New York in June by Lea Salonga

New York has always been a place that never runs out of interesting things and happenings. One of the highlights that the city had in store last June was a cabaret show by no other than the renowned mezzo-soprano singer, Ms. Lea Salonga herself at the equally renowned Cafe Carlyle. Mezzo-soprano...say what? Well, to put in in layman's term it just simply means "medium" or "middle" soprano in Italian according to Wikipedia. Honestly, it wouldn't personally matter to me what her voice range is as long as she's proud to be a Filipino then I'm all for that.

Lea's accompaniment only consisted of a piano, a bass and a guitar which made the setting more of an intimate one because it was just her raw but beautiful voice being emitted by the speakers in the room. The venue was at the elegant Cafe Carlyle in the upper east side. The cafe, if I'm not mistaken, has a capacity of 70 people for dinner and 90 for performances. Lea's voice was crystal clear the entire performance.

Lea sang songs both in English and in Filipino. She even sang the song Waray-waray...if that's even the title. She's a total performer and a funny one at that too because she was telling jokes about pinoys. Well, sarcastically funny seem to be a better choice of words but the bottom line is she is not boring on stage. My favorite part of the show was her jaw dropping rendition of Ikaw. We were all speechless and even teary-eyed after the song because it was such a moving and beautiful love song.

The perks of having a small, intimate crowd is the stress-free photo-op. LOL Everyone in the audience that night had the chance to have a small talk with her and even have pictures taken with her. Funny how at first I thought she wouldn't address us in Tagalog but to my surprise she replied in straight, sans-accent Tagalog. Impressive. Then she started singing...double, triple impressive! Kudos Ms. Lea Salonga! 

Love Affair with Tennis

I love, love tennis! Watching tennis that is. I don't know how to play tennis but by mere irradiation from watching tennis since I was a teenager I came to a conclusion that I might have a hidden talent after all. I would love to learn how to play tennis...the proper way and with the help of a professional instructor. Tennis was and still is a repressed dream sport/hobby of mine because I didn't find time to learn the sport when I was still in the Philippines and neither did I do it now that I already moved to another continent. As fate would have it, I found myself in the midst of Arthur Ashe Stadium on a Tuesday night last August 30 watching both Serena Williams defeating Bojana Jovanovski  and my love Rafael Nadal winning victory over Andrey Golubev. We got so lucky throughout the tournament because of all the times we had tickets to watch we always ended up watching the big and famous ones. I watched all of Rafa's evening games including the finals! OMG! I just simply adore him! <3

Lucky seats for my 1st US Open experience (2011). All out love and support for my dear Rafa! ;)

Having been watched the US Tennis Open revived my subdued passion for tennis. I knew right then and there that I want to be a part of the team behind the association handling the tournament. It was a light bulb moment for me especially after watching someone perform spinal mob on Djokovic's lumbar spine during the finals. It didn't matter even if he was a chiropractor because as a physical therapist I can be certified in spinal mobilizations too. Due to that light bulb moment, I am now 80% certain that I really want to pursue a career in sports rehab. Hopefully, one day I will be one of the official PTs of a team or of a famous athlete. Ambitious much? Yes, indeed. hahaha

I want to run to you (ohhh)...Whitney Houston peg. Lol

Mr. Lefty Server

The King of Clay is equally great in hard court

Boy oh boy oh boy! Ayayay! Lol

Rafa's 1st round victory against Andrey Golubev

4th Round Women's Single

Caroline Wozniacki def Svetlana Kuznetsova

Men's Singles - 4th round: Roger Federer def Juan Monaco

Roger Federer showing his prowess in serving

This is how it's done!

I have never witnessed more than a couple of service aces in a single match not until I watched Roger Federer played in the Men's Single 4th Round. Damn! He's really good. Although he didnt bagged the title for this year and did not even get through the finals but he remains one of the greatest players of all time. In all fairness to him he doesn't need to win the grand prize because he has already proven himself many times before. It just shows that even though he is a little bit older than the rest of the contemporary players that he still remains to be a tough one to beat. Kudos to him! I admire him for his prowess and good sportsmanship. P.S. My dad adores him too! =)

THE FINALS....

The end result of the finals might not have been what I had hoped for but I'm still glad that Rafael Nadal got into the finals! When he was asked by David Letterman in an interview if there was any difference in how he approaches a tournament as a defending champion he candidly said that he is calmer and he feels less pressured because accordingly he already won the title last year as far as US Tennis Open is concerned; "it's always exciting to come back," he added. In addition to that, when David Letterman said that he would think that there will be more pressure because of higher expectations from everyone he just coyly said, "maybe" and he added that it will surely be difficult for him to defend his title this time around given his history of recent injuries accumulated from the tournaments prior to the US Open. Nonetheless, he is still one of the best tennis players the world has ever know. Vamos Rafa! I hope to see you again next year and I wish this time around it will be a more up close and personal meeting! =) 

P.S. I still can't get over your cancelled book signing for your autobiography due to Hurrican Irene. Which by the way, did not do as much damage in the city as they have predicted. Such a waste! Oh! well hopefully my Plan B to meet you works. =)