Winning vs Losing

I have to say I have never heard as many boos ever for a winner, than for yesterday's "undefeated" Floyd Mayweather.

It was so loud that you can hear it off the TV while he was being interviewed even with the limited audio picked up by the boom mic. It was so loud on social media, all over the world, that you can almost hear the crowd jeering in your ear.  It was surreal, to have a winner be booed for winning a title that by all technical accounts seem to have been his.

I am not a big boxing fan so I will not pretend to analyze or understand the points system that let Mayweather run away (pun intended of course) with it. All I know is that for all the money he has taken, for all that glittering fancy-title-weights under his belt, at the end of the day all we could hear were the loud Boos.

You can say that boxing is not a popularity contest, and so is life.  In life, bad guys who "don't do nothing" win... but win what exactly?

Maybe its time to ask - what was the prize anyway and to whom does it matter to?

I am not a boxing fan, but I am fan of Manny Pacquiao, and all the Manny Pacquiao's I know  -   those who come out fighting, those who won't back into a corner, those who don't try to earn petty points from someone who didn't know better,  those who can smile at their toughest opponent, those who still see life as only a game, those who can accept  and brush off defeat,  those who can sing, or at least try to,  those who would rather put on a great gig more than care so much about the money in the jar, those who look up to something bigger than themselves, those who inspire us to be better ...

because at the end of the day, I think those are the real people who matter, who deserve to be in the history books, even if they don't get written about, even if they lose.

If there's one thing I take away from the so-called Fight of the Century is that  - no amount of money can buy you Respect and Legacy. These are things that you EARN.

I just hope the Mayweathers of the world has picked up a thing or two from Pacman.




***


"Ngunit hindi nila kayang baliin ang iyong loob,
Ang pag-ibig na hawak moy' hindi malulubog
Lahat ng pera sa mundo, hindi kayang gawing ginto ang huwad na tao
ang mga tinig, palakas ng palakas..."

But they cannot break your spirit,
they cannot bring down the love you hold
all the money in world, 
cannot not turn an ordinary man to gold
the voices are getting louder and louder...

Payola, Padulas, Pabaon, Para-paraan Pilipinas.

PR : “It is not what you say, but how you say it.”

I learned about the “real word” at an early age, and this has kept me away from any kind of career in broadcast journalism. Fresh out of college, I joined a fledging PR agency in Manila as a copywriter where I wrote about all kinds of stuff, mostly travel and lifestyle oriented.

Public Relations (PR) I soon learned was not an easy job, especially in the Philippines, where you have to deal with limited media outlets, and an elite circle of seasoned journos who has hogged the top slots for as long as they can.

Quickly I learned that its not enough to just to state the facts. Its not enough to send well-written press releases about interesting places and products.  I learned how to enhance a story and how a simple title can mean the difference between getting snubbed and getting published. I learned to be extremely patient, to wait on the phone, while my calls get transferred from one assistant to another.  I learned about the term VIP and VIP treatment.

I learned that in some cases, your best will not be enough, and that often times the bigger the editorial space you want, the bigger you might have to pay. Monetary or otherwise. I learned that this has always been the case.

I was introduced into the system and there was no turning back.  They say that the only thing true about the newspapers is the date. As I earned my first few paychecks on writing press releases, I also began to accept this cynicism.

I know for a fact that certain writers, columnists, or even high profile editors are open to do “favors”. Given that we are not dealing with hard news, I can only imagine what it would be like for those who actually did, those who had access to the front page, those who had the primetime news slots.

Payola: Pay to Play

From PR, I then moved on to a Record Label, where I soon learned about “Payola” .  Again I learned that this has always been the case. 

More often than not, it is not enough to just have a good song. It was PR all over again. You need to know the right people, you need this people to listen to you, and again you need to be patient enough to wait for them to reply, when they feel like it. It would help if you send them the occasional gifts – limited edition Artist merchandise, CDs, and of course the wine and dine factor. That’s all good, that’s all part of the job.

