So long, 2018 👋🏻

2018 was an awesome year - and not because everything was rainbows and flowers but because despite everything that happened, I was able to accomplish a lot and had great support along the way. Yes, there were truly ugly moments, but I'd like to think this year made me a better person 🙂

While waiting for 2019, I'd love to look back at what made my 2018 memorable:

1. My sisters went back home to MNL - we're finally complete ❤️ Had a blast celebrating the holidays with my loved ones 🙂

2. Finally learned how to drive and actually drove several times alone within the city. One dream off my checklist 👌🏻

3. Traveling to new places and had a lot of new experiences this year. Made my heart (and belly, lol) fuller ❤️

4. Trying out new stuff at work and discovering that I am able and I am capable when I push myself 💪🏻

5. Learned a lot about what I want in the future but still riding the tail-end of my midlife crisis.

6. Still lovin' my life with special thanks to family, friends and the boyfriend ❤️

7. Although I stopped and lost my will numerous times, I am still determined to finish my grad studies and achieve a healthier lifestyle 😄

2019, I pray you bring about courage and wisdom to face the tough challenges, a grateful spirit, an open mind and heart, and a never-say-die attitude. More smiles, laughter, hugs, kisses and quality time with loved ones won't hurt either 🙂

Leaving 25 Behind

A little over 5 minutes left before I turn 26 *cue birthday playlist*

My 25th year in this Earth brought about the toughest challenges I have yet to face in life. I took a leap of faith and flailed for a long time. I pretty much spent this year hoping and praying and crying but in the end, I landed on my feet.

Regardless of the challenges, I felt like I grew stronger and wiser over the last 12 months. I did not know how things would turn out and I had a lot of why-did-I-do-this-again moments but I'd like to think those moments made me feel more appreciative of what I have right now.

A lot of priceless moments also highlighted my 25th year - things that I didn't know I had the courage to actually go through because I was scared and anxious. But hey, if you don't jump with your eyes fully closed then you'd forever wonder what if, right? 

25 taught me that life moves forward whether you've caught on or not. And no, I'm not exactly invincible. I will fumble and fail miserably for a while but (cliche as it may sound) I'll be okay.

For my 26th, I wish for good health and safety (for me and my loved ones), a kick-ass year at work and the courage to boldly face whatever life throws at me. I acknowledge that life won't always be rainbows and flowers - I guess I'll just have to take it one day, one problem at a time.

A heaping serving of love, success, happiness and purpose, please 😊

Thoughts

I was never good with change. I used to feel anxious and panicky every single time I had to do something different or deal with a whole new set of people (I still do). I like my comfort. I like my routine. I like predictability. I kept telling myself whenever I settled into a cushy routine: "I wish this would last forever, these would be my constant for the rest of my life". 

Boy, was I really naive.

Circumstances changed. We did some growing up and explored different paths. People changed. My close-knit group of friends whom I used to talk to every single day were busy and I had to put in a lot of effort to keep in touch (even though this was not reciprocated - but hey, I didn't mind). Plans fell through and I learned that 99.9% of the time, I would get frustrated that people would bail out or worse, don't reply at all. Dealing with new people with their whole new different set of attitudes was draining. But, as all human beings do, I adapted. 

I guess I wanted to write this down because I felt like I'm constantly being slapped by reality. Your best friends don't stay your best friends for the rest of your life. You might like doing something now but who knows what you will want in 3 years? Problems evolve but so do you. Dealing with people can be exhausting - often times this takes the biggest effort.

Change is inevitable, they say. I feel like a huge part of me is still figuring things out and I'm unable to cope with unpleasant things. But I guess I will adapt. I always do.

Out of the blue and into the red

My, how time flies. This blog has been asleep for a while now. Or the owner may have been just a tad lazy. Will resurrect this as soon as time permits. For now, I write to make sense of something.

