Remembering UP FAIR WEEK 2005
last February

My first night at the Fair...

I decide to go solo on my first night on the fair. I wasn't really going for the bands, not too many of my favorites were playing that night. But the UP fair has turned into some kind of tradition for me... a happy one, most of the time. There's always something memorable that happens at this time every year. So I do the usual, taking my rounds on the grounds looking for new things and old things, for a booth with good henna tattoo designs,for stuff to eat and some freebies to take home. Though I'm already a dinosaur, I still manage to bump into some familiar faces. Now I have been more of a loner all my life and probably always will be, and I think most people know this. It just bugs me that people always go, "O, mag-isa ka lang?" or "Wala ka bang Kasama?" with matching na-weirdohan look. Some of you guys already know that I've always been like that, so save me the remarks and silly questions as if you guys hadn't the faintest idea of my personality. But then again, maybe I really just am weird.

Anyway, while I'm walking around, my cell phone suddenly rings. It's Ron (my younger brother), and he tells me that I should make sure that I'm free on October 22. I ask why it's so important, then he breaks the news...my eldest brother is getting married!! Haha, that's great news, and about time! Apparently, he proposed just yesterday (Valentine's Day). Wow, one of my brothers is finally getting married, I wonder how my parents took the news. I feel weirdly happy. Weird only because I'm not really sure why I feel happy about the news. So there's this skip in my step and a silly grin on my face as I walk around the fair, probably looking even sillier than usual. I finally settle down a little while later with a double meat Chibox listening to the bands. Some are quite good I realize, but I figured I still had some stuff to do and couldn't really wait for Rivermaya to play. So I head home happy that night, with occasional weird thoughts coming into my head. One of my brothers is finally settling down... i wonder if I'll ever find anyone...I sigh and grin at the thought. Naaaah, It's better if I get some shut eye rather than go down that road again, hehe.


The Reunion...

It's a wednesday and my second night on the fair. I'm meeting up with some of my good buddies from the old boarding house. I'm the first one on the scene but not long after, I meet up with Jay-es. We circle the grounds and notice that there aren't that many people around yet, probably still a bit too early for "fair" standards. Anyway, Jay-es gives me a run down of what's been up with people lately and we exchange a few stories. Then she tells me we have to go back to their boarding house to fetch the others, so we take a cab to KNL. Sure enough, all the pips are there but no one seems to be going but just me and Jay-es...then Kaygee comes along (all the way from Fatima I think). She says she just needs a minute to change. And when she gets back...I get worried(all of us were actually)...coz she's wearing this rather short skirt. Sure, her legs are one of her assets but we were going to the UP Fair and not some bar in Libis. We would be sitting on the grounds, riding tricycles back and forth and other stuff. I find nothing wrong with one who wants to celebrate her physical youth but...uhm...I just think people(especially girls) should be more careful about it. I was not too fond of the idea that I may have to ward off some guys or be on the look out for weirdos who may be giving her the "weird" eye all throughout the night(and there were some that night indeed). Reminds me of the one time that she got me worried too when she commuted by bus on her own late at night wearing a rather short pair of shorts once again. And it's a bit funny coz I'm not sure if she realizes that she gets a few heads turning here and there...like I said, she's gotta be careful.

Anyway, we head back to the fair, we talk mostly about what we've all been up to lately, then we (both of them mostly) stop around a lot of stands to see if there's something interesting to buy. Thankfully, we don't get into any of the rides...but we did hang around the rock climbing thingy place. And just as we were talking and reminiscing about the colorful characters of our old boarding house, we see good ol' ralphioso! I greet him with sneak attack on the back of the knee, and he's surprised to see us too, hehe. It doesn't take a lot of convincing before he decides to tag along with us, and we once again circle the grounds. We stop by some karaoke machines. Yes, I've done this with them before, but in the past fairs we were inside tents...away from the prying eyes of people. But this time around, there were no tents, walls or divisions...it was out in the open. But that didn't stop us...so we started singing, hopefully no one else I knew passed by at that time. But I didn't do too bad, scored a 99(my highest so far) singing With or Without You, haha. Daanin lang kasi yan sa sigaw ;p

