The Script: My experience

Remember my previous blog when I say I won't be able to watch The Script's concert?  Well, here I am, blogging about my experience from the concert.

It wasn't really a planned activity for me.  I only decided that I wanted to watch the concert, 5 days before the concert date.  I got curious with all those reminders, announcements and advertisements of the concert from Facebook.  It was all publicized that made me think, this may be a good concert.

When I called up Ticketnet, the concert tickets are already sold out.  Well, 5 days before the event, where else will I get tickets? So my friend and I sourced out "connections" just to get tickets.  General admission is ok with us as we're not really die hard fans of them, well at least for me.  As I've mentioned in my previous blog, I just like their songs and I just want to hear them perform live.  Good thing, the Manila Concert Scene fan page from Facebook announced that they'll be having a contest about The Script concert and the prize is free ticket for 2.  Without hesitation, I joined that contest.  Also, the fan page mentioned that Araneta Coliseum, the venue of the concert, will be selling Standing Room Only (SRO) tickets for the upper box A, B and General Admission on the event day iteself.

Unfortunately, our connections don't have any tickets for sale.  I didn't win the contest as well from the fan page.  So my last option is the SRO ticket.  Even if its "standing room", the area are all free seating.  And so you have to be there early if you want to be seated.  First come first serve.

The fan page announce that tickets will be sold by 3pm.  So my friend and I decided to be there around 2pm.  My friend arrived earlier than me that's why she was able to fall in line with only a few people in queue.  By the time I got there, people are already piling up.  We waited in line until about 4pm and no ticket is being sold yet.  There were rumors that only tickets for upper box A and B are to be sold.  We're already quite hesitant as we are only after the Gen Ad tickets.  But we still waited.  When the security asked us to line up properly and direct people to line in front of the ticketing window, that's the time we asked and confirm the rumors.  Well, the rumors are quite true, considering we're in the queue for upper box ticket selling!  The queue for Gen Ad ticket selling is on the other side of the coliseum.  The security informed us there are only less than 100 people in line.  So we hurriedly went to that Gen Ad ticket booth and luckily the line is quite short.  Then within seconds, people are also lining up behind us.  These are the same people from the upper box ticket booth.  I guess we all got confused as to where to line up.  When we got there, there's already a line going to the Gen Ad entrance.  People are really excited about this concert.

They started selling the tickets at past 5:30pm already.  Upon receipt of ticket, we immediately went up to line to the entrance of Gen Ad area.  Another line.  We've been falling in line since 2pm!  By around past 6:30pm, gates were already open.  But still, we have to fall in line again on the last door at the entrance of the coliseum itself.  One last line and this is it!  We got in by around a little past 7pm.  Whew!  What a long journey!  And finally this is it.  Lights closed at about 8:30pm and The Script were already on stage.

It was an entertaining concert.  I can feel that The Script is very happy with the Filipino's appreciation of them.  It was fun that the band even took pictures of them with the audience.  The Script also mentioned how the Filipinos love to sing along.  I thought they will flash the lyrics "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" from their huge screen background.  But instead, Danny let the audience sing some parts of the song.  With sold out tickets and standing room tickets, the whole Araneta Coliseum is occupied.  People are all singing to almost all of their songs.  This is what I've learned from the concert.  It's SOP to memorize the lyrics of at least 3 songs of the artist/band so you wouldn't be left out!  As for me, I just hum as I don't know the lyrics :)

Here's the setlist from the concert:

You Won't Feel A Thing
Talk You Down
We Cry
If You Ever Come Back
Before the Worst
If You See Kay
The End Where I Begin
Science and Faith
The Man Who Can't Be Moved
I'm Yours
Nothing
Dead Man Walking
Rusty Halo

The band bid goodbye but of course we haven't heard their famous songs yet.  And so "the script" is people will shout "more" and the band will come out again and play.

Encore:
For the First Time
Breakeven

Of these, my favorites are For the First Time, Nothing, Breakeven and The Man Who Can't Be Moved.  I didn't have much pictures and I didn't even bother to take videos as we're seated on the top of the world.  Overall, I enjoyed the concert.  It may not be the perfect concert I've seen (with a pause of about 10-15 seconds before the next song is played) and Danny has a little difficulty performing live but it was entertaining.  The long queue was worth it for just Php 850 :)
  

Taipei Trip Day 3

(Feb. 15, 2011) Today is our last day in Taiwan.  I can still remember the first time I got here.  I was too nervous while waiting for my turn in immigration at Taiwan airport.  It is my first international trip.  They may ask too many questions that I cannot answer, haha!  When it's my turn, the guy said: "Ni Hao?"  I replied: "I'm ok, thanks."  I know its not polite to answer that way as I responded in a different language.  I got scared in answering him in Mandarin as he may further ask questions in Mandarin.  Well I'm half Chinese but I can only understand very little Mandarin or Fookien.  Luckily, he didn't ask further questions.  Unlike with my friend,  they kinda converse a little.

