Along came Johnny come lately…
Friday, December 16th, 2005
This bottle was consumed on my 27th birthday (pretty old huh?), at the main lobby of a building just around Padre Faura street in Malate, Manila. James and our friends Sarge, Tata, Dodoy and Henry were there to join us at an untimely celebration. I really had no plan of announcing and celebrating my birthdate until James came around, bringing along this bottle of Johnny Black, greeting me with a grin on his face. Hehehe.
Earlier that day, I came from an early dissmisal from some training. On the way to the Trade Center Building I picked up a liter of GSM Premium Gin along with some chicken and pig gut or isaw for snacks (pulutan). I planned to have a drink with a coulpe of my buddies, a regular every other day routine I used to do back in college. I SMS’ed James about the session, while I hollered Sarge in his room at the back of the building where we usually hung out and watched dvd’s. As we fixed things up for the session, Sarge SMS’ed Dodoy and called over Tata who were both finishing their deals for the day, both said that they would catch up with us. Henry was the night shift security guard of the building for that evening so he was not hard to invite over.
And so, as we downed the liter of gin I bought, Tata came down from his office with a bag of SMB Pale of about 6 or 8 bottles. It was ice cold, so it was a perfect wash for the gin we had earlier. Just about the time when we were supposed to buy another round of gin upon consuming the last bottle of beer, along comes James with Johnny Black. Approaching with a smile he grabs my hand, shakes it firmly as he greeted me, handing over the bottle with the other.
The guys were suprised of what they’ve seen and were wondering what occassion it was that James brought such a fine liquor. As James had earlier greeted, the guys, suprised to know that it was my day, they all exclaimed with a grin, "Bino! Birthday mo pala eh?! Bat di ka nagsasabi?!" And so, everyone gathered around to find a seat and started to celebrate.
Upon learning of the occasion, Tata ordered 2 more cases of SMB light beer, Sarge SMS’ed Mando, a muslim chef from the halal restaurant next door, who supplied us with generous amounts of raw chopped chicken and sliced beef for our pulutan for a fair price, which Sage fried, sauteed while we drank. A few minutes later, Dodoy arrived bringing with him another case of San Miguel light which served as "hugas" later that evening.
As we consumed the bottle of Johnny, we enjoyed the night passing memories of new and old. The pale and dry wood scented liquor laced our lips. A taste which would make one grin for a moment as each swallowed a shot down. Revealing an elegant smirk in each once face when done. A spectrum of smiles crossed the room as we drank and sang.
We all happily sang together some old tunes, as I happened to have my Cebu crafted acoutic guitar in the car. By the time we finished the last drop, it hit me like a train, with the Gin and everything. It was like a 1,2,3 punch. And so I had to sit it out while sipping on some light beer. Hoping that the buzz would’nt turn into a fuzz.
All in all, everyone had so much beer and so much fun sharing old memories of what an alcoholic I used to be as each of them recalled.
A simple but perfect setup for a cool celebration. I was honored by the unhesitant voluntary actions by my friends just to come up with a simple gathering. It was about 5 in the morning when we retired as Henry coutreously escorted me to the main door. Like ushering an old man, he slowly walked me to my ride parked safely in front of the venue. I bareley could remember how I got home safely, and I’m happy I just did.
To my friends and drinking buddies! RACCOON!!
