notes from a semi-pro kris allen tard, part 3

I realized going into part 3 of this post (parts 1 and 2 are here and here) that I should probably drop my insistence that these are tips on how to tard "sanely". Mainly because this is part 3 of -- from the looks of it -- a six-part miniseries. *sigh* Well I sure hope not (I'm trying to make it a four-part instead), but given the word count of my past two ramblings about Day 1... let's see.

Back to recap (where Day 1 of stalking is about to end).

After the presscon, I went back to the hotel to meet Tonette and Melissa, all the while listening to Kris's radio interview and videoke challenge happening that time (so I was confident he won't show up until much later). Actually the girls were at the adjacent mall having dinner but I just had to have an excuse to check out the lobby. I saw Drew the new drummer hanging about, but I was too hungry and nervous to do anything, so using the casual passerby tactic (see: Cale's probably WTH experience that morning), I exited to the other side of the hotel and went ahead to meet T and M.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and saw Drew again in the lobby, this time with Cale and Andrew. As mentioned in my previous post, I was able to get a picture with them. I also initiated some small talk with them after they introduced themselves (as if I don't know them, well, apart from Drew).

8. Get to know the band (especially if they're as hot as the idol). This is actually treading the batshit-crazy (BSC) stalker territory so proceed with caution.

Admittedly, there were several highs and lows on my part when I did this (hence my scrapping of the "sane" disclaimer -- I went full fantard mode). Some sample (and in some cases, embarrassing) sound bytes from yours truly that I still remember more than a month later:

"Oh so, you're Ryland's replacement?"

That's what I said to Drew after he introduced himself. It was an honest question (and in a sense, a conversation starter) because it was a mystery at that time. Drew and Andrew seem to have been both impressed and taken aback by the question. But at least I was able to find out that Drew was just with them for the next couple of gigs.

The small talk that followed included me asking them if this was their first time in the country (all yes), how did they find the weather (Andrew said it was "awesome"), where was Torres (sleeping because of jet lag), some discussion about their flight details (16 hour flight, including a layover in Hong Kong), and who tweeted the KAB tweet after the presscon (it was Andrew).

(Side note: I failed to introduce Melissa and Tonette by their names -- I just introduced them as "my friends who are new Kris fans" during our first meet and greet. *facepalms* Cale and the rest had to introduce themselves again after a couple of minutes *double facepalms*)

"I have VIP seats, so if you hear someone yell 'I love you Cale!', that'll probably me."

This was what I told Cale when we were talking about their concert schedule in Manila and Cebu. Of course I had to mention that I will be attending the Manila gig, right (for fan points!)? Tonette did mention the VIP seats first though. Besides, I just had to flirt (just a bit) with the Cosmo hottie. :P He just laughed and shook his head. Told you I was bordering cray cray...l

And the best (or worst) bit from our convo:

Me: So, we're, like, waiting for Kris...
Andrew: So are we (looks around)
Me: Oh, so he hasn't arrived yet...
(short pause)
Me: I'm not a stalker on something (laughs). I don't have records or whatever.
Andrew: Well, not yet. (laughs)

I love these guys.

After a couple of minutes chatting, I excused myself ("We'll just scoot over there... it was nice meeting you!") since it's only polite to leave them be after intruding their little quality time and personal space. A couple of more minutes more later, Kris finally arrived with several security people, as well as the second group of fans, some of whom -- Lourdes in particular -- I've known ever since the Blue days (girl is a professional groupie, moonlighting as a regular employee. LOL!). Hell kinda broke loose in front of the band with the sudden bursts/shrieks of incredulous laughter ("Lourdes! You again!") and sudden catch-up chitchat.

And as I mentioned before, it took us three attempts to talk to Kris that night and have a group picture with him. After the photo op, I handed Kris the gift bag containing the shirt (eye contact! thank yous exchanged!). I didn't include a long letter or anything, just my Twitter name in the gift tag (selfishly, I was wishing he would tweet/DM me).

We all knew that that's the last time we'll see Kris that day (it's past 10PM and boy looks sleepy), so we all went our separate ways. Tonette and Melissa sort of scolded me for giving the shirt right away, when there's still the upcoming Meet and Greet to look forward to (turns out it was a wise decision after all). The following day, Kris flew to Cebu and will be there until -- as it turned out -- Saturday morning. It gave me enough time to prepare for the big day.

(final part coming up!)