Anyway, our first itinerary for the day is the Sun Yat Sen Garden.  There was a Lantern Festival event when we were there.  This will run for about a week until the Lantern Festival itself which I think is on the 17th of February.  There were exhibits of various lanterns made by different schools along the walkway.  There are even children having their field trip.  I guess it will be better if you go here at night to see the beauty of the lanterns when lit up.

Panoramic view of Sun Yat Sen Garden

We get the chance to see the dancing fountain.  It lasted for about 5 minutes.  Just a short performance but it was nice.  Again, maybe if this still happens at night with lights, it will be spectacular view.  Mini rabbit lanterns are also to be given away at 2pm.  At that time (around 11am), there were already long queues in that area.  We can no longer wait for it as we still have other areas to visit in our itinerary.

  

From Sun Yat Sen Garden, the Taipei 101 can already be seen.  So we took pictures with Taipei 101.  But I insist to still go to Taipei 101 even outside or nearer the area to take a picture.  So after Sun Yat Sen, we walked the streets of Taipei city  and got a nice shot of Taipei 101.

Taipei 101 shot from the streets of Taipei

Taipei City is very clean.  The pavement have designated walkway for bikes and people.  People seem disciplined and I admire the cleanliness of the surroundings and "safe" feeling while on the street.  What catches my attention was the unique pedestrian walk in the middle of the street.  Pedestrians can reach the other side of the road by crossing in the middle of the street and not the usual side street.  I wasn't able to take a picture of me crossing the street as I don't want to stop in the middle of the street and I might get caught by the police.

Intersection Road

This can be eaten without rice

Last in our itinerary is the Flora Expo.  But before going there, we stopped at Sogo Hotel as my friend is going to buy some shoes.  The boots she bought in the streets of Ximending gave up after only a few walks.  It didn't even lasted for one whole day.  She bought it for only NT$250.  Well, maybe that's what you get for a very cheap shoes.  Anyway, when some of my friends are shopping around Sogo Hotel, my other friend and I had a sumptuous lunch.  I enjoyed my lunch here as it was really hefty and inexpensive.  My lunch cost me only NT$150.  I'm surprised that I wasn't able to consume it all!

Flower gallery

We arrived at Flora Expo at around 4pm already.  We don't have plans of touring the whole Flora Expo area, we just picked up a few places to visit.  As what the name implies, there are a lot of flowers displayed and floral art works/exhibit.  Upon entering the area, there is a designated sketch and stamp area of flowers.  If you collect stamps, make sure you have a lot of spare blank sheets on hand as the venue only provides one sheet.  Also, you can use your blank sheets to sketch various images of flowers.  It was lovely.  Good thing my friend loves stamps and she brought a small notebook.  So everytime there is a stamp available in all the areas we've visited since day 1, she never fails to punch one in her notebook.

Panoramic view of flower gallery

We visited a pavillion where exhibits from different countries are displayed.  Of course we visited the Philippines' exhibit.  I thought I'll be seeing flowers there but it turned out, various tourist attractions were featured in the Philippine's booth.  It was still nice though, at least more people will get to know the wonderful places of the Philippines.

Since this is our last day, I bought some souvenirs at the Flora Expo.  I bought a cute magnet for NT$35 and a plastic folder at NT$30.  Not very cheap, but it's ok.  I also bought a Hello Kitty cellphone charm here as we will no longer visit Hello Kitty Sweets.  And I'm not sure if there is still one at the airport.

The soup is so yummy!

It was still chilly when we left Flora Expo.  We're thinking of the best restaurant to eat for dinner as this is our last night.  But we decided it to be nothing fancy.  We wanted to try out the small restaurant just outside our hotel.  Its like shabu shabu but there's no cook pot in your table, instead the mini cook pot is served individually with your food cooking on top of it.  It's pre-cooked already but it is still serve to you with cook pot.  Thus, it gets really difficult to consume it immediately as it is very hot.  But the food is very yummy.  For just NT$100, you get the bowl of soup with veggies and noodles plus free drink and rice.  You also have the option to refill your soup.  Many people go here to dine in or take out.  The varieties are just little but I guess that doesn't matter as the food really tastes good.

