The Taylor Swift Experience

Hi!! I've been so busy after the weekend that I haven't had the time to blog about the Taylor Swift concert! Before I go to bed, let me just share with you what happened that amazing Saturday.

My friends and I met up at UST and we arrived at Araneta at around 3 PM. We saw that there were already loads of people in line so we went straight to the GA gate and found out that, yes, there was already a line, a very, very long one. So we went in line and after some several minutes, they started letting people in. We still had to wait in line inside though, because they can't let people get in the arena itself until 6.

Fast forward to Sam Concepcion (opening act). When the lights went down and he came out, the arena went nuts. It was sooooo loud!!! He sang Yeah 3x by Chris Brown, Kung Fu Fighting, his song Even If and Firework by Katy Perry which he dedicated to Taylor.

Around 45 minutes after his set, it was finally time to see Taylor. When we saw her, we just started going crazy. Everyone was screaming and once she started "Sparks Fly," all we can really hear was our own voices screaming out the lyrics. It was a blast! She definitely put on a fantastic show. I loved how she knew several Filipino words as she welcomed us to the Speak Now Tour with a "Magandang gabi Manila!" and even said "Salamat!" to the applauding crowd. :)

One of my favorite parts of the show was when she did "The Story of Us." She had this really nice intro about how we all experience love and heartbreak, no matter how far we live from each other, the different languages we speak. Then she said something like, "No matter what love and heartbreak throw at me, it's gonna be alright!" And cue the unending shrieks and screams. I also loved the whole "Speak Now" choreography! She wore a blue dress and she also had white gloves on and she was dancing with Liz and Caitlin. It was so cute!

We prepared a banner!

Waiting in line

There's Taylor!

Singing "Speak Now"

Playing the ukelele during "Fearless"

Too bad we weren't lucky to get a pass to the T-Party but I guess it just isn't time for us yet to meet Taylor. I hope during her next tour we'll finally get the chance to be enchanted. ;)

Here's a video blog from Taylor herself chronicling the whole of her Asian tour including her stop in Manila:

I'm also a KatyCat

Katy Perry was also present at the Grammys and she didn't disappoint with a very sweet and loving performance. She sang Not Like The Movies live for the first time while sitting on a swing. Then she was raised to reveal a curtain and it was a wonderful surprise when a home video of her & Russell Brand's wedding in India started playing on the background. She then closed out her performance with Teenage Dream saying, "This one goes out to all the Valentine lovers!"

Watch the video below:

Oh, and by the way, I wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day! May your hearts always be filled with love and affection wherever and whoever you may be. :)

Proud Rihanna Navy

The Grammys this year was a flop. Well, not totally, but it wasn't that much entertaining for me and my friends. The only interesting things were Rihanna's performances, yes, she performed twice. And her winning a Grammy for Best Dance Recording with Only Girl (In The World), which was actually announced in the pre-telecast so there was no acceptance speech. I was really rooting for Love The Way You Lie (and I'm pretty sure I wasn't alone on this) to at least win in one or two categories it was nominated in but alas, I was only disappointed. But Eminem won in the Rap Album category though for his top-selling album, Recovery. He even thanked Rihanna for "helping to propel the album to where it's at now."

Yup, that's my girl. So despite this year's show flubs, I'm still happy with the outcome. Rihanna gained another Grammy to put under her belt and she killed it with her performances on the show together with Eminem and Drake. Watch the videos below.

Eminem & Rihanna with Adam Levine - Love The Way You Lie (Part II)

Rihanna & Drake - What's My Name

Taylor Swift

So I told my 7-year-old nephew I was going to see Taylor Swift in concert next week (!!!).

