zzzzzz~ habits

Time and time again I’d realize that I can’t sleep without anything on. I’d slip on a nighty when I’m feeling sexy and pajamas or oversized tees when I’m feeling comfy. Hubs on the other hand is quite a “free” man. He’d prefer to be in his boxer briefs or, for most of the time, less than that.

These days being in a house without airconditioning, the idea’s quite tempting. For hubs it doesn’t really matter if it’s a mid-summers night or a freezing cold winter night. On a summer day you’ll find him around the house shirtless either in short pants or boxer briefs, he’d put on a shirt when there are visitors or when he needs something outside or when it gets really really cold. Luckily we have a daughter which kind’a makes him not express his “freedom” too much! Makes me remember a Charlotte and Harry episode from Sex and the City.

Anyway, back to sleeping, not being able to sleep butt-naked (except maybe if I’m dead beat) is a habit, another is having a blanket over me. Naked or not I need a blanket over me to fall asleep. On the other hand, hubs hates blankets except when he’s (literally!) freezing his butt out (did I say he’s a “free” man?). 

Since I sleep on my side a lot I’m used to sleeping with two pillows, one under my head and the other to hug. I know it’s kind’a weird, since hubs is almost always available for hugging. But then again he’s got one other sleeping habit that am trying to avoid. He’s used to sleeping with one leg over mine. Which is okay at first but begins to feel like a piece of (huge!)log in time. When he falls asleep I remove my leg from under his leg and place it over his, it’s then that I fall asleep just to wake up feeling that piece of log over me again~!

So, I end up hugging a pillow instead, with my back on him. One day we saw this body pillow while shopping. I asked him to buy one for me and without any ado he picked one. Now he regrets buying the pillow, coz since then I can’t sleep without it! It’s just sooo nice having that long soft velvety touch to hug. It doesn’t only take much bed space, according to hubs, it also took me from him!

I heard a lot of funny sleeping habits since I was young. When my son was a baby, instead of crying asking to be held or lulled to sleep, he falls asleep by grabbing a corner tip of a blanket or a hanky with one hand and sticking it in the corner of his eye while thumb sucking with the other hand! Really weird! Luckily he outgrew that habit.  And we always have a laugh when we talk about it. 

My older brod can’t sleep without his leg touching a wall. A grade school classmate was famous for not being able to sleep without her old tattered baby blanket. A friend of mine can’t sleep without a mosquito net to rub her feet with. She even took with her a mosquito net when she went to participate in a Regional Sportsfest for a week! While another friend lulls herself to sleep with heavy metal music. 

Heard of people not being able to fall asleep without lights on, or without their old doll, or without music on.

What’s yours? 

Tagged

I don’t really know which(what!) 8 people am I tagging for this one, but here goes~

20 QUESTIONS TAG

Here are the Rules for this tag :

Remove one (1) question from below and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 questions, then tag eight (8) people on your list. List them out at the end of this post.

1. What is your favorite food?
- sinigang at bagoong

2. What was your happiest moment when you were a child?
- I guess all those wednesdays when the whole family goes to baclaran church for the novena and have tapsilog at paranaque on our way home.

3. Where is the place that you want to go the most?
- never been to spain but I dunno why i’ve always wanted to be there

4. Which part of you do you hate the most?
- attitude

5. When you encounter a sad moment, what do you do?
- watch a funny romantic movie or go to sleep.

6. What are you afraid to lose the most?
- family

7. If you win $1 million, what would you do?
- take the whole family for a trip around the world

8. What do you love the most about last year (2007)?
- the fun TV network jobs I did (and still doing~)

9. Which actor/actress would you like to play you in a movie?
- Me? harhar, dunno…. haven’t thought about it… Julia?

10. How do you cope with boredom?
- I sleep

11. Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most?
- not betting for the lotto numbers I saw in my dream

12. What type of person do you hate the most?
- people who are fond of “playing” the “victim” role.

13. What is your ambition?
- i just need to be good in everything I do.

14. If you had one wish, what would you wish for?
- an attitude change(?)

15. How did you celebrate New Year?
- Lunar New Year= cook, eat and wash the dishes/ Solar New Year = watch TV(most probably year-end award shows) while waiting for the ringing of the Posingak Bell.

