Lessons from a High School Friends’ Hangout
Sunday, March 22nd, 2009
- Do not come early and do not expect too much. I realized this isn’t like high school days when the latecomers are not allowed to join the flag ceremony beyond 7AM and have to visit the guidance’s office before going to first period class. My dear friend Shen and I were the only early birds meeting up at 8pm and reaching the venue for this high school get-together at Padi’s Point in Cavite City. It surprised us both that there was just one table occupied when we arrived, one would think that the business is on some serious recession as well. More on first impression, I thought the place was just too dark as if I was standing inside a stadium where tables and chairs were just arranged an hour before. The alignment of tables just threw me off a bit because it reminded me of a school canteen. The video projection on stage was nice but it was playing a Santana’s late 90’s concert video when we came in so this didn’t quite help in setting up the mood. Shen and I decided to wait for the rest before placing our orders. A good 30 minutes later, the customers were not exactly increasing in number and the Santana video was still playing. Then 45 minutes passed, Agooh texted apologizing that they were just on their way and that was our cue to order something to give the waiters the impression that we were not joking when we told them that we were still waiting for others to come. An hour has already passed when we noticed the band has already arrived and there was Amer, our high school classmate who is the lead vocalist of the featured band tonight. He acknowledged us both as he passed by and minutes later I was surprised to see Mimi and Cheche there too to support Amer’s band minus Rodel who I know is in Malate with a different set of friends.
- Bring your own guest next time. The Screws band has just begun their first set for the night when the rest came: Agooh with his young partner Gab who I met for the first time. There’s Georgette who confirmed that she is married but looking very single. She was my seatmate in freshman year and it’s funny that we’re seated next to each other again in our table. Then Eiem, who actually has never been my classmate, only schoolmates in both high school and college, who brought along her boyfriend for years now. A few minutes later after the new set of orders were served, Georgette whispered to me that TJ is coming. Like usual, he made quite an entrance but this time, he came with a dessert he’s willing to share to those craving sweet.
Me, Georgette, Darryl, Eiem, the Dessert, TJ, Gab and Shen
- Not all get-togethers are reunions. The sound in Padi’s for the rest of the evening was good and the band was just terrific. However, they drowned almost all possible human conversation we could have, that only Shen and I had some catching ups done earlier while waiting for the rest. I wasn’t able to chat much with Agooh and intrigue him about his LL but then looking at him and Gab’s body language that night, I knew it was needless to say how in a bliss state he is. I also wish there were more high school classmates and friends were also present. Jeff and Arman were supposed to come according to Agooh, but last minute, backed out.
High School Musical?
- There is no such thing as splitting the bill equally. When the bill came in, I noticed someone in the group already did the math, dividing the total amount to the exact number of persons in the table. This would have worked perfectly if everyone agreed, but it wasn’t the case. I was good in algebra in high school but I hated business math, so when the sharing came short, I knew someone has to step up, just cover the rest of the bill and save himself from the guilt of being the one who ate‘pulutan’ and drank beer the most.
Outside El Palacio and Padis Point in Cavite City
- Forget the bill, it’s the fun the counts. For some reason, we lost a hundred peso bill while preparing the payment, but as Georgette put it, it didn’t matter anymore as long as everyone had fun. And we all agreed.
