The Face Behind The Blog

I was reading Geri's blog (coz I was awol for so long :) ) about herself & I saw my name at the bottom of the post. I've been tagged!!! Turns out Sarah tagged me too...(thanks guys , it's nice to have special mention in your pages ) so here I go.

The Face Behind The Blog
That's me 31 years ago ( you do the math ).The first of 3 kids. My sister Madel who just graduated from nursing school (big applause for her coz she's the 1st in the fam to get a degree ) & my baby brother Mark , still at school hoping to find his way too. My mother says she wanted to name me " Evangeline" coz it sounded religious but my lolo ( my father's dad ) wanted to call me "Melody" . I thank him for that , god bless his soul , because I love my name & it even became more fitting coz later on I became a professional singer. On my cousin's 18th birthday , I sang the song " I Will Always Love You" & I danced w/ my lolo....that was the first & the last time he heard me sing.
My personality can be very conflicting .It's a mix of how I was brought up & the lifestyle & culture that I am living now.Still the big part of me remains a true filipina , mahiyain,mayumi (daw)& respectful to others and experiencing many other culture & traditions made me more open minded & appreciative of other people.Maybe being a Gemini has something to do w/ who & what I am. I can be very adventurous & do some outrageous stuff but then I'm the first one to cry at any sad silly story , books , movie or even a strangers tale OR the first to scream while watching a horror movie.


When I was growing up I wanted to be a flight stewardess ( now we say flight attendant) coz I dreamed about travelling the whole world . Unknowingly , fate was leading me to a different direction & slowly I am discovering that I have a knack for singing . It was that time when karaoke machine was getting popular & everybody knows that when I get a hold of the mic , they'll just have to listen & wait in line . I also realized that I enjoy cooking a lot & how much I love to hear people's raving about how delicious the meals that I made for them so I told myself that if I don't become a singer then I'm gonna be a chef.

Life was hard , my parents both worked at a shoe factory & barely made enough money.Yet , they didn't fail to teach me how to be a good person, they taught me respect , honesty, hard work , & discipline. At an early age, I understood that I would have to work twice as hard as the next person if I wanted to achieve success in life. I became more serious with school & my studies ..even got some award at school and dreamed of becoming a doctor. Some people weren't as optomistic as me. Someone told me that I cannot be a flight attendant coz I will fail the minimum height requirements . I accepted that & focus my head on becoming a doctor, then somebody told me that we were too poor to be able to afford even just the registration fee . They were right again. I only made to graduate high school . I was so heart broken. Reality bites & the truth sucked!!! There's nothing like the feeling of your dreams being crushed. I let myself morned my heartaches for a while then I decided that I can't surrender!!
So I kicked myself up & got back in the race.

At 16,most young girls are busy with school, friends or whatever teenagers supposed to be doing. Not me, I was out there looking for my place in the world. I rediscovered my first love , singing . I signed up for every auditioned I could find & practiced every song that I was assigned to me. I had nothing , not even a microphone of my own . I had this old notebook where I wrote all the lyrics & all the melody recorded in my brain. All I had was my talent & determination & after 6 months , I had my first paid gig & not only that , it was at a five star hotel in Singapore. Not bad for a neophyte . I joined several bands after that & I travelled in some of the best cities in Asia . My dream of seeing the whole world was slowly coming true & what's best was that I was getting paid to do it.

2002 , in Hongkong , one fated night , I met my future partner in life.That feeling when you met somebody & you just knew it "like magic" & even though I knew then that it's going to be a tough decision for both of us being of different origin & nationalities, I felt the magic & it was all it took. It was hard , really hard .The paper work,visa applications, the waiting , long distance romance , long distance call , yahoo messenger, chikka ..you name it , anything to make the waiting bareable. It took over 2 years before me & Grant finally got together. Totally worth the wait.

So far life has been good. I am blessed w/ a wonderful & loving husband that understands me more than anybody in the world. He makes me laugh & gives me support & always there whenever I need him.Then there's our two precious little ones. Princess, like her name says , is the most smartest girl ,sweet & caring & very strong willed ( just like her mom).She likes drawing,painting & singing & facinated about insects & dinosaurs & likes climbing trees. Shinjo is our little man. The most curious one of all.His eyers brightens up at every little things that he sees.It's like the whole world is full of magic for him.
They are now my life , my world & I devote my whole time to them.

Someday I'm gonna sing again or perhaps enrol at a culinary school & finally get a diploma.Myabe open up my own restaurant or travel & see the rest of the world. These are my future plans & who knows? Anything can happen but now I know that everything is possible if you try & never give up.

That's the gist of my so called life. It's very colorful & lively just like meh :)
I am tagging In-In, Vanessa , Lanie & Gilda.