late friday night (it was more like early saturday morning), over nightcap with friends, we had a brief chat on how opm is flourishing these days.
we are no longer stuck with side a, martin nievera, gary v, zsa zsa padilla or regine velasquez. there's now nina, nyoy volante, kitchie nadal, kyla, artstrong, and a whole bunch of up-and-coming, and, i must say, very talented "alternative" bands and indie groups.
i now hear groups such as orange and lemons, cueshe (named after their usual merienda - bananacue), and soapdish... and there's hale. i recently downloaded their album and i wasn't disappointed.
for the uninitiated, hale is the group who sang "the day you said goodnight" (na i understand ay kasalukuyang nilalapastangan ng mga kapamilya by making it the theme of this koreanovela green rose - gaya ng paglapastangan nila sa kaganda-gandang "huwag na huwag mong sasabihin" na ginawang theme ng lovers in paris).
i couldn't exactly make recommendations on which songs to check out in the album since most of them really sound great. i would simply recommend everyone to get a copy. my personal favorites are, unfortunately, the day you said goodnight, broken sonnet and bent down.
pahabol lang, for those who enjoyed and preferred bo bice's live performance of the american idol single "inside your heaven", you won't be disappointed with the album version. it's miles better than carrie's interpretation (well, she didn't do good one during the live performance in the first place). bo's version has got more soul, depth and flavor than carrie's. definitely a must-hear/must-buy.
hale
PALpak
...it never fails. at least they're consistent - consistently late, that is.
during my three-year stint here in hk, 13 out of my 15 flights to and from manila were via pal. my first two round-trip flights were very much on schedule that i began to wonder what the fuss over "plane always late" was all about. i was even telling people that i've so far got no problems with pal. then reality kicked-in.
while all my four flights into manila during the past two years were right on time, four of my five flights out of manila weren't.
january 2004, flight out of manila delayed by 2 hours... july 2004, departed a little behind schedule... january 2005, at least 45 minutes delayed - in fact, it was already departure time yet we, and truckloads of other people, haven't been checked-in... and last night, almost 2 hours delayed.
traffic to the airport was very light, so i got there earlier than expected. there was considerably less people at the airport. no queue at the main entrance for the first security inspection. checked-in and got through immigration within 10mins of arriving. spent another 10mins or so queueing for the second security check because they only have one freaking xray machine working!
by around 410pm, i was already waiting for boarding time - scheduled for 520pm at gate 5. at around 515 i heard the ground staff page some passengers from my flight, but i noticed that there wasn't any ground staff positioned at gate 5. then i saw security personnel cordoning off gate 5's waiting area - which they only do for u.s.-bound flights.
then i saw another passenger look pissed then walked away, followed by a few more passengers. apparently they moved my flight to gate 2 without any announcement. so i moved and waited again, and by 550, i was already wondering why we haven't even started boarding. then i checked the screen at the gate. flight time: 7pm. we are now officially delayed by 1hour - and no one bothered to make the announcement.
boarding time came, i gave a sigh of relief. but no, the horror didn't end there. we waited for another 45mins inside the plane for passengers from a connecting flight that got delayed. f**kin' hell! by around 740, we took off - finally.
saying that i was dead pissed off was an understatement. right at that very moment, i wanted to launch a signature campaign calling for a boycott of pal. i was also already plotting how to ensure that pal loses business big time so it will collapse under the weight of mismanagement and inefficiency. for pal, schedules are mere suggestions, not something that should be strictly followed. something similar to the state of philippine tv today (don't even get me started!).
but i'll be a hypocrite if i say that i won't ride pal anymore, ever. i prefer pal because i prefer to get stuck at terminal 2 because i get claustrophobic at terminal 1. i also prefer pal's flight schedules. 9pm departure from hk and 6pm departure from manila (sans delays) are just right - sakto!
truth is, while i may have second thoughts about riding pal when i fly home, i don't think i can totally eliminate it from my options altogether. oh well!
iffy
it's past midnight. in around 18 hours, i shall be heading back to hk. although i've been flying in and out of manila regularly for the past two years, for some weird reason, i'm having butterflies right at this moment. and there's only one clear explanation for feeling this way - WORK.
i'm getting stressed just feeling anxious about all the urgent projects vying for my attention over the next two to four weeks. i don't know how i can attend to all of them when i get back.
in fact, i've just spent the past two days organizing the results of our community survey. i still have to figure how to do the tabulations and analysis. and tomorrow, while waiting for my flight, i plan to type up some overdue meeting notes (similar to what i did in april on my way back from shanghai to hk).
...then there are powerpoint presentations, media kit updates, new media kits, house ads, sales flyers, and a major new product launch - all to be rolled out by early august. AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!