This week on TV

Everytime I allow myself a few minutes of TV, switch to only 2 channels: MTV and MYX. I find this weird now that there are so many cool channels to choose from, but I think I have this for a reason - I don't usually have a lot of time, so the MTV's for me act like super-concentrated

bite-size movies/tv shows. In two to four minutes, you get to watch the whole story. So I get a quick break from whatever it is I'm doing, without feeli

ng bitin.

So anyway, since yesterday, my usual doses of MTV have been super-charged and hyper-entertaining, I found myself googling everything I saw. Here's what I found hot on the boobtube:

1. Troy Dizon Dating

Boys Night Out was on when I switched to MTV last night and they were featuring Troy Dizon Dating. I found myself glued

when I watched these ordinary-looking guys talk about "getting you

r game on" and other dating strategies. They demo-ed how to walk, how

to dance (very sexy), and a lot more. I would usually be

a little ticked off at topics like this, but this time I wasn't because main man

Troy was making a lot of sense. He talked a lot about confidence and projection, and how this can get anything you want.

I googled Troy Dizon Dating, found the site, and smiled as the subtitle read: "A RESULTS-FOCUSED Approach on Attaining you

r Desired Dating and Social Life" and "learn how to be a 24/7 attractive man - anytime and anywhere". I found myself agreeing to most - if not all - of what he says. TDD (as the program has been coined) is basically self-help for men, developed specifically for dating and social life. As I read throug

h the site though, I discovered th

at these are the same tenets that can help you in ALL other aspects of life.

I love that he emphasizes that its all about BEING, not DOING, that gets men what they want. Sure, some girls

might get a bit offended by the "conquests" guys have made with the help of TDD (I would, if I were still my old angry-feminist self), but honestly, aren't we all attracted to confident, loving, strong men? TDD is all about getting that out of guys who don't know how to project that (because I think TDD believes that all men are confident, loving and strong). Isn't that wonderful? I wish all guys would check this program out. Then maybe my girls won't have such a hard time looking for dates.

From what I've read, I gathered that TDD has an international clientele and a network of dating coaches around the world helping other guys out. They don't just lecture, they actually do "field exercises" with clients in bars and help them apply what they've learned through the "lectures". The "TDD Crew" seem to have a tight-knit brotherly relationship with each other s

o no one needs to brag or boast. One of their clients shared how TDD em

phasizes health (they actually include gym work outs in their programs) and even interior design (how a bachelor pad should look like), among other things. It's no surprise these guys are successful and in demand.

Check out Troy Dizon Dating at http://www.troydizondating.com/

2. Lady Gaga's Bad Romance music video

Just when you thought Lady Gaga can't get any crazier, she shocks you again. Which is why I love her. But unlike Madonna, Gaga brings it to a whole new level you wonder if she's high on drugs when she puts these things together. It's just waaaay too much - and its wonderful.

Bad Romance is from Lady Gaga's new album called Fame Monster. And true to its

title, the video is filled with disturbing images - all of them strong, ugly and beautiful at the same time. This is what mak

es me respect Lady Gaga as an artist - she manages to merge both pure artistry and pop music so seamlessly it can only come

from somewhere real.

I finally found an interview of Gaga on Fame Monster where Gaga describes the sophomore effort, and I quote:

It's a whole new album, and I didn't write about fame, and I didn't write about money, and I didn't write about paparazzi. I wrote about fear, and all the monsters I've encountered on the road, and fear

of death, fear of love, fear of sex, fear of alcohol, fear of the past, so, um, its a brand new side of me, but its also all t

he things you loved about The Fame...

I'm struggling with all sorts of things. But that's the nature of being an artist. I think that when you stop struggling, that's when your music starts to suck. So, Im sorta holding on to my solitude, and wrestling with all of my thoughts. And, I guess you could say that all the years of drive, and ambition, and the dream, were like a mask for the feelings, so now my fears are right, blind running out of me because the mask if off and that's why the album cover looks the way it does...

