Just want to share some of the pictures of the flowers I gave to Mija throughout our 9 years together. Flowers I myself handpicked and they were arranged according to my instructions.
I am the number 1 fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the Philippines, or that's what I always I tell everyone. I started idolizing the band when I was in high school, during the mid-90s, when kids of my age were into Nirvana, Metallica, Pantera, Sepultura, Alice in Chains, and Silverchair. Now, more than 15 years had passed, I'm still a solid RHCP fan!
What I have with the band was like a love-at-first-sight love affair, and a love spell was cast on me the very first time I heard their music. Their most popular song, "Under The Bridge", was responsible for making me a RCHP fanatic. The song shot me through the heart and permanently imprinted their name in my brain.
When they released their 7th studio album entitled "Californication", my addiction for the band became incurable. Each one of the songs in that album enthralled my soul. Same is true with all the songs in their succeeding albums, "By The Way", "RHCP Greatest Hits", and "Stadium Arcadium". RCHP is not your ordinary rock band; what makes their style unique is that it fuses funk with other genres, punk and psychedelic rock included. My kind of music.
Aside from listening to their music almost everyday for more than 15 years and collecting their cassette tapes and CDs, I am also gathering books and magazines that feature them, as well as t-shirts and and other stuff with their logo imprinted on it. This is how influential RCHP on me.
Their latest book - The Oral Visual History of the Red Hot Chili Pepper.
I was probably one of the firsts in the country who bought this.
at fully-booked Shangrila
That's why when I heard the band will play in Hong Kong on August 9, 2011 as a kick start for their current world tour to promote their upcoming album "I'm With You", set to be released on August 30, I did not have second thoughts of going to Hong Kong and watch them play. Only that Mija & I encountered a tiny rampart since we had earlier booked a trip to Taipei on the same date. But after rebooking our Taipei trip to a later date, my dream of seeing the RCHP play live now turned from a remote possibility into an absolute reality.
To make the long story short, Mija and I flew to Hong Kong and watched the RCHP play at the Asia-World Expo on August 9, 2011. Here are the songs that RCHP played in Hong Kong:
1. By The Way 2. Charlie
3. Can’t Stop
4. Scar Tissue
5. Look Around
6. Dani California
7. I Like Dirt
8. Otherside
9. The Adventures of Raindance Maggie
10. Throw Away Your Television
11. Jam
12. Universally Speaking
13. Right On Time
14. Californication
15. Higher Ground
16. Under The Bridge
Encore:
17. Sir Psycho Sexy
18. They’re Red Hot
19. Give It Away
They may not have played my other favorite songs like "Snow", "Dosed", "Around the World", "Tell Me Baby", "Desecration Smile", and many others but the whole experience and it's impact on me was just the same. It was sensational and out-of-this-world! No band and musician made me dance for the entire concert that ran for 2 hours! It was definitely a dream come true for me.
Two tickets for me and Mija
Our RHCP shirts!
Excited for the concert!
Hahaha you rock switie!
at the Asia World Expo
Balcony section
ready to rock!
addition for my collection
my fellow RHCP fanatics
here comes the crowd
Can't stop addicted to the shin dig. Cop top he says I'm gonna win big...
Anthony acknowledging the Filipinos in attedance
Flea, Chad, Anthony & Josh at work
Flea calling out tall motherf#ck@rs! hahaha
My best shot of the night!
Ads at the concert venue
An unusual event happened during the concert that is worth mentioning. After the first song, By The Way, Anthony spoke and acknowledged the group of Filipino in attendance and even dedicated to us their song, Can't Stop. Here is the youtube link of that speech:
I just wish they will include Philippines as a destination in their next world tour! Hope to see you again RHCP! Rock & roll!
Nan Lian Garden, a Tang-style landscaped Chinese garden in Diamond Hill Hong Kong, is said to be based on the blueprint of the famous Jiangshouju Garden in Shanxi Province. It was opened on 15th November 2006.
The garden is characterized by the four main elements of Tang-style gardens with:
1. artificial hillocks and ornamental rocks,
2. water features,
3. timber structures, and
4. old trees.
What will strike everyone who visits here are the unusual trees that blanket the entire garden. Precious old trees throughout the garden include Buddhist Pine, Japanese Black Pine, Cypress, Pagoda, Silver-back Artocarpus and Common Crape Myrte.
For the people who want to escape the busy metropolis that Hong Kong is, Nan Lian Garden is their ticket. Although the garden is at the heart of urban Kowloon, it provides visitors with a tranquil and serene atmosphere.
Right in front of the garden entrance
Mija is attracted to pink color
the empress
Nothing quite like this garden
Seeking shelter from the scorching heat
Mija loves these trees
The golden temple
Infinite beauty
Welcome to her abode
Someday I'll build a beautiful garden like this for you
Artificial waterfall
The Chi Lin Nunnery is a Buddhist Temple attached to the Nan Lian Garden. It is a public park built in the ancient style of the Tang dynasty . The temple complex includes a nunnery , temple halls, Chinese gardens, visitor's hostels and a vegetarian restaurant. A distinctive feature of the temple structure is that in involves intricately interlocking sections of wood joined without a single nail! Truly a must see!
Path separating Nan Lian Garden from the Chi Lin Nunnery
Kalun and Keri brought us to perhaps one of the best, if not the best, restaurants in Hong Kong yesterday, August 7. It is on 41st floor of Harbour Grand in Central, and the name is Le 188. The name gives a hint of what it offers and what it makes it unique - a 188 degree view of Hong Kong through its floor-to-ceiling windows on 3 sides. Aside from the view, the food (modern European cuisine) will surely captivate everyone who dines in, just like how it captivated us.
The menu. You are to choose your main dish while the rest you have to pick at the buffet table.
