RACCOON!!

Oh yeah, the rainy season has come alright.  Thanks to the 3 hour rage of the latest storm, almost all the people in the metro was stranded for like 4 to 5 hours.  Flash floods washed the streets and rendered the city into a lagoon.  Not to mention the old trees were uprooted like wild beats and potatoes. In other words, everything was left in a mess. 

 
It was a time of the year when everyone around the vicinty was getting ready for the coming semestrial break, in other words a long vacation.  And since the rains had washed the routines from everyone in the area, my neighboring student friends purchased the menu for the evening.    A brandy which most locals call "emperaning" which sounded more like the filipino term "praning" as in english "paranoid".  I guess the liquor and its effects speaks for itself. 

Anyways, the  guys pulled out a crampy old souvenir hand crafted guitar for some sounds.  We sang songs ranging from the 80’s new wave through the 90’s metal alternatives and present day glamourboy band type of music.  Coupled with a few finger food snacks like fish balls, kikiam, and all sort of stuffs you’d find inside a busy refrigerator, everybody enjoyed the sing along session. 

After consuming two liters of the said liquor, we washed it off with six liters of extra strong beer.  This beer wash  didn’t take so long, that everyone wondered if there were anymore left.  Consuming the rest of the left overs was not a chore.  In no time, the guys looked all messed up , just like them old uprooted trees scattered, blocking the streets all around.

All in all, everyone had a great time and so much to drink that  everyone didn’t find it hard to find some sleep in such a hurry in such a cold and eerie dusk. 

Otherwise, from the looks of it, everyone slept like a log…

Thanks to the guys who had the generosity to share their leftovers for snacks that night! 

To the "emperaning boys!!"  RACOON!!!

Hola! We all arrived in one piece after some heavy winds and a drizzle. Luckily we had no storm to beat that day. Anyways, it was like a year since our friends Wow and Julie had announced their plan to finally live their lives together and celebrating it. As I have heared, everything had been carefully planned, from the attire to the reception thanks to Eric and James. A year had passed and there we all were, everyone was happy for the couple and everything was in place. Everyone arrived just in time.

And so as we arrived from the airport, we were rendezvoused by the host hotels crew and brought to our respective suites. It took us about an hour to get some satin sheets on our backs. Anyways, the hassle was worth it. Eric and I had the courtesy of claiming our suite reservations while everyone was like shopping around the nearby galleria/mall. I guess we were the only ones looking for a shut eye.

At last, a clean fresh scented bed! Eric hardly had the time unpacking and hit the sack, while I daintily lounged at the hotels lobby to relax and exchanged smiles with the ladies at the front desk. The hours passed as we gallivanted around the hotel grounds and nearby stores and bars. The event was to be held only about two hours from our arrival and everyone was like in a hurry.

And so, as we all were expected to do, we all got into our Hawaiian outfits and headed straight to the soon to be couples memorable ceremony. It was cool seeing everyone in “Hawaiian” attire as the nuptual unfolded. All smiles lit the room as I gazed around. It was a good thing I had with me my trusty old shades. And the parish priest announced to the crowd, “You may kiss the bride”, and the two were a couple.  Everyone applauded to the newlyweds as we made our way back headed for the receptions venue.

The place which the couple picked was a simple house turned resto/bar a few blocks away.  It was like some sort of a giant hut.  Anyways, it was dawn then and it was too dark for me to appreciate its enormity.  A good hundred heads fit the place comfortably, a lot of beautiful new faces and guests lavished the grounds.

There was a wide selection of dishes served at the buffet. Ranging from the classic Caribbean salads to Italian pasta and famous Filipino dishes. We all had a great time consuming the grandiose of a cuisine. I helped myself with a simple Italian feast since I had a lot of traveling to do those days. Back in the hotel, we had a bottle of cognac to cap the event. The next thing I knew, I was home in the sack rubbing my eyes, trying to remember what had happened those past three days.

All in all, everyone had a great time.

To the newlyweds Peter and Julie! RACOON!!!

