopping. She introduced me to different cuisines, pointed out little not-so-known nooks and crannies of the city where I usually go back and discover some more.
I'm not into sports but I love the outdoors. I've tried snorkelling and I came to love it. This was when I've brought my sister and her husband to Club Paradise in Palawan. I never imagined how beautiful it was below the water surface like an entirely different world. We enjoyed our 3-day stay.
Steve and I love to go hiking and the outdoors. He recently got me a bike so I can ride around whenever I like and be physically fit too. We love to go to parks with hiking trails and just enjoy the sun, breeze and whatever nature can offer. We love to sit by a stream and just listen to nature. Times like these remind me how beautiful the world is..
** I love doing crossword puzzles.
** I used to play chess and I like it even if I'm not so good at it.
** I learned how to play scrabble in '96 but playing with my mom is a no win situation. I think she's the best scrabble player.
** I write diaries where I put down all my thoughts and events that I consider important. I have diaries for daily/monthly entries, for travel, for scribbles and for notes.
** I like Filipino, American, Chinese, Italian and Japanese cuisines.
** I used to go to the gym and lift weights for weight gaining and it worked. For a while!
** I only learned how to cook in '99 when I stayed in NYC. Now I can whip up dishes but of course with the help of cookbooks.
** I was dancing on pointes in ballet when I quit, this was when I started college.
** I have a German penpal and we have been writing each other since 1978. We've met for the first time when I was in Europe in '92.
