To the land of Golden Pagodas

I'm off to Bangkok tomorrow. Wish me a great time y'all. See yah in a few days baby. I love yah! MWAH!

My high for the day

This article came out on the online zine my global company has. It's audience is over 100,000 employees all over the world.




Television singing competition lets analyst shine

For bocceli, it wasn’t just his show-stopping voice that snagged him a top-10 spot in the Philippines' popular Star in a Million television competition -- it was the rousing support of his colleagues.

As one of 50 contestants in a monthly slot for the flashy singing contest (50 contenders competed in monthly spots for a six-month period before the finals), bocceli made it into a “Top 10” slot based on talent and high-voltage colleague support.

“The company supported my time off to compete in this once-in-a-lifetime experience,” reported bocceli, who has been belting out numbers in local choral groups since childhood. “When it came to calling in votes, which is how the winners are picked, I had all my friends and managers from work calling in and supporting me. It was great.”

According to the 26-year-old, Manila-based tenor, the ability to pursue passions outside of work is key to a balanced life, and to his solid contribution on the job.

Dazzling a television audience and committing to the discipline of singing has honed bocceli’s job skills in terms of pressure and flexibility. Since starting with the company six years ago, bocceli has easily moved from consulting to working as a technical programmer and developing IT systems.

Whether on stage or at a computer hub, clear, honest expression is another key to bocceli’s success.

“Every time I sing, I am expressing a part of myself strongly,” he said. “I have never had any trouble balancing work with my singing. They support each other very well.”

While bocceli did not make it past the top 10 into the finals, the experience garnered the attention of a local talent scout who already has booked bocceli at area events. Beyond that, the experience was in a word: unforgettable.

“This is an experience I will never, ever forget,” bocceli said.

Finally...

... here's a video of my Star in a Million performance. The link is for people who have high speed internet access. Just click here to access the video.

My movie of the moment...

I'm currently loving "Before Sunset", a sequel to Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise", with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. A not-so-typical sequel, this movie just hit me hard. What's with me and tugging scenes. I actually cried in this movie (note that I didn't shed a tear with the movie "The Notebook"). Hahahaha. You can listen to the song Julie Delpy's character, Celine, sang in the movie. Super love it!

My song for the week...

A Waltz for a Night... from Before Sunset as sung by Julie Delpy
(listen to the song by clicking this link)

let me sing you a waltz
out of nowhere, out of my thoughts
let me sing you a waltz
about this one night stand

you were for me that night
everything I always dreamt of in life
but now you're gone
you are far gone
all the way to your island of rain

it was for you just a one night thing
but you were much more to me
just so you know

i hear rumors about you
about all the bad things you do
but when we were together alone
you didn't seem like a player at all

i don't care what they say
i know what you meant for me that day
i just wanted another try
i just wanted another night
even if it doesn't seem quite right

you meant for me much more than anyone
I've met before
one single night with you little Jesse
is worth a thousand with anybody

i have no bitterness, my sweet
i'll never forget this one night thing
even tomorrow, another arms
my heart will stay yours until I die

let me sing you a waltz
out of nowhere, out of my blues
let me sing you a waltz
about this lovely one night stand

thanks to Nelz for the lyrics.