LEFTOVER INSPIRED EDIT

Tuesday’s breakfast! Normally, I would most probably just heat this leftover pesto pasta, microwave it, eat and go. Admittedly if that’s the easiest way I can save myself for doing something more complicated in the kitchen, I wouldn’t think twice… considering I woke up late for work.

But for some reasons, I found myself holding the knife and garlic. I can’t remember my last encounter with the chopping board. This is funny because what I actually did is NOTHING remarkable I know. But for someone like me to actually take an extra effort of making this leftover a lil more special (or tasty), that means something. And thank you for that reason, whatever that is, for making me realize that our chopping board has been with us since I don’t know when! Gosh, buhay pa pala sya? Haha.


PS: I enjoyed it, the garlic and oil on my pesto is heaven. Care to inspire me more?:)

GABBY LOPEZ III AND ABSCBN FOR IMMAP 2013 SUMMIT

Watch Sir Gabby Lopez III’s insights on ABSCBN’s online presence and digital projects during the IMMAP 2013 Summit.

ABSCBN is also looking for the next digital blockbuster! Send us your concept and ideas to collabstudio@abs-cbn.com.

GIVE YOUR HEART A BREAK

It's 18 today (Manila time). The lines here are almost perfect, but the 9th and 10th line hit the most. Right?:)

Thank you for appreciating me at my lowest. For knowing me despite uncertainties. For making me feel loved and important, for saving me.

I was browsing some few skype conversations and I was so insensitive not to notice one of your messages: "You are not very vocal and I understand, but maybe one of these days, you could use your blog to write about me". And then I wondered now, are you even checking my Tumblr? Lol.

But anyway, here's a challenge for you. I believe somewhere or another you'll get to read this, so here it goes:

You've probably known me at that moment when trusting someone has been VERY difficult - you didn't give up. You didn't even judge me, you didn't even force me to speak up about my past. You just proved yourself worthy.

You are not the kind of guy who can join me and my 'sociable activities' as how you call it - but you stepped out of your comfort zone and even applied my 'party tips' there in NY. I was kinda amused when I saw your photos. 

You are the type who eats a lot, which makes me happy because you exceed my appetite, which lessens my insecurities for being chubby... err... voluptuous. 

You work hard and would always strive to be the best that sometimes other people may misunderstood you. You made me realize the value of being brave on making tough decisions...

Decisions... if there's one thing I admire about you, that is you have always been brave. Leaving your past work, fighting for me, leaving the country, it's overwhelming. 

I am sorry for being quiet. For not being able to tell you words you want to hear. For making you feel taken for granted. I just probably lost that faith on love and trust somewhere along the way. I made you a casualty of a past battle. I am sorry.

Thank you for all the time and effort, both when you were here and now that you're there. Right now, I just feel undeserving of your love. I'll be dealing with myself here, I'll try to ponder on things, and I know you have your own struggle there too. I hope our little conversations can compensate your homesickness and stress at work. Though I know they're not enough. 

I am sorry for being less of what I should be as a partner. You have no idea how I am dealing with it now. 

Lastly, if certain circumstances happen to us, to you or to me, we both know it's part of God's plans. Please take good care of yourself there. Don't drink too much, and I know you don't. I am happy to meet your party friends there though, but like I told them, work hard then play not a little too hard after, LOL. 

Thank you again and happy day to us! 

YOUR DAY-MID-NIGHT SHIFT AND THE FRIED RICE

Haha, midshift folks like me can definitely relate to this meme! Not to mention that you eat dinner really late too, LOL.

Thinking of going back to morning shift soon though. Kinda miss the smell of garlic fried rice in the cold morning! But I still love fried rice in the afternoon, or even midnight. I love fried rice. I drool over the smell of chinese fried rice, super!

MIDSHIFT

This is what annoys me with midshift schedule, it makes me fat! Like when you finish work really really tired and you end up eating a lot before going home or at home. Then you sleep.

The wrong thing there is being so tired that you just want to take a rest or lie down after a meal instead of going for a walk. Sometimes I would decide to skip dinner but that happens rarely. Dinner dates are hard to resist, but my mom’s cooking is way harder to say no to. She cooks gourmet meals on any random day!