Do you ever have those days when you feel like everything's in order but somehow, something feels missing? And you can't quite put your finger on it - the world just doesn't make sense for some bizarre reason. You go through the motions of your routine and play the part of an active human being. Be it an employee, student, businessman or a homebody. And yet, that nagging feeling that you are missing out on something big is persistent. You can't concentrate and you question yourself: what am I missing?

Sadly, I cannot answer the questions much to my frustration. I've been literally drowning in a sea of insecurities and uncertainties lately that I can't keep up with all the thoughts zipping inside my head. What keeps me afloat these days is a breath of fresh air. For what it's worth, I hope what I'm focusing on yields something significant. Or can somehow help me make sense of this unsettling pit in my stomach.

I'm happy to stay blue but I'm yearning to go red. I hope the universe is pointing me in the right direction. Or giving me the right signals at least.

Mystery Manila Review

*This is a spoiler free post - it contains references to what's in the themed rooms but limited to what's already available in their website.

After Breakout Philippines, we sought to try out the second (or first, depends on who you ask really) of the latest fad centering around live escape-the-room games currently taking Metro Manila by storm.

Enter Mystery Manila.

There are two "mysteries" available to try - Justice for Jamila and the Chained Chamber. Coming off our victory (read: dumb luck) from Breakout Philippines, I was determined to squeeze this in my schedule during my one week break from work. I think I got carried away though 'cause I booked both rooms in a span of less than a week. Oops.

Last Tuesday, me and my sisters braved the grueling heat to try out the "Justice for Jamila" room. Since I had a case of "north-o-phobia", I kept my eyes peeled for the Mystery Manila logo in the Eastwood surroundings. Although our cab driver dropped us off at IBM Plaza, it was relatively easy to spot the JW Plaza Bldg because of its telltale landmarks. Upon spotting the Mystery Manila banner on the 2nd floor, my excitement grew.

The premise for the "Justice for Jamila" room was to help Mr. Castillo solve the murder of his hired detective, Jamila Torres. Upon signing the waiver and being briefed, we were escorted to the room to start our "investigation" accompanied by the gamekeeper (who was there to give us clues if we asked for it but if provided will add extra minutes to our finishing time).

Needless to say, the effect of entering the "crime scene" was a bit underwhelming since we weren't blindfolded (like in Breakout Philippines). The clues hidden in the room were very hard to find and you really needed to use your noggin to make sense of the connections. After struggling with numerous dead-ends and bickering about whether or not we should ask for a clue, we ran out of time. Looking back, I'd say that the material in this room was overwhelming and strategy + teamwork are key to solving the case.

Today, me and my high school friends went back to try the other room - the Chained Chamber. Eerily similar to the first Saw movie concept (minus the sawing your foot off part), we were told that this room was harder than the other one I tried last Tuesday.

Wait, what? We barely scraped by in Justice for Jamila. Are we going to die in this room? :O

Unlike the other room, we were blindfolded before we entered and were subsequently handcuffed to opposite sides of the room. Now, the effect of this was more terrifying than the previous 2 rooms I've tried out. There's something about being chained that tricks your mind into helplessness and the feeling of being paralyzed. We bucked under pressure 3/4 into the game and asked for a clue from the gamekeeper.

Surprisingly, we broke out just in the nick of time (58 minutes) and were whooping in delight when the gamekeeper reminded us that we asked for a clue and our finishing time was now 62 minutes.

Drat.

But we escaped! (Yay!) and we're super proud of it :) Escaped 2 out of 3 times. Hmmm. Not bad :)

After trying out both their rooms, I commend the Mystery Manila team for creating something like this. It was mind-blowing and exhilarating on our part. I just wish they'd come up with more themed rooms in the future (I can hear my wallet crying already) and more locations closer to the South.

Life will be full of mysteries indeed :)

Mystery Manila - www.mysterymanila.com
JW Plaza Bldg. E Rodriguez Ave. Quezon City

Breakout Philippines: Dare to Enter (and Escape!)

This blog entry contains no spoilers, just general descriptions of the awesomeness that's coming your way when you sign up :)

Imagine yourself waking up in a strange room. There's no one there but you and a pair of your friends who seem disoriented as you are. Then you realize you're locked in and a big ol' digital clock is staring down at you, broadcasting how much time you have left to escape.

