venue voodoo woowoo huhu

hay thank goddess the week's almost over! was able to pull off two events which i helped organize with dear friends.

first up is the LGBT NIGHT AT CONSPIRACY last tuesday. writers' night usually yun pero v.e.c.n. gave us a free hand to create whatever so we made it an artsfest thingie. the lowdown later na.

second one was FEMINISTA SERIES: WOMYN'S NIGHT SA BISTRO last wednesday at 70s bistro naman. masaya siya. it was some kind of recharging experience for women artists, i have to admit. it was a good idea to begin with. i'm glad the women artists whom we asked to perform showed up. they all showed up! saya! at nasayahan din sila! saka yung crowd. super. the lowdown later na lang ulit. tutal wala naman akong pupuntahang bakasyunan ngayung undas, dito na lang ako sa blog magbabakasyon ng isipin hehe.

what i really want to blog about now are venue brouhahas. there have been a lot lately. actually, in all my years as a restaurant/cafe/bar reviewer, marami-rami na rin akong nakitang bad places. bad service, bad owner, bad rules and regulations etc. pero lately, parang dumarami ulit sila. at pag hindi nasita, wala talagang mangyayaring maganda sa kanila.

saka di lang ako nakakakita nito. friends ko rin first-hand experience na talaga. at saka nadadala na rin kami eh. gandang i-cite yung sinabi ni salamangkiero about xaymaca. that was totally bad. medyo rude talaga yung nangyari sa kanya dun. tsk i feel for you, man. ako rin e, parang nega sa akin ang xaymacs. since i discovered na parang ang hatak lang nila ay pera at hindi alaga sa artist, wa na. tamo nga, pinagbayad ang coverage ng islamusik. wala silang pr savvy chu. luz. parang yung naaalala ko yung kinover ko yung panino resto along esguerra dati (wala na ngayon), pinagbayad kami. laos. at sa dalawang publication ko pa sila nailabas noon ha. with pictures. well, i guess hindi sila marunong sa ganun. can't blame them though.

and then there's this thing about conspiracy rin which another friend cited. incident happened the night we were there. we were supposed to end at 10pm because as usual, conspi did some double bookings pag tuesdays. akala yata nila hindi mapupuno ng writers' events ang lugar nila kaya nagbu-book sila ng musical gig after that. laos nga e. we were asking for the whole night pero ms weather report booked orange and lemons na pala. laos. tapos vecn booked a band called tribu pa. triple booking ini, kaya nawalan ng time na kami para magbasa. ako! di nakabasa. saka si butch din sana. organizers pa ang walang time. kainis. tama ba yun? sabagay, that wasn't the first time. women's day ata yun, women's night daw. so punta ang isang women's band at ako dahil invited poetry reading daw chuva. pagdating namin dun, hala, may booked event pala ang isang writers' group spewing hacienda luisita tales. tangina. and another artist friend had the similar experience doon when their art group performed din. laos. nakakadala ano. parang walang respeto sa artist minsan.

pero eto ka. wala ring respeto sa customers pala. a media friend who used to help chorva the weather report career got dissed by the operations manager pala. received her email days ago. grabe ang rude sa kanila. hay. all because they wanted to see some fruits perform. well, next time iba na lang siguro puntahan nila.

excerpt from her letter:

"Finally, she went to our table to tell us she can only give us seats but I insisted that she must give us a table because I reserved for a table. She told me that Ms. __ only told her about our reservation that morning and that the truth was they were not accepting reservations for that band anymore. I told her that you should have told Ms. __ about it so that we were properly informed. I read to her Ms. __'s message saying she was not informed by [mgr] that she was not accepting reservations anymore so she was not able to tell me. While your operations manager was talking to us, she was cleaning up our table and leaving us behind to bring the used dishes to the kitchen which gave me the feeling that she wanted us to just leave. [My friend] told her to talk to us properly and not keep on leaving us. She continued cleaning up the table and even put used napkins on the sizzling tofu that I ordered which I haven't even finished eating. My friend told her that I was still going to eat the tofu and she answered arrogantly that she will just replace it.

After much debate and insisting to her that we deserve better service and treatment, she finally put a table in the gig room for us with five chairs. I have been a patron of your establishment since day one, particularly because I am a big supporter of the artists who own it. I always recommend Conspiracy to my friends and even forward your gig list to them or invite them when I like the featured band as last night. I am very disappointed with how your "Operations Manager" handles complaints from your costumers, the worse I have encountered so far. I'm sorry to say that no matter how Ms. ___ apologizes for her rude behavior, I have resolved not to go to Conspiracy from now on and would also stop recommending you to my friends. Damage has been done and a supposedly fun night was spoiled by this unfortunate display of ghastly customer service."

tissue on her sizzling tofu. imagine that. you don't do that to a vegetarian, man.

pero ang topper ng buwang ito ay ang kakapalan sa kapihang ako mismo ang biktima. dumalaw ako at isang friend sa cordillera coffee sa may xavierville. my friend had some business to transact with them and i simply wanted to have lunch there para tuhog na. after talking with the maitre'd (sp?) feeling dude doon, we sat and asked to be served. ten thousand years bago nakarating ang menu sa amin so we made jokes na to the effect na "oorder kami, magbabayad kami" etc. all in jest. the first time we ate kasi there, we used gcs given to us by the owners and we just wanted to sample the place. hey, that's what gcs are for, di ba?