(More of Lady Gaga's The Vibe interview here.)

The Jamaica Observer (who? hehehe) describes the Bad Romance video as a "non-stop shocker" and provides a blow by blow narration of the work. The MTV does show a new side of Lady Gaga, someone more vulnerable, angry, sad and

fearful. Gaga has obviously confronted these issues head on and has stared it in the face. She made a movie of how fear looks like and it isn't fun to look at. But damn, I have to say that it takes cohones (ok, pun intended :)) to do what she has done and she d

id it. Bravo.

Watch Lady Gaga's Bad Romance here.

3. BoA will Eat You UP

Korean sensation Boa Kwon, aka BoA has taken over the USA. I was glued to the screen as I watched this Asian sister strut her stuff b-boy style. She had stick-straight hair, dressed in baggy clothes and a hoodie, grooved like Aaliyah and had white back up dancers. I was waiting for a funny asian accent in her singing but found none - she sounded all american to me -- but it also could be the sound engineering. It took me a while to take all the interracial elements in. But man, she was good :)

Wikipedia says that the 23 year old is multilingual, fluent in Japanese, English, her native Korean, and Mandarin. And apparently, the US isn't the only country she has been active in. This woman is HUGE. Per Wikipedia, She is the only non-Japanese Asian to have two million-selling albums in Japan and is one of only two artists to have six consecutive number-one studio albums on the Oricon charts since her debut.

I won't be surprised if she takes the Philippines by storm. If she does, we would at least identify of Koreans with someone other than Kim Chiu.

Watch BoA's Eat You Up here.

4. Ronan Keating's OMG-IS-THAT-HIM Hot Body

My jaw dropped when I saw Ronan Keating half-naked on the opening of his new

video "Stay". I got too caught up with the new look I don't even remember how the song goes, and honestly, I think Keating made this video just to show off his new chiseled body. It was just way too much visual for another cheesy love song. His body may have moved forward (way forward), but the music sounded the same.

And the hair! oh the hair. David Cook much? And the tattoos! Where did they all come from? So that's what he was hiding under all those dark dapper trench coats.

He looks great, and I'm sure he worked hard to get that spartan-soldier body, but shouldn't he be in a rock video? It all just doesn't fit!

Watch Ronan Keating's Stay here.

That's it for this week on TV. It was fun. I'll be doing more of these soon.

Confessions of a Hong Kong Virgin, Day 1

Follow me to Macau and Hong Kong!

http://projectgetaway.wordpress.com/

Writing Muscles and Sister Blogs

As you may have noticed, the blog entries have been coming pretty quickly recently. This is mainly due to popular demand by my fans. Who, at this point, are of a grand total of --- wait for it --- TWO! Specifically: Katz Delfin and Mike Co. Yay! Clap! Clap!

Now on a serious note, I'd like to thank these guys for giving my blog the time of day, and for prodding me to write some more. Thanks Katz, thanks Mike! If I win a Pulitzer or a Webbie Award, I will dedicate it to you :). Again, thank you beautiful people for getting the writer -- okay, blogger -- out of me.

I've been using this blog to loosen up before writing on my travel blog on Wordpress. Which has been, by the way, giving me a hard time. Anyway, I've only recently gotten used to writing directly on the New Post window (I usually write on TextEdit or -- don't laugh -- Word first, then paste on the blog. I know, I know, it's a little pathetic), so most of my travel writing is still unposted. I am still working on the first article and it's taking just too damn long.

So what's my point? Well just to share that this exercise writing on Working Heiress is turning out to be much more fun than Project Getaway, and I'm pretty happy with how the entries here are coming out. As of now, this is more ME. Every time I read an entry feels like I'm looking at a picture of something inside of me. Interesting isn't it?

Now I understand what the fuss on blogging is all about.

Project Getaway will continue to be a work in progress. Maybe because she was born a little later than her Ate Heiress, Project is still looking for herself. No, I am not schizophrenic, I just think both will turn out to be two different pictures of me. We will just have to wait for Little Project to grow up :) Which of course, means I must travel some more!

