The Italian Job

The Italian Job is a 2003 film which stars Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Seth Green, Jason Statham, Mos Def and Donald Sutherland. This for me is the perfect heist film. I honestly wanted to be part of a posse of thieves who executes flawless robberies (hahaha bad!) The Mini Cooper became my dream car and Italy (where the heist was executed) became my paradise. After watching the film for about a million times, I couldn't stop dreaming about going there.

"I trust everyone. It's the devil inside them I don't trust."- Stella

Last year, my friends and I made a vow to make this Italian trip come true by fervently saving to fund this tour. January 13th of this year, my fab friend Kristine told me about a contest by Motorola Middle East that would send off the winner to Milan. The first thing I remembered telling her was "Tara! Sige! GO!". I was really unsure of my reaction. I mean me and Tine, we almost always take this kind of things frivolously. It never occurred to us that we stepped into something unimaginable.


Most of my friends knew how hesitant I am in joining popularity contests. I'd rather work sidelines but I would never let myself be the bait and suffer humiliation. Maybe because I wasn't confident enough. This is one of my "I'm surprised of myself" moments. Perhaps I have this inkling that we'll grab it. It was the beginning of our journey.


Jan. 13th 2011 - The day we entered the contest. This is our entry:

Michelle (Contestant 22) and BFF Kristine were born on the same day --- only on different years which is probably why their personalities are so alike, like TWINS!

Their hearts deepest wish is "to walk the streets of Milan on the eve of their birthday, like true Fashionistas" which they have been saving up for since last year. Help them have the grandest birthday of their lives.

This was my first call for help:

Our official Kick them to Milan CAMPAIGN TEAM Dubai Chapter! H-Club + Rezaly = da best! We all looked kind of serious, FB and messenger chatting became a serious matter.

 

  

This is the best part..my friends from all over campaigning for me. They never grew tired of posting the link on their walls. Some of them are complete strangers. We are indeed lucky to have supportive friends and family. (Incomplete screen captures, sa sobrang dami hinde ko makumpleto)

Yesterday, I was at Starbucks with my good friend Patur. The usual chika chikas and catching up over a cup of hot chocolate and emote naming dalawa. My phone rang and Tine was screaming on the other line.."BABE!! Nanalo tayo! Namamatay ako, namamatay ako, namamatay ako!!" She repeated that about 50 times. I understood what she said I just didn't believe it. All that I could uttered was "WEH??". And she answered again with "Namamatay ako!" for 50 more times. When we hang up, my BBM, YM, FB and Twitter icons on my phone were all flooded with notifications. Then finally I saw this on the FB news feed:

We WON. We're going to Milan. We did it. We did it because of our family and friends. I couldn't come up with the right words to express my gratitude to all those who helped us. You made it happen. To our cheerleaders in times of doubt and worry, thank you. To our campaign team here and in Pinas, thank you. To our long lost friends, catching up with you was the best thing ever. To our new friends, soooobraaang daming new friends, thank you!

This was my status on Facebook last night.