ewan ko ba kung anong cosmic cycle ang sinusundan ni dude pero when i was trying to get his attention to pay the bill, he was making a huge effort of not making pansin sa akin. so i asked my friend for his name kasi alam niya, and i called his name and asked for the bill. as in, "chorva, can we have the bill, please?" ano ang gnawa niya? inirapan ako. my first pair of bullhorns appeared (taurus), but i tried to remain calm. i asked him again, same polite tone. "chorva, can we have the bill, please?" this time, hindi siya tumingin and he curtly said "sandali lang may ginagawa pa ako" or something to that effect. second pair of bullhorns appeared (year of the ox). handa na kong manggyera. my friend tried to calm me down.

it took another ten thousand years for him to prepare the bill and when he finally gave it to me, i politely talked to him about his attitude earlier. guess what. i was in mid-sentence -- my first sentence -- tinalikuran niya ko. i called his attention again, uminit na ulo ko, at tinalikuran na naman niya ako. grabe talaga. parang ang laki ng space nila para di mapansin ito ano. mas malaki pa ang cr sa megamall 'day, kaya alam mo ang nangyayari sa loob. they were only serving three tables inside and he was harping na marami siyang ginagawa. hey, ang conspi resto with one working server two pride marches ago ang maraming ginagawa, not you! at tatlo kaya silang tao sa kapihan. grabe. napundi na ko at nilapitan ko siya sa counter para kausapin siya, pero it turns out may angst pala siya sa amin. i asked him what the fuck was that attitude about, sabi niya "sa tingin niyo, natutuwa kami dun sa sinabi niyo kaninang magbabayad naman kami ah." WHAT THE FUCK! alam mo, naghahanap siya ng away ever. wala, warlahan ng words na kaming dalawa. tinawag ko pa ang friend ko at join siya sa warlahan ng words. yung dalawang babaeng kasama ni dude e awat na ng awat sa kanya pero ayaw paawat ni dude. my god, it was so horrible. napahiya sila ng husto sa ibang tao sa loob ng kapihan nila. and to think that the owner and her sister and the owner's niece were so kind to us when we met at a previous art event. kaya nga kami binigyan ng gc to try out their place e, and to hopefully do business nga. but no. this dude out for warlahan of words ruined everything for us. we ran into the niece in UP right after that incident and reported it to her. all apologies siya dahil sila din daw mismo may miscomm ni warladude pala regarding the business my friend was suposed to transact with them (she decided to drop the business because of that incident). grabe. and to think mam benny santos was there pa inside with a friend. ganda ng chikahan pa namin after years of not seeing each other since dumaguete workshop days. tapos ganyan pa. hay naku, kahiya kay mam benny kasi pinapahiya kami ng warladude na yun sa kayabangan niya. grabe. siguro pasalamat siya at i gave up resto reviewing couple of years ago tangina kundi yari talaga sila sa akin.

hay naku. when will service-oriented establishments be truly service-oriented? i don't subscribe to the "customer is always right" chorva pero dapat mutual respect ang i-allot ng both parties di ba? saka what do they want to cultivate ba, mga suki o kaaway? hay, cordi coffee just lost a potential suki. sayang. akala kasi nila, dedma, isang tao lang yan, may mga darating pang ibang tao na magpa-patronize sa atin. but no. karmic retribution works in this world, darling, kaya what you give, you receive. all you have to do is wait. i i don't even have to do anything at all. hay.

well, one good thing about venue booboos paid off naman kagabi. i was at the chocolate kiss and the manager gave me and my friend the dessert she owed us, she said. this was from an incident naman a week ago yata when my friend was mistreated by two waiters. nakinig naman ang owners and the waiters apologized and everything's fine and dandy na. ganun dapat. ayan, tamo, bumabalik pa rin kami dun. di ba? but not in cordi coffee na. not anymore. hay...

kakaiba lang minsan sa ganyan, ano? how much arrogance they have and all. tapos minsan, may feeling of discrimination pa. i remember a few acquaintances in drag who were asked to leave a resto when they came in because the manager said they didn't "serve people like them" or something to that effect. such discrimination. alam kong you have to abide by some dresscode and all. aba, ang gaganju nga ng mga sisterette na yun e, with mok-ap and all, da works. tapos di sila pinagsilbihan. grabe no. just like before when we had that incident at likha diwa din, spewing the same thing, that they don't want the place to be "identified with people like you." grabeeeeeeeh. galit si roselle kaya nun. sulat sa kule. ayan. apologize naman sila at dialogue chu pero wala e, damage has been done. that was in 1999 but i find myself revisiting the place this 2005. keri lang, i still like the food and service pero i don't want to encounter the owners na lang. i guess half a decade is okay to keep these things behind you. so if coffe cordillera's still there after half a decade, saka na siguro ko babalik dun. that is, kung wala na si warladude doon.

hay, this was such an eventful month, hane?

hey, may nagbukas ng authentic mediterranean food joint near my place, at doon balak kong maging suki. mababait ang servers at ang owner din, so far. at meron silang lamb! yipee! arabesque katapat ng nato's sa jimenez. yummy. may water pipe sila ha. sosi. hehe.

kain nga ko doon.