The first twelve days of 2009 has been nothing but GREAT!  Apart from being able to catch up with a lot of my old friends’ lives and my dogs returning to their best forms, I’ve also been lucky enough to get some of the things that I have on my 2009 “wishlist” this early.

On top of my wishlist was a copy of Westlife’s Live at Wembley 2006 concert in DVD.  I was able to watch Westlife perform live in Manila during their 2006 World Tour, and this DVD definitely helps me remember that evening.  I’ve been looking for a copy of this concert for such a long time, and I FINALLY HAVE IT! (photo below courtesy of amazon.com)

I also decided to splurge and get myself these shoes from Possibility at The Ramp, TriNoMa last week while I was out with Mom and Brother Dear.  I’ve been eyeing these shoes for weeks, and I’m so thrilled to have them!  These shoes are pretty comfortable, mind you, but the true test is when I wear them to the mall once Dad comes home in a few days!  We’ll see!

Another pair of footwear that I’ve been contemplating for some time are these Sanük slippers in black.  I already have a pair of “shoes” (or sandals as the brand insists) from Sanük and they were extremely comfortable that I decided to get these slippers as well!  Sanük products are a little on the pricey end of the scale, but the way they make you feel like you can walk the whole day without taking a break definitely makes it worth every cent.  And don’t you just love that smiley/umlaut staring back at you?

Upon dropping by a CD store this morning, my brother showed me something that really made my entire day: Westlife’s latest concert in DVD!  10 Years of Westlife: Live at Croke Park Stadium featured the concert the boys had last June 2008 to celebrate their 10 wonderful years in the industry.  They performed 23 songs, including a medley of Sexyback/Blame It On The Boogie. The DVD also has a documentary and 10 music videos that their fans voted as the top 10 in Westlife’s career.

Without even giving it any further thought, we bought the DVD and almost immediately upon reaching home, I popped the DVD into the player and enjoyed watching Westlife performing in Dublin.  My Mom was watching too and she was just as giddy as I am! Hahahaha!  It’s been such a long time since I last saw Westlife perform live and they haven’t been back to Manila, so I guess purchasing this DVD was the next best thing!

Westlife announced that they’re having a year long break (which started after the concert in Dublin) from their careers to recharge their batteries, and word has it that they’ll be back around June or July of 2009.  Hopefully they are going to release a new album next year! Can’t wait!!!!

Again, thanks to my brother Mons for buying this DVD for me! I just can’t get enough of Westlife.

My Brother bought me a copy of Christina Aguilera’s best of album entitled Keeps Gettin’ Better: A Decade of Hits this afternoon while we were at the mall. I’ve always thought that Christina Aguilera has a really nice voice and I definitely enjoy listening to most of her songs, especially since they remind me of my high school days. I wasn’t a fan of hers during her Dirrrrty days, but I used to have a lot of fun listening to her first ever studio album, which I only have in cassette.

Old favorites like I Turn to You, Genie in a Bottle and Nobody Wants to Be Lonely (with Ricky Martin) are included in the best of album alongside tracks like Lady Marmalade and Fighter. Keeps Gettin’ Better is made up of 16 tracks and also comes with a bonus DVD.

There was one *VERY* important event yesterday, and it was also one of those events when I feel really sad that I still haven’t bought my Nikon D40: It was Michael Johns’ concert at TriNoMa in Quezon City. Michael Johns was my absolute favorite from American Idol Season 7 and boy, was I terribly dismayed when he was booted out of the show. So you can imagine my excitement when my Mom told me that Michael Johns was coming to Manila to perform!

Photo taken before the concert started

I invited The Boyfriend, My Best Friend and Deny to come join me yesterday evening. The show started at exactly 7 P.M. and ended around 8 P.M. He sang 11 songs, two of which was his original work. A lot of people came to watch the American Idol Finalist perform, and I’m glad to say he didn’t disappoint. Some of the songs he sang included Oasis’ Wonderwall, Simpleminds’ Don’t You Forget About Me, The Beatles’ Come Together and Queen’s We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions.

My friends and I only got to watch the performance from the third floor of the mall since we missed getting tickets for the 200 seats available. For those lucky enough to be the first ones to obtain tickets for his concert, they were also given the chance to have their photo taken with Michael Johns himself after his performance. I still can’t believe I didn’t manage to get my hands on those highly prized tickets…. Anyway, Michael Johns also announced that his first studio album may be out by March 2009 here in Manila. Can’t wait!!!

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My Best Friend, Deny and I were at TriNoMa early yesterday to catch the showing of The Women (starring Meg Ryan). It was definitely one of the few movies I really enjoyed watching and wouldn’t mind watching again. I can say that while the story isn’t very mind boggling, it still is a film women would take pleasure in watching, especially when they’re with their lady friends.

Another addition to my brother’s collection of music CDs is Emmy Rossum’s debut album Inside Out. Emmy Rossum’s name sounded so familiar that I went online and made a search about her. It turns out that apart from being a singer-songwriter, Ms. Rossum is also an American actress who’s been in a number of movies and TV series as well (source: Wikipedia).

Her album Inside Out consists of 11 tracks. My favorite would be her version of The Carpenters’ Rainy Days and Mondays. It’s a little slower than the original, but it’s very relaxing. If you’re used to listening to bubblegum pop, it’s going to be a little difficult for you to appreciate Emmy Rossum and her songs. However, if you’re into Enya (whose songs include the famous “Orinoco Flow”) then listening to Emmy Rossum would be satisfying as I feel like they have more or less the same style in music. Other tracks I enjoy listening to includes Slow Me Down, Inside Out and Falling.

By the way, it was also written in Wikipedia that Emmy Rossum will be playing the character of Bulma Briefs for the upcoming live-action film of the popular Japanese anime Dragonball.

My love for music and singing started when I was very young. I appreciate most music genres and would listen to them without complaints, except when you make me listen to too much rap or to those annoying “novelty” songs. There are times when I’d croon Barry Manilow songs to my mom’s delight, or rock with my brother while listening to Coheed and Cambria or Nightwish. While I am no pop diva, I know I can carry a tune pretty well, probably because of the amount of practice I was able to get with our old MusicMate karaoke machine.

MusicMate. Hmmm….I wonder if that brand still exists?

Moving on, our house has a vast collection of music CD’s and one of my brother’s latest acquisitions is Sara Bareilles’ Little Voice. It consists of 12 tracks, including the hit Love Song. It might take a bit of getting used to before you fully appreciate her music, but her songs will definitely grow on you. Other tracks worth listening to would include Bottle It Up, One Sweet Love and Many The Miles. I recommend you buy her CD; the prices of music CDs have dropped anyway so it would be nice to support the artists and buy the original.