OLAI at LOVERAGE3Celebrating Valentine's Day for us is simple: attend the fair, jump with joy, and scream our lungs out while swooning over to those good-looking bands on stage.
But it's friday the 13th and they say there's a curse. Hmmm... Let's see.
Meeting the friends.
The rendezvous is at McDonald's Philcoa, from 6:30pm to 7:00pm. We make it a habit to arrive on time, and we impose a penalty for the latecomers. Everybody arrived on time, except Aiza and she wants to be exempted from the penalty because she says her house is far from the meeting place (We'll see about that). The gang: Me, Inelle, Igiboy, Aiza, and Cristal plus Nami whose original plan was to catch us up at the fair because he has some other appointments to attend to. A few minutes after Aiza arrived, (7:30pm to be exact) she and Igiboy decided to withdraw money from our barkada's saving account (yes, we have a savings account). The money will be used to pay for the concert tickets. So off they went leaving me, Inelle, and Cristal. Thirty minutes have passed but Aiza and Igiboy haven't come back. We figured out that they were having a time to withdraw because it was a weekend payday, and we thought that maybe there was a long queue at the ATM center. To pass the time, the three of us chatted about school: the politics in our college and our cool professors. Time check: 9pm. Nami was able to catch us up at McDonald's, however, Igiboy and Aiza are still nowhere to be found. We tried texting them, and we found out that the two went as far as TriNoma to withdraw money! Unfortunately, it seems that our saving account was blocked, because they were not able to withdraw from any of the ATM machines at the mall. And the two decided to go back. So while waiting for them to come back, me, Nami, Cristal and Inelle decided to order food. Munch, munch, gulp, gulp. It was like a few minutes before ten in the evening when Aiza and Igiboy came back. The two were apologizing constantly (but it was really a no biggie) and they decided to order take-out to avoid a longer delay. After ordering take-out, the gang headed for the UP jeepney terminal. We stopped-over at Dunkin Donuts first to meet with Inelle's Jayson. Yesterday was their monthly anniversary. *yikee*
Off to UP.
"Amoy probinsya.", Cristal remarked. And the gang suddenly had an outburst of laughter. We decided to shoulder the concert tickets individually since we were not able to withdraw any money.
Hello, UP Sunken Garden.
There were so many people at the fair, all right. And our primary concern was to meet Honey (IDK if I spelled her name right) to buy the concert tickets. Honey is Igiboy's friend from work, and she was part of the organizers of the fair. It was so difficult looking for Honey because Igiboy is having a hard time texting at the area (stupid Globe cellsite) and Honey's fone battery is almost dead (Honey had a hard time contacting us because we were late). Honey instructed Igiboy to wait for her somewhere near the police car (at the left side of the entrance). Waiting. Waiting. To kill the time while waiting for Honey, we took pictures, cracked jokes. Usual stuffs our gang does. But of course, we also get tired of waiting and we want to go inside the concert grounds badly, so the gang split into two: Igiboy, Cristal and Aiza will wait for Honey while falling in line to buy the ticket and me and Inelle will start falling in line for the entrance (there are two separate lines for the ticket and the entrance). The line for the entrance was so far from the Sunken Garden (there was a long queue, really) and the worst part is, the line hardly moves so me and Inelle decided to head back and tell Igiboy that we'd rather sit outside the concert grounds and enjoy the concert from there. We headed back to the Sunken Garden, found Igiboy and surprised to see Honey there, already selling the concert tickets. Not only that, Honey also offered to help us get inside, without having to fall in line at the entrance. It was so overwhelming to see Honey, believe me.
Sneaking In.
Before Honey can sneak us in, she first have to go back inside their booth at the concert grounds and get her organizer's ID. Waiting, waiting. Again, to past the time we took pictures. While waiting, the crowd (the ones outside the concert ground) were shouting. We initially thought it was because the bands were doing their usual antics to entertain the crowd. So we shrugged it off. Honey came back after a few minutes and she was with a guy who can also help us get in. The guy thought it'd be easier if we can enter at the exit gate (yes, at the exit gate) but the security is tight, so the only way to do it is to enter at the entrance gate. We were making our way to the entrance when we heard some rowdy noises. Apparently, some emo kids (those who wear gels and black shirts and black skinny jeans) were trying to break the right side of the entrance fence down, and worst, they were also throwing big stones everywhere. Most of the crowd panicked and me and Irenelle were frantically running back, afraid stones might hit our heads. Moments later, the crowd settled and we decided to make way for the entrance again. After few more attempts, we made it inside the concert grounds.
Flashback.
This is what I can remember: I was holding Igiboy's hand, and Inelle with the other (it was like people power. hehe) running, head low. I saw one of the police beat the shit out of a kid they caught and someone from the organizers, shouting "Dali, pasok, pasok!"
We did it, hooray!
We were gasping for breath when we made it inside the concert grounds. Time check: 10:30pm. Good thing all of us were safe. Honey bid goodbye and headed back for their booth. *Thank you, Honey!* Razorback was the band performing that time, and he was requesting the emo kids who were starting a riot to settle down, unless they will not continue to perform. It seemed that the kids settled down for the moment, and Razorback continued to perform. I think Salamin was the next to perform after Razorback. There were pauses in between bands to thank the sponsors, and also to tell the emo kids to calm down. After Salamin was the Valentine's countdown.
Happy Valentines: The Countdown and the Amazing fireworks display.
Five-four-three-two-one. And the crowd was shouting "Happy Valentines!" Even though EK sponsored the fireworks display at the Loverage3, the fireworks display of Loverage3 is waaaay better than the EK Fireworks, believe me. It was a three-minute fireworks display (with the EK jingle playing in the background)... three minutes of pure awe.
Bamboo!!!
Bamboo was the next to perform after the fireworks display. Bamboo played four songs: Kalayaan, Noypi, Last Days on a Cruise Ship and Tatsulok. Bamboo was as cool as ever. Funny thing is, when Ira, the most handsome bassist on earth (hahahaha), appears on the big screen on the stage, crowds (the girls of the crowds) shout louder. *I love you, Ira*
Cutting the story short.
As the night went on, the emo kids become more rowdy--they are still trying to get in. Sadly, the organizers of the fair have to cut the show short.
It's 1am and it's early...
It's 1am and it's early... to go home. We decided to kill more hours at the UP Sunken Garden, talking about the fair, and the mysteries behind the suicide of local pinoy celebrities (e.g. Marky and Rico Yan, haha). More of the crowds decided to go home, fewer fair-goers left at the sunken garden. We also saw Honey at her booth. They were selling cupcakes with roses. Honey told us that the emo kids can't be controlled anymore, so they have to stop the fair for the crowd's security. Urbandub was supposed to perform after Bamboo. I suddenly felt hate for those emo kids... I wasn't able to see Urbandub perform live! grr.
Alay Lakad.
At around 2 in the morning, we decided to head back Philcoa. We literally walked our way there, till we reached McDonald's. We were hungry and decided to eat, but no not at McDonald's, but at the lugawan near it. We need something warm to keep us awake. At around 4:30 in the morning. We parted our ways and went home.
Despite the riot, I am so going back to the fair if given the chance.
Happy valentines, everyone!
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