Trayle

My friends and I went to the Los Banos campus of the University of the Philippines last weekend to watch a play written and developed by two of our friends. We just took the public transportation from Cubao to get there. We thought we were already late for the 7pm play, but it turned out, we were early -- the lights and equipment were not set-up yet. So Caloy, our friend, who's also the playwright, took us to the LB Square for dinner while waiting for the play to start.

LB Square is where you can find different food stalls, coffee shops, internet cafes, small clubs and restaurants. It's right outside the campus, and is usually frequented by students and professors from UP-LB.  Caloy took us to his favorite Thai food stall. The food was excellent! And for only P54 each, our stomachs full. The seven of us (Caloy, K, Eleyn, Jayson, Jeeu, Sherwin and me) just shared three dishes. The owner (a Thai), gave us a pitcher of complimentary iced tea.

After dinner, we rushed to the venue of the play: at The Ruins. It was actually a burned down building that they turned into a stage. It looked great. The play, Pagbulas ng Sibol, was based on a German play. The downside though was: it was too long! God, a two and a half hour play. The first part was a bit dragging, but it picked up on act three. All in all, I really liked it a lot.

After the play, we went back to the LB Square. Other friends (Kat, Lec, and YB) who later joined us, wanted to eat. Some of the restaurants were already closed though. The weird thing about the LB Square is that, it's actually more alive during weekdays. On weekends, most of the students go home, leaving the campus practically deserted.

We later decided to just buy beer and hang out at Caloy's place to wait for daylight. But when we went to a nearby convenience store, we found out they no longer sell liquor beyond 2am. Darn. So we just bought soda and some junk food.

Caloy is staying in a small dorm inside the campus, and we all crammed inside his room. He told us all about the charms of the campus... the vibrant theater scene, the beautiful environment, etc... It almost made us all want to move there. Well, almost.

We went for breakfast the following morning, and then went back to Manila. Back at the city, we decided to have coffee at Gateway, and browsed for books at the National Bookstore before finally going home.