I had just finished cooking my baon for the next day when Maya appears outside our window saying I had a visitor. Me? Visitor? Who? Turns out to be Tics fetching me. He says Doms is parked outside and we are supposed to have a gimik tonight. I should really stop being surprised at Doms the topak king’s sudden invitations. The last time this happened was when we got our first pay. And for the second time in a row, the others couldn’t make it, so it was just the three musketeers out to hit the streets again.
Doms heads for one of our favorite hangouts, The Fort. But he goes to the other end (not where we usually hang out) this time, for a change. I spot my favorite Gonuts Donuts and couldn’t contain myself. So Tics and I have a donut ice cream pocket apiece. Vanilla ice cream stuffed into a donut (like an ice cream sandwich) topped with chocolate syrup and nuts. This is a first for me, since this delicacy is served only in this particular branch (the mother branch, so I’ve been told). I also buy a box of three’s to take out. I choose my fave, choco mallow frost.
Doms then brings us to Pier One, a restaurant that looks like a pier. We ascend the steps and take a seat on the third floor. Acoustic sounds boom from the loudspeakers, and I ask Doms if it is live. He says yes, and that it was Jimmy Bondoc. I don’t believe him, so he confirms with the waiter, who nods his assent. Now, for those who don’t know, Jimmy Bondoc is one of the popular acoustic singers in the Philippines. His first hit single, “Let Me Be the One,” is one of my favorite songs. Anyway, we order some sisig and cheese sticks with San Mig Lites for the boys and a calamansi shake for me.
After a few minutes of idle chit-chat, my philosophy “to see is to believe” finally got the better of me, so I decided to go downstairs to see with my very own eyes that it was indeed Jimmy Bondoc performing. Tics offers to go with me. When we get there, we see that it is indeed him, and he sounded so great we decided to sit at a vacant table up front to listen to him for awhile. Just in time, he launches into another one of my fave songs, one that is actually very applicable to me right now, “Love Song for No One.” I find myself singing along as he goes, “I’m tired of being alone so hurry up and get here.” Just then I remember that we had left Doms upstairs, so I head back up to get him. We spend the rest of the night in there, until everyone starts dancing to the “happy song,” Jimmy’s last one. We leave after that, and Doms brings us both home.
The three musketeers had a happy night, most definitely!