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| At Battle Royale: “Here’s the truth kid, your wings get smaller as you grow older. You’ll be sinning along the way,” said the big angel to the small angel. |
Fierce or debonair, pious or whorish, ghoulish or god-like, it was dress up time and all for the spirit of fun, and if there were spirits that appeared to be humans, then they did a good job of blending in.
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| At Paseo de Legaspi: “Nakapangasawa ng mayaman,” said the bejeweled lady of the night |
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| Seen at Paseo de Legaspi: Haedis, hey that. |
Halloween was fun (and ended quite twisted). It always is no matter what the age. Who doesn’t love t play dress up? On this day, no excuses are needed to fulfill a heart’s desire, and you know what I mean.
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| Seen at Battle Royale: Catwoman clawing for the top prize, & getting it. |
The time of day dictates who gets to dress up—the kids when the sun is up and the adults at sundown. However, I, along with rest of the Davao media, started our role-playing quite early for the annual Halloween scavenger hunt at SM City. It was a riot!
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| At Battle Royale: Darth Vader, “Luke, the DNA test proves I am your father.” |
Good thing I opted to go as a cherub (a very big one) rather than Sister Stella L. Can you imagine a giant nun running around the mall with a “Kilalanin ang tunay na unyon” placard? The mall security might pounce on me.
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| At Battle Royale: “Mahangin sa labas,” said Thor of his locks |
Our team—Angel (na mababa ang lipad), Thor, Lily, Kawaii—missed the top prize by a fraction of a second.
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| Seen at Battle Royale:Lili playing Lili. |
Thanks for the wonderful time Jesse B. and Amy C. of Mindanao Times and for the treats from Park Inn by Radisson Davao, Havaianas, Primer Group of Companies, DLPC, Smart Communications, Krispy Kreme, Air Asia, Sun Life Financial, Gifts Davao and Dermpath. This was a treat and I can’t wait for next year’s gathering.
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| Seen at Battle Royale: Anime, it’s in the blood(line). |
Next treat was witnessing a Halloween themed on-the-spot-body-painting contest at Paseo de Lagaspi. It was serious business as tattoo artists battled it out with fine arts students in producing the best artwork on skin. I never got to find out who won but whoever it was, the piece must be extraordinary.
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| Seen at Paseo de Legaspi: Artist at work on human canvas. |
Knock, knock. Trick or treat? Apples or lemons?
Yep, it’s time for the adult’s version of the kids play. We didn’t come knocking on the doors of these new nightspots’ doors for a treat because we were expected.
A media pal relayed to us the invitation he received from the establishments’ PR guy. Unsure as I was about the informal invite, I tagged along anyway. It’s Halloween, nothing could go wrong. (Oh, but the warning bells were clanging so loudly).
The tricks were on us.
First. The host wasn’t around when we arrived at 10 (still dressing up, I was told. Invite stated 7PM). Dig this, it appeared that no one else was expecting us as guests except him, not even one of the many owners present.
Second. It was a themed party! Uninformed, we arrived in our casual get-up. No candies for us.
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| Seen at The Peak: Spy games |
Third. With no host to meet us and improperly attired for the night, we were merely walk-in patrons (the place was open to all). We didn’t mind fending for ourselves in a place that’s “a showcase of monetary efficiency.”
I fell in love with the bouncer who was quick to say, “Sir, meron tayong P200 entrance fee,” when we took a peek of the club’s current state of emptiness (can’t blame the guy, we didn’t look Bond-ish for him to bother to ask if we were on the guest list), and the waiter next-door bar, also empty at that hour, who was equally as efficient to take our orders and asked, “Bayaran na ninyo ngayon, sir?” ….Oh, to be so classy at the “top tier.”
Is it because we didn’t look like we belong to the clique in the sleek, debonair get-up the theme asked for? Did we look like the “jump the bill” antagonists in the scene?
Yes, we paid for our own drinks at the party we were invited to.
Sorry, we did get a candy treat from a partner —a bottle of the sweetest sparkling wine for our all-adult male group. Thank you. We shared it with the sweet-toothed men at the next table.
On the brighter side, it was great to see friends that night. I miss the good old days of clubbing and this, I must say, is a very cool place to hang out. I can relate to the house music. I was having fun! Seriously.
Fourth and the best for last. The “host” finally appeared as Cinderalla was about to depart, approached our friend, “his media contact, ” and with a smile, he blurted out, ”Eto na ba yung media?”
A trick question? It must be.
For his own good, it should be!
Haaaaappy Halloween!
Let me return the favor. Here’s an apple for every nice treat and a bag of lemons for every trick you sent our way.
P.S. “The host” went his merry way after that one liner and we, the traditional eto-na-nga-yung media peeps, continued fending for ourselves at the party he invited us to. Fab place has fab service crew & definitely fab PR ways.
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| Seen at The Peak: Aladdin is chill |
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| At The Peak: “It’s the perfect night for witch-hunting,” said the Inquisitor |
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| At The Peak: “I make this astronaut gear look good. Check out my back.” |
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| At The Peak: Rowdyruff Boys, “We can't see but that's okay because we're adorable.” |
*****
For more lifestyle and travel stories, visit http://apples-and-lemons.blogspot.com/ and http://jeepneyjinggoy.blogspot.com/.
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on November 09, 2014.
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