SHINee LIVE IN MANILA (In Celebration of the Philippine-Korean Friendship's 60th Anniversary)

- November 27, 2009, Friday, 5PM (but it started around 5:30 or 6. Haha)

- The tickets were FREE. (yes, I died of happiness. Haha. It was also a pain in the behind to get the ticket, since NBN was really far from my house.)

- Today, I met MG at DLSU around 1pm, and went to CCP to check if the staff would still give out extra tickets. Of course we wanted Marga to be able to see the concert as well (she wasn't able to get a ticket).

- Upon arrival, a Korean volunteer told us that there was a line for people who are going to get the extra tickets, and there was a line for people who had tickets. Since we had tickets (our seats were nice enough btw), we lined up in the extra tickets line, so we could hopefully ask for another ticket for Marga.

- SHINee World (SHINee's fans club) came later with their sky blue shirts. I recognized some of them since they're my friends from Ateneo :D:D:D:D YEY ATENEO. :D:D:D:D

- Marga came moments later, and MG and I went to our people-who-have-tickets line. It was a bit difficult to contact Marga since her cellphone battery was nearly running out of juice (mins ran out of juice moments later as well). We later found out that Marga wasn't able to get a ticket, since the staff only gave out around 30 more tickets. Boooo Epic Fail moment.

- Our people-who-have-tickets line was really really long, but it moved fast, since people already had tickets. Hahahaha. The guards also attempted to speak to us in "Korean" and "Korean-accent-English" because they thought MG and I were Koreans. I quickly talked to the guards in Tagalog so they'd let us in faster. (And yes, they did let us in faster. Haha)

- Our seats were located at Balcony 1. It's nice enough since we could see the whole stage in a very nice angle. The people on the stage were a bit tiny though....but I guess not too tiny like how I saw David Archuleta from my seat in MOA last May (yes I miss David Archuleta. Haha)

- So before SHINee (obviously they were placed at the end), there were a few performances from various performers, both Filipinos and Koreans. The event was hosted by Luis Manzano and Isak, a Korean VJ (I hope I got this correct.)

- First, Teatro Miguel opened the event with their variety of colorful, graceful, and impressive Filipino dances. Speeches were made afterwards by the Korean Ambassador and Hon. Alberto Romula from the DFA.

- Gabriela "Avii" Pineda, a Miriam College student who won various Korean singing contests here in the Philippines, performed Wonder Girls' Nobody with her posee. On the other hand, Yang Sang Heon, a 13-year-old Korean who's studying here in Manila and a resident of the country for about 1.5 years, sang Freddie Aguilar's Anak. He did an impressive job with the song. No one knew he was only here for 1.5 years. He was made to perform because he won Filipino singing contests here as well. A few members from the Aritangtown-Philippines danced to various famous Kpop songs (like songs from SHINee, Suju, SNSD....etc)

- To end the first part of the concert, our very own Brownman Revival sang three songs.

- During the intermission, a video was shown about the Korean-Filipino relationship through time, and a few messages to the Filipinos from various KPop groups. Of course, Sandara might have had the most appealing message since she spoke in Filipino.

- The second part started with Isak singing a Kelly Clarkson song. Later on, Lucky and Isak introduced Mighty Mouth.

- After Mighty Mouth's 2 songs, Winterplay had their turn. I particularly like their Gypsy Girl song, since I like gypsy sounds. :D:D:D:D It was their last song. (They're promoting their album btw, their album will be released in the Philippines around Feb 2010)

- NOW...........................................


SHINee'S TURN TO PERFORM!!!! (Too bad Taemin got the swine flu "in such a short notice". So it was basically "SHINee - 1". Taemin wants people to know that he's ok. Hahahaha. GOOD.)

- SHINee performed 3 songs: Stand By Me (from Boys Over Flowers), Juliette, and Ring Ding Dong.

- I took relatively few photos of SHINee because I WAS TOO BUSY VIDEO-ING THEM (I uploaded the videos in the videos section). I guess the videos are better. I really feel sorry for friends who weren't able to watch the concert. I greeted some of them during the Juliette video. Hahahaha.

