Riding with the wind

Last Saturday night, I hosted for FU Magazine's event in the beautiful Baywalk area of Manila. PJ Lanot, my good friend, asked me to host with him that night eventhough I never had much training with live hosting. But with him as my partner, my second live hosting (if we count that single hosting stint for Studio 23's Breakfast as first) became a breeze.

First, because PJ was a full-blown comedian and all-around host, the training I needed as a novice mostly came from him. His tip was the same with all the tips given to me in the past. And the reason why this certain tip works is that it's very simple. ENJOY. :)

Second, PJ and I already knew each other prior to the event so it was easy for us to feed on each other's jokes. When we interviewed the Asian Formula 3 racers, the beautiful Gaby dela Merced and the young Dado Peña (who I thought was Patrick Garcia from afar, haha, sorry), the two young racers also "rode on our jokes" before riding their AF3 cars (which were at the sides of the stage).

And third, the people inside and outside the enclosed area were all so enthusiastic that we couldn't help but be energetic all night long! While the bands were setting up, we asked some of the audience to go onstage for an interview or to join games. PJ had this knack of asking the pretty girls if they were single or not. And of course I asked the guys the same question (whether they were good-looking or not). When this pretty balikbayan from Australia joined one of the games and PJ asked her, "Are you single?"... She retorted, "Are you single?"
The crowd went "Whootwhoo!" But PJ wasn't.

Lastly, the rest of the audience who remained standing and cheering until the very end of the event made me ignore my sore feet (they gave me high heeled shoes to wear). And the beautiful gal from Australia told us in the end, "You guys were great! You were stunning! You were beautiful!"
And I was re-affirmed that kind words and happy faces are contagious and are rewards in themselves.

Tomorrow, I'll be doing another live hosting gig, which was given to me by PJ. But this time, I'll be hosting completely on my own. No partners or co-hosts. Hmm, I'll let you guys know what will happen to that. ;)

I am actually in this phase of trying out things that I've never tried before... to the point that one of my college friends whom I haven't seen or spoken with in a long time asked me when we bumped into each other in one event, "Why? Wala ka na bang magawa?", pertaining to the things I've been trying out. His question did not take me aback. His question actually made me smile. I think he thought that I was just bumming and trying out new things for fun while the rest of the world (he's one batch higher than me) was working. You see, I've always been this relatively sheltered schoolgirl (I taught in a preschool and I'm now currently taking further studies in Psych). Right now, I just want to enjoy the world as I learn.

One of the beautiful discoveries in life is that learning and enjoyment come in many different forms and often, they do come together.

A few days ago, I had a short but meaningful chat with one of my good friends, Hazel Imperial, who also turned out to be a Comm major (For some reason, many of my favorite people are Comm majors). And I just want to share with you a quote that I received from her. Hazel wrote it, herself:

Riding with the wind doesn't mean going wherever it takes you; it means trusting every whisper or blow as an opportunity to steer the boat and sail to greater oceans.

Haze is right.
My wind isn't blowing me solely to where I am now. With its help, I am still steering my own boat.

After I hosted for that event, I asked the magazine's editor, who turned out to be a great guy, if I could write for them. And today, he emailed me my first assignment.

Go on, guys, ride with the wind.
And lead yourself where you want to go. :)