When I was in Eastwood, I remembered not eating lunch before going to work at 1pm. I would eat a not so heavy snack in the afternoon and my first meal would be by 6pm. I can’t remember if I would eat dinner when I get home. But I remember drinking after shifts at past 10pm when my last meal was that of 6pm dinner. Not good, eat before you drink kids.

Then comes the best part with the midshift schedule, you are the king of the road! Hell yeah, you go to work while almost everyone’s having their lunch and you go home while they’re preparing to sleep already. Exceptions are students though coz they go home by the time you go to work, but they don’t usually bring their own vehicles so it won’t affect us too much.

There was this sudden heavy traffic (due to heavy rains) last month where everyone’s FB status and tweets are all about how they got stuck for 2 or 3 hours on the road. I shared my own status on how I got home less than an hour without even the hassle of the heavy rain. I even passed by EDSA that time. Lucky me!

Most people are on morning shifts so I don’t really get to join early dinner invites. Midshifters would arrive at certain occasions when everyone’s drunk already, then you laugh and take photos of them which is more fun! Also expect to go home early if you’re planning to have a night out with morning shift friends on weekdays. Midshift is best for party goers though, or if you’re friends with people who can keep up until the wee hours of the morning. DJ’s would usually blow up the dance floor shortly before midnight!

MORNING SHIFT

I remembered working in Makati on morning shifts, I would panic if I’m still out by 12 midnight because it would be past my bed time by the moment I get home. I would wake up before anyone else, aside for our helper, and I would take a cold shower which doesn’t really bother me. I’d prefer that than warm water, it just doesn’t feel refreshing for me.

Going back to garlic fried rice, see my mom and our helper would make sure everything’s prepared already when my brother wakes up in the morning, and I would just have to heat it (if I want to) by the time I wake up before lunch for my midshift. Fried rice is best served while it’s hot and I can still savor the aroma coming from the pan! Frustrating how fried rice is served cold, I would end up eating the plain rice instead. There’s something about the smell of breakfast meal isn’t it? Is it the hotdog, eggs, tocino or bacon? Nah. Is it the fried rice? YES!!

How about the coffee? Double yes! I don’t drink coffee, I can but I don’t, but I’m sure mornings for many would not be complete without the smell of coffee beans. I recalled one very cold morning in Baguio, I took a sip of my friend’s coffee and surprisingly enjoyed it! I made my own and it was sooo good! Hot coffee or even hot chocolate is definitely best during cold mornings!

Unfortunately I would choose to skip breakfast sometimes because lunch break on morning shifts is just quite early for me. Like you start work at 9am then you have to eat at 11:30 or 12pm? When I just had my heavy breakfast and all I did was sit down at work after that? So instead of looking anti social not being able to join my friends for lunch, I would skip breakfast and be totally hungry and excited for lunch break!

I also find my days pass by quickly when I was in morning shift. I go to work, 3 hours after I eat lunch, 3 hours after I eat snack (sometimes I don’t), then 3 hours after it’s the end of your shift! I know the same case goes to other schedules, but maybe because morning people tend to be more hyper or active so you don’t really notice how time flies?

Probably the main disadvantage of morning shifters is the dreaded rush hour! I swear I would always almost curse Osmena, Mayapis, Valero, down to Ayala whenever I am struggling to get to work on time! South traffic’s just unforgivable! But admittedly, I miss working there, maybe because I had a grand time with the company that adjusting with the work place became less of an issue.

Many of you can relate rush hour to MRT. Among the 3 railways (LRT1 and 2), MRT is very much affected with the passenger crowd of employees because it passes by the metro’s main business areas. Morning rush hour usually starts at 6am until almost 9am, just perfect for my travelling time, ugh! Then going home, 5pm to almost 8pm is the rush hour madness! Expect, or prepare yourselves, because MRT would totally be a struggle during the mentioned hours. I don’t ride the MRT so my usual travelling time going home is 1-2 hours, considering I don’t pass by EDSA anymore, instead I take the Nagtahan route to manila. Experienced a 5 hour journey to hell, I mean to home, last year during sudden heavy rain!

