Exit: Chris Belison on The X Factor Philippines (ABS-CBN)

Pulled a Mac Arthur during my exit interview for The X Factor Philippines and I got bombarded with tweets, wall posts and messages about it. I guess it's about time I write about the amazing time I had during my TXF journey. Photo dump coming right up! Pardon the not-so-good quality of some of 'em.

First screening. December 8, 2011 in SM City San Pablo Activity Center.  Quede up at 7:00AM, got to sing at 1:00PM.

Performed "Breakeven" by The Script for the first screening aka the pre-audition. Watch/listen to my studio version of the song here.

Got called back for the Producers' Auditon on April 20, 2012 and I performed "Look At Me Now" and "One and Only". Click on the links to watch/listen to the studio versions of the songs.

Blessed to be called back again for the LIVE AUDITION in front of the celebrity judges (Sir Martin Nievera, Sir Gary Valenciano, Ma'am Pilita Corales and Charice) which was held in PAGCOR Grand Theatre last May 31, 2012.

Registration jitters. Ha ha!

Live audition pieces. British pop and a lil soul/RnB. Watch/listen to my studio versions of "Glad You Came" and "I'm Going Down".

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Was able to perform after more than 12 hours of waiting.

Performed "Glad You Came" by The Wanted and I can honestly say that that was one of the fun 2 minutes of my life! :)

Received very good feedback from the audience and most importantly from the judges. 4 YESes and it's all because of God and the talent He lent me! :) I, along with 171 acts from all over the Philippines went straight to BOOT CAMP!

Checked in at Remington Hotel for BOOT CAMP.

BOOT CAMP stage! 

Some of the talented boys I was with during BOOT CAMP.

Our category (Boys under the age 25) was assigned to perform the Basil Valdez classic "Tuwing Umuulan" a capella. Received a "Great job!" from Sir Martin Nievera for this one :)

Unfortunately, I was one of the 106 acts which got sent home the first day. Of course, I was devastated at first but the amount of things I've learned, the friends I've gained, and just the ultimate blessing of being one of the TOP 35 BOYS or one of the 172 ACTS OUT OF THE 20,000 who auditioned made me feel happy again. The announcement that I was eliminated broke me, but once I got my thoughts back in place, I began rebuilding myself and I'm now in the process of working even harder just to achieve what I want. It's like I finally know what I want to do for the rest of my life. Those few minutes I've spent on that stage, in front of the camera, in front of thousands of people, in front of the 4 judges, were just "previews" of what I could be doing if I work hard enough and if I'll be given the right break/opportunities. 

I know this entry's quite long already but I'd like to take this chance to express my gratitude to everyone who supported me with my The X Factor Philippines adventure! Thank you all especially for your prayers! Special thanks to my family, especially my MUM, for letting me do this. For sacrificing money and time for the screenings and for the live auditions. To all my friends and organizations (BLD Youth Ministry, UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co., UP Entrepreneurs' Club, UP ECOSS) in UPLB, thank you all for your unwavering support! Wouldn't have done this without all the things I've learned from the times I've spent with y'all. 

Last but definitely not the least, I'd like to thank the Lord God, Almighty for this wonderful experience. For the talents and skills you've lent me. For making my family change their minds about this thing. For always guiding me. For always being my inspiration. For always keeping my hopes up but still keeping my feet on the ground. For Your never ending affirmations. Most especially, thank You for Your love. Lord, I'm not really the best servant or follower and yet You still bless me with these amazing things. For that, I'm really grateful. I love You, Lord. And I'm always praying that in everything that I do, may YOU always be GLORIFIED.

My TXF journey might have ended already, but this is just the start of my journey towards the realization and actual fulfillment of my dream. You'll see me around :)

"Basta, babalik ako. Babalik ako."

CHRIS BELISON's exit interview for The X Factor Philippines.

Don't forget to LIKE my Facebook page! Click here! :)

Two Weeks.

Been swamped with a lot of things these past few weeks I had to take a break from blogging. Not in my writing mood still, but here are a few photos from events I went to these past couple of weeks.