Here's how the conversation went (via Skype):

Me: I'm going to Taylor Swift's concert next Saturday.
Nephew: Can I watch the movie? (To his dad, my brother)
Brother: No, Tita May is watching her in concert. Would you like to go with her and watch Taylor Swift in the Philippines?
Nephew: I don't know... I'll think about it.
Nephew: Are you going by yourself? (To me)
Me: No, I'm going with friends.
Nephew: So do your friends love Taylor Swift?
Me: Yeah, we all love Taylor Swift.
Nephew: So your friends and you, you love her?
Me: *nods*
Nephew: So what's your favorite Taylor Swift song?
Me: It used to be Forever & Always but now I love Enchanted from her new album.
Nephew: Uh can you post it from the internet so I can listen?

Adorable. Of course I did share a link of the song to him. And I'll do it for you, too. Here's "Enchanted" from Taylor's new album, Speak Now. :)






Just earlier a "cover" of this song surfaced. It was from Adam Young of Owl City. Apparently Taylor wrote the song about him and to return the favor he decided to sing and dedicate it to Taylor for Valentine's Day. Listen to it here.

Anyway, I'm so stoked for next week's Manila stop of her Speak Now tour!!! Can't wait!! :)

If I had a world of my own

That feeling of helplessness when you pass by a book sale but you don't get to browse and have a look around to try and find something you like. Yep, that was me this afternoon.

If only I had the luxury of time and of course, the money, I would buy all the books I want to read.

Clearly, Alice knew the same feeling all too well... Case in point:

Except, in my world, not everything would be nonsense. The world will revolve around books. The only sensible thing would be reading books all day, everyday. Instead of worrying about thesis and other "nonsense," I would allot that time to reading more books. Books, books, books. If only I had a world of my own...

Note: I don't really think school work are nonsense, I believe all of what I'm working for right now will be beneficial to me in the future (i.e. being able to graduate). I only said that for parallelism.

Date A Girl Who Reads by Rosemarie Urquico

(In Response to Charles Warnke’s You Should Date An Illiterate Girl.)

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent.  Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.

Being a 3rd year college student

This week was so stressful in so many levels.

We still don't have our thesis topic fully approved so I'm worrying about that since it's already February. Besides thesis, we also have our SAD case study to work on in which our defense will be on the 24th, but a week prior to that will be a mock defense. Then add to that all the other subjects I am taking which are little pains in the bum as well. All of that will possibly equate to my brain exploding any moment of the coming weeks.

"Hi, I'm Mayee, and "Stress" is my middle name."

That will be my catchphrase until I can finally say that it is all over and I can just prop my feet up and relax. Until then, please God, give me more than enough strength, physically and mentally, as well as patience and perseverance to get through the rest of this school year.

On a happier note, today was the opening of the Engineering Week in UST and we had the annual parade. After that was the "Open House: Flavors of the World" which was a kind of salu-salo for all the Engineering students. I only had the chance to taste the Mexican "flavor" which is simply two tacos. Imagine 7,000 people waiting in line and getting crowded in one place in need of food. I am already thankful for being able to eat tacos.

Classes were suspended already so after we ate, we stayed at the classroom only to take pictures.

It was fun sharing smiles and laughter with my classmates even though we all ended up being tired after all the effort of taking so many photos.

So anyway, I better hit the hay. I tweeted I was going to start reading a new book but I'm reluctant to do so because of the busy weeks ahead of me and I just might end up not finishing it so I decided to just blog. I am very much looking forward to reading again soon though. Add me on Goodreads to see books on my to-read list. :)

I confess...

I've always wondered how it is like to be in someone else's shoes but there are just some people whose shoes you wouldn't want to be in. I don't mean to be rude, I'm just being honest here. I'm the type of person who doesn't interact or even try to be civil with you if I don't like you. I know I'm totally ruining people's perception of me right now. I'm sorry if you're disappointed. I just don't like pretending. I mean, if you pretend to like a person that you really don't like in the first place and then you talk crap about them behind their backs, isn't that a much worse attitude? That's what I think. But. (See, I have a saving grace.) But, if you get the chance to prove me wrong and make me get to know you and at least like you a bit, then it's possible that I'll confirm your friend request on Facebook. I'm not a total b*tch, you know, I have a heart and it's kind of huge once you get to know the real me. :)