Inside Mall of Asia at Christmas

Sometimes there is an activity we’d like so much to accomplish but because of the hassle we have to undergo to do it, we just forget it if it’s not important anyway. That activity becomes a dream, until destiny suddenly brings us there. For me, that activity is simply to go to “Mall of Asia”, which they said is the biggest mall, not only in the Philippines but in the whole of Asia. The place is too far from our residence and there are a lot of shopping places nearby like Megamall, Robinson’s Galleria, Eastwood City malls, Gateway, Trinoma, SM City North, Hypermart, Tiendesitas, SM Marikina, etc. We are actually in the middle of all these malls.

Until one day, my son and daughter told me that their choir, Novo Concertante Manila, will be singing at MOA (popular abbreviation for Mall of Asia) and I immediately answered “We will watch!”. I couldn’t think of a better reason for me to go there. The day of their performance was December 22, Monday. We expected a lot of traffic so we decided not to bring the car. Fortunately there were already jeepneys going to MOA waiting for passengers from the MRT, so it was really easy.

When we were there, I was expecting a large structure and I was disappointed not to see any. I realized though that what really made MOA the biggest is its sprawling low structures connected by bridges. At the far background of this photo with a “cute” open shuttle is a blue bridge. The next photo is a shot of this same place from that bridge.


At Christmas, inside a big mall is of course a big Christmas tree, and a stage where various shows are held. Choirs singing Christmas carols are indispensable, especially if they’ve won in a contest, like the first prize for church choir category won by Novo Concertante Manila in the recently concluded “Vivere Chorale Competition 2008”, a popular annual chorale competition in the Philippines. The host of the competition is Vivere Hotel, an elegant hotel in Alabang. Maybe one day I should visit that hotel and blog about it (another dream, LOL).

What a wonderful way for me to go to MOA, and listen to Novo Concertante Manila sing one of my favorite Christmas songs, a German song titled “Frohlocket Ihr Folker auf Erden”, which exclaims the joy and thanksgiving of the world for He has sent His son for the redemption of mankind.

Merry Novo Christmas!

Merry Novo Christmas! The "Novo" of course means "new" and it can be a short single word for "May your dreams be fulfilled this Christmas!". Do you like that? I like that too, very much in fact, so I'd like to thank the annual Christmas event of Novo Concertante Manila for coming up with that title for their traditional Christmas concert.

For this year, the "Merry Novo Christmas" concert was held just a few hours ago, on December 20, at the Holy Family Chapel of Eastwood City in Quezon City. The video shows a part of the concert where Novo Concertante Manila sang a Filipino Christmas song titled "Kampana Ng Simbahan", a well choreographed rendition. Just brighten your screen a bit to appreciate the choreo since it was a far shot just using my camera.

Singing with Novo Concertante Manila

Novo Concertante Manila is one of the best choirs in the Philippines. There was a time I dreamed to be a part of this choir but it was not a serious dream. Until my son and daughter became members, because the conductor of this choir, Arwin Tan, was the former conductor of the choir where my children were members.

Our family sings with some of my children's former choirmates, at the Holy Family Chapel at Eastwood City every third Sunday of the month (11 A.M. mass), with my daughter as a "passive" conductor. Until some members of Novo Concertante Manila joined us, including their conductor who doesn't conduct this time, but sings as one of the basses. I feel proud to sing with the choir's sopranos, though sometimes I prefer to sing as an alto because the sopranos are obviously very good and there are just a few altos. I'm contented to just sing with them informally during the mass, primarily because the choir won't need somebody like me LOL.

In this video is a song of Novo Concertante Manila, which showcases their very talented sopranos and an alto. The title of the song is "Ili-ili Tulog Anay", a Filipino lullaby in Ilongo dialect. Their performance made me very happy that I was part of the audience and not the choir. I took the video just using my Samsung U600 cellphone during the Thanksgiving concert of the choir at Holy Family Parish in Kamias, Quezon City, last December 6 of this year.

Ilonggo

Ili-ili, tulog anay,
Wala diri imong Nanay,
Kadto tienda bakal papay,
Ili-ili, tulog anay

English Translation

Little one, little one, sleep now
Your mother is not here,
She went to buy some bread
Little one, little one, sleep now.

My own version, to put Lyca to sleep (LOL):

Sleep, sleep, my little one
Mama will stay to sing for you
I will be here to watch you sleep
Sleep, sleep, my little one

The Dream Match: Pacquiao Wins!

"The Dream Match: De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao" is probably the first “David and Goliath” match for so many years. For this “Dream Match” with Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao has been the underdog. For the last seven years, he had been an underdog, in 2001 against Lehlo Ledwaba and according to some, to Erik Morales in March 2005. But in those two fights he was an underdog, he emerged as the winner!

Today’s fight of these two boxing giants will end all speculations. They said that Oscar may win by knockout, while Manny may only win by decision.

Here's an unofficial outcome of the Dream Match:
1st Round: Pacquiao's learning curve has accelerated
2nd Round: Pacquiao lands more than half of his shots
3rd to 5th Round: Pacquiao dominates the fight
6th Round: Pacquiao wins the 6 rounds
7th Round: De La Hoya weakens, Power punches: De La Hoya 34%, Pacquiao 57%
8th Round: Pacquiao still dominates the fight
9th Round: De La Hoya's doctor advises to stop the fight before this round started!

Pacquiao wins by TKO! Power punches: De La Hoya 31%, Pacquiao 59%