I got DC’ed: day 2

We woke up late morning due to unexpected “girly talk” that lasted until 3am. It was drizzling still and because of that we weren’t able to do what we planned for this day. We cannot go hiking because the soil will be soft, oh this means I won’t be able to use my rubber shoes, and jogging would be a bad idea.

We cooked ourselves breakfast. Pancakes and walnuts with chopped banana and chocolate syrup as toppings we also fried some eggs and spam. We finished almost everything. And since we’re going to meet our newfound friends later this evening we opted for some movie marathon to kill time. 

We first watched Pain and Gain. Angela had watched it before. It’s a true story but I didn’t like it. We fast forwarded it to the ending and watched 21 Jumpstreet the next. This was the movie that I enjoyed. It’s about two Policemen who went undercover as high school students to determine who sells illegal drugs inside the school. It’s a mixture of comedy and action. I like it. Next movie we watched was Magic Mike but we weren’t able to finish it because we have to get ready.

Sancho wants to go to a concert I guess but the weather was kinda bad and it’s not a good day for a concert so, as planned the night before, we decided to go to Brandon’s apartment for a bonding and a little drink.

Ishmael picked us up again. He asked if I wanna listen to some Led Zeppelin music and I said yes he played it on the radio and I agree they sound like Guns n Roses but they’re better. We drove through Annandale Rd to pick up a guy called Luis. I haven’t met him but Angela already did. He sat together with me at the backseat of the car.

We introduced ourselves to each other and shook hands. We now drove to Brandon’s apartment. Ishmael pressed number 9 in the elevator and when the doors opened we turned left to look for Brandon’s unit.

When we opened the door the others were already there, playing and having some fun. I met another new person, Santino. Angela joined the others at the table and taught Brandon and Luis how to play a Filipino card game called tong-its.

Brandon’s apartment has a three-sitter couch and a single couch on its left. There’s a center table on the middle. That makes the living room. And beyond the couch was a dinning table and adjacent it was a piano keyboard. Whenever I see piano I miss playing it. Then all the way to the back was a sliding door that opens to a terrace.

I sat in the couch together with Josh and Ishmael we were later joined by the others. I asked Ishmael what’s the title of the first Led Zeppelin song that he played. If I’m not mistaken the title was “All of my love.”

Sancho treated us a Samuel Adams drink because he just graduated from college! Congrats Sancho! And Angela bought some more. So we’re good.

We started drinking Samuel Adams but first….group selfie.

(from L to R: Santino, Angela, Brandon, Josh, Ishmael, Luis, Me and Sancho)

I didn’t drink that much. Two bottles and that’s it. We talked and played games. The ones that I used to play when I was in college. Truth or dare. In my college, we just do dare because nobody tells the truth. Here we just do truth. They’re going to ask you questions and you have to answer truthfully. We also played Pinoy Henyo. It’s a game where you’ll put a word (whether it be a person, place or a thing) over a person’s head and he/she has to ask the others question answerable only by yes or no to give him clues until he/she guess the word. It’s pretty fun!

As the night drags on some of us went outside to the terrace. Some played Poker and some just talk.

Sancho talked me over about staying here or going back to Philippines. Well, let’s just say that I decided to take a chance and stay here for a while.

Ishmael invited another friend, Jovanna. He asked Angela and me if we wanna go because he can drop us off in our apartment but I said we’ll stay. I just figured that I’ll go back in The Jungle in two days time and I wanna “make it count.”

Then we decided to go to this Diner to have a midnight snack and since we’re not going to fit all in Josh’s car. Josh, me and Angela dropped Sancho off in his house and went back to Brandon’s apartment to pick up Santino, Luis and Brandon. We drove to Luis’ house again to pick up his car so everybody would be comfortable.

We drove to the Diner, Luis in our tail. It was drizzling and inside the car Pinoy Henyo game continued. Now it’s my turn to guess the word. I’m usually bad at these games but I guessed it right. What a miracle. The answer was Kobe Bryant.

At the Diner…but first let us take a groupfie. Again. 