Morning shift would also teach you discipline and prioritization. Quite proud of myself waking up very early in the morning all by myself. Morning shift proved to me that when you sleep early, you get up early - minus the headache. I would also skip some after work plans or would go home earlier than the rest because I have a bed time to keep. Cinderella must have been so proud of me. My workmates in Makati’s just the same in Eastwood, they love to drink after work. What amuses me is it usually ends around 9pm (some have to catch the MRT) - that early and yet we all had a good time!

NIGHT SHIFT

Then comes the darkest hour of your life, the night shift. They would also call this as the graveyard shift maybe because like zombies, dead people or occupants of graveyards would get up during midnight mornings.

The only time I experienced night shift was when I worked for an advertising agency for the second time. The first time was sort of an events place than an ad agency. I handled different events, yes I had no sleep sometimes, but normally my schedule would be during day time. For the second time though, I was hired as a team lead for events. It was a Nestle Wellness / Fitness project that would start at around 5am so it would require us to meet at as early as 12am for the ingress, travel and set-up. Among all locations, I was assigned in Muntinlupa. My office is in Kamuning and our warehouse is in Banawe, so we have no choice but to meet early.

Off days are my glory days because I get to go out at night. Losing your social life would be one of the things you have to prepare for when going on night shift. Pray that you will have awesome workmates because they’re the only people you could invite for a drink on early mornings. Call center agents are the most familiar with the 3rd shift. It’s like when you decide to be a customer service representative, you also decide to be in the graveyard shift.

I had a hard time waking up on my first day of event. I have to ask someone to call my cellphone just to wake me up at 11pm, because I only slept at 10pm, haha! The hard part is that I have to go to the office, manage the budget, and buy materials for event on day time and would have to help myself to sleep for my night shift. We would usually finish the event proper and egress in Banawe after lunch, and that is when I would feel the difference on schedule. I would go home together with the scorching heat, good thing I didn't had a hard time sleeping because each event was so exhausting!

Going to work at night is good - traffic wise, but not so good in terms of safety. I know some whose shifts would start at 2 or 3am. I mean how can they possibly go to work without a car? Your eating habit is twisted, you start having your first meal while the rest are day dreaming. Studies show that night shifts can make you fat because it slows your metabolism due to circadian misalignment. Circadian Rhythm is “the daily cycle of activity observed in many living organisms". To change its pattern would also cause obesity, diabetes or heart attacks. Insomnia also triggers heart attacks.

You don’t get to eat normally, and you don’t get to eat the normal meals too. Good to know you can still enjoy a good plate of fried rice when you reach home! Life is definitely turned upside down when you’re on graveyard shift. My friends would recount how they would go home early in the morning and join passengers going to work with their hair still wet, their clothes still presentable and their smell, all fresh. Then there you are, ending your day literally during day time.

Nightshifters are used to getting drunk in the afternoon after starting their session early in the morning. They would sleep with the heat of the day and wake up on cold nights. Some say night shift is fun though, like they have their own lifestyle. Some say it can be liberating which I would somehow agree because I think commuting to work at night requires a lot of guts.

One of the advantages of being in the night shift is its pay. They have what they call the night differential where you have added pay aside from your basic. Living up to its name, it's added compensation to actually compensate for your unusual working hours.

As much as I love advertising and events, I secretly looked for a new job while still doing my team lead duties. I just felt that I couldn’t handle the schedule. The change on hormone patterns also contribute to our level of stress. True enough, I was usually stressed during my stint there. It’s funny coz when I got hired in Makati, they first offered me the graveyard schedule because there’s no opening for the morning. They gave me 3 days to decide plus a good compensation rate, and I still said no. I think being in Makati alone is enough adjustment for me already. Surprisingly, they called me up again and told me that they would push a slot for me in the morning shift just so I could finally sign the offer. They retained the night shift compensation rate too. Yahoo!



