Here continues my adventures as I delve again into the enchanting world of Harry Potter. In this book, I read again on the festive Quidditch World Cup, on Harry's happiness now that he has Sirius Black in his life, and how Harry did everything he could to get through the Triwizard tasks.

This is hands down one of those concerts that would stand out forever in my memory because of a lot of factors. This might also be the concert that will cap off my live concerts adventure (or will it?)


I know I have been to a lot of concerts already, but this is one of those concerts that I wished and prayed and hoped to happen. I am very well aware that The Royal Concept is not really that popular, but contradictory to that, this band is the closest one to my heart. This is the band that sang the songs that have become the anthems of life. Shut The World has become the song that gave me comfort during the darkest times of my life. Although I am now in a better mental state (compared to before heh), this song still has a very special place in my heart.

I think I first encountered them through Spotify (as always!). I noticed their music because they sounded remarkably similar with Phoenix. When I became obsessed with them, they were still not actively touring - they even had no new material released yet. So seeing them live any sooner was close to zero percent, but well I still included them to my concerts bucket list.

So for months I have been stalking the band's Facebook page, holding on to that possibility that they'd tour and stop by Manila again (they went here during Wanderland 2014). So just imagine the (mini) heart attack that I felt when I saw the announcement that The Royal Concept is finally coming to Manila! When the ticket selling began, it's already a given that I was first in line, even availing their early bird promo. Wohoo! 😄 I'm just glad that I'm already used to going to concerts on my own so I didn't need to think twice on buying the tickets or pause to worry about who I could come to the event with. This time, the band played for Karpos Live's concert series. Together with local band Urbandub, they played for a one-night show at ABS-CBN Vertis Tent in Quezon City.

I just proved to myself how much I liked this band, because I overcame these "walls" during the concert:

• unfamiliar bands playing that same night (well now I know them!)
• unfamiliar venue (first time to go to Vertis Tent, and hey it's located far north!)
• unique event schedule (it's on a Sunday freaking night!!!)

On concert day, I arrived just on schedule to catch the start of the show (yup, lesson learned from the latest concert I went to 😅). I passed by Trinoma to get to the event venue. It's actually been a while since I've been to this mall. Good thing I was able to locate the Vertis Tent without much hassle (although I did make a few wrong turns along the way). When I got there, all the people were inside already, and Over October (the opening act) was already playing on stage.


I was mildly surprised by the complimentary beer, but well why not right? It's my first time to experience drinking while seeing a concert so it was really a unique experience. And now I love it. How come there weren't any booze in the other concerts I've been to? Apparently I've been doing it wrong all along!

The Royal Concept finally went on stage, though I must say their timing was anticlimactic (for me at least). At that point that night the effect of alcohol has left my system. I knew in my heart I would've enjoyed the show more if I wasn't sober (yeah yeah judge me all you want 😅 but if you read the lyrics of their songs you'll understand... hopefully). I'm surprised to learn that In The End is David Larson's (the band's vocalist) favorite song to perform live. Though I think this sentiment stems from being able to sing this song to a crowd of fellow breathing human souls.

My favorite live performance of that night was of On Our Way. I was one with the music especially along the lines 'hold me close, we're losing time... hold me close, we're falling to the ground.' 🎶🎵That song was already good enough for me to have it as their last song for the night. Just before they started their encore, I started walking towards the exit with such a beaming and bright heart. I had to leave early because 1) it's getting late, and I need to get up early the next day 2) I need to book a Grab before everyone else, or suffer the consequences and be stranded in the middle of the night.

I've been drafting this post for weeks, but couldn't seem to find the perfect timing to really sit down and get this over with, well until now. It's a Friday night, and I'm here at home typing away at my room. It's strange how this setup feels perfect for me, when before being alone for the weekend made me feel miserable (I should be attending a girls night out or something). Anyways I think it just shows that I'm becoming an old soul and the comforts of my bed is the best place to be as prep for the weekend.

