Soul Surfer

I've always been a frustrated surfer. Ever since I can remember I would describe myself as a water baby. I have memories of the being on the beach every summer with family and that would be the highlight of year. I loved playing in the sand and basking in the sun. When I got a little older I loved burning tanning myself. :)

Then a few years ago I started servicing a surf brand, Aloha Boardsports. Now let me get this straight, I was already interested in the sport before servicing the brand but at that time the thought of traveling by myself was a bit daunting. Yes, I was a sheltered child, blame my parents and at that time it was still quite expensive to go on a surf trip. So imagine the excitement I felt when I was going to be given the opportunity to actually get to know these guys and work with them up close. It was exciting to say the least. :)

This was their original logo which they recently changed to become a little bit more sophisticated...

Anyway, so there. I've established the fact that I'm a frustrated surfer who still wants to learn and who still wants to give it a go despite the fact that I haven't been on a board for the loooooongest time. It will most certainly be interesting.

So my friends from my old office are surfer wannabes like me. They love the sand, sea and the surf like I do and we have constant plans to go out of town together. Unfortunately none of these plans have actually pushed through. It has become frustrating actually. But, we all agreed to see this movie together. Movie date night! I'm so excited. So I'm sharing with you guys the preview so you can be excited with me!:) Enjoy!

Take me to Cirque Du Soleil! Varekai in Manila

I've always been enthralled by the performance arts. I love dance, acrobatics, theatrics, musicals, ballet...anything that involves a stage and performers. :) My best memories of London were all the shows that I was able to see. They were all amazing, well except maybe perhaps for Jerry Springer the Musical. Don't ask.

So imagine my excitement when a good friend of mine told me that Cirque Du Soleil was coming to Manila. I had the privilege to have found out about it before it was going to come out to the press. I was excited but I had to keep it in because it was top secret. That was perhaps the hardest thing I've had to do recently. Ok, that's a little over dramatic but I was excited! :)

Cirque Du Soleil was going to be in MANILA! :)

Then the news came out and all the details. It was even more exciting. I was in a meeting in Sofitel on the night of the press launch in Manila Hotel and trust me, I wanted to fly to Manila Hotel just to catch the sample performance. Sadly I wasn't able to go. If you were my friend you would have wanted to kill me, hahaha, I kept bugging her for tickets and discounts and information.

Let me share with you a quick tidbit about me. When I was young I wanted to become a performer. A ballerina and a gymnast actually. They were so graceful and they moved with such command of their art. They were so amazing to watch. But my father refused. He said I would develop huge legs. I'm serious. On hindsight I would have loved the experience but I don't think I would have had the patience and discipline to become a ballerina or gymnast.

See, that's another reason why I love the performance arts. I mean look at them, they're all very dedicated to their craft. You can't do things like that half baked. It won't have the same effect and it will just end up sloppy. From what I hear the Cirque people are crazy disciplined. Their routines and their maintenance, a normal person would break. I mean look at this...

Aren't they amazing. I can't wait! I have tickets to see the dress rehearsals. Exciting! :) haha

Bullies

I used to be a preschool teacher. A really strict one at that and one thing I did not tolerate was bullying in the classroom.

Bullies are often misunderstood. Maybe it's a form of acting out for the injustice in their lives. Maybe they felt unloved growing up. Maybe they felt like no one understood them, or maybe at one point in their lives they were bullied too.

I have run into a lot of bullies in my life. Some bullies aren't your typical macho all in your face type of bully. Some pretend to be nice while making you feel like you need to do what they said or something bad will happen. Others pretend to be your friend or confidante but then they sway you towards doing what they want or else the relationship ends there...

I think we all have the potential to be bullies. Everyone has, at one point in their lives, said something bad about someone else. That's human nature, to rant, to vent when someone upsets you. But I think we all need to be more sensitive to one another. I was talking to a friend awhile ago and the conversation turned to someone acting like an a** because he felt misunderstood. That's when I realized that we all have been there. We've all been misunderstood, we've all been unheard, we've all felt inadequate. But being a grown up means being able to live with the fact that well, that's how life really is and how we react to it is the only thing we can control. So every time someone upsets you. Take a step back and think twice about what you're about to do. Bullying should never be tolerated.