I want all of you to finish this post until your shift ends, hence the long entry haha! Anyway, among the 3 shifts, I think the best one for your health is the morning shift. The best one for travel and traffic is the midshift. While the best one in terms of compensation is the night shift. It all depends now on your priority. Quite lucky for me to have a flexible schedule. I just moved to midshift coz of work duties and some other factors too.

Whatever your shift is, always remember the four words according to Neyo, Akon and Guetta: WORK HARD PLAY HARD! Thanks by the way to RX 93.1's Morning Rush (6-10am) and Magic 89.9's Boys Night Out (6-10pm) for keeping us company on or from our work. Graveyard folks should have a cool radio show like those too!

It’s almost the end of my shift, my usual dinner date is miles miles away from me already so I would probably just have dinner near the office. What do I want to eat anyway? Hmm… fried rice!

SOCIAL MEDIA WEEKEND 2013 #fwdPH

Last weekend's not just an ordinary one, well at least for those social media savvy who are aware of this year's Social Media Weekend / #SocialMediaWeekend! 

This is the country's second time to participate, and this year's theme is "Let's move #fwdPH". The first leg was last Saturday (June 29), held at the Glorietta Activity Center. The second one took place last Sunday (June 30) in Bukidnon, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Baguio, Cebu and other cities.

To give you a brief background about the event, the global Social Media Day is headed by the famous US based website Mashable. Its main goal is to gather all social media enthusiasts and practitioners in one place and celebrate digital revolution! Thanks to the community netizens that make up @TweetupMNL for letting us join the fun. After all, we are the social media capital of the world! Last year's theme is even named "Social Media Capital", recognizing Filipinos who made this title achievable.

Now let me share what happened for this year's #fwdPH!

Forward Philippines or as we netizens put it #fwdPH is all about utilizing the social media for social awareness and improvement. It is being responsible and taking advantage of the social media to promote and elevate our stand on national or political issues. On making it as a means to help others, community and calamity wise. 

Pre-program started around 12pm (from the supposed 11am time). I wasn't in the event yet but it covered a talk on creating great content for Youtube, Google Ads, BlogWatch, EpalWatch and Citizen Media, on Mommy Mundo and mompreneurship and reps from Google Developers Group.

I arrived few minutes after the main program started. The supposed 4pm started around 5pm with the performance of RomCom. 

After you finish the registration, you'll get this name tag which you should complete (by asking all the sponsors around the area to sign it) to get a surprise loot bag from Team Manila!

The program was hosted by Bry Ramirez, Chuckie Dreyfus, and later on was joined by Patricia Hizon. 

Some of the speakers were: 

Marie Lu of Google Business Group who shared her insights about Google and also shared some trivia as she discussed Google+ functions. She gave a pop up quiz after and if she was to give her cute Android top as prize, I would have exerted much effort, LOL.

Marideth Talusan of Rice Field Collective talked about their project and how social media can help them with their objectives. Rice Field Collective is a collaboration of US and European knitting teachers and designers, together with some Ifugao natives too, that aims to help generate money for those in danger of losing their ancestral land due to poverty.

Ed Calaycay of IGers Manila discussed about Instagram'ing in the Philippines. He shared some user statistics and also how Instagram was able to promote Filipino creativity and social relevance. IGers Manila is the open community for Filipino Instagram'ers, their 9PM habit is absolutely brilliant! 

There were a lot of games and good prizes as well! They gave a Samsung smartphone for answering a very hard question. They even encouraged us to connect to Google to search the answer. I personally wanted to get the Android stuff toy from the raffle, but I'm not so lucky with random winning.

Even though I didn't win from any of the games and raffle, I still felt like a winner upon finally seeing Ms. Maria Ressa of Rappler who visited the event! I am a fan, and after a long time, I felt star strucked again! But because of another game on stage, I forgot to take a picture of her. I went out the venue to look for her feeling frustrated, until finally I saw her again just behind the stage! I ran and asked a guy bystander (coz I can't find my companion) to take a picture of me with Ms. Maria Ressa! She's soooo nice, she even asked for my name!! Gaaaah!

no make-up and messy hair hence my one and only photo-op in the event =/

And to cap off the day, I did let the sponsors around the area sign my name tag for the lootie lootie loot bag!

