She is making the most out of her trip and wants to "absorb the culture as much."

The 27-year old singer-songwriter performed live yesterday at Trinoma in Quezon City, delighting the audience with her piano skills.

She is scheduled to play at the Glorietta Activity Center (Makati), 7 p.m. today and at the Alabang Town Center (Muntinlupa) tomorrow at 6 p.m.

After coming out with two albums that produced hit singles like "Ordinary Day" and "White Houses", Carlton, who values brain over good looks, has released last year a third album called "Heroes and Thieves."

The11-track album’s carrier single is "Nolita Fairytale" which according to her is "about finding joy in unexpected environments."

Other songs in the album are the radio-friendly "Hands On Me," the break-up song "My Best," ballad number "Home" and album title track which she said was the only piece she wrote when she was off the piano.

The Manila Bulletin did an interview with Vanessa. Read on.

Did you have any formal piano schooling or is it just self-taught?

"I initially gravitate towards the piano and start to kind of pick out things by ear. Then my mother, who‘s a pianist, taught me technique and helped me formulate my sense of melody. "

When do you feel that the music coming off your playing is right enough?

"I often start with a chord or note then later hear how it’s supposed to finish. When I start to like it, it naturally becomes a song."

How do you find the treatment given to "A Thousand Miles" in the movie "White Chicks" which helped popularize the song even more?

"I thought it was hilarious. The Wayans brothers are fans and a lot of hip-hop artists came up to me to say it’s one of those songs they love. It was something off a different spectrum for their genre and they funnily turned it into a joke. "

Are you the kind of artist who is focused on satisfying yourself than the market at large?

"I’m my own boss right now and I write to please myself. I’m not writing for anybody else and I think that’s important to me in terms of creating good and honest albums. "

Why do you consider Heroes & Thieves as "the best patch of songs I’ve ever written?"

"It’s my most cohesive work. All these songs were written within the same period. It’s not wherein you wrote a bunch of songs and you cherry picked the best and put it all in one disc. There’s a thread line through all of the songs.

With each record, I learn more about the aspects of recordings like engineering and others. For this album I acquired a set of knowledge, skills, and awareness that I didn’t have on the first records."

Tell us about your third album.

"I think this record embodies my aesthetic in the deepest. I’m very much living through this record.

What do you like about Rolling Stones’ "Paint It Black" that you had to do your own version?

"I love the melody. I like the minor, melodic world that’s going on; it’s very creepy. It’s one of my favorite songs and it was a kind of random decision to record it."

What are your other interests?

"I love to draw and design and I have started designing jewelry. I want to resurrect that art of the written note and I want to begin by creating stationeries."

Do you have a particular songwriting routine?

"I have to place myself at the piano, that’s the ritualistic aspect to it. The only song I’ve written in my head was "Heroes and Thieves." I was stuck in a rainstorm at the Central Park with my dog Victor and I had no shoes on. It was a moment, something magical and adventurous and I enjoyed it."

How do you want to be remembered when all is done?

"I want to be remembered as an intellectual artist constantly pushing herself musically – someone who put together a body of work that’s enchanting and interesting.