JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED

Getting out more has really been paying dividends the last few days. While I haven't made any actual headway on my business, the clarity I have gained from just being out having fun has allowed me to come up with what I believe will be the ideas that make it all happen. I will be implementing those today, assuming other adventures don't pop up. Still yesterday was like the height of seeing just what putting yourself out there can do.

First we went to a small, local market called Emilus. This is the kind of place where foreigners are probably never seen and so we got no end of interest from people there. There were some girls looking at us like they planned to eat us. As always, these little marts are full of the piracy. They already had Harry Potter 6 and Transformers 2 on DVD there, likely shot off the screen with a DV camera. None of this, though, was part of our plan so we quickly headed out to SM to stop in the Noodle House and chat with Vanessa. While me and Jhana talked with Vanessa, my friend Dylan disappeared. Eventually Jhana said, Listen. That is Dylan singing." At first I didn't believe it. He is a good singer, so it sounded like the real song playing, and I just didn't think he would do that.

Eventually Dylan came back and told me about the crowd that had developed around his little performance. One girl even waited for him to finish to get his autograph. People really thought he was a real singer. I guess he kinda is, though, since he has been on stage with Digital Underground, where Tupac and Humpty began their careers. While we were discussing this, I noticed two girls milling around behind us. I recognized them. They worked in the store, but this time were out of uniform and "off duty" so to speak, so their pretending to look at a display behind us seemed a bit odd.

I decided to go back with Dylan to check out this singing area this time. Basically it was the spot where they were selling the videoke machines. (Video + Karaoke = Videoke) Of course, I had to sing a song too. Dylan was right. One gets treated like a celebrity for doing that. Of course, it probably helps that I am not a bad performer. One guy even asked me if I am a real singer! The guy selling the machines told me and Dylan about a spot that is really hopping on weekends that has an open Karaoke area and apparently plenty of girls. We may hook up with him to go there this Friday.

Dylan pointed out to me that one of the girls kept pulling out her phone, pretending to use it and being obvious about it. He said she was trying to get my attention so that I would ask for her number or give her mine. With that, I took a strip of paper with my number on it and handed it to her saying, "Here. Something for your phone." The girls giggled and walked off. The texts started flying in while we were still in the store shopping. We kept passing by the girls too, walking with their basket and putting items in. Finally Dylan went as asked them and it turns out they were just following us, randomly putting items in their basket with no intention to buy.

Finally we finished our shopping and I went to say goodbye to Vanessa. The girls sent a text to say they were sitting in the food court with nothing to do. We went to meet them there and eventually invited them back to the house for some Karaoke. I cooked quite a spread for our guests and they actually said it was quite good. Our Videoke computer wasn't working, so we decided to go with American Idol on the Nintendo Wii. With five people playing that was truly fun. Even more surprising, I actually won! It probably didn't come as a surprise to anyone that it came down to me and Dylan in the finals. What was surprising though, is that Dylan got 100,000 score on his song, the highest possible, and even unlocked some new songs as a result. I came it at 98,820 on my song, but still took the prize. We surmised that there must be other factors the judges consider besides out score. For example. Dylan did a somewhat fast paced pop type song, while I performed John Lennon's Imagine, which the judges may have seen as more challenging.

After our Karaoke battle ended, we went to the local Mini Stop to get some drinks. One bottle of Red Horse, extra strong beer and a small flask of 80 proof, cheap, clear stuff set me back about 100 peso (or $2). We returned to the house and me and the girls drank while we all chatted. Dylan and his wife did not, of course, partake. Eventually, as we drank into the wee hours, people started disappearing. Jhana prepared a guest room for one of the girls. Eventually Dylan and Jhana went off to sleep and I was left chatting about every subject under the sun with the remaining girl. We talked about this place in which we live. We talked about the island from whence she came, which I have heard is an amazingly nice place worth visiting if not settling down. We talked about strange and supernatural things, a common topic here. We basically had a good time and a lot of laughs. Then the making out started. The rest is... well, the rest.