The tireless US-based couple Didi and Nore Lim are in town for a month taking care of business interests in Manila. Over the weekend, the CAFA Balikbayans with locals Oni and Bili had the opportunity to get together for dinner. In lieu of the usual restaurants, the group decided on a quaint Italian dining place called Galileo in an old area in Mandaluyong. Fresh baked bread, salads, pasta and meats (laced with tart Prosciuto and salami, my favorite cardio food) were the fare of the day. Just as interesting was the décor of the restaurant (compared to boutique restaurants in the usual commercial places). Galileo is actually a store-restaurant concept that is probably what Rudy and Cindy have in mind. There is a little specialty wine and food store (with imported European stuff) right at the entry. Past this facility, dining ‘niches’ festooned with wine bottle racks and muralistic wall paintings can be found inside. Even the toilet door was not spared from the mural work.
But that was not the highlight of the evening. After dinner, the foursome decided to investigate Zirco, a comedy bar in Ortigas and Wilson. Operated by Alan K - a gay TV comedian, the stage show featured gays at their best while mainly hitting on everyone and everything. The Zirco performers were competent singers who harmonize effectively and make their Karaoke backtracks sound good. In between musical numbers, the humor on stage ranged from distracting to disrespectful to insulting to downright vulgar. Bili continued to worry that Didi and Nore may be scandalized by the no-holds-barred acts, but Nore was observed having a laughing fit all night. The show may have been amusing for her since the goings-on where roughly like party chika fare of her crazy Fine Arts fun crowd.
Bili should have been more concerned about my sensibilities. Watching the show, I almost fell off my chair as one performer pointedly asked a game young female sitting up front with her middle-aged American boyfriend: “Did he move you? (translation: ginalaw ka ba nya?). If he did not yet, then pareho pa tayong hindi nababayaran! ” Then looking at the American: “Sir, what I just said was that we appreciate your predeliction for young Pinays . . and for putting them out of their misery!” In another situation, a sexily-dressed girl coaxed to go up on stage to sing karaoke was subjected to interview before her song. It went this way:
Emcee: What do you do, girl?
Girl: Marketing.
Emcee (without hesitation): Saan, sa Quezon Av? (where Maalikaya and others like it are located).
The emcee even admonished the audience when he said: “This is a comedy bar where it’s noisy, frank and fun. If you want quiet, civil and decent, please go to Robinsons at EDSA Ortigas. There is an adoration chapel in the church there!” These are examples of the mild jokes. You can guess how vivid the language and the spiel content came to be later on. Surely, going to Zirco was an experiment where I would not advise the place for the faint-hearted.
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