Meeting Jeff Kinney at the Dubai Lit Fest

The past weekend kicked off the 11th Annual Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, and fortunately, my family and I had the chance to attend one of the sessions at the InterContinental Hotel Dubai Festival City. Even though it was already sold out, one of my good friends managed to give us tickets for Jeff Kinney’s session. Yup, he’s the famous author behind the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. I didn’t tell my daughters where we going that evening because I wanted it to be a surprise. It was only when we were standing and waiting in the queue to enter the hall when they finally asked why we were there and I told them. Caila loves the Wimpy Kid books and Jeff Kinney is her favourite author, so you can guess she was ecstatic with my news. She actually had to ask me twice if she would really get to see the bestselling author.

Lea Salonga at the Dubai Opera

Back in March, as soon as I heard the news that Lea Salonga was going to visit the Middle East and perform at the Dubai Opera, I knew I had to watch her live.  After all, watching her on stage was on my bucket list.  And besides, she's the Ms. Lea Salonga: two-time Disney Princess, Olivier and Theatre World Awardee, and the first Asian woman to win a Tony!  Add this to the fact that it would be the first time ever a Filipino would perform at the Dubai Opera. I simply couldn't pass the chance.

Which is why, even though they weren't cheap, I immediately bought tickets for Hubby and me with seats at the VIP area.  I decided that if we really wanted to enjoy the show, we should sit as close as possible for the best view.  And anyway, knowing the level and quality of how the original Kim of Miss Saigon performs, I knew it would be totally worth it.

My Alden Richards Story

Alden Richards. Who in the Philippines hasn’t heard of him? He and Maine Mendoza (aka Yaya Dub) made practically the whole country crazy with their tandem that started on Kalye Serye back in July last year. You can guess I was one of those who became a big fan of AlDub when the phenomenon started. I would watch their episodes every day, joining the AlDub Nation in tweeting about them, participating in the Pabebe Wave Day, cheering them on during their trials on-screen, appreciating the lessons Lola Nidora taught, loving all their commercials, and hoping they would end up together in real life.

When Alden came to Dubai for a show last January, I really wanted to go, but that was the night my sister and I flew out to Switzerland. So when my former colleague who works at GMA posted on Facebook that Alden was coming back in March, I was ecstatic! Here was my chance to finally see the Pambansang Bae up close!

Girls' Night Out at Anne Curtis' This Is It Dubai! Concert

It’s been a while since I went on a night out with girl friends so when one of the KFC mom’s asked if any of us were interested to watch Anne Curtis’ upcoming show, I was one of the first to say “Yes!” Never mind if I wasn’t much of a fan; I simply wanted to spend a night with other mommies and have a good time.

We bought the tickets from our friend, and since he also happens to live near our place, I was appointed to gather the payments and collect the tickets.

Sarah Geronimo’s Perfect 10 Concert in Dubai

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably know that I was at Sarah Geronimo’s Perfect 10 concert last Monday night…by winning two tickets from Gulf News Tabloid!

Imagine, my second December to watch a concert courtesy of tickets that I won! (My first was last year.)  I couldn’t believe it myself. Here’s how it happened…

During our lunch break last Sunday, I was browsing my Twitter feed when I saw Tabloid’s contest. I casually mentioned it to my colleague who told me to join. However, since our KFC family was having its Christmas Party the next day, I was reluctant to do so. She kept insisting for me to enter; there was nothing to lose and I didn’t really think I would stand a chance, so I finally gave in. Just before 5pm, I heard my tablet give a notification alert…and when I checked, I saw this

Needless to say, I was shocked. It took a moment for me to realize what happened because the win was totally unexpected. Even when I gave my details to Tabloid! I still couldn’t believe it.

When it finally sunk in, I was torn between going to the concert or attending the Christmas party. Even on our way home when Hubby and I talked over it, I was still undecided. In the end, I chose Sarah. Sayang naman kasi, di ba? But instead of taking Hubby with me, I went with Yaya Jovy because I knew she would appreciate it more. And besides, it was her birthday in a few weeks so we used the concert treat as our gift to her.  Hubby on the other hand, attended the party with Caila and Sophie.

tickets in my hand

I admit I’m not really a Sarah G fan. I know she sings well, that she coached Lyca and Darren who were the top 2 winners of The Voice Kids, and I really liked her movies with John Lloyd, but that’s it.

