On Godskitchen, Homophobia, and Rockstardom

A lot has happened this week, and who knows, sinisipag ako magsulat! Here's a diary entry for those with free time:

Last night at around 9 PM, I went to The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Salcedo, where my friend Monica works as a barista, to study. Yes, study alone on a Saturday night and every other night, at different coffee shops...that's what I do. So as I ordered my regular Tropical Passion Tea Latte, Monica asked me if I wanted to go out with her, Carmela, and some others after her shift. She invited me to this Addict Mobile event featuring Godskitchen mixing it at PTTC. I said I could, since her shift ends at 1 AM, and that would give me more than enough time to study while waiting. I texted Marjoe if he wanted to come with us; he actually went, but he was with an officemate and we didn't really get to spend time together. So there I was at PTTC with the baristas of CBTL. Luckily, Carmela's sister Joan works for Smart, so we got in for free. Inside, their I was dancing to the music with thousands of other people high on weed, E's, V's, and satan knows what else they were popping or smoking. That's not how we rockstars do it, but it's interesting to observe that kind of music culture. I went home at around 5 AM, clean...considering all I had in my system was half a can of beer, no pills, maybe some second-hand smoke. My parents greeted me good morning and invited me to join them for breakfast. Haha, very funny.

As the title of this post suggests, we move on to the controversial part of my diary entry: Last Tuesday, I went to Fitness First Greenhills for my regular workout. After working out, I usually take a quick shower, spend a few minutes in the sauna, and then take my "long" shower. But last Tuesday was different. As I stepped in the sauna, a big, bald, stocky guy in his 30's was inside, leaning against the wall. I flipped the 15-minute hourglass behind him, and he gave me a really mean look. I thought, "fuck man what's your problem? kararating ko lang, wala kong atraso sayo." Later, he struck up a conversation, introduced himself, and asked my name and a couple of other trivial questions. I responded politely to the "small talk", which I'm used to. Then he started to ask how often I visit the gym, how long I've been working out my body, and what my waistline is. All I answered was "'di ko alam." He put his hand on my waist, pretending to measure my waistline, then...AAYYY!!! Mama wag po!!! Buti naiwas ko yung bird ko...mahal ko pa naman 'to. Di ako pumapayag magpahawak pag walang bayad!!! Yung libre hawak sa mga kabarkada ko lang! Haha joke. Anyway, I immediately stood up and left. I transferred to the steam bath, and the freaking fag followed me there to apologize. I wasn't able to take my "long" shower after, since I hurried to report him to the manager. Inabangan ko siya sa front desk, so I could identify him to the security guards. Then the manager talked to him in private. I filled up some incident report form, and I still don't know what Fitness First plans to do about it.

Before this incident, homosexuals were totally fine with me. Heck, I have a couple of gay friends, and they make good company (because I make fun of them, hehe sorry!) Gays are ok, as long as they keep their gay activities among themselves! Mukha man akong bakla minsan (ganun talaga pag pretty boy =P), manigurado muna kayo. Hehe. Ngayon naiilang na ko makipaglokohan ng baklaan, na dati sobrang comfortable naman ako.

Now to more manly stuff: Tonight I took a step closer to my dream of rockstardom. This afternoon, after I took my weekly exam at Excel review center, I received a text message from my childhood friend JC, asking me if I was doing anything tonight. He usually asks me to play the cajon, as I mentioned one gig with him at Cafe Dapitan in one of my previous posts. With just a late Sunday night jam in mind, I said sure, I'll be free around 8:30 after I attend mass and have dinner. I asked him what we're practicing for, and when the gig will be. He replied, "Ngaun sna gabi? Pde ka ba magdrums? Simpleng beat lang...Isang practce lang sna ngaung hapon..Tpos tugtog na s gbi..Party lang ng friend ko.." Woah!! Wait!! Teka lang ha!! Hindi ako ganun kagaling na kaya yung isang practice lang! And to think the last time I played the drums with a band was 5 years ago! Anyway we had some trouble meeting up in the afternoon, so even practice wasn't possible...I had to do everything in adlib! We got to the party only having 10 minutes for JC (guitars/vocals) and Julius (bass/vocals) to let me hear the two songs, which were both covers of Ash songs I didn't know. Great. And the party was a debut, with friends, relatives, candles, roses, treasures and all. Sige lang, fight! At the party, we ended up playing the two Ash covers, their own rendition of the novelty song "Pamela", and two of their original compositions. Five songs for 10 minutes of practice, with a retired drummer, our performance was understandable. Horrible, but understandable. Excuses aside, I sounded like a six year old hitting some empty cans on the two cover songs. Okay I'm exaggerating. Good thing I didn't know anyone in the party. And none of my friends were there to see me in shame. I had more fun playing the "on-the-spot" songs since I was all warmed up and there was less pressure. On those three other songs, the audience enjoyed us because we were enjoying ourselves as well.

So how did this experience make me a rockstar? It didn't. It only proved that my dream is nothing but a fat chance. Haha. Or maybe rockstars go through something like this in one way or another? Hmmmm. Hopefully when I book a "gig" again, I'm able to get enough practice.