foiled plan to watch matchbox twenty concert
UNIVERSE, YOU WIN. I GET IT NOW. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
when I learned about that the band is coming to manila last october 30, 2013, i was both ecstatic and sad. glad because i never thought that they're ever coming to the philippines! i once promised myself that should they ever include the philippines as one of their tour stops, I WILL definitely going to watch it - by hook or by crook. then i was sad because with their concert only 10 days away, i didn't think i could cough up enough money to watch it.
in between learning about the concert and october 31, 2013, i found myself searching the Internet on how much the airfare will cost me, the ticket, and how to get to and from SM MOA Arena from NAIA T3. i also thought about how i'm 'almost' going the straight path when it comes to personal finance. i've paid off my credit card bills, and is on track on paying any current bill in full amount each month. i don't have emergency fund yet, and i have that as my next goal. so, if i use the little i have saved up, i'm back to having zero savings. internally, i keep telling myself that i could still pull this off the cheapskate way. all i have to do is find a way to get the cheapest airfare ticket, and just fly in and out in order not to pay for hotel accommodations. i could just head back to the airport after the concert, spend the night at the airport terminal, and head back to cebu on the first flight the next day. as for tickets, i could just get the cheapest one. the stage maybe really TOOO FAR, but that's OK as i'm there primarily to fulfill a promise to myself, and to have the concert experience myself. plus, the next cheapest seat is sold at 3,700 and the best seats at 8,000 pesos. something that i can't afford and will definitely ruin my budget for the month.
anyway, i'm not a music nut. but for some reason, i just have a big thing for rob thomas, and his band's songs. heck, i think they're they only artist where i bought original CDs when everyone was telling me that i could just download MP3 copies for free over the Internet. true, i'm never really am into music. but i just love these guys so much that attending their concert IS really important to me.
my siblings know that i'm a nut when it comes to MB20, too. so, my sister reminded me that she still has a TRAVEL FUND under her name from the September 2013 hong kong trip i was supposed to have. unfortunately, Cebu Pacific changed our original flight schedule and the recommended schedule no longer fits with my work schedule, so i had to cancel it. since the schedule change was cebu pacific's fault, i could book to any domestic or international flight, for as long as it's within the travel fund amount, or just add if the new ticket is more expensive. my sister was holding on to the said travel fund, so i could join her for the march 2014 coron trip, but since the airfare for coron would require me to add 3K more, she just said that i use the travel fund instead to purchase the cebu-manila-cebu ticket. besides, i only have until november 9 to make the rebooking, and i don't use it then, then i'll totally lose the travel fund amount. anyhow, i still told my sister that i'd think about it. at the back of my mind, i still want to reserve it for the coron trip and that i will just figure out where i will get the money for the airfare.
while half-convinced that i should follow my financial plans, my mind remained restless. at work, i find myself visiting smtickets.com. i keep trying to get a ticket, but for some reason their site just won't work. plus, there was this message that if i book online, i would have to go pick-up the ticket at SM Arena. generally, it's not a problem if i'm familiar with SM Arena. i only have an hour and half to get to the Arena from the airport. rumor has it that traffic in manila is so bad, that even if the arena is just near NAIA T3, commuting to said place would be really tricky. so, i didn't want to take the risk of going to the Arena without holding a physical ticket. i can't afford to familiarize the place given the very limited time i have. so, i told myself to check out SM Cinema and see if I can get a concert ticket there. if i could purchase a ticket here in cebu, then I'll worry about booking a flight to manila next.
prior to checking SM Cinema, i tried to withdraw some money to pay for the tickets, and just then realized that I LOST MY ATM card! great. as i'm not to be trusted as far as discipline goes, the universe helped me decide by blocking access to my little funds. not heeding the universe and against better judgment, i drew out my trusty plastic and gave it to the attendant at SM IMAX, and voila - i got this:
after getting both concert and flight tickets, my mind should have been at ease. my next worry was money - i don't have ATM, but luckily our upcoming payroll will fall on a Sunday, which means Admin will release pay on Friday - the date of the concert. since i lost my ATM card, i could ask our Admin to release mine by cash.
that settled, i was again told by the universe that i can't go. my period came. BIG, oh - oh!! i've a beautiful u(terus) - and it's the ONE THING that will make me stop anything. of course, since i was BENT on watching the concert, i calmed myself down so my problem won't persist, and if it will persist i will take some tablets to forcibly stop it. good plan, right?
not quite. on monday, some people from work told me about an upcoming typhoon. over the weekend, i checked the weather and only knew of typhoon Wilma affecting mindanao, and which will be out of PAR by tuesday evening. i was told that it was a different typhoon. it't not just a typhoon, but a supertyphoon at that. a typhoon which will prompt the weather bureau to release the rarely used Signal No. 4 warning. not to be dampened by this news, every time i was asked where i would spend my typhoon weekened, i would just smile. in my head, i will just check out how the weather will develop, head to the airport and let the airline decide if i should go or not. on my own, i'm willing to go and just risk it. yesterday, my siblings also texted me if i was going ahead with my plan to fly to Manila come Friday afternoon. much like what i told everyone, i told my siblings that i will just wait and see. i will definitely just text them on Friday and inform them how things go. but the universe has some other plans.
this time, it's standing ground and looking me straight in the eye, and sends the FINAL MESSAGE:
GIST: ALL FLIGHTS TO AND FROM THE VISAYAS ARE CANCELLED. Affected flights are those scheduled for today until sunday. my flights are for tomorrow afternoon and early morning on Saturday.
