Michael Jackson Live in Manila

I was in grade 4 and I was glad that I have attended at least one concert of Michael Jackson. Along with my parents, sisters and relatives, we're treated tickets to his HiStory Manila concert way back December 1996. We headed down late afternoon to Pasay where the Reclamation Area is, now Mall of Asia, to find a good parking space on a huge earthy patch of land getting full of vehicles by the minute. There's traffic jam, people everywhere. Clearly it's a once in a lifetime event for Filipinos. From the parking lot, you have to walk for a few kms to get there, exhausting but worth it.

The lines were long and you have that "Woodstock" feeling going on because of the scene, it was earthy and there's loads of people everywhere. We're lined up on the cheapest row, we have the cheapest tickets, for like php500. The Security checks for lighters, cameras or anything that you heard prohibited. It's hard if you have kids along, we're scared enough to break off with our parents in case of stampede or whatever. We settled on the portalette near the gate since it's easy to go out once it's finished and we really have no choice.

Since it was an open field, you can get across if you dare break through thousands of people and fences (if there are any) to get to the front row. It was superb, sound was great, the large screen was fantastic very useful for us seated in the backrow and people outside the field. After that I even bought the HiStory Album with 2 cassettes, contains classic hits and new songs from MJ.

I can't say I'm a fan, but he was a part of my childhood. We watched his concert in laser disc more than once. I grew up seeing him with white skin so I wasn't really weirded out with his image. I heard him say why do people care about his life offstage, when it is only important to listen to his music. Price of fame is clearly ridiculous because people make money about his private life, making a big deal about everything. Well people loves gossips and all that, it's sometimes a guilty pleasure of mine.

Rest in peace, Michael Jackson.