The Road to 40 Day 159/365: Tacos, Basketball, and Comedy

It was another full day for Vino and me, as we found things to do while Che was out for work.

After having breakfast, we chilled a bit in the room and got ready for a lunch date with Steph and Ivan. It’s always fun to catch up with this couple. Vino is always excited to meet Ivan because he indulges him whenever he shows something about his games.

I didn’t realize Steph was still working, so she only had a brief window to have lunch. We had tacos at a restaurant nearby.

It’s nice to be educated on tacos by people who love them. I even got to try Michelada, a savory cocktail with an interesting story behind it, as told by Ivan. It was apparently a beer cocktail for non-beer drinkers in Mexico.

We overextended our lunch a bit because of all the catching up, but it was worth it. They invited us over to their place, but Vino’s social battery was super low already and he asked to go home.

We got to rest for a bit before heading out to the Mall of Asia Arena to watch my alma mater play.

It’s been over 10 years since I last saw a live game in the arena. There was a point in time when I knew all the players even if they constantly changed due to graduation, but I’ve lost touch a few years back.

Over these past couple of seasons, I’ve been slowly getting back into it. Vino is not much of a basketball guy, but I wanted him to experience the excitement of a live college game.

I love basketball, but I don’t cheer for any particular team. But college is a different story. No matter who our players are, as long as they have “UST” in front of their jerseys, I will be cheering for them.

We got to the arena and met up with Kuya Jed. He’s my senior in our political party back in college and one of the most passionate supporters of the UST sports teams.

Another game was still going on, with DLSU taking on UE. At the time, UE was still leading by 10 or something. Vino asked which team I would cheer for, and I said, the green team, DLSU.

They then mounted a comeback and almost won it at the end of regulation, but UE managed to tie it for overtime. There, it was all DLSU, and Vino was hyped for it.

It was then time for UST to take on FEU. I got to teach Vino some of the cheers that I still remember, but there were a lot that I never got to learn when I was in college. UST had a good start, but FEU battled back in the second quarter for a tight one-point lead.

By this time, Vino already had his head on my shoulder, saying he was tired. The DLSU game drained him a bit, so I decided to leave after watching the cheer squads at halftime.

We watched the rest of the game in the car and saw UST win it, so Vino was two-for-two on this day for basketball.

I dropped Vino off with Che near the hotel, and I rushed over to a comedy show I wanted to watch. I didn’t have an app to book a motorcycle, but I saw a guy who was waiting for a booking. I took it and reached the place in just about five minutes.

I was already late for the show, with Kaloi and Elle also just arriving after dealing with traffic and parking issues. I was still able to catch the last front act before the two main event guys in Nonong and GB.

We all enjoyed the sets and we had a lot of good laughs. Meanwhile, Vino and Che were joined by Ten, Chi, and Tia in the hotel. GB’s set was super long, but really fun. I’ve been watching the PH comedy scene since about 2011, when Genny got us to watch the Comedy Cartel shows at Tomato Kick in Katipunan.

The guys I enjoyed watching established Comedy Manila. I’m always proud to see that they are now filling bars and theaters when before it was just them laughing at each other’s jokes in smaller restaurants. Their style of comedy is very different from what people are used to with the Vice Gandas, Poohs, and whatnot.

During the pandemic, Comedy Manila got more exposure, and people began to clamor for the brand of comedy they brought.

We reached the hotel at 12am already, with Elle already out form the drinks we had at the bar so she crashed on the bed immediately.

We got to catch up with them a bit before they adjourned. Kaloi and Elle slept with us first, and planned to leave when they got their rest.

The day felt busy, but it didn’t feel like I got tired from it because of all the fun we had in all the stops we had.

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