A DAY IN MY LIFE (IN THE EYES OF OTHERS)

Social media has really changed the landscape of everything.
The photo above is a screencap of how my day went, at least, according to other people who tagged me in their photos. Isn't that amazing? A bit creepy, quite cool, but nevertheless amazing.
Let me give you a peek into a bit of what my timeline looks like, with little bits of what really happened in real life.

I was invited by the organizers of the DLSU Student Media Congress to give an hour and a half talk/workshop on hosting.

What happened in real life: I spent the whole morning at our cover shoot for meg magazine in our studio in Eastwood. We ended by 230PM. Our photographer for the day, BJ Pascual, was also giving a talk on Fashion Photography at the same congress, so we were stuck in terrible traffic together and actually got to DLSU at 4PM. (Our talk was supposed to be at 330.) We apologized profusely to the students who signed up for our class.

When they asked me to do a talk, Trish, one of the organizers, mentioned to me that there would probably be over 50 students attending the talk, but that there could be more because registration was still ongoing. On the day itself, there were over 250 students!!!! I was amazed at how many students there are interested in hosting!

I gave a talk on 10 Things I've Learned About Hosting. A few things I shared: Know your stuff. Research. You will face rejection. Deal with it. Gain experience. Find your voice. Have just the right amount of energy and confidence, wag OA.

It is really quite tough to "workshop" 250 students. A hands on workshop would be feasible for a group of 10 or 20. So to at least make it a bit more like an exercise, from time to time, I'd engage the students in different hosting exercises: the importance of spontaneity, how to do an effective introduction, why it is more important to listen than to talk when interviewing, the crazy things that can happen during a live show, what live reportage is really like, and so on.

What happened in real life: Since the traffic was so bad and we were late 30 minutes, my talk that was supposed to end at 5 extended to 530. My throat hurt like hell. Talking for an hour and a half straight (with matching sigaw, tawa, acting) is no joke! It was great to see faces in the crowd that were really engaged. Some seemed like they were NR, but I hope they learned a thing or two as well.

What happened in real life: This talk made me feel like I was coming full circle. Doing research for my presentation, I discovered that my first ever official hosting job in ABS-CBN was for a show called Review Night on Cinema One. That was in August 2004. I can't believe I have been hosting for a full decade already. It has been a tough and amazing journey in this career.

What happened in real life: By no means do I see myself as a great host, I have SO MUCH MORE to learn and improve on, but to be given the chance to share what I have learned, at least this far into being in the industry, is a great blessing and opportunity. And to have people want to hear advice from me about it is really humbling and fulfilling.

So thank you, DLSU SMC and to all the students who signed up! Thank you to those who tagged me in their photos and selfies! Sorry to all those I wasn't able to have a photo with!

That night was the 16th Anniversary Party of meg magazine. On behalf of the team, I was asked to give welcoming remarks to the crowd.

What happened in real life: After the talk at DLSU, I had an important writing deadline to meet. After battling terrible traffic (again) from Manila to the Fort (where the event is), I camped out at a quiet cafe to write. After ordering a sandwich, I was told their wifi was busted. Kaloka. I ate my sandwich quickly and moved to another cafe. I ordered a hot chocolate this time, and again, was told that the wifi was busted. I ended up using my own Tattoo pocket wifi. I finished what I had to write and sent the email. My Fashion Editor Rain met up with me and we rode the car together to the party. Rain held up a jacket to cover me as I changed from my top and pants into my dress and heels. I put on lipstick. Then we arrived at the party venue.

It was awesome to see so many people come out to support meg, despite the heavy traffic and the hassle weather the whole night.

What happened in real life: I'm actually going through a phase now. Feeling like I'm in a rut. Asking myself where should I take myself career-wise, where I'll be in 5 years, and other questions that usually pop up when one is at a life crossroad. But this whole day, from working behind the scenes at a shoot, to giving a talk to a room filled with students with big dreams, to being stuck in seemingly endless traffic, to being all alone in a cafe with the clicking of my keyboard, to celebrating in a noisy club with a team I love, all made me realize that we should really remind ourselves not to worry too much. That although it is cliche, we should really count our blessings and not our problems. It is normal to slip away and feel blue, but know that life will surprise you with moments that will make you pick yourself up and carry on.



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One of the most interesting messages I was tagged in was this tweet from @potatoesef.

Tell me, would it be something you would be interested in? What would you like me to talk about, or have, or offer, if ever? Would love to hear what you think.