APO’s Toronto show last April 17 was a lot of fun. We had a sell out crowd of 2,900 who gave us a standing ovation. It was so thrilling to sing for our kababayans who not surprisngly seem to hold on truer to being loyal to OPM than Filipinos back home (who prefer to watch and listen to their local artists become clones of US performers). Torontonians (that’s what they’re called!) wanted to have the Phlippine experience and that’s exactly what we gave them through our songs, spiels and gimmicks. We really enjoyed ourselves. Needless to say, Toronto was a great way to start our tour and will be memorable to us for a long time!
Today, a friend took me around Washington where I visited the Arboretum (home to so many of the world’s plants), the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Modern Art. What an experience it was, to say the least.
The arboretum was interesting with dessert, tropical plants of all kinds. I even heard a group of tourists gushing at the sight of a banana tree. Gusto ko tumawa ng malakas! The natural history museum is really impressive for the breadth of its subject matter (animals, people, culture, tools, stones and jewelry from all over the world). The way everything was presented was smashingly dramatic.
The modern art place is something else too—truly breathtaking for its collection of Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Cezzane, Degas, Toulose-lautrec, etc.. Nakakalula.
The Van Gogh’s were not that great though. I saw a much more impressive collection in Holland. But the again, that’s his home.
It is so enviable how a government can put on display its country’s wealth of knowledge which include the arts, artifacts, painting, sculptures etc.. on exhibit and all for free!! Nakakainggit sila!
We leave for NYC this Friday for some promo work to create excitement for our June 12 bash there. After NYC, we do Cincinnati which is concert no.2 on this tour! Go visit our website for more details: http://apohikingsociety.org.
Till the next stop where and when I can access the internet!
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