jason mraz in manila

earlier this year i had a blast watching maroon 5 concert at moa, but nothing compares to the jason mraz concert at araneta coliseum last oct 30.

first we got silver seats so we had a good view (not too far but not too expensive too) of the stage.
second, these were reserved seats so we didn't have to stand up for 2 hours or jostle with the crowd. N and i were happily sitting down listening to great acoustic music.
the entire coliseum was jam packed with people.. it was so amazing!

earlier, when we were waiting for the show to start, i was excitedly chatting about all the songs i wish he would sing tonight and N was smiling at me telling me, i like jason but you're a bigger fan than i am.. when jason finally came out N and i just started screaming our hearts out. N turned to me and said, "who am i kidding? i love jason" and just continued to scream. HAHAHA.

i wasn't able to watch his concert years ago due to my busy schedule and lack of funds but when i first found out he was coming, i just bought tickets asap. i didn't want to miss the show. it was also a good thing that i moved my beijing trip a few days earlier so i was able to watch the concert.

and it was such a fantastic show! so much energy from the crowd. jason was wonderful. just goes to show you dont need a lot of flash, bright lights, sexy backup dancers or too much autotune to make a great concert. you just need a guy with a beautiful soul and singing incredible music. just pure talent!

i tried to record some of the songs that i like, unfortunately, i forgot to charge my camera's battery when i arrived from beijing, so i was only able to record 1 song using my camera. the rest of the videos below i recorded using my HTC desire HD phone. oh and sorry in case you hear the loud screams... those were coming from me and my friend. hehe.

here's the setlist for the manila show:
1. she's the bomb
2. dynamo of volition
3. live high
4. if it kills me
5. across the universe (snippet beatles cover)
6. lucky - love how he sang both parts

7. fly me to the moon (had to change to my htc phone so i missed the first few lines)

8. the world as i see it
9. the woman i love - looove the song
10. a beautiful mess
11. please dont tell her
12. i wont give up
13. 93 million miles
14. you and i both - one of my fave

15. the remedy / wonderwall (oasis cover)

16. details in the fabric
17. life is wonderful

encore:
18. rescue
19. butterfly - i was hoping that jason would sing this song tonight so really happy that he did!

20. the freedom song - love how he ended the song with "Real men dont buy girls" HOT!!
21. i'm yours - of course, this song is on my repeat itunes playlist

there were some songs i hoped he sang like Make it mine, Sleep all day, I'll do anything but since the last 2 were quite old it was understandable. make it mine is also another one of my faves but i dont mind since he sang Live high.

overall, it's a concert i will always fondly remember. the next morning, my head was still buzzing with his songs that i couldnt help but play his songs on my ipod the rest of the day. im also ecstatic to hear he is releasing a new album next year. jason said he will be back in manila in 2012.. really hope so.. i would still go and watch his concert again!!

satisfied customers :)

k-drama triple review

this is long time coming but haven't had the chance to write about this k-dramas that i watched last year (i know.. so delayed).

Prosecutor Princess

Title: 검사 프린세스 / Geomsa Princess
Previously known as: 검사 마타하리 / Prosecutor Mata Hari
Genre: Romance
Episodes: 16
Broadcast network: SBS
Broadcast period: 2010-Mar-31 to 2010-May-20
Air time: Wednesdays & Thursdays 21:55

Synopsis: Ma Hye Ri is a woman with an excellent memory and ability to focus, which allowed her to pass the bar exam with ease. Despite her talents, she is more interested in being fashionable and dislikes hard work so she is far from being an ideal prosecutor and has doubts about her suitability for her job. Through her conflicts with senior colleages and struggles with difficult cases, however, Hye Ri gradually matures into a brilliant prosecutor with a sense of duty and justice.

