Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Manila 2012

Exactly one year after, the 24th of October, I was back in Manila. I will never forget this day. The only reason why I was in Manila on that fateful day was because of Big Bang's Alive Galaxy Tour. That will  have a special blog post, so for now, let's just stick to the moment prior to the concert.

To capture a photo of the sky on board a plane is one of my dreams. That's another item crashed off my bucket list. The difficulty level of achieving this is not so high, but I'm an obedient person who follows the rule of turning off all gadgets while on air. However, I defied the rule and screw my obedience to finally (and personally) take my very own photo of the sky on board a plane. I really sneaked in the middle of the flight and waited for the flight attendants to be busy. Ninja moves! I realized that I'm gradually fulfilling my dreams and slowly crashing off items in my imaginary bucket list and my "10 Things I Want to Do Before I Die" list. I feel so alive and happy for that.

Touchdown Manila! We then headed to SM Mall of Asia. It was our sole itinerary during the trip, since the concert is held at MOA Arena. We stayed there the entire day. What I'm most proud about us was the way how we commuted going to MOA. We planned on riding a taxi cab, because it's really scary to get lost in Manila especially that we're only tourists. However, my uncle welcomed us at the airport and guided us on how to reach MOA by shuttle bus and multicab. Our adventurous spirit was spreading like wildfire, so we rode a shuttle bus going to Baclaran. The fare was only 20 pesos each. After reaching Baclaran, we rode a yellow multicab going to MOA. The fare was only 8 pesos. We only asked our way around, trying our very best to speak in Tagalog, but my sister did all the speaking. It was really fun, and I was so proud of us for taking the risky way like a boss!

Another item crashed off my bucket list - ice skating! I did not skate last year when I was in MOA because I was wearing a tight pencil skirt, so this year's my chance to skate and I did not back down. You can really see how much fun we had. You can also really see that we don't know how to skate. It's obvious that we are first-timers, but after a time, we did it on our own.

I was really slouchy while skating, I look like I'm a hunchback. I keep on bending my knees, because it's a basic. I'm too afraid to fall, and thank goodness I did not. My sister fell once, but I'm glad that she didn't hurt herself. We were so jealous of all those professional skaters and those who are not, but who know how to skate gracefully. We idolize those who performed that afternoon. They were ridiculously good.

Bianca did not skate. She just stayed on the side of the skating rink and took our photos. Thanks, Biankee! Bianca is my fellow VIP. She's my favorite person to fangirl with.

After a tiring day of strolling, going to and fro the Arena to check out some Big Bang merchandise  and going around the mall, shopping, we landed on Aristocrat for our dinner. We tried restaurants not found in Cebu.

We mostly shopped at Uniqlo, because there's no Uniqlo in Cebu and Big Bang used to be an endorser of Uniqlo. The wife of Bianca's idol (Akanishi Jin) is also a Uniqlo model. Plus the fact that some of their clothes are affordable. Oh! Bianca and I saw Michelle Madrigal in Uniqlo. She's so petite and beautiful. I was starstruck that my eyes just automatically followed her going out of the store. I literally gasped when I saw her.



Aristocrat's food are majestic! I think the java sauce did the trick, but honestly, even without the java sauce, their food is superb as they are. When you add the java sauce, the flavor just burst in my mouth with all its crowning glory. I hope an Aristocrat resto would open up in Cebu very soon.

I cannot publish this post without this photo. This handsome kid is so friendly. I smiled at him and he smiled back, he even waved at us. He is such a cutie patootie! I have a soft spot for cute kids, and no, I'm not a pedophile. I simply love kids, because they bring me joy and they unleash the child in me. 

This time, we were already at the airport waiting for our flight home. We headed straight to the airport, because my sister had to catch her early flight. Unfortunately, her flight was cancelled due to Typhoon Ofel. It was raining really hard. It was so funny because after the concert, I was like "Oh my God. My life is complete. I can happily die now". But when we arrived at the airport, with all the cancelled flights due to Typhoon Ofel, I was like "Lord, I was only joking. I still wanna live. I don't wanna die, yet". Anywhoo, do you notice that girl behind my sister with a yellow green bag? I'm sure she also watched the concert, because she was wearing a Big Bang Alive Tour shirt. I was smiling while looking at her, and when she saw me, she smiled back. We, VIPs, are definitely friendly. I can attest to that.

My Manila trip this year was short, but absolutely jam-packed. We just stayed there for 2 days and 1 night, but we were very busy. We were not able to take much photos, because we planned on taking shots at Manila Bay, but Typhoon Ofel is a traitor. We wouldn't want to bask in the rain just to take photos at Manila Bay. I'm still thankful that our flight going to Manila was not cancelled. If it was, and the result was that I can't watch the concert, then I'd probably go berserk, wail hysterically, and destroy all the things in the vicinity. You'd see a deranged person in the airport, more violent than Claudine Barretto. That's hypothetical, so don't be afraid of me.

No offense, but I still love Cebu more than Manila. In my perspective, Cebu is a more livable city than Manila. It's really hard to commute or travel around Manila, because of the traffic and because of the evil drivers. I'm not generalizing, but most drivers are so mukhang pera. Most taxi drivers demand a huge amount of money for a short distance. Come on! Most of them ask 400 pesos for a travel from MOA to NAIA 3. I mean, seriously? I understand that the taxis were limited during that day, probably because of the increase of passengers who watched the concert. But the fare that they demand is so irritating. Can't they just rely on the the taxi meter for the fare? I never experience that high a demand in Cebu. The highest fare that a taxi driver demanded from me in Cebu is around 250 to 300 pesos, and that's from Ayala to Lapu-Lapu City (very far compared to MOA-NAIA 3 distance). I hope the local government can do something about this problem. They need to regulate it, because it gives a negative impression for the tourism of Manila. Still, we were fortunate to find a taxi who only asked 300 pesos. He also engaged in our chit chat, too. He came from Ormoc, so it was not so hard to communicate with him. He's funny and told us "Adik kasi kayo sa mga Koreano" after I told him that we have been standing for hours waiting for a taxi. Alam talaga na we watched the concert, even if we did not tell him. Ikaw na, kuya. 

That's all! Pardon me for the ramble. I still hope to go to Manila, maybe next year's Big Bang concert? They promise to return, so I shall wait for them.

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