When all else fails...

...friendship won't!

Love you, Ta Mags! :)

A decade on radio!

Wow. That makes me sound ancient.

This month marks my 10th year of being a radio jock. It was ten years ago when I first signed on as DJ Anne on Wave 891. And boy, what a terrific experience it has been! I never really thought I'd stay on this long. I've wanted to change paths many times along the way, but I guess God had better plans. So here I am, still playing music in the very first radio station that took me in.

I look back with a happy and grateful heart at the past decade. My radio career paved the way for many other opportunities. I became an events host. I was introduced to the voicing industry, which brought about a continuous stream of projects for me to voice - from radio and tv commercials, corporate AVPs, telecom hotlines and IVRS, to dubbing telenovelas. I've met so many different people, clients, friends and potential business partners. I even landed a job as a continuity voice for a cable tv channel! Radio helped me find all the right paths that led to these opportunities. I don't receive a huge paycheck as a jock, but I am rich in exposure and experiences. Plus the fact that I'm only required to work three hours a day, playing music that I love, already makes my job stress-free and A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

I remember how it all began for me. After college, I sent my resume and demo CD to two of my favorite stations back then: Magic 89.9 and RX 93.1. I got a call from RX, was interviewed, and failed to make the cut. I also got a call from Magic, and they said they wanted me on their team, but as a campus patroller. I was looking for a real job at that time, as I was already set on leaving my post in the family business. So I turned down the invitation from Magic, and resigned to the fact that maybe I wasn't meant to go on air.

After a few months, I received a call from Joe D'Mango. They were putting up a new radio station. They were looking for new jocks. He was able to listen to my demo CD, the one I sent to Magic. I sounded perfect for the job. And that was it.

Within the ten years I spent with Wave, I went on air a gazillion times, handled different time slots, got promoted to Production Manager then Creative Director then Assistant Station Manager. And the biggest highlight of my career: winning a KBP Golden Dove Award in 2005 for Best Radio Jock.

Summing it all up, I have nothing to say but THANK YOU. It has been a wonderful and fruitful decade. I was just a shy, nervous, chubby girl ten years ago, fresh from college, pursuing a dream. Who would've thought.

Cheers to a decade on radio! Here's to many more years of hearing DJ Anne on the airwaves!

:)

P.S.
To my dear listeners (the very few who aren't members of my family...LOL!), much love to y'all! Thank you and God bless you!

Beauty and the Beach!

I flew to Boracay over the weekend to join Women's Health Beauty and the Beach 2011, the magazine's annual summer event. I remember interviewing Editor-in-Chief Lara Parpan last year and she told us all about the activities they had in store for all their female participants. This year, I got to join in on the fun! Wheee!

The event started early on Saturday, kicked off by the Havaianas Race to Hawaii contest. I was asked to choose between joining that or the Hatha Yoga class at 7am. I chose the latter, just so I could have an extra hour of sleep. It was my first time to try yoga on the beach, and it was a challenge trying to twist into complicated poses while keeping your balance on the uneven sand.

Indian Bollywood dance class. Photo courtesy of Ingrid Villafuerte.

But I had a good time and was ready to hop into the next class - Indian Bollywood dancing! Ms. Marlette Basa was our instructor, handling all the other dance classes in the event. I got to move like a graceful Indian princess for an hour, and my efforts were rewarded when I was chosen as one of the top 5 dancers in the class. I got two overflowing bags of goodies courtesy of Schick, Banana Boat and other sponsors.

During the midday break, my roomie Scarlet (99.5 RT) and I took our sweet time having lunch by the beach, swimming and getting toasted golden by Mr. Sun. It was a perfect break from all the work and stress that we left in Manila.

The Chair Cabaret class opened the 2nd half of the event. I joined the Hawaiian Hula dance class that came after. We swayed on the shore with our yellow and green leis until the sun was ready to set. I sweated buckets after all the activities we had that day, but I was having an awesome time!

Women's Health EIC Lara Parpan doing the Chair Cabaret class

Doing the Hawaiian Hula as the Boracay sun starts to set. Photo courtesy of Ingrid Villafuerte.

Day 1 of Beauty and the Beach was capped off by a dinner party at Astoria. I got to bond with the lovely Ingrid Villafuerte, Summit's Media Relations Manager, over delish Pinoy dishes and grilled blue marlin. Definitely one of the best parts of my trip!

With Ingrid. I made a new friend! :)

Posing with Lara Parpan, blogger Nouelle de Guzman and Ingrid Villafuerte.

Our flight was scheduled early Sunday morning, so we weren't able to join Day 2 of Beauty and the Beach. The second day of the event had Hatha Yoga and the Fitness Hula Hoop class, which I was looking forward to trying. But it's all good. It was such a lovely experience. Thank you, Summit Media and Women's Health, for bringing me with you to Boracay. Crossing my fingers that I get to tag along again next year.

Posing with my roomie Scarlet of 99.5 RT and Ms. Marlette Basa, our dance instructor.

Congratulations and job well done, Women's Health Philippines! Cheers to many more years of spreading good health, good vibes and great articles through the pages of your magazine!