Some of the sponsors were:

R-L: Commune, Bayani Brew, Binalot, Muni, Galileo, Zomato, GBG

Give your uploaded Instagram photo with the hashtag #fwdPH to PRNT and they'll upload it for you! Coolness!

Go, go team! Volunteers were very patient with the packing of loot bags. I WANT THAT TEAM MANILA SHIRT THOUGH :(

It was nice seeing Black Pencil Project again! I remember being so amazed with their works and advocacy ever since I saw their video when I was in college.

Had a good dinner also in Glorietta after and was surprised to feel really really exhausted. Probably because I was standing most of the time, taking photos, taking notes, and busy roaming around the area. It was a good kind of exhaustion anyway.

Social media's everywhere, from personal and professional profile, photo and video sharing, long and short-term writing, however you want to use it, it's accessible. The challenge now, especially us whose careers also involve the social media trend, is to handle it responsibly. As a democratic country, our social media intelligence can definitely be a great medium for positive change. Let's move forward Philippines! #fwdPH

VIDEO ON INSTAGRAM

Instagram's live announcement an hour ago introduces its 15 second video feature! 

Kevin Systrom, co-founder and CEO of Instagram journeyed us to the whats and hows of the said feature. This time, instead of taking photos to share your life events, you can also press the record button and take a video of it for a maximum time of 15 seconds.

Sounds familiar? That is probably because of the mobile application Vine. Vine, which was introduced June last year, allows you take photos with a maximum length of 6 seconds and share it on social network sites like Twitter. Downside was that it was only available for iOS devices. But this month (June), Vine became accessible to Android users (version 4.0 and higher) as well.

The Instagram video introduces 13 new filters - like Vesper, Moon, and Stinson - which I instantly found cool by the way! The best thing about it, but I have yet to experience it myself, is its Cinema feature which gives ease to your shaky and poor quality video. You can choose your cover photo (within the video frames) upon publishing, hence still providing your followers an Instagram photo anyway. The new feature is also available on both iOS and Android devices already.

I didn't think it was a good idea at first, but after watching the live announcement, maybe it's worth the try. We do understand that they have to keep up with the competition right? Twitter acquired Vine, and now Facebook's Instagram got this. Also, as long as they sustain the short length videos, then it's perfectly fine. I mean, photos and captions are sometimes enough to explain your day to day joys and mishaps... and food, and outfit of the day, and an old photo of you during Thursdays, and how narcissistic you can get posting your own photo that you took yourself. Imagine seeing those for 15 seconds?

But I hope I see entertaining, cute, worth watching short videos soon on my newsfeed. After all, 15 seconds wasted is still time wasted.

Update your Instagram now and see how it works! 

PUGAD BABOY GOES ONLINE

I think Rappler is the perfect "pugad" for the satire comic strip anyway :)

For those who didn't know what happened to sir Pol Medina Jr., to Pugad Baboy, and to its home for 25 years - Philippine Daily Inquirer a week ago, it is because of this comic strip:

I guess we sort of have an idea already what's wrong with the strip right? It's the stereotypical attempt of putting a muscular woman there to represent a lesbian. Nah, not that! Pol Medina Jr. admitted he did a mistake including a specific institution (St.Scholastica's College) in his strip.

St.Scholastica's College threats PDI that they would file charges over the allegedly offensive strip, thus resulting to Pugad Baboy's suspension on the said newspaper. Medina said this is the school he thought of because his former girlfriend came from St.Scho, giving him a first hand information about the school's orientation.

Some may also find the strip offensive (and controversial) not just because of the school mentioned, but also for its content about hypocrisy among Christians regarding homosexuality.

The cartoonist decided to end his more than two decades commitment with PDI and submitted his resignation last June 7. 

All of these resulted to a discussion about freedom of expression. Pugad Baboy is one of the longest running comic strip in the country. It is a well known satire of the country's society and culture. Pugad Baboy presents political and social issues in humorous ways. The character themselves reflects every Filipino characteristics and behavior, which again makes it more funny to read as you would see yourself in them one way or another.

