thumbnail credits: https://x.com/kellymmmmmeng

Before we get to my thoughts and feedback on Vanta's karaoke stream today, I just want to make it clear that I wanted to write about this not to judge him but to just give hopefully some constructive criticism. I am not a professional singer, I guess just an amateur one. But I'm also a Filipino, so we kind of know the standard for what a good performance is like and what good singing sounds like. I know that Vanta already knows he still needs a lot of improving, and I think I just want to help him, at least in a small way. I am not one of those fans that always says, "Your voice is amazing" or like, "Your singing is incredible," when I know it's not. Honestly, I was afraid to do this at first because I knew I would be criticized a lot and might get cancelled, but I just wanted to be honest. I don't like to say things I don't mean. I think it's okay to express your opinions without sounding like you're trying to offend anyone. Please, let's openly talk about these things! Like Wilson said, let's have conversations! Feel free to DM me on my Twitter/X (@aip_lebasi).

I'm Your Man—I got to say, he improved a lot in terms of being in tune. At least in singing this song. He is definitely more in tune now. He was breathing, but not in the right places. I know he's congested; it was really hard to breathe. Knowing the right place to breathe will help you even if you're sick or congested. 

L.O.V.E.—The original is Nat King Cole, by the way. But Michael Bublé's version is so good too! Vanta sang this song well too, better than the last time. I recommend listening to the original because it's easier than you think. It seems like Vanta only knows Michael's version, and I agree that it's quite harder. 

Unforgettable—I think this song is still a little bit hard for Vanta, but I also know that he wants to challenge himself, so please continue to sing and practice this song because I think it really suits his voice.

Kissing a Fool—I will say this as nice as I possibly can. I don't know the song, but I know that he was out of tune and flat most of the time. I'm sorry! I know he likes this song and enjoyed singing it, but yeah. I will not stop him from singing this song. I want him to sing anything he likes to sing. Please continue to practice this song because I also think it's good. 

My Way—His best one! He did so well when he sang this song. He was very much in tune and hit the higher notes; even the energy level has improved. It's like he was in a singing competition. I know he said singing this song is harder for him, but the results were so much better. I also chuckled when he dedicated this song to Filipinos because of the culture surrounding this song. I agree on that one comment; I approve! No one is getting shot. LOL.

Sway—His 'Sway' this time is a lot better than the last time. Although I noticed that he knows just one version of it, Michael Bublé's, and these versions tend to be harder because obviously they add a lot of their styles and techniques into the song. It takes a lot of practice if you want to somewhat replicate those, especially the higher notes. 

What You Won't Do for Love—I think this song is beautiful, but also, I agree with Vanta, it is hard to sing. He said he didn't like his performance. I think he did his best despite being congested. I want him to continue to practice this song because it would be so amazing if he could hit those high notes and sing this song properly. 

Two accapella songs—I don't know these songs, but weirdly enough, Vanta sounds better in accapella. Even though the energy is lacking, he still sang them pretty well. Good job, Crowshi!

I already posted about the story on my Facebook but I'm going to post it again here.

I posted the first part of the story last September 5, 2024. Here it is:

STORY TIME:

There is a chicken farm/manukan dito sa likod ng bahay namin. They also have dogs na nagbabantay sa mga manok. And there's one dog na nakatali dito sa may dulo ng farm, malapit sa mismong bahay namin. Sa likod ng bahay kami naglalaba kaya lagi kong nakikita yung aso. The dog's current situation is, they never removed him from kung saan siya nakatali. So for the past four days na umuulan at humahangin, nandun lang yung aso, kitang-kita na always siyang basa at giniginaw. Ang malapit lang na pwede niyang masilungan ay isang teepee na pang-manok.

I just couldn't take it. Hindi ko na kinaya na makita yung aso na nahihirapan, ginaw na ginaw at minsan umiiyak na. So yesterday, pinuntahan ko na talaga yung farm at nakiusap sa nagbabantay doon. Yung nakausap ko kahapon, sasabihan niya daw yung isa niyang kasama na ilipat yung aso. But buong hapon kong inoobserbahan kung may gagawin ba sila. Pero wala. Walang naglipat sa kanya. Buong hapon at gabi, nandun pa din yung aso.

