Know Your MEAns: Kim, Ansis and Maui
By Rafa Noel

There are 206 bones and some 639 muscles in the human body. So intricate and complementary are each part that it shouldn’t be surprising to see dancers strut their stuff on stage. But alas, the mortals among us have to settle for front row tickets. Nevertheless, should you be America’s Favorite Dancer or a rhythmically-challenged neophyte, the following MEAns are sure to impress you! All three took a junior term abroad and have come home grooving ever since. Without further ado, Meaonline is proud to present three of the hottest MEAn Senior CADsters alive!

1. What’s your name?

Kim Lim

Ansis Sy

Maui Velasco

2. What’s your year and block?

Kim Lim: 4, T2

Ansis Sy: 4, T1

Maui Velasco: 4, T5!

3. What was your high school? What do you miss from high school? How different is it from Ateneo?

Kim Lim: ICA, variety shows, all girls school

Ansis Sy: Saint Jude Catholic School. I miss my high school friends. Chinese subjects took a lot of my time in St. Jude… so quite different.

Maui Velasco: Assumption College – San Lorenzo. What I miss is that it is ten minutes away from my house, meaning I don’t have to wake up 1 hour and a half before class starts, only 30 minutes max. I also miss that there’s air-con in all classrooms and the ease of the lessons. I could sleep all day without having to worry about my grades!

4. Why Ateneo?

Kim Lim: cuz my dad and i had a fight and he wanted me to go to DLSU to take up accounting so….

Ansis Sy: Why not? Hassle ang holistic education but I kinda like it

Maui Velasco: I chose Ateneo mostly because I wanted to take up ME. So everything I did in high school was directed towards getting into Ateneo and into ME!

5. Kamusta na u? ^_^

Kim Lim: im good and excited for graduation

Ansis Sy: Senioritis… but I’m good.

Maui Velasco: I’m good thanks!

6. What are your orgs?

Ansis Sy: MEA, CADs, AJMA, AStat

Maui Velasco: MEA, CADs, CoSA

7. Hobbies and interests?

Ansis Sy: TV, dancing, TV, TV, TV

Maui Velasco: I like dancing, of course. I love discovering new music and watching sports, all kinds. I religiously follow football (as in soccer), basketball, tennis, Formula 1 and baseball. I love TV!

8. What is your favorite food?

Ansis Sy: Don’t have a favorite food, I just eat them all.

Maui Velasco: Japanese food!! I love sushi and Japanese curry Also, I like Filipino food!

9. Any other fun and random trivia we could know about you?

Kim Lim: had bodyguards eversince

Ansis Sy: This 11/11/11, I’m gonna be 22.

Maui Velasco: I don’t really know about random and fun but I love Coldplay, until death and beyond. I went to Hong Kong twice with my family just to see them live in concert I like pictures of cute baby animals and babies. I also love to look at coffee table books, especially those with houses! They make me happy.

10. Are you single, taken, or is it complicated?

-If single, are you open to dating?

Ansis Sy: Sure.

Maui Velasco: Single. Maybe. :>

-If taken/ complicated, tell us how you met and why him/her?

11. What do you look for in a boy/girl?

Kim Lim: mature and someone who just gets me

Ansis Sy: Nothing in particular. If we click, that’s it.

Maui Velasco: Physically, I look at the guy’s teeth. It’s an extreme turnoff for me if the guy has ugly teeth. I also look at his eyes, hands and height. In terms of personality, I like a funny and smart guy, someone I can talk to!

12. Is it a plus pag “magaling gumiling”?

Kim Lim: nope, unless he’s cute

Ansis Sy: Huge plus.

Maui Velasco: It could be! I will let you know if/when I find out haha.

13. How did you discover your love for dancing? Did you dance back in high school?

Kim Lim: highschool, i realized i loved to perform more than anything.. it came after my 1st gig

Ansis Sy: It started in grade 6 when I joined this folk dance performance for a program. Yup, I danced back in high school.

Maui Velasco: Mm sort of. I was in Hardcourt, the cheerleading team in AC, from second to fourth year high school and I took a couple of classes when I was in fourth year (one with CADs!). I guess I discovered it somewhere in between those years My friend, Roanna Medina (CADs President ’09-’10), got into CADs when I was in fourth year and that’s when my teammates and I really made it a point to work towards that. And ever since I joined CADs, my love for dance has grown exponentially! I’ve always said that training is the top thing, if not one of the top things, I look forward to everyday Whenever I’m in a bad mood, I sometimes think that nothing can make me smile. But then I go to training and I just forget. Dancing is like an escape for me and it helps me express so much of what I’m feeling. (HAHA naging cheesy.)

