Wotta Weekend

SATURDAY: Picked up Liza early, so we could make a quick stopover to pick up our tickets for the musical Hairspray tomorrow. Robinson's Dept. Store branch was too by-the-book (as if Liza would have my credit card, receipt and 2 of my IDs for some other reason), so we hastily made up a letter of authorization while trying the NBS branch in Megamall. While driving outta there (loitered outside instead of properly parking) I caught a glimpse of (and almost ran over) old classmate Ian Howell Tan.

While she was slightly miffed at us being a little late (still haven't gotten the hang of driving around BGC), we still managed to meet up w/ her barkada (and their respective "Non-Barkada" beaus and bud, and baby) at Serendra. The girls exchanged gifts while the guys exchanged gabs.

SUNDAY: The afternoon in bullet points...

• Avoided traffic police who were looking for (according to Liza) handouts, car profiling rich-looking AUVs and failing to flag us down successfully when I was sure the light was still green. Or I swerved, but it was to avoid idiot traffic cop for moving in my path and waving suddenly. Or mebbe it was because of us wasn't wearing their seatbelt at the time, not sure, didn't stick around. As I drove past them my heart raced and all I could think of was Please don't have motorbikes to chase us with. (They didn't.) Call me crazy but I like to limit embarrassing incidents involving cops while w/ my girlfriend to once-a-never-again.
  
• Almost parked just outside Star City when an attendant approached and said the flat rate was 60 bucks(!) Fortunately I talked to a security guard who said parking inside the Star City lot was free . Eff to da You, highway robber parking dude, we outta there.
  
• At the Star Theater we ran into Wilson's boss Liza, and one of his ADMU classmates. For my part I shared Men's Room time w/ Ricky Davao.
• The layout of the place was different from what I pictured, with no real balcony area and just elevated rows. (Ticketworld website ought to show both bird's eye and side view diagrams) Freezing temperatures inside made Liza regret wearing a sleeveless blouse. Worse, they made changes to the seating arrangements and the middle aisle seats I paid for were now at the leftmost side of the theater. (By the second act we moved to the empty seats near the middle of our row.)
  
• As for the musical production itself: Good thing I saw the movie version on HBO days earlier, because I still caught the gist of the story while well-enunciated lyrics were lost on crappy sound systems. Also, no live band, so basically we watched the Minus One version.
  
• Note to Michael de Mesa: You can only drag (no pun intended) on the change-to-manly-voice joke for so long before it gets old. We already know you're in tranny mode, so live up to the feminine side of it and impress us with more dancing while wearing heels.
• Why are good American accents so hard to find in local theater nowadays? Not to sound racist but the Talalog accents were really distracting.

The real event of the evening (aside from the one that happened after the play which I won't talk about here) was the wedding reception of Chinabank Tutuban Manager Andrew Kong and his bride Aileen at Century Seafood Restaurant. Liza really wanted to go and I obliged, seeing as I was there to represent of the 'Rents, while she went in place of her mom. Five tables were allotted for Chinabank friends and clients, not that the place needed any more butts on the seats. We left the reception early enough to avail of the half-off valet parking discount (25 bucks). No wedding souvenier or lanky floral centerpiece to take home, though, the latter to Liza's frustration. Yes, she only wanted the big flower in the middle of the arrangement, but I was distacted by the other flowers that were just taped on the thinner branches.

We had a last-minute nightcap at Starbucks in Robinson's Otis. Still in formal attire, it was weird being the best-dressed couple in a coffee shop.

Not that I'm complaining. This weekend was for her, and I'm happy to serve.