Ngayon, umuulan ulit at humahangin, nandun pa din siya. Pinuntahan ko ulit at iba ang nakausap ko. Ganun ulit. Sabi niya, ililipat nila. I'm just crying right now kasi naaawa ako dun sa aso. Babantayan ko ulit, I hope they follow through. Kasi kung hindi, makukulitan sila sa akin.

The more annoying thing is, habang nakikiusap ako, sinasabi ko na naaawa po kasi ako sa aso, parang natatawa pa. Katawa-tawa ba yung pinapakiusap ko sa kanila? Sinabi ko na kapag naman hindi na umuulan o hindi na humahangin, pwede naman nila ulit siya ibalik dun. Yung kahit saglit lang na matuyo siya, mainitan, hindi mabasa. Yung lang naman ang hinihiling ko.

Such cruel people. And it hurts me so much.

SECOND POST:

I posted an update the same day (September 5, 2024). Here it is:

Pinuntahan ulit namin. This is at night na. Nung una parang they try to ignore me nung kumakatok ako dun sa gate. And may kutob na ako na mga nag-iinom yung mga tao na nandoon.

Tapos ang unang kumausap sa akin eh bata. Then nakita ko na papalapit na din yung nakausap ko kaninang hapon. And not surprising, he reeks of alcohol. Pero naalala niya ako and about dun sa pinaki-usap ko kaninang hapon. Sabi niya sa akin, oo daw, ililipat daw nila. Mag-relax daw ako.

Sinabi ko na, baka kasi mamaya eh humangin at umulan nanaman nang malakas. Tapos kasi umiiyak na yung aso. Sabi ko din na, hangga't wala po akong nakikitang nangyayari at nandoon pa din siya, babalik at babalik ako. Sinabi ko din na, kapag wala nang ulan or bagyo, pwede naman siyang ibalik doon. Naaawa lang talaga ako kasi laging basa. Tapos wala pang maayos na nasisilungan yung aso.

My one point din is, okay lang naman na mag stay doon pero sana man lang maayos yung nasisilungan. Bilhan nila ng maganda-gandang cage. Kaso teepee lang ng manok. Hindi ko talaga kaya.

Bukas, titingnan ko ulit. Will keep you updated.

Ito po yung teepee na sinisilungan ng aso. Nababasa pa din po siya lalo na kapag malakas ang ulan at hangin.

THIRD POST:

This is the last update that I posted on the next day (September 6, 2024)

I take Dudley to walks every morning and every night after his meal so I decided that after he does his thing, puntahan ulit namin kasi umiiyak non-stop yung aso and he was very anxious na hindi mapakali. When we got there, may mga tao but it's pretty obvious they were ignoring me. But I guess di na nakatiis kasi hindi ako tumigil mag knock dun sa yero nilang gate and maingay yun.

Dalawang lalaki yung kumausap sa akin. Yung isa (the bigger guy), it looks like siya yung may-ari nung farm/manok. And yung isa, parang bantay lang. Sinabi ko sa kanila na umiiyak yung aso at pumunta na ako nung isang araw at kahapon pero wala pa din nangyayari. Sabi ko, nung isang araw at kahapon, basa siya. Tapos ngayon umiiyak. Tinanong ko kung pinapakain nila. Pinapakain naman daw. Sinabi ko din na baka pwede ninyong i-check kasi umiiyak.

And as I was saying all these, the bigger guy just talks over me saying things like, "Oo, ililipat namin." and "Sige na, okay na" without even listening to what I'm saying because he was talking over me. As he was saying all these things, he also starts to ride his motorcycle and next thing I know, he just left without even looking at me. I had no choice but to talk to the other guy.