 

That's why its suspension, and Pol Medina Jr.'s resignation worried me. Is it the end of an era? My era? The 90's kid era? 

Well era your face! These obese community, and the dog, is ready to step out of the paper and venture to today's main source of news, the world wide web! 

I can't think of a better cyberspace to put Polgas and the gang but in Rappler. 

Rappler is one of Ms. Maria Ressa's genius ideas. It's a social news network and probably one of the most popular in the country. According to their website: "Rappler comes from the root words "rap" (to discuss) + "ripple" (to make waves)." Genius right? By the way Pol Medina Jr.'s new boss, Ms. Maria Ressa, is an alumna of, guess what school? St. Scholastica's College! Ow, the irony!

One of the site's edge is its mood meter where in readers don't necessarily need to comment on posts to express how they feel. They can simply just click the button for happy, sad, amused, annoyed, etc.! From this, the mood meter can measure the main reaction of the readers about a particular topic, and among the other article topics. 

What does it imply then? That Rappler do care for its readers' feedback, and not push it to be discreet to others. Online is probably the best way to express your opinions without being too restrained, as compared to daily publications. 

Today is Pugad Baboy's second day and second strip in Rappler. It's definitely a new experience for us who used to read it on the newspaper. Although same as before, you can still enjoy new strips daily (except Sundays) at exactly 5am. The bonus though is that you don't get just one punchline, but you get to have three, and choose which among them you like the most!
Rappler said on one of its post:

In cyberspace – on Rappler – we’re going to give him all the “walls” and “space” he needs to "oink" (or "arf") on.

How spoiled can you get Mang Dagul and Polgas? Well you definitely deserve it!

With Pugad Baboy joining the cyberspace, I hope (and I'm sure), more and more people would be able to read your daily stories, even those abroad! Accessibility is better now as the ratio of newspaper readers among internet users nowadays are far behind. Images are optimal now and you don't have to cut those newspapers anymore for those who love to collect Pugad Baboy strips, you can simply right click and 'save image as'. Pugad Baboy can also be introduced to today's internet dependent generation. More importantly, satire is best practiced here, the truth and reality is much conveyed here. 

Don't get me wrong though, I still love the smell of newspaper and I still find it classy seeing someone sipping coffee while turning the newspaper's huge pages. I just happen to agree that Pugad Baboy needs to breathe in a more nonconformist space, as well as what is written before this paragraph.

Welcome to cyberspace Polgas and the gang! Do read Pugad Baboy everyday, now on Rappler!

I don't own all images posted.

WANDERLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL 2013

While the month of April gave us Close-Up Summer Solstice, an EDM festival ala Zouk Out of Singapore, the month of May didn't end without offering us another music fest, this time on Coachella style! 

Last May 18, Globe Circuit Events Ground in Circuit Makati opened their gates to welcome us to the very first Wanderland Music Fest brought to us by Karpos Multimedia Inc.!

I have to admit, I wasn't that interested at first to take part of this event, primarily because I was set to go to Avicii's concert which happened 3 days before Wanderland. But that same week, as the day goes nearer, I became a bit sad not being able to get tickets for this festival's inaugural. But shortly after going home from Avicii night, I received a message from Nada Surf THEMSELVES saying that they enlisted me under their band's guest list! And I didn't join any contest, just pure luck!

Almost got lost searching for Makati Circuit (formerly PRC), was a bit surprised when I saw the facade outside, maybe I just got to compare it with MOA concert grounds. Arrived their almost 2pm but we were able to get in the place almost 3pm coz there has been a problem with the guest list. Aside from me, there are also some who can't get in because the organizers can't find our names. Good thing Ms. Stephanie Uy of Karpos Multimedia attended to our concern and pointed out to the registration people where our names are. I hope next year registration would be more organized.

As soon as we got in the place, we searched for a good spot to lay our mats where we would be staying for the next 10 hours! Yes better bring your mats, umbrellas, sun glasses, hat, as you'll be sitting on the grass under the summer heat!