Cast:

Kim So Yeon as Ma Hye Ri
Park Shi Hoo as Seo In Woo

Review:
I only know Kim So Yeon from All About Eve where she played a really bitchy and bitter woman to Chae Rim's character and her risque outfits during award shows. However, I was interested in watching this show after reading that she was sort of like Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, which is one of my favorite Reese Witherspoon movies. When i first started watching the show, I liked it immediately because the first few episodes were more comedy and instantly rooted for Ma Hye Ri. It's also great that KSY had immense chemistry with PSH which made watching kiligable. I also loved all of KSY's outfits, even though some are outlandish.

I also liked the episodal cases that they handle and I love how the drama showed Ma Hye Ri's growth from a spoiled sheltered rich woman to someone who is more compassionate and more understanding. The main conflict (did MHR's dad kill PSH's dad?) was believable and mysterious, and it kept me guessing and analyzing all through out the series on how it will all end. I felt the pain and the love between the 2 characters and funny, even though MHR's dad was scary and strict, I actually liked him and I was so glad everything worked out well in the end. I was however quite bored with the 2 secondary leads (the two lawyers) though i did liked the way the guy proposed to the girl (by using Lee Seung Gi's Will You Marry Me as a ringtone). Overall, I loved this series.

september booklist

September was a busy month for me, with juggling 2 accounts and getting an unexpected travel to bangalore for a new audit. i did however managed to get some reading time in the airplane and in the hotel room.

43. major crush by jennifer echols
Tired of the beauty-pagean circuit, Virginia Sauter tosses her tiara, pierces her nose, and auditions for the most unlikely of roles -- drum major of the high school marching band. Virginia wins, but is forced to share the title with Drew, whose family has held the position for generations. Sure, Drew is hot, but because of his superior attitude, he and Virginia are constantly arguing. That is, until they share more than just their half-time salute...But as the drum major's heated competition turns to sizzling romance, explosive rumors threaten everything -- including the band's success. Love seemed to be a sure hit, but Virginia and Drew may be marching straight into disaster. 4 stars. Cute ya novel.

44. flat out sexy by erin mccarthy
Two years after Tamara Briggs's husband was killed in a wreck at Talladega, she's back to dating, but her latest beau is a dud. She dumps him and remains intent on not ending up with another race-car driver, but that's exactly what she gets when she meets Elec Monroe. Things progress quickly, and soon she's having dynamite sex with this younger man who's nice to her kids—who could ask for more? There's a catch of course: Elec is the son of Tamara's dead husband's father's sworn enemy. 4 1/2 stars. Loved eric and tamara and their sweet story. there wasn't really much conflict like the plot made it out to be and focused more on their relationship.

45. divorced, desperate and dating by christie craig
A mystery writer is forced to reconsider her policy against dating when she is protected from death threats by the sexiest cop she's ever seen. 4 stars. Fun story but i hated the dilly dallying between the 2 characters which went all through out the story. the girl was so pakipot and the guy was just to tight lipped.

46. compromising positions by jenna bayley burke
David Strong knows how to do a lot of things that is, until he gets tangled up with Sophie Delfino and her Sensational Sex workout. He’s supposed to help her demonstrate Kama Sutra positions for her couples’ yoga class which unexpectedly tests his control to the limit. Sophie’s been fantasizing about David since her teens, but she never dreamed she’d actually be expected to run through her intimate desires—with an audience! Sophie knows she wants David in every way, and she’s flexible enough to use whatever she has to get him. David can’t afford any unexpected distractions. Besides the sensual positions he has to endure without embarrassing himself in public, there’s an embezzler stealing from his company. And then there’s Sophie—who is well on her way to stealing his well-guarded heart.
3 1/2 stars. Started great but went downhill during the last few chapters. didn't care much for craig and daphne. liked david but the vasectomy thing/storyline was just lame.

novels started but did not finish - maybe i was just not in the mood or the writing/story just didn't have an appeal for me to read until the end

47. tammara webster - between the lines
boring. didn't sound like they were hollywood actors (well, not that i know what happens offscreen). read in the reviews that the story gets better but wasn't interested enough to read on.