So that how my Taipei trip goes.  My budget for the whole trip (including visa, airfare, accommodation and pocket money) is only Php 15,000 but I go a little over it.  I think I spent around Php 17,000.  Here's the breakdown of my budget (not detailed though) per person.

Airfare - Php 3,000
Accommodation - Php 3,900
Visa - Php 2,500
Pocket money - NT$5,000 (Php 7,500)

Before I forget, we arrived early at the airport wishing we can do a little more shopping there and hoping to see that Hello Kitty Cafe.  But unfortunately, the whole duty free area of the airport is under renovation.

Here's my blog for day 1 and day 2.  I guess I will still want to go back to Taipei.  I still need to see that Hello Kitty Cafe.  And I believe there are a lot more nice places to be visited.  Besides, I really love the cold weather and winter fashion!  You can't get that in the Philippines!

Longchamp and Cath Kidston Bags

These are the new brands in my bag collection.  What's special about these bags is that they all came from my own pocket!  And they cost about Php 3,500 and up!  Yes, I do have other branded / designer bags but they all came from my siblings.  For the love of bags, I normally just buy any brand, mostly locally made.  My favorites (I've got more than 10 bags/accessories from them) are bags from Fab Manila.  And the most expensive bag I bought does not exceed Php 1,000.  Even the Girbaud bag I had was less than that amount (I had it on sale)!  Now I've changed.  I want more designer bags.

When my sister was flying to Paris last year, I had second thoughts in asking her to buy me a Longchamp bag.  I don't understand why girls are raving about it, even my sister loves it so much.  So out of curiosity, I asked her to buy me a limited edition Eiffel Tower Le Pliage medium short handle.  This isn't really my first choice but this is the only one available.

Le Pliage Eiffel Tower, Php 3,500 (converted to Peso)

I fell in love with the bag when I first saw it.  It's so spacious yet not bulky.  The short handle is quite off for the size.  Being spacious, I tend to put on a lot of stuff and it gets a little heavy for me to hand carry or carry it in my arms.  And so I decided to buy another one, this time long handle.  Since I had plans of going to Hong Kong at that time, that was my target: buying another Longchamp bag.  I'm choosing between Abre de Vie and Planetes.  The latter is quite cheaper and my friend told me that I already have a Le Pliage and so I bought Red Planetes small long handle.  I so love this bag! The size is just right.  It is still spacious and sophisticated looking.  I love carrying it on my shoulders.

Red Planetes, Php 5,300 (converted to Peso)

So its summer.  I still want that Abre de Vie white or the LM metal in white of Longchamp.  For some reason, I got attracted to white bags.  Then my sister introduced me to Cath Kidston.  Oh my! They're the perfect bags for summer!  Reading reviews and comments from the ever reliable Girltalk, I become eager in getting a Cath Kidston bag for myself.  Alas, last Tuesday, my sister and I ordered 2 Day Bags in Briar Rose, white and blue.  Of course the white one is for me.

Day Bag in Briar Rose (Stone), Php 3,800 (sale price)

I only get to see my Cath Kidston bag yesterday since it was delivered in my sister's house.  Upon seeing it, OMG! I so love it!  It is so summery!  I immediately transferred my stuff and used it right away.  I thought the Day Bag will be the same size as my Eiffel but it's a bit smaller.  I love it.  I'm not a fan of big bags, really.  It is spacious and looks sturdy.  The handle can be used for shoulder or hand carry.  It's perfect.  I can put my 10" netbook there.

Of these 3 bags, only the Cath Kidston was bought here in the Philippines.  Nowadays, its hard to identify authentic Longchamp bags here as they are everywhere!  I thought Cath Kidston will have no fakes or knock offs but I was wrong.  I already saw an imitation of Cath Kidston bags in facebook.  Same material, same floral design but without the Cath Kidston tag.  They're only selling it for just Php 449.  I also read somewhere that S&R is selling this bag but a fake one.  Sad to say the price is about $1,000+  So before you buy online or anywhere for that matter, better be careful and double check its authenticity.

I'm still eyeing another Longchamp, still the white bags I mentioned, but I'm still thinking about it.  I also like the Herve Chapelier.  I'm still pursuing my sister to give her Herve Chapelier to me as the bag is too small for her :)

Maybe in the future, I'll target to save money to buy on other famous designer bags like LV, Hermes, Chanel, Balenciaga and many others.  Hmmm... Wishful thinking...

