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Monday, May 23, 2011

D5100 Extra Ordinary Angles Contest


Need your support, you guys. Please click the this LINK or the photo above and LIKE the photo of the ruins in Talisay, Negros Occidental. :)

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Photo of the Week: Happiness


Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, pancit habhab and the cutest pair of dimples in the world.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Stupid Diets

My Facebook status the other day:
"Sunset Coffee Date slash Talkshow with Jessica Belenson. Our episode for today Ladies and Gentlemen: SWIMSUITS, BELLY FATS AND THE FEW REMAINING DAYS DAYS OF SUMMER 2011. Let's skip dinner nalang, yes?"

We were just skimming through our friends' facebook accounts, and feasted on their summer pictures wearing bikinis. Some people are just born to not grow fat. Unfortunately, we dont belong to that group. We had to die at a diet first before we lose at most 5 lbs. Sad, but that's how the world works. And I coin a line in Desiderata: "...for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself".

There was a point back then when dieting was part of my everyday commitments. If you think Mariah's MORSEL DIET is ridiculous, my God, you havent seen mine yet. These, by far, are the weirdest diets I undertook, and how I went about it. Note: These are all based on real-life situations of yours truly: There will be No sugar-coating, No-exaggerations on any parts of these stories.

The Gummy-Bear and Coffee Diet. I always remember my friend Bayette when I talk about this diet. She was there when I passed out after finishing an exam. I had this in college, back in the time when I weighed roughly 200 lbs. I was HUGE. This involves drinking coffee (black) in the morning, and then a pack of gummy bears to be consumed the whole day. I end the day with another cup of coffee.

The Pearl White Diet. Self-explanatory: you just have to take Pearl White pills-- 2 pills a day. This was very effective, I lost about 30lbs, and didnt have the urge to eat ANYTHING. But just like any other diet pills, you cant have it for the rest of your life, and one day I noticed that my eyes were yellowing. I stopped.

The Skyflakes Diet. Self-explanatory. You just eat 3 packs of Skyflakes a day, and lots and lots of water. I didnt want to have this diet, but when my Dad got hospitalized, I ran out of money and was in so much debt that I had to sacrifice my meals to buy him medicine. The rest of the family had the same "diet", too. My ex then got worried because I would go home gaunt, pale and weak. Hello, a pack of Skyflakes is about 120 calories, even Superman would die in a week eating just that. It was effective, the belly fats went away, but my face looked weird--- dark circles around the eyes, and my skin was unusually dark. In short, construction worker look.

The Eat Breakfast Like a King Diet. Blame it on Cosmo and Men's Health. They say the right way to do it is to consume 80% of your daily calorie consumption on breakfast, and the remaining 20% you spread thoughout the day. It didnt last. I'm not a morning person. I ate too much lunch, and too much dinner, I gained like 10 lbs in 2 months.

Brazillian Coffee Diet. This was killer. I had this November-December last year when a lot of shows were lined up and the pressure to get thin was as tangible as a big yellow bus parked in my forehead. My band manager bluntly said, "Keith, you have to scale down or else I'd be forced to look for another male singer". BAD. I recall my friend Camille selling Brazilian Coffee. The boxes had all these Chinese characters, it smelled weird, didnt taste like coffee at all, and I had to drink 2 cups of it everyday. It was effective--- after a day, I lost the urge to eat carbs. But my work was so physically demanding that I started to have panoramic visions. No kidding. And I had migraines. Worst, I lost my sexual urges. After a week, I stopped.

The 10-Day Fat Flush. Yes--- BEYONCE! It was Beyonce who made this all so possible for the common tao when she grazed the screen in almost-skin-and-bones perfection as Deena Jones in Dreamgirls. I tried it after a year, when my friend and I were shopping and we came across a bottle of organic grade A maple syrup and she asked me what it's for and I said "Fat-flush". It was a stupid lightbulb moment coz the next thing we knew, were both scouring the aisles for cayenne pepper and lemons. This diet involves drinking a cayenne pepper, lemon and grade A maple syrup concoction for 10 days and you lose 10lbs. I only went as far as 4 days. It was so hard. On the 4th day, I started to see black-and-white circa 1950s silent-type movie Mickey Mouse images everywhere. I felt drugged.

The GM Diet. Now I think this one's effective. It worked for a lot of my gay friends after the Holiday Season. You are only allowed to eat a certain kind of food for a day. Example, Monday-- fruits only. Tuesday-- vegetables only. Thursday, banana and eggs-something. It didnt work for me. I tried it like 3 times, i would go so hungry on the 2nd day.

The Apple Diet. One of my gay friends told me: "Bakla, everytime gusto ko pumayat, kakain lang ako ng apple--- apple lang from Monday to Friday, at pagdating ng Saturday, payat na ako ulit". It struck me like a thunderbolt so I tried it myself. Nah, didnt work. After a year I found out that he was just kidding. Baklaaaaa! :)


So there. Looking back, I realized I did a lot of bad things to my system. Some of them may have worked for me in the past, but hey, Im not getting any younger. Eating right should just be the simplest solution.

How 'bout you? Any stupid diet stories to share? :)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Signing Off


If I never knew you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Empty as the sky
Never knowing why
Lost forever
If I never knew you

I just had my last performance with the Reigndition Band, and I bring with me a year full of great memories. One year of singing just flew by so quickly, it's as if I just had my audition with them 2 weeks ago. Not that singing matters not--- of course it does, and it will always have a warm spot in my heart--- but I need to focus more on my other priorities. Right now I'm single-handedly running Mamai's, and another small-time business, and my job with an IT company. For now, these are my training grounds and I have to leave singing behind as I embrace other aspects of myself.

To my band--- Vien, Kisha, Mia, Val, and Emmar (also Deo, Adela, and Chuckie)--- it was an honor working with you all. You guys are so great and so talented, and your talents will take you places, thats for sure. I will miss the stage. I will miss the beats. I will miss the lights. But what Im gonna miss most are the fun times that I get to spend with you. You guys are like family to me already.

But then again, music will always be a part of me and as you know, I am just temporarily clipping my wings.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for giving me the chance to hold the microphone. Not everybody who has this talent is given the opportunity you have bestowed on me. I am sincerely grateful.

And for my diva tantrums, I wouldnt apologize. You know from the very start what you're getting yourself into, hahaha. Kidding. :)

I will miss you all.

Keith Pareja, the musician, now signing off. For now.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Happy Mothers' Day


To the three most important ladies in my life--- HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY.

To my rockstar Mom, thank you for your love and patience. I owe my life to you and Dad, and with that I will forever be thankful. We may not get along too well at times, coz we're both always stubborn, but I guess that's always how we both have showed our love for each other. I love you Mom.

To my sister, thank you for being my best friend since birth. Thank you for believing in me, and for standing close in times when I needed a shoulder to cling on. Most importantly, thank you for taking good care of Kaye, Jem, Jammie and Jiboy--- they're precious to me.

To Nanay, thank you for bringing my BBK to this world. For taking care of him, and for raising him up to become the good person that he is today. Salamat, Nanay.

And to all the mothers in the world---you deserve all the love in the world today.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

God Bless Mamai's


I am finally making a brand out of my Mom's winning cakes and pastry recipes. I've been itching to do this for the longest time, and now it has finally come to life. Yes, I am entering the world of entrepreneurship as I open my second business, Mamai's Cakes and Pastries.

I need your support and prayers. :) We are open for dealership. Contact us on the number found in the poster.