Reflection on Goal Setting

This morning as I was getting ready for work, I tuned in to an episode of Marie TV about goal setting. From the video’s topic, it got me to thinking about my own goals/desired feelings. From there, I’ve narrowed my list to: 1. ) be happy, 2.) be alive, 3.) be fulfilling

Any goals of mine have led to these desired feelings.

To be happy, I’ll be forgiving of my and other people’s imperfections. Life is too short to be too hard on yourself or other people.

To be “alive”, I’ll practice more mindfulness-which is very tough for me. Growing up, I’ve always been a day dreamer. But I’d rather be aware and experience my environment than to be lost in my thoughts. Good thing I now work at a tea house where being “present” is being advocated. To pay attention, I simply slow down, relax, and focus. Then I become less reactive and more in control of my feelings-which then leads me to being happy.

To be fulfilling (I’m not even sure if that’s the right term but I’ll use it for now), I’ll gather and absorb as much knowledge as I could and share it to the world. Looking back, I’ve always been fond of recording what I’ve learned and sharing what I’ve learned to other people-whether it’s through video projects, theater acting, blogging, vegan cooking, journalism, etc. I find tremendous gratification that I’ve somehow contributed to our society. I think that’s where all my career decisions and career goals stem from: the desire to enrich the world. And with that, comes a rewarding feeling of happiness.

Here’s the video of the MarieTV episode I’m telling you about. I hope it’ll inspire you as much as it has inspired me.

And while you’re pondering about your own goals/desired feelings, here are my tea recommendations as accompaniment to your introspection:

1. Chinese Dragonwell Green Tea
2. Japanese Genmaicha Green Tea
3. Taiwanese Phoenix Oolong Tea
4. Chinese “Moonlight” White Tea
5. Chinese Puerh Tea

You could get them at Samovar Tea, Far Leaves Tea, Imperial Tea Court, Aroma Tea Shop, and Teance. Enjoy!

Good luck! Wishing you happiness!

$50 Sari Sari Underground Giveaway

I’m so excited to announce that RCE Studios has partnered up with awesome online store, Sari Sari Underground in giving away $50 worth of merchandise for FREE to only lucky RCE Studios subscriber. Shipping cost is covered too. This is one way for us at RCE Studios and 2 Unemployed Critics to say THANK YOU to our subscribers for supporting the channel. We’ll choose a winner by Dec 3. So feel free to subscribe until then. Feel free to see the flyer below for details 🙂

 

Heavy Heart over Typhoon Haiyan

30 Something, Part 2

Good Monday to you!

I hope you had a great weekend and your work week is starting on a good note.

A couple of weeks ago, I presented a web comedy video called “30 Something” starring yours truly. Here’s part 2 of that video. I hope you enjoy watching it. Let me know what you think!

 

“Haunted” houses of Union City

An oldie but goodie. In the spirit of Halloween, I’m reposting this video story I did few years ago. The story is about the most heavily Halloween-decorated houses in Union City, California. It was such a fun time filming this story, capturing the spooky decorations and interviewing the creative minds behind them. It was fun getting people’s reactions especially from the kids. I hope you enjoy watching the video as much as I did filming it. Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Feliz Dia de los Muertos! Maligayang Araw ng mga Patay!

Chris and I recently attended a masquerade wedding shower. I had never checked out a masquerade party before nor a wedding “shower” so it was pretty rad to experience both on the same night.  And because I’m not really doing anything for Halloween, I’ll consider this photo taken at the masquerade my Halloween photo as well.  What about you? Do you have any plans for Halloween?

Happy Halloween! Feliz Dia de los Muertos! Maligayang Araw ng mga Patay! From Chris and I.

Kodakan at the San Francisco Main Library

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always loved going to the library. Even though some people in my school perceive it as “uncool”, I didn’t care.  I would ask my dad to drop me off to the nearest library to read books and magazines, do homework, borrow movies and cds, or just browse. Come to think of it, libraries carry so much knowledge all in one place. Not to mention you don’t have to spend money compared to visiting bookstores and coffee shops.  I had no idea that one day my photo will be displayed at the place I’ve always admired, let alone the San Francisco main library!

The photo is part of an exhibit called “Kodakan, Pilipinos in the City” which aims to explore Pilipino cultural identity from past to present. Modern photos were juxtaposed alongside vintage photos dating back in the 1920s (or earlier). The photo exhibit was put together by Kularts, a non profit organization working to promote and celebrate contemporary and tribal Pilipino arts in the United States. Kodakan is directed by Wilfred Galila featuring works of Peggy Peralta and Cece Carpio.

