Professional Singing Tips From The CEO....

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My dear readers,


As you know, I've been a professional singer for more than a decade now.

Recently, people have been asking me for some tips on how to sing properly so I've decided to

make a list of the things which I myself personaly do. If you find them too technical or difficult, I'd be more than  happy to give you a demo and personally show you how it's done.



1.Your body is your instrument so you have to take good care of it!

2.Learn the fundamentals of proper breathing, how to use the diaphragm and make sure to practice breathing techniques daily. It'll help you sustain notes longer.

3.Learn various vocal techniques from a professional coach to help you hit high notes without straining the vocal cords. Ahem.. ahemm

4.Vocalize regularly to widen your vocal range. Know how to properly use the chest, nasal and head tones.
    Vocalize on order to smoothly shift from 1 tone to the next.

5.Before a performance, do some stretchings to prepare the body.. remember that your body is your instrument and the aim is to maximize the potential of your instrument. If you've seen me in gigs, you'd always find me warming-up by stretching my arms and legs beside the stage before the set.

6.Do not smoke. Smoking kills the tiny fibers which protect our vocal cords and throat.

7.Like a machine, our vocal cords need to be lubricated all the time so make sure to drink lots and lots of lukewarm water or warm citrus juice from time to time. My favorite is warm Calamansi juice. Try not to drink cold drinks after singing!! A big No No!! Wait for at least an hour before drinking cold beverages.

8.Drink moderately. Alcohol dehydrates the body. When the vocal cords aren't moist/lubricated enough, you'll surely gonna lose your voice. Make sure to drink lots of water after drinking alcohol to 
    rehydrate the body.

9.Never sing with a throat infection. Allow the  infection to heal first.

10. Make sure to get enough sleep (at least 8 hrs). Based on experience, it's not ideal to sing beyond 3am for our bodies are already tired.

11. Do your best not to put tension on the neck muscles to avoid strain. Use your diaphragm and back muscles to hit the right notes. It takes a lot of practice to perfect this technique.

12.In case you feel tension on your neck muscles, refrain from singing and talking. REST.

13.In case you lose your voice, th best thing to do is to sleep for long hours and try not to talk much. Your vocal cords need to relax.

14.“Salabat” and other so-called concoctions will never give you a good singing voice. They only soothe the throat. The best thing to do is still to vocalize and know various techniques.

15.Develop not only your high tones but the your low register as well.

16. Listen to other singers as well to gain more influence and for you to develop your own singing style.

17.When singing, sing with all your heart and soul. Sing with conviction!

18.Let it all out! Feel each note! Enjoy the experience!





So that's it! What are you waiting for? Try it! For further questions, feel free to email me anytime!
Happy singing!

A Vow to Keep the Flame Alive...

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When I was requested by a friend to write about my personal views regarding politics and on who I'm gonnaI vote for..my initial reaction was.. WTF! I've always been allergic to this topic. I even begged my friend to suggest something else but insisted I should stick with it! Wow the pressure! My braincells all of a sudden filed for a VL.... felt the shivers..guts began to churn...my inner self telling me, “You must be crazy Mae, there's no way you're gonna write about that shit!” The happy go lucky me.. the ever self motivated and confident food blogger who doesn't give a damn to the outside world's insanity was actually requested to write her opinion on politics..her friend must be looney as well!..oh boy this is gonna be a riot! But after a week of contemplating and gathering ideas on how to go about with this article, I've finally decided to give it a go! What the heck?! Why not challenge myself once in a while and go out of my comfort zone? I'm gonna pour out all my emotions and say it all directly from my heart, as always, Phew! Inhale.. Exhale...

First and foremost, I'm a firm believer that each Filipino is innately overflowing with God given talents. Given enough education, the right attitude and room to grow, I know.. I just know that we Pinoys can achieve more and surpass the hurdles our country has been facing for centuries. We may be busy with our own little worlds (texting, updating profiles and spending long hours with fb applications etc), but I know that deep within each of us lies an undying flame of passion for freedom and a dream that someday, each of us would freely roam the world with a head high. Sadly, due to the rampant mediocrity roaming around town...it seems we've been too lax and indifferent to our duty to the motherland.

The future of the Philippines doesn't and shouldn't just lie on one so-called messiah or to the foolish ideals of influential puppet masters. When will we ever learn? This, my friends is mediocrity at it's finest. Until we ourselves make a mental decision to really really change and start being responsible for at least ourselves, it's just gonna be like a vicious pathetic cycle that is surely gonna kill our spirits and put all our heroes' efforts to waste. We are sick... yes we all are! There's something wrong with our mental attitudes. We have been in denial for so long... We've allowed politicians to splurge on our hard earned money and blind enough to believe in this image that they keep on instilling our minds that our country is poor. I beg to disagree! I'm just sooo sick of it all!!! The Philippines is NOT POOR. You only become poor when you yourself choose to accept it! We limit ourselves and find it so hard to break free from this bondage because of this false image we think we have. The problem is not the lack of opportunities but the lack of courage to seek greener pastures. We are NOT composed of lazy, uneducated restless rascals but proud, wise, compassionate and hardworking citizens. We are so rich with natural resources envied by neighboring countries. We have skies so blue and fields so green..smiles so true and love.. yes.. love for what we do. Our minds need fine tuning indeed!