 

Okay. At the Diner all of us skim the menu to find something to order. I ended up ordering Turkey sausage with scrambled eggs and fried potatoes. The serving was big and I wasn’t able to finish everything in my plate thanks to Angela for finishing the rest of the potatoes.

(From L to R: Luis, Santino and Josh)

(Angela and Brandon)

We had some good time looking at memes on their phone. Though most of the time Angela and I didn’t get the joke. I guess it’s time to visit the humor department in our brain.

We paid our bill at the counter and outside it was still drizzling. I hugged most of them and bid them goodbye because I won’t be able to see them the next day and I’ll go home the day after that.

It was already past 2 am.

Josh and Brandon dropped us off Angela’s apartment.

“Thanks guys it was fun.” They said.

 

It was very fun indeed!

Antipolo: Sky on fire

A couple of years back, I wrote this in my travel bucket list:

“To go to Antipolo overlooking and witness the infamous sunset.”

And last weekend together with my friend and another friend, Antipolo was finally crossed out from my list (but it doesn’t mean that I will never visit it again).

The three of us met in Gateway mall. From there we took the train to Santolan station and rode a van to Antipolo. It was a smooth ride then the van began accelerating up and up the road. It was already past 4 and the sun was starting to set. We were already taking pictures of the sunset in the van worried that we might not able to see a single golden ray of sunlight once we arrived. Add the fact that we were kinda not so lost but just went further than our destination. We crossed the road to the other lane and rode a jeepney back. It was a short ride. We saw our destination quickly.

We went down in Café Lupe, a café with an overlooking view of the city. As soon as we got up there we hurried to the table beside the terrace, while my companions immediately sat, I chose to stand by the rails and mesmerize myself with the ephemeral beauty of the sunset. I took my camera out and clicked away. The temperature was somewhere between cold and moderately cold. The wind was not so strong. If I were to put it in a movie, it’s the kind of wind with a dramatic effect on your hair. I like it. I memorized every detail of the scenery before me.

Below us were visible rooftops of residential houses, trees and the road where we just came from. And of course the cherry on top was the sunset and the way it illuminates everything in yellow. The sky, known for being blue, looks beautiful with yellow. The human face looks calm and elastic when irradiated by yellow. I’ve never much appreciated yellow before.

 

 

The silhouette figure of the buildings from the busiest part of the metro (Eastwood, Makati, Ortigas and Bonifacio Global City) looks so calm from afar.

Our friend, Juhiro, Fine Arts major in Far Eastern University, took a video of the sunset to make a time lapse (we haven’t seen the results yet).

We finally ordered from the menu (that has been lying on our table since we arrived) our own choice of coffee and a plate with five pieces of quesadillas. Being the only customers, we asked one of the staffs to turn off the television for a more solemn and peaceful environment perfect for reflecting.

One of the best things in life: having a glass of coffee with a magnificent sunset view in front of our eyes and of course with good people and worthwhile conversations. We talked about art, stories, writing and movies – things that makes life interesting – as much as possible we avoid talking about work and all that stuff that makes us look stressed.

 

(Our view while having coffee)

The hours went by so fast. Evening sets in and the city before us started to glow. Some parts looked like a runway of an airport with their amber lights. Though, undoubtedly, it’s nothing compared to the night skyline of other cities, it looks just fine. 

Locals and families began to fill the café and after a while we decided to leave the overlooking and head back to Cubao.

 

(A building we saw upon leaving, with mural painting, on the right of the driveway)

 

(us three)

We had our dinner in Cubao Expo, another place for artists and vintage lovers and of course cheap beers and great food. Since none of us wants to drink alcohol, we ate at a small restaurant, the-restaurant-with-the-delicious-vanilla-milkshake. I once ate there last summer and that’s when I tasted their delicious vanilla milkshake.

 

We ordered pasta, though, and just plain water.

After that we went to the welcome home party of our friend who had been on-board for a long while. Almost all of our college friends were there. We socialized and partied for a while.

Lots of events happened that day. Indeed a great weekend before starting a working Monday.