Shey’s World

So as much as I am talking about all these places I go to, I am actually pretty new to Manila night life. I recently started going to all these clubs and bars. Right now as a matter of fact I am at an Irish bar called Murphy’s, this one used to be one of the only places I knew where to hang out that was nice and laid back. And it still is, they have free wifi, cold beers, good chicken curry, and an open area where they show soccer, rugby and other matches. What else can you ask for? Well at this moment a lighter actually, can’t believe they sell cigarettes, it’s a bar with a smoking area and no lighters/matches to be had… Oh well!

Last night I was at the opening night for a new club called Club Bureau it’s located on Makati Avenue besides A.Venue. The music I guess like many clubs here is themed, meaning each night they have different DJ’s and different sounds, be it House, Techno, HipHop, etc. Nice big venue smoking allowed which can be a good thing depending whether you smoke or not of course.

Thursday night was salsa night at Mezze in Greenbelt. I’ve never been to any salsa clubs here but I gotta say I was impressed. The music was great and just like in my country guys just came up to ask for a dance without a hidden agenda, heh, well, mostly. After that we went for a drink at M Cafe and I was introduced to some PANAMANIANS woohoo! I was so excited to speak my language again but sad to realize that I have lost my Panamanian accent long ago. The good thing is that speaking your language is like riding a bike, once you get back on it, you realize you never really forgot. So I will make it a point to hang with my new Panamanian friends to talk stories of home.

All in all, it’s been a few interesting weeks. Lots to do and most importantly I am no longer unemployed which sort of puts a break on my social life but I’m actually ok with that. Gotta be careful with the boyz, don’t wanna get your heart stumped on too many times right?

I’ve been working part-time for a while now and that work is commission based so to put it mildly, it basically meant I was unemployed hehe.  So this last week after getting my internet connection and getting my tiny place to feel more like a home instead of a box storage unit, it was time to put the pedal to the metal and look for a full time job.  In addition, a friend of mine that works for a hotel in Tagaytay was looking for models.  Apparently they want to do a marketing campaign and need people to pose for different scenes such as weddings, business meetings, balikbayans, etc.  I was to be chosen for one of the last two.  So I had to go do a casting, which was a lot of fun.

In addition to all of this, of course there were the nights of hanging out with friends.  On Tuesday I met some friends at MCafe at Greenbelt 4 nice, cozy place with great food and comfy ambiance.  Every Tuesday a group of people get together for this dinner to network and just hang out.  Wednesday my friend Danny and I decided to do the local thing and we went to Seaside just behind Ortigas Home Depot.  If you’ve never heard of this place and you like seafood, you’ve got to go.  One of the best kept secrets around if you ask me.  There are a bunch of little restaurants in a row and you order off the menu.  The difference is, they just prepare the food, behind the restaurants is a fish market so they buy the food for you and cook it however you want.  so you pay a fee for the cooking and whatever market price for the food.  Pretty cool and fairly inexpensive.

Friday night, Danny and I went to my friend Chico’s house and just stayed there getting soundly wasted all night.  Believe it or not, this was the best night of my life.  Saturday, was Alchemy at Warehouse which is really close to my house I found that a little surprising and great at the same time.  Nice trans music pretty big place, definitely a place to party.

Now that my efforts actually paid off and I am once again gainfully employed, I won’t be out too much but concentrating on my new gig.  I’m sure I’ll still find time for a fun night here and there but I actually welcome the very needed brake.  If I ever find a way to get this plug up, I’ll be posting some cool pics to go with all this ranting…

Not all in Manila is cheap transportation and shitty internet cafe’s. One of the regular past times here other than hanging out at the Mall is going out clubbing. So that’s just what I did the past two nights. Thursday night I met up with some friends at this popular after-hours club called Tabu. Tabu, is in Makati on Salcedo Street. The party there doesn’t start until after midnight which is perfect because I can go, have a few drinks, some good or bad chit-chat and come back home to work some more (yes, I am a workaholic). The downfall to a place like this is that the crowd almost always is the same, not that it’s a bad thing, but sometimes I crave meeting NEW people.

Friday night, I met up with my new girlfriends Summer and Leah and went dancing. Now here is a little third world country action for ya… About a month ago, one of the hottest clubs in Manila got shut down for two weeks. The reason? A drunk DJ. The action? He decided to beat up the WRONG person. Apparently he got into a fight with a club goer and it just so happened that this fella was well connected. He filed a complaint with the police and the club was shut down. Take it a step further, because of this seemingly small altercation, all the other clubs in the area were put on a curfew… no more booze after 2am…. WTF??!!?? Yeah, one guy with a grudge fucks it up for the rest of us. So the night out was not all that exciting, the club I went to was Ascend located on High Street at The Fort. And go figure, the place was curiously empty compared to what it usually is. But there was dancing nonetheless so it wasn’t a complete waste. After curfew we bounced with our friend Greg to another after hours bar in Makati called Martinis, this one is at the Mandarin Hotel. Great place to just chill and grab that one last drink that you will regret in the morning.

So there it is, that’s what a single girl in Manila does, goes clubbing, takes the jeepney and MRT (ok that might be just me) and hangs out with good friends. Leaves the bad friends behind and re-evaluates those choices