16. What has been the craziest thing you’ve ever done in your whole life?
- define crazy~ got drunk with my bestfriend by the beach in PE uniform after midterms, changed to “hot pants” inside the cottage later on, ran to the beach while it rained and saved by a couple who realized that there were a pack of men(wolves) who’s been eyeing me and my friend waiting for us to pass out.

17. What do you look forward to in 2008?
- probably school (or maybe a bigger role, a new show… a million dollars?)

18. If your life is a song, what title best fits it?
- “There she goes”

19. If you were to change one event in your life, what would it be?
- just one?

20. Who are you going to tag?
- Jay, Khrize, Bing, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU & YOU

Pick your “YOU” then do your stuff and pass around!

Good weekend everyone~!

The ad

I got tagged. But that’s not the reason I’m back… well, half the reason, I suppose~

Anyway before I answer and tag 8 other people in my “14″ people blog roll (wherein about 8 or 9 people are inactive!), I guess I should post this. You won’t find a pic of me anywhere in this blog (wait! lemme check first hehe), oh… on second thought, you will, but not as “closely” taken and as “active” as this one.

This is one of the public service ads of The Beautiful Foundation as a part of their “다문화 응원 캠페인” (Multicultural Society Support Campaign).

Before we shot the ad the producer told me they’ll be showing it at different medias as soon as the contracts are in place by May 1.

From the foundation’s site, I found out it’s being showed at subway stations lines 2, 3 and 4 but later on people I know told me they saw it on TV, too. I haven’t had the chance to see it on TV though, yet.

Love人Asia

I’ve been a part of Love in Asia for more than a year now. Here in Korea, every spring almost all programs undergo what they call “봄개편”(bom kae-pyon), where they make some changes/alterations, either to a shows format or timeslot.

Last year Love in Asia changed it’s timeslot from 5:30pm Saturdays to 7:30pm Thursdays along with the start of the segment “아줌마가 간다”(ajumma-ga kan-da) which later on became “우리말 원정대” (uri-mal won-jongdae), where guests from previous episodes, get to be a part of a team visiting different parts of the country to mingle with other foreign wives. 4 previous guests gets to be the show’s panels for the day and joins the studio shoot.

This spring the timeslot moved again to 7:30pm Tuesday nights. 표인봉 (Pyo In-bong), who’s been with the show from the very start, is leaving the show. His final appearance as well as “우리말 원정대”’s last episode aired last tuesday night. There’s still no notice of what the other changes will be.

Anyway, May is family month here in Korea. Childrens Day on the 5th and Parents day on the 8th. TV programs usually show lots of family-oriented specials. And Love in Asia is no exception.

First week of May, Love in Asia will be featuring a circus family. And within the month of May, they’ll also be doing a special show about 3 previous guests to see how their situations progressed. I’ll let you in on a secret. One of the 3 stories will show a Pinay and another one from Uzbekistan. I even went to her wedding. Will post pics soon!

Full part-time job, two!

After that MBC stint, I polished my korean and computer skills (my way~! hehe). My second translation job was with Love in Asia, almost 2 years after. I did well this time and that actually jump started my “career” as a translator. Well who knew what an embarrassing stint and two years can do?

Not long after Maritess’ story, I became the “designated” translator of Love in Asia’s “해외 VCR”(as they call it here, meaning overseas footage) shot in the Philippines. Except, of course, for my story.

And through recommendations, I also became the translator/interpreter for SBS’s “사돈 처음 뵙겠습니다” segment of the “일요일이 좋다” program. Where parent-in-laws of mixed marriage couples meet for the first time.