 February 2, 2012

Moonleaf Tea Shop with Dream Team after BASAGAN Auditions (taken with Instagram)

Headed straight to Java Ave right after for UP Photos' TALENTADOS 2012 (taken with Instagram)

Clockwise from left to right: Abie, Tin, Bea, Chris, Riji, Red, Yona, Krist and TJ

February 3-5, 2012

YE 1 SPSD Youth Facilitators with the Sponsoring Class, Couple Coordinators and Father Thor

Spent last weekend serving as a facilitator for the first Youth Encounter weekend under the San Pablo South District of the Bukas-Loob sa Diyos Covenant Community. It was fun and spiritually fulfilling! Never mind the physical stress and what nots! Praise God for a very successful YE weekend! See more photos here.

February 9-10, 2012

Went to UP Junior Executives' Society's REVERIE in IC's and danced the night away with some friends from UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co. and UP Entrepreneurs' Club. Congratulations, UPJES for the party! Left the party around 3:30AM and we decided to grab something to eat in Bugel's. "Unexpected" libre from me because I had no change left for jeepney fare! Ha ha!

With Abie, Yron, Fortune, TJ, Ades and RN (Taken with Instagram)

Just include lab work and classes and long training hours in between those events posted and there you have the past two weeks of yours truly. I'm pretty sure this coming week will be more eventful! UPLB Feb Fair 2012 is this week! See y'all there!

Thursday.

The UP AgriBusiness Society (BISOK) celebrated their 39th year and we got invited to their grand open-tam which was held last night. For those who don't know, an open-tam (open tambayan) is an event wherein an organization opens their tambayan and serves food and what-nots to guests. BISOK's open-tam was very different from all the others that I've been through because they had a program to keep the guests entertained! Twas great to see the girls from UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co. rock the event! I only have one photo from the open-tam but I'm sure BISOK will be uploading photos any time soon.

Click read more to view more photos from last night's happenings!

Shake, Rattle and Roll: UPEC Style.

Some of the resident members of UPEC (plus Nanes and Sean) went up to Tagaytay to grab some coffee and spend some time together as a means of celebrating the success of EC GIVES BACK: FIRED UP (Oh yeah, still THE PARTY of the YEAR). This has got to be one of the most adventure-filled night-outs of UPEC. I shall not post details here but let me tell you one thing, this is definitely one night that'll be etched on our memories for a very, very long time. Ha ha. 

Photo-dump, coming right at ya!

With "Kuya Kim"!

The last three photos were taken with my phone's camera since excited me forgot to charge my camera's battery before heading out that night. Boooooooooo.

Here's to more adventurous trips, UPEC! :)

Fire Up Your Cold December Night With The UP Entrepreneurs' Club.

One day left before we set Java Avenue's dance floor ablaze!

Celebrating UniPormE Co.'s 4th year, the UP Entrepreneurs' Club brings you EC GIVES BACK: FIRED UP, tomorrow, 8:00PM with DJs Alley Cat and Mecha Hell and flaming shots at the mobile bar!

Tickets are sold at PhP 150.00 each, inclusive of THREE BEERS and UNLIMITED MIXED DRINKS!

So, what are you waiting for? Don't miss THE PARTY OF THE YEAR! Get your tickets now!

Check out the videos below to see more and here more about our two DJs for the party!

You can also check out our current CEO (Demis Aracan)'s blog post about EC GIVES BACK: FIRED UP here.

See you there!

UPLB's About To Get Fired Up.

Perfect for your cold December night. 

See you there!

UPEC Says: Burn, Baby, Burn.

Ain't That Loco For Coconut House.

Finally had the chance to visit the relatively new food establishment in UPLB, the Coconut House. Armed with my camera, a fraction of my allowance, and with the company of three of my brods from UPEC, we stormed into the Coconut House late Sunday night. 