SO. UNIVERSE, MESSAGE RECEIVED!!!!
in between learning about the concert and october 31, 2013, i found myself searching the Internet on how much the airfare will cost me, the ticket, and how to get to and from SM MOA Arena from NAIA T3. i also thought about how i'm 'almost' going the straight path when it comes to personal finance. i've paid off my credit card bills, and is on track on paying any current bill in full amount each month. i don't have emergency fund yet, and i have that as my next goal. so, if i use the little i have saved up, i'm back to having zero savings. internally, i keep telling myself that i could still pull this off the cheapskate way. all i have to do is find a way to get the cheapest airfare ticket, and just fly in and out in order not to pay for hotel accommodations. i could just head back to the airport after the concert, spend the night at the airport terminal, and head back to cebu on the first flight the next day. as for tickets, i could just get the cheapest one. the stage maybe really TOOO FAR, but that's OK as i'm there primarily to fulfill a promise to myself, and to have the concert experience myself. plus, the next cheapest seat is sold at 3,700 and the best seats at 8,000 pesos. something that i can't afford and will definitely ruin my budget for the month.
anyway, i'm not a music nut. but for some reason, i just have a big thing for rob thomas, and his band's songs. heck, i think they're they only artist where i bought original CDs when everyone was telling me that i could just download MP3 copies for free over the Internet. true, i'm never really am into music. but i just love these guys so much that attending their concert IS really important to me.
my siblings know that i'm a nut when it comes to MB20, too. so, my sister reminded me that she still has a TRAVEL FUND under her name from the September 2013 hong kong trip i was supposed to have. unfortunately, Cebu Pacific changed our original flight schedule and the recommended schedule no longer fits with my work schedule, so i had to cancel it. since the schedule change was cebu pacific's fault, i could book to any domestic or international flight, for as long as it's within the travel fund amount, or just add if the new ticket is more expensive. my sister was holding on to the said travel fund, so i could join her for the march 2014 coron trip, but since the airfare for coron would require me to add 3K more, she just said that i use the travel fund instead to purchase the cebu-manila-cebu ticket. besides, i only have until november 9 to make the rebooking, and i don't use it then, then i'll totally lose the travel fund amount. anyhow, i still told my sister that i'd think about it. at the back of my mind, i still want to reserve it for the coron trip and that i will just figure out where i will get the money for the airfare.
while half-convinced that i should follow my financial plans, my mind remained restless. at work, i find myself visiting smtickets.com. i keep trying to get a ticket, but for some reason their site just won't work. plus, there was this message that if i book online, i would have to go pick-up the ticket at SM Arena. generally, it's not a problem if i'm familiar with SM Arena. i only have an hour and half to get to the Arena from the airport. rumor has it that traffic in manila is so bad, that even if the arena is just near NAIA T3, commuting to said place would be really tricky. so, i didn't want to take the risk of going to the Arena without holding a physical ticket. i can't afford to familiarize the place given the very limited time i have. so, i told myself to check out SM Cinema and see if I can get a concert ticket there. if i could purchase a ticket here in cebu, then I'll worry about booking a flight to manila next.
prior to checking SM Cinema, i tried to withdraw some money to pay for the tickets, and just then realized that I LOST MY ATM card! great. as i'm not to be trusted as far as discipline goes, the universe helped me decide by blocking access to my little funds. not heeding the universe and against better judgment, i drew out my trusty plastic and gave it to the attendant at SM IMAX, and voila - i got this:
after getting both concert and flight tickets, my mind should have been at ease. my next worry was money - i don't have ATM, but luckily our upcoming payroll will fall on a Sunday, which means Admin will release pay on Friday - the date of the concert. since i lost my ATM card, i could ask our Admin to release mine by cash.
that settled, i was again told by the universe that i can't go. my period came. BIG, oh - oh!! i've a beautiful u(terus) - and it's the ONE THING that will make me stop anything. of course, since i was BENT on watching the concert, i calmed myself down so my problem won't persist, and if it will persist i will take some tablets to forcibly stop it. good plan, right?
not quite. on monday, some people from work told me about an upcoming typhoon. over the weekend, i checked the weather and only knew of typhoon Wilma affecting mindanao, and which will be out of PAR by tuesday evening. i was told that it was a different typhoon. it't not just a typhoon, but a supertyphoon at that. a typhoon which will prompt the weather bureau to release the rarely used Signal No. 4 warning. not to be dampened by this news, every time i was asked where i would spend my typhoon weekened, i would just smile. in my head, i will just check out how the weather will develop, head to the airport and let the airline decide if i should go or not. on my own, i'm willing to go and just risk it. yesterday, my siblings also texted me if i was going ahead with my plan to fly to Manila come Friday afternoon. much like what i told everyone, i told my siblings that i will just wait and see. i will definitely just text them on Friday and inform them how things go. but the universe has some other plans.
this time, it's standing ground and looking me straight in the eye, and sends the FINAL MESSAGE:
SO. UNIVERSE, MESSAGE RECEIVED!!!!
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