If you want more plays on a radio station, you just gotta have to be ready to pay the price.Sure there are organic hits, those that are lucky enough to hit the mainstream, but more often than not, we had to “push” it, and “pushing” requires all necessary efforts, monetary or otherwise. Anyway, one could argue that there is essentially nothing wrong in selling a product or in this case, a hit song, especially if its really good. 

Again, I find that music is a more subtle field, compared to hardcore entertainment, such as the local film industry. If you’ve ever been to a press junket of a local film, you will know how upfront these Entertainment writers can get. Sometimes they don’t even care to use an envelope. It was the norm. People just accepted that that’s just the way it is. 

Pampadulas, lagay, thank you note.

Mam, Ser....The VIP-Star treatment

The VIP culture also continued, and the VIP treatment was done not just with media but also with artists, celebrities that we had to take care of.  In the Philippines the stars are not just actors or singers, they all seem to live in some kind of pedestal and many have convinced themselves of it. Blessed are those, and there are still those, who are humble enough not to fit into this stereotype.

In my 5 years in the music label, I did my job quietly and never interfered with these local celebs, except on occasion. Maybe I’ve met a few who didn’t have that air of “entitlement”. Don’t get me wrong I respect them as artists, I am essentially after all, only a fan, and will forever remain a fan. Music is my soul food and I’m eternally for good music, but this sense of “entitlement”, this sense of VIP culture never sat well with me. Until one day, I just decided to leave the old scene.  Like that scene in my favorite movie Almost Famous - I chose Morroco.

Quitting the Game

As I look back in the years I’ve spent working in the Philippines, I've met the best and the worst kind of people. I remember a lot of good times, and many fun, challenging times, but also, having spent most of it in PR & Entertainment I realized that corruption is endemic, and it is everywhere. The system will not change until people stop playing along with it.  Until people stop accepting it as that's just the way it is. 

Perhaps my story is just small scale, but let me tell you this,  after all those years working in the “biz
 if I got any valuable lesson, is that never to trust the mainstream media. The game is always rigged, but you can always, at any given point, refuse to play. 

Don’t let these people bully you into buying in to the system. They are no better than you. Seek out the truth by reading about it and asking questions.  Find your own hits, find your own heroes. Do it yourself.  Do not just consume, but create. Share it with your friends.  This is the reason why I love Social Media. It gives us a voice, and lets us create and participate.

We all just have to be smart, stubborn and confident enough to say – You know what,  I don’t need your shit, thank you very much.

 

About a Girl

September 8, 2014 :

As I write this down, I am thinking of a girl from my high school class, her name is Recca. She died today. We all learned about her passing through another batchmate’s post on our facebook group. For a batch of about only 200, we all knew each other somehow, although I never really had a chance to get to know her better.

Recca Noelle Monte, Manila Science High School

Always among our top sections, Recca moved on to be an Iskolar ng Bayan in the state U and I never heard of her again, until today.

Today, I learned that Recca has passed away for reasons unclear, and that she was a “tibak”- an activist. She chose to live a life of active compassion, fighting injustice for the marginalized farmers and other oppressed communities in neglected areas in the Philippines.

Apparently, it was not enough for her to sit still in the comforts of the University.  She left and let go of an engineering diploma in her attempts to make real, concrete change in lives of many other Filipinos. Such as introducing the simple concept of Hydraulics and doing a D-I-Y solution in a community who waited decades to have electricity, obviously abandoned by our useless corrupt government. 

In her only article online she quoted the words “a true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love”, and I feel for her. 

We don’t have the details as to how she died, but I reckon it had something to do with having followed the great revolutionary road.  Recca’s life (and death) reminded me of Che Guevarra and Gandhi, of going out there and “being the change that you want to see in the world”.

Incidentally, and not to take away any credit, this had me thinking again about the reason why I want to write,  and why I will always be grateful to people who have given me a chance to air out my thoughts. I am especially thankful to those who read my insignificant blog among many others out there.  I hope you find in it some spark of motivation, or at least some sense of belonging, enough to realise that we all share the same struggles and aspirations. 

I remember having written an article not too long ago, and hearing the words “you are a movement” from our editor at Illustrado magazine after she read it. I was very humbled to hear this, but also I realised that it was true. She is right, the same way that Recca, that girl from my high school class, is right.

