Last February/March, the bloggers that I follow on Instagram went on a trip to India. Through their photos, I got really in love with the country and their culture. I mean, I never really thought that I wanted to go to India until I saw their photos from Amer Fort, Hawa Mahal,Taj Mahal and more from Jaipur. I also got interested in the Holi Festival that they attended. Seeing their photos from the festival got me so thrilled.

[caption id="attachment_1285" align="alignnone" width="2880"] Photo from Matt[/caption]

Holi Festival, or the Festival of Colors, is a festival to celebrate the end of winter and coming of spring, and the victory of good over evil. On this festival, people smear colored powders on each other's face or throw them at each other while singing and dancing. As far as I know, having the colored powder on your body during the festival means that you have let go of your grudges or hate towards something or someone. Or, finally moving on from something that hurt you or angered you. Thus, the victory of good over evil.

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Since I really loved the idea of colored powders, especially with the Color Manila Run that I had joined previously, I really wanted to experience the festival. However, it's only celebrated during March and I couldn't go to India yet.



I was so ecstatic when one of my closest friend, Matt, who had been very supportive of my India dreams, found a Holi Festival event that will be happening in Manila. We were very eager to attend the event that was organized by Asia Society Philippines. I even started listening to this Holi Festival playlist on Spotify and then imagining what it would be like when we're finally celebrating Holi.



Somehow, since Matt had been active in volunteering activities, he found that Asia Society Ph were looking for volunteers for the event. Though we found out about it a day after the deadline of submission of volunteer applications, we still tried to send our applications through email. Thankfully, we got accepted and were able to be part of the organization of the event.

It was my first volunteer activity. And, as anxious as I am, I was glad that I was able to work with new people. Matt was assigned on stage management so we were really far from each other.

[caption id="attachment_1290" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Matt took a photo of me behind the Registration booth since I couldn't join them at the party yet.[/caption]

During the event, I was the usherette of the Registration booth. I had to direct people on which line they should queue on. It was a little difficult for me since I was really scared of talking to strangers, and what more, in English (I'm not really fluent in verbal English). At one point, one of the VIP attendee from the festival (which I wasn't sure if he was the Ambassador of India in Manila or his friend) asked me why I didn't have color on my face. I got kind of scared because I wasn't sure if we were required to smear colored powder while on the Reg booth. But he laughed later on and said that it would be better if I have some color on.

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I got to totally enjoy the event when our booth closed. I was lucky that I still got to join Matt and Inah on the last countdown for throwing the colored powder.

[caption id="attachment_1277" align="alignnone" width="2880"] Photo from Matt.[/caption]

I was so happy to be able to party and let loose even with a bad headache (because I had to wake up early) and tired legs (because I was standing for how many hours). I was also kind of surprised with myself because, somehow, I wasn't conscious with my dancing. The Indians were really cute though. They had their choreography while dancing to the DJ's mix and they like throwing their friends in the air or putting them on their shoulders. Too bad, the videos I took were gone when my SD card got formatted :(

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Asia Society Philippines has been organizing this event for 6 years. I'm really glad that we weren't too late to find out about it this year. I hope next year we can attend again.

 

Happy Holi!

 

 

 

 

One of the best experiences I’ve had (so far) this year was joining Color Manila.

When my former colleagues (Josh and Nica) wanted to join a running event, we found that Color Manila had an event that was happening soon and the venue was near. At first, we didn’t really have a solid plan because it was too expensive (for us lol) and we had really busy schedules. It was a surprise that we were able to push for this event.

Let me just share the things I dealt with because of this event.



The Habal-habal and C-5

So, on the day we were gonna claim our race kit, my early out from the office was approved, so I left work at 5PM, in hopes that I’d get to the venue before 7PM. Josh was supposed to pick me up at Market Market and we’d go to Vista Mall Taguig together since he had Nica’s authorization letter. The plan changed and Nica went to the venue with me since Josh couldn’t leave home earlier. It was already 6PM when we boarded the bus to Market Market and the traffic at McKinley road took us almost an hour to get there. We were desperate to get to Vista Mall Taguig at 7PM even when it was already 6:57 when we alighted the bus. Our desperation led us to ride a habal-habal to the venue.

The habal-habal ride really scared me even though it thrilled me at the same time. I could just imagine the sermon I’d get from my mom, if she knew. (And she’d probably know, if she’s reading this) However, there weren't any faster way to get to Vista Mall Taguig other than via C-5. So, hello trucks and hello pollution on my hair and face! My driver knew we were in a rush so he sped his way through all the vehicles on the way. He didn’t even stop even with the traffic, he would pass through even the small spaces as long as we could fit. All I could do was hold on tight and pray. I don’t think I’ve ever prayed that much in my life. It felt like all the bad decisions I made in my life were nothing worse than riding a habal-habal on an expressway. I think he felt how nervous I was because suddenly, he started talking to me, asking random questions.  When we arrived at Vista Mall, I was surprised that it took quite longer for Nica to arrive. Turns out that my driver really did drive too fast.



