Stranger encounters.

This has so far been a hectic weekend. And it's not even over yet.

Last Friday was crazy weather day. I got wet on the way to the Pulp office to pick up the press kits Bernie printed for the exhibit. Hung out a bit, dried myself and got a cute MTV Ink Think Tank pin in the process. :-)

It took me an hour and a half to get to Makati from Ortigas; I was mostly stuck in traffic along Shaw on the way to the MRT. Bleeech. :-P By the time I got to Makati, Filipinas Heritage Library was already closed and my friend had left the office. Left I.n.K. posters and the press kit there for my friend to find the next day. I was getting drizzled on from time to time walking around the Makati CBD.

(Meanwhile, baha na sa Shakeys Katipunan area at marami nang naipit sa traffic doon.)

I hung out at Nico's office building's lobby to wait for him to finish up a few sentences (and believe me, a few sentences took an awfully long time). Nico arrived, finally, pero masungit na ako. Gutom na kasi ako so we went to 711 to get our roast beef hotdog fix.

We picked up Jing and Ryan from the Buendia MRT station, kasi nga raw traffic kaya hindi na sila nagdala ng sasakyan at baka hindi pa sila umabot sa gig namin. The gig went pretty well, marami namang tao & they seemed to be the listening type. Narda played 3 new songs for the first time. Then I got drunk. Hehehe...

Nico & I then headed for SBC Greenbelt where Marnie, the twins & their significant others were waiting. And then here comes the weird thing.

I was waiting for my turn to be served when this guy asks me 'Are you Filipino?'

'Uhm, yes.' (puzzled look on my face)

'I need to ask you a favor. What is "adobo"?' He was pointing at the row of adobo pandesal at the food rack by the counter.

I told him it was pork, and also told him as per request what an 'ensaymada' is. He thanked me and proceeded to tell me that he's Malaysian and that it's his last night here and that he liked the Philippines and that there's no Seattle's Best Coffee in Malaysia. He also gave me money changing tips in KL. I was being polite the entire time, making small talk. I guess that wasn't so hard considering the amount of alcohol in my bloodstream.

So came my turn at the counter. Ordered a strawberry milkshake, and the guy ordered some pastry (I didn't hear, I wasn't paying attention). The girl asks me if she should put the orders in a separate bill. I said yes and explained that we weren't together (in all contexts). She acknowledged, but the guy paid for my order anyway. I started to protest, but he was really being nice about it and thanked me for the help. I was grateful for the free drink as well.

I went back to our couch and proceeded to relate what just happened. Istin then made the observation that the guy was smiling at our direction as he walked out of the coffee shop. ('Ah kaya pala...')

Wow. Free drink from a stranger. Walang catch. Walang Ativan. Hehehe... (Sabi ni Nico, sayang daw, sana umorder din ako para sa kanya. Hahaha...)

***

Woke up very early on Saturday, severely hung over and with less than four full hours of sleep. But I had to be up anyway, we were going to PICC that morning for the Inquirer seminars (Media Morphosis). A bunch of us were invited as guest speakers at round table dicussions with participants over lunch. Most of it was just hanging out and waiting, but it was worthwhile.

We got a peek at Dong Abay's songwriting thesis (he is a brilliant guy, I tell ya) and hung out at the overhang outside the lounge window on what must be the second or third floor. Free food and cordillera coffee, too.

It was a fulfilling experience, the round table discussion and mingling with the other speakers (a lot of them were really familiar faces hehe). It was all very inspiring and insightful (kahit hindi talaga kami umattend dun sa main event hehe).

Narda jammed at MRS afterwards. I had a 'wishful thinking' conversation with Camille B, talking about the current high school educational system and such. Then we rushed to Indi's place to borrow some Giant Robot mags and the like for research purposes. Then it's more rushing to Eastwood so we can catch the 8:20pm showing of 'Imelda'.

Gadsh. That woman is strange.

Quotable quote from the former first lady, as she discusses some of her philosophical beliefs (she draws a three-part pie chart with a missing slice):

'If you take away one part, it looks like a Pacman.'

Ano raw? (o_O)? Nood na lang kayo, pero ingat lang, baka maloka na rin kayo pagkatapos. Hehehe...