Weekend in Singapore

Rhommel finally decided to pay us a visit from Manila last weekend. I picked him up at the airport last Saturday. He had a really really minor altercation with immigration which caused him to be among the last few to exit out. We were both hungry but he didn't want to go to Aston's or anything familiar so we ended up at the food court.





Since we both lacked sleep, we didn't have the energy to continue exploring so we both went home and slept. What a weekend!

At around 4, when Em-J got back from work, we all got ready and headed out to Orchard. We ran into Analyn and we shared Em-J's Bonchon chickens. He insisted on eating first before heading to dinner.



Eco was also having a delayed birthday celebration so we met up with them at Outram Park. Sadly, the restaurant was closed so we ended back up in Somerset at Brotzeit.







Eco was very generous and we had a feast! I particularly liked the camembert cheese with cranberry sauce and the schnitzels. The boneless all meat pork knuckle, I was not particularly fond of. I found that it lacked a bit of flavor.





We then went to Starbucks at Yishun to have coffee while waiting for Hugo's screening.



The next day, we woke up late, just in time to get to Marina Bay to catch Wicked with Stu. We then spent time exploring the vicinity while waiting for Makansutra to open at 6.







Eating there was Rhommel's only request so we ordered some of our favorites and surprisingly, we were able to finish everything off.



Surely where there are lots of eating, it's bound to be a fun weekend and it sure was.

Wicked

Wicked has all of Manila's theater fans very excited, thanks largely to a bootlegged copy uploaded on YouTube a few years back. U.S., London and even Australia are too far for us so when they announced that they were opening here in Singapore, we were among the first in line.



I got free invites to the Gala premiere so I went with Abby and Eco. I didn't watch the show cause my tickets were for the next day but it was already quite an experience being there. They had a green carpet leading to the entrance of the theatre and there were a lot of local celebrities being interviewed.



I was overwhelmed when I saw the set. It was exactly the same with I saw from the YouTube videos complete with the time dragon. Very very cool! They were a bit cool with people approaching the stage during intermission to have their pictures taken during the first week. Now, you couldn't even approach the orchestra below to take a peek.





On a side note, the ushers need to learn a thing or two about good customer service, we wanted to have our pictures taken at the lobby behind the huge Wicked wall but they looked at us and gestured that the area is already closed. No explanations, no smile. We had to settle for the TV outside.



That minor inconvenience aside, it was really quite an experience. Everything was grand and more than the beauty of the set, I was very impressed with their lighting. They were able to simulate rain that looked very realistic. One Short Day and Defying Gravity were also numbers that were made more effective because of it.

The leads were very good with crystal clear voices, as Tin said, she had a lot of goosebumps all throughout the performance. Here's Tin with David Harris who was outside signing his CDs.



Last weekend, Rhommel and Stu flew in from Manila to supposedly watch the closing performance of Wicked but it got extended till April. For those who haven't seen it, it's worth ever penny.



There are rumors swirling that they are also opening in Manila soon but I can't confirm, I really hope they do because it's theatre magic that one should really experience.

Another side note,  we all love the  theatre's lobby. It's a great backdrop for photo ops. :p

First Week Back in Manila

This is, I think, one of the last photos of me in the office before they officially closed it down.



My first day back, after taking a quick nap, I met up with Oliver for lunch and Razon's halo halo. Analyn happened to be here visiting so she tagged along together with Badette.





I tried to pass the time at the mall while waiting for Oliver to finish his shift so we can head out to catch the Little Mermaid preview. Contact me for tickets. I'll give you a hefty discount.





The preview was a success and if I hadn't been so preoccupied, I'm sure I would've enjoyed it as well.





The next day, after another Mermaid meeting, I then met up with Rhommel. We picked up Gavin and met up with Willie who wanted to show us Ayala Triangle all decked up.







Sadly, all the restaurants were extremely crowded so we headed back to Paseo. We ended up at Yellow Cab and Willie introduced us to Dear Darla, a unique pizza experience.







Willie then dropped me off at the Fort where I met up with my college friends. We all had a great time that we barely noticed that it was already 4am.



The next day, I met up with Willie, Pau and Rhommel. We all went to church to pray and then headed out to Eastwood for dinner and Happy Lemon.









The next day was spent with my family. We went to church and then went crazy with desserts at Becky's Kitchen. Sadly, I wasn't able to take photos. We then passed by Banawe for me to try Chatime.





It has been quite a busy week for me, I just have to meet up the rest of my friends soon before I run out of juice. :p

Gavin

I finally found the time to just sit down and sort my recent photos.

I've decided to upload my photos to Flickr instead of Picasa because it's a pain to edit out the Picasa link of every photo that I have to use for this blog. As I was going through some of my Flickr photos, I chanced upon Rhommel's picture of Gavin.



How cute.