• Really, be careful what you wish for. I've been preparing myself for something, and yup it finally happened. Although I can say I have been successful in preparing myself, I more hoped it didn't have to happen in the first place.
• The more time that passes by, the more I realize I'm finding it difficult to forgive. But then again, there's nothing to forgive actually. I just didn't want any of it anymore. I'll have more peace of mind this way. I've been enjoying my own company and with that, it's been enough.
• My vision is getting blurrier and it scares me. I've been wearing glasses for months now, and I noticed I've becoming more dependent to it than ever. At first I meant to use it during work hours when I'm in front of the PC, but recently I've been wearing it even outside the office, there are signs that I found difficult to read, even those just beyond arm's length. 😓 I'm just going to put it here --- for those who know me in real life, if you get to read this, can you offer me a hug? Just mention bear hug, and I'll know it. I can do with one, to make me feel better.
• I mentioned before how I was so into the Black Mirror series. Remember the Playtest episode? It was one of the episodes that really disturbed me. I just remembered it because for the past weeks I had difficulty sleeping, and to resolve that I would open my podcast app and play an episode as I fall asleep. Hearing people talking comforts me at night, making me feel like I have company. I know this is just an illusion, and it creepily reminded me of the lines that Katie was telling Cooper over the phone on the start of the game when they were in the mansion.
• I had a haircut in a whim, and it was my first time to do it. I don't know, I was feeling down on my way home from work and during my travel I thought of cutting my hair short. It was kind of exhilarating to do it actually.
• I'm managing work load way better now, thanks to some trainings I took at Lynda. You know, it really helps when you are busy -- your mind is moved away from thinking too much, and you actually accomplish something, which makes you feel even better!
• I'm happy to discover that I still had that childlike wonder on playing the piano. Just last week, I jolted with excitement when I saw an old piano in an events place where we were spending the afternoon. I couldn't help myself. As soon as I unloaded my bag, I approached this beautiful instrument and just clumsily pounded random keys. I was hesitant to do some playing (cause I knew some folks who were there who play very well and I didn't want to be judged) but of still I couldn't hold back so I played some pieces that I knew by heart. Good thing the place was a bit noisy because of all the socializing that was happening here and there. Someone approached me and he said he was surprised that I knew how to play, of which I panicked because uh I can't really play that well and he might have had some high expectations. But all in all it was a really fantastic experience. I got to hear other folks play their stuff (and of course they were so amazing I felt intimidated approaching the instrument again afterwards). This experience made me more motivated to practice regularly moving forward so I can confidently play something outside the comforts of my room. 😅
• Related to that socials event, I got to meet our original boss back in the day. Up to this day I am so amazed on how down-to-earth and cool this person is, and also I am very lucky to have someone like him of which I look up as a mentor. Our team has learned a lot from him, and are still learning, so it's such a huge thing that he's still here in the organization and we could actually depend on him for guidance and stuff. He now holds a very influential position in the company and we are all proud of him for reaching that milestone in his career.
• It's been some time since I heard a song that stopped me off my tracks, and yes this song below did it for me. It randomly played over Spotify, and wow I had goosebumps hearing Lana Del Rey sing this classic Broadway piece. I have always liked her voice, but now I'm in love.

• I'm currently re-reading the Harry Potter series (I'm now at book 5), and I'm so engrossed again with this series. And randomly I found this really witty HP comics on Tumblr. Below is by far my favorite sketch:

• I've been focusing on the well-being of my parents (hey they're not getting younger anymore!). Although it feels fulfilling that they get to depend on me, there were some scenarios that happened that made me realize that they can do things on their own, that they're independent and don't really need much of my help... which just leaves me feeling a bit worthless. Anyway I really don't know, it might just be hormones but my emotions are just all over the place for the past weeks (or months).
• I had to say goodbye to a lot of people -- some migrating to other countries, some leaving to another team. 💔
• I got really sad (been crying) when I learned that Spudgy passed away. I never got to meet him in real life, but I always loved that dog. Spudgy is Simon's and Martina's dog. They are a couple on Youtube that I religiously follow since I can't remember when anymore. I super love this couple (even went to their cafe when I was in Korea) and so learning that they had to put down Spudgy affected me very much. I'll miss him for sure.

viva la spudgy. (📷: eatyourkimchi)

Writing these all out made me feel a bit better, but I guess I'll grab some wine before midnight. Happy weekend all!

I knew deep down that it's a win-win situation for me if I go and show up to the event, so even though I thought of changing my mind a hundred times, I still pushed through with attending. I'd say right now that no, I didn't get a match. There were interesting guys there, no doubt about that, but there was noone interesting enough that made me feel curious to know them more. There were some that stood out of course, aside from the lookers actually, like this one guy who is currently a full time student with 2 side jobs. He's working hard now because he plans to retire at the age of 27. 😮 Now that's some goal there (but thinking about that statement now, so how will he support his future family if he doesn't have a job?). He seems to be a rich kid, so I guess that's possible for him. With another one, he said he works in Finance, and since it was the end of month the previous day, he had to work for long extended hours, and confessed that he hasn't slept yet and has been awake for more than 24 hours. I told him good thing he was still able to attend the event, of which he replied that he'd still go no matter what. These are the kinds of events that shouldn't be missed. Work shouldn't interfere with once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Then the conversation got more serious with talking about work-life balance and knowing what to prioritize to make experiencing this life worthwhile. That was honestly a very nice sentiment that went straight to my soul coz I'm guilty as f*ck for dedicating my body to my day work. On another hand, I realized that I can get turned off by the simplest things, like not knowing how to correctly spell the word 'robbers' (like dude are you high on something?) I also realized I would never approach someone that I think I would like - I'll just let people who like me come to me.