When Peggy called me and asked me if I could be in the project, I hesitated. The project seemed so wonderful but I felt unqualified for it.  I live in San Francisco half of the time with my partner Chris, the other half with my family in Hayward. I thought Chris would be a more ideal candidate because he is born and raised in the city, a true San Francisco native. Peggy explained that it would be an interesting photo (and interview) to get two different perspectives from Chris and I.  She also explained that Chris and I will be photographed juxtaposed with another couple in a vintage photo. Chris and I felt so honored to partake in the project so of course we said yes.

(Wide shot of our photo spread)

(Left: vintage photo a Filipino couple in San Francisco. Right: Chris and I at Dolores park, San Francisco. I learned that the couple from the old photo are the grandparents of one of the artists in involved in the project).

Aside from couples, Kodakan also features photographs of Filipino families, artists, musicians as well as war veterans and community activists, and “gallivanting dandies” (it won’t be a Filipino event without the word “gallivant”! ).

   

The opening of the exhibit was presented with a video screening and an artist talk. The screening showed interviews of some of the subjects. I hope Kularts will eventually upload the video online because I believe the film will resonate not just to Filipinos but to anyone with a cultural identity or those who pursue it.

Thank you to the folks at Kularts, Alleluia Panis, Wilfred Galila and Peggy Peralta. for including Chris and I to Kodakan. Chris and I are truly honored and overwhelmed.

  (Chris and I with Alleliua Panis, the head of Kularts)

(Chris and I with Alleluia and Peggy)

To check out Kodakan, feel free to visit the San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin St. San Francisco.

Kodakan is located at the 3rd floor, it will be up there until January 23.

Granny Cart Gangstas and 30 Something

When the all-women comedy troupe, Granny Cart Gangstas, invited me to be part of their theater show, I was both honored and ecstatic. Granny Cart Gangstas is a group of creative, talented, not to mention hilarious, women who write, produce, and perform sketch comedy on stage and on screen.  One of their works was a hilarious parody of Beyonce’s “Run the World” music video.

Granny Cart Gangstas’ show, “Rise of the Red Dawn” was held at Bindlestiff Studio in San Francisco last September 30th.  For my contribution, I performed short comedy skits with my sister as well as sang and danced in a parody of another Beyonce song,  “Single Ladies”, which we renamed to “Pregnant Ladies”.

I also produced and starred in a video called “30 Something“, which was my satirical take on women in their 30s (or people in their 30s in general) who feel stuck between trying to figure out their passions in life and facing the pressures of starting a family. I’ve uploaded the video on the RCE Studios YouTube channel, let me know what you think:

The concept of “30 Something” crossed my mind after watching an episode of 30 Rock. Inspired by the sitcom’s humor, lines of dialogue between a couple in their 30s poured in my head; I had to grab a laptop to type it down before I lose the moment! After writing the draft, I had my writer friend extraordinaire, Gayle Romasanta at Bonnie magazine to critique my script. I wouldn’t say the final script followed her entire critique which, in retrospect, I really should have followed it religiously. Oh well, all the more to make room for improvement in future projects.

Filming the video took the whole day, from 9am until about 4pm including equipment setup and a lunch break. I consider myself extremely lucky that I have talented film friends to believe in this project. Not to mention, they already have the equipment so I didn’t have to spend money on renting or buying video equipment.  The funnest part of the shoot was having our film crew also act as the YouTube stars described in the video: our production assistant, Ava Tong, as “Shanaynay” in “Shanaynay’s Makeup Tips” and our director of photography, Willis Lai, as “Bruno” in “Bruno’s Cooking for Half”.

The final edit was screened at the Granny Cart Gangsta show. Honestly, I was nervous that people might not get the jokes, or worse, think the story is irrelevant. But after the show, a friend came up to me and jokingly accused me of basing the script on his and his wife’s life! He said that my portrayal was right on point describing his wife.  Learning that the story resonated to someone was the greatest compliment I could ever receive about”30 Something”!

Episode 3 of “2 Unemployed Critics” featuring “Colma The Musical” and “Anino”

Chuck and Al return with episode 3 featuring the movies “Anino” by Raymond Red and “Colma the Musical” by Richard Wong. Singing will be involved. You’ve been warned.

 

 

Episode 2 of “2 Unemployed Critics”

Allan  and Chuck returns in YouTube land with a new episode. Plus a cameo from Roczane Enriquez. Featuring 2 landmark movies:

“Twilight People” by Eddie Romero, a 70s B movie that had inspired Quentin Tarantino’s “Grindhouse”, plus “The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros” by Auraeus Solito, which has won at least 15 film awards from all over the world.

Plus mutants, rolling cars, one angry boss, and 2 unemployed critics: