it’s been a while since i went out and had a good time. more than that, it’s been a while since i went out at all. last friday night, i got to do both. it was monster radio rx 93.1’s 22nd anniversary party that night. for weeks, i had planned on attending that event, not just because i want to, but being a member of the rx-talk mailing list for six years made me felt the need to go. after all, joining the mailing list changed my life forever. somehow, someway, i had to be there. i had to celebrate with them and be thankful for being a part of their family–at least in the smallest way possible.

ever since getting in the call center industry, my attendance to rx events dwindled. when i joined the mailing list on the summer of 1999 and became an active “lister,” i often became one of the people in charge of organizing, coordinating, and the point person for the mailing list whenever there are eb’s, parties, movie premieres and other activities the station had. heck, i would even skip work just to attend them. whenever there are those events, if there are tickets involved, i usually get them for the listers and distribute them to those who are able to attend. those were the days. partying almost every month, watching movie premieres, or just hanging out and socializing with fellow listers on eb’s–all of them i still have vivid and fond memories whenever i look back. the last party i attended before last friday night was, if i’m not mistaken, also an rx anniversary party at the podium on the same month two years ago. missing the feel of an rx event, i thought to myself, “man, i have to be there.”

weeks before the party, i got in touch with the head lister, raffy b and asked if there will be party tickets for the listers. he said to wait for the annoucement on the list, but there definitely will be. i told him that i wouldn’t miss the party for anything, so i definitely will be there. when i learned of the date of the party, i immediately filed for vacation leave from work. soon enough, tickets for the party were offered on a first email, first serve basis. i immediately followed raffy’s instructions and shot him an email. days later, he posted an email with the list of people who will be having tickets. each lister was given two tickets. before i even had to read raffy’s email, i called one of the closest friends and listers i ever have and asked her to come to the party with me since i asked for tickets. cher and i were excited since both of us haven’t attended rx parties in a long time. a few days before the party, i dropped by the station to get the tickets alloted for me. the only concern i had at that time is how to get to the venue. the party was to be staged at dish, near abs-cbn. it was unfamiliar territory for me. cher told me that she’ll be asking directions to dish so that we won’t be having a hard time finding it.

i still had work on that friday morning, but all i could think about was the party later that night. upon getting home that afternoon, i called cher up, finalized our meeting place, and got some sleep for an hour and a half. i met cher and another lister, charlyn at glorietta and we went on our way. all of us were giddy at the thought of seeing old friends and listers (although there were only quite a handful of listers i know on raffy’s list that’ll be attending the party) and being at an rx event itself. cher’s directions to the venue were easy to understand and we got to dish without much difficulty. upon getting there, we went around the compound and saw some movie stars like francine prieto (man, that woman is huge, not just vertically, but i mean “huge!”), bernard palanca, dennis padilla, janice and gelli de belen, and carmina villaroel (who i had a major, major crush back in high school). we then got to see fellow listers daphne, chill, gio, jong, tin, and rizza and at dish’s entrance there was a sea of partygoers lining up to get in. tickets were only honored until 11pm and the venue was quite small so the people outside were really anxious to get in. we decided to hang outside for a while and find a way to get in. sugar free was playing onstage at that time and it was close to 10:30pm.

suddenly, one of the dj’s, fran went out. apparently, chill or jong contacted her about us being outside and was hoping she could let us in. and we did! man, it felt good to be inside, thanks to fran (who i still have a big, big crush on). we then got to pay homage to the big boss himself, raffy and exchanged pleasantries. by then, south border was playing and i already had a beer in hand. good thing cher brought her camera and soon after, pictures were being shot left and right. we also had photo ops with the dj’s and i had a pic with fran! i’ll be posting it on my friendster profile as soon as i get it from cher. we also got to see hale and barbie almalbis perform. although we were standing all the while when we were inside, i had a really great time. having that picture with fran was the highlight of the night for me (thanks to you, jong!) we left at around past 1am and went to starbucks to rest and of course, have coffee. jong and i continued talking and doing catch up since it’s been a long time since we really got together. seems like he also is busy and rarely gets to attend rx events. at about 2:30am, we decided to call it a night. i got home at 3am and immediately fell asleep, ending one of the more memorable nights and parties i had in recent memory.

as i end this entry, i would like to thank, first and foremost, the head honcho, the man himself, the one and only, raffy b for the tickets to the year’s biggest party i’ve attended. as always, you never fail to amaze the mailing list. looking forward to that “listers’ table” at the next party! and of course, to cher, charlyn, jong, tin, gio, rizza, chinggay, tom alvarez, boom gonzales, and of course, the loveliest person that evening, francesca for making that night very, very memorable. as always, rx throws the best parties ever and here’s to another 22 years for you guys!

to blog readers who want to join the mailing list, please visit http://www.rx931.com. =)