We are all, in our selves, a movement.  We have the power to mobilize our fellows to be that positive force that can inspire change that can pave the way for the next generation of dreamers and doers. 

In this mini-piece of writing, allow me to celebrate the life of Recca and the triumph of the proud, passionate, compassionate, ingenious Filipino spirit that cannot be contained.  

"Hindi nyo kami mabibiliang, 

At hindi din maikakahon

Madami kami, ngunit iisa lamang 

ang aming pasyon - 

Ang Awit ng Kabataan.

Ito na ang ating Panahon." 

Choose Philippines

I was lucky enough to come home twice this year. On my most recent trip I decided to take a chance to fly with a low-cost Philippine carrier Cebu Pacific where I paid half of the usual fare of the other alternative for a direct flight.  I'm used to travelling on a budget so I don't mind the fuzz free deal, and the lack of leg room is not a much of a problem for petite girls like me. 

I had a great book (A Thousand Splendid Suns) to keep me entertained, and when I wasn't reading I was sleeping. Over all it was a smooth ride, but what struck me the most was the flight back to Dubai. I was seated near the cockpit, and I thought I saw a glimpse of a woman on the control boards, and when the Flight announcement came on I got the confirmation, a woman's voice came on. The captain was Filipina, her name was Mayra Florencio and here I was reading about the abused women in Afghanistan. At that moment I just felt so grateful and blessed to have grown up in a country where Filipinas can choose to be a Pilot if she can and wanted to.

Elated, I shared the story with pinoy friends, a lot of them are surprised, many of them are dubious about taking a Philippine carrier and surprisingly having a woman pilot. I can't blame them. Years of sub-par standards have plagued the Philippines, and no one I know has really flown with a female pilot, filipino or  otherwise, but as they say – “if you never try then you will never know.”  The irony is despite our so-called "Pinoy Pride" A lot of us who have left the country are stuck in this belief system of a hopeless Philippines. 

Going around Manila in 2014 I saw usual problems of traffic jams and poverty but there was also a lot of construction going on, mostly prime condominiums, shopping mall extensions, a lot of new restaurants, and a lot more foreign expats working in the city. Things looked positive. Above all, I flew to Dubai on a low-cost Philippine carrier with a Filipina pilot. I think that alone is PROGRESS.


Dubai may have their high-rise buildings and everything money can buy, but I still think the Filipinos, our people, are leagues ahead, If only we learn to give ourselves credit, if only we can be free of this old "colonial" mentality that everything else from “abroad” is better.

The real revolution begins in the mind, we should break free of the old chains and believe that the Philippines can soar to greatness if we wanted to.

Let’s choose Philippines. Happy Independence Day!

Manila is not just a Brown Envelope

An old blog entry. January 2008.

It is a Sunday, the lazy sun is about to set here in Manila as I type this down on my old room where its never quiet, honks and engine roar from the jeepneys below, bells from the ice cream vendor, endless murmurs of passersby, kids playing outside...all these while sunlight strikes my window and a cool breeze blows from the curtains.

Manila Bay Sunset. (Not my photo, grabbed from Internet)

I am here and I still feel homesick, like I haven't been living in this town, or in this country ever since, or as if I've already left. It's funny coz I started this year feeling I should be somewhere else, doing something else. I don't know. I still feel that way most of the time, but right now I am sitting here, typing with my coffee and the classic egg pie from the bakery right across -  and I'm good. Sometimes this is all I need. A moment. A still frame that delays the passing of time, even for just a few stops.

I've realized that I will always long for Manila, especially the city, the old Manila where I used to live with my parents, where I studied high school, took up university, where I landed my first job at fledging PR and events company run by obsessive compulsive people.

It was in a house in Malate, I had this one corner where I wrote about all kinds of stuff, from furniture, to Chinese cuisine, Macanese festivals, hotel promos, budget travel, rubber shoes, grilled burgers and even yatch spare parts, name it. After work, I'd walk around the cultural center and breathe some badly needed air, badly polluted but who cares, watch the sun go down on Manila Bay, with joggers, lovers and sea leeches all in tow.


