Rita Daniela Releases Self Titled Album

It's not my first time meeting Rita Daniela. The time I did see her was for some programs in GMA, though seeing her sing during a doxology in Thea Tolentino's 18th birthday just gave me and the guests goosebumps that evening. She's worked hard and finished her studies. She felt it was her priority and since she's reinventing herself, she marks this as just showing who she really is. 

She just launched her self titled album "Rita Daniela" last month of which she hopes would give us a glimpse of who she really is. This is an EP to begin with, so you can say all these songs are carefully hand picked, designed to be listened to, and remain lingering in your head for a little while, perhaps be a "last song syndrome" like for days to come. She's shying away from the image of the kid that won the QTV11 contest a long time ago. The journey was long, and she even compared this breaking out moment like that of Miley Cyrus, and hopes this new phase in her career make it all the more exciting for people who would want to get to know her music. She even puts it out there that her genre is a mix, not just RnB, dramatic, romance or heartbreak filled OPM. It's just like her that's influenced with a lot of things in music, it's everything that she loves!

She's also going to be in the show "Let The Love Begin" which will start in a few weeks. She's done countless shows where she usually does play the villain. She doesn't feel typecasted though because for her, being an anti hero just meant doing a role with the same intensity, same level of difficulty to become believable. She did that fantabulously. Aside from singing, she's also become adept in dancing. During the blogcon, she moved to the beat of several songs, and we felt a little inferior when she began singing standards too.

This is just the start of her journey. Rita Daniela's self titled album is available in Astroplus, Astro Vision, Odyssey, The Landmark, SM Music and video outlets nationwide. It only costs Php 199.00 and totally worth it. Don't miss listening to my personal favorite "I'm Flying High" which is also her carrier single, plus other tracks like Di Lang Ikaw, Fallin, Ihip ng Hangin. She's also releasing a music video for this in the next few weeks. She wants to fulfill her dream to be the "Total Performer" and she's got all the things to make it in the music industry. Congratulations Rita! Thank you also for being so nice during the event!

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1st Asian Women's U23 Volleyball Championship

We're live blogging at the Crowne Plaza for the 1st Asian Women's Under 23 Volleyball Championship. In the General Technical Meeting and Press Conference we got to talk with our Alyssa Valdez who's the Captain of the Philippine Team.

She says "It's really hard, we only had one month to prepare for this tournament. As a team we're not expecting anything because we're rebuilding. Compared to other teams, they've been doing this for years and some of them are very familiar because they've played internationally. Their edge is great, we've played with them and they are very skilled and body structure wise, they have it. They are athletic and fit, tall too. Jaja and I even laughed about it but we're preparing for any game, it's just our home court and we've trained only a month so it might be hard to do this. Hopefully our games would end up differently, we just have to improve and learn something new. We're trying to do things, kaya pa!

It happens that the Philippine hosting will gauge what we'll have to improve on, and on what level we are quality wise. Not just the SEA games, but hopefully a continued Philippine team exposure, we are so far from getting enhanced players, but we're starting now with kids and I think this depends on the support we get from our sponsors. Hopefully it continues. We're also inspired to play with Manny hopefully winning on the same date, that would be an honor for the Philippines, I hope he gets to also watch us so everyone would definitely be inspired to play for the country. We also don't know if we can watch the Pacquiao fight but hopefully we do. 

We need to start young, proper skills, proper form, and they start competitive playing instead of just hobbies. They have special training, special schools for this, I think we can put up a fight but we're going to be just lucky if we win something. Looking deep inside, we're friends, but it's like 12 Jaja's that we're competing with. It's a team sport and we're looking forward to at least gel, winning will just be a bonus."

Coach Roger Gorayab adds "We're rebuilding, we're starting from nothing since it's been a long time since we've had a national team. We can probably match Iran but it will be difficult because of their height. Three steps for us is like one step for them. We need support, especially from the people because that counts. I hope people would flock to ULTRA to watch these games because they'll learn a lot."

The games will start from May 1 to 9 at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City. Philippines versus Iran will happen on May 1, at 4:15 PM and on May 2 versus Kazakhstan at 2:30 PM. Everything will be shown on TV5, Aksyon TV and live streamed through www.Sports5.ph. This is of course powered by PLDT HOME and Smart Live More!

