My 080808 Cinderella story

For the Chinese, and probably to some Filipinos, the number 8 is considered very lucky because it’s associated with wealth, prosperity and good fortune. It’s also precisely the reason why people would pay extra to have the number 8 in their phone numbers, license plates, bank accounts and/or home/business addresses. Why then is the number 8 considered lucky? I read somewhere that the main reason has to do with the pronunciation of the word for the number 8 in China. It is pronounced "ba" and sounds like the word for prosperity which is pronounced "fa". Another reason is because it is a perfect symmetrical shape. You can cut the number 8 in half vertically or horizontally, and both halves mirror themselves perfectly. Perfect symmetry lends itself to perfect balance. In Chinese Astrology, perfect balance is considered the ideal. And since this year’s date, 080808, will not be coming around for another century, it's supposed to have brought even more luck than usual, which actually explains why a lot of people had booked celebrations/events on this special day. We have a family friend who opened his coffee shop on 080808 and had it blessed at 8 o’clock in the morning. I read in the Inquirer that as early as January 2008, almost all the churches in the country have already been fully booked. There was even one couple who had their wedding booked on that date as early as 2006! Like everyone else, I also wanted to do something special on 080808, since I knew that I will no longer be around anymore in the next 100 years when it comes again. I was lucky enough to still get fairly good tickets for the play, Cinderella, on this day. And good thing that two of my dearest theater-lover friends, Paula (my college bestfriend) and Joy (my high school kabarkada), were both still available to watch it with me.

Paula, me and Joy after watching the show

Let me relate to you my 080808 Cinderella story. Around 5:30 pm that day, I was kind of worried as I'm nowhere near finishing the report I'm covering for my officemate who took her vacation leave that day. The show will be starting at 8pm, and I will be meeting my friends at 6pm sharp for us to be able to arrive at CCP on time. But oh well, things did not turn out the way we planned due to some unexpected reasons, traffic being the main one. It was already a quarter past 8pm when we arrived at the venue. Yes, we were late and we already missed the first part of the play. Well, it was act 1 when we got there, and we were told that the doors shall not open until it was finished. My friends and I could not help being disappointed. So much for hoping to get lucky on 080808. We knew we could not do anything about it even if we wanted to, so we just patiently waited outside together with the other latecomers. The usher briefed us that we were not supposed to head and look for our original seats since it might disturb some of the viewers. We should search for the nearest available seat instead, sit there until intermission, then transfer to our reserved seats before the break ends. It was around 10 minutes after, when the doors opened and we were ushered to where we were supposed to settle until the intermission. As we approach our temporary seats, we were totally taken aback by their location.They're really good seats and they're on row C, baby! Those seats were priced at P4,000, while our row T seats were only paid for P2,500. Now, there's my 080808 luck. :p About Cinderella... If you've been reading my past blog entries, you probably would have noticed that I'm really into fairy tales. Cinderella tops my list so I was really enthralled upon finding out that it will be shown here in Manila as a musicale with its main character to be played by no less than Lea Salonga! I was immediately sold. I just could not wait to watch it as I still was on a "Lea Salonga high" since my close encounter with her in Avenue Q. Anyway, I totally loved the play. Of course, Lea was great! She was really pretty and I just love her voice so much. Truly incomparable and exceptional. As with the costumes and the set... oh, I was deeply charmed! I have never seen such a beautiful, beautiful carriage in my life... never! Of course, the story was great. After all, we all know how the story would go and end. I was just kind of looking for something different to transpire. I was actually waiting for a twist or something, which did not happen. I mean, I would not have expected for it if it was not advertised that way. In the interviews, Lea always mentioned that that the play was based on the fairytale, Cinderella, but with a twist. I'm not really sure where the twist was there...but well, it did not matter that much anymore. Lea, playing as Cinderella--my favorite fairy tale princess, and my 080808 luck was more than enough for me to enjoy the night. And yeah, impossible things are happening everyday! :) Impossible / It's Possible Ten Minutes Ago A Lovely Night Thanks Paula and Joy for the enchanting bonding! Cheers to the Sisig Rice we chowed at Jay-j's after the show! Looking forward to more C! bonding soon!