Welcome to Breakout Philippines. 

Sort of. (You're not going to be knocked out before being brought to the room :-P)

You won't be put in real danger of course but being in the room for the first time, you WILL be shocked and feel a bit panicked. It seems like there's a myriad of stuff that the room holds. It's up to you to figure out how to use 'em. And fast. With time running out and a whole lot to process, you feel pressure building up and you can't help but think that you have no chance in hell of escaping. Until you find the solution and it all clicks.

In our case, we spent a lot of time engrossed in stuff that weren't even remotely helpful. Just when time was about to run out, (by sheer stroke of dumb luck) we found our way out and had a buzzer beater finish.

Yup, WE ESCAPED :D

It's about time this type of role play genre made its way to the Philippines. I mean, we have no shortage of online games but the feeling of being physically there, seeing the panicked looks of your friends and seeing the daunting clock not to mention being able to work face-to-face with other people (an experience no online game will give you), gives you a different level of adrenaline rush.

And when you escape? Euphoria. Relief. And of course, bragging rights :)

Go try it out. It's worth it :)

Here's to 2014 and beyond.

Happy 2014! Rang in the New Year with my loved ones over bottles of red wine and bowls of shabu-shabu surrounded by the sounds of fireworks and frenzied people frantically jumping (para daw tumangkad).

I am filled with two things: adrenaline and hope. It may sound a little presumptuous but I want this year to be a sort-of banner year. This will be the year that I will look back upon and say "I achieved a lot during that year" or "That was the year when I took steps to reach one of my life dreams".

Starting my graduate studies is something I'm really looking forward to. I start this 2nd week of January and I'm so excited to return to the campus as a student after 3 years. To say that I missed studying is an understatement. You might think me a nerd but I thrive more in a learning environment, Of course I can't be a teacher what with my impatience with kids. For now, its a welcome change to my work-home routine.

Work-wise, I'm looking forward to a lot of things as well but I'm not going to discuss those in detail yet. I'm just filled with gratefulness for everything.

Here's to making more new friends this year.

Here's to leaving everything in God's hands - I will do my best and the rest is up to him.

Here's to looking at the bright side - no matter how many dark days I get, I am thankful to be alive and blessed.

Here's to the single life.

Here's to another fruitful year with my loved ones. My two younger sisters are leaving the country but I hope and pray that they'll be safe wherever they go.

Here's to more laughs, more milk tea, more noodles, more hugs, more music, and more love.

Here's to 2014 - ready as I'll every be. Bring it :-)

An order of sanity with a side of purpose please.

You used to stare at the future with a smirk on your face and la-di-da thoughts running in your mind. The future? That's like, so far off. I'm 15, I have about 10 years to figure out what I wanted to do in life.

Suddenly, life happened. It swooped in and took over your sorry little ass. The next thing you know you're 25, wondering where the 10 years you seemingly thought was forever, went. It's a bit scary to come to the realization that you missed Future's knocks and danced with Procrastination a bit longer than you expected. Growing up meant you needed to bid adieu to Procrastination and welcome Future with open arms.

This doesn't mean that enjoying your life is a crime that warrants a lifetime punishment. You're only young once, you better believe this IS the best time of your life. Once a career, a family and a whole slew of responsibilities figure in, everything changes.

Am I too late? Or am I just being paranoid? Yes, the endless barrage of questions seem to never stop. The self-pity and crushing depression ain't strange either. Welcome to early adulthood.

Then again, if you're still thinking about these things, are you sure you're where you want to be? Order's up!

Babble-o-rama

The title of this blog entry leaves much to be desired. Then again, at this late hour, my thoughts are given free rein to make me feel nostalgic, longing even. For what or whom, I don't know.

