Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of getting away to one of my favorite cities in the whole world: New York City. Staying in the same East Village sublet I've stayed at for the past 3 years, I got to just relax and get away from it all. Long walks (no choice), saw a Broadway play (Mamet's "Race" with James Spader and David Alan Grier), a painful massage from the Chinese spot next door, mucho shopping plus I got to go to my old haunt Broadway Dance Center and Peridance to observe some of the dance classes. I saw a really cool advanced Vogueing class given by a Benny Ninja that made me want to go back and vogue again :)

Because it rained and snowed so much during that time, I spent most of my days holed up in the apartment watching cable. With 1000 channels, it was lovely.

 

DANCERS TAKE IT OFF
Once I returned, it was back to the grind with rehearsals for upcoming shows. CHICAGO TAKES OFF is an annual charity show at the Park West which benefits TPAN (Test Positive Aware) and raises thousands and thousands of dollars for a good cause. I got to choreograph and dance again for this awesome show, whose draw is that lots of sexy dancers remove their clothes burlesque style to raise money. They had everything from variety acts, a hula hoop girl, guys hanging from silks, pole dancers, gymnasts, bears, comedians and everything in between. All very tastefully and artfully done mind you...well no there were lots of dirty moments, I made sure to have some. For this year's TV Land theme, I was given the number of 50's dads (strippers) dancing with horny housewives (me and my girls!) We had lots of fun, the 2 shows last Saturday was a roaring success and I'm so glad that it's over! Now on to new projects!

 

FRANCOIS K & DERRICK MAY (it rhymes)
After the show I head over to check out Francois K and Derrick May at Red Dog. By then I was so exhausted I probably couldn't take the harder music that night. They mixed up the genres in a really interesting way...from disco to techno and back. I could have sworn Francois told me "Follow me on Twatter" but then again I could have been drunk.

After that we head to what I will call "The Afterhours of Doom." Dirty loft, guy-girl DJ team playing absolute CRAP (and I'm generous when I'm smashed) and icky-stinky people talking about nothing. And yet I stayed.

So I've pretty much limited my going out days to Thursdays (our residency called URBAN'S HOUSE at Betty's) and Saturdays at Red Dog. There really isn't a whole lot to do the rest of the week, lots of the regular parties have shut down. This is all fine by me, as I've been keeping busy with dance rehearsals and my new running program. I signed up for a 1/2 marathon training group which means I have to (ugh) run at 7am every Saturday and Wednesday evenings with the group. The rest of the time it's up to me to run and cross-train. My first Saturday was just last week, we ran 4 miles which I don't think I've ever done before. My body was exhaaaaaausted!!! Then I had to follow that up with dance rehearsals for a piece I'm choreographing. I so wanted to just sleep in after that, but it was Saturday evening and I just had to check out Julie McKnight's performance at Red Dog. Ron Carroll was DJing and the whole night was a blast.

Check Julie's stellar performance (I know the sound in my camera sucks):

Last Thursday Jan. 7th our weekly residency URBAN'S HOUSE brought back the wonderful DJ Rush to not only celebrate his birthday party (because he wanted to do it at our party :), but also to witness an amazing 5 hour disco set by him!

 

Speaking of residencies, we have a new monthly party over at Betty's every 2nd Sunday called THE SERMON with resident DJ Craig Loftis.

I finally got to go back to my family home in Manila, Philippines after a 3-year absence. Me and my brothers were supposed to go last year, but that was also the time of the big economic crash, and needless to say our family was not immune to the ubiquitous losses that devastated everyone. Thankfully things are getting better and we were able to visit our parents once again.

SPOILED
I looove going back home, because we get spoiled, pampered and treated like royalty. We shop all day and night, then get stuffed and fed with all our favorite Filipino foods. The weather is a hot 85 degrees, the seafood is humongous and everything is so cheap! A one-hour massage is only $7! Can you believe that? TRUST that Miss Mirani was getting 2-hour massages everyday!

MY MOM
My mom is like me but magnified 50x over. She is wild, neurotic, vain, obsessive, impetuous, melodramatic and loves excess. Some of these pictures of our house should illustrate her personality as she pretty much runs the household. She is currently on hiatus from her love of ballroom dancing, and her latest hobby is creating videos of herself dancing and being glamorous. There are also videos of her dance instructors dressed up in her costumes, writhing sexually on the floor and lip-synching to Madonna/Whitney/Celine/etc. On Christmas Eve after a wonderful dinner at the Peninsula, she suggests we check out the Russian pole dancers at the casino and we happily oblige.

 

To all the leeches, moochers & bloodsuckers in my life: Please take note that my privileged life happens there, not here! So please stop assuming that you can get me to pay for your always broke ass. I am struggling just as much as you and have to deal with sycophants everyday as it is, entiende? Now back to our regular programming...

 

FAMILY
But best of all, there is nothing like being with your family. To be with my mom, dad, brothers, sister-in-law and nieces all in one room is a wonderful thing. I feel bad that we can only do this every 2 years or so. Not only that, but it's nice to be around educated people whose lives encompass more than just one nightclub per night. I will really miss the Philippines!

 

THE ISLAND OF BORACAY

 

MANILA