my thoughts…exactly!

Nothing beats the first time! Don’t laugh pero it is my first time to watch a concert by a foreign artist. Sulit naman kasi it’s a group that I really, really adore…BLACK EYED PEAS!!!

My husband called me sometime June of this year and asked if I want to watch BEP. Of course ako pa? The good news was since the concert will be held 2 days after my bday, he said yun na lang gift nya sa akin…kaya we bought Patron seats. Actually nung June19 when we bought the tickets, sold out na halos ang rows A-J, may available pero hindi na magkakatabi so we got 2 tickets in row K na lang. Ok din kasi malapit din naman. Weird lang, bakit hindi namin nabalitaan ng masmaaga?? Anyway, no regrets. We got good seats naman.

July 27, 2006

Past 5pm, hubby and I went to Gateway. We ate merienda at PizzaHut Bistro. After stuffing ourselves with pizza and pasta, we went to window shop…well, that was the plan until I saw these slacks at MNG, 70% off…HEHE. Hubby on the other hand went with the plan to just window shop. Hehe. Then, we bumped into my niece Monica in one of the shops there…I think we were at F&H or PrP…ah, F&H nga. So we had a little chat then after which, off we went to the concert.

INSIDE ARANETA

Inside Araneta Center, Russell texted me. He was already with Ela and Dr. Sim. They were looking for me and Gerry. Nag-aasaran kami before the concert started. I enjoyed the asaran-okrayan session…then, we just met up after the concert for more okrayan.

So anyway, when the concert started, I was so ecstatic! The funny thing was, when they turned off the lights and everybody started screaming, I thought to myself "Shet, this is it! Is this really happening? Magsta-start na talaga!" Para akong ignorante hahaha. I was star strucked when they all went on stage, Fergie,Tabu,Will-I-Am and of course our own Apl Pineda. Ang galing sooooobra! I couldn’t express how much I enjoyed the concert. It was my very first and I was so impressed. Enjoy kami ni hubby kasi we know all the songs they sang…so sing and dance to the max kami while may mga "jologs" kaming katabi…instead of watching the concert, ang tinitignan nila e yung local artist na malapit sa amin…I don’t know his name…taga ch2 sha…well, whoever he is, ang baduy ng mga katabi namin ha, naka-upo lang at hindi pinapanuod yung concert…sa kanya nakatingin…the whole time! Sayang ang Php5,000 nila a! 4 pa naman sila. Sana nagpalit na lang kami ng seats para masmalapit kami sa aisle. Haha.

Ang kulit din ng BEP. Will-I-Am said, he had a Pinay GF for 8 years. She inspired most of the songs of BEP. Esp this next song, "SHUT UP" and everyone laughed. Funny nga kasi ginawa nilang drama, parang mag bf-gf na nag-aaway, tapos there was this part na kunyari Fergie was crying, naka-focus sa screen…funny kasi she looked like my friend Kat Mendiola (lead vocals of Unity) lahat ng arte pareho sila. Haha. Anyway, ang galing talaga ni Fergie, when they were singing "Shut Up" nga, the part where she sings "Stop the talking baby or I’d start walking baby" nagcartwheels ba tawag dun basta patalikod na tumbling using just one hand kasi the other hand hawak yung mic and she does that while singing…o, kaya nyo yun?

When Apl sang the APL song and Bebot he wore a barong…nakakatawa tignan sa kanya. His mom was on stage when he sang Bebot. We learned that he’s an orphan pala…sabi tuloy namin ni hubby mag-ampun kami ng egoy tapos dalin din namin sa LA. hahaha. (pinagkakitaan pa eh no? hehe)

Tapos daming kalokohan esp nung pinakikilala yung band members like the musical director who plays almost all instuments, the drummer, the trumpet players etc, daming kulitan on stage. Tinuturuan din ni APL ng tagalog si Will…he said "S*** mo malaki" Everybody laughed then he asked something pabulong lang tapos tumawa si Apl then he said, Will is asking daw kung oras na ba mag-kan***** the crowd went wild kasi biglang nagplay yung "Pump It".