14. What competitions/performances have you joined/performed in?

Kim Lim: most memorable ones would be.. maximum groovity and skechers 6 (my 1st and last competition)

Ansis Sy: ETC Campus Stopover, CADs concerts and gigs

Maui Velasco: Competitions – Maximum Groovity 2007, Dancelebration 2008-2009, Groove Manila 2008 (Elims) and 2010, ETC Campus Stopover 2008, Strut ‘Em For The Kids 2008.  Performances – RiB 2007-2008 and 2010 and the last three CADs Year End Concerts (Denouement, Refueled and Credo), and some CADs gigs here and there!

15. Unforgettable dancing experiences (injuries/embarrassing moments/fulfilling ones)?

Ansis Sy: When we won the ETC competition… and every CADs year-end concert

Maui Velasco: Maximum Groovity 2007! It was my first competition and it was also the first time CADs won a competition. I really loved the piece and I loved the people I danced with (Kim Lim was there!) Also Dancelebration 2009. Although we didn’t win, I really loved the concept of the dance: it was about this guy who had a dream about this girl who gets shot, then he wakes up and he tries to stop it from coming true (look it up on YouTube CADs Street at Dancelebration 2009). And apparently, a lot of people cried haha! As for embarrassing moments, in Refueled, I was part of a dance with masks (Self). Apparently, we were supposed to take our masks off at one point. Everyone but me and the star of the piece didn’t! Lord.

16. Favorite dancing costume?

Ansis Sy: Our costumes for the Eccentrics piece in last year’s YEC Credo

Maui Velasco: Does this mean what I like to dance in or my favorite performance costume so far? I like to dance in a shirt and jogging pants (hahaha training look!) but my favorite performance costume is the one of Dreams from the Denouement concert. We just had to wear a white t-shirt and black bottoms. Basically, training look hahaha!

17. Favorite song to dance to?

Ansis Sy: I don’t really have a favorite… but I like David Guetta songs.

Maui Velasco: I honestly don’t know haha!

18. Kind of dance(s) you enjoy? (popping, breakdance, hiphop, etc.)

Ansis Sy: Hiphop/Street in general

Maui Velasco: I like chill hip-hop and the normal hip-hop

19. Any rituals you perform before dancing?

Kim Lim: Red Bull

Ansis Sy: Mark the steps/choreography in my mind and try to stay calm

Maui Velasco: Stretching and praying of course! If it’s a competition, the team usually beatboxes/sings the entire piece before going onstage, which gets me pumped up!

20. What do you think of while dancing?

Ansis Sy: If I just learned the choreo, I think about the steps. If I already know the choreo, I think about nothing (?). I’m not really aware.

Maui Velasco: I think of the feel of the dance and the beats of the music. Of course, I think of the steps and what I’m supposed to be doing, but it helps me to enjoy when I’m thinking about the feel and the music!

21. Dancer you admire/ dancer who inspires you?

Ansis Sy: ALL CADsters.

Maui Velasco: Bobby Newberry, Travis Wall and my friend, Gio Gahol

22. What do you love/is special about your block? How about MEA?

Ansis Sy: I love that we still try to get together every now and then. And I just love MEA, period. MEAns are awesome people.

Maui Velasco: T5 is such a funny block. We were never really all that close, even in first year, but we always ate with each other everyday. We had one Christmas party ever in first year. Efforts have been made to set up a bonding date but it never pushes through haha! But I love my blockmates; they’re all so intelligent and responsible (shout out to Sam Uy and Justine Romasanta, my saviors since first year!) I love that MEAns are so active and supportive. I mean a lot of other orgs have only a handful of people who are really that active but it’s not like that in MEA!

23. Unforgettable math/accounting teacher?

Ansis Sy: Of course, Sir Darwin Yu!

Maui Velasco: Doctor Marasigan and Darwin Yu! I can’t wait for him to give me my diploma hahaha.

24. MEAn you admire?

Ansis Sy: The EB! Of course Jonn Dy. and Rafa Noel na rin, ikaw kasi nagpapagawa nito eh

Maui Velasco: Jia Salindong!

