despedida con max

Last night was a complete family dinner affair at Max's in Remedios. We were complete - folks, children with loved ones and the third generation kids - because Hoot's going to fly back to WI.

We could have gone for expensive fine dining but that would be unfair to the kids who would prefer to get their hands on good tasty fried chicken.

When we entered the resto, the place was packed. The waiters had to set the tables for us out in their veranda fronting Roxas Boulevard. All eyes were on us when we walked in. I wasn't sure why. I guessed it was because we were plenty. But my special gurl had her own explanation. She thought it's simply because my family looks conyotic. Now I don't know where she got this idea. We're simple, dressed in casual and not even noisy. But when you get stares that make you want to walk cocky (personally it felt like some great gun-slinger of the west entered the saloon), you couldn't really help walk on the imaginary red carpet those strangers laid out for you.

I guess what made us more interesting is that the waiters had to quickly, as in parang natataranta, arrange our own place in the resto. We were set on the veranda, which, later that night, proved to be the best seat in the house. Little did we know that there was something going on at the Roxas Boulevard. There was a parade of people dressed up in costumes doing their own versions of the Ati-atihan. It was called the Aliwan Festival.

So there we were at the veranda on a long table, a large Pinoy bourgeoisie family gobbling fried chicken, kare-kare, sinigang na hipon, boneless bangus and lechon kawali. There were a variety of drinks served: lemon iced tea, light beer, sugarfree soda and mineral water. Conversations over dinner differed from one end to the other all at the same time. I had a prob catching up with the exchanges.

For my desert, I got plenty of hugs from my niece, Kate, for no reason.

Later that night, the skies were illuminated by a five-minute fireworks display. It was amazing! Like what I said, we had the best seat in the whole metropolis.

When we stood up to leave, the stares were still there. And then it just hit me.

It must be the first time these patrons have seen a family with most members working out in a gym.

It was the biceps after biceps after biceps.

And I thought it's because they saw us like adonises and venuses. Oh well.