Ok, let me go straight to the point. I've chosen to give my sacred vote to Noynoy Aquino on this 10th day of May which is also my birthday. Why? Because I want to! Ok ok just kidding.... It's not really because of Noynoy but because of my unshakable belief in his father's ideals. The man whom I think is the perfect example of what a Filipino should be. Whenever I listen to his speeches and learn more about his life, I couldn't help but get teary-eyed and be moved because I can feel that he speaks with so much passion about his being Filipino. On the last night of Cory's wake, I without any doubt stood in line for more than 4hours starting midnight, enduring strong typhoon winds and floody streets with only an umbrella and my heart pumping with overwhelming gratitude and admiration for such a strong woman.. I would have just chosen to stay at the comfort of my room and sleep, but there I was... that cold windy unforgettable August night, patiently waiting for my turn to pay my last respects for the woman who gave our country hope. To Ninoy's faithful wife who continued to fight for freedom. The atmosphere that night was filled with lament yet full of hope and a vow solemnly made by each person that time to keep the flame of democracy burning.

So who should you vote for? I say you vote not just for one individual but consider the people behind that individual who have the same passion and belief for democracy and prosperity to reign. We have an oversupply of politicians but a scarcity in statesmen. Statesmen who have been fighting for freedom and equality for decades..the ones defending the helpless. Statesmen who are united by the heart - by bonds of respect, honesty, and compassion - is strong and unshakable. Vote for someone with a heart of a hero... someone with a blood of a hero! Keep the fire burning and vow to pass it on to generations to come.

V-Day with Mom at Luk Yuen

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This year's V-day was way different as compared to all my past V-days where I spent it with a boyfriend. I believe this year is truly a special one because I spent it with someone who loves me truly and unconditionally.... my mom!

Being the "unica hija," she has no other choice but love me! ahahahah We'd occasionally have our share of light arguements due to our differences in music, movies and views about life in general but still ofcourse.. no matter what happens, I'd still be there for her. I'll never forget the countless sacrifices she made in order for both of us to survive.

When my parents separated in '86, mom and I moved to Fairview and basically that's where all the adventure started.... Aside from dear grandma, she's one of my primary influences when it comes to food and cooking. We shared 6 yrs together before returning to my grandparent's care.

We lived a hard life but honestly speaking... I never felt poor during that time. If my memory serves me right, my activites during that time were spending hours singing in front of the mirror, making greeting cards, forging my mom's signature (yes i really did) and hanging out in the kitchen helping mom in baking goodies! I'd get so excited whenever she'd let me hold the whisk and bowl! I felt sooo in control! My favorite was when she taught me how to make the Lemon, Lime and Orange cheesecake!

Anyway, let's now concentarte on this V-day feature before this article turns into a novel..... Last V-day, I invited her to have lunch with me at our favorite place at Mega Mall. I noticed that my mom would often ask for Chinese food whenever we'd go out. So far, we've visited quite a number of places but Luk Yuen still remains our favorite. Their food is very affordable and they use fresh and very good quality ingredients!

After ordering, the waiter gave us free appetizers and Oolong tea!

Special Udon with Seafood (180php)-

We adore this dish a lot! It tastes so fresh and flavorful.

It has lots of big shrimps, fish fillet, squid, shitake mushrooms

and fresh veggies. The texture of the udon is superb! I like it a bit spicy

so I always ask for garlic chilli sauce!

Next in line are their dimsums to die for....

Vegetable and Shrimp Dumplings (80php)- I'm simply speechless. Can't really find the words to describe this irresitable treat!. The freshness of the greens and the natural sweetness of the prawns made me feel like falling in love once again! Shrimp Dumplings (80php) - Mom's favorite no doubt! For me they're the best shrimp dumplings you can find in town. I've compared this with the others.. What separarates them from the rest is that they use big juicy shrimps instead of the small cheaper variety served in other restos.

Crispy Shrimp Puffs (90php)- Shrimps wrapped in fancy looking lumpia wrapper then deep fried until golden brown.  The presentation looked ok though. As you can see, they made it look like a flower or something. It tasted very good but I'm not a big fan of fried dimsum for  I prefer the steamed ones.

After spending the entire afternoon in the mall, mom and I decided to have some tea and cake as our finale before heading home. For dessert, we went to Sugarhouse.As expected, I ordered a slice of their version of New York Cheesecake. hmmm It was ok (for me nothing beats the cheesecake at Chateau Verde).. too sweet perhaps so I had to order a cup of my favorite Chamomile tea to achieve balance. Mom ordered a slice of Apple Pie and boy was I more impressed with it than with the cheesecake. hihihihi It wasn't overly sweet and I liked how the grated cheese and whipped cream complimented the whole treat! Ooohh lah lah!Bonding time with deary Mom is something which I consider priceless. For most of us hopeless romantics, we would often search for that special someone to hopefully give us joy and complete our lives blah blah.., yet we usually take for granted the ones who never leave our side. Let's make our parents always happy ok?