Taipei Trip Day 2

(Feb. 14, 2011) My friend told me that today will be colder than yesterday.  I thought I’m still “equipped” with that since yesterday I didn’t feel so cold.  But I was wrong.  I thought my clothes are thicker today than yesterday.  But it seems that the cold winds penetrate my clothes! Brrr!

At about 10am, we’re already at the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial.  It was raining at that time that made the weather [again] super cold!  There are about 3 temples in CKS.  We took our pictures here and there but we couldn’t take a group shot.  At least two of us should take the pictures, one to hold the camera and another one to hold the umbrella to protect the person and the cam from getting wet.  There’s not much to do at CKS but we waited until 12 noon in time for the changing of guards. 

Panoramic view of Chiang Kai Shek Memorial

The changing of guards was amazing.  They’re perfectly synchronized.  They even have an instance where they point out their swords to their leader just to make sure that there distance to each other are all equal.  The whole activity took about 10 minutes.  It’s hard to tell whether these guards are good looking as their faces are all serious and almost covered by their helmet.  Haha!

One thing I noticed that the temple provides not only rack for umbrellas but plastics as well where you can place your umbrella and bring it inside but without getting the floor wet.  We find that useful so we can put our wet umbrella directly in our bag.

Lover's Bridge

Our next stop: Fisherman’s Wharf/Lover’s Bridge.  It was located in Danshui line and from there you either walk or ride the bus before you reach the Lover’s Bridge.  We stop by at some market place in Danshui where we get to taste another street food.  The candy covered tomato is delicious.  Crunchy in the outside, soft and juicy in the inside, haha!  I also get to taste some bread with fillings.  Yummy too!  I intend to buy a jacket as it was really cold but I end up buying only gloves.  It cost me NT$100.  That’s enough to keep me a bit warm, I guess.  My friend was also able to buy one from original price of NT$200, she was able to bargain it at NT$100. 

Arriving at Lover’s Bridge… IT WAS REALLY REALLY COLD!!  I can barely walk up the bridge!  But for picture purposes, keri lang!  The bridge is quite long so I have to endure the coldness of the weather before reaching the other end.  It was nice scenery though with the pink colored bridge.  I wonder how it would look like at night.  There are some shops and restaurants at the other end but some were close.  When we get back to the other end, we saw a couple all dressed up.  It seems like they’re going to have their pre-nuptial pictures take there.

Our next stop is the Fort Sto. Domingo.  We took a bus to get here.  I think this is also called the Red House.  As what the name implies, it is all painted in red.  It seems like this is a dorm house.  There’s not much to do here too, just picture taking.  We left the area at about 5pm already, rush hour.  We expect the buses and trains to be jam-packed with commuters.  And yes it is.  Just like in the Philippines, the buses are occupied and you wouldn’t get to sit anymore.

Our last stop, Shilin Market.  My much awaited destination.  This is shopping time!  At first we seem lost as the market we entered only has a very few stalls.   Not even clothes, just food and some games for kids.  We were not convinced that that is the Shilin Market.  So we walked across the street and there it is!  Shilin Market is like Divisoria.  So many clothes, shoes, accessories, toys and many others stuff on sale.  I saw one boots which only cost NT$180, that’s only around Php 300!  But I didn’t buy it as I think I won’t get to wear it again even if I’ll be in HK next week.  I won’t be wearing it while here in the Philippines.  So I just shop for clothes which I can get to wear in HK.  I heard the weather is also cold there at this time.  There are a lot of cheap clothes there except for souvenir shirts, I find it expensive.  The kids’ shirt already cost almost NT$200. 

10 Degrees Celsius at 11:51pm in Shilin Market

Oh by the way, we had dinner here at Shilin Market.  Unfortunately, we were not able to taste the stinky tofu.  But the food we ate was ok.  We also tried their pearl shake, yum!  We spent the rest of the night here that we almost missed the last ride going back to Xiamending.  The last train trip was at 12 midnight and we’re still in Shilin Market by 11:45pm!  We were running but glad we made it!  The recorded weather for today was 10 degrees Celsius.

Read on for my Day 3 Taipei trip :)  For details of Day 1, click here.

Earthquake: Have You Felt It?

An intensity of 3 hits southern part of Metro Manila this late in the evening.  I was in Makati, about to leave the office, at the time when I heard the news about that earthquake.