There was some kind of relationship coaching also during the event, and I learned the 5 languages of love (Affirmation, Touch, Time, Gifts, Service) and the fact that my giving language is Service and my receiving language is Time.

Overall, even though I can say that the event was a blast, I can't help but see some major flaws with how the event went:

1) Based on what I have observed, there was no profile-matching done (contradicting to how the organizers marketed the event, because they even made us submit our answers to a list of personality questions beforehand). Couples were chosen by draw lots. Although all the guys that I was able to talk to were nice (in fairness our conversations were not awkward and there were no tensed pauses), I wasn't able to talk to someone whom I share the same background or interests. I don't know if that was the organizers' intent or what.

2) There were more ladies than men, so it did happen that some of the ladies didn't get to have a partner. I think their work-around was to have some "spare guys" around (I'm not entirely sure though, so don't quote me on this) because they had the guy doing videos and stuff at the venue, and also the host's friend, to join the crowd, when they realized that there were people left out.

3) The organizers allowed the male participants to reject the ladies face-to-face. OMG It was the most nerve-wracking moment, like real torture. I believe also that some of the matches made were one-sided. I hoped they just allowed both parties to choose who they liked discreetly by submitting this info to them, and those who gave mutual remarks would be notified a few days after the event (just like how it went with my friend's), together with the matchee's contact number. So it will be up to them if they want to contact their matched partner again. I saw that there were a lot of first-timers in the crowd there, so I hope they didn't get emotionally traumatized (like I did 😅).


That went to a rant real fast.😂But honestly it was a very interesting experience. It went not as bad as I thought it would. I was even surprised myself that I was not feeling nervous, but at the contrary just  nonchalant throughout the event (except from that one excruciating part). But well, all is good. Thank you Universe for letting me experience this kind of stuff. I felt like I've gained 100 Life points now. 😉

Who among you have not gone into that awkward emo phase of your teenage years and had Paramore as the soundtrack of your life (blasting inside your room?) Well for most 90s kids I bet they did. No wonder it was such a blast from the past when Paramore went back to the country again for a sold-out one night show!



Paramore is such an icon of our generation, especially the 90s generation. Song after song, such nostalgic feels crept through me. I remember during the peak of the Twilight series hype, I was so into the song they released entitled Decode, which is the movie's soundtrack (unfortunately they didn't sing it that night). Their songs have lots of teenage memories for me. I had to struggle when to shoot and when to just enjoy the experience. But of course, the latter is the more important part to accomplish. The result: shaky videos and lots of blurry photos. Haha! But no regrets here. I was there to have fun!


Good thing I was at the first row of the GenAd section (hehe tight budget concert goer here) so my view was not really obstructed by heads and hands (thank goodness). Song after song, the crowd jumped and screamed the lyrics along. It was a pleasant view to not see much people in the VIP section holding up their phones during the show. I guess we were all thinking in the same lines: we've waited long enough for Paramore (the original date of the concert was in February but got rescheduled because Hayley was not feeling well), and we're not wasting that to watch them perform from our phones! Wohoo! I've been to several concerts and I could just compare the crowd energy with that of Maroon 5 (2012), and The 1975 (2015).

acoustic setup of the band during mid-show

What a night! This is another concert to remember for sure. There are only a few bands left on my dream concert list and I hope I'd still get the same great vibe with them just like all the fun I had with Paramore. 🙃🙃🙃

You might have heard of it. You might have seen this on your Instagram Feed. Yes, there's a craze happening in town. It's a buzz created by this chocolate cake that people vows to be the best one around.

Or is it?

Presenting Le Sucré Lab's Chocolate Dream Cake!

If you are out of the loop, this highly crazed cake is a creation of Le Sucré Lab called Chocolate Dream Cake (aptly named at that!). With the overwhelming influx of orders to have come to their Facebook page, I was fortunate enough to get my order just a few days after inquiring (shoutout to my friend Hazel for picking it up for me! 🤗).

And so it really worth the hype? Here are my thoughts.