48. janice thompson - fools rush in
for some reason, i dont lke reading stories on italian americans (i guess because my weird mind tends to read the story with a really bad accent and all i can picture are the people from the godfather or jersey shore).

bangalore!

i thought my mumbai trip in august was my last trip to india for a while.. turns out one of the managers needed someone with a valid visa to go to india last sept and asked if i can go. normally i might have declined but then i was in the middle of completing 3 audits so i wasn't that busy on that week and so i agreed. it is much harder to pretend you have work and stare at the laptop all day doing nothing than go on a trip and be busy and useful to someone else. besides it's a plus for me if i can work on something different and get to know other team members. and so off i went to bangalore.

after my bad encounter with thai airways, i decided to go via hong kong instead and take CX (Manila-HK) then DragonAir (HK-BLR). While the dragonair plane looked a bit old, i still enjoyed the business class section because I was able to sleep comfortably (the seats can go flat and i didn't have a seatmate).

When i reached Bangalore... wow... i fell in love with the weather!! sure it was almost 11.30at night. but damn! the wind was so cool it was amazing! i felt like i was in the province (well bangalore is a semi-province). My office mate later told me that Bangalore used to be like the vacation place of the rich Indian families because of the cool weather. The weather stays cool the whole year around except for a few weeks during summer.

On my first day, i booked a room at Taj Vivanta, which turns out was quite far from the office -- at least 1 hour due to the heavy traffic. seems like everyone is going to the city center at the same time. I met up with my colleague in front of the lobby. I was wearing my favorite dress and my new 3 inch high heels and carrying a laptop on one shoulder and my big Longchamp bag on the other. You see, the roads and side streets in India are made of cobblestone -- which makes it harder to walk esp when wearing high heels.. yup you guessed it.. i tripped!! my colleague was walking too fast for me (aside from being taller than i am, he was wearing flats while i was lugging two big bags and cautiously stepping on the cobblestone).. despite my careful efforts, i still slipped, my left knee banged against the rocky-edged cobblestone (hugh ouchie!!!). i tried hard to stand up and i felt wobbly for a few seconds and i was trying hard not to wince at the pain. luckily my colleague had his back turned so he didn't see me fall down, though he did turn and asked if i was okay when he saw my bloodies left knee (sob sob). he then took my laptop bag and carried it for me. (he's such a nice guy). i didn't care that all the male tambays saw me fall down and probably saw more than what they're supposed to (luckily i had worn black undies!) but i didnt care - dont know them and will never see them again and i dont understand what they're saying anyways.

the rest of the day went by uneventful. by night time, colleague T and i decided to have dinner in the only mall in the city called Forum mall -- the restaurant name is called Sahib Sindh Sultan (http://sahibsindhsultan.com/). it was traffic going to the mall, we ended up spending 1hr and 20mins to get to the place. but it was worth it -- the interiors were designed like old trains -- really nice. the place was packed! seats were like in trains and even the waiters and the order takers had old train guard uniforms. i tried to take pics but it was too dark and blurry. Food was also great -- my colleague was vegetarian so we ate vegetarian food -- which i find are practically the same types of veggies but cooked different ways -- like the aloo (potato), veggie curry, etc.. of course i always make sure to eat roti :) we finished almost around 11pm and good thing traffic was lighter and we were able to reach the hotel in 30 mins.

the next day, we decided to move to Crowne Plaza Hotel which is exactly infront of the Blr office -- made sense since my client only comes in at 6pm so i had to stay longer in the office - at least i get go back and forth to the hotel anytime i felt like it. Downside is that there were only 2 places to eat in the hotel -- the breakfast lounge and the Italian restaurant. the breakfast lounge served started breakfast buffet but the food was unexciting - i dont eat Indian food in the morning coz im afraid my stomach may not take too much spice in the morning so i ended up eating light for breakfast. on some days, i skip breakfast and go straight to lunch. the italian restaurant wasn't so bad at least the meal was familiar. for dinner, all of us will be so hungry and didn't want to wait for our order so we would just grab the dinner buffet at the lobby lounge.

luckily, i was able to finish my job on time. unfortunately i wasn't able to go out of Electronic City again and do some sightseeing (though there's nothing really there). but still i enjoyed my time there (mainly because of the weather). maybe if they ask me to come back there i will.. thought i hope next time i can go to Jaipur!!

china

After 30 years of existence im finally going to china! My ancestor's homeland. I have studied the chinesw map, mandarin and chinese history all through out high school. Been fascinated with kung fu movies and wanting to visit the great wall and now i finally can!