Coconut House's interior is quite easy on the eyes. Simple and no frills, really. There are a few tables situated outside the shop and upon entering, you'll notice that the place is similar to a narrow hallway with a few tables and several huge freezers on both sides and the counter and "kitchen" down the "hall". The walls are plastered with mirrors, giving off the illusion of a bigger space, and the store's menu is placed just above the mirror panels. The place was cool (temperature-wise), but maybe it was just because it's that late in the evening already.

Aight, let's get into the food fare. We got the spaghetti, two family-sized pizzas (Beef Supreme and New York Special), a strawberry sundae and one of their "specialty dessert", the Tiramisu Magic.

Spaghetti (45php)

Coconut House's spaghetti is just like any other spaghetti you'll find around UPLB. Some carinderia's even offer better spaghetti. So-so seasoning and the sauce itself is nothing to rave about. The pasta's cooked wonderfully, though.

Family-sized Beef Supreme (125php)





Family-sized New York Special (145php)

Getting a family-sized pizza for an insanely low price sure has its downs. Both pizzas were disappointments, really. Upon ordering, I saw that one of the staff lunged into this big freezer and "unearthed" two frozen pizzas. Not frozen crust, frozen pizza. Yup, unfortunately, Coconut House serves pre-prepared (word check, please) pizzas. I actually am against this since it assures us that we ain't getting fresh pizzas. Upon arrival of the pizzas, my level of disappointment rose even higher. The pizza was toasted to a near crunchy state, quite as crunchy as the crust of sourdough bread. I do like some crunch in my crust, but I love chewy (on most parts) crusts. We ordered two different pizzas but they both tasted the same. As in. There's really not much more to say about their pizzas.

Strawberry Sundae (35php)





Tiramisu Magic (85php)

By the end of the meal, I was expecting that the desserts would be Coconut House's redemption. But I guess, I got my hopes up too high. The strawberry sundae was near rock-hard. Took a good 5 minutes before the first spoonful of sundae was taken. Typical sundae. Nothing special. The Tiramisu Magic was the biggest disappointment of the night, for me, especially. It had two scoops of mocha ice cream, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, two pieces of lady fingers or broas, some drizzles of chocolate syrup, a dollop of whipped cream, and some weird powder. It tasted nothing like tiramisu. I could easily sue them for misrepresentation because of this item. Kidding, of course. The mocha ice cream tasted really good, though. But no hint whatsoever of tiramisu flavor.

I guess it's safe to say that I'm only gonna come back in Coconut House if it ain't my money that would be spent. All the items we tried were so-so, to say the least. 

Upon research, I learned that there is a Coconut House in Quezon City and since they have the same logos, I'm betting it's the same establishment. What's different is that the Coconut House in Quezon City offers more that just coconut milk-based ice cream. The shop in QC offers food fare infused with coconut. They have viands and other specialties which of course, includes coconut. I didn't see any pizza on their menu except for the coco pizza, which for me sounds a bit weird. I bet if the Coconut House here in UPLB would bring more coconut-infused dishes, they'd have more chance of grabbing the attention of UPLB's public. 

PROS: Offers a variety of coconut milk-based ice cream. Friendly staff. Student-friendly prices.

CONS: So-so taste of food. Nothing too special on the menu. 

FINAL RATING: 2 out of 5

Coconut House is located in the One Silangan Building, near UPLB Main Gate and near the Land Bank of the Philippines, UPLB branch.

UP Entrepreneurs' Club's SUKI for 2nd Sem AY 2010-2011.

The UP Entrepreneurs' Club held another SUKI last April 6, 2011 in Putho, Tuntungin, Los Baños, Laguna. The newest members, from batch Tutom, were tasked to spear-head the project and we were fortunate enough to be graced by Dr. Eduardo P. Paningbatan with his presence as our speaker that day. Dr. Eduardo P. Paningbatan Jr. is a soil expert and actually was my professor/lecturer in SOIL 1 two semesters ago. 