The Writing on the Wall

I drew this last weekend when I was asked to draw how I would look like if I became everything I wanted to be. Initially the red heart was not part of the picture. I drew a girl with a huge smile, a firm stance, with a sense of sureness and trust in herself. The yellow glow meant power.

But there was no heart. There was nothing inside me.

That's when I realized that the reason why I'm not there yet is because for years I believed that becoming successful meant looking out for yourself and working to death. And when I did not do this, I resigned myself to the fact that maybe success wasn't for me.

I wasn't loving myself enough. That's why I was having such a hard time. I have a hard time forgiving myself when I don't do things perfectly.

I broke down before I drew that big red heart. And when I did draw it in, the heart looked just right and the picture looked complete. I loved the drawing so much that I stuck it on my office wall by my computer. I feel better instantly every time I look at it.

Why is it so hard to write?

I've always admired writers. So much so that I have taken the challenge and decided to be one. And now, as I struggle with phrases and sentences and the truth, my respect for writers has increased so much that I wonder if I am ever going to finally call myself a writer - and believe it.

Why is it such a struggle?

I think because the truth is a struggle to write about. The truth wasn't built for words. Words come from the mind, but the truth comes from the heart. To be able to marry both and to get something beautiful and unpretentious is a victory in itself. Every well chosen word, a well-won victory.

Most of the writers - or those I know who love to write - suffer from almost the same thing: self-criticism. We've read some really good stuff, and we can't help but compare ourselves - is what I wrote good enough? Is it interesting enough? Am I good enough? It's easier not to write because it's easier to hide. It's easier when I cannot see myself on paper. Because if I do, people will judge me - I will judge myself - and I might get hurt.

But not writing will hurt too, because people want to read about what other people are going through. We want to know - I want to know - that I am not alone in being human. I want to be inspired by those brave enough to put themselves out in the open - vulnerable to the judgement of the world.

So writing is about love. It's about knowing the risks of getting hurt, and taking the risk anyway - because not being able to do this - to love - is in itself, a tragedy. It is about sharing a part of you to the world, whether the world wants it or not. All a writer knows is that life is a little richer with her words, with her heart, with her truth.

Love Me Do

Ahhhm baaack!

I took a leave today to pamper myself after a loooong week. I felt like I was working on a hundred different things last week, and my breaking down on Saturday afternoon did not help relieve the stress. Well, ok, it did a little. But my eyes were so swollen again, it hurt.

Saturday was JAMPACKED. Here was my schedule:

8am - Support Fundraiser at Banchetto

830am-930am - Escorted guests to seminar.

930am-11am - refine presentation on Mastering Your Money for Treasury Department General Assembly

11am-1230pm - Give seminar on Mastering Your Money

1230pm-1pm - Lunch

1pm-5pm - Meeting

5pm-6pm - Dry run of Mastering your Money

630pm - meet Tracy after seminar

730pm - Meet Tita Russ at Project 4

11pm - Left Tita Russ' Place

12mn - Sleep

OMG. Just looking at that schedule makes me feel tired all over again. Haha. The thing is, Sunday was hardly any different! I was back at Ortigas by 8am, left at about 830pm. Saw a movie at 950pm and collapsed into bed by midnight.

Then at work again at 830am, and then got home at 12mn.

The weekend was just CRAZY. I had to take a break. It was so worth it. This is what today was like:

8am - Woke up (my alarm rang at the usual 6am, and I had a bum stomach. Then went back to bed)

1030am - Off to Derma in QC

2pm - Haircut at Shangrila

3pm - Home

5pm - left for HipHop Class

6pm - 8pm - Hiphop Class

8pm - 10pm - tried to write

1130pm - 1am - Massage

People at the hiphop class told me how young I looked that day. I can imagine how stressed I looked. I'm glad I took this day to recharge, now I have the energy for the rest of the week.