As a first timer i had to gather alot of requirements for the chinese visa. After more than 2 weeks of completing my requirements my friend and i decided on a good day to submit our application. Our plan was to go there around 8am to get a number and hope that we finish before lunch (we both had to go to work in the afternoon). The night before d-day i was checking my requirements when i realized that i still did not receive my coe from hr. I asked for the coe a week ago and 2 days ago hr called me up to say that theyve sent it via messenger. The next day was when typhoon nesat came and due to the chaos i forgot to follow up on it. Turns out the messenger didnt deliver it to my office. Since i only discovered it around 7pm, the mailroom crew have left for the day and they told me to come back early morning.

The next day i hurriedly dropped by the office at 8am to speak to mailroom. It was around 8.30 when they were able to trace the document. It was still in the branch. I thanked the cres person and told her to hang on to it while i make my way to makati. Meanwhile my friend was already in the embassy and took a number. We were no 309. Since my office was near rizal drive i took the buendia flyover to makati. Big mistake. I was stuck for more than 30mins! Seemed like everyone wanted to go to makati. When i reached makati avenue the coast was clear.. the main traffic was only in the buendia section. I sped fast until i reached ayala ave. I forgot to ask the cres lady to meet me downstairs so i had to park at the basement, run up the 23rd floor, pickup the document and leave the building. It was alteady 9.30am and my friend said that we were just 7 nos away! Good thing i was quite familiar with the roads and the embassy as ive been there several times before and even got lost trying to navigate the one way street that i wad able to reach the embassy in less than 10mins. I was so panicky i didnt even bother changing my driving shoes and just ran to the 2nd floor. When i met my friend u saw the no being served was 304. Whew!!! Made it!!!

Our turn came and we nervously waited while the lady checked our requirements. I was so relieved that she handed me the pink slip which means okay and to pick up the passport 4 days later. However they did not accept my friend's bank stayement. We had to go to the bpi branch across the embassy, transfer sone money to her account, get a bank certification and go back to the embassy. Good thing we were only got for less than 30mins. My friend went back to the same lady who allowed her to cut in rather than take a new no. Minutes later she got her pink slip too and we went back to the office.

My friend went back to the embassy last thur to pay the fee and pickup our passports! Yehey so now were busy planning and packing for our trip!! Will definitely blog about it when im back!!

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august booklist

i was able to read many books this month since i stayed in mumbai for 2 weeks and didn't bring anything to keep me company except for my kindle.

37. so over you by gwen hayes

Layney Logan, girl reporter. That's all she's ever wanted to be. This year, her senior year, not only does she have to share the coveted Senior Editor position with her arch nemesis, Jimmy Foster, she also has to figure out how to keep the school paper alive. With the local paper closing and the school cutting Journalism from the budget, it's a long shot. Working side-by-side with Foster, the guy she likes to call Lucifer,makes it even worse. The only thing Layney dislikes more than swimming in the high school dating pool is Jimmy Foster think he got the best of her, so she takes his ridiculous newspaper assignment--to go on twelve blind dates--to prove his powers of darkness won't work on her. The trouble is, the more she learns about herself on her journey of bad blind dates, the more she wonders if maybe Foster has known her better than she knows herself all this time.  And maybe she should have trusted him with the secret she’s kept for four years—the secret that broke them up to begin with.

