FRIDAY: Dinner w/ Eileen at Greenbelt 5. While waiting for her I caught a bit of Julia Fordham's performance at GB Park. Jazzy is as jazzy does. Didn't even know she was British. Before the last song I heard her perform she was encouraging the audience to get off their bums and dance. Good luck w/ that, Julia. Pinoy concert audiences are the "have seat, will sit" type, and probably wouldn't be caught dead bustin' moves at a jazz concert, anyway.
After dinner we headed for Murphy's Bar (and got flagged and fined by a --gasp--
honest traffic cop for an alleged illegal left turn) for Ana Gonzalez' B-day bash. My actual appearance (as in showing up, not my looks) seemed to have left as good an impression as my birthday gift: Neil Gamain's
Fragile Things audiobook on CD. Met her little sister. Saw Andy, Grand and Ferds again. Had a surreal chat w/ Ana's soused beau Igo, w/c was my first enounter w/ someone who was drunk but acted comtemplative. Eileen had an alkie-choco drink while I ordered light beer.
SATURDAY: Forced to mall around SM Centerpoint (IMO the most mediocre of the SM Malls I've been to, probably due to the lack of a decent book shop. Then again, Centerpoint shoppers don't strike me as the bibliophilic type. I think they're just making due w/ the dog-eared 'zine section of NBS) waiting for Ma and 2-Kim to finish their shopping on this 2nd day of the 3-Day Sale. While waiting I had a snack consisting of the toughest chicken breast fillet sandwich Wendy's had to offer. Bad enough local taxes are applied on top of the VAT, now they're serving me really salty fries and leather chicken.
When we finally got home I spruced up 'coz I was supposed to meet Cathy Yao for dinner. We decided on Trinoma and tried out that Greek restaurant Cyma. They literally seated us in the corner with a window view overlooking a parking lot. Ariel Ureta (and his wife, I assume) was seated two tables away. Cathy didn't know him, though. We ordered a cheese dip flambe (w/ bread), an appetizer w/ the extra entertainment value of having the waiters light the cheese on fire and yell, "O-PA!" Unfortunately they had to do it near Ariel Ureta's table instead of ours because we were in a narrow section,
and the lamp shade above us was made of wood. Seems whoever designed this resto didn't consider flammable lighting fixtures and waiters who'll occasionally play around w/
open flame a safety hazard.
Our main dish of spaghetti topped w/ stewed beef shanks was unfortunately garnished w/ two of my least favorite herbs/or spice: coriander (aka cilantro) and cinnamon. Had those 2 ingredients not been added I might've been enouraged to finish off the "shared" serving size (made for approx. 3 people), but instead now I have big beef shank bone stuck in the fridge.
Our nightcap was at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (or NAMBLA), where discussions on faith and religion got spirited, to say the least. Cathy's views on life appear to be defined by her faith, w/c clashes my my somewhat agnostic take on it. Two encounters in, and there's still something missing. That spark. And I think I know why. And I think in the back of my mind I've always known.
(Also, I'm not going full disclosure on all this, 'coz Cathy knows my blog address, and I'm a wimp.)
SUNDAY: Had brunch w/ G in Kulinarya at the PowerPlant Mall. Days before I had a set of questions and other things I wanted to ask and tell her. Definitely easier thought than said. In the end I could only ask her how she thinks we're doing as a "couple." She said she enjoys the companionship but wouldn't want to change things, at least not drastically. (Cross out making out under the bleachers during the big football game...) I said I wished she was available more often, if only it wasn't for her busy work schedule. And I asked for her home phone number.
(I like her. I like being w/ her. I like myself when I'm w/ her. Hmm, it occured to me that in all the times we've gone out I've not once held her hand. Nor kissed her (save for that peck on the cheek in church). Slowly but surely can be a real pain, sometimes. Step up, foo'. Nuffa dis "friend date" stuff.)
We had a bit of trouble finding it, but we finally got to the church where G's officemates were getting married. I had to leave her there 'coz of the Batch '94 alumni meeting at Little Asia's Tomas Morato branch. Sherman Oranga and Jasper Soon were there when I arrived. Winston Co followed, then fashionably late (w/ her red "Seriously..."
Grey's Anatomy t-shirt) Jehan Sia, Josephine (Mapua) De Lucia, Henrison and Khristine (Chan) Lim, Chris Karen (Sy) Uy and Jervy Santiago. While enjoying the crepe and spring rolls we discussed fundraising plans and official appointents. I was appointed head of communications.
Better get started on a new webpage...
Had an early dinner, then drove out to Bonifacio High Street in Taguig to catch Aryn Cristobal's show at the Mag:Net cafe. Turns out she's part of S.P.I.T., an comedy improve group (think Who's Line Is It, Anyway?). The Silly People's Improv Theater was founded by Gabe, the rotund dude you might recognize from recent Yakult TV commercials, as well as his own show Noypi.
The show started 2 hours later than what Aryn told me, so I had plenty of time to kill. Good thing Dee and KV showed up around the second hour. I was buying the food, Dee the drinks and KV the tickets. Talk turned up some interesting bits about their social lives. Dee was sotra seeing some pastor-in-training, while K broke up w/ his band-singer girlfriend (and subsequently removed any trace of her in his F'ster page), and was contemplating making contact w/ another ex who's already married and has 1 kid. Times like this I'm glad me and G are taking it slow. (Insert ironic smirk here.)
Anyhoo, on w/ the show. Aside from contributing to some of the bits Aryn acted as the emcee. Each member seemed to have their own way of "delivering the funny," from bad puns to one-liners to dryly delivered but quick comebacks. Kenneth (the only Tsinoy in the group?) was impressive with his talent for spewing historial trivia (some of it may even be factual). Joel Trinidad (last saw him in Avenue Q as Trekkie Monster) lay down his vocabulary skills with the Alphabet Soap game. I can't name the rest of the cast but rest assured most of them were good. Not-so-good? The singing games. Lord, this time I'm sure the guys in Who's Line do multiple takes of Hoedown and Irish Drinking Song. Verbal improv is hard enough, but to give it rhyme and melody? If I was onstage doing that refunds would be a standard.
We also saw a bonus show of sorts. Some guys from MTV Demark were there to shoot a music viedo and proceeded to shoot around the audience. It was surreal seeing big dudes bump your table and run backstage while S.P.I.T. was still performing. First I thought someone was playing a prank and pissed off the guys who were chasing him. Turns out it was just Take 2. (Hope they captured my good side.)