- When SHINee was done performing, they rushed off the stage, and the audience rushed out to stalk SHINee. Haha. SHINee was in a hurry to catch their flight back to Korea. (Awwwwwwww. :( :( :( :( )

- MG and I went out around 8pm, and searched for Marga. We couldn't contact her properly because her phone died, my phone died, and MG's phone was the only one alive. It was just like the seach for the holy grail. HAHA. (Ma-flatter ka naman Marga. Holy Grail ka daw.) It was also like playing hide-and-seek. Two "it"s and one person "hiding".

- MG and I search every corner of Harbor Square, and did not come out successful. Many fans were still at the CCP complex waiting for SHINee to come of from the tiny door at the back. MG and I assumed Marga was there.... and yes she was.

- We saw her walk to Harbor Square after SHINee's bus left. She only saw Minho's hair, a "possible Onew". Haha. We went to Korean Village to eat our late-much dinner.

- In Korean Village, we had free appetizers, free soup, bibimbap, grilled beef, kimchi chige (a sort of SUPER HOT soup), and kimbap. I ate too much too quickly, that I felt like I was about to explode. I went to the restroom afterwards. Thankfully I didn't puke (puking: one of the strangest, most comfortable sensations the world has ever known). I also adjusted my belt from the third hole to the first hole. HAHAHAHA. I felt better afterwards, thank God.

- We went home around 10:50. I rode Marga's car now, since my house was on the way anyway. :D:D:D:D

- Marga and Grace, thanks for a wonderful SHINee day. The best might not have turned out (Marga not being able to watch, and Taemin not being able to come here in our nice littly country), but it is a day worth remembering.


*The sun is bright....and SHINee*

*I am a happy happy boy. A very happy and fat one.*




*SHINee looks the same in person and on video. Hahahaha.*



****RIP to my black mailman bag. A part of it was badly ripped (by accident), good thing it somewhere in the top part, not below. At least I was able to use it for a last time.

Itty-GOETHE Love :D:D:D:D Goethe Institut's Open House

- November 20, 2009, Friday, 1pm

- I saw a memo in the Ateneo's Modern Languages bulletin board that the Goethe Institut ( the German language and culture center) would be having an open house today with lot's of freebies and such. I was also greatly attracted to the "Win a Free Trip to Germany" scavenger hunt and raffle.

- I asked my mom to come with me, since most of the people I know had classes today, or had internship shifts.

- We arrived at Goethe around 1:15pm, and went to explore the Institut.

- We first came to the Battle of the Brains. Obviously, all the questions were about Germany. Since there was an ongoing game, we were asked to sit at the back as part of the audience, and could only play (if ever) at the next batch. We didn't find the game very interesting so we left and checked out the other activities.

- We went to another room that had a sort of contest. We were supposed to search for 18 questions posted randomly inside the room, and mark our answers on the answer sheet. In fairness, I realized that I sorta knew something about Germany (although I didn't win. Haha) The pretty German lady named Ilka also gave my mom and me free Ritter Sport chocolate squares.

- We went to the fifth floor of the building to look for other activities. I played pop the "luftballon" (balloon in short). The person was supposed to ask a question, and the contestant should use a dart to pop a balloon containing the answer. Boo me, I popped the wrong balloon. Haha. (Hey, darts are difficult to handle noh.)

- With time to spare before the "epic" scavenger hunt (yes, keeping in mind that the winner will get to go to Germany for free....), we went to the second floor to make art out of "my favorite German word/s". I went inside and draw "Ich liebe Deutschland (I love Germany)." I loved this activity place because I get to have free stuff just because I drew something. Haha.

- We went upstairs to the fourth floor and waited a bit until the scavenger hunt commenced.

- A lady came after a few minutes and announced that the scavenger hunt would begin. After reading the mechanics, I immediately knew that I didn't have a butt's chance to even play the scavenger hunt. Boo epic fail. This was because:

1. The questions were in German.

2. I don't know much German.

- If ever I get to answer all the questions, assuming I knew German and my answers were correct, my entry, together with other entries (that had all correct answers), would be raffled. The runner ups would have free German lessons in the Goethe Institut Manila, and the grand prize winner would get to go to study German in the Goethe Institut Germany (all expenses paid). If ever, I wouldn't be able to go to Germany as well, even if I won....blame school. Hahahaha.