4 stars - the ending came out of nowhere, as if the author just wanted to make an "unexpected twist" at the end to shock us or to justify them breaking up in the first place. i think if they had talked about it they wouldn't have broken up (so what a waste!) but then i guess that was the true cause --they were too young and they needed time to grow up and face this tough situation in a more mature manner. nevertheless, i had fun reading all of layne's dates and the chemistry between the two.


38. lonely hearts club by elizabeth eulberg

Penny's parents are Beatles fanatics - in fact, they love the Beatles, so much, they named their daughters Lucy (in the Sky with Diamonds), Rita (the Lovely Meter Maid) and Penny Lane after Beatles songs.
When Penny discovers her boyfriend cheating on her, she decides she's sick of boys and all the aggravation they cause her. She swears off boys (until she's out of high school, anyway) and decides to form a club. What better name than The Lonely Hearts Club since she's grown up in a Beatles culture? To be a member you must:
* stop dating boys while you're in high school
* attend all couple events (such as Homecoming, parties, etc) as a group
* attend Saturday night meetings
* be supportive of friends, even when they make bad choices
The Lonely Hearts Club turns out to be more popular than Penny ever imagined, but it also causes problems. The boys at her high school aren't crazy about it and the principal thinks it's disruptive. Things really start to heat up for Penny, though, when she starts to like a certain boy. Penny and her club learn a lot about life in just a few months.


4 1/2 stars - really love this book. i love the girl power movement in the story even though it started because of a boy. i loved the story between penny and ryan bauer. and i like the message at the end that just because you're in a relationship does not mean you cannot hang out with your girlfriends. in fact that's always been my motto -- boys come and go but girlfriends are forever!

39. caleb+ kate by cindy martinusen-coloma

As the popular darling of the junior class and heiress to the five-star Monrovi Inn empire, Kate has both everything and nothing. She's bored with school and life...until she locks eyes with Caleb at a school dance.
Caleb is new to Kate's exclusive prep school, and it's clear he doesn't fit in. In fact, he and his dad work in maintenance for Kate's father. And while Caleb knows better than to spend time with the boss's daughter, it seems that every time he tries to back away, something pulls him right back in.
When their parents demand that they are to stay away from each other, they learn of a fight between their families that occurred more than fifty years ago. It's a mystery Kate doesn't understand...but a legacy Caleb has endured his entire life.
With the world stacked against them, Caleb and Kate will have to walk by faith to find the path that God has planned for them.


3 1/2 stars - the story was okay, very predictable since of course you know they will end up together. i was a bit bored with the writing and skipped some parts because it felt like i have seen this movie before (like a disney channel original movie or a lifetime tv movie) but i still liked the ending.

40. cindy ella by robin palmer
Prom fever has infected LA—especially Cindy’s two annoying stepsisters, and her overly Botoxed stepmother. Cindy seems to be the only one immune to it all. But her anti-prom letter in the school newspaper does more to turn Cindy into Queen of the Freaks than close the gap between the popular kids and the rest of the students. Everyone thinks she’s committed social suicide, except for her two best friends, the yoga goddess India and John Hughes–worshipping Malcolm, and shockingly, the most popular senior at Castle Heights High and Cindy’s crush, Adam Silver. Suddenly Cindy starts to think that maybe her social life could have a happily ever after. But there’s still the rest of the school to deal with. With a little bit of help from an unexpected source and a fabulous pair of heels, Cindy realizes that she still has a chance at a happily ever after.

4 stars - the story reminded me a little bit of hillary duff's movie, cinderella story meets pretty in pink so it was no surprise to me that her chatmate was the hot senior she was crushing on. but still it's a good YA book. the stepmom and the twins were actually not so bad and i liked her friends India and Malcolm. just dont understand the obsession on prom though.

41. perfect play by jaci burton

The last thing event planner Tara Lincoln needs is the jet-set lifestyle of a football pro like Mick Riley; even though their steamy and passionate one-night stand proved that Mick is an all-star-both on the field and in the bedroom.
Tara played the game of love once and lost big, and she doesn't intend to put herself out there again, especially with a certified heartbreaker. But when Mick sets his mind to win, nothing will stop him. And he has the perfect play in mind to catch this sultry vixen.