Heavy rains started to pour this month. I was worried the weather would take so much effect on my night life. As it was, the months grew kind of boring. It was a good thing one of our buddies Dr. Dax came over from “be cool city” for a convention.

Every now an then, Dax has been attending certain events as such. And each time he was checked in some hotel in the middle of some cool places such as Makati, Otigas,Manila and the like. Every time he passed by we had a couple of drinks to go with our spare time.

It was like late August when he SMS’ed Jeff and I. He was checked in at a hotel in Manila. I was just lounging at the house when Jeff broke the news that Dax was in town.

And so we met up at the hotel’s ground bar and got our feet working. The first stop was the nearby 24/7 store where we grabbed some grub and liquor. We happened to catch ourselves a bottle of Toska Vodka which we barely consumed since our buddy’s uncle had invited us over to the hotel’s casino to have some leisurely fun. Some way to spend the night eh? And so we left the bottle half consumed.

By this time, the vodka started to kick in. As early as the hotels lift, I had some buzz going. We passed around careless jokes and jeers as we descended from the building to the car-park. The funny thing was that the casino we were headed for was just like only two or three blocks way. Who gave a damn anyways?

And so, the casino boys had entered. As we dandily entered the casino grounds, security had our camera phones taped that we had no way of catching some moments around the grounds. Anyways, we had a great time babe watching and stuff, looking around as if like we had a load of expendible dough  in our pockets.. It took us about an hour or two until Dax and his uncle had enough winnings to spend for the night. It was a good thing they did. Whew….

Finally, as we exited the casino grounds for some night life around the area, we happened to stumble into some local bar just around the corner. We ordered a couple of beers and had a great time chatting with the babes from the bar. As we washed the vodka with beer we barely had the chance to show our signing talent, since there were a lot of guys trying to make a show.

We almost consumed half a dozen bottles of SMB lights that evening, it was a good thing that Dax had something going back in his suite that early morning that we had a reason to call it a night.

All in all, we all had a great time gambling and drinking with some babes that night.

To Dax and his “be cool uncle”…RACOON!!!

A year had passed and Dodoy had his annual celebration coming. He SMS’ed me about his bash a week before and he was luck I had a slot for him given my hectic sleep and lounge schedule.

It was an afternoon of pouring rain, and it was like a Friday so everyone was all in a hurry to get home and to dine out. I had to chill out at the Galleria smoking at the lounge and watching some babes pass by. It was like the “Three Day Sale” at the mall that’s why. Everyone was like so eager to spend all of their money on the overpriced, good as spoiled, imperishable, old stock items of the mall’s boutiques. All this happening as I waited for Dodoy’s SMS.

I had informed Jeff, Sarge and some other guys about Dodoy’s invitation. Another night of free beer and grub…”Eat and Drink All You Can” style. Just like any celebration for that matter. An ultimate “Freeload”!

Unfortunately, most of the guys called in sick. Or better yet, they were all scared of getting themselves soaked in itchy rain as the rains grew itchy over the years, probably due to the pollution and everything. Or is it just me?

Anyways, I had the event and the celebrator to myself. I had the chance to tag along my trusty Cebu crafted steel string acoustic with me. Ready to jam the night through with my jam partner at Trade Center Building.  We were both "Alternative" in nature, if you know what I mean. 

As I arrived, Dodoy’s cousin Caloy greeted me like a star. He was half drunk as soon as I planted my feet. “Tangina Idol!” in an exhasperated tone addressed me. “Ehto and hinahanap ko matagal na! Bat ngayon ka lang dumating?” he exclained with a smile. "Well uhhh…” and smiled back. Dodoy then greeted me with almost the same line and offered me a seat and his feast. 

Almost everyone was drunk since Dodoy had almost an unlimited supply of light beer readied that night as we sang old tunes back in our college days. Singing songs from Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Metallica, Incubus, 311, Guns and Roses, and the like. Some mid 90’s kind of tunes.

All in all, everyone had a great time. I wish I had the rest of the crew with me. Anyways until the next time around.

To Dodoy and the Crew…RACOON!!!