At last! With our busy schedules, we were finally able to attend last July 6, 2014 at the National Bookstore, Glorietta the book signing event of one of our fave authors:
*Ms. Stephanie Perkins*
**(Although we missed Gayle Forman's and Jenny Han's T_T) But as they say, let bygones be bygones. :P
On to the said event. We planned to meet up early because we were pretty sure that many people would show up but somehow, someone overslept somewhere and our early meet-up was turned into a brunch fest. haha! That's okay though, because later on we learned that some of the people who were there to have their books signed actually got in line since the night before. It just shows that we'd never stand a chance to be the first ones.
When we got there, as expected, the place was already filled up so we proceeded to have our copies registered. Since there were no more space left to sit down, we wiggled our way to a small spot on the corner of the room. Making our selves comfortable, we waited until the guest of honor arrived.
It's the perfect event to do people watching. These are the kinds of people you'd get to see:
There were groups of friends who tattooed themselves with hearts and stars and prepared signs that were written with "Je T'aime Etienne" (Anna and the French Kiss)"We Love Cricket Bell" (Lola and the Boy Next Door) and "Josh 4Ever"(Isla and the Happily Ever After).
Girlfriends dragging their reluctant boyfriends along and, making the said boyfriends braid their hairs just to pass the time (oh the things people will do for love)
Parents delivering food to their kids stuck in the middle of the crowd (lucky kids... me want me mum too!boohoo!)
Girls donning funky wigs and costumes ala Lola Nolan (I lost count on how many of them actually wore pink wigs)
Kids silently sitting on the floor while reliving Stephanie's books (like moi)
And there's someone who brought her school reading materials because according to her she needs to study (guess who)
After an hour or so of reading and studying (?!), suddenly the people started screaming and rushing to the doorway, and we thought "hey! they're here". Then we laughed when one of the events people took the mic and said "Sorry for the delay, we just have to wait because Stephanie's not yet here." and we're just like "Seriously?"
Finally, the moment of truth came when the crowd broke into a mass of ear-splitting shrieks. Trying to catch a glimpse of our beloved author, we climbed on some of the bookshelves (luckily, none of them broke down) and we saw a head full of pretty curls and that's when we knew for sure that it's her. :)
As the crowd settled down, they went straight on to a brief interview (sorry if we could not include here the whole manuscript - but rest assured, it was full of "aaaww" moments). They talked about the books, about Stephanie's writing career and her life with her husband Jarrod (who was there also!) <3 <3 Then they began calling the first set of numbers "Numbers 1-20, please fall in line." Since we're still at the bottom of the line and for sure, it would take hours before our turn, we decided to just roam around first then come back again later.
But as we were about to leave, a commotion happened and we saw another line forming. Not knowing what it was for, we just dove into the line, hoping for the best. It turned out, that line was for Jarrod! Yeah, he's signing the books too. Good thing we browsed through some of the shelves first instead of just suddenly leaving the area. ;)
Jarrod: Stephanie's fair-haired boy <3
Just borrowed him for a few seconds. ;)
thanks for noticing :) (insert a *blush* somewhere here.haha!)
nerdy kids unite! ;)
Jarrod's random pick book quote
After having our books signed by Jarrod, we still got plenty of time left in our hands (since the current batch at that time was 180-200) so we left for awhile and attended an afternoon Mass first. When we were done saying our prayers, we walked back to the venue wondering what number they're already in. It's 5 o'clock and they're still on 400+ (200 more to go...HOORAY!!!NOT.) We settled ourselves on the floor as we waited it out when after an hour or so, we felt a bit hungry since it's almost dinner time so we decided to just grab something to eat first. We passed the time exchanging stories and rants(?!) while munching on some goodies. One thing's for sure though, catching up with friends is one of the best ways to spend the weekend. :)
why so serious? O_o
oh yes! I'm the great...pretender... ooohh~ooohh :P
For the last time, we went back and hallelujah! they're down to the last 100 (this is HOORAY! for real). This time, we spent the last hour taking pictures...and pictures...and more pictures. :)
According to Rhio: Isla(Karen), Anna(Rhio),Lola (Jhun)
Then voila! "Numbers 600-620, please fall in line". YEY! Let's dance the jig! :D As we fell in line with the other kids who braved it out like us, we couldn't help but feel more excited as we got nearer and nearer to Stephanie's table.
we're next! >(^o^)<
THIS.IS.IT. 5...4...3...2...1 Tadah! There she is! :) Seeing that smile made it all worth it. It's one of the reasons why we love Stephanie - other than because she wrote the books that made our hearts go fluttery and mushy and making us feel like we're teenagers again - it was because even though she spent a lot of her hours signing books, she still has a smile and a "thank you" ready for each of her fans. :)
Stephanie's random pick book quote
It's past 9 o'clock already, and the mall was starting to close, so we dragged our tired feet out to the terminals and even though our energy stores were depleted big time, we still had an awesome day because we got to spend time with each other; and we went home with our happy hearts content and our cherished books signed by Stephanie and Jarrod. Could anything get more perkier than that? ;)
Cheers! Here's to our next adventure! ;)
**Thanks to National Bookstore for bringing them here! >(^o^)<**
***P.S. Jhun here again. I have a question for Stephanie that's been bugging me since the book signing event. Could it be that the character of Etienne was based on Stephanie and Anna was based on Jarrod? Just curious. ;P
Hi there, Jhun here. ;) Okay, I admit that this post was way, wa~~~~~y past overdue. And I take all the blame for that. It's been a while since I was last inspired to write, what with all the mumbo jumbo that happened with us these past few months, it's like our worlds turned upside down up until now but somehow, after I finished watching "About Time" (which is a superbly beautiful movie by the way) I felt that this is the right moment to make up for it. And here it goes...