- For some reason, I didn't really feel bitter, and I can't really blame myself for not knowing German.

- My mom and I went downstairs at the ground floor to get our free merienda. To our surprise, the free merienda was a buffet. My mom and I ate a lot. (Oh wait....I eat a lot all the time anyway HAHAHAHA).

- The Institut had two buffet tables. One catered by Vanilla Bean, and the other by 121 Grill and Restaurant. We had more food at the Vanilla Bean since the food there were a bit international and fun.

- We also visited the newly inagurated library at the ground floor. I played an "info-hunt" contest, where I was supposed to get a task from a fishbowl, and find the answers to the task in the library (example: Give 3 names of German musicians. *then I just had to go around the library, look through books, and submit my answer to the person in charge*) For that contest, I got a free notebook thing. Yeyyyy.

- At around 4pm, my mom and I went to the second floor to attend our 30-minute German crash course. We were in a room with some students from Lyceum, and a few other random people. *Who can't say no to a free language course?!?! (especially for language buffs like me)*

- We learned the German alphabet, a few German sentences (my name is....blah blah), and German numbers.

- I had a fun time teaching the German pronunciation to my mom. My mom had a terrible time. HAHA. I understood her, since German pronunciations don't really go well with the Chinese tongue (or any other tongue I suppose....)

- We also had a sort of contest, where we had to match the names of the numbers to the figures of the numbers. Haha. My mom and I were the first ones who finished. Hahahaha. We finished within 10 seconds, I think. (Boo, no prize, but still, I was happy. Haha. I realized I wasn't purely German-illiterate after all. Haha.)

- After the language course, we hurried to the fifth floor to see if we could still see the cooking class. We arrived and the German people were halfway through the recipe. I think it was sort of a salad (Kartoffelsalat I think). Haha. I liked the smell.

- Sadly, my mom wasn't able to attend the Bauernmadel dancing class she wanted to go to. I wanted to attend the dancing class as well, but we weren't able to attend since it was in conflict with the language class and the cooking class.

- Since we more or less did most of the nice activities, we both decided to go home. It was around 5:15 I think.

- Well, I may not have had the chance to go to a free trip to Germany and learn German in Germany, but I had a lot of free things, and learned German things today. Yes, I'll study German on my own, like I do with all the other languages I'm learning, but I scheduled it after Italian (I'm studying Italian now. Haha).

- I guess today's experience was also different from my experience in Instituto Cervantes' Dia del Libro last May -> In the Instituto, I understood Spanish. In the Institut, I didn't understand German (except for a few words or so). Haha.

- Hopefully, I would have the chance to visit the Institut or the Instituto again soon for whatever event. Maybe next time, I could also attend a sort of open house at the Alliance Francaise. Hahahaha. :D:D:D:D





**** Ich heisse Gilbert. Ich spreche keine Deutsche. Ich liebe Deutsche und Deutscheland. HAHAHAHA.

Gilli And Oli's Belated Much Birthday At MOA

- November 7, 2009, Saturday

- Met Jessica, Nathalie, and Berna at CKSC around 9:45, and went to fetch Oli at his place.

- As usual, we rode the train and the shuttle to MOA. Oliver wasn't able to ride the train with us, so he had to catch the next one.

- We arrived at MOA around 11 something and walked to Italianni's for an sort-of early lunch. Along the way, we decided to watch Jennifer's Body, and grabbed tickets for the 3:10 movie.

-In Italianni's, we had calamari, salmon pizza, and pasta Alfredo. Of yeah, we also had fun with the bottomless bread, plus the olive oil + balsamic vinegar sauce.

- After lunch, and a good amount of time to waste before the movie, we went to Razon's for dessert. We ate their nice and inexpensive halo-halo. Good thing there weren't many people in Razon's a while ago, and that Oliver paid for all our halo-halo.

- We decided to play billiards after dessert. We played for an hour, and had 2 games of 8-ball. The girls won the first round, and nobody won the second round, since the cue ball kept going into the holes. Joketime match.

