Chapter 2: Panaginip

It was Sunday night and I felt like I was in Madonna's "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" video while Aileen, Maysh, and I walked along Marikina Riverparks as we searched for the stage where they're supposed to play. "Dun tayo sa may sapatos na umiilaw", says Maysh in reference to Allan's instructions but then again there was no noise whatsoever near that fluorescent giant shoe that we spotted.

So we ended up following where the people went. We eventually found this stage where some band was doing a hideous cover of "It Ain't Got You". Later on we found out that there was no backstage whatsoever. People started throwing us some glares as they got alarmed by the guitar that I was carrying, aside from Aileen sporting her SCQ look. So I asked the girls to walk around the park with me while we were waiting for the other Moonstar people.

I swear to god that setting was just so creepy. The place somehow gives you the impression that everybody's drunk and they're gonna lunge at you at any moment. I tried to convince the girls. "Mukha namang safe eh," followed by a whispered "Chos!"

Thanks to Bayani Fernando, there were seats available for the public near this boat that they converted into a food kiosk. I pointed out to Maysh, "Mare, san kaya napupunta yung mga liquid wastes nila?"She replied, "Saan pa eh di sa ilog din" Major eeeeeeew! Later on the foul stench of the river smothered our noses as we had some chicken and pizza. Hahahaha!

And so it was time for M*88 to play. Some hilarious requests: Tabing-Ilog, Huwag na Huwag Mong Sasabihin, Apoy. Hahaha. Anyways, I'm so falling in love with "Panaginip":

Sakay sa daang papuntang langit
Ngunit puting damit di na magagamit
Bulaklak at singsing nawala sa aking paningin
Ang simoy ng hangin na kay tamis
Ngunit luha ko'y walang kasing pait
Damdaming di na yata matatahimik
Pagkat ito'y isang panaginip

Maysh sings it with such conviction. Now it has become one of my favorites along with her rendition of "Bata", and "Sa Langit".

It was a looong long night. Jal dropped us at home and eventually met Cody. The next morning... Jal and I were locked inside the house...Bwahahahaha!

Chapter 1: Akap

Since I'm too lazy to file for a vacation leave and my vacation leave credits are not enough anyway for me to have enough time off from work, I have declared numerous numbers of days to be my personal holiday. Just when I thought I'm gonna be enjoying that free time with myself and my baby Cody (the adorable brown labrador), I now have some respiratory infection plus frequent nosebleeds. Great!

Of course that wouldn't stop me from going out. Last Saturday, I went out with Chill and Mitch and checked out the Imago listers night at Saguijo in Makati. It's a small, cozy place situated in a residential area with a nice botique upstairs called the "I Love You store". Initially, I had personal objections of going to that place since it was so crowded the first time I went there with Maysh and watch Admit One but later on it turned out to provide us an intimate setting that perfectly fits the music of the lined up bands.

After checking out the art gallery upstairs and watch the audience wait in stupor while the hosts were giving out Imago bootleg vcds, it was time for SVC to perform. I never really took the time to watch these guys but dude they made me earn a new respect for hiphop/rap music. Galeng! I even ended up chanting "It's the reee-yuhhhl, Hiphop myuuuzik!". And I have the new love of my life, Ryan Ventura, the bassist, whose face is gonna appear soon in my new lj layout. Woo-hoo! Paging Kai: pityurs! pityurs!

When it was Imago's time to perform, we made our way to the front in such a way that we were standing just a few meters away from Aia. They started out the set with three songs from their first album: "Alay", "Idlip", and "Rainsong". One thing that I really admire about them is the evolution of their music. They were able to reinvent themselves. Except for the lyrics, those three songs don't even sound like the original anymore.