4 stars - nice story but there was just too much sex! so many sex scenes that were quite graphic that i ended up skipping most of these parts. 

42. romantically challenged by beth orsoff
When L.A. entertainment lawyer Julie Burns becomes convinced that finding The One is "just a numbers game," she sets out on a dating frenzy. From chance meetings and blind dates to dating services and the wonderful world of the Internet, Julie will try anything to meet her man. And in the process, she discovers a secret or two about the single life: Sometimes love sneaks up on you when you least expect it-and even the worst first impressions can have surprising results.

3 1/2 stars - i liked the story overall but i thought there were too much dating and too many guys for one girl. i understand that's the point of the story that she's unlucky in love but then she ended up with one of the first guys introduced in the story.. it's like the author gave us a wild goose chase only to come back to the start. but i guess it's journey that brought her to her true love that's more important.

Travel woes

I have been to mumbai and back for the last couple of years but this trip was different because not only is this probably was last trip, it's also the first i've experienced problems with my flight and luggage.

My flight was slated to depart at 1:05 pm. I was checked in and waiting at the lounge by 11am. Come 1:05 they told us flight is moved to 3pm due to technical problems. So everyone grumbled and i went back to the lounge. When it was 3pm they again moved our flight to 6pm. 6pm rolled in and an airport officer dropped by to inform us that the plane has not been fixed and we were all transferred to the 8:30 flight. I approached him and told him i had a connecting flight to mumbai which i will miss. He was efficient in making sure that he booked me an overnight stay at bangkok novotel airport hotel and made arrangements for me to tAke the jetair flight the next day at 9:40am. By 7pm he finally announced that the original plane is ready for boarding. Funny most of the pinoys and asians boarded the flight while the westerns were scared and waited for the next flight. Me and a few others who had a connecting flight that we will miss anyway decided to stay and take the next flight too.

When we finally arrived in bangkok, i met another pinoy who was going to mumbai too so we decided to stick together for now. Unfortunately they had a hard time looking for my luggage!! We waited for about 30 mins until they told me to go to the hotel and they will deliver my luggage as soon as they find it.

The novotel airport hotel had a huge lobby and the rooms are not bad at all. Unfortunately i couldnt take a good rest because it was already 1:30 am and im worried about my luggage. I finally got a call that they found my luggage and will be bringing to the hotel and i was able to sleep.

When i woke up at 5am i got my luggage from the concierge. First thing i noticed the zipper which i left at the lower left side is now on the upper right side. I thought it was odd but didnt think too much of it until i opened my luggage and discovered several things: 1 my luggage was thoroughly ransacked; 2 my zipped bag which had my box of perfume and shampoo sachets was opened and everything inside are missing; 3 all my clothes are a mess those i put at the bottom were on top and vice versa; 4 even my zipped bag containing all my chargers were opened and were removed but luckily not stolen; 5 even my chinese textbook that i placed inside a plastic was also taken out; and 6 small envelopes where i put my receipts were removed! In short super f-ing bad trip!!!!! Thats why it took them such a long time to locate my luggage!! It can only happen either in manila during the flight delay or in bangkok during baggage claim. Unfortunately my guess is it happened in manila since a friend also had the experience and her perfume also went missing. Interestingly my padlock was perfectly fine. I guess its true that you can unzip the luggage without breaking the locks like in that youtube video.

I was furious but since it was just perfume i didnt report it, also since i had to catch a flight to mumbai in a few hours.

1 day later i realized that my company issued webcam was also missing :( this time i finally had to report it to the airlines and my company and file a report to claim it. Good thing the airlines were very responsive and when i arrived in manila last sat an officer met me to sign the pilfered baggage report. Now just have to talk to the claims officer tomorrow for the procedure.

Lessons learned for me: dont be stubborn and hand carry my laptop. Look for a lighter laptop bag. Buy a smaller perfume to handcarry. Next time when i buy a luggage maybe find one without a zipper.