:)

HBD, Me! :)

I remember quite clearly when my mom turned 32. We woke up early to greet her and sing the birthday song. The night before, I remember me and my sister Adie carefully crafting the cards we were going to give her. That was twenty-something years ago. Now it's my turn to have 32 candles on my birthday cake. Can you believe how fast time flies and sometimes you don't seem to notice?

Yes. Just like that, I'm 32. My last year on the calendar, sadly. But on the brighter side, my first birthday as a married woman. For the past 31 years, I would wake up surrounded by my family. We'd usually wait until 12:01 of the 28th, or if everyone was too sleepy to wait, they'd leave their plenty presents outside my bedroom door. Now it was different. I woke up this morning in the loving arms of my husband, showering me with little kisses and "happy birthday, baby!" greetings. Wonderful way to start my B-day!

So many lovely things to be thankful for. God has been so good to me, filling my life with blessings all these years. Never a day went by that I was not surrounded by people who love me and care for me. Thank you, Lord, for being my Provider and Healer!

When people ask me what my birthday wishes are, it's quite difficult to come up with an answer. What do I want? I honestly don't know. There is a prayer or two that I choose to share with God alone. Apart from that, I'm good, really. Love, prayers and true friendship would be wonderful gifts. (Oh, and maybe a really nice food processor that does the works! Hehe.)

Here we go then. Day 1 of yet another 365-day adventure around the sun. Looking forward to more growth and learning, positive changes, new experiences, and many more reasons to laugh and be thankful! Cheers!

:)

Crush Blush!

Listening to some old tracks on my IPOD. When the first few beats of Waiting In Vain by Annie Lennox started to play, my mind started flipping back to photo album pages of my college years. I used to be in-love with a fellow student in UST. He was from a different department, and way out of my league, I guess. We had a few flirtatious moments, most of them behind his girlfriend's back until they broke up. We never ended up together, but my feelings for him lasted for quite a long time. Now we're friends on Facebook. Everytime I see his photos, I would smile to myself. I remember the boy, and yes, I still remember the feeling, but it doesn't have the same effect on me anymore. Past is past.

Quite a strange coincidence, too, that he named his daughter with the same name I wanted to give our kid if we'd ever ended up together someday. He doesn't know that. I find it amusing.

I had so many crushes back in college. Some of the memories are still vivid even if it's been more than a decade ago. The geeky Chinese guy who edited our video documentary about the MRT. This classmate of mine that was so cute until I realized he kinda looked like my brother, so I immediately stopped crushing on him. My professor who once wrote me a note that said, "What's the matter, peanut butter?" He knows I used to like him. I don't even remember why.

Then this guy matched me up with a friend of his. He was good-looking, smooth and genuinely sweet and thoughtful. Plus, he spoke really good English, something that wins me over real fast. I crushed on and flirted with him, became his girlfriend, and now I'm sharing his last name. Now that's what I call a fairy tale come true.

:)

Love you!

Our 11th VDay together, and our 1st as hubby and wifey. Wheee! I'll never get tired of having you for my Valentine. To my husband, my best friend, my Soul Satellite... Love always.

XOXO.

Thank you!

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

- Charles Caleb Colton

:)

Bon appetit!

I'm making bangus bistek right now while waiting for my husband to come home from work. The delicious aroma of fish, calamansi and soy sauce fills the kitchen, and I am brought back to my childhood years. The smell of bangus bistek always takes me back to when I was still a kid. I learned how to cook at a very early age. Twelve years old, to be exact. In fact, when I was seven, my mom would make a list and ask me to go to the palengke, all by myself. I remember walking to the market in my pambahay, buying onions, tomatoes, some veggies and a kilo of meat. Or bigas.

Before I hit 10, I've become friends with the frying pan. And at 12, my Mom already taught me how to make famous pinoy dishes like adobo, bistek, tinola and sinigang. I was trained in the kitchen early, and I am thankful for it. I didn't grow up to be a chef, but I have never fallen out of love with cooking. Through the years, I taught myself how to make different dishes, scouting for recipes on the internet. Oh and how I love to experiment! I'd scan the pantry or the fridge's contents and create something from whatever I find in them. When I was still single and living with my folks, I was the official cook. My specialty? Gourmet pasta. That earned me the title "Pasta Princess," awarded to me by my solid, faithful fans - my family. Now that I'm married, I have one happy and satisfied diner in my kitchen - the husband! And my future kids will be getting the same early training from me, just the way my Mom taught me, with apron, pot holder and all.

Cooking is la-la-love! And the learning never stops! I still have many, many dishes to make. Next on my learning list: Baking! Will enroll at Heny Sison very soon!

:)

Did ya know...

...that you can now listen, chat and watch us do our radio shows live? Oh yes! Technology has made us interactive!

Catch me on Chill Street (M-Th 11am-2pm) and the Soul Review countdown (Fri 5-8pm).

www.wave891.fm

One of the biggest, irreparable mistakes in life is to burn bridges.

A friendly advice: Think twice.