Last week I took a trip down there, old Manila, with some business I had to attend to, but still it was refreshing to be walking down its streets again. The orange jeepneys, crowded Taft avenue, the LRT, the old buildings, 3-star hotels brimming with all sorts of foreigners, bars in Nakpil, all kinds of bars, the streets lined with money changers, 7-11s, government agencies, employment agencies, internet cafes, Starbucks filled with med students who treats it like its their school canteen, fish balls and cigarette stands, an occasional kalesa (horse carriage), cheap paintings portraying rural scenes, all side by side in the streets of Manila.

Kalesa on the main road. Taken with my Holga 2008.

Of course I am aware that there are cellphone snatchers, sleazy pimps, swindlers and street garbage lurking in the background as well, but its all part of the chaos, so i swing my bag in front of me the way any street-smart Manileña would. It was a breezy afternoon like this, I look around, the crisp air whispering stories at me. In fact, every corner, every nook had a story to tell, just lying there waiting for scavengers like me to pick them up.

Somewhere near Binondo. Holga 2008

Carriedo LRT station. Holga 2008. 

But all is not lost, because I know someday these scenes will somehow find its way here and reappear in another world, fictitious or not. For now, I just want to share this feeling of homesickness, and the joy of finding those lost streets again, and maybe share with friends abroad, those thinking to go abroad, or even those just thinking of going on a vacation tour to some other country, or those who have never been here, that there is really so much of life here in Manila. It might not be the clean, progressive, chewing-gum and smoke-free city or the peaceful away-from-everything else paradise island that they have out in the south, but if you're looking life and stories like I do, I have to say, Manila will not dissapoint.

Ssssh. Manila Motel Rates. Holga 2008.

Making Sense of Yolanda

As my countrymen in the Philippines struggle with the aftermath of Yolanda/Haiyan, the world's biggest typhoon to make landfall to date, I struggle to find the words to describe the desperation that we feel, especially for us who are away from home, who cannot do much but reach out through words, through balikbayan boxes, through prayers and what little money we can send, all the same feeling that no matter what we do, it just wouldn't be enough.

Much has been said about inefficiency of our government leaders, of our inadequacy to deal with such catastrophe that though I cannot deny the frustration I wouldn't want to add to the stress and the negativity. Rather, I am writing simply to add another voice to the grateful, to let you all know how much we all appreciate the work that everyone is doing, especially those who are on ground - the tireless social workers and volunteers whose heroism day in day out continue to be a source of hope for all us, the local and foreign press who have kept us connected sharing vital information on places where help is much needed, thank you for keeping us up to speed and telling our story.

To the various countries and individuals from all around the globe who have come to support our tiny nation of seven thousand islands, generous with their aid and their resources, expressing symphaties, our heartfelt Salamat for being there, for thinking of us, for lending your able hands, God knows we cannot do this alone.

It is very hard to make sense of something so tragic, but at times like these losing hope is not an option.  As one writer has put it, we are a nation in mourning, but we are not helpless.

Underneath the stench of death, desolation and despair, we have exposed our soul as a nation. Underneath it all, we have shown the world, the stuff that Pinoys are made of - the incredible strenght of a real survivor. You see, we are a people who have, time and again weathered many storms and learned to adapt to all kinds of difficult situations, in our own country and in other places around the world, even in the direst of circumstances you will find us carrying on, as one family, calling each kabayan, (countrymen), ate or kuya (sister or brother), finding reasons to smile despite our many problems.

If there is a silver lining to it all,  not to undermine the great loss that many of my kabayans have suffered, I would say that Yolanda / Haiyan brought us all of us back to our senses,  rightly putting things into perspective.

The truth is, it so easy to be sucked in by the daily grind, by stuff, by so-called matters of consequences - politics, religion, career, fame, money, sex, technology, bad relationships, hollywood, etc but at the end of the day, what really matters most, and perhaps the only thing that matters is our Humanity.

This tragedy is a harsh reminder that no matter who we are, how far we've gone, how much money we have, how much we've achieve, we are all temporary tenants to this generous earth and all of us, regardless of the clothes we wear, our status in society, all of us are living on borrowed time.