For the past 10 minutes, I've been staring at a picture. Whoever said that a picture paints a thousand words (or something along those lines), must have been a photographer or someone who really fancied being one. I can't really make myself agree. The candid pose, the half-smile, the unassuming glint of the eye, all it tells me is that the person looks pretty contented. That's about it. My novice observation aside, I can't really tell what goes in a person's mind by simply looking at a picture. I can come up with a few extra ideas if I observe a person's body language, being the hypersensitive being that I am, but again that's about it. No one is an open book. Everybody's shut tight and the only way they can let me in is if I initiate a conversation.

No one likes a pity party, no one likes an obnoxious victor but most of all, no one likes to be a lone success. Being gung-ho for achievement, I must say that all the achievement in the world does not matter if it is not recognized. If people say otherwise, its either they're lying or they're deluded.

What if. What if all the things I've been constantly worrying about catch up with me? What if I had nothing to be afraid of in the first place and I wasted all this time psyching myself out? What if I never get this chance again? What if I embarrass myself and risk losing a precious thing? Or what if the risk was worth it and the paid off? What if?

I'm not making sense am I? I guess my cohesive thoughts took a break and won't be coming back anytime tonight. Or was it the milk tea? I think being drunk on tea and sugar does something to my brain. Might have something to do with the late hour too. Alas, sleep. You forever elude me.

The etymology of change - my changes, at least.

Stumbled across this entry that I wrote in my journal the past year. It seemed fitting for what I'm trying to make sense of for the last few days.

“Change is inevitable. The good news and the bad news is, nothing in this world is permanent”. When I came across this quote while neutrally surfing the internet, wedged between an advertisement of a marriage predictor date and a link to a budget hotel somewhere in Hong Kong, I was startled out of my reverie. There I was thinking how my life has changed so much in the last 10 years and griping incessantly about how adult life sucks when God pityingly consoled my sad self sans the need to stuff my face with fattening chocolate and ice cream. I mulled over the words, much like a surgeon probes the brain of a dying patient, for the next few days. I can never make sense of what I really wanted in life. Was it to stay in the past or sashay into the bright albeit vague future? Looking back, I never became the person I envisioned myself to be. Growing up wasn’t all rainbows and flowers like what I thought it would be when I was in grade school. I wished I stayed a chinky-eyed 8-year old girl forever, whose biggest curiosity was how the windshield wipers kept the rainwater at bay when it was raining really hard. Or that 15-year old girl who was running full steam inside the Haunted House, grabbing someone’s shirt in random and nearly reducing it to shreds due to the fact that she was so scared and didn’t want to be left alone in a house full of her worst nightmares. Was it really 13 years ago when I was lying in bed, keeping my eyes shut tight while pretending to sleep from 1 pm-4 pm? I used to hate siesta time and have given up on asking why my parents made us kids sleep in the middle of the day when our older playmates were free to play patintero until dinnertime. Was it really 9 years ago when I wanted to become a Chemical Engineer because it sounded cool and all the other kids wanted to do it too? I used to think that Chemical Engineers spend their time doing experiments and making things go BOOM! I never really gave any thought to the things that they are actually hoping to achieve with those life-threatening experiments like finding a cure for the latest deadly disease. Minus of course the making things go BOOM! part. When I was about 5 or 6, I used to watch all these American and Japanese shows all day long. When the opening theme of Pokemon would play before that day’s episode, I’d sing along with gusto, throwing a round-shaped object and saying “I choose youuuu!”. It was the time of no labels and I was one of the boys.

Grade school was a safe haven, a place for making new friends. Being in elementary brought about new experiences and routine afresh. Curiosity was never low in supply, and it was the time of unrestrained exploration (case in point: I was so curious how the stapler worked that I accidentally stapled my index finger). Break times were spent huddled under the trees in the school quadrangle eating our packed lunch and sharing funny stories about our teachers. In between classes, we used to play Blue’s Clues and imitate the way Steve would sing and dance when he gets mail or when he solves the clues Blue left for him. Memories that stand out during my elementary days were a combination of the funny, the weird and the unforgettable. I remember a time when I was washing my hand in the sink outside of the girl’s bathroom and accidentally cranked the water faucet to its maximum level, hosing down one of the terror teachers of our school in the process. I was scared but amidst the fear, I felt exhilaration since I’ve never done something like it before.

