There was a keg and rock bands, but it was nothing like Old School

It’s a good thing I decided to wear a trendy blue top instead of the sexy, black tank top I originally had in mind.

It’s a bad thing I didn’t wear comfy sneakers instead of the black platform sandals that have graced the dance floor of parties since my sophomore year of high school.

But although things didn’t turn out the way I expected it to be, I actually sort of had a good time tonight. (Emphasis on the “sort of”.)

Tonight, the last Oktoberfest party was held at the parking lot of Megamall (the biggest mall in the Philippines). Because my blockmate Tina’s dad works for San Miguel (the beer company that sponsored the whole thing), she was able to get me and some people from school tickets to the VIP section of the party.

I almost fainted with joy when Tina told me that Disturbingly Beautiful would be going tonight–without his girlfriend. =D At long last! An opportunity for me to make him see me for the woman I really am through the use of my feminine charm and wit!

But because I’m a stupid moron, I couldn’t even look him in the eye when we all met up outside the comic book store in the mall. Gawd. He was so fucking handsome. A grunged-down god straight down from Mt. Olympus. And I was wrong about the color of his eyes; from afar, they look like they’re gray but when you look up close you can see that they’re really green. Eventually I managed to pretend that I don’t like him at all, and was able exchange a couple of sentences with him. I was hoping I could bond with him during the party itself, but when we entered the parking lot the crowd separated us from each other. Later on I learned that he and his friend decided decided to go home; dealing with the crowd wasn’t worth a few cups of beer. Awww. And I was hoping I could get pictures of us too.

Though we had a really great time at the mall, things started going downhill when we went to the party itself. The main problem was the crowd. I anticipated that 80% of the people would be composed of jologs because of the free entrance, and at first I didn’t mind because I thought there would be a separate place where those with VIP tickets could stay. But to my horror, there wasn’t any–just a VIP entrance! On the bright side, however, we were able to get a table. I made a new friend, this guy from school called Tzi-tzi who is actually a really good friend of Tina. And best of all–we VIP people had free food! =D

Tina, her English blockmate Nica, and I left our table to get ahold of the free food we were entitled to. Tzi-tzi wasn’t hungry and offered to watch our tables and our tiny little handbags. So that we wouldn’t get separated from each other, we decided to hold hands while making our way through the slithering mass of baggy shorts and Fubu. Now, I’m going to be honest here and say that the experience wasn’t very fun. The guys were all sweaty, shirtless, and leering and staring at us girls as we pushed our way past them–you get the picture. It took us a very long while, but we eventually ended up at Tina’s dad’s table, and to my delight he offered us barbecue, which I gratefully devoured. Half of the first stick I had was composed of fat. I sucked at the juices and put the stick on this plate where some other leftover sticks of barbecue were placed. Then I reached for my second one.

Just as I did that, this very popular rock band called Parokya Ni Edgar came onstage. Everyone–including I–started cheering wildly. This was my first time to see Parokya Ni Edgar live and I had no plans of missing out on this one. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to enjoy their music because when they began playing, the crowd grew really rowdy and dangerous. With widened eyes, I watched in silent horror as the people near us threw their cups of beer in the air. I screamed my girly eww-there’s-a-cockroach scream when some of the beer landed on my hair and soiled my top. Then the crowd surrounding us started to push against our chairs in order to get a better view of the band. Since they were pushing so hard we had no choice but to abandon our table (and our food!). Since there was obviously no other reason for us to stay, what with the tipsy people around us and all, we decided to leave the party. As we walked away, I saw this jologs guy approach our table. “Look, it’s food!” he exclaimed, reaching for one of the barbecue sticks. His friends followed suit and in spite of the circumstances, I smiled. I hope they ate the stick with my spit all over the fat.

Getting out of there was a nightmare. All the sweaty people pushing and squishing me! At one point I almost let go of Nica’s hand because the drunk, partying crowd made moving forward increasingly difficult. Eventually we managed to get out in one piece. Thank God. Back at the table, Tzi-tzi was having problems of his own. Oh God. I feel really guilty for letting him stay alone at our table; I don’t think our presence could have prevented that from happening, but still. I feel a little responsible just the same. I hope his legs heal soon.

I got home an hour later after coffee with Tina and her dad. I had a headache, my feet were sore, and my clothes and hair smelled like cigarettes and beer. But an Advil relieved me from the pain and I now smell like vanilla and baby shampoo. I feel sad that the night ended in a really bad way. But when I look at the neoprints Tina and I had taken an hour before we went to the party, I think it wasn’t such a bad day after all.