the bonfire

I'm pretty sure that all the other universities have gotten tired of us congratulating ourselves about the 3-peat, what with all the "Sorry, FEU" fanpages and online hype about the bonfire. But we can't help it. We're a proud bunch. 

Make that a proud, and extremely happy bunch, because last night, we got a huge bonfire, and today, we have NO CLASSZ POHWZ!!! 

At around 6 PM I ate dinner at Teriyaki Boy with my blockmates. It wasn't my first time, but I was still pretty ignorant about a lot of things - like WTH does sashimi mean. Alyssa was pretty unfamiliar with the menu too, so we ended up having what Tin was having: something guyusomething ramen. Twas good! :D

Afterwards, I attached myself to Jason (remember, my high school classmate from Kong Hua?) and we went to Pizza Hut with his girlfriends from the dorm, plus Larz (also my high school friend from Cagayan). I'd already eaten dinner, so I ordered their chocolate cake + ice cream. Omnomnom.

Do I look out of place or what? I was the only girl there wearing a T-shirt! -_-

After they had their dinner, we went to the Ateneo Grade School parking lot for the actual bonfire, and there we met up with Gerard (who, come to think of it, I've known longer than either Jason or Larz). There were people everywhere, and if you were from Cagayan de Oro, I could easily just tell you that the atmosphere was exactly like the Night Cafe, only twice as crowded, and you'd get the picture. But just in case you're not familiar scene, I'll tell you: 

There were tents set up around the parking lot, and some tents were dining areas set aside for the alumni. I found it funny that they set up all these nice tables with fancy white sheets, soft linen, and flower decorations just so the alumni could sit and drink beer and smoke. 

You could buy food at one of the food stalls (the same businesses you find at JSEC) near the Irwin Theater, and over on the other side you could get Ateneo shirts. The tent where they sold shirts that said "3-Peat Champions" was the most crowded of all. 

There was a stage set up at the far end of the parking lot, where all the bands would be playing later on in the night. Also, as I learned this morning from looking at my blockmate Pat's pictures, all the athletes were being holed up in the Irwin Theater where they were forced to sign autographs, take pictures, kiss babies, etc. etc.

Photo courtesy of Pat! :3

Some people spent their entire night lining up to go meet the athletes. Talk about dedication. The players are always around in the Cervini Caf anyway - if you had enough guts, you could always approach them and ask for an autograph or a picture or something. My blockmate did once, and Justin Chua didn't seem to mind. ;)

Oh, and the free ice cream? I wasn't able to get any. :( The line was extremely long, and I didn't wanna spend the night just waiting for ice cream. 

Anyway. We got there just in time. People were all dressed in blue and white. The school hymn was being played, and everybody was raising their fists in the air in true Atenean spirit. (I haven't gotten around to learning the lyrics yet. Bummer.) After that came FIREWORKS! They shot up from behind us just as the school hymn came to a close. Nobody even knew that was going to happen! It was just so beautiful.

After that came the BANDS! PAROKYA NI EDGAR!!! I was so psyched when they came on. All of them were wearing Ateneo sports gear. Chito had on a number 28 Ateneo basketball jersey with "MIRANDA" printed on the back. From what I've gathered from watching their performances (total number of PNE performances I've watched: three ._.) they know how to please the crowd. They're not like one of those sloppy alternative rock bands who just hang their heads and strum their guitars and sing (*ahem* Hale *ahem*). No. When the Parokya rocks out, they ROCK. OUT. Complete with all the headbanging, and the jumping on the speakers, and the occasional screaming - MAN. They're so awesome. At one point, somebody from the audience just got up on stage and Chito didn't mind at all. I will be a Parokya fangirl forevar. 

Spongecola and Chicosci were up next, but we weren't even around to hear them anymore because we retired to McDonald's to... Wait. Why did we go to McDo, anyway? 

Well the important thing is we left the bonfire to go to McDo, where we stayed, talking and talking for hours. And then a certain SOMEBODY suggested we go to Cantina, because maybe his crush was there (she wasn't), and now I know what Cantina is like. It's this very lame place full of drunk people who smoke and do stupid things. Never go to Cantina. NEVAR.

By then it was 12:30 AM, so my friends walked me back to my dorm. 

I have nice friends.

I'm not lying when I say CDO boys are the best company you'll ever find in Manila. 

That's Gerard, Jason, me, and Larz, with the bonfire in the background. 
And, no, I didn't photoshop this picture to make our faces all look smooth and weird. It was the cam's fault, I tells ya!