High school was an alien world to us when we were in elementary. On the first day of high school, we were positively petrified with fear since the feeling of familiarity was gone. There were a lot of new faces, new names to remember. Everybody was more sophisticated. My boyish state of mind noted that the girls were starting to use make-up, the stuff that I found neatly arranged in my mom’s dresser table. The prettiest girls in class reeked of expensive perfume that irritated my nose. I felt different and out of place in this whole new world. Nothing was familiar except the institution and my friends. It was nice though that we were given something to hold on to. We were the first batch to retain the short sleeved blouses that we wore during grade school. Nothing’s changed much except for the more difficult lessons. My antidote to stress was to head to the library after dismissal time and borrow the numerous Sweet Valley books that crammed the shelves of our mini-library. My love of books started during grade school, when I first stumbled upon the “Goosebumps” series by R.L. Stein. I loved that I was a part of the story and I have a say on how the story will end. For the fun of it, I would reread the book over and over again until I read all the possible endings. Seeing that I was a budding bookworm, my parents gave me the complete set of Harry Potter books (of course back then, only the first four books constituted the “complete” set). I stayed up for about a week reading about Harry’s adventures sneakily avoiding the lights-out policy in our house at 10 PM sharp. I distinctly remembered the time when the 5^th book of the Potter series was released and I scoured five bookstores in total just to get my hands on the latest installment. I love to smell books. The musty, old smell of the brown pages and the crisp, clean smell of the marble white pages were like rugby to a bookworm like me. The four years flew by and another round of firsts happened – my first time to not be included in the star section, my first time to be included in the honor roll, my first time to say goodbye – to a bunch of people I knew since I was a little kid. I was vulnerable once I entered college. I didn’t know anybody, was culture-shocked to say the least. I wasn’t prepared for the freedom, the uncertainty that college brought to the point that I came home from the first day of orientation blubbering and crying like an idiot telling anybody who would listen that I wanted to go back. But as with the body’s ability to adapt, I managed to carve my own little niche at college. I met friends whom I considered very dear and experienced almost every ritual of passage a college girl should experience. I experienced no uniforms, a different set of faces, a whole slew of activities to choose from. I was immersed in a totally new environment where fast food and street food became a daily part of my life, where cutting classes was optional but sometimes necessary, where giving up something you love was inevitable after it broke you down bad, and where rivalry was almost synonymous with pride. College was fresh, liberating, and downright FUN. As with high school, I never wanted to leave. But again, fast forward to 3 and 1/2 years, I bade goodbye to my daily routine and readied myself to be devoured by the big mean world. The real world brought about a fresh supply of surprises. Rejection and being told that you aren’t good enough were knife slices, they weren’t meant to cut you open. Rather they were meant to be healed and a lesson to avoid the knife in the future. But alas, we’re only human beings. Changes will still come and maybe, just maybe, someday it will bring about something warm and familiar. I’m still keeping my hopes up."

Back to Basics

I kind of hate myself for abandoning my blog, yet again. Half of 2013 has passed since my last entry so we have a lot of catching up to do. Or not. I don't know but the first half of the year felt like nothing special, save for the Boracay trip and my 22nd birthday. Maybe I'm just looking at this the wrong way and the little things may have been the highlights of my 2013. But whatever, I really can't summon those memories right now. 

I guess I created this blog entry due to the fact that I'm (suprise, surprise) confused for the nth time. I just turned 22. Taking a step back and viewing my life in a nutshell, I really can't say I'm pleased. Honestly, this was not how I envisioned myself when I graduated. I don't know what happened to that girl who was full of hope and dreams when she stepped out of the PICC hall after getting her college diploma. Now, it seems like I was replaced by a robotic version. Mechanically going about my daily routine, not caring what I did or what I'm going to do.