That really at the end of the day, when you take away all the petty things, the only thing that would matter is how much, and how generously we loved each other. At the end of it all, we come to realize how our brief lives are only made significant by giving and making a difference in someone else's.

Having said that, still there are many who would rather turn a blind eye to those who are suffering, who would allow their selfish ambitions get the better of them. I pray that they would wake up, I pray that they would not waste time.  Every passing minute is an opportunity to turn it all around. If death is just around the corner, then let us make the days count, and let not those who have perished before us die in vain.

Yolanda may have taken so much from us, but battered as we are, we as Filipinos are proud to show the world what it means to truly live. We are putting our mark on the global map, to be defined as a nation and as people who know the secret to life, and that is to live and let live.


And now these three remain, Faith, hope and love, but the greatest of this is love. - 1 Corinthian 13 :13

Sex Scandals & Philippine Politics : The Dirty Nasty Truth

In the Philippines, we used to have that old idiom  don't wash your dirty laundry in public, but social media is now changing all of that. Now with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, everyone else is playing with dirty laundry, and somehow I think its a good thing.

I'm a big fan of the series Gossip Girl, where one insider gets access to the lives and scandals of the upper elites and exposes them to unsuspecting masses. I think its a great idea, and it seems to be happening now in the Philippines.  I really don't care much about the recent Sex scandal of rockstar Chito Miranda and girlfriend Neri, or the boring family feuds like the Barretos, but there's a big bomb exploding daily on a small blog about a certain Napoles family, and its turning out to be the biggest scam so far that has been uncovered by investigative reporters – that of the P10 B scam that involved the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), better known as the pork barrel. 

Napoles and her Government offical friends spreading their Evil (i'm stealing from you all) grin. 

Comments by Anonymous on this blog post has revealed detailed information on how this super Elites and organized Crime lords, many of them holding government offices are stealing BILLIONS every year from our hardearned taxpayers money, while 70% of our country remain below poverty.

People are now talking about the sex tape of famous rockstar Chito Miranda, but the truth is this 10B peso Pork Barrel Scam, this obscene weath that this filthy opportunists have amassed through the years since the time of Diosdado Macapagal, to Marcos to the present, has put us all in the same hopeless boat, has put our kababayans in squalor while the tacky noveau riche like the Napoles gets to party in NYC and drown in champagne wearing Loubotins - THIS, This to me is the real OBSCENITY.  This is the real Dirty, Nasty Shit. This is what we should be talking about. Not some homemade video sex tape.

Actually this particular news is not new to me or to all of us Pinoys. We all know this. We each have our own "anak ni mayor", "kaibigan ni governor" stories enough to justify this. The culture of corruption in our country has come to point where people, all of us regular pinoys, have just come to accept that it is part of our daily lives. Thinking it is hopeless to fight, we became  helpless and lazy, that we have come to accept that our government officials are free to get away with it. Sometimes we even try to benefit from it, because come to think of it we like the idea of VVIP.

But this has to stop. Right now we have rays of hope. We are on the verge of change.  We are getting positive credit ratings world wide, our tourism sector is growing, our Filipino expats (OFWs) are making way for stronger middle class but yet this chain of corruption keeps dragging us down. THIS HAS TO STOP.

I urged you to sign the petition and take a stand against this widespread corruption. We need to pressure Broadcast media like the evil empire of ABS CBN (who has been mum about this issue) to support  this, we need to this by ourselves.

A group of concerned citizens and former government officials have filed a petition on Change.Org for the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the misuse of the Pork Barrel Fund. There are a few good men. Let's support them. 


Mahal ko ang Pilipinas at nahihirapan ang mga tao taon taon, habang ang mga mismong government officials ang nagnanakaw sa kaban na dapat ay gamitin para umunlad ang bansa. Madami ang sangkot at talamak ang corruption sa Pilipinas pero naniniwala ako na hindi ako nagiisa, madami ang sawang-sawa na sa magsasamantala ng mga corrupt sa gobyerno. Nagpapakahirap kami dito sa ibang bansa for our families back home, to give them a better life and in turn improve our situation in the country, lahat ng mangagawa sa Pinas ay sapilitang nagbabayad ng buwis. 