According to the news, a magnitude of 5.8 was recorded in southwest Manila at around 6:27 pm.  I learned about the earthquake when my friend's husband called her and informed her that there was an earthquake in their area.  The earthquake lasted for about a minute, he says.  Then later, it was already in the news.

Intensity 4 was felt in Manila, Marikina, Talisay, Batangas and Tagaytay.  Intensity 3 was felt in Quezon City, Alabang, Makati, Taguig, Malabon, Bacoor, Cavite; Lubang Island, San Jose, Mindoro Occidental, Abra de Ilog and Calapan, Mindoro Occidental.  Finally, intensity 2 was felt in Lucban, Quezon; Plaridel, Bulacan; Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija and Baguio City.

Even if there was a report of intensity 3 in Makati, I didn't felt it.  Maybe because its not that strong.

With all these natural disasters, you can't help but panic and be worried about it.  I also heard that there was an earthquake felt, about the same magnitude, yesterday somewhere in La Union and Bulacan.   2 days in a row that the Philippines experience this.  I kept thinking anybody can get caught off guard once the earth shakes.  It's summertime, vacation time.  What if people were having their vacation on the beach and the earth will shake again?  The thought of tsunami scares me.  I'm having second thoughts of planning my next trip on the beach :(   I guess all we need is prayer.

*You may read about the news on earthquake felt today here. 

Concerts / Foreign Performers

What have I been doing?! I'm already missing concerts! I missed out the concerts of Stone Temple Pilots, Chippendales (haha!), Yellowcard, Anberlin and Far East Movement.  And now, I think I won't be able to catch the concerts of Bruno Mars (April 8), The Script (April 16), Switchfoot (April 30) and Maroon 5 (May 23).

I'm not a big fan of Bruno Mars but I like some of his songs.  So missing this out will not be too painful for me.  For The Script, I'd like to hear them play live but unfortunately I might have an out of town trip by that time.  I still can't decide.  I might ran out of tickets for this.  For Switchfoot, I think this will be their 3rd visit to the country and I'm gonna miss it again! Well, I'm not yet so sure but Phil. Sports Arena is way to far (and inconvenient) for me.  Maroon 5... At first I thought I can miss their concert this time since I was able to hear them last time they were here.  But on second thought, I wanna see Adam Levine up close and personal!  But the ticket might be sky rocket high again.  I remember their last concert here, ticket prices was as high as 10k.  I think I wouldn't spend that much just to see them.  And also, I don't like the venue for their concert this time.  I read somewhere that only VIP and Gold ticket holders have seats, correct me if I'm wrong.

 Sigh.  Expensive.  Oh well.

Maybe I'll just check out Cirque De Soleil instead?  I heard they're amazing performers.  But I'm sure its also expensive.  They'll be here sometime end June to July.

Care to join me in any of these concerts? :)

To Matilda and Ella: A message to my friends

Two of my closest friends are bound to leave the country anytime this year.  Well both are not yet sure as there are still documents/papers to be processed but its definitely a plan that they will leave the country.

Matilda and Ella while I am Kaye.  You will know why, later.  We are so called the Chuwariwaps.  They're just jealous. Haha!

I met them about 3-4 years ago and we've become friends ever since.  Matilda is nearer to me as I get to see her more often.  But my connection to Ella never ends.  We still talk, chat and text once in a while.  And ever since I met Ella, I felt like I've already know her.  I am always updated to their lives and we've been through some ups and downs.  I've seen them cry, laugh, mad, pikon, do crazy stuff, fell in love, etc. etc.  I have shared different passion for each of them thats why I enjoyed their company a lot.  When we talk, expect a never ending story.  There's always a story to tell, specially with Matilda even if we see often.  As with Ella, we don't talk much but when we do, it will still be like the good old times.  We each bonded a lot although it is seldom now that the three of us get together.

And I don't think that it will ever happen now.  Both friends will leave me here, in the Philippines, alone.  I understand their plans and I support them.  I am happy for them.  We need to grow.  We have separate lives.  It's just that I'm gonna miss them so much. The bonding we've made, the laughter we've shared, the secrets we've told.  I know parting ways does not mean our friendship will end.  I just hope that we will still keep and forever be in touch.  I love you my friends!

Oh, by the way.  We got our names: Matilda, Ella and Kaye, because of these (respectively): Maldita, Bratinella and Sho-Kaye :)  Among the 3, I'm the kindest of all!