Bagbagtulambing

It was nearly 6 when we got home from school last night. It's strange to come home around that time when you live just twenty minutes away from school, traffic permitting. In any case, I suppose I should be glad that we did come home at least: Dad was asking us if we wanted to come with him to the Philippine-American Jazz Festival's Opening Night at the RCBC Plaza. Our neighbor had invited us (well, just my parents, actually) and tickets were free. I was still a little cranky from being asked at such short notice. I mean, you still have to dress up, look presentable, contend with traffic and forget about sleeping. I originally didn't want to go, but there was nothing to lose (except sleep, maybe): the ride was free (we were going there with our neighbor), the tickets were free, and the experience is very rare indeed. So I grudgingly agreed to go.

The traffic was mind-numbing.

But we got there anyway. I saw Ate Kit there. Yay! She works there, so she decided to watch the show too.

The buffet was great! Actually, it was just cocktails-- you know, finger food and all that. The Vietnamese Spring Rolls were awesome, as well as the potato skins (with the dip), and the mini-taco things. There were brownies and two fondue fountains, one chocolate, the other caramel. I skipped the dessert part, because I felt that eating anything that sweet would make me pass out.
After the description of the food, I suppose you could tell that I was pretty hungry to take note of EVERYTHING I ate. Such a pity I was hungry-- when your stomach is grumbling you can't concentrate on the actual taste of the food. I think tasting is a cultural experience, a different kind from eating. I neglected to do that.

It was a little awkward standing around there with small plates with sauce and all, using your fingers. Well, of course, it was called FINGER FOOD to begin with, but I wish I had used the forks, which I didn't know were available until much much mucho later. Gawd, I must've looked like some sort of primitive caveman resisting the urge to lick my fingers. Nuts. And it was a semi-formal event!! The horror. Ack.

The show was very good, four stars out of five. It started off with the Hangad choir, singing an African song, among others. It was a fine execution-- I think they would've done the Africans who sang in Congo Square proud. There were bits of "How Jazz came to the Philippines" history. They were okay, but I felt sleepy during those parts. The Executives Band played next (they're called that because they really are the top honchos of their companies). Go Tito Hector! He's on the sax. Former First Lady played with them on the keyboard, meaning that yes, Former President Ramos was there. (Wow. To think that I was in the same theater with the Former President FVR! I was breathing the same aircon as he was! How cool is that?! Nyaha.) They played Ragtime and Dixieland jazz, if I'm not mistaken-- hah, so I did get something from the historical segments afterall!

The UP Jazz Band played after that. I think I like them the best, because they showed the most variety of jazz (though that doesn't mean the other two groups weren't good-- they were). I just loved the part when they started playing the instruments one by one: clarinet, then the drums, then the double bass, then the keyboard-- it was just... WOW. They also showed us the evolution of jazz, and how it changed. When it got to the rock era... GRABE!!! That drum beat was the sexiest I have ever heard. *swoon* Coupled with the brass, it just blew me away. And it was just so utterly cool. I love it.

Hay. Ayun. I'm running out of eloquence in expressing my thoughts.

Ky, I recommend the UP Jazz Band for the prom, hahahaha. Ang dami nga lang nila (babae nga pala tenor sax nila. Ang galing!). But they can play a lot of things-- chacha, rhumba, progressive jazz... I think it would be fun. Wehehe. I'm so glad I went.

Sleepy.

Cheerio.