That is HARD-EARNED taxpayers money that they are stealing from us and using to service their lavish lifestyles, and obscene wealth. I am just one person, but I still believe there are good people in government and in private institutions like our broadcast media who can turn this thing around. Let's do this together. This time around wag tayong maging bulag. Let's bring this system of corruption down and call for change!

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Sincerely, 
Kristine Abante 
Dubai, UAE 

Island in the Sun

Summertime always make me think of home - the roadtrips with friends, the weekends out-of-town, sand, surf, barbeques, mangoes, fresh air, fishballs, corn cobs, the dirty ice cream in the street, drinking coke out of plastic bags,  sipping fresh buko juice or eating halo halo on a hot summer day.

These flood of memories makes me yearn to be back in the Philippines, to be embraced warmly by its familiar, welcoming shores, to leave the cruel indifferent desert-concrete jungle of Dubai and once again be treated as a golden island senorita. Yes these are the stuff of my summer daydreams.

When people, foreigners, ask me about the Philippines, I always ask them back "Do you like the beach?" If they say yes, I immediately brighten up and become a little miss unofficial tourism ambassador, happy to go on talking about the places I loved the most, Boracay, Palawan, Batanes, Pagudpud. The list goes on. If they say no, well there's always San Miguel Beer, Sisig, Balut and Karaoke.

There are usually so many good things to say, that sometimes I wonder why some Filipinos choose to brood over or highlight the bad things. 

I think of home in the summertime and I hear a song in my head that goes – On an Island in the sun, we’ll be playing having fun, and it makes me feel so fine, I can’t control my brain…

Minsan: The Eraserheads Reunion Concert in Dubai

 “Nostalgia - it's delicate, but potent. It's a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone. It takes us to a place where we ache to go again.” – Don Draper, Mad Men

The heads with Sancho, old time collaborator, friend and third guitarist, who Ely introduced to the crowd
as the “fifth Eraserhead. 

I was 13, on my first year at a co-ed highschool when I first saw the Eraserheads play at the UP sunken garden. It was my first ever real live concert. I went with one of my best friends and her cool older sister who was at the time, studying at the same University.  There were plastic balloons flying around which I later learned were called “condoms”. We know pretty much all of the songs from Circus, Ultraelectromagnetic pop and Cutterpillow, but even if you don’t have the records there’s no way you can escape them on the radio. Honestly, who can resist Ely Buendia and his witty common-guy lines about sem-break and heartache?

Such was the pull of the Eheads, it wasn’t just the music per se. In a way, there was a reason why they were always being compared to the Beatles. They were our generation’s (our country’s) Beatlemania. It was a cultural thing more than anything. They had too much influence in fact that everyone, young and old, even the resident “tambays” at your neighborhood sari-sari store would most certainly know the lyrics to  Pare Ko.

I moved to Dubai in 2009, like many other pinoys, in search of better opportunities. As a music fan, and having spent most of my adult life working for the “pop machine”, the news of the Eraserheads Reunion in Dubai was just too good to be true and when it was confirmed that they will be playing at the annual du Music Festival, all of us “Kabayans” based here were psyched.  It was collectively agreed, on all our facebook accounts and twitter feeds, that we HAVE to see them. 

When you work outside the country and your monthly budget is limited, divided into remittances, loans, and other responsibilities, you think twice about spending precious hard-earned money on concerts, but the Eraserheads Reunion, was not just a WANT, it was a NEED. We needed to be there. We needed to see Ely, Raimund, Buddy and Markus play our favorite songs. We needed to belong to that special place again. We needed a piece home as we remembered it.

The Eheads reunion couldn’t have come at a better time.  It was on the same week we launched our first Tagalog / OPM FM station in the Middle East, Tag 91.1 and all streets had banners of either the Eheads or Tag 91.1 that said “serving 645,000 Filipinos in the UAE.” It felt like, for once, the whole of Dubai, was nodding at our Community with respect, and we are finally getting the recognition we deserved.    

