Month ender Oct 31st

There are a few moments in life worth relishing. A good conversation entertaining fresh perspectives over a sumptuous dinner and dessert and a birth of a new project, all done in the last day of the month giving way to November 1^st, my favorite holiday.

That was just what I did with my friend Tim who happened to have taken the most recent bar exams and eventually survived mentally “unscathed.” I left him alone in those times that he was intently studying. It was a "law thing" and I just silently hoped to resume our restaurant hopping.

Thinking of so many places, we ended up in Greenbelt on a Halloween Friday night. We chose based on commercial ratings and level of intrigue. We knew instantly the perfect restaurant to test. The moment we entered John and Yoko’s cosmopolitan restaurant in Greenbelt 5, I exchanged pleasantries and immediately reminded him of his promised free legal service to me. It was a way of saying that my faith in my friends is that strong.

It was a habit for us to eat at new restaurants. We never go to the same restaurant twice. If ever we did, that was out of desperation and I couldn’t remember it. For a guy, he appreciates desserts and we discuss over it, as ambitious as it may sound. Privately, we enjoy ourselves as the ultimate food critics. Although there’s more danger if one of us recommends a restaurant out of experience, the expectations are way higher.

So we discussed about as usual, Law. Blah blah Blah. I specifically love his tales of bar examiners going bonkers in the middle of the test. I also love our discussion of the last will and testament while scrutinizing our food in between.

He ordered the Mango-Chicken pizza and I ordered the Fried Squid Linguini. My linguini was okay. It has a more sour and distinct taste because of the seaweed garnish, but still equally creamy and with an appropriate serving. But I must admit, I was blown away with his. HIs choice of a pizza was weirdly amusing. The first bite instantly reminded me of Jollibee’s Mango Peach pie, but a couple of chews made it taste more of like a Yellow Cab Corona chicken pizza. I just like the instantaneous swift from sweet to savory. Also, considering that the restaurant is located in Greenbelt 5 and it specializes in cosmopolitan Japanese cuisine, the prices are relatively cheaper. My pasta cost 195 and his pizza was around 250. Add up the service charge and VAT which summed up our total bill of around 600 bucks. Not that bad for good service, relatively good food and chic interiors. But luckily we were already there 10 minutes earlier before being put on the waiting list. On a Thursday night, the restaurant is packed. It was that popular, so during dinner and lunch times especially on weekends, you’d better come in early or do the traditional reservations.

After cleaning our plates, it belonged to our list of restaurants we’d love to visit again (although not with each other). Again it's not our habit, most probably I'll take Mitch here.

Knowing each other, we never end the day with dinner. We go for the much awaited finale, which is dessert. Since John and Yoko didn’t have the Ice Cream Pie Tim really wanted to have, we decided to transfer. While walking we were discussing our new literary project until we spotted a quaint place with cozy seats and elite-Filipino interiors in Restaurante Pia Y Damaso. Anyone who has ever spent his/her High school years studying here would know that the restaurant is named after a major character in Jose Rizal’s novel Noli Me Tangere. True enough the restaurant showcases dishes with Filipino touch. Rich Cheesecake with a dayap (lime) as a feature ingredient, chocolate cakes named after characters in the book and sumptuous dishes served elegantly. There is this one cake that is named SISA (Dementia), which neither of us had the guts to try due to possible high caloric intake or a repeat of the very dazed Amazonian-beans Ganache effect we had in Max Brenner 4 years ago.

That's just how we roll. We shifted restaurants yet we still continued our endless literary expeditions. We were brainstorming just like any editor or writer working while dining out. We tested each others’ theories and began thinking about possible plot developments. The conversation was indeed a surge of creativity, which in some point a little bit draining, but wouldn't have it the other way.

I never realized how powerful creativity, good conversation and chemistry are. The right mixture keeps everything flowing magnificently. Both people might have excellent levels of creativity. Both might be very conversant, but if the rapport or chemistry isn’t there, then everything would fall apart. Good thing we know each other so well and that we don’t trample on our own creative pursuits.

After all these years of weekends and summers full of pigging out, talking about life’s deepest philosophies and seriously having almost the same goal of conquering the world (but not overly trying), we still held the same practice. Even if he’s become a lawyer and I’ve become a professional, creativity is reborn every time we reconvene. It’s amazing. But just like any introverted person eating a rich, moist Chicago Cheesecake, in a noisy group, we also need to recoil and enjoy periodic gaps to absorb what we’ve discussed or else we’ll be too drained to contest each other hence losing collective creativity. That is also a habit.