3 of a kind: heart-melting classic musical songs

I’m here to share with you my top 3 heart-melting songs from musicals I grew to love. Come and revisit the 1900′s with me!

1. He’ll always need your love, and so he’ll get your love.

This is Lady Thiang, the Emperor’s first wife, singing Something Wonderful to Ms. Anna Leonowens in the 1956 movie adaptation The King And I. Ms. Anna, having been disgruntled by the quirks of the Emperor, wanted to leave and head back to America. Lady Thiang went to Ms. Anna, begged her to stay, and sang to her about loving an imperfect man who merits her love because of the good he possesses, however small or meager.

“This is a man you’ll forgive and forgive, and help protect, as long as you live. He will not always say what you would have him say, but now and then he’ll say something wonderful… A man who needs your love can be wonderful.”

I always thought Lady Thiang was crazy. But now looking back, I realize maybe I was crazy for thinking she was. For one cannot say she has genuinely loved until she has learned to embrace the imperfections as well as the perfections of the person she claims she loves.

Listen: 3:02 mins!

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2. Her joys, her woes, her highs, her lows, are second nature to me now.

Meet bitter ol’ Professor Higgins from My Fair Lady of 1964! This particular song, I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face, gets me every time. It’s a scene of him walking alone to his house, after hearing the news from Eliza Doolittle that she was getting married to an English socialite named Freddie. In this song he swings back and forth hurt and angry to a man in slow but painful realization of Eliza’s importance to him.

“Damn! Damn! Damn! I’ve grown accustomed to her face… I was serenely independent and content before we met; surely I could always be that way again- and yet I’ve grown accustomed to her look; accustomed to her voice; accustomed to her face.”

It’s almost amusing — not in a mocking way — how some people (including me at times) realize the importance of a beloved once he or she has walked out the door; and how proud we are to admit to no one else but only to ourselves how much we need that beloved in our lives.

Watch: 7:25 mins!

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3. I should have had the whirl to change into a girl, to learn the way the creatures think!

“What’s wrong Jenny, where are you these days?” King Arthur of Camelot (1965) whispers to himself as he baffles his thoughts about Guinevere, his wife and queen. Here he sings and reminisces about a conversation he had with his warlock teacher, Merlin, about matters on How To Handle A Woman.

“How to handle a woman? There’s a way,” said the wise old man, “A way known by ev’ry woman since the whole rigmarole began.”

“Do I flatter her?” I begged him answer. “Do I threaten or cajole or plead? Do I brood or play the gay romancer?”

Said he, smiling: “No indeed. How to handle a woman? Mark me well, I will tell you, sir: The way to handle a woman is to love her…simply love her… Merely love her…love her…love her.”

Their story did not end on a happy note. But when you look closely into the highs and most especially into the lulls of their time together, you know for a fact that King Arthur loved his wife through and through — even though he barely understood her.

Watch: 4:18 mins!

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How about you, do you have a favorite musical song? :)

Wrapping up 2012!

1| First time to work as a student assistant in the university. My boss loved me. Like crazy.

2| Finished my thesis, thesis got approved, and before I knew it, I was already working two weeks before graduation. (Read more)

3| Graduated with girl friends (you know who you are!) and some org mates. Family went all the way to LB to sit through the longest graduation ceremony ever!

4| Our beloved grandfather died in God’s grace, bringing the whole family together. (Read more)

5| Gained new friends in my first ever work! Also got to spend more time with my siblings in the city — college being ultimately far from it. (Read more)

6| Loved. Love.

7| Resigned from first job, spent the time reading books, “manning the fort” (as dad would say), and creating more DIYs! (Read more)

8| Watched Phantom of the Opera live at CCP! I thought I was going to die right then and there. Ha ha! (Read more)

9| Lost my puppy Rufio. (Read more)

10| My long due closed silent retreat with my sister Julie. The tipping point. (Read more)

11| Got accepted to my second job at a publishing company! New friends yet again!