Before she proceeded to singing "Akap", she said her thank you's and talked about the struggles of indie artists. "Dahil indie po kami, wala pong label na magbabayad ng payola para ipatugtog yung kanta namin. Salamat sa inyo, parang kayo na rin ang nag-payola para sa min"

One thing that makes Aia's songs unique is her unusual play of words. Nobody really knows what exactly the song means but somehow it works. Come on, what can you make out of lyrics like "Look away/See it coming/Grey skies/Grey skies/See it coming/Cool my fire"? Worst thing is the words are sang in reverse. Haha! But like I said, who am I to argue when it actually works. :)

"Pikit mata kong iaalay, buwan at araw, pati pa sapatos kong suot" When she sings these words she makes an immediate connection with her audience. Somehow it felt magical watching a small lady belt out tunes and wonder how that voice comes out of her.

Another superduper emote song was next, "Taning", which ended with the audience singing with Aia. It was followed by "Phoenix", then Raimund Marasigan and Diego Castillo joined them and performed "Gratitude", "Reset", "Bihag" (hanggang dito na lang, sa huling baitang) and the last song for the night, the uber danceable "Anino". At the end of the night, I ended up listening to their cd over and over again. Haha!

One Last Rant

Remember that Sex and the City episode where in Miranda got enlightened by Carrie's boyfriend, Berger, about how a guy "is just not into her". Today, I finally had that realization.

The kid has been keeping me hanging. I told him to give me a definite answer when I asked him, "Di ka naman interesado sa kin di ba?". All he could give me was, "Di ko alam...hindi ko talaga alam". Later on, a good friend revealed to me that the kid "likes me but not the way that I want him to like me".

That was all I needed. Now moving on...

Kanta na lang tayo. Constantine Maroulis, pasoooook!

Turn down the light
Turn down the bed
Turn down these voices inside my head
Lay down with me
Tell me no lies
Just hold me close
Don´t patronize
Don´t patronize me

´Cause I can´t make you love me if you don´t
You can´t make your heart feel something it won´t
Here in the dark, these final hours
I will lay down my heart
And I'll feel the power
But you won´t
No you won´t

Someone's gonna love me
:=]

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

I feel like going to Balintawak Public Market and blow everyone away with a flame thrower.

Last night, Boy Abunda featured in "Kontrobersyal" the ways vendors use to make their products look more sellable. Apparently, tomatoes are being wiped with a rag previously soaked in a mixture of kerosene, shampoo, and water to make them look shinier and more appealing. It's not just the tomatoes, the kalamansi is also getting a special shampoo treatment, saluyot is being treated with Cortal, etc.

I don't care about the other fruits. My only concern is the tomatoes. How can they mess with one of my favorite nature's inventions, my comfort food. My pressssshusssssss!!!!!!!!!

Now Maysh just got a perfect explanation for my character. When I told her about this, she just said, "Kaya pala may saltik ka!" Gaas makes me crazy. Haha!

***
I don't know if it's normal but would you ever ask your date to go to mass with you? I just got off from this "malling" thingie with this guy and when he saw me he instantly suggested that we hear mass in Megamall. He looks boring so I immediately said yes, eventhough I am not a church person.

Just great, I thought, imbes na nasa paintball challenge ako, I have to be stuck for almost two hours inside this chapel hearing the homily. There was this autistic guy pa in front of us, saying things to himself during the mass.

Initially I thought that he may not like me because he was so silent while we're walking to the chapel but then again he was more madaldal na after the mass. Do I look that sinful that he needed to take me to some cleansing before he can interact with me? It's just so hilarious!
***
Got an unexpected message from an unknown number this afternoon:

0920-921xxxx: Guess who im with ryt now. Wild guess.
Me: Marc Abaya?
0920-921xxxx: Haha, I wish. Sm1 u just called up a wyl ago. Breakfast. Where? He wudnt tell u. Haha.
Me: Sino nga?
0920-921xxxx: Ur friend ____.
Me: Ah okie. (thinking, sino ba to?)
0920-921xxxx: No surprise? Hmmm, is he one of ur frnds we've talkd about?
Me: I guess so. Tell him I said hi. (parang kilala ko to...)