(sigh) Bitin lang…ang bilis ng oras. The concert started mga 845pm and lasted until 1040pm. It was fun tho’ and I’d always remember this concert!

When I was a kid, I grew up having lotsa pets at home…dogs, cats, lovebirds, fishes…the list goes on. They come and they go. There was even a time we had 9 dogs at home. I was never close to any of them tho’ coz when I was younger, I had a hard time accepting the death of one of my cute puppies named Griggle. Eversince I don’t attach myself to any pet we adopted after.

Panzer was different. You just can’t help but adore him. He was such an intelligent dog. Shempre, Dutch Shepherd…you know, one of those smart sniff dogs who could detect your presence from miles away. His breed is similar to that of German Shepherds…matapang din. Most "bomb dogs" that you see in Shangri-La EDSA Hotel are his kind.

We adopted Panzer in 1996 I think…he’s been with us so long that I don’t really recall when. Anyway, I instantly fell in love with Panzer coz he was such a sweet dog. He wasn’t actually mine. He was my Kuya Jonas’ pet. A gift from Kuya Jason. I dunno but I adored him so much that I actually declared he’s my dog too (mangenge kasi-haha). I taught him tricks like jump, shake hands, hide his face when I say "tago"…he even knows that his real name is Panzer even if I fondly call him "Pancit" or "Pancito."

He was a nice dog pero medyo seloso. When we got another puppy named Shaggy, I forgot yung breed pero mabalahibo din and maputi, he was jealous at first until they became best friends, sleeping side by side. When Shaggy died, you could see his depression, he kept on running around the house looking for him…we could clearly see that he misses his buddy. There was even a time he slept near a white cloth para lang siguro kunyari he’s beside Shaggy. That was the kind of dog Panzer was, loving and loyal.

He was also close to my dad. When my dad went to Europe for more than a month, he kept on running around the house, even goes up the veranda just to look for his missing amo. (Kasi madalas my dad is just in the veranda)

Pasaway din kasi si Panzer. He was bawal to go inside the house kasi Mama doesn’t allow him to. Pero we caught him sneaking one time, as in dahan dahan pumasok sa house just to look for my dad nga. Nung nakasalubong nya my mom sa corner, bigla sha tumakbo. My mom naman, instead na magalit, natawa na lang kasi ang funny ng pagsneak ni Panzer eh. Haha.

He was such an adorable dog but things changed when he grew up. He seem to have lost his mind. He misbehaved…I began to be afraid of him too when he dragged Mang Fredo under my dad’s Fiera. He even attacked 2 kids one time our gate was left open. He also attacked my uncle Nards one time. He tried to attack my dad too. Baka at that time, he didn’t recognize him. That’s scary…not being recognized that you’re his master. We were told that’s how it is when dogs don’t have…you know…sex. Panzer was never allowed to play with other dogs outside. He was pasaway kaya we never let him go out without a leash. His neck was big that most leashes don’t fit him. Ang mali kasi hindi sha binigyan ng partner para hindi sha nagwawala. After those incidents, the family decided to put him in a cage. Buti nga that was all kasi my dad almost shot him. Poor Mang Fredo, daming bites and imagine that frail body being dragged under the Ford Fiera…pagnanakawala si Mang Fredo, hinahatak nya again pabalik. That’s traumatic ha.

Reclusion Perpetua…Life sentence it is. We just see him every now and then but I grew afraid to touch him for the fear that he doesn’t recognize me too….everytime I visit my parent’s house, I just call out his name and he just responds…that was it.

Fastforward to July 15, 2006 around 2am in the morning…after a fun fellowship night at Giligan’s in Baguio (BioFemme 2nd Sem Kick-Off Rally), I got a text message from my mom. A message sent earlier that I failed to see. The message was that my Panzer died the morning of July 14. Tears flowed down. I will always remember Panzer…the good and even the bad times. He was such a special pet and he’ll always have a special place in my heart. I never loved any pet as much. Goodbye Panzer. May you go to Dog Heaven. I’ll miss you.

*Note that I don’t use IT to regard Panzer. It just don’t seem appropriate.