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Vin Abrenica and Sophie Albert for Wattpad Presents: Marry You

These two just makes our day brighter, sunnier and hopeful that there's still forever. Vin Abrenica and Sophie Albert is doing another episode this week which talks about the only thing women dream of, as Wattpad Presents: Marry You. It's been read 9 Million times in the app so just imagine how nice the twists and turns in this story.

Arranged marriage, does it still even exist today? Sophie here is a bit on the wild side, a bit evil, a bit eccentric and poised to change this fate. Even if their families agreed already, she's out to break this marriage thing, but what if she falls in love with him genuinely?

Sophie says "It feels like home. When you've worked with people already and you know how comfortable you can be with them, you just feel so easy doing it. The advantage is we can ask each other, we support each other if we throw lines. Vin memorizes fast, and I don't. It becomes natural when I'm with him. I want him to look the best, I almost do everything, styling, scenes, I love it though. We're total opposites but I learned with him that with the differences, we learn more. I learned his strengths, and it also is the same with him. Love is trust, but sometimes we compromise. It works that way, even if he thinks sometimes I'm joking, we just need talk about it. I know he's got a lot of dreams, I want to get married when we all fulfill our own dreams one day. He's very husband material, we talk about it actually. We're full of dreams. We will cherish the moment."

Mark Roque "I'm a ramp model, do print and the rest. I stopped because I had to work. Sir Noel Ferrer pushed me to go back to showbiz. I'm a year older than Dom, but doing this comeback wasn't really talked about at home. I'm not a third party here, I even support them. You just have to watch the show to see how I fare. I want to learn, I don't know my boundaries but we'll see."

Vin adds "I don't know if people do get kilig, but my Mom watches my shows and she says effective. It's a good thing we get paired with other stars but since we've been out of the shows together, the fans miss this. We're not a perfect couple, we fight once in a while but it happens when we haven't really eaten yet, so does Sophie. Whenever we need to do sweet things, we just do it because that's where professionalism comes in. When we don't get the scene right, we all criticize our work and we do it again, that's how we work! I've learned a lot here, especially in maturity. This was actually hard for me in the past but I'm okay now and I understand our work. I'm also happy with Mark Neumann because for me, he's my best friend and his accomplishments make me happy too."

We're so excited to see the SoVin pair back in Wattpad and even more that Mark Roque's in show business too. Wattpad Presents: Marry You will start this week at 9PM on TV5.

Summer Lovin With J.CO's White Choco Frappes!

Visited J.CO in the Shopwise Cubao branch in Quezon City. I think it's the nearest one in my place and I miss it quite a lot. I used to have their donuts quite often and I'm not aaaaaaaaaaaareally choosy. Whatever they have on the counter, I can take it, especially the J.Club Cheezy Rich which I adore. My folks on the other hand dig the Al Capone, a pretty popular one with most J.CO patrons.

I think it's a little bigger now than when I first came to this store. I frequent the one in Eastwood City which I think is still their biggest one by far. I also dig their coffees so if I have a lot of time in my hands, I usually take a couple of hours and put my self in one of their comfy seats just to relax, listen to their mood music, and perhaps finish an article or two.

Since it's summer I opted for something frozen. There's something new in their J.COFFE section called White Choco Frappe. You can ask for it from your favorite J.CO barista and tell them how you want it. The White Choco Frappe would be the perfect drink for those who love Vanilla and White Chocolate as these are their ingredients.This thing is fused with Vanilla and mixed with white chocolate sauce and sprinkled with some white chocolate chunks and shavings. If you were braving the streets of Manila the whole day, taking a break at J.CO would be something that could extinguish the almost 40 degree weather. Enough of those hot things, it'll just make you perspire more.

After a few hours, I was getting a little sleepy. Although I needed coffee in my system, I didn't want hot ones, instead I ordered their new White Choco Espresso Frappe, which almost had the same ingredients with the earlier one but with the exception of a shot of espresso in it. They suggested that I also take this in with the Don Mochino, it's one of J.CO's best selling donuts that's got dark chocolate outside and a cream filling.

I think the next good thing to do is to come and visit the nearest J.CO branch nearest you. There's a couple more in Makati, Mandaluyong, Eastwood City, and the whole of Metro Manila (Even SM Malls have them!). You'll be glad to see them offer these two drinks that's available in stores until May 31st! Take a sip, relax and enjoy the summer with these new flavors from J.CO donuts and J.COFFEE. Visit their website www.jcodonuts.com for their latest offerings.

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