12| My nephew Izzy Victoria went up to heaven. (Read more)

13| Went to Boracay! Gained new insight about traveling! (Read more)

14| Got reunited with old friends — the ‘constants’ in every equation I get myself into (lol, cheese). (Read more)

When I came to assess the events that took place this year, I would have to say that it has been a very packed year. I can’t say if it was one of the best or one of the worst (how does anyone know, really?). Admittedly, there were a lot of heart wreck, soul wreck, whatever wreck, that came about in 2012. But there were also a lot of highs, especially with the constant presence of the people who always got my back (THANK YOU, PHEW WE MADE IT!).

The BIG MAN definitely didn’t make this a so-so year. He made sure I learned from the successes as well as the failures; He made sure that I held on to Him through both wins and losses. It wasn’t an easy year but it is one of the years I’d be most grateful for. If I could just wink at Him like I jokingly would to my friends, I’d prolly go, “I see what you did there.” Hah!

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to post again ’til the new year so I’m grabbing this opportunity to wish all of you a grand celebratory welcome of 2013!

2013, watch out!

My 20-minute encounter with adventurers.

“Oh that’s a weird fishy feeling,” a white dude said to his wife who was observing him have his first ever fish spa. I was on a seat away from them and I couldn’t imagine what it must’ve felt like for him, with the fish in his tank bigger and fatter than the fish in mine. The dude was wearing shades, a cap, and was topless, showing off his tattoo-filled upper body, and went on describing to his wife how weird the fishies felt charging and nibbling off his bare feet (toe shaking included).

Since it was only the three of us in the spa, I decided to introduce myself to them. I was in Boracay and had time to spend to myself, so I figured why not make friends while I’m at it. Let’s hide them under the names of Will and Clare, husband and wife from Vancouver Canada.

They told me they love the Philippines (yes, busy and congested Manila included), haggling at ukay-ukay stores and riding jeepneys, and basking in the sense of adventure the country brings them. That’s all great, right? — wait til you hear the rest.

“We’re on a one year trip around Asia,” Will said. “We started here in the Philippines just this November, and we’re spending Christmas here until we set off for Bangkok.” They brought with them two of their daughters, carrying with them only a backpack each and nothing more.

“We sold everything from back home, our house, cars, motorcycles, all of it!” Clare said as-a-matter-of-factly. In my shock, I almost squished a tiny fish in my tank (poor fish). I’ve always thought the likes of those stories only existed in movies. “Everyone thought we were crazy! But y’know, it was something we’ve been wanting to do and we know it’s all worth it,” she said without a fuss, as if she didn’t just exchange everything she had for a year of nomadic living.

Their daughters were still in the schooling age (middle school and university), and it was this part of our conversation that got me hooked the most. “Our daughters stopped schooling to join us for a year,” Will said. “We want them to experience different cultures and to have them exposed to different scenarios apart from what they’ve gotten so used to.”

“School will always be there,” Clare came in right after Will, “but to travel is a different kind of opportunity. Exposure to different cultures will broaden your mindset about the world, and that’s worth a LOT. Travel and save for it when you can, see the world as often as possible.” For a minute there, it felt like she was no longer talking about her daughters but was directing every word to me — until of course, “I want my daughters to experience it all, good accommodation as well as bad, comfortable conditions as well as the uncomfortable — everything!”

The rest of our exchanges went to getting to know each other more. They asked me what I was doing, and was surprised to know I was 23 and was already working — yea, I know, lol. Clare is a journalist while tattoo guy Will is a retired UN Physician in the army (What are the odds right?). After Will’s spa was up, Clare told me she hoped to see me on CNN one day (long shot, but very very nice of her to say so), and told me they’ll see me at the strip (Boracay long beach) before they headed out the spa’s doors.

Of course, I had to catch the flight back to Manila the next day and would most likely never see them again. But to put it modestly, it was a chance encounter that pulled the most insightful strings in me. 2013 inspiration, check!

What do you think their plans are after Asia? ;)