Now let's backtrack a lil bit. At this point, I suspected that this is D, the kid (see previous livejournal entries), whom I really really like, who's texting me. After starting and ending numerous days by thinking of him, and eventually realizing that he's not into me, I decided to delete his number for damage control purposes.

Me: Teka, si D ba to?
0920-921xxxx: Yep. So tama pla ung hinala ko...
Me: Sobrang gusto kasi kita. Kinailangan kong gawin para di na ko masaktan pa.
0920-921xxxx: Ndi ko nga alm kng anong nangyari.. Ewan, d ko nga alam kng ano dpat ko gawin. Owel. Bsta, sobrang weird. D ko din kc maintndihan sarili ko. Ugh.

Now kiddo, if you're reading this, I just want you to know that I'm not mad at you. I got the message you're trying to send across. No need to apologize and explain yourself. Maybe I turned my back on you, but just in case you want me to be beside you, I'll just be here.

Yikes, drama...
***
I finally saw Imago's "Akap" video. Tangina, depressing! Galeng galeng! Sana di ako umabot sa punto na ipinapasok ako sa trunk ng kotse ng boypren ko pag nag-aaway kami. And speaking of videos, Moonstar88's new vid for the Amatsu and Kunlun soundtrack is already showing on Myx. Good reviews so far. I have yet to see it. Ayun lang.
***
I met up again with the other "Russel" yesterday. Saw "Boogeyman", which sucked big time, then had coffee at Starbucks GB3.

I just love it that he's opening up more and more everytime that we meet. He told me about how he has observed the changes in his personality as he grew older from being that boy who pushed away all the negativity to being someone who has finally realized and faced life's harsh realities.

He then brought up the topic of soulmates. Then he said, "Who would have thought that after how many years, magko-cross pa rin yung paths natin tapos magiging ganito tayo". I have no idea what he's trying to imply...
***
It's Sugarfree night tomorrow at Mayric's. Kita kits. Shiyet work na naman. Bwahaha, as if pumapasok ako. Hehe.

Efril Pools

It's April Fools and fate seems to be giving people I know a major kick in the ass. Maysh is sick and she's got tons and tons of work and she has to fly to Cebu later for a major gig tomorrow. On the other side of the planet, Rob failed to get a cab ride along a major road in Pasig after waiting for more than an hour while he's carrying this enormous bag under the summer heat. Later on I've realized it's probably Manila Water's fault since they've been causing a horrible traffic jam on the way to ULTRA because of that pipe-relaying project.

Wassup, wassup?

- Yesterday, I've finally met the other members of my new team, Team Liezlista (o di ba ang shushal!). The group seems to be fun, almost all of the ladies are fag hags and the gents seem to be nice. Liezl, my new supervisor who also happens to be a friend, told me that her team never had a team building session since her roster of agents changes almost every month. So para happy ang lahat, the team's gonna have an "inuman session" on Wednesday at 60 Hillside where "you just have to clap and Manang will serve".

- I dunno if it's just me, but I believe Sun cellular's network was down yesterday from 5pm to 5am this morning. I woke up to the sound and vibration of my phone as tons of messages flooded my inbox. Halimaw! Well, I just hope that it's for the improvement of their voice call traffic since the lady at the Sun Shop in Megamall explained that the price of their 24/7 call and text unlimited card increased dahil wala na daw "Network Busy" by April. Talaga lang ha!

- Jessica Sierra is out of American Idol. Yahoo! I never really liked her. Even her rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is so mediocre. Nah-ah, she never outsung anybody in the competition ever. And whaddafuck, Anwar on the bottom three? Hmp, kung allowed lang talagang mag-vote sa AI using the Convergys' leased line, mega-vote talaga ko. Pero hinde, I just have to leave the fate of my favorites to the hands of the musical intelligence deprived American public. Shiyet. Eh bakit galit ako?

Ayun lang...