When it was brought up that we're targeting micro-gardening as the topic or theme of the livelihood project, I immediately suggested Sir EPP since he is the pioneer of a very successful and easy-to-do plant propagaton technique aptly named EPP Solutions, or more commonly known as Super Paso in the Metro Manila area. This type of gardening is sort of a hybrid of hydrophonics and aerophonics, although with the use of easily accessible materials like empty 1.5 liter - bottles of Coca-Cola. Sir EPP gladly discussed his Super Paso technique and encouraged the attendees of the seminar to try it out, for personal (food for family) or for business (production of EPP bottles, selling of vegetable crops grown in Super Pasos) purposes. 

At the end of the seminar, everyone in the audience was excited and very eager to try the micro-gardening technique. With the help of batch Tutom's FRA prior to SUKI, we were able to purchase 20 starter kits of Dr. Paningbatan's EPP Solutions (Super Paso) for the 20 participants! We do hope that the women from Putho, Tuntungin enjoy planting and maybe someday see the big picture and the window of opportunity that the EPP Solutions has in store for them.

The UP Entrepreneurs' Club would like to thank Dr. Eduardo P. Paningbatan Jr. for his time, the Baranggay Captain and Councilor of Baranggay Putho, Tuntungin, and to those who attended the livelihood seminar. God speed!

P.S: Congratulations, TUTOM!

EC Goose Two EK.

4 April 2011

Enchanted Kingdom, Sta. Rosa, Laguna

This was actually the first time I saw some of the members of the UP Entrepreneurs' Club run around like crazy kids in a theme park. Oh, wait, we were in a theme park that day! Ha ha. After immense planning (cyber meetings in Facebook, exchange of text messages), the much-awaited sem-ender materialized. Sure, we were delayed by over an hour, but it all turned out great!

Whut up, UPEC!

Pauline and I prepared a game to kick-start our day in Enchanted Kingdom. We divided the members who attended into three groups (including ourselves) and gave each group a list containing fifty (50) things that they need to find and take a photo of. In short, we played Photo Scavenger Hunt! We even had a "cheering competition" before the actual game! It was fun seeing all the members as game and as bibo like that! The game lasted for forty five (45) minutes and man, was it awesome seeing all the members, yes, even our sisses, run around and be athletic and competitive! Ha ha! Good times!

Blue Team's photo in a "tunnel"

We had around three (3) hours to enjoy the theme park and man, I guess it's safe to say that we really did! One of the most memorable event then was when Michael and I got first blood of the ravaging waters of the Rio Grande Rapids as we were the ones who got totally wet. As in. We all managed to enjoy the other rides without feeling too uncomfortable (or not) in our wet suits. Ha ha. I had a marathon of Anchors Away with Zelle, too! Yeah, with the Eulean face! Whut up!

Sisses



Brods

For someone who goes to Enchanted Kingdom almost every year, I can say that this particular visit is the best by far! Buti na lang walang KJ sa'tin, UPEC. Ha ha!

We bid goodbye to EK around 8:00PM and headed to Paseo de Sta. Rosa to meet up with Alf Labadan. We decided to eat in The Old Spaghetti House (TOSH), although we originally wanted to eat somewhere else. Kanin Club declined to accommodate us since we were around 26 and they did not have enough space for us. No big, though. Ha ha. Dinner was awesome, as usual, thanks to the company and not to the food. Michael, Eulean and I weren't really satisfied with our orders, but we were hungry so we finished our plates anyway. 

UPEC residents with ALF LABADAN, yo!

Since the van was only rented up until 10:00PM, we decided to call it a night when the clock hit the said time. Some of us, actually. Ha ha. Some members stayed in Paseo while the others, myself included, went home. The van ride home was def fun! The Script marathon with the brods and random jokes and stuff. Parang walang kapaguran!

All in all, the sem-ender went really well! Actually, any day with the UP Entrepreneurs' Club can't go wrong! Whut up!

Oh, if you're wonderin' about the title of this post, it was taken from the teaser I made for the sem-ender.

EC Goes To EK = EC Gooese Two EK. Word play, whut up!

Enchanted Kingdom is located in Sta. Rosa, Laguna

For information regarding park schedules, rates, and others, click here.