GV si Abby

For the first time, after a very long time, day-in and day-out, all the days of the week, I was in a good mood. Hooray for that!


I think I smiled, laughed and talked a lot this week and it felt good. 

School is cool

After a year of (too much) rest and relaxation, it's back to school for me today! With only 3 subjects remaining and either a compre or a thesis as a final requirement, I'm almost at the finish line. With that end in my mind, I wised up and made a firm decision to finish what I have started.

So, as it is when I was 6, making my first foray in the academic setting, on my first day back in graduate school, Mama and Papa brought me, saw me off, picked me up, then treated me to lunch after my class. Now, ain't that sweet?

Inside the classroom, what greeted me were "old friends" of mine: Pareto optimum conditions, production function equations, demand and supply graphical representations -- same old, same old. Seeing those, I instantly felt that I was home, never mind if I was alone in my corner at the far right end of the room. Since I was out for a year, I didn't get to see the usual faces that I was in nodding-and-smiling-in-acknowledgement-of terms. Instead, I spent my first three hours of the semester inside a room full of yet-to-be-known-and-befriended people. Maybe this time around, I'll get to shed my "mataray" and unapproachable aura that I'll get to forge connections with new people. Good luck to me!

Kids. Boys. Men.

I never thought that they could still affect me that much. Having attended their previous concerts, I thought I was already immune to their charms. Boy, was I so wrong! Once again, in their midst, I was reduced to a jumping, shrieking, giggling, dopey-eyed 14-year old whose wits have gone bonkers the instant the lights went out.

Yes, the Backstreet Boys came back and brought with them their older brothers, the New Kids on the Block. NKOTBSB, baby!

Fangirls on the loose. Notice my goofy grin. Sheesh.
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Recollection:

When I was in my sophomore year in high school, I got into a very heated argument with a classmate. The beef? She held the belief that Nick Carter was a girl and that he was trying to hide his 'breasts' because he didn't show his body in the "Quit Playing Games with my Heart' video while all of his bandmates comfortably  frolicked under the make-believe rain in a very acceptable state of undress. Armed with my stash of BB and BOP magazines, which featured some photos of him exposing his lanky frame and his then-bony chest, I valiantly defended poor Nicky against all the negative and very damaging claims about him and his gender. Good thing, I was able to knock some sense into her head and be proven right over time.

Having just typed and read this, I realized how juvenile the issues that made my blood boil back then.

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The concert was held at The Arena, located inside the SM MOA compound, last June 3. The structure very recently opened its doors for engagements such as, but not limited to, this, with Lady Gaga getting dibs on the honor of  having "trashed" the place first.

To be awed and be won over again by Nick, AJ, Bryan and Howie, that, I was pretty much expecting. One thing that I did not foresee though was the fear that overcame me when I stepped inside the seating area and discovered that the place where we were was perched at a very steep angle, and that the only thing that was cordoning the people in our section from the very sharp drop below was a series of clear fiberglass panels! Ohmygosh, head rush! I literally froze, stopped dead in my tracks and held the line up near the threshold when I got confronted by the sheer height of the space that I was standing on. After we have been ushered to our seats, I sat there stone-faced, refusing to make even the slightest of movements to keep the fear at bay. However, when the lights went out and the crowd broke into a wild uproar, euphoria quickly took over that place in my head that fear previously held control of - I was on my feet and doing my fair share of whooping, jumping and dancing. Still, I passed my camera duties to Leck and maintained a loose hold on whatever armrest my hand came into contact to for good measure.

We were so high up, everytime I stand I hold on to the railing behind me to calm and steady myself!  

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So, two front acts and a bathroom break later, the show finally commenced. The guys emerged on stage to the mashed-up beats of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida", the Kid's "Single" and the Boy's "The One". Then, each band took turns hogging the stage, grinding and breaking out to their more upbeat songs. After all the energy have been spent on doing a lot of things at once, as a downtime, each of the group serenaded the crowd with a string of their cheesy, but nonetheless, chart-topping ballads, singing about three to four songs. Another NKOTBSB group performance followed to signal a shift in the tone of the music that they'll be performing - a series of more feel-good tunes that's easy on the ears and didn't require too much energy from them to be performed.

Honestly, I don't know the lyrics to the songs of the Kids, and, I think, neither do most of the people in the venue. Familiar with the tune and could probably drop a few lines or two, yes, but not really know the words by heart, unless some did their homework and researched about the songs that the band will be singing that night. Why do I say that? Most of the concertgoers that night was pretty much around my age band, whose coming-of-age coincided with the skyrocketing of BSB's fame to an all-time high. NKOTB's shine by then has slowly diminished and they were incrementally being regarded as "manongs" of popdom.

Excessive downpour of BSB fans in The Arena notwithstanding, Joey, Jordan, Donnie, Danny and Jonathan still brought their game faces on and did what they have come to do - sing, dance and entertain with as much energy and gusto that their aging bodies could afford them. While I thoroughly enjoyed their performance, even though I mostly sat through it, I couldn't help but think that maybe some of them ought to focus on other endeavors and should retire their boyband dancing shoes, tight tops and skinny jeans because it doesn't look proper on them anymore. Good thing that Manila was their very last stop for the tour and that the embarrassment has finally reached a conclusion!

Line dance. Bitch walk. We're popstars, baby!

On to the Boys, well, what's there left to say other than they're just so awesome! They sang the songs that I personally wanted to hear, music and lyrics that were sure to get the crowd singing along with them from beginning to end - Quit Playing Games, As Long As You Love Me, I Want It That Way Shape of My Heart, Drowning - and some other old songs that I haven't listened to for quite some time - 10,000 Promises, I'll Never Break Your Heart, We've Got It Going. If I may add, the interlude with Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe', with the Boys going all girly-gaga, was just so hilarious and brilliant!

Love, love, love you guys to pieces!

All in all, it was a very good show. Nothing fancy and over-the-top gimmicks, just pure boyband goodness all over!

My greatest thanks to my dearest sister for making me realize that no way in hell could I miss this show.

I owe you big time for this! Thank you so much!