So we've been to a concert of a band that now holds a very special place in our hearts (and playlists, of course) and they go by the name: The 1975. Let me tell you the story first on how we got to discover, and later on love their music.
It's during one of those moments wherein we were bombarded with lots and lots of weird stuff from the universe. (Just in case you're not aware yet, we're one of those kids who still believe in faith, trust and pixie dust! So if you have no care for these kind of things, may I remind you that you may click on the close button anytime.)
Moving on, it started on a Friday. I was on my way to work, walking the usual streets I pass by everyday when suddenly, I saw an old man ahead of me and somehow he reminded me of my dad, whom I prefer to call "Tatay". It struck a chord in my heart and with just a short glimpse of the old man, my throat suddenly closed up and my vision started to blur. As I passed by him, a realization suddenly hit me. It's Friday. For some, it might mean that hooray! finally it's weekend. But for me, Friday was different. Because it's the day that Tatay always went to church (in Quiapo) and back when I was in college, we'd always walk together during the early hours of the morning, and share a jeepney ride to our respective destinations. It's like I get to be a little kid every Friday with my Tatay bringing me to school. So for the rest of the day, all I did was just think about him and felt that it was like he was trying to send me a message from wherever he is.
Next scene. Saturday. I met up with Rhio just to unwind and relieve ourselves of the stress from the previous week. As a way to treat ourselves, we each grabbed a cup of highly caffeinated/sugar-loaded drinks and couple of Krispy Kreme's Chocolate Iced Glazed Doughnuts (in honor of one of our favorite books, Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie). Since there were no more available table, we took all our goodies outside to the garden area and looked for a place to sit. As we went out, we saw a small set-up near the stage and when we looked closer, that's when we realized that they're selling albums for a band that I thought I wasn't familiar at first, but later on when Rhio told me of their song "Chocolate", I realized that I'd already stumbled across some of their songs on Youtube a couple of times.
With their music playing on the background, we exchanged stories and talked about "life-stuff" and I told her about that Friday. We were both feeling anxious/agitated that time, not sure if it's because we're nearing sugar/caffeine induced coma status, but we both agreed that it could be a sign from universe. As we spent the rest of the time talking about sensible and non-sensible stuff, I kept on hearing this one slow song from their album but I just couldn't make out the lyrics.
Soon as I got home, I brought out my laptop and researched everything I could about the band. I was ecstatic when I learned that they'll be having a mall tour for the next couple of weeks and so I messaged Rhio that we should be there. Next, I googled their history and what I found out gave me goosebumps. They got their name from a book that Matty gave to a girl. There's a dedication on the title page and it's dated "1st June The 1975". Why did it give me goosebumps? Well because, Tatay's birthday is June 1st. Strike Two.
For the home run, I looked for their songs on Youtube and listened to every single one of them until I found the only slow song in their album that I heard earlier. When I pressed play, that's when I broke down. Listen to it and I guess you can figure out why.
Some might say that it's just a string of coincidences and that I'm just reading more into it than I ought to. But I like to believe otherwise, that in truth, Tatay is still out there and he's watching out for me.
Sorry if I bored you to death with my blabberings, I just felt that I should let it all out and now I'm breathing a little bit better. Let's change the pace and on to the good stuff...;)
*****
Finally! Last March 29, 2014 - We got to watch them live! Hoorayy! Truthfully, we did not expect that a lot of people would show up that night. And when I say alot, I mean it literallly. ALOT.
And when they came out, everyone were just screaming their hearts out (including us :P)
That moment...
...dang girl!
From beginning to end, people were just singing along to all the songs they played. We're jumping and dancing around while singing about love, sex and drugs. I know, shocking right? I wonder if some of the kids singing along with the lines of "Chocolate" and "Girls" know what they're talking about. Oh well, given with their adorable accents (we're the nine-een seven-ee-fahyv mahn-ches-tah) and ravishing looks *sawoon*, I think they could be easily forgiven. ;)
It's an awesome show and it made it totally worth it to be trampled and squished by screaming teenagers and adults alike. What made it even better was when Matty announced that they sure'd be coming back next year for a real concert. HOORAY! for that. ;) Funny thing though, there was this one song wherein I got so overly envious of this one girl (I'm assuming it's a girl) when while performing "Menswear", Matty grabbed one of the cameras from the audience and he started to film the crowd and before returning it, he took a video-selfie and sang to it. Seriously, I was so tempted to throw my own camera at him just because of that. Oh well, I guess I'd just have to wait for my turn next year. haha! Here's their setlist:
After the show, we were so hyped up that it took us awhile to realize that we're so hungry and we're just running on pure adrenaline. Luckily, before we pass out and die of hunger, we were able to find ourselves a safe haven (Shomal Kebabs and Curries) to land where you can just sit yourself on a chair, be comfortable, and they'd bring you food. ;)
Unfortunately though, because we were so drained out, we were not able to take pictures of the food anymore. Just trust us on this one, it was extremely awesome and fulfilling. :D P.S. another unfortunate event also, Mr, Raymond Marasigan was also there in the restaurant seated near us! But he's having dinner with his family so we just decided to leave him be and I just stole a glance before we went out. Gaaaah! If only I had the guts to disturb him and ask for an autograph. Oh well, as they say, you can never have it all...