THE BANDS:

Unlike Summer Solstice where it featured 3 mainstream OPM bands and 7 international DJ's, Wanderland 2013 showcased both local and foreign indie bands that still made a mark to each of the attendees' playlists! 

First to perform was Taken By Cars, who also performed last year for SXSW (South by Southwest) Music Festival in Austin, Texas. Glad to finally see Sarah Marco in person!

• (photo by http://www.philippineconcerts.com)

Pulso went next with their smooth sounding instrumentals! This Terno Recordings band is fronted by model Robby Mananquil.

•               (photo by POPOtography)

She's Only Sixteen made many girls scream as this commonly-compared-to-Arctic Monkeys-band showcased their youthful vibe on stage!

• (photo by http://www.philippineconcerts.com)

My favorite among the first four bands is another Terno Recordings band, Yolanda Moon. I definitely love Cholo Hermosa's voice and the whole band's soulful music best for late-night lounging!

• (photo by http://www.lestervictoriano.com/)

The first foreign act to perform is the Australian band Colour Coding. Among the Wanderland line-up, this is the only band that I'm not really familiar with. Nevertheless, I am grateful to have discovered this young duo that young girls will surely love!

• (photo by http://www.kristn.com)

The folk music band Avalanche City performed next, introducing their set with The Streets. People got the folk sound vibe as they clapped to the beat while I was at the back grabbing some hotdog sandwich, lol! Yeah I only got to watch them from afar as it was my tummy's demand to eat when they performed. Went back to the VIP area with their song Sunset, which I learned that Karpos intentionally put them on the before 6pm slot to exalt the hit song!

•          (photo by www.magicliwanag.com)

Sunset welcomed Tully on Tully, the cute girl in red Natalie Foster (vocalist) really looked happy as she performed in front of her Filipino fans! I dunno if it's because of the red dress but she just really looks charming that night!

• (photo by www.magicliwanag.com)

In between the foreign acts is our very own, and a crowd favorite too, Up Dharma Down! I've watched their gigs before but this is my first with their latest album Capacities. Armi Millare (vocalist) looked stunning white that night, man she'll always be one of my lesbo crush! I was so happy to see Armi on a different mood, you know not the stiff and serious type, she was dancing with the crowd and was clearly having fun the whole time! Probably being in a relationship inspired her smiles! 

• (photo by www.magicliwanag.com)

                   

      

Now for the event's 3 main bands!

This next band is probably familiar to those fans of series like The OC, One Tree Hill, and How I Met Your Mother. Nada Surf, ow thank you so much for the passes, gave us many of these series' heart touching soundtracks. Matther Caws (vocalist) shared to the crowd that they're not really planning to perform anywhere this year, but when Wanderland invited them, they just couldn't resist... aaaw! I'll never forget how you guys sang Inside of Love, got teary eyed while singing with them. Thank you for the performance!

• (photo by www.magicliwanag.com)

Now here comes my favorite set among others, Neon Trees! Vocalist Tyler Glenn on his bright orange jacket, together with his neon lit microphone, was really living up to their name. They sang some of their hits like 1983, Everybody Talks, and of course Animals - we definitely jumped up and down as soon as the first few notes of this song was played! He made everyone rocked that night with his antics, high level energy, mosh pit moment and how he threw random things to the audience! Solid!

• (photos by www.magicliwanag.com)

                         

Now for the last hurrah of the night. Many among my peers wanted to see Wanderland because of Temper Trap, and the Wanderland attendees seemed to share the same reason. Good thing the event's headliners didn't disappoint us. They started their set with Love Lost, and we got the chance to hear Dougy Mandagi's (vocalist) falsetto with their ballad Soldier On. There was a problem with the bass guitar as they were about to play Science of Fear but it was fixed right away. Personally, Temper Trap showcased the best lights direction, photographers surely enjoyed it! They ended their set, and the Wanderland event, with Sweet Disposition. I don't know how to explain it but the finale song, the weather, the lights, the confetti, how I sang while looking at the skies, everything was so perfect! Definitely one of my favorite concert finale so far!

• (photo by http://www.philippineconcerts.com)

• (photos by www.magicliwanag.com)

THE MERCH AND CROWD:

Of course my story telling won't be complete without sharing the beyond the stage journey.