However, when I saw how professional and great she performed at the concert, I became in awe of her. She could belt out high notes and sing low notes with ease...even while sitting down!

During each song, you could see that she gave her all and internalized the lyrics. She was so good! As in really, really, really good! And she could dance well too!

I also liked that she would share a few words to introduce most of the songs she would sing. It allowed us to know why they were significant to her. Naturally, she sang Celine Dion’s To Love You More, which was her winning piece on Star for a Night eleven years ago, and Forever’s Not Enough, her first hit single.

Her guests were Ronnie Liang and Top Suzara. They were pretty cool, going down so that even the fans who paid Regular tickets could see them up close and personal.

Ronnie even took a selfie!

Another thing I like about Sarah is that despite becoming famous and being a multi-awarded artist, she still remains humble and simple.

I know it’s a pity I missed the KFC party, but I’m so glad I gave it up for something else that was really Perfect 10.  Even if it meant rushing and cramming with the other concert-goers to ride the last metro train.

Yaya Jovy, me, and my colleague

Hmm...I wonder whose concert I'll win tickets to next year =)

*Pictures of Sarah G and her guests taken from The National, Pinas Music Zone, and Cube 8 Events

My Ex-Boyfriend Got Married

Of course I’m kidding about the ex-boyfriend part, but yes, Nick Carter finally got hitched yesterday (April 12) in Santa Barbara, California to Lauren Kitt.

such a passionate kiss!

He's not smiling in the pictures, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt and figure it’s because the sun was in his eyes.

Congratulations and best wishes to the newlyweds!

*photos taken from justjared.com

bagsakan by chito

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Sorry, I know I haven't been posting anything on this blog for almost a month now.  As usual, I've been pretty busy.  December means Christmas, which means lots of parties, events, and get-togethers, ergo no time to sit and gather my thoughts. 

But since the busiest month of the year is over and 2014 has begun, hopefully I'll be able to find time to blog again.

In the meantime, I just wanted to share this video I took during the High Impact A2 Festival.  I won tickets over the radio, remember?  The concert was so cool! I promise I'll tell you more about that night in a separate post.  But just to give you an idea of how amazing it was, take a look at this clip where Chito Miranda sang "Bagsakan" without Francis M. (naturally!) and Gloc 9.

Galing! Astig! Amazing!

eraserheads reunion concert in dubai

So as I mentioned in an earlier post, Hubby and I were one of the thousands of people who gathered at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre last Thursday to watch the Eraserheads Reunion Concert. Honestly, I’m not really a fan of the band. Sure I know some of their songs, but that’s it. Same thing with Hubby, although he knows more of their songs than me. And the only band member I know is Ely Buendia; naturally, he’s the singer kasi. So why did we bother to watch? Because we had FREE PASSES! Naturally, if someone offered you free passes to a reunion concert of the Philippines’ version of The Beatles, you’d go, right? What made it better was the passes were for the Platinum area...at the front!

reunion with nyoy

The Dubai Chapter of our high school batch got another chance to get together again last December 6...all because our very own batchmate Niño (aka Nyoy Volante) was in town for a show with the other Sessionistas. Unfortunately though, not everyone was able to make it. Sharon’s daughter was sick so she couldn’t come, Maan couldn’t make it as well, and Laarni was in the Philippines. Although we knew Nyoy would be coming, we didn’t know his itinerary; so except for buying tickets to the show, we didn’t know when we could have the mini-reunion. I received an SMS from him on the evening of the 5th and several messages later through FB, my batchmates and I agreed to meet up at the lobby of Asiana Hotel after the press conference on Thursday night.

lunch with the vera perezes

I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but prior to coming to Dubai, I had worked as a Personal Assistant/Secretary for (now) Congresswoman Gina de Venecia for more than 3 years. Back then she was simply called Manay Gina, wife of Speaker JDV.

Anyway, we were fortunate to spend a Sunday lunch with her and her family during our vacation. The last time Hubby and I had seen her was at our wedding where she was one of our godparents, so I thought it would be nice to see her and for her to meet our daughter. So I sent her an SMS, to which she replied with an invitation to their ancestral home in Quezon City the following Sunday to meet up with her and the rest of her family and attend the mass before having lunch.