25. Unforgettable MEA experiences?

Ansis Sy: GAP! (shoutout to Maui) and Hype too. the most recent ones

Maui Velasco: Of course my babies, Prepcourse ’09 and GAP ’10! I loved Prepcourse ’09 because it was really the first time that I became active in MEA. Seriously, nobody but some of my batchmates in the org knew who I was until I got the job haha! It was so fulfilling; I nearly cried the first day because everything was going wrong. But I was so happy that the freshmen enjoyed over the next two days and I absolutely loved the talent show! And you could tell that loads of freshmen enjoyed it because so many of the sophomores now are active in the org! I loved GAP ’10 because of the journey and the amazing outcome! Les, Jackie and Kat did such an awesome job with GAP ’09, so obviously Paui, Cheskie and I felt so much pressure from the start. It was a long and difficult process, since we started almost three months before the event itself. We were so incredibly stressed with money and venue and promos and all the things you could ever be stressed about the whole time! To add to that, I had immersion the weekend before GAP week, papers and orals during the week itself, and a competition with CADs the day after the party. I was about to cry before the start of both the GA and the party. But you know, I’m so happy because so many freshmen joined so many projects and everyone had a blast in the party! You can tell from all the pictures hahaha. My feet were so painful because I was wearing heels but it really was not a bother. I’m so happy so many of my batchmates (Seniors! Whut up!) went and had a good time also, so many people talked about it in their Facebook status updates! Yay!

Complete the sentence:

When I grow up, I plan to…

Kim Lim: travel around the world

Ansis Sy: join the corporate jungle, be rich, have my own family, and give back

Maui Velasco: I plan to have a really gorgeous tropical Balinese house and to travel the world with my wonderful family and friends!

If I had 1 wish that could come true, I wish…

Kim Lim: i had super powers

Ansis Sy: I had more wishes that would come true.

Maui Velasco: Unselfish answer would be for world peace! Haha cheesy, but the world would be a much better place if it really came true, right? Selfish answer would be for a simple but blessed life with a wonderful family and a gorgeous tropical Balinese house!

I secretly…

Maui Velasco: I secretly (well not so anymore) wish to audition for American Idol.

I hate…

Kim Lim: arrogant and immature people

Ansis Sy: cockroaches.

Maui Velasco: Snakes. I wish they all died.

Most people think I…

Ansis Sy: am really quiet. and they’re correct. but I can be maingay too. sometimes.

Maui Velasco: Most people think I own all my clothes. I own some of them, but I usually borrow (or steal haha) from the closets of my sisters and my mom.

The hottest dancer alive is…

Kim Lim: Mark Nakamura, but he’s gay

Ansis Sy: Hard question since ALL dancers are HOT. I don’t think anyone will disagree with me.

Maui Velasco: It’s too difficult to just name one! Off the top of my head, I would have to say Nick Bass, Mark Kanemura, Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garnis.

If I were to die tomorrow, I would…

Ansis Sy: still be answering these questions… then do something crazy after.

Maui Velasco: I would make a short “will,” spend time with my favorite people, go to a concert and fly to wherever necessary to ask to see the last installment of the Harry Potter film series.

If my bones will be broken tomorrow and God gave me 1 last dance to dance, I would dance…

Ansis Sy: with the people I love. Why the morbid questions?

Maui Velasco: I would dance our Maximum Groovity piece when I was in first year! That is my favorite competition piece and also my first. Or I would dance everything from the Credo concert because of the strength of the message. If I knew the Skechers 6 piece, I would dance that too hahaha!

If I were a cartoon character, I would be… because…

Ansis Sy: Phineas because… he’s too awesome.

Maui Velasco: I would be Sailor Mars! I’ve always loved Sailor Moon. I still rewatch some episodes on YouTube every now and then, and Sailor Mars has always been my favorite

If I were reincarnated into someone else’s body, I would like to be…

Kim Lim: johnny depp

Ansis Sy: Zac Efron or Chace Crawford or Ian Somerhalder. Their genes are awesome.

Maui Velasco: I would like to be Gwyneth Paltrow. She’s beautiful and successful, but the best part is that she’s married to Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay.

If I had a son/ daughter, I’d name him/ her…

Ansis Sy: after one of my favorite TV characters.

Maui Velasco: I have names for my six future sons: Alejandro Miguel, Lorenzo Javier, Marco Luis, Antonio Gabriel, Diego Joaquin and Enrique Geronimo. If ever I have a girl, I would name her Sofia, Martina, Andrea or Isabelle.

To all aspiring dancers, …

Ansis Sy: do not just aspire, GO and DANCE!

Maui Velasco: If you really love to dance, go for it and take classes! Keep improving and let your dancing show your heart and how much you love it because that’s what really matters