Before it became a crater, Glorietta 2 holds a lot of memories for everyone. A few of my friends were around the vicinity when the bombing occurred and am just thankful they’re safe and I was several miles away, working at the casino-hotel in faraway Manila. A few years back when the LRT bombing occurred, I was at riding the MRT at the same time, and it always gives me the creeps thinking about how close you can sometimes be to unfortunate events.
Second question is: how would you like to die (I like it quick) and the philosophers among us always philosophize that you cannot evade death no matter how hard you try to avoid it. How true? The only thing that matters now is that we really have to thank the Almighty for every chance we wake up in the morning with hope and light. The second most important thing to do is to always show our loved ones how we care for who knows if we have second chances.
In the aftermath of the Glorietta episode, I was literally star-gazing at the National Thank You Day concert sponsored by Toblerone. (see above photo of pretty ladies Nancy Castiglione, Cindy Kurleto and Bianca Gonzales). Everything seemed to be normal, even though it was held in another public place, the SM Mall of Asia. For a while, I thought there were more security men than people and you can’t blame them. I can just imagine how hard it must have been for the supersonic PR Amor Maclang (“my friendster even before Friendster was born”) to be planning the event in the wake of the Glorietta scare a day before. Still, the initiative was a success in terms of the media exposure it got and the very idea planted on everyone’s mind. We should have more of those Thank You posters in public places like trains, malls, offices and buses.
A big thank you to everyone who commented on my post, even those who are located abroad. I was glad to hear from some readers and to know that some of them are happy with their goodies. I am still wondering why some others are too shy to participate.:P Here’s some more artista photos to cheer you up:
Luis Manzano (Ate Vi’s boy, formerly known as Lucky) with Bianca Gonzales.
Toblerone’s handsome marketing manager Jondy Syjuco. Thank you Sir for the Toblerone swag bag with those Oreo cookies and chocos. Made my kiddies’ day. 😛
GeiserMaclang’s workaholic account manager for Toblerone Alma Buenviaje (how do you stay so slim sister?!), also known as my nominee for The Next Best Person Who’s Likely to Blog Soon. Hello also to Sara, Annika and the rest of GM’s topnotch PR team.
Close encounter with the slab of prime beef at Tagaytay Highlands Steakhouse, still and all one of my favorite steaks in Manila. And oh, the service was superb.
Post-Thank You Day Concert family bonding time at my kids’ favorite hang-out place, the MOA. My twins were so giggle-happy with their giant Toblerones 😛
This blogger was star-struck with the other artistas I saw like Francis Anthony and Maricel Laxa Pangilinan, DJ Mo and the super bands that performed in the concert ( Hale, Mozzie, The Dawn, Reggae Mistress, Stonefree, Cynthia Alexander et al) A big shout-out also to the blogging artistas I saw like Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet, the blogging family of Noemi Dado with daughters Lauren and Marielli, Juned Sonido and other media friends. Take a bow guys 😛
I will write a thank you post soon, no worries:)
keng says
wow, you have twins 😀 horrible what happened to glorietta though…
Em Dy says
Hi Ajay.
You might have seen Anthony instead of Francis. He’s the husband of Maricel and the brother of Francis who’s married to the Megastar.
And thank you for being one of my favorite reads.
ajay says
Yes Keng… meet my kids 🙂
Thanks Em for the correction..I must have been so sleepy when I blogged last night. That’s a nice thank you note, btw. Much appreciated.
noemi says
I enjoyed the concert despite my age. Hubby thought I might not. haha.
reyna elena says
hahaha! course! i read your blog – regularly.
never to macau. been to hongkong a couple of times but i’ve heard about macau from some friends. but if it’s like Las Vegas, maybe I’d skip and proceed to Beijing, a place I really really wanted to go.
had a chance in school to be in Beijing, we already had a schedule to go for a week, that 9-11 cancelled everything.
you have cute kids!
ajay says
Good for you, Noemi. Di ako rocker eh. I wish I had stayed longer though 😛
You should pursue that Beijing dream Reyna:) Wish I can go there too.
alma says
Thank you AJ:) Super cute your twins…Thank you, thank you very much.