Half-Filipino, half-liar

I won third place in last night’s Hanoi Slam (the second time I joined) and I thought it’d be great to share my story here—in written word (minus my silly stuttering tendencies lolwut). And it’s so much easier to edit myself in written word than, of course, when I’m speaking.

You can listen to a recording of last night’s slam in my SoundCloud (along with the old audio recordings that I’ve done back in university lol).

Here’s my story (not really a transcript of the recorded audio):

I don’t like to make lies about myself. I think that it takes a lot of effort to make a story that is not true and keep it going.

Another thing that you should know about me is that I am not one of those people who are screamingly proud about being Filipino. You’ll never hear me say something like “Oh Charice Pempengco? She’s in Glee! She’s Filipino. I’m Filipino!” or “Oh Manny Pacquiao! He beat the crap out of another boxer. He’s Filipino. I’m Filipino!” or “Miss Universe! Miss World! The Philippines won a lot of titles in that beauty pageant. I’m Filipino!”

But I did make a lie and it had something to do with my being Filipino. That was when I was in Manila over the Tet holiday and winding up in Intramuros.

Storytelling in Hanoi Slam

The Hanoi Slam in CAMA ATK last Wednesday was all sorts of awesome: cool people, stories and drinks all night. It was all for a good cause too! The proceeds of the event went to the Humanitarian Services for Children of Vietnam (HSCV).

I don’t remember how I found out about the event, but when I knew about the storytelling competition, I didn’t think twice to sign up.

I have never joined a story slam before. But I’ve been to poetry nights back in Davao; they were pretty much like telling stories in front of an audience.