Livin’ la vida loca in Sanfo

Attending beauty pageants has always been fun. As I’ve said many times before, joining Miss Universe is one of my frustrations but I guess some things are just not meant to be.

A couple of weekends ago, I was invited by a friend, Oliver Carnay, to attend the Ginoong Filipinas-USA Pageant in San Francisco.

I asked a couple of friends to join me so I would have a few other individuals with me on this first trip to San Francisco.

I feel so tired and restless from all these trips I’ve been doing over this last few weeks. It seems like I’ve been all over the place.

I head off to Seattle the weekend after the San Francisco trip. By the time you read this, I would most probably be on my way back to Manila to get back to work and do a reality check after all the fun I’ve been having.

We arrived at San Francisco the morning after Thanksgiving, which was absolutely awesome bacause I had turkey and spent time with the family.

I literally passed out on the couch right after finishing a huge plate of good food and turkey. I was out in "Lala Land" for about an hour.

It did well for me anyway because I had to be up by 6 a.m. for my flight the very next day.We got to San Francisco around brunch and headed straight to shopping with Oliver.

We met up with a couple other friends, Monet Lu and Bong "Prada" Lim, also one of the judges for Ginoong Filipinas-USA.

The city is amazing. They’ve got everything I want and need to buy. The best part was that it was Thanksgiving weekend and stores were filled with sale tags. Any woman would love that!

For as long as it’s on sale, it’s a good buy. After all the walking and shopping we did, we went back to our hotel and got ready for the screening.

Saturday was the big Ginoong Filipinas-USA night at Palace of Fine Arts.The pageant was great. It was done differently because they gave awards right after each walk.

Our favorite part of the night was the lingerie walk sponsored by Bench. These guys are well-built and are in the right place, the right time, and the right pageant that night.

They absolutely took our breath away. At the end of the pageant, I was asked to present the awards for the winners Mark Figueroa (Ginoong Filipinas 2006), Jay Ignacio (first runner-up), Ingel Catinding (second runner-up), and Henry Lee (third runner-up).

The night ended wonderfully with a nice dinner with some friends and lounging at a nearby bar. This San Francisco trip was an absolute treat. I even extended my stay.

Tuesday night, Nov. 28th, we attended Allan Pineda Lindo a.k.a. apl.de.ap’s (of The Black Eyed Peas) birthday celebration at The Loft in the heart of Hollywood.

I bumped into a couple of friends from Hollywood High. I also bumped into a good old friend I haven’t seen for almost a year.

Apl.de.ap’s birthday celebration was the ultimate hip-hop party. They had some rappers and a group performed on stage to hype everyone up while apl.de.ap came out towards the end and sang a couple of songs.

He even performed a remix version of one of The Black Eyed Peas’ famous songs, Bebot. The crowd was a bit too happy, or should I say, out of control. Some people I know got into a fight.

I wish I could also share with you how beautiful the snow in the mountains are up here in Seattle.

I am still enjoying the cold weather by a fireplace while I’m putting this piece of news together. Hope you all have a great weekend.

God bless!

(E-mail me at [email protected].)