Since nobody would really want to start a story about what happened in Angeles City, I guess I’ll have to start it myself. To start with, me and my best buddy, Lorenzo (Zorlone), met at SM North Annex and waited for the bus en route to Dau, Pampanga. The silly poet asked me to go to the end of the map while there’s actually a bus station on MRT Taft Station. As a consolation we were still able to get a bus and got ourselves a seat at the very end of the bus.

The travel didn’t really take that long. The sleepyhead poet asked for his siesta time while on the bus when after around 5 minutes we were already at Dau, Pampanga.  As per Jena’s instructions, we waited on the bus terminal as her students are also about to pick us up. We actually felt like a VIP at that time. After the CC Bloggers picked us up, the poet immediately found his comfort among the students (even at first meeting!) while inside the van and on the way to Metro Gate. I guess it’s not just my nature to really approach strangers at first compared to my poet/politician/doctor best bud.

A few moments after arriving at the Metro Gate Club House, the poet disappeared like a bubble. Only to find out he’s actually showing off his prowess in convincing people like a politician. That first hand SEO at its best and I admired him for it. Jena arrived together with the birthday celebrant, Jan. Roy (Struggling Blogger)was also there with his future bloggers.

At first, I was really hesitant to talk to Jena. After knowing her being a professor, I immediately shut down the idea of making crazy stuffs while on the event as I don’t want to end up looking like a total attention whore. I was totally wrong. Jena was really different from my perspective. She welcomed us warmly and I really admired her for being totally thoughtful and accommodating. Well, she really was. At first she doesn’t  really believe I’m a Muslim and her being insistent on inviting me to eat at 3:00pm made Lorenz and Jan laugh. Even after she believed I was, she still invited me to eat a lot of times but hey, I didn’t fail her after 6:05pm.

Just a few moments later, new set of people arrived. That was when I was finally satisfying my hunger. I thought they were rest of the students who weren’t able to make it on time or maybe they had class until 6:00pm or something. They didn’t look like school staff to me (Or is it because it looks like we belong in the same age bracket around in our 23-27s. And for that I couldn’t recognize students from professors anymore. Hahaha). I met Nikes, Ryan, and Mel. (Sirs! Next time let’s hang out outside if you have the luxury of time)

Bonnie (thirdworldgeek) and Novs (ceblogger) also arrived together with his family around 3pm. After the long conversations with Jena and rest of the Influenza bloggers, I was stunned when she actually planned to take us around disco bars and KTV bars at Angeles City. After my dinner, I kept bugging the poet to take a plunge on the pool but only Roy would make the first response. But thank God, a few minutes later I was able to convince the poet. After 20 minutes of dipping myself into the cold water, the poet sounded like in a hurry. Well…he really wanted to have a drink already. So, it didn’t take too long. We left the club house and headed to Klub Bossa.

Even though we thought it was a bad idea being there because of too much noise, me and my buddy Z couldn’t hold our horses after series of good dance music. We rushed to the dance floor in front of the band and danced like crazy kids. The last time I remember doing it was like 7 years ago. It felt like the good old days. And I will never forget how that lady wanted to dance with Z but unfortunately she had a very conservative companion who doesn’t want her to face Z. After getting tired of dancing and seeing too much huge thighs, we went back to our seats only to find Jena really had fun knowing me and Z had a good time on the dance floor. She couldn’t stop laughing at us. Few moments later, we decided to move to a more private place so Jena decided to bring us to a KTV bar.

When we arrived at the KTV bar, it didn’t really take too long for me to blow my heat off after experiencing slow service and a worst of all, the damaged karaoke machine. So I personally approached the attendants to immediately resolve it. We transferred to the next room and from there we exchanged songs. I don’t know why the machine gives us 100 even if we’re not singing at all. Perhaps it’s how the company is earning money, by encouraging more people to come, sing and make people believe they’re really good at it. LOL.

In all honesty, I think only Jena appreciated the way I sing  Barry Manilow and Bee Gees hits. I was never good at singing. I would only feel confident in singing with the aid of alcohol. She really enjoyed being with us and for that I was so thankful. She didn’t look at us differently. She really fitted in with us.

Around 2:30am, we called it a day. Jena, offered us her hospitality by sending us to a hotel where we can sleep well and have a breakfast in the morning.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, JENA. We really appreciated your effort in making us feel at home and for your generosity.

CHECK OUT OTHER BLOGS WITH RELATED ARTICLES:

Next Best Thing to Being There by Holly

Jedi Bloggers meet the Clin Chem Student Bloggers by Roy

Memoirs of a Guardian Angel by Zorlone

Raising Hell in the City of Angels by Third World Geek

My original plan was to invite elmot to come over to our house since he’s just a few clicks away. The plan turned out to be more fun than I’ve expected it is. Jedi Bloggers thirdworldgeek, bloggista and ceblogger also wanted to come over. It was around 6pm when Bonnie (thirdworldgeek) gave me a phone call asking for a route. I already asked him like 2-3 times if he knows his way here. Funny thing, they reached Sta. Rosa exit which is really far from the fastest route to Dasmariñas. He asked me if he could take Tagaytay road then all the way back to Dasmariñas. LOL. I was just thinking if they took that road rather than Carmona, they would have arrived around 10pm already.

So it actually took them only 20-30mins from Sta Rosa exit to reach our place. I’m glad they enjoyed the Pancit me and my inlaws prepared for them. Then taking dinner, we went out on our garden and from there we started our drinking sessions. (Yihee!) Thanks to Bonnie, he brought a bottle of Carlo Rossi and Johnny Walker, Black Label. We did have a long time of chitchats as if we’ve already known each other for a very long time.

On the picture (sitting: bloggista, standing left to right: thirdworldgeek, lyleham, and ceblogger). Pardon the picture quality, this one is taken from Nokia 5300.

An hour later, elmot arrived. Isn’t it funny when he’s late and he’s just almost your neighbor and he’s the last one to arrive. And last but not the least, Doc Z phoned us and turned the loudspeaker on. We felt like Doc Z was with us since he’s also talking over the phone and at the same time he can hear all of us.

Til next time guys! Thanks for coming over.