Saturday, October 11, 2008
Plans gone South

So I'm here in Cebu and went through a magazine with none other than hometown heroes Urbandub on the cover. After reading the article, I noticed that they had a listing of places that have live bands. After calling up a few of the establishments in the directory, it turns out they're pretty far from where I am.

An hour and a half later, here I am in Mango Square at a net cafe, typing with a keyboard that has most of the letters smudged off. This area here is pretty much like a smaller and noisier version of Metrowalk with the usual crap R & B/hip-hop places. The original plan was to watch any band resembling rock music so I could have a drink that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg. I figured I could stand around in a mosh pit and have a drink while NOT sticking out like a sore thumb.

Upon the recommendation of the guest services officer, they had me brought here. At first, I thought I was going to end up in a seedy part of town where I was going to get stabbed in a dark corner somewhere. Well, it turns out my fear has shifted into utter disappointment. There's a ton of Koreans and white dudes here, and most of them look shitfaced. I was in the bathroom and heard this guy puking his guts out in the stall by the far end.

It's almost 3 AM and it seems like there's no hope of finding any trace of the local rock scene here. By the time I get back to my room, I will have wasted close to five hundred bucks on cab fare alone.

Hey, at least I tried right? Gosh, I feel so adventurous.

UPDATE (3:23 AM): I'm back at the hotel with a bottle of Strong Ice I picked up at a gas station on the way back. Costs about three times less than what they charge at this place.

Cab fare going back was about 30 bucks cheaper than what I paid going out. I agreed to add a little extra because the hotel was "too far" for him. Thus, I gave him the extra 30 bucks that I would have saved, but he didn't look too happy about it.