ortigas insomnia

i must of had the best seat in the entire crowd: only a few inches from the stage. not your ordinary stage. on this platform were to perform the hottest bands in the country. that saturday night, i was so excited i didn't care that i was by myself. my thirty minutes of waiting paid off when all of a sudden mojofly broke into the stage and whipped out a couple of cool songs, my favorite being "another day". mojofly's female vocalist really looks pretty in real life... at ang galing dumiskarte sa stage. right after their final song, their drummer like threw his drumsticks into the crowd for keeps, and for the first time in my life, i felt a little frustrated that it wasn't me who was able to catch at least one.

the night was one to remember: juan pablo, shiela and the insects, the late isabel, barbie's cradle, spongecola, kitchie nadal, and yes, even hale. man, hale was good. they even did this neat little trick as they played "the day you said goodnight": right before the line She's already taken, she's already taken, she's already taken me, there was a brief silence, the vocalist/guitarists sort of facing the left side of the platform. then all of a sudden all three of them snap back at the same time to face the audience, surprising them with the burst of music. the crowd loved the trick.

meanwhile, in other places nearby, different stages were set up with local artists playing at the same time. those were like different musical genres: rock (sandwich was there!), jazz, reggae... the bands that i listened to were in the alternative stage, which was located just outside the podium. ortigas center never fails to bring me new experiences, and although the place has an air of "mellow-ness" which sometimes annoys me, i never get tired of going there. megamall, the podium, gale, ministop (?!)... just a week ago solo, agnes, and i went on an... err... outing at the megastrip and i think the place is pretty nice, with good (but expensive) food -- although not the best place there is....

it was too bad i couldn't stay to watch the finale, but the fête de la musique 2005 was one event that definitely added spice to my back-to-school blues.

manila: how antipolo sees it

despite the evident pollution, i'm still able to say with a straight face that manila is quite beautiful. at least the view of it from atop of antipolo's (rizal province) many hills. especially when it's nighttime. the view is enough to take your breath away. for one thing, it took mine - you know with all the lights and stuff. it's almost romantic. too bad i was with a bunch of koreans instead of with my crush. ha.

a piece of advice. do NOT eat at a restaurant called "Nipa Hut". the place is a dang fly (as in langaw) haven! they swarm through every bit of food and even are bold enough to fly into your glass of water for a suicidal swim. what's worse is that the management doesn't really do anything about it. the only thing that didn't make the experience hell was the view of the entire manila.