When the clock struck 12 last June 26, I was overwhelmed with a lot of emotions. 22. Wow. It seemed like adulthood was catching up with me fast. My mind instantly replayed what happened during my 21st and I couldn't help but feel sad. Blessings? Too many to count. Accomplishments? Nothing much :( Being someone who built her confidence around tangible accomplishments, my sorry ego took a rather bad beating. I'm a far cry from the version of myself that I wanted to be. 

I'm tired of pep talks. I'm tired of convincing myself that something's going to change and tomorrow when I wake up, I'll feel different. I'm tired of the inspirational quotes, the psychobabble, the mind games. I just want to turn my mind off for a period of time and start over again. Back to basics. Back to the version of myself when I started out in grade school. Not act childish, mind you. But take everything one day at a time and cross the bridge when I get there. Take things slow and steady.

Lying on my bed and listening to the strains of Taylor Swift's "22", I took a deep calming breath and told myself that everything's going to be alright, I'M going to be alright. 

So, 2nd half of 2013, what do you have in store for me?

My 2012 Highlights and Looking Forward to 2013 :-)

Another year gone, another year passed. How time flies. I can't believe it's already the last 8 hours of 2012. What a year. Let me take you back to my Top 5  favorite moments :-)

5) Watching Phantom of the Opera at CCP. 

I just can't stop obsessing over this musical ever since I saw it live. I've only read the plot and it didn't affect me that much. But when I watched it live, I realized that there's something about the play that breaks your heart. Maybe because I've been rooting for the Phantom ever since and the fact that Christine ended up with Raoul disappointed me so much. Oh well, that's unrequited love for you.

4) Joined 2 runs - 3k (NatGeo Run) and 10k (Nike Run)!

Who would've thought that me - the girl who hates to run - can conquer 2 major runs and surpassed my (and everyone else's) expectations? Although my body ached after both runs, running truly is a high that one must experience. Outbreak Manila, you're next! :)

3) Going to the Gym - FINALLY!

Get up, go to work for about 10-12 hours, go home, sleep. That's basically my routine ever since I started working. I felt the effects of being stuck in a rut: being constantly whine-y that I was getting fatter and doing the same thing over and over again made me want to tear my hair out. So when my friend suggested that we avail of the Gold's Gym promo that they had with their company, I jumped at the chance. For 3 months, I did cardio workout, muscle training and Zumba classes after work hours. Although I felt exhausted, I loved every minute of it. We renewed our membership to counteract the holiday weight gain so yeah, I'm looking forward to hit the gym again! :) 

2) Being blessed by the country's strongest bank.

Yes, we did receive a lot of blessings this year (both financial and career growth related). When you combine it all together, its very overwhelming and I just feel so thankful. Yes, I do whine a lot but hey, I'm sticking to my job because I like it. It'll take something big to change my mind but for now, I'm contented about where I'm headed. To all of this, thank you MBTC :)

1) 4 - day Hong Kong trip!

In a way, this trip was memorable since I experienced a lot of firsts: My first time to go abroad without any family member, my first time to almost losing all my travel money due to a faulty credit card, my first time for the weather and the sheer amount of people to thwart my carefully planned out itinerary, my first time to be herded out from a depressing Disneyland because Signal # 9 was up and my first time to shop for a lot of stuff and still have a lot of money left over (thanks to the summer shopping festival!) Sheila and I had a great time nonetheless and the highlights of the trip included:

-Looking for our hotel. We missed the bus stop and had to board the MTR. We finally found it after asking for assistance from our kind kababayans out there.

-Credit Card problem that almost ate up all of the cash we brought with us.

-Ngong Ping Village and the exhausting climb to see the Big Buddha (the stunning view was a reprieve from our breathless state). Oh and I also got a SKY BLUE PANDA TUMBLER, YAY!

-Citygate Outlet. We shopped til we dropped (Now, why can't Giordano and Mango be that cheap here?)

-Reflection at NanLian Gardens. I could stay there all day. Peace and quiet < 3

-Seeing and watching a real live PANDA BEAR. I was so amused I stayed there for half an hour :D

-Viewing Hong Kong's Ocean Park upside down (thanks to the Flash).