And then followed the documentaries.

The first documentary I translated was about Freddie Aguilar, for the KBS program, Wednesday Plan. Followed by two documentaries co-produced by KBS and NBN. As well as the documentary about the rice crisis in the Philippines by KBS’s Asia Today program.

I thought I’ll just be doing Philippine-based translations til I got calls from cable networks like JGolf and Q Channel. One documentary was about Korean golfers in Australia and the Australian Ladies Open (shot, of course, in Australia) and one was a special documentary for the International Day of the Disabled People, shot in the US.

The cable network jobs were a breath of fresh air. Kinda “out-of-the-box” thing for me. Never thought I’d be given a chance to translate videos aside from those shot in the Philippines.

Well, it never occured to me that I’d be doing the things I’m doing now! But I’m really glad I do. I do enjoy being infront of the camera but it’s also fun to be able to work behind the scenes, too!

The job ain’t easy but seeing my name on the credits makes it all worthwhile.

Full part-time job

I’ve been (for lack of a better word!) busy translating for TV networks since the year started. I translate documentaries and video footage’s shot overseas. My “relationship” with KBS’s Love in Asia program started when they asked me to translate footage’s of Maritess’ story shot in Leyte, Philippines.

My first translation job was actually with MBC, for the segment “jib-u-ro”(heading home) of the “Asia! Asia!” program. It was in mid-2005. When they called and asked me if I could translate Tagalog to Korean I said yes. Coz yes, I know, I could. So I went to their office like the writer instructed me to.

She brought me to one of their editing rooms, gave me two tapes and a laptop, showed me where the time appears on the monitor and taught me how to rewind, fast forward, play, stop, and eject. She told me how important the tapes were, how “expensive” were the machines and that she was also in a tight schedule.

And then she left me for dead!

It was kinda scary~ I’ve never been to an editing room, much less use a laptop. Laptop! To my horror, I realized I needed to type in the translations! I was actually expecting someone was gonna be there to type what I say!

But I can’t back out, I didn’t want her to know I can’t do it. So I sat down and tried the machine controls. After ten minutes or so, the writer came back to check on me, just to see that for 10 minutes I “proudly” managed to type A sentence.

She got that “what the he…” look on her face but she managed NOT to verbally express it. She told me to take my time and that she’ll be back every 5~10 minutes. So I took my time. And when she came back 5 minutes later, she knew for sure there was no way I could do it. And I knew I had to come clean.

I told her it would take me eons to type in Korean. Much less on a laptop. I told her each time I try to type, the cursor moves away! It was crazy!

But she didn’t have any choice. She needed the translation done by 6pm that day and it was almost 4pm. There was no time to look for someone else, and she also had a job to do. So I told her it would be easier if I wrote down the translation on paper and then she could figure it out later. She agreed.

My typing sucked, but I realized my handwriting sucked more (sucks still!). But what’s important was I got the job done! Gave the writer the papers, said I’m sorry and noticed how the writer was trying her best not to burst out laughing while looking through the 4-page translation.

Hah! I saved the day. I just wonder why she never called again.

Not so back….

I think I need to post something new for 2008, before this blog reaches its “no-post anniversary”. Besides I have a new url~! Much thanks to Betch (as usual!!! hehe) . She also wrote something about me (yey!) on her blog a few days ago (thus the sudden influx of visitors~ kaya pala!)

I know I need to write something, but since its 5:29 in the morning, I think you folks would understand if this would be “it”… for the moment.

Need to sleep, we have a 1pm shoot today, and for sure the network’s make-up artist will be lecturing me again about taking care of the dark circles under my eyes. Which, according to her, makes her work a bit (lot!)harder than it already is~!.

Hopefully I get to write something again…. soon!

Freddie Aguilar

The producer for the said segment just called to tell me that Freddie Aguilar’s documentary, which is supposed to air on June 13, was moved to June 20. They were having a hard time with some “broken” clips, or so, he says.

