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AGAIN,
the guy in the mirror will celebrate tomorrow, April 19.
“It’s
been a good year,” says he after we shake hands.
“Couldn’t ask for more.”
Saw him
at Pilita’s Bar on April 9. He looked fine. Jolly as
usual. Exchanged banter with people he knew and didn’t
know.
He came
to Pilita’s Bar with four others, onboard an SUV.
Pilita’s
Bar, of course, is the famous music bar-cum-restaurant
owned by the famous Pilita Corrales, the one and only
songbird of Asia, whose melodious voice has remained
pure as ever. Include her still voluptuously endowed,
curvaceous body despite the vagaries of gravity.
The bar
is strategically located in Greenhills, San Juan,
parallel to Music Museum beside the famous tiangge in
front of Promenade.
But
wait, does Pilita C. need an introduction?
If you
know not Pilita, whom Bob Hope described as God’s
handpicked contribution to the world of music, you are
vintage World War 1 relic. You know Tandang Sora but
not Pilita Corrales.
“How’s
everything?”
The
piano man says, “Same, same. And you, Sir?”
“Same,
same, too,” the guy in the mirror says. “Always a lover
of music.”
The guy
comes regularly at Pilita’s Bar now. At times, he closes
the joint at 3 in the morning but nobody complains. He
is one helluva customer every joint loves to have even
if he regularly calls it a night in the wee hours of the
morning.
“Hey,
Carlos, still got that exotic goat dish of yours?
Kalderetang kambing they call it?”
“Not
tonight,” says Carlos, who is Paraguayan but has quickly
assimilated to the Filipino way of life. “The butchers
must have killed all the goats and dispatched them
pronto before I got to the slaughterhouse today.”
Carlos
(Lopes), whom the guy in the mirror fondly calls Don
Carlos, co-owns Pilita’s Bar with Pilita. He is more
than the joint’s chef. He and Pilita play good music
together. He is very adept with the guitar, harmonica,
maracas and conga.
When
Pilita sings, Carlos sometimes helps out the pianist
with those instruments.
On this
particular night, Pilita was in the mood to beat up
Carlos. Right after belting out the hit song,
“Fernando’s (Pilita’s) Hideaway,” with the famous Wing
Duo (the lovable Nikki and Angie are, indeed, eternally
great), Pilita shoos away Carlos like a pesky, summer
fly.
“Carlos!
Go back to the kitchen, pronto!”
The
sport that he always is, Carlos quickly steps down from
the stage and hurries back to the kitchen. Ni ha, ni
ho.
Next,
Pilita delights the crowd with her signature song, “A
Million Thanks to You.” Complete with her world-famous
body language.
The guy
in the mirror smiles. He sees Carlos gingerly walking
out of the kitchen, tiptoeing his way into the crowd.
“You
okay, Don Carlos?”
“Fine,
fine, amigo,” says he.
He
shakes hands with Dr. Jose “Some Enchanted Evening”
Oreta and beauteous wife Dr. Ching Ilao-Oreta. And then
to Boni Alentajan, the famed lawyer of moviedom’s Eddie
and Annabelle Gutierrez.
The man
in the mirror enjoys the sight and applauds, shakes
hands with German “Kuya Germs” Moreno and next calls
Suzette the waitress.
“Another
bottle of red wine, please?”
“Coming
right up, Sir,” says Suzette. “Room temperature as
usual, Sir?”
“You
bet.”
IN the
Winter 2008 issue of Cars, Ratings & Pricing given me as
pasalubong by PBA Commissioner Sonny Barrios
(thanks a lot, Mama), the highly respected American
magazine listed 5 Tips For Buying That New Car.
1. Learn
the lowest cost. Here’s the real key to your deal: you
must find out what the dealer paid for the car so you
can negotiate the price you’ll pay for it. You have to
find out this information for yourself and you have to
be sure it’s up-to-date and correct!
2. Get
ready to bargain. Your homework’s done. It’s all there
in plain English with easy-to-follow information. The
Consumer Reports Bottom Line Price (of the magazine),
along with the invoice and sticker price comparisons,
give you a clear understanding of your negotiating room.
3. Start
bargaining. Always bargain up from the Consumer Reports
Bottom Line Price, never down from the sticker price.
If the car you want is in tight supply, you may have to
pay the full sticker price.
4. Play
the game. The advice you receive with your report takes
you through the hard part, negotiating a fair price. It
takes you step-by-step through the rest of the
negotiating game with professional new-car buying
advice.
5. If
you have a trade-in. Don’t even mention it until you’ve
agreed on a price for your new car. But when it’s time
to talk trade-in, you should know what your trade-in is
worth whether you sell it privately or to a dealership.
Pee
stop.
No, George Blaylock Jr. has no Ford dealership contrary
to what I had written here last week. “Wala pa, Sir,”
he texted me. “What I have right now are GM,
Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Suzuki and Chery.” So, there.
Sorry about that, Glenn D. My apologies. |