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the press conference and while waiting for the band, I met another Filipina, Maggie Lafuente, who came out there with her husband. She skipped work for the chance to meet the Eheads up close. She was trembling.  

 “I was working in London at the time of their first reunion concert in 2008, I badly wanted to go.” Maggie shares.  “I was ready to book a ticket. My sister had to stop me and told me it wasn’t practical. Then I heard about Ely’s heart attack, I CRIED, they just mean that much to me. I never thought I’d see them live again. You see those girls on old footages screaming out, crying over the Beatles, they look crazy but I’d be one of them for Eraserheads.”

Of course, 90% of the media representatives in room were Filipino. I came with former Pulp photographer and good friend Brutal Grace and for a second there I felt like I was at home.

We were told not ask “personal” questions and only stick to the “music festival”. There was a bit of awkwardness at first, but Markus, the more laid back member of the group, put everyone at ease with his clever one-liners. I asked them the most standard thing I could think of  - what was their impression of Dubai, of the place, of the people.

Buddy was quick to answer,  “We are impressed by the camaraderie of the Filipino Community and the incredible presence and support.  We also experienced a bit of the diverse culture in Dubai, like last night we tried Ethiopian food, which was really good.”

When asked if they learned to say any Arabic words, Markus came out with “Kebab, Kebab Dylan, Kebab Marley”, that cracked everyone up and after that the questions just came pouring in until finally somebody was brave enough to ask the obvious    - why a reunion? and why in Dubai? 

Raymund playfully sang “reunited coz it feels so good.” Buddy replies “how many Filipinos are now in Dubai? 600,000? So we have 600,000 reasons to play here and finally Ely spoke up with a cheeky retort – “peer pressure”.

More than 10,000 fans in the UAE came to Dubai Media City to see the Eraserheads perform live on stage again. 

“It was simply natural progression.” Ely explains further.  “We are all doing our own thing for awhile now and then there was this clamor to get back together again and play, especially for those who are based outside the Philippines, and have not seen us play live yet. We are music fans ourselves, and we know what its like to love a band and grow up with their songs. We are just grateful that our songs still resonate with our fans.”

About the songs that they packed for the concert, Raimund shares, “we picked the ones that we enjoy playing. We didn’t really think much about what people will like, or what other nationalities will be there to see us play, pinili namin yung masarap tugtugin.”

I would say this decision just paid off big time. There is simply nothing better than seeing your favorite band enjoying themselves on stage while singing your favorite songs. I was there during the first reunion in 2008, I didn’t feel as connected to them as I was at the Dubai show. Perhaps it was the “homesickness” but I would say the Eraserheads Reunion concert in Dubai, was in the purest sense, about “connection”, about all of us, including the band, sharing the familiar songs and the memories.

The band kicked it off aptly with “Walang Nagbago”, then went on to perform 27 of their best hits, among them the well-loved songs -  ‘Maling Akala’, ‘Ligaya, Huwag Mo Ng Itanong’ , ‘Kailan’ ‘Overdrive’, ‘With A Smile’, ‘Julie Tear Jerky’, Magazin, Minsan and Super Proxy which they dedicated to the late Francis M, who were with them at their last concert in Dubai back in 1999. With over 10,000 fans in attendance, the Eraserheads Reunion at the du World Music Festival last 4^th April was one of the biggest, and possibly the loudest, Dubai has seen this year. 

A friend wrote on his facebook status the night after the concert –

"The best thing about watching Eraserheads is not about the band itself, It's about having the greatest time with your friends, friends that mean the whole song to you, people who you can sing and relate with, banging and just having a great time!Thanks mga pare ko!"

He is right. There was this magic moment, when everyone out in the open field of Dubai Media city was  all singing along to “With a Smile”. We all knew the lyrics to the entire song by heart. It’s hard not to get sentimental, coz the song was about us, about my friends, old and new, about every single struggling overseas filipino I've ever met in Dubai, including myself. 

Lift your head, baby don't be scared / with the things that could go wrong along the way.
We'll get by with a smile / We'll get along with a little prayer and a song.