Tagaytay Twilights (1/2)

November 11, 2006 (Saturday):

Sir Boboy is the uber-genie of gustatory wishes!

...one moment I was there in Ortigas, wondering somewhat woefully about where to get some good "baklava", and the next thing I know, Sir B and I were sharing "dolmades", "moussaka" and "baklava" in the "Greek Taverna" resto in Tagaytay..which was quite near his abode.

The restaurant owner was a chatty, dark-eyed Greek uhm..hunk? (I took a surreptitious glance and confirmed what an officemate of mine said..he did have hairy arms! Now as to whether l consider that macho or not - to each his own I dare say.)

The charming man said he had a plantation in Crete (hmm...Minoan civilization!). I betcha he had groves of olive trees for the olive oil he was using in the food. Sir B did say I could drink olive oil if I wished..but I wonder...can one take a bath in it? Or maybe I was confusing it with milk bath...

Now my dinner partner slash genie was most probably on a diet...but I certainly was not! So I had not only the Greek foodstuffs above, but a generous helping of the deliciously simple tomato and pasta soup, as well as a huge serving of grilled pork chops. I really could not risk eating the lamb ribs as Sir B was not partial to lamb. I am not also too keen on it...besides I am an Aries woman....we don't eat our kind (get it? ram, lamb..etc). Being a glutton *cough* I mean, food addict - I also ordered 3 servings of baklava which I thought of bringing home to Manila the next day.

Dinner talk was a fun-squared activity for me. We talked (or to be more precise I talked more) on a variety of topics. From sexy men and women in movies (who do we consider really sexy people?) to good character actors (he mentioned Kevin Spacey, Kevin Kline, Kevin Bacon...hmm, I'm beginning to see a subtle pattern on who he likes) to legs, butts and other anatomical parts..and to even varicose veins (though you can chalk this zigzagging up to my really being a jump-from-one-topic-to-another person)...

I did some grilling of my own and asked my fave "oldest" post-grad classmate (^_~) about the places to see and stay at in Tagaytay. See, my team members did make me conscience-stricken on the topic of work and life balance (yes, am such a generous manager! hehehe) and had even reproachfully went on and on about going on road trip to this spot. So who better to give me the goods on the Tagaytay than the good man slash genie himself, right?

Sir B generously offered his house and new house extension for my brood of young, energetic software developers. But I do think he might have cause to regret it (and now that I really stop to think about it, I may also have cause to regret it *grin*). We might give him more than a few white and gray hairs in the process, and a couple of fist-curling incidents...he might even bar me from ever darkening his doors again *gasp*...I think I better wait for Ms Guia's response on his offer...

After dinner, I guzzled tea at Figaro's. Feeling like a stuffed grape leaf myself, I did notice my companion's t-shirt: a colorful and somewhat blood-pumping drawing of a man and a woman in a passionate embrace...I remember that he had worn this before, and he offered to drop by "Cliff House" where he had bought it (BenCab = hot! uhm..I mean cool!). We proceeded to do that, but the "My Philippines" store had the temerity to close down early that night. Instead, we wandered inside "Domicillo" (and avoided paying for the parking by buying some soap and linen spray..yummy....orange scent! Can't help it...am an olfactory kind of gal).

Some time later, armed with three oatmeal soaps in our hands (say, can these be eaten?), we went back to his and Ms. Guia's homey abode.

And in the middle of surfing the internet...

...and critiquing harshly his initial attempt at making caricatures of our MM class at AIM (Sir B looked at me quizzically. Perhaps he was wondering how I could dare to say such things to his work of art? I? who had not even a genome of artistry in my veins? tsk.tsk)...

... I managed to rifle through his eclectic collection of favorite books. He sure does have good taste. Imagine!...not only has he a book on tropical fruits in the Philippines (which made me hungry again)...he has some very tame *ehem* coffee-table books of nudes (I'm sorry that I can not remember the names of the photographers, but I am more sorry actually, that there were no yummy nude pics of men! This is discrimination and totally unfair!).

...but I did see titles such as "History of the Breast", and "The Rear View", "Eros" etc. (uhm..any correction will be welcomed from the collector himself).

While Sir B was expounding enthusiastically on how he had come across these glossies, I took a good, lingering, peek at the pictures inside the books. There were some simple everyday poses of women...nothing tasteless in my humble opinion but certainly some do give me food for thought. I am really more happy with natural poses than those which seem contrived or practiced.

I had already popped "The Vagina Chronicles" and "Geisha, A Story" (?) from his bookshelf. I think that aside from being able to talk to Sir B on a variety of subjects, access to such material is also a bonus for me..one of the enjoyable advantages of being his classmate and friend....but....there is a downside ...I mean...

..When we identify ourselves as classmates, some people might or do think I am as old as he is! Oh no! But since I look younger, they might also think I've found the fountain of youth or something...hmm....*grin*

After some exchange of picture taking from his and my camera, I showed my age and went off to sleep (yep, I think he stayed up later than I did). While I am fully aware of being ages away from his skill with the camera, at least I have an unwitting (unwilling?) model I can use for my initial attempts at experimentation with my current digicam.

As I prepared for bed, I realize that the Tagaytay air is something I am not used to..and the sounds even more so....its been years since I've heard crickets, or a goat mewling outside my window in the night. The wind was whistling mournfully, and the house had creaking sounds, but there was also a bite in the air which made me realize that all these coupled with the rolling fog would most probably mean that I may not be successful in getting a good shot of the Taal Volcano the next day...the weather was just not cooperating with my plans...

I missed seeing sunset at Tagaytay today...and I would have wanted to see one since I hardly ever do during my days in Makati and Ortigas City...maybe tomorrow then...if I can be torn away from whatever food-related task I'm doing (^_^).

So, what did tomorrow bring? (tbc) ....