I'm sorry (especially to my mama Beth Smv) because I got confrontational after that. I told the other guy that kanina pa umiiyak yung aso then I asked him kung pinapakain ba nila. I asked that because hindi ko man lang nakita kahapon or nung isang araw na may lumapit dun sa aso or may nagbigay sa kanya ng pagkain. Una, tinawanan pa ako. Sabi ko, "katawa-tawa po ba ang pinapakiusap ko sa inyo?" Sabi sa akin, bakit ko daw pinakikialaman, hindi ko naman aso. Sabi ko, kahit hindi ko aso yan, nakikita ko na hindi maganda ang pagtrato, sasabihan ko sila. Sabi niya, pinapakain naman daw nila, nagbiro pa na binibigyan pa nga daw nila ng vitamins ng manok, which is not funny by the way. Sabi ko, paano kapag namatay yung aso, eh di wala silang bantay. Ang sabi sa akin, "Hindi daw mamamatay, malakas yun." What a fucking stupid answer. Then, binanggit ko ulit yung okay lang naman na dun mag-stay ang aso pero sana man lang may maayos na masisilungan. He said, may teepee naman daw siya doon, ayaw daw nung aso sumilong. Nang-gaslight pa. Sabi ko, nababasa pa din po kasi siya kapag doon lang sa teepee at kita naman na hindi komportable ang aso doon. I suggested na, kung hindi man nila kayang ibili ng maganda-gandang cage, kahit magpagawa sila ng mas magandang masisilungan. Alam ba ninyo ang sinabi sa akin? "Eh, paggagastusan pa." At that moment, my head was on fire. I just said, "Hindi ba kayo naaawa sa aso? Ako po kasi ay naaawa kaya ako nandito." Sinabi na lang sa akin na, oo ililipat daw nila. Hindi ko na tinanong kung anong ibig sabihin nila noon kasi pinagsarahan na ako ng gate.

I got very confrontational because they don't have any respect. It's clear na mga bastos. Akala mo kung sino. And if you're not going to talk to me in a respectful manner, I have to talk to you the only way that I can get through you. These are horrible people. I don't care if you have money, I don't care if you have power or authority, I don't care if people chose to suck up to you, you're a fucking horrible person if you mistreat animals like that. But you know, sabungero. What do you expect? They literally breed chickens so that they can fight to death for their lives. Fucking disgusting.

Minsan ayokong i-check yung aso kasi I will cry again. But like I said, I will continue to observe kung may gagawin ba sila or wala. Kasi kung wala pa din, talagang makukulitan sila sa akin. It was obvious that they don't want to deal with me but they're gonna have to deal with me as long as I don't see any changes.

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Today (September 11, 2024) I am finally writing and posting this on Tumblr 6 days after my first post and hanggang ngayon, wala pa din nangyayari. Also, I never saw them give the doggo some food. Dahil sa minsan hindi ko na mapigilan, binabatuhan ko siya ng kahit anong leftover dito sa amin. Napansin ko din po na may mga bata na nagbabantay din dun sa farm. As of today, my plan is to talk to them and maybe mapaki-usapan na abutan ang aso ng pagkain, ako ang magbibigay.

This is what I learned about the farm:

Ang may-ari daw po nito ay ang isang anak ng dating mayor ng Morong na si Dr. De Leon. Si Patrick daw po. Pero pinapa-rentahan daw po sa current mayor na si Sidney Soriano.

Ang sa akin naman po, hindi ko na kailangan pang malaman kung sino ang in-charge o may-ari o nagre-renta. Napaka-simple lang po ng pakiusap ko. Wala man lang bang kahit isa sa kanila ang may malasakit sa aso? Ang sa akin po, kahit huwag na nilang tanggalin sa tali, huwag na nilang paliguan, ang paki-usap ko lang po ay bigyan ng pagkain at magandang masisilungan, yung hindi po siya mababasa. Mahirap po ba ang pinapaki-usap ko? If you do not respect animals, I will not give you respect. I don't care about your position, I don't care if you have money, I don't care if you have authority, what I care about is the welfare of the dog.

Sa lahat po ng makakabasa nito, humihingi po ako ng tulong na maiparating man lang kay mayor Sidney o sa mga tao na nadito na mai-provide ang simpleng pangangailangan ng aso. Nakausap ko po yung isang co-teacher ko dati, sabi niya na nakakalungkot kapag ganyan. Ang tataba ng mga manok pero yung bantay ng mga manok, pinapabayaan nila. Bigyan man lang ng kaunting konswelo sa pagbabantay.

Sana po ay magkaroon ng aksyon at improvement man lang sa kalagayan ng aso. Maraming salamat po sa pagbabasa!

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