Issa Sarza

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Livin’ La Vida Imelda performed by Carlos Celdran

Feb 13

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Last week, I had the chance to watch a performance by one of Philippines’ cultural activists, Carlos Celdran, because he opened a barter show for bloggers. He regularly does walking tours of Manila and now, instead of a regular “tour”, he is performing one of his tours, Livin’ La Vida Imelda, at Silverlens SLab in Pasong Tamo, Makati.

Mr. Snuggles and I have joined one of his tours in The Walled City or more commonly known as Intramuros. I was not feeling well that day so I was a bit slow and feeling tired during the entire tour but still I found his tour so entertaining with the perfect mix of information, fun and excitement because of the setting and the way he delivered his lines. :) I’m now a fan. LOL.

Anyway, last Wednesday after yoga class with our good friend Terrie (yes, we TRY to do yoga now. haha. more funny stories about that on a much later post.), we went to Makati to watch his performance. One word — OUTSTANDING!

I loved the little tidbits of information he divulged during the show and how artistic the set design was. The super fast talker Carlos brought us through the different times in Imelda Marcos’ life. The show was exciting, funny and filled with controversial details a person like me would never come to know had I not watched Carlos Celdran’s Livin La Vida Imelda. :) I wonder who his sources were…. and if Madame Imelda Marcos has seen his performance LOL! :D

I still can’t imagine how he could have memorized all his lines and say them without a hitch. It was a monologue and there were some actors/actresses sometimes depicting his narration. It was actually my first time to see him perform outside his tour and so I am really amazed with his talent in narrating.

I’m looking forward to all his future shows. :) If you’re in Manila, you should catch his shows and join his tours. Not only does he make history sound exciting and fun, he also put my history teachers to shame with their boring narration of the past. One would never be bored when in Carlos Celdran‘s presence. :)

BTW, Imelda was our former first lady to the late President Ferdinand Marcos. To know more about Imelda, click here.

Livin’ La Vida Imelda show dates are scheduled on: February 7, 8, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, March 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10.

All shows start promptly at 8 pm and will be held at Silverlens SLab gallery located at the 2/F YMC Building II, 2320 Don Chino Roces Extension (formerly Pasong Tamo Extension), Makati City. Regular tickets sell for P800 while student tickets sell for P400. The performance runs one hour and forty minutes long with a 15-minute intermission.
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT SILVERLENS: 2320 PASONG TAMO EXT., MAKATI CITY,
PLEASE CALL KAT LUCIANO AT 816-0044 (OFFICE HOURS) OR TEXT 0917-587-4011 (ANYTIME).

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I Got Hitched!

Feb 9

Posted by Issa in Notes from Issa | 3 Comments

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Yes I did! To all those who thought I gave up blogging because I’ve been away for so long (months, right?), let me tell you that I have no plans of giving up this fun hobby and I just had to take a break and do something important — like get married to Mr. Snuggles! :) LOL

So while I was away, I was preoccupied with these things:

 

Our fun save-the-date bookmarks made out of tongue depressors and hand-stamped with a motto we made and live by. :)

Our handmade invitations. People kept asking me how I printed the name on the wood tags. I told them I didn’t. I wrote every one of them. :) Which reminds me, I should make my own font because they said I have a nice handwriting. lol

This is what’s inside the invite envelope. I forgot to take photos when I made all 200 of them. I bet you can imagine why.

See the DIY pre-wedding souvenir above? Some delightful friends joined in the fun and tagged us on Facebook. :)

Having a Buddhist wedding is not your typical ceremony. It’s simple but everything we did in the ceremony had a special meaning. Like the light offering for parents and ninongs & ninangs, it symbolizes the driving away of darkness and reminds us to cultivate wisdom.

You can view our ceremony procedure here: Allen + Issa: Buddhist Wedding Ceremony

We were surprised that Ven. Yung Guang officiated the ceremony. We thought we’ll just have a very simple ceremony attended by at least 3 monastics. The temple never told us about this big surprise and so Mr. Snuggles and I felt really, really loved and blessed. :) We’re grateful they prepared such a beautiful and meaningful ceremony for us.

In a Buddhist wedding, the monastics march in last instead of the bride. Oh, see the little patch of green between me and Mr. Snuggles? The one with the yellow oblong thing sticking out, that’s our ring pillow made with moss and fabric flowers. I forgot to take a photo of that one too. You can, once again, imagine why. LOL.

My simple white silk dress is from my Tita Kelly. :) And my lovely 4-inch peep-toe heels were custom-made by Nina Lazaro, a good friend of Mr. Snuggles, and was given to us as a wedding present. :)

In Ven. Yung Guang’s Dharma talk, she mentioned the qualities of a good wife and husband. The vows Ven. Yung Guang asked of us were all practical — like, “If Allen (Mr. Snuggles) gets fatter, would you still love him?” LOL That one, along with the other vows, cracked us all up. :)

After exchanging rings, Ven. Yung Guang presented us with gifts — prayer beads!

We seriously didn’t expect confetti! Friends from the temple prepared this wonderful surprise for us — sweet!

Being vegetarians ourselves, a vegetarian feast was served during lunch. Friends and family performed song numbers and we played our AVP too. (will post soon :) )


We also installed a DIY photo booth outside the dining hall.

Before the party ended, we handed out “survey cards” where guests filled in their well-wishes and fun thoughts. This was in lieu of the wishing tree. :) We planned to book-bind this soon. I’ll try to scan a couple of fun cards soon and show you how insanely cute their messages were.

We were really blessed we had virtuous friends who helped out. To show our gratitude, we made our own mix CD (just like the old days) and gave them as thank-you gifts.

And it was as if the year was not fun enough, we were blessed with the opportunity to visit the Buddha Memorial Center in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and get married again! Just after 3 weeks! :D

I had to wear our Filipiniana costume though. But anyway, everyone thought it was smashing. :) We were a celebrity for a day.

We were on the big screen, the TV, and the Merit Times newspaper a few days prior to the mass wedding ceremony.

Venerable Master Hsing Yun graced the event. We were so happy! :)

After the mass wedding ceremony on New Year’s eve, we took the Refuge Taking and 5 Precepts ceremony in the afternoon which explains my wild hairdo while wearing the robe. :P

So there. My 2011 was fun and I’m guessing my 2012 will be more fun. :)

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Help Our Aunt

Sep 18

Posted by Issa in Notes from Issa | 1 Comment

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Hello everyone!

Mr. Snuggles’ aunt Eva, who is a single old woman with no husband and kids to take care of her, recently suffered from a stroke. Mr. Snuggles supports her as much as he could but he can only do so much. She is currently confined at Ospital ng Muntinlupa (Muntlinlupa Hospital).

This is my little way of helping our aunt and Mr. Snuggles.

I’m selling ALL MY PRINTABLES at 50% off and ALL proceeds (this means 100% of the sale) will go to her hospitalization and recovery fund.

Just enter this code at checkout: helpouraunt

I hope you can all extend your compassionate hearts even if we’re miles away through these printables. You can use them this coming holiday season :)

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and we appreciate your willingness to help. :)


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