The Best Songs of 2006 Part I

Pity that I should have discovered blogging earlier, so I could have published (and preserved) my year-end music list. Nevertheless, here we are celebrating the most loved, most played, and most sung songs of this year.

Previous winners include Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind (1997), You Get What You Give by New Radicals (1998), Yellow by Coldplay (2001), Breathe by Michelle Branch (2003), Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard (2004) and last year, Hard-Fi took it for Hard to Beat. There are some lapses in between, and that's where this blog helps.

This is the first of two parts, and I'll only be featuring 40 songs. I have of course downloaded, purchased, and copied more than that, but these 40 songs have been the staple residents of my W800i. I truly hope that you enjoyed listening to these songs, and more importantly, I hope that these song has served in one way or another, as a mental bookmark for all the important things that happened this 2006.

21 Much Has Been Said - Bamboo
22 Half Light - Athlete
23 Too Little, Too Late - Jojo
24 Sexyback - Justin Timberlake
25 The Mixed Tape - Jack's Mannequin
26 Everything - Kaskade
27 Listen To Your Heart - DHT featuring Edmee
28 Boston - Augustana
29 All I Have - Snow Patrol
30 Wires - Athlete
31 Dirty Little Secret - All American Rejects
32 Feel The Vibe - Axwell
33 Get Together - Madonna
34 Watchin' - Freemasons featuring Ananda Wilson
35 Waiting On The World To Change - John Mayer
36 Faster Kill Pussycat - Paul Oakenfold featuring Brittany Murphy
37 Jump - Madonna
38 Nevermind - Texas
39 Believe Me - Fort Minor
40 Into The Sun - Chris Martin and Michael Stipe

Merry Christmas!

My neck hurts so bad, I can barely turn without wincing. Tsk! That's a very nice gift, don't you think? Anyhoo, hope your holidays turn out to be a blast!

You Are Time's Person Of The Year

Yes. You. And me too.

In a rapidly changing world of diversified individualism, there is no more appropriate person to take the stage and be the person of the year.

You've made the blogs, uploaded the videos, downloaded the songs. Now, more than ever, is the time for us, be ourselves, and share it to the world. And isn't that the spirit of being Person of the Year anyway?

The Best Songs of 2006

My choice, of course. I've listed down the top 30 or so songs, and do post your comments. You'd actually be surprised which ones would land in the Top 10. *wink*

7 Minutes In Heaven (Atavan Halen) by Fall Out Boy
All I Have by Snow Patrol
Believe Me by Fort Minor
Boston by Augustana
Catch Your Wave by Click Five
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
Everything by Kaskade
Faster Kill Pussycat by Paul Oakenfold featuring Brittany Murphy
Forever Young by Youth Group
Get Together by Madonna
Half Light by Athlete
Hallelujah by Bamboo
Hands Open by Snow Patrol
How To Save A Life by The Fray
I'm Not Missing You by Stacie Orrico
In The Sun by Michael Stipe and Chris Martin
It Ends Tonight by All American Rejects
I've Got A Dark Alley…(Summer Song) by Fall Out Boy
Jump by Madonna
Listen To Your Heart by DHT featuring Edmee
Move Along by All American Rejects
Much Has Been Said by Bamboo
Open Your Eyes by Snow Patrol
Over My Head (Cable Car) by The Fray
Sexyback by Justin Timberlake
Song For A Friend by Jason Mraz
Statues by Low Millions
Stunt by Raindrops
Talk by Coldplay
The Mixed Tape by Jack's Mannequin
Thinking About You by Ivy
Too Little, Too Late by Jojo
Truth by Bamboo
Waiting On The World To Change by John Mayer
Watchin' by Freemasons featuring Ananda Wilson
Wires by Athlete

Go North!

Yes, I know it’s pretty embarrassing to trek the country with a Lonely Planet, and have foreigners tell you how to explore your own land, but it provides security in terms of having default accommodation. This was of most use to me when I went to the Ilocos Region and did the Vigan-Laoag trek.

Let me start with this – Laoag International Airport has officially dethroned Zamboanga as the nicest looking regional airport. Laoag’s terminal was made of red brick, with distinctive Ilocano furnishings, and even the control tower reminded me of lighthouses that surround the general area. A regional airport should give you a taste of things to come – it should give a flavor of how the area looks, feels, and all right, smells like. The Laoag terminal differentiates itself from the flock of nondescript, dingy terminals around the country. Too bad I don’t have a picture here.

I love Ilocos country – not too much nature-y things to do, but lots of architectural marvels that reflect our Spanish heritage. There are lots of churches, bell towers, and pretty government institutions. Vigan’s Historical Center was a revelation (even though I’ve already gone here before), in the sense that I’m more of an architectural-slash-historical traveler. But heck, with these gorgeous sites, you’ll immediately forget white sand beaches and a canopy of palm trees.

On the way from Paoay (as the picture here proves) to the sand dunes in Laoag, my handy tricycle driver brought me here: Also known as “the middle of nowhere”, at least I was lucky to locate a nearby shoreline, a familiar house, and a dab of luxury called Fort Ilocandia. Hit the beach in pants, sneakers, then came out of the change room after 15 seconds in flip flops and board shorts – fast enough to make Clark Kent in a phone booth look like a wimp. Again, no brownie points for forgetting to take pictures of the coastline.

So I landed over at a swish, rustic casino. Nice! The downside, my flight got delayed by 4 hours, and my early evening trip back home got converted into a red eye flight, thus missing a concert. But the stay at Ilocos region surely made up for it. Plus, I took home Vigan longganisa. Yummy.

The pictures are here: Ilocos and Palawan

A New Blog Again!

I got a new space over at http://monsterboy.multiply.com , and it's going to hold all (okay, most) of the music featured on this blog. Moreover, it's going to keep my pictures (yehey!).

Yun muna, nakatingin sa akin ang boss ko e. Hehe.