The Circuit Grounds welcomed us with a view of colors, flowers, aztec prints, boots, indian headdress, stalls here and there, huge inflattable stuff, and whatever and however you imagine a fair of hipster and indie band goers would look like!

I was happy with the fashion depicted from the event, makes me convince that we can be fashion forward (reminiscing on Tricia Gosiengfiao's statement. lol). Some wore swimsuits underneath, some on midriffs, basically many didn't spend much on cloth that day. I remembered me and my companion jesting: "So kamusta yung Wanderland?", "Ayun, puro bra!", and Ping Medina's tweet that day:

Looks like rain. Wanderland = wet hipster girls (and this might just convince me to go)

— Ping Medina (@PingMedina)

May 18, 2013

But again, it was a beautiful sight, same with the boys of course. I really love the 2 Australian boys wearing this blue printed top and dress!

• (photo from www.rappler.com)

For sure many would look forward to wearing their hipster inspired get-up for next year's Wanderland 2014!

• (first 2 rows are from www.magicliwanag.com and last 2 rows from www.rappler.com)

Around the Wanderland fair are the stalls or merch! There are a lot of choices, although not all are favorites, hence the long line on the popular ones (hello Jamba Juice!). Captain Morgan and Havaianas were present again, and same as in Summer Solstice, Captain Morgan has the P200 for 3 cups and one prize promo while Havaianas gave free vodka lime. Speaking of free stuff, being in the VIP section gives you free Smart C+ drink, Oishi chips, a tall glass of Nestea Ice Tea, a cup of Nestle Fitnesse cereal & Nestle coffee, and hell yeah, Magnum Ice Cream! Only got one Magnum though as I'm not a big fan of ice creams.

Hot Axe astronauts are here again! Saw them from Summer Solstice too.

• (photo by www.magicliwanag.com)

Rayban's booth is one of the coolest that day, with the huge Rayban balloon hanging and the "Never Hide" photobooth.

• (photos by www.magicliwanag.com)

Blame Wild Hearts for the beautiful floral crowns, Indian headdress, and other accessories seen everywhere among fashionistas! 

Was amused to see Tides there, together with a real Tides set-up, let's drink to that! 

• (photo by www.magicliwanag.com)

Other stalls sold beer while some sold mixed drinks. The non-smoking event (as what the posting outside the venue says), was still attended by smoking concert goers. I prefer that though, the whole festive moment may not be complete without them having a puff or two right?

Lastly, to make this a fun, lively, artsy, and YOLO experience, you have to try the velcro wall and the inflatable slides and jousts, plus see the artworks made for that day! The inflatable activities are free for the VIP while those from the Gold section would just have to pay roughly P20-30 to try it. 

• Artwork by Thursday Room (photo by www.magicliwanag.com)

•          (photo from www.rappler.com)

Celebrities joining the festivities were Ann and Jasmin Curtis Smith, Erwann Heussaff, Sam Concepcion, Coleen Garcia, Maxene and Saab Magalona, the always present Divine Lee, Raymond Gutierrez, Andi and Geoff Eigenmann, and a whole bunch more!

• Senator Sonny Angara ang beautiful partner! (photo by www.magicliwanag.com)

Whew, that was a pretty long post, but it was a wonderful long event anyway! Apologies for the late posting by the way. Good thing I still have the Wanderland hangover to write this. One of the best event I've attended so far, THANK YOU Karpos Multimedia Inc. for giving us this day of fashion, music, food, drinks, activities, that we exclusively experienced. Yup, exclusive, hipster, indie, independent thinkers, however you call it, we all know that we all shared the same infinite circle of wonderland that Saturday!

My request for the next Wanderland Music Fest line-up would be The XX, Bastille, Stars, Vampire Weekend, Passiot Pit, Tegan and Sara, Two Door Cinema Club, and a Copeland reunion perhaps? There's a lot more actually, but I'll just let your good music taste decide ;)

• Spotted! (photo by www.magicliwanag.com)  

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR... GAAAAH... WANDERLAND 2014!!!