beer in tagaytay

when i woke up this morning i was in a car... a shirt over my head and a splitting headache smothering my scalp. it didn't surprise me though, because i know that before i slept i was staggering towards my seat in the car and we had just finished eating bulalo right across the Day's Hotel in TAGAYTAY!

yep, that's right, i was in tagaytay a few hours ago... trying to get as much alcohol in my system as much as i can, trying to run away from nosy policemen trying to implement the liquour ban. damn my liver hurts...

tagaytay has definitely changed all this time since i was last there. starbucks is just around the corner. light is everywhere, and everyone seems to be awake even at 2 in the morning.

in my drunken stupor i was talking about my favorite topic: living. i was telling claire, aaron, richard and garett how life is like... well drinking beer.

it may be bitter, most of the time... but you kinda like it once you get used to it. at first you just swallow then close your eyes as hard as you can. then, you'll realize that its not all that bad. later, you begin to appreciate the soft malty flavor of the beer in your mouth. you feel the alcohol evaporating into a smell distinctly its own. and you smile for another sip of your favorite beer.

a lot like life or living isn't it? sure life is hard, but when i came to swallow this hard fact, and loose resentments along the way, it dawned on me that life isn't all that bad, or that bitter. the bitter liquid in brown bottles has been transformed into an elixir that has come to symbolize bonding, being together and celebration.

yeah right, i can always say this, i am a beer drinker.

still take it from me. the only caveat is the same warning that is posted on beer commercials: drink moderately. it is so easy to become an alcoholic if you are not careful. but such good things are never meant to last. in life, i think we still cannot be addicted to it. because there is so much more to it, than what is it now. no example ever came close to this than my experience with JVP in 2002.

i thought that life is just that, but God proved time and time again that life is so much more than the glitz and glitter of makati. it is in fact, the faint twinkling of the sky in a clear night. it is the cool air blowing from a bus, it is the lush green fields of Bukidnon... it is so much more than the world as i knew before joining JVP.

admittedly, the most daunting task for me then, was to let go of what i have. and to hold on to something or someone new. and boy, am i glad i did just that.

the JVP experience helped me look at life more than the bottle (figuratively and yes... literally). there is always more to it than just that. and it paints a smile on my face because of its richness and its being out of bounds. at the same time it pains me because of "choice." there is only one thing that i can choose i cannot have it all. otherwise, i would be a drunkard like last night trying to funnel beer into my stomach. and aaron this morning, trying to pump alcohol out of his system.

drink moderately, because there is no such thing as a happy hangover.

and i know, there is always something better than beer.