Can I just say that I fell in love with MYMP that night. They did a couple of remakes and boy did it sound good...had a lot of soul and emotion to it. But later on, the four of us decide we want to talk somewhere else less public coz... ehem ehem...namimiss na namin ang isa't isa, hehe. So we head back to KNL to the girls boarding house. So there we continue most of our chitchat. Ralph has a new girlfriend, and one of the girls have love problems of her own...hmm, don't we all? So she posted this question as a sum of her problem, "How do you get a guy to give it to you straight?". Well, she has a thing for this guy who seems to have a thing for her...you know, the thin line between friendship and love thing. The guy hasn't been clear on what his intentions are has been quite vague about it daw. So we all gave our suggestions as to what would be the best course of action she could take...and wished her all the best, hehe. My suggestion was to engage the guy in a serious talk that would involve a "play of words" so that she would discover what the guy was up to and at the same time not have to fess up that she likes him. Easier said than done...but psych major naman to...so kayang kaya...dapat, hehe. Attraction has a way of messing up the networks in our brain.

Later on, after much conversation, we decide it's time to head home but as Ralph and I reach Philcoa, we decide to accompany Kaygee all the way to her boarding house near Fatima coz we were seriously worried about her (given the time of day and her choice of an outfit,ehe). When we get there, she invites us up to her floor to have a look-see and we eventually hang out in the hallway. We have a good view of the city, and it seems so peaceful. Instead of heading home, we continue our conversation on things...this time with a little more seriousness in our tones. It's not easy for me to talk about the REAL things about me especially when it concerns the past and relationships...so I don't talk about them much. But that night (or early morning rather), I got to talk about it naturally and I got to say what I wanted to say. I guess it was more than just the moment...they were/are the closest friends I have in college, I guess it's easier for me to talk to them about this stuff though I don't really see them that often. We got to clear out a lot of misconceptions and false ideas about each others situations, and some revealations made us breath a little easier. I give them a light laugh when they tell me that they've been expecting me to have already found someone new some time ago... I think they'll have to wait a little longer for that kind of news, hehe. My time is a little bit slower than everyone else's I guess.


The BEST UP Fair night of the week! Kitchie Nadal, Moonstar 88...

(for some reason, after writing the details of the past two nights I was in the Fair, my memory of this night has somewhat fizzled out...so i think I'll just edit this someday if I remember whatever It is I forgot to put down)

It's a thursday and the UP Fair has the best line-up of bands of the week for this night as far as I'm concerned. And I'm going out with the badminton group(Sheila, Noelle, Gem and Marielle) save for the absent members Ralph and Joy(once again). We meet up at ilang before we head to the grounds. We circled the grounds several times, tried out a few games of balloons and darts, did some rifle shooting and shot some baskets (Gem was a lucky at her first time, haha:P ) and a whole other stuff just to get that fair feel coz it was a first time experience for some in the group. Later on, we end up at the videoke machines...ehehe...and we do end up singing save for Gem (kj!). Moonstar 88 is playing on stage and only marielle and I are interested so we leave them for a while at the videoke machines. I've heard it all the time at the Fair year in and year out...but the song Torete never grows old with me, it's a definite classic!:) I'm not sure if I have faulty memory but I think session road also came to perform and I really like their song Suntok sa Buwan. When the gang has finally regrouped, we hear that Kitchie Nadal will be performing soon and we look for a decent spot. It was all good...save for the fact that in front of us were some kids high on drugs and body bumping to her songs. Some people say that Kitchie talks funny when she's not singing...well I don't really care,hehe:) After that, some people start heading home...making it clear that the star they were expecting to hear had just finished performing.

We leave the fair and decide to have some coffee at Starbucks...I think we all head home around 2am. Anyone please fell free to correct me of my recollection of this evening...its a little fuzzy on my head, hehe.

....
"Did you know that a bumble bee, according to the theory of Aerodyanamics...with its size, mass and wingspan, has impossible chances of flight. But with its ignorance of these scientific facts and armed only with its determination, a bumble bee does fly...and makes a little honey too. " -(not an exact quote) from the movie, The Calcium Kid