MANILA, Philippines?Here?s the thing. I'm a huge "American Idol" fan. My brother Hans, however, is the "American Idol" fan.

He is the Donald Trump of AI aficionados, the Godfather, the iPod, the Simon Cowell.
Our house is peppered with AI merchandise, CDs of several "Idols" are scattered everywhere, and an impressive collection of AI episodes from all seven seasons take up pretty much enough hard disk space to run a small Internet café.

So you can probably guess that when we found out that Star World and KFC were holding a trivia contest with two awesome invites to the finale up for grabs, we literally went off our heads. We grubbed on fried chicken every single day for several weeks and diligently put our "Idol" thinking caps on.

Come contest day, our blood was pumping chicken acid and my brother's head was bursting with oodles and googles of AI info that would've put Wikipedia to shame. So yeah, he bagged the prize (woot!) and took giddy me along for what would be the most tremendous ride of my life.

But listen: I know you don't want hear about every single minute detail of what happened.
You don't want to know about how we woke up at 6:30 every morning to guard the Nokia Theater like gargoyles (hey, you never know who might be coming).

You don't want to know about how watching the show live is much more frenzied and emotional than you see on TV.

You don't want to know about how thrilling it is to be surrounded by thousands of other folks who thrive in AI Kingdom.

You don't want to know about how a humongous zit booked a weeklong vacation on my chin for all my photo-ops with the "Idols," or any of those matters.

All I'm trying to say is the whole shebang left us with a year's supply of fairy dust. And a very pregnant memory card to boot.

Several "Idol" moments stand out, though. Like how we got much-coveted spots in the press area-cum-mosh pit for fans. It was madness, I tell you. Madness!

The way we were all squished and how my entire digestive system magically lumped into one giant organ ball made riding the MRT from Cubao seem like a stroll in Luneta.

Or how David Hernandez took my camera and shot the photo of us together himself.

Or how I pressed my face next to Chikezie Eze's sweaty forehead.

Or how I got to smell Brooke White's beautiful golden hair.

Or how Ramiele Malubay immediately ran to us when we screamed, "Ramieeele! Pa-picture namaaaan!" To which she answered without so much as a hint of an Am-girl accent, "Sige, sige, magsiksikan tayo dito!"

Or how Jason Castro blew me a kiss. Well, it was in my direction, anyway.

Or how I got to hug David Cook. Seriously.

It was completely unexpected. To be honest, since everybody in the 80-mile radius was hounding the new American Idol, we were resigned to the fact that we would go home bereft of photos with him.

The morning after, possibly through divine intervention, my brother flicked on the TV and switched the channel to the early morning program on Fox. Instantly, a live interview with little David Archuleta aired and it took us five very long seconds to figure out that it was being held just outside the Nokia Theater!

I dare not exaggerate, but we sprung to our feet and ran as fast as our barely awake feet could take us.

Imagine our nirvana when we saw the two sleepless Davids and a couple of reporters that needed zero crowd control. Archuleta's such a sweet kid, he was even gracious when we asked for a photo with him.

But oh, David Cook! He's so amazing, you'll wonder why there isn't a country named after him. I asked for a photo and told him I rooted for him to win, all the while hoping that the conversation would turn into something else-a kiss, and then we'd elope, after 15 minutes of dating.

And that's when the hug happened. It took every ounce of strength I had to pry my chubby fingers off him. Swoon, swoon, swoon.

To date, I am still mopping up my drool and reeling from the all the fun we had in LA. I actually remain surprised that I could turn into one of those people who froth at the mouth in delirious happiness.

But no regrets, it's easily the best experience I've had so far (thanks to Hans, Star World and KFC). To quote Cook's winning song: "I tasted every moment, lived it out loud, and I had the time of my life."