The Disappointment

We arrived at Vista Mall Taguig 10 minutes past 7:00 but since it was our first time there, we didn’t know that the habal-habal dropped us off at All Home. We had to walk to the main Vista Mall where the Events Center was.  When we found the CM Booth, we were so happy to see that there were still people in line. However, we learned that the claiming was stopped because there weren’t enough race kits (or was it just the race bib. It wasn't clear to me). Annoying, right? The staff said there were already race kits on the way however, it got caught on the traffic. (Yes, we totally understand how bad the traffic is on a Friday evening especially on C-5). We were given the choice to either stay or wait for the kits to arrive or claim the kits on the day of the event. We opted to claim it on the event day since Josh had to go to work at 9PM.

There’s nothing that CM could have done with the traffic, but, they could have either sent the kits earlier or informed through their social media about the shortage of race kits and that we could claim it on the event. It was really hard to get to the venue even if we were just coming from Ayala. There were others who even came all the way from QC and  Rizal.

Also, the event tickets were already sold out. Everyone who had already registered and paid expected that they could get their race kits that night. But, according to the staff, there were some who only and persistently registered on the first day of the claiming. Shouldn’t there be another set up for this? And, since they already sold the kits to these late joiners (or whatever you call them), they should have already expected that the kits on the venue wouldn’t be enough. CM organizers, hello????

I felt really bad for the staff that night because they were receiving the anger of the people in line when it’s not all their fault. I also felt bad for those who had to travel to the venue on a Friday evening traffic and had to wait for (or not even able to claim) their race kit. I hope this would be a lesson to the organizers in future CM events.

On the day of the event, we finally claimed our race kits but we didn’t have our head lamp. The staff on the kit claiming booth told us to come back after 30 minutes since the other headlamps hasn’t arrived. So, we strolled around the festival grounds first. After an hour (it was already around 8:30-9PM), there was already a queue on the kit claiming booth. We asked the staff if the headlamps already arrived since the run was about to start. We were told that they weren’t sure if the headlamps would still arrive since the IT team was the one in contact with the marketing (something like that). It was really disappointing how they lacked coordination.

Since the 6.5km run would start at 9:05, we didn’t bother with the headlamps anymore. (Although, we envied those who had their headlamps on).

[caption id="attachment_1251" align="alignnone" width="2880"] Original Photo from CM[/caption]

The Run

I wasn’t physically prepared to run 6.5km so I was kind of worried about how long I’d finish. Though, I kept telling myself that it’s a fun run and not a marathon.

After the gun start, it was kind of hard to run because there were too many people infront of us.

The run got really exciting when we finally passed through where they threw colored powder on the runners. There was also a fire truck on the first part of the run that showered us as we ran, so that the powder would stick to us. Anyway, the stupid me just put her phone on an arm band. Thank God, it didn’t get wet that much. I wonder what happened to those who had their phones on a monopod.



At several points along the route, there were CM staff throwing colored powder on the runners. A different color at each station. They can also give you a handful of powder so you can throw it to your running buddies (or at them because it's payback time :D)

There were also refreshment stations that served water to runners. And, there were security people along the route to make sure runners stay in the right path and for security, of course.

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After we had reached 3km, I decided I didn't want to run anymore. So, Nica and I just walked for the rest of the 6.5km. Josh already ran ahead of us. Also, the other runners were already enjoying taking pictures with the colored powder. I overheard some runners say "Fun run pero pumunta lang para magpicture." (Fun run, but [they] came here only to take pictures) I was kind of triggered because it's a FUN RUN. You're supposed to enjoy. And, if taking pictures would make you enjoy the event better, then GO. Let people enjoy things.

Anyway, I didn't have enough energy to deal with those negativity. So, Nica and I just went on until we finished.

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I'm so happy that I got to finish my first fun run (and the 6.5km). A lazy ass like me considers this an achievement already. I'm so happy I got my first medal :)



The After Party

For me, the best thing about Color Manila would be the after party/festival. It felt like a reward for being able to finish the run. A festival mixed with colored powders thrown in the air is a better reward.

During the countdown where we throw our colored packets in the air after 1 was the most wondrous feeling I've felt in so long. I know, it sounds exaggerated but the past weeks before this event had been too stressful and exhausting for me,so, the festival and colored powders just made me forget about things for a while. Pushing for this event was really a good decision despite the disappointments.

So, if anyone's having thoughts on joining a Color Manila event, I suggest you go for it. It's not bad to try at least once :)

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