CloseUp Forever Summer: Alesso in Manila

I've been so busy that I'm posting this entry really late. I just wanna share our Alesso experience at the CloseUp Forever Summer held in Globe Circuit City last April 5.

I got a free ticket from one of my bestfriends who got it from Unilever. I went there with my friends who love to party. Some of them even flew in from Bacolod and Iloilo just to party as Alesso spins live.

Had lo load up with a medium-sized bottle of Bushmills Irish whisky prior the show as the drinks in the venue would be very expensive and a lot in demand. So we got in during the set of DJ Ace Ramos, one of the country's sought after DJs, and also a friend of ours. Next who played was Helena, but I wasn't really familiar about her so I didn't really pay much attention during her set. I spent that time mingling with my friends instead.

my boy buds: Dennis & Arvin

Bushmills

at first I thought I was drinking alcohol, but it was purely juice LOL!

it was my friend Ecel's birthday

Then it was Alesso's set. The crowd went crazy, most especially the kids. Well by kids I meant, the high school and college students who were all dressed up like "close to naked"  (for girls) and like "macho without the muscles" (boys) LOL. I wonder why these kids are in a rush growing up. But I'm glad that even if I am 10 or more years older than them, they still look older than me. HAHA! Well that's probably because I wasn't in a rush when I was their age. Anyway, Alesso was good and popular but quite overrated. I think he's a hype these days 'cause of his music that has gone mainstream and is being continuously patronized by the youth. He produces EDM (electronic dance music), which I can say is actually today's music. To my ears it sounds like an electronic pop, pop house, progressive house pop, techno pop or something like pop + (insert another genre here). EDM is one of the genres I listen to a lot, and that's probably why I came out to attend this event.

fireworks :)

Alesso

top from H&M, shoes from Vans

party peeps!

my bodyguards: Puch & Elmer (LOL)

My driver and PA: Arvin & Dennis (LOL)

 But I must admit, I felt ecstatic as Alesso played "City of Dreams" and "If I Lose Myself", my top two faves. Of course, there's "Years", "Calling", and his collaboration with Calvin Harris, "Under Control". He also introduced his latest mix, "Sweet Escape".

Manila-Bacolod-Iloilo friends

Alesso's set took more than an hour. He was then followed by Deniz Koyu, the last DJ to perform that night. I wasn't really much familiar of him before, but I was surprised how good he was when he played there. Since a lot were not familiar of him, 20-30% of the crowd has already disappeared before he even started his set. But I was glad my friends and I stayed 'cause we enjoyed dancing to his music. With 30mins left on his set, my friends and I already left to avoid traffic. We also headed to Rufo's Famous Tapa at Makati Avenue for some quick early breakfast.

Now officially ticking Alesso off my must-see DJs list. Must now continue my quest for Hardwell. :)

FMFA 2014 Experience: Day 2 - A State of Trance

The second day of the music festival is usually the most awaited event because it is ASOT - A State of Trance, which originated from Armin Van Buuren's radio show. This show has been going around the world. I'm glad to have been a part of ASOT 650: New Horizons in Kuala Lumpur.

Just before entering the venue, my camera lost its battery (it might have been dropped accidentally) so I just used my iPhone 5S in taking photos and videos. I didn't want to dwell on my lost battery so I just enjoyed the rest of the night. We met more new friends, including Dominik, a young German guy who's on an Asian trip that time and decided to attend the festival. We invited him to visit the Philippines soon as well.

The highlight of the night was the awesome performance by Armin Van Buuren. It was also touching that he dedicated a few minutes of his set for a prayer for the passengers of MH370 and their families. We also had a chance to have a photo taken with Paul Van Dyk. It was really a crazy fun experience! I am now officially a big fan of Armin!

OOTD (cropped tops, shorts, sneakers, flower crowns)

our first out of the country trip together

OOTD

mandatory flag photo :))

Andrew Rayel

the one and only, Armin Van Buuren!!!

more of Manila friends

'cause my friend Mags is such a PVD fan

Malaysia, Germany, Philippines

PVD!!!

And that's FMFA Day 2!

xoxo,

city girl

FMFA 2014 Experience: Arrival & Day 1

Last March 12, we left for Kuala Lumpur to catch the Future Music Festival Asia 2014. It's a 3-day music festival (March 13-15) with the world's best DJs and artists such as Pharrell Williams, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Armin Van Buuren, Martin Garrix, etc. We bought tickets for the festival via Galactix Asia and it cost us around RM 348 or around Php 5,000.00.

We arrived around midnight and we headed to our hostel, which was just near Bukit Jalil Stadium, the festival venue. Finding our hostel was a disaster. But to cut the long story short, we tried searching for a new place, but after 3 hrs, we still ended on that same hostel. We're just thankful that we've met a very helpful taxi driver. And I would just like to commend him for being a responsible head of his family. He works as an employee at Petronas in the day and as a cab driver at night.

We took some rest and went out before lunch to explore KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Center). We just went around Suria, the mall under the Petronas Towers. We had photos taken at the Petronas Towers, had lunch, and headed back to the hotel to prepare for the first day of FMFA.

it just so happened that we had the same outfits :)

it was hazy so the towers were fading in the smog

a mandatory tourist shot :))

at the front side of the mall (lovin' my monopod haha)

After fixing up, we're off to the event grounds. We arrived quite late so we didn't catch the Adventure Club. It was R3HAB who was spinning when we came. The highlight of the night was when R3HAB guested Martin Garrix for a quick spin. He gave us a preview of what we should be excited about on day 3. The night was closed by Deadmau5. It was indeed a crazy FMFA Day 1. We've met a lot of fellow Filipinos from all over the world, and new foreign friends from different parts of the world.

OOTD

Girls' OOTD

Philippines REPRESENT!

met a Filipino guy who's based in HK\

woohooo! R3HAB on the decks!

a perfect shot indeed :)

so we found more Filipinos in the moshpit

couples representin'

another artsy effect

my friends just designed their own festival shirts and shades

Deadmau5

FMFA Day 1 DONE!

xoxo,

city girl