The packaging is actually bigger than I was expecting.
With all the photos and IG videos I've already seen online, I thought the tin can is just really solo size, so I was pleasantly surprised that it was slightly bigger than I imagined it to be. Plus, weighing it on my hand, the tin can was heavy. That's some loaded stuff in there, huh.


The appearance of the cake itself is exactly what's marketed online.
Again, I've already seen several people posting their dream cake online, and I must say mine looked exactly with what's online. I'm happy the Le Sucré Lab has their quality control on point, making sure every product sent out is of their standards.

The first bite was heaven.
Based on the texture of the cake, you can already see that there's a lot of things going on in there. Dipping my spoon into the cake, I discover a layer of textures: from the powdered cocoa powder topping, I broke into a crispy layer of chocolate bar and then into the spongy cake layer, then scooped a gooey chocolate texture at the bottom. After assembling all the elements just right on my spoon, I went and dived for it. I stopped in my tracks and screamed woah-woah-woah-wait-just-stop-right-there mentally. My palate was not at all prepared to experience the range of rich flavors this cake has. I had to pause and squint my eyes for a bit so that my brain can catch up with all the sensations my mouth was experiencing.

Before I could tell my colleagues (I was eating this with them at the office) my opinion of the cake, I sneezed. This usually happens to me on my first bite of anything rich in chocolate flavor. Well this cake is an exemption, because I sneezed again after eating two more bites, which says much about the taste of this cake. This is indeed a chocolate lover's dream come true.

So this is all the hype was about. I do like it, but not sky-rocketing super liked it. I told my colleagues it tasted okay.... but I guess okay is a bit of an understatement. It was good, but not enough for me to crave to get some more.

just look at all the layers happening here

It was an experience trying out this chocolate dream cake. As of writing, only 1/4 of the tin can remains of it, and I think I would just count it for the folks at home to finish it. My curiosity about this chocolate cake has been satisfied, and very pleasantly I must say.

If you are a chocolate lover or a person that appreciates quality-tasting stuff, I 100% recommend for you to try this cake out. You won't be disappointed. 😉

I thought I'll never feel this way again.... falling in love with a band at first sight.


Walk The Moon returned to Manila to perform in a one-night-only show, c/o MMILIVE. The last time the band was in the country was in 2015, wherein they did a series of performances across Ayala Malls. I still didn't know them that much back then, but I super like their song Shut Up and Dance, which is I think their biggest hit to date. As the years passed by, I learned to like their other songs and vowed that I'll see them the next time they come to the country to perform.

Well great things come to those who wait, right? They came back after 3 years!

What perfect coincidence because I was near at the venue where their concert were to take place this time, else I think I would be risking to miss their show again.😑 It was specially convenient for me to even walk there from the place where I work. And so I carefully read the instructions provided by MMILIVE in claiming tickets to the show. I was extra delighted because the deal is better this time: for a purchase of (2) 250PHP Ayala Cinema GCs, you get two tickets to the show! I just had one little problem. To whom should I give that one extra ticket? (single problems lol). Since WTM is not that popular here, I didn't expect any of my colleagues to be acquainted with their music. Well I didn't dwell long thinking who to drag to the show thankfully. I asked my friend Lynzel if she was available on the date of the concert. She's been my concert buddy for several shows now (Jason Mraz, Imagine Dragons, In The Mix, Bruno Mars) because we somehow have the same taste in music.

After the show! (potato quality aargh 😑)

I know I liked their songs, but I sure fell in love with them after seeing them live. They're such an underrated band, in my opinion. Their talent deserves a stage in an arena. Nicholas Petricca's vocals, their lead singer, gave me such good sensations every time he belted high notes. I thought I was going to faint right there and there. I love his voice so much.





The band also has very contagious energy on stage. This guitarist caught my eye. He's such an eyecandy.

Hello there cutie. His smiles melted my 💗.

The show lasted for about an hour. It was short but sweet.

After the show, I researched more about them, and OMG they make the most hilarious IG stories! They all are vocally talented, they can pass up as an acapella band too.



I'm going through this lovely journey again of discovering more of their songs and falling in love with them little by little. By far the song that moved me the most is the track called Aquaman. At first, I fell in love with the melody, but upon reading the lyrics I jut fell hard. I now want this to be my song in my wedding. 😍

I have entered the wizarding world again recently (started from book 1 again, and as of writing I am at book 4), and boy what an adventure it has been! It still is a joy reading the story of Harry Potter. I've attempted to do a reread back in 2013 although I stopped, but out of nowhere, I suddenly had the urge to read the HP series again.