-Exploring Madam Tussaud's and seeing Hong Kong's twinkling lights from the Peak (and a lot of walking).

-Disneyland was cancelled since Signal #9 was hoisted all over Hong Kong :(

-Shopping, shopping, shopping at Tsim Sha Tsui, Causeway Bay and Mongkok! Wish we had H&M here! 

2012 was an awesome year for me. I just hope that 2013 will even be better! I already promised myself that for this coming year, I will try to be better version of my previous self. That's the great thing about New Year. An endless supply of hope and determination. I'm excited to see what this year will bring. 2013, I'm ready for you! Bring it! :)

My time with the Phantom of the Opera

I'm not really a fan of musicals and I've never seen one in my entire life (cue the unbelieving gasps here). But don't get me wrong, I wanted to know what the fuss was all about. I've narrowed it down to three specific shows: Wicked, Mamma Mia and of course, The Phantom of the Opera. These are the shows that I believed, would give me a sense of what everybody was raving about.

And so when I heard that The Phantom of the Opera was in town, I immediately searched for ticket prices. I knew these things were pricey but I didn't expect that the cheapest ticket would still be around a thousand pesos (and the seats were quite a distance from the stage!). I thought about it for about a week or two before I finally decided to buy the second cheapest one worth 2250 pesos. Since my family and friends weren't really fans of such shows, I decided to ask my office mate Abi to accompany me. Her liking to the show just fueled my excitement that I eagerly  bought the tickets a month before. The good news is, I chanced upon a promo called the Friday Payday Blow-out that slashed 1000 pesos off the original 2250 pesos ticket price. YAYYYY!! :D :D :D

Last Friday night, we braved the crowded MRT Taft and KFC Harbor Square to make it in time for the 8 PM show at CCP. After riding the elevator all the way up to the 4th floor and buying a pair of binoculars (which was a caveat of how high up we were), we finally entered the main theatre. One word that I uttered the minute I stepped inside the cavernous hall? WOW. The stage was dimly lit with the infamous chandelier covered and clearly the center of the attraction.

                The view from our seats (its quite steep and we were up high O_o)

The show started on time (no Filipino time here!) and from then on, I was hypnotized by every little detail of the play: Christine's soprano voice resonating throughout the theatre, Raoul's love for her childhood sweetheart, the Phantom's obsession with his young protegee and of course the musical numbers. My favorites were The Phantom of the Opera and Think of Me. The Phantom's lair was dank and dark, a perfect reflection of the disfigured musical genius. Jonathan Rouxmouth did the role justice and Claire's voice gave me goosebumps. It truly was magical and the crew deserves a standing ovation indeed since it was like we really were at the Paris Opera House that even the Phantom's reign of terror extends to the audience (I can't quite believe it that they got the Phantom at the top of the stage and hanging at the back of the chandelier).

The downside of the whole thing is that from our view, we weren't able to see the descent of the characters into the Phantom's secret lair (I heard it was amazing since it gave the stage an illusion of depth). And seeing the characters facial expressions might have contributed more to the pull that I've felt to the play since the beginning. For those who are planning to watch, I recommend purchasing the 5,800 pesos tickets. They'll be worth it. Trust me :)

When the Phantom let Christine go and disappeared, I felt tears welling up at the corners of my eyes. It was a truly touching love story that bordered on obsession. I truly felt the Phantom's pain and when he was playing with the robotic monkey figurine in the end, I knew that I wanted Christine to end up with the Phantom.

After exiting the theatre, I was beyond awed. After taking some photos at the lobby, I hailed a taxi and went home. I kept thinking about the musical - the story, the songs and the cast members who were clearly pros at what they do. It just made me realize that for a first live musical, I chose well. It was indeed God's gift to musical theater. And I can't wait to see it again if ever I wound up in New York and London along with Wicked and Mamma Mia.

I'll never forget my time with the Phantom. He made a fan out of me :)