- Since we had a good 45 minutes before the movie, we also decided to go to Timezone and play around a bit. Good thing I brought my Timezone card.

- Around 2:50, we went to the cinema-place and bought some popcorn. I saw Isen and company (one of which included a neighbor of mine who also happened to be Blessilda's cousin.) Guess what, they were going to watch the same movie as we were.

- The movie was really really weird and not as scary as I thought it would be. It was sorta thrilling at some point, and the rest either gross or sexual. Haha.

- We played a bit more in Timezone after the movie, and decide to go home after we got bored. We passed by Folded and Hung, and decided to look at red clothes, since my closet lacks red clothes (a big no-no for Chinese people, especially when relatives celebrate random events a lot.)

- I found a nice plain collared shirt that was on sale, but sadly, it didn't have my size. I was sorta pissed, because all the sizes were available except my size. (Plus, I felt a bit guilty since I just bought two clothes yesterday at Greenhills.)

- We went home around 6, and rode the train home. I was really glad I was able to go out again today since we planned today's trip since around two-three weeks ago. Some might not have been able to come, like Karel (had class), Erlyn (school thing), Miguel (somewhere in Antipolo), and Bless (ehem, in France for her JTA), and Fajj (um....something), but it was truly a nice and fulfilling trip....though maybe I'm not really fulfilled with my red-shirt hunting. Hahahaha. :D:D:D:D

Epic Journey To Greenhills (And Around Manila As Well....) :| :| :| :|

- November 6, 2009, Friday

- Lala, Marnie and I went to Greenhills to do my favorite sport: shopping (and eating.)

- Upon arriving at Greenhills after a light LRT-MRT trip, we went straight to Penang Hill to eat lunch. We ordered so much food that a couple of trips to the restroom helped clear the pipe. I enjoyed lunch though, the food was great.

- After lunch, we strolled around and around and around Greenhills Shopping Centre. I was able to find two shirts for myself, both from Venetta. Yey. (Boo for my wallet.) Lala and Marnie also searched for their things.

- We decided to go home around 4:30, so we would arrive, assuming, in Manila around an hour later.

- We rode a Quiapo bus home, but did not think of getting off somewhere in Pureza, where it could have been a much easier and faster way to go home.

- We decided to stay inside the bus, since Quiapo is quite near our place. Little did we know that the bus would take ONE BIG CIRCLE around Manila, making the trip WAY LONGER than it should have been. We arrived somewhere in Quiapo around 6:00 and braved through the crowd that was almost acted like the waves of the ocean. We swam through the crowd and finally got to Odeon a few moments later. We rode a Divisoria jeep home.

- Our butts were sore from the long long bus ride, and our legs are way tired from from shopping and swimming through the Quiapo crowd. We got home after around 2 ~ 2.5 hours of travel. :| :| :| :|

- Lesson learned: 1. Get off at Pureza, 2. Learn to drive, 3. Earn money so my wallet won't suffer, 4. Greenhills is love. :D:D:D:D

Epic Reunion: Vocal Chord Code Red, The Fake Birthday, Food Galore

- November 5, 2009, Thursday

- Today was almost too good to be true. Never thought we'd have a random reunion ever. Elaine, you're one hell of an organizer. Good job!! :D:D:D:D

- I met Abe at CKSC around 10:30 and walked towards LRT1's Doroteo Jose station (or as Chabert would like to say "DJ Station"). I also noticed Abi's highlights, which we all soon found out was just fake extension hair.

- We met Josh, Elaine and Danielle at the station and decided to split up since there were tooooooooo many people on the platform. The girls went to the "girl's side", while Josh and I remained at the "regular" side. The girls were able to catch one of the earlier trains. Josh and I, however, had to wait for several more trains due to the overflowing population of people on the platform.

- While waiting for the train until the time we arrived at Gil Puyat Station, Josh was able to tell me his autobiography and vice versa. We were able to practice a bit of French, had primary and secondary reflection, tried to be in the world with others, deciphered the mystery of the chicken and the egg, etc etc. (Though this is partially true, most are exagge, I guess it can be inferred how long it took us to get to Gil Puyat.)

