June weekends in 2007 2/2

     

The last weekend of June 2007 is not over, but again on Friday I received an unexpected call, I had posted in an album here some pictures I had taken during my first ever Enchanted Kingdom trip, way back in 1995 if I am not mistaken. Yes, surprises of surprises, Nina - my dorm mate and friend who, along with Frank accompanied me to EK, was in town and proposed meeting each other that night. Since I had a scheduled gimik with Dingdong and some ex-officemates, I had to move it to a Saturday.

Supposedly we were going to Zirkoh at Greenhills (?) but it didn't push through. Too bad since I had egged on Janine (ex-officemate who provided the "Do You Know" song link) to go to our former office. Since the plan was scrapped, I did not go anymore to Ortigas..but Dingdong said that the plans changed and that he and his girlfriend, plus the friend of his gf, planned to have dinner and see Transformers. Coolness!

I was going to see Transformers the next week with some officemates, but hey, this gave me a good excuse as any to go ahead. They popped at Bubba Gump at around 11:15 pm, I joined them for dinner (Makati is really small, I even saw a couple of my current officemates there)  and at 1 am, we trooped to Greenbelt 3, where I had the time of my life watching on the big screen all the beloved characters. Ah..it would be great to have that Camaro on my side anytime...*Sigh*  At 4 am, with eye bags and bleary eyes, I said goodbye to Dingdong and his Pam...and to her friend Jackie.

It was amusing to realize that Nina and her sis-in-law Manichel, both of whom I would meeting for brunch in 6 hours, would also be from Pagadian, the same as Dindong's Pam and Jackie. I revisited Pagadian by asking them during dinner (and nibbling on Shrimp Shack Pasta with delicious feta cheese and medium-sized shrimps) if the tricycles were still the same (tilted by 45 degrees, you felt like you were to zoom off the planet when you rode one); if Hotel Camila where I stayed was still there, with Sunburst restaurant with its delicious beef tapa was still around; if there were still live crabs being sold at the airport, and if the restaurant named Tru Lab, which was sitting in the middle of a fishpond was still merrily serving its customers good fresh seafood (btw, the letters in Tru Lab stand for something.....which I have forgotten...but I think it was for a cooking method, ingenious eh?)

 At 10 am that day, I blearily looked at my cellphone since I had asked Nina to give me a "miss call" (so that I would be able to wake up to meet her)...*guffaws* We three met at Greenbelt 1 at Delifranz, where we were also talking animatedly about previous roomies and the life we had after we left the dorm. Her sis-in-law was training to be an officer at BPI Head Office, and I had the idea of asking her about loans since I was interested in slaving away for a condo of mine here in Makati. After two years of paying rent, I finally realized I would be staying a little longer in Manila..so I made the decision.

We finally decided to have lunch, and I dragged them to Italianni's, where we had penne fergure and a classic pizza along with grape fruit shake, a soda and iced-tea. I remembered that Italianni's had a P500 discount coupon for a P1K meal, but I had given it to Dante when I met him for lunch earlier that month...so I had to content myself with the 20% discount card. btw, they will be changing that card effective July 15, 2007 - it won't be transferable anymore.

We continued reminiscing over the other roommates we had, and we were surprised when our waitress Mavy spoke to us in Bisaya...hahaha! another Bisdak in Manila. We introduced ourselves to her, by saying Tuguegarao, Pagadian and Cebu while pointing to each girl separately. Mavy, was a very nice waitress and gave us very good service, and even took our picture posted somewhere on this page.

Nina is quite talkative, while Manichel was quieter. A variety of subjects were bounced back and forth, and we giggled as girls are wont to do. 

We swapped phone numbers, and since I was planning to visit a couple of brokers that day, I first went off to doze for a couple of hours more then came back to visit a broker we girls had passed by when walking back from Italianni's.

I talked to two brokers. While Ayala development is really good if you want to invest, for the life of me I could not really appreciate the location of their Columns. I text-ed Sir B, who agreed with me that it wasn't the best of locations (corner of Pasay Road or known as Arnaiz and the Amorsolo street, which is already Makati Cinema Square).  The Residences showcase was on the top of Greenbelt 3. Unfortunately, no studio units were left in the first tower, and its only the third tower which has 9 units left...and just thinking of the price made my eyes spin for a little while.

After visiting showplaces for The Columns (another Columns is at the back of RCBC Plaza, and this is the only one which can really use the address of Ayala  since its at the corner of Buendia and Ayala Ave)...and The Residences, both Ayala development projects, I finally succumbed and went back to Bizu, where I bought a variety of macaroons and munched on them happily all the way back home since I didn't want to think of the debt I would be racking up. Oh well, another day, another weekend...and its July 2007 coming up the corner.