Before i tell you anything about the continuation of my drama last wednesday, let me tell you something first about what happened to my band(?) last week.
Wait a second, did i already mention my band in this blog? I don't think so. Let me introduce it to you.
I admit that we are still amateurs. It all started when we were in third year. The foundation day was coming nearer, and included in the day's activities was a battle of the bands. i was excited then because at last i'd be able to see my friends on-stage, playing rock music (usually opm) that they usually play inside our classrooms. Being a vocalist of a band was not a part of my plans in life then, because of my being introvert and because the quality of my voice then was not appropriate for rock music. (maybe for acoustic or just the slow songs.) So you can imagine my surprise when emerson asked me if i could be the vocalist of the band they planned to form. i asked him who were the members, and he answered me jarold, luis, mark ladaga, and him.
i cannot say no, because i was afraid that they will think i am selfish and maarte. so i agreed. and hey, it will be a new experience, i thought, so i gave it a try. the first time we practiced became the last too. it was a saturday, somebody among them told me that we're going to have a practice at buendia. meeting place, nirvana. funny, that time i don't know where buendia is, because what i know was gil puyat, because i am used to riding lrt, not jeepneys going to buendia. (nica made me like that. the first time i went to buendia was when i was in second year, to go to nica's house, and she made me go there by lrt.) that time i was having second thoughts whether to go or not, because luis and jarold both live at las piñas, while i was the only one from manila. emerson lives near buendia, and mark, uhh, i don't know.. (sorry!)
anyway, i still chose to go, since that time we have only a few assignments, i think, (or none at all?whatever..). when i arrived at buendia, i didn't know where to go. since nirvana was located at the corner of buendia and taft, i didn't know which side to go: buendia or taft? i chose buendia, because they told me to meet at nirvana, buendia.
ding! wrong choice.. luis and jarold were waiting for me at nirvana, facing taft avenue. i could still remember what i was wearing that time: a crocheted longsleeves, a pink sleeveless within, and jeans. yuck, i know. but i just had allergies that time, so you can't blame me. it was a rainy day too, that's why i was wearing those. uhh, as for the two who waited for me at nirvana, all i can remember is that they were both wearing shirt and jeans.
on with the story..
i asked them what would happen next. they told me that we're going to go to emerson's house. it was a long walk, from buendia to emerson's house. too bad it was also rainy, and i brought no umbrella that time. good thing luis lent me his. he told me his umbrella was maxadong girlaloo..that's why he's lending me it.
when we arrived at emerson's house, they were hospitable. they let us ate our lunch there. we even played ps2 in their house. but because of them being oh so hospitable, so many time passed by wasted. i can't remember what time i arrived at buendia, so i also don't know what time we were at the studio that day. basta, the one hour that we spent in the studio, in my opinion, was also wasted. because within that one hour, all we practiced was just a song: 214. the heck..we were actually not organized.. and that time i'm blaming myself for that. we don't know what songs are we going to play, for my voice is not, just like what i said, for rock music. for luis and jarold, it was fine for them to play acoustic songs. but according to emerson, he and mark are rakistas.. so we had no chemistry. but they still pursued to continue the band.
that day ended mejo fruitless.. as usual, i went home alone, because i was the only one living in manila. the foundation day was coming nearer and nearer, and i was getting nervous and excited at the same time. i am not into performing in front of many people. (stage-fright).
monday came. emerson was absent. we were having mixed emotions that time - angry, panicked, nervous, and everything. the saturday before had been nothing, and we still don't know what to play at the day of the battle.
the next day, tuesday, a news shocked jarold, luis, and me(I?). emerson told us that he's out, because we had no chemistry. i was into acoustic, while he and mark were into rock. we were so disappointed that time. iniwan niya kami sa ere. he left us in a vital point. he left us kung kelan pa malapit na ang foundation day. at the same day, timothy told us that there will be no more battle of the bands. instead, only exhibition of the bands will take place. whoo! God is really great.
anyway.. although we were already disbanded even before we were actually formed, the remaining three of us decided that it will never be the end. we'll show the people that we can go on even without emerson. since jarold will play the rhythm guitar, luis the lead, and i will hold the microphone, the only musicians we should find were for the bass and drums. we realized that it was hard, because in our school, there are only selected few who know how to play drums. and those few were already a part of another band, or they simply don't want to join. after some time hunting, we already filled up the slots. ralph decided to study how to play drums, while taquio will play the bass guitar.