I wanted to blog about a lot of things that’s been happening around me lately, just couldn’t find the time to. But this one I really would love to share, specially to a lot of pinoys here in Korea, that’s why I made the time to make this post.

Last Monday I got a call from KBS for a translation job. They’re doing a documentary about the legendary “Anak” singer Freddie Aguilar! Translating for TV networks is quite stressful. They do have a translator but sometimes things happen and they need more people, and when they need more, it just means they’re out of time! Which also means I need to do it as fast as humanly possible~

No matter how stressful the job was, I had fun this time! It’s like getting first hand info about the life of Freddie Aguilar. He talked about how he got into music, how he got to Olongapo, his guitars, his kids and grandkid and a whole lot more.

I only knew the person coz of his music, now I know him better as a person. And he’s one remarkable man. Even the producer who shot the documentary can’t help but admire the guy. He admires Aguilar not only for his music but also for his ideals, his humbleness and for being so free in a world that’s so binding. And I can’t agree more.

They also did some intreview with Aguilar’s daughter, Megan. I never heard of her before. But according to her interview she’s been singing with her dad since she was young. She also released two albums one in 1995 and another in 1998. She was supposed to release another one last year but she got pregnant. She decided to move the album release and prioritize her baby. She’s a singer, a designer and a businesswoman. I’m not sure if they’ll show it all on TV, just wanted to share. Sneak preview~!

The documentary will be aired thru the show “수요기획”(soo-yoe key-hwek[Wednesday Plan]) , June 13th, Wednesday 11:30 pm at KBS1.

And I got a gift~!!!

My first Freddie Aguilar cd, personally signed too~!!!

P.S.

You might as well watch the said show (Wednesday Plan) tonight too, 11:30 p.m. They’re featuring a documentary about Korean retirees living in different parts of Southeast Asia. They’ll be featuring folks living in different parts of the Philippines too. It has been rumored before that 2 million won a month can give you a king’s life in the Philippines, tonight’s documentary will prove if the said rumor is true or is really just what it is… a rumor.

and i thought that was my last….

“That” referring to this post. Well I appeared, again, for the same show’s 73rd episode. It was aired on TV last night. They kinda did some modifications to the show, new time slot, new studio set, new outlines. Making it “Love in the World”, for they’re about to show couples not only from asia but from different continents, too.

They invited 4 of us, from previous episodes, to do a special edition for the start of their new season. We visited a pre-school and became the kids’ teachers for the day, trying to “educate” them about multiculturalism. I, of course, presented the Philippines. Rupa presented India, Mongolia for Borgio and Sri Lanka for Iresia.

I had fun. I’m not very fond of kids but I know how to take a li’l bothering from the those perky little ones. =) The pre-school my daughter graduated from early this year often “summon” us moms to spend time with the kids at school from time to time. We play with them, teach them a few things and even act out plays. So the task wasn’t that hard for me. But was a headache for the others! Rupa swore she’ll never have a kid and Borgio who has a son, said she won’t have any more.

The pre-school visit was just a small part of the show. We posed as the show’s “panels” for the day. The main part of the show is the story of 4 Mongolian samaritans who saved 11 people from a burning 30-storey building. They were all over the news.

Will post more pics as soon as I receive ‘em. You can check out some here.

For my two angels and for all the kids (as well as the kids in us!)…

Happy Children’s Day!!!

Have a blessed weekend! =)

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69th

Our family’s 50-minutes of fame. “Love In Asia’s” 69th episode.

It was a month full of tiring but happy memories, glad that after a million “retakes”, everyone still managed to flash a smile.

Our last day infront of the camera. It was the first time for “Love in Asia” to have the whole family on the studio set.

And the curtain fell….

Something that would make us look back and realize that happiness isn’t that far and that being in this family is worth all the trouble we’ve been through!

This gave us a memory to treasure, a story to tell the grandkids……. plus a DVD to show it too!

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