Scalpers and Patron

I found out about the All-Star weekend the day after the tickets went sold out. I'm not the biggest basketball fan but I know that this weekend is a big deal, especially for people like my brother Ali. He never asks for anything so when he said he wanted to watch it I knew I had to do something. I spent the whole day scouting for tickets from scalpers because I didn't have any choice. The best I found was an upper A ticket worth 6k (original price is 1500) and I knew that if I don't buy it ASAP someone else will. True enough, two hours after I made a deal with a scalper to meet up the same night, he said that other people were interested and were making greater offers. Good thing he respected the fact that we made a deal first. So my first encounter with a scalper is a good one, although I wish that I didn't have to pay that much for one ticket.

So here it is! My brother's ticket this Saturday. He's watching alone because that hefty price scalpers add on the actually moderately priced ticket is worth it with him and only him. Haha!


NBA line-up:
1. Kobe Bryant
2. Chris Paul
3. Tyreke Evans
4. DeAndre Jordan replaced by Kevin Durant
5. James Harden
6. Derrick Williams
7. Derek Fisher
8. Derrick Rose

PBA line-up:

1. James Yap
2. Marc Pingris
3. Mark Caguioa
4. JC Intal
5. Arwin Santos
6. Rabeh Al-Hussaini
7. Ryan Reyes
8. Jason Castro
9. Larry Fonacier
10. Sonny Thoss
11. LA Tenorio
12. Sol Mercado
13. Gary David
14. Gabe Norwood
15. Danny Seigle

Not bad!

-

From now on, Tuesdays would be reserved for my girls Kim and Kenta. We had a really late lunch at Tutto (where we saw Miko and Julz) and went drinking at Nuvo (where we met up with said scalper, see above).


Here's to hoping for more days like today!

Tuesday with Mancel

I got too sick yesterday morning to go to school. Nothing too serious, so I was already feeling better before noon. It just so happened that my friend Mancel was online around that time. We've been planning on meeting up again for the longest time and our plans usually get cancelled at the last minute. On impulse, I told her I'm free for the rest of the day and that we should grab lunch during her 3-hour break.

I took the MRT from Shaw to Cubao. I even bought a stored value card because I'm sensing more northbound trips in the next few months. I didn't miss Cubao, but being there brought back many memories. I went early because I wanted to go around Gateway for a while. Grabe, the couple of hours I spent walking around and whatnot felt very nostalgic. I missed Ateneo, my friends, and even me from two-three years ago.

When Mancel got there, we hugged right away. There were no awkward moments, which was to be expected from friends who didn't see each other for almost a year. We always manage to pick up from where we left off, which is good.

We had a super late lunch (3pm!) at Italianni's. Already finished with the appetizer when she remembered to take a picture of the food. We both didn't bring a camera so we used her cellphone.


Salmon Carpaccio, or what was left of it.


Seafood Cioppino

After lunch, I asked her if she's already watched Inception. She said no, but she's been meaning to. So, what did we do? We got ourselves tickets! It didn't matter that I've already watched it twice. I liked the movie, and I want to see her reaction on the ending! We got cotton candy, too, since we both love that.


Mancel looking super happy! Haha!

Watching it with her was a different experience, if you can believe it. Which is good! (I hope I get to watch it with my boyfriend, too. I wonder how that'll turn out. :D)

AND THE DAY WOULDN'T BE COMPLETE, if we didn't steal something from the arcade! The first time we went out since I transferred schools, we (this time with Kim) stole a small plastic ball from one of the games. Gateway was packed last night (there was an Iglesia ni Cristo concert that night outside Araneta, I think) and we couldn't steal anything without getting caught. So we went inside one of the videoke rooms and randomly selected a song to sing so we could steal that page from the song book!


The unlucky page :D

It was too late to do anything else at that point, so we went home after that. It was great seeing her again, and I do hope I get to see some of my other friends in Ateneo soon.

Oh, and next time, we're stealing an air hockey puck! :)