it was too late to sign ourselves up for the upcoming exhibition of the bands, but we decided that it was okay, for we had no practices. on the day of the foundation day, we were surprised to see emerson as a member of another band, playing as..uhh...oh well i forgot. but i think he was sick that time, because we noticed that he was shivering and he wore a very thick sweater/jacket..whatever you call it..
anyway, that is how we were formed. since then, we practiced only once in a while. but when the end of the school year approached, we weren't able to have some practices because of the hectic schedule, and we also hadn't got the chance to talk to each other and plan something. same thing happened during summer vacation. jarold told me that there were actually some attempts to have practices, but because of ralph, the "artista" of our band (because he always has an appointment), those attempts became nothing.
and, just last week, my sister told me that we will play at the "holy committal" of her daughter, mikka. i was shocked, but i had nothing to do but to obey because that's how things go in our house. when i told the news to my fellow bandmates, they became shocked and nervous, for we didn't practice for so many months. akala pa nga namin wala na ung banda, kasi nga hindi na kami nakakatugtog..
and so, the only practice that we had was last friday, august 25, 2006. we decided to play acoustic, because there was no drumset in the venue, and ralph won't be able to go, because artista nga xa..haha..we practiced at my mother's small private school (Awakened Learners' Knox, Inc.)..that day, the classes were cut at noon because the school will be fumigated. so right after dismissal, after some minutes chatting with friends, the four of us, jarold, taquio, luis, and me(i?haha), headed to ALKI. there, because of my mother being hospitable, she made us ate in a carinderia near the school. after eating, we started to practice. my sister told me that we're going to play at most 3 songs after the holy committal. so we practiced three songs, all acoustic. (especially for you, tell me where it hurts, and ako'y sayo, ika'y akin lamang.) and narda, a special request from my brother-in-law. we thought of other songs we could play, in case the audience asked for more.. (haha..feeling). but we didn't furnish it, because we really expected to play only 3 songs.
the practice ended around 3?or 4? i can't remember. we agreed to meet the next day at around 8 am, there at ALKI. i was not actually nervous, maybe because i thought our audience was my family itself only.
but when saturday came, and we already met each other, my heart started to beat so fast i realized i was already nervous. at ALKI, we first had our last-minute practice, just to be sure. they also prepared the instruments. then, off we went.
at the jeepney, luis suddenly realized that we left the extension cord jarold brought. oh no. so he went back to ALKI while jarold, taquio, and i went to dreamhouse ahead.
the venue was simple, i realized that my sister invited only a few people, which was a relief. we decided to wait for luis outside the venue since the program was not yet starting. when he arrived, we went back inside and prepared the instruments. holy committal is the same as the binyag in catholic. it is the term used by iglesias ni cristo. it was the first time i saw how an iglesia ni cristo was christened. unlike in roman catholics, iglesias ni cristo don't christen a baby with the use of holy water and stuff. instead, they only pray, and commit the baby to God. no tradition-bound actions. nothing. just prayers.
after the ceremony, eating started. and of course, we started playing. i don't want to dig in the details, for it's of no importance. =)
last august 26 was also bdt's anniversary. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY FELLOW BDT MEMBERS! i'm sorry this greeting was a bit late, for many things happened that i haven't got the time in blog writings. the very original plan was for MENDEL to go to ENchanted Kingdom. but since people weren't able to save money, and some of us had no idea of the plan, we sort of ended in going to moa na lang.
so, around 1 pm, as what was agreed upon, we left the venue. jarold had no other activities for the day, so he decided to go home. taquio, luis, and i went first to masci. taquio will go somewhere else, while luis told me that he will just return the guitar to francia, who was at masci then.
in front of masci, we couldn't see francia. we thought that she didn't come. if that will be the case, it will be hard for us to go to moa because we will carry many things, or maybe we'll not go to moa anymore na lang. we texted francia. no reply. luis then decided to call her. funny, because all the time francia was there, she was just inside masci, making the bulletin board for computer science together with dale and ron.
we decided to go inside, too, to see their work. we realized that they were already finished, and was also about to go home too. after some minutes chatting, and getting the assignment for math iv from francia, we rode a bus towards baclaran to go to moa.
in the bus, we saw ron lester crisostomo (the conceited man..). we invited him to sit with us, but because of him being a loner.. (hmph), he declined. there, we only talked of a few things. i was too tired to talk, and at the same time i am excited to see mendel again. we just talked about how silly we had been earlier, and the funny parts of our performance.
[inaantok na ako..to be continued na lang..]
