A quote from Teen Beach Movie’s “Falling For Ya” – “the day started ordinary…” (this song is too catchy). Anyways, the day DID start off as ordinary, but at the end of the day I’m 100% sure I’ll never forget it.
Last year on the 5th of November, my cousin, Mika, and I decided to go to the TLC Festival in Bonifacio Global City.
We were really excited when we saw this poster because Buddy Valastro (a.k.a. the Cake Boss/Kitchen Boss) would be coming! I used to obsess over his show, watching episode after episode as Buddy and his team/family would make a cake from scratch and mold it into great works of art. (Try watching one episode here!)
Early in the morning of the 5th, I headed for Bonifacio High Street to meet up with my cousin. I pre-registered for the event so I lined up to get my pass. The line was so long and the heat of the sun didn’t really help, but after 30 minutes, I got my pass and was able to meet up with my cousin.
Our main goal was to really experience as much as we could and see Buddy Valastro. It was around 10 in the morning when we found out that Buddy would be arriving later around 5:45 PM – which meant that we had a LOT of time to wander around. Sadly, we weren’t able to experience the event to its fullest since all the workshops and demos were unavailable to us since it only allowed people who pre-registered for the workshops (slots ran out when I pre-registered). There really wasn’t much to do afterwards, so we went around the outdoor mall instead and hung out.
Later, at around 4:30PM or so, we headed for the stage area (we were actually confused since there were multiple stages in the area and we didn’t know where Buddy was going to appear in – the staff didn’t know either). We stood right in front of the barrier and waited.
After standing and waiting for an hour, we heard people screaming. Buddy has arrived! Suddenly, everyone inside the area stood up and crowded around. We (the people behind the barrier) were screaming at them to sit down (get their asses back on the chair) because we couldn’t see anything.
Since the stage was set in the open, the sound acoustics were terrible. The speakers were all in one area so we (again, the people behind the barrier) couldn’t understand a thing that Buddy was saying. Oh, well.
Here’s where it gets exciting.
After Buddy spoke, he waved goodbye and headed for the back of the stage area. Everyone ran to chase after him. My cousin and I were eaten up in the stampede and were separated. Stampedes hurt. The bodyguards stepped on my feet and I didn’t even need to walk since the entire crowd was pushing and I was being “one with the current”. I tried to take a few picture, but eventually gave up:
Here’s the fun part. I gave up trying to take a good photo and went somewhere else for a breather. I didn’t try to call my cousin yet because what if she was about to take a selfie or something with Buddy and I just had to ruin it by calling? I went to this quiet area where I leaned against a wall to catch my breath and fix my appearance when suddenly the crowd headed for me:
You can pretty much tell what happened next:
Apparently, where I was standing was near the parking lot where Buddy’s car (or service thing) was parked and they had to pass that way to get there. For saying that I really tried, I took out my phone to take photos but again was shoved to the side. I think I kicked some people back since they kicked me and swore a bit, but it was all good.
I eventually found my cousin and we agreed that it was time to leave. We were exhausted.
We’re pretty sure we won’t forget the craziness of that day.
That was pretty much our TLC Festival experience. I don’t think I’ll be going back next year unless I really need to (or a celebrity guest I really like would be going); all-in-all a day to remember.
[Have you ever been in a stampede?]
