My daughter brought me along to Mariah Carey’s jam-packed live concert at the SMX Arena in MOA, Pasay City, on October 14, 2025.
Every seat at the SMX Arena was occupied. Eleven thousand fans descended upon the SMX Arena to watch the American diva.
Mariah Carey looked down most of the time, and sang with little emotion. The setlist was full of danceable hits — mapapasayaw ka sana — but she just stood there, static. At one point, we thought her eyes were closed. Then we realized… she was probably reading the lyrics. She had to be assisted, holding someone’s hand as she slowly walked to and from the stage — like an 85-year-old lola.
One of my favorite songs in high school:
This was actually my third time seeing her live in concert.
The first was in BGC, back when my daughter was still in college. I brought my college friend, Edna Dator, with me. I forgot where the second one was — maybe in Las Vegas? Last night was the third, and by far, the most… unforgettable (for all the unexpected reasons).
Even back then, Mariah wasn’t really known for high-energy performances like J.Lo or Janet Jackson. But last night was on another level. So static, it became unintentionally funny. My daughter and I, plus the two guys seated next to us (who flew all the way from Cebu!), couldn’t help but laugh.
At one point mid-concert, my daughter caught me secretly Googling Mariah’s age. 55.
She turned to her seatmate — he was doing the exact same thing.
We all burst into laughter.
When we got home, my daughter asked herself if the ₱15,000+ ticket per person was worth it. Then she answered her own question:
“At least natawa ako. Laughter is priceless.”
All in, here’s what the night cost:
1. Two and a half-hours travel time from our house to MOA.
2. ₱X,000 dinner at Lartizan Restaurant prior to the 8:30 pm concert.
3. ₱6,000 tsinelas from Cole Haan (because sumakit ang paa ko)
It would’ve been quite a long walk from Conrad Mall to the SMX Arena, so I hurriedly bought a pair of slippers from the only tsinelas store near Lartizan — Cole Haan. Pressed for time, I painfully swallowed the ₱6,000 price tag, convincing myself that this pair would become my new daily companion para masulit naman ang pera ko.
I even told the Cole Haan saleslady that I’d return the slippers if they ended up hurting my feet. Nay ko po! They turned out to be no better than the Prada heels I was wearing. I ended up with blisters from the rough straps scratching my skin. Kasi naman, trying hard ako mag heels. Unlike fashion icons Heart Evangelista and Pia Wurtzbach, who can wear six-inch heels with effortless grace, I can barely survive an hour without limping!
Pwede kaya itong isoli? Kung sa America ito, pwedeng-pwede.
4. Two concert tickets courtesy of my daughter. Sayang yung discount. Sabi ko sa kanya next time she should bring me along when she buys tickets kasi meron akong senior citizen card.
Mariah’s 11,000 fans filled the SMX Arena with their screams.
5. ₱500 parking + driver’s dinner
6. 4,200 steps walking from Conrad Mall to our concert seats, etc.
7. One hour travel time from SMX to our home.
8. Paltos ang paa ko sa P6k tsinelas from Cole Haan.
But what did we really get?
Time together. Genuine laughter. A night we’ll always remember — not because the show was amazing, but because my daughter and I had each other. And that made everything worth it.
