Watch Me Entertain Myself!

Sacha Guitry once said, "You can pretend to be serious, but you can't pretend to be witty." Oh yes, I'm the great pretender.
(pilot episode: 20 January 2004)

Monday, September 28, 2009

Unos, Dos, Tres

“Walang tubig, walang pagkain, eh di sumayaw na lang tayo!”

While the whole of Metro Manila was reeling from floodwaters of biblical proportions, I was at Juice Bar in Boracay dancing to “Fire On The Dance Floor” and “Calle Ocho”. Earlier that afternoon I was online and the tweets and Facebook status updates all echoed the same frantic sentiment: Metro Manila was on its way to becoming a disaster area of Atlantic proportions. And though I was calling and texting the people at home, the only replies I got were a busy signal and a “Network busy, try again?” on my phone.

Did any bit of guilt creep into my heart that night? Did I stop to think, how callous of me to be out partying while people back home are drowning?

True, I was worried about the situation at home; earlier in the morning my mom told me the water in the garage was inches away from invading our living room. Given that the rains hadn’t stopped, I was resigned to the inevitable that our house was already flooded by the afternoon. Plus there was no way for me to go home and be with my family. I realized I was at that point when things were beyond me, and I could only accept that which I couldn’t control.

I could only say so many silent prayers for the safety of my loved ones. I could only beseech Mother Nature to let up her fury. I could only tweet my wish that Ororo Munroe would use her Storm powers to drive the storm away.

“Walang tubig, walang pagkain, eh di sumayaw na lang tayo!”

In Joey Gosengfiao’s classic Temptation Island, four beauty queen contestants, supposedly the epitome of grace and civilized behavior, find themselves trapped and helpless in a desert island. Because of hunger and thirst, they are reduced to tearing panties off unwilling donors (to use as net to catch fish) and hallucinating huge ice cream cones and fried chicken on the desert sand.

In one classic scene, the girls had only a cassette recorder (owned by the maid, who else?) playing Giorgio Moroder’s “What A Night!” Faced with the inevitable, they had no choice but to assess what they had and act accordingly.

“Walang tubig, walang pagkain, eh di sumayaw na lang tayo!”

It was inevitable I’d end up dancing that Saturday night. “One, two three, four, uno, dos, tres, quatro… I know you want me, you know I want ‘cha!”

And unlike in the movie, we didn’t end up in a catfight.

8 comments:

Aris said...

omg, temptation island! i love it! hahaha!

<*period*> said...

mabuti naman po, safe kayo

ahmm, sadya po bang ganun yung hitsura nung ice cream? parang etits..or im just hallucinating?!

word verification:lislesse (lislis as in hubad?)

rudeboy said...

"...there was no way for me to go home and be with my family. I realized I was at that point when things were beyond me, and I could only accept that which I couldn’t control."

Being out of town and in a fun place during the calamity, as well, I can totally relate to this, Joel. No doubt you're just bursting to share funny anecdotes about your madcap out-of-town adventures, just like I am.

But considering the current somber mood, they'll have to wait for another time.

But yes. Life does go on. Not for all of us, sadly, but it does go on.

MkSurf8 said...

makapanood na nga ng temptation island na yan!

joelmcvie said...

@RUDEBOY: Sadly, I have no funny anecdotes nor madcap out-of-town adventures while in Boracay. It was all wind and intermittent rain.

Herbs D. said...

mag PO ba naman si CHUCK sayo ateng. hahaha.kaloka. tama, sayaw nalang tayo

joelmcvie said...

@HERBS: Magalang kasi si Chuck. =)

citybuoy said...

i so love temptation island!!! hehe

wv: prettily (so apt!)