- We rode the shuttle to MOA and waited for Carmela and Eric to arrive. Ian told us to go ahead since he would be really really really really late.

- We decided to eat at Burgoo's and had a free dish courtesy of my credit card. Hahahaha.

- Knowing that Burgoo had the birthday-special thingie if someone were celebrating his birthday, Elaine to me to ask the waitress about it about it. The waitress told us that the birthday person would have a special Sunday. Since Ian was nowhere to be found, we decided to pull a prank on him. Haha. Yes, he was the "birthday boy".

- Ian texted us and said that his dad wanted him to go back home for something, but was able to come around the time we almost finished our lunch. Good thing he was able to eat something....including his "free birthday sundae." :D:D:D:D

- We decided to go to Timezone and have some karaoke funtime next. By the way, we were able to meet Cristina and Marc along the way. How random. Hahahaha. :D:D:D:D

- I think they regretted the karaoke idea when I decided to almost-explode the whole mall with my voice. HAHA. Good thing Josh was there to balance things out with his rather nice voice. Woohoo Ateneo College Glee Club powers. Hahahaha.

- Since Josh and I were the only once hogging the mic, we played "maalis-alis" to see who the "next singer" will be. Coincidentally, I was the one left. Ian said: "Tadhana talaga. May calling."

- Chabert was able to make it to MOA after his classes in DLSU. He met us at the karaoke place inside Timezone.

- After Josh's voice and mine were nearly gone, we decided to go somewhere and eat. While walking around and deciding where to eat, Abe's flip flops (or flip flop??) broke. We brisk walked towards the near Surplus store so Abe can buy a new pair.

- We walked towards the fairly near Icebergs to munch on something sweet. Ervina later called Chabert's cellphone, and all of us found out that Ervina was with Erlyn. Since Ervina and Erlyn's presence were faily acknowledged, I guess that makes them part of the reunion too. :D:D:D:D

- Going back home was more than half of the Odyssey. We rode on a shuttle to the LRT station. Since my body size is "above normal", I had a hard time squeezing in. I even sat on the thigh of the person next to me. I soon told Josh to sit on my lap, since he had nowhere to sit. Haha.

- Upon arriving at EDSA, the platform had too many people. We could barely breathe. We waited for a few more trains before we were able to ride home.

- Some things never change. After 3 years of college, some high school things still live on. It was really nice to catch up with one another, and a great time bonding together. I really hope occasions like this one would continue to happen for a very very long time. Tralalalalaaaaaa....

Autumn Evenings, My Belated Birthday, Downtown Chinatown :) :) :) :)

- November 3, 2009, Tuesday, celebrated my birthday for the third time. Haha.

- Earlier today, the wind was blowing like crazy; things around the house started to fly and walk around. I didn't even have to open the electric fan because it was THAT windy.

- This was an adventure (err....more of a calm sit down dinner I guess) that I never thought would push through, but luckily, it did. Like what Jane told me a few minutes ago, "time was not enough for this day". I share the same sentiments.

- I went to Cristina's house around 5:20pm, and walked towards Chinatown. After arriving at Tasty Dumplings Ongpin around 5:40, Jane and Tal were already able to reserve a seat for the four of us. Jane and Tal surprised me with 3 birthday cupcakes that tasted totally awesome.

- We ordered dinner and started to chat like we haven't talked to each other for years.True enough, this was one of the memorable dinners of my life, since the four of us were able to go somewhere together - something we haven't done before, and something I thought was almost impossible to happen (a long and confidential story.)

- After dinner, we went to Cafe Mezzanine a few steps away and shared a banana split for dessert. We talked until the restaurant closed around 8pm.

- Tina and I walked home together, since our houses were near. Along the way, we were able to see Pei Mei and her brother. I guess this was one of today's surprises. I am so glad to have seen Pei Mei, because I haven't seen or talked her for a long long time. Sadly, she refused to take a photo of me in the middle of the street. Haha. She said she wasn't dressed up, and the street was dark.

- I arrived home after a few more minutes, and yes, I'm in poverty mode again. (Oh yeah, I still have another belated thing this Saturday. Hopefully, it will push through.)