Singing Lessons with Jeanne Velasco-Vicars of Showstoppers

Last January, Dealspot sold vouchers for singing lessons at Showstoppers Center for Music and Arts. The lessons would be handled by Ms. Jeanne Velasco-Vicars and the technique she would be using was called vocal sound management. According to the description, vocal sound management can correct vocal faults and effect vocal adjustment in the shortest possible time. So with this technique, the student can expect to learn to sing in tune, prevent getting hoarse, increase vocal range and volume, improve enunciation, enhance vocal expression, and clean up his sound.

The teacher, Ms. Vicars, is the voice coach of several celebrities such as Katryn Bernardo, Jennelyn Mercado, Sarah Geronimo, and Isabella de Leon. The office was located in Delta in Quezon City and the rate was P750 per hour per student (regular rate), P375 through the Dealspot promo. I texted Ms. Vicars to confirm if the lessons would be one-on-one and she said yes. I bought six vouchers -- three for me, three for bf. Our first lesson was done in the Delta office, the second after they moved to Timog (in the unit where Ms. Vicars also lives) due to rising rental cost in the previous office.

Bf and I both love music but we're not the singing type. We don't even like contemporary pop and Rn'B. We don't have any ambition to sing professionally. Although they're undeniably great singers, I don't dream of singing ala Charice or Regine Velasquez (my singing idols are more like Chris Cornell and Sebastian Bach, even if they're of the wrong gender). Anyway, my goal was pretty simple: I want to sing in tune. And of course, our overall goal: to try new stuff.

So how did things go? Well, both good and bad.

English Proficiency Workshop at Speech Coach (JC Santos Speech Training Center)

I have decent enough English writing skills but I am not comfortable with speaking in English at length. I know many Filipinos can relate to this. We've been taught English since we were toddlers. We watch a lot of Hollywood movies and American TV shows. We read a lot of English books and magazines. We use written English a lot in our work/business and we type a lot of our thoughts in English to converse with people online, BUT we only speak in English when it is required. Try speaking in straight English out of the blue and chances are, other people will find it amusing or maarte. Double that if you speak with an accent. Triple that if you have no mestizo features at all.

When I chanced upon the Speech Coach ad for a 1-day intensive English fluency and self-confidence workshop, I told bf that we should check it out. He was skeptical; he wasn't sold with the idea that a life-long awkwardness with English speaking would be solved in just 8 hours of work. We went anyway.

Speech Coach has two branches, both in Marikina: one in C&B Mall and one across Santolan LRT-2 station. We chose the Santolan branch since going there was more convenient for us (via LRT-1 and 2). When we were already in the Santolan station, we couldn't see Speech Coach's sign so I called them up and we were told to cross the overpass and someone from their office would be waiting for us at the 7-11 store. True enough, a guy was waiting for us in front of 7-11 and he accompanied us to Speech Coach. Their office was just a few steps away but was not conspicuous when standing in the LRT station due to the way the road curved.

Our First Time to Try Impressionistic Acrylic Painting @ Design Perception

There are people who say that they have two left feet. Well I guess I have two left hands. Although I liked drawing when I was a kid, as I grew older, art and I went our separate ways. I continued to admire art from afar and was perpetually jealous of artists.

I heard about Design Perception Visual Art & Creative Studio in Quezon City. They were offering basic creative art lessons. Bf and I decided to drop by for a 2-hour session. I was a little nervous, since I could only draw stick figures - my definition of 'basic' might be different from theirs.

The studio was a lot smaller than I expected. At the front was the reception area. The walls were white, made interesting and alive with colorful paintings.

reception area

counter

Behind the wall with the octopus design was the study area. Artworks, art books, and art supplies were neatly arranged, maximizing the space.