Camaguin Island, (part V), Pedro's Restaurant and Bar

Okay, one last post about Camaguin. I had to leave this till last but it was one of the greatest times I have ever had at a bar. And not that this is necessarily a good or bad thing but I've been to a lot of bars! For those of you who think you might go to Camaguin someday I would highly recommend going to Pedro's. The food is nothing special. The service is fair to middlin'. But Friday and Saturday nights are a hoot!

While at the falls, Mally, Shella, Alana and I ran into a Canadian guy named Jim. He was from Edmonton. Big guy riding a big enduro that he rented to get around the island. I think he said it was 700 pesos a day. Next time I'll probly do that. He informed us that Pedro's might be a good place to go. Boy was he right!

The reason I left this till the end is because I didn't bring my camera that night. What a mistake that was! So all these shots were taken by Mal and Shella. Thanks for sending them guys.

So we were gonna meet Jim at around 8. We got there and waited a bit but decided to order. I wanted to make sure they had gin. They said they didn't. I was disappointed but I noticed some criss-cross wooden shelving with bottles of whiskey in it. I went over and started pulling out bottles to see if any were gin. The LAST bottle I pulled was a bottle of, (believe it or not), San Miguel gin. So I asked if they had tonic. Nope. But I settled for Sprite. I ordered a gin and Sprite. The next thing you know the waitress is bringing the entire bottle of gin to the table with one small bottle of Sprite! I gathered mixed drinks were not very popular orders at Pedro's.

After we finished eating, just after 9, the band started playing. They were playing lots of really good music from my era. Mal and I really liked it. AC DC, Eagles, The Knack, Journey, Bob Marley, Joan Jett, The Police, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd etc. I had been told by Alana not to dance and since I'm not much of a dancer I was okay with that. Mal and I watched as others danced. Here's a pic of Shella dancing with some of the locals.

Then Jim shows up and proceeds to eat an inhuman amount of food! I mean this guy ordered three things off the menu then when I mentioned that I liked the buns that look like really big dimsum, he bought one of those for each of us. But he didn't drink. Said he used to but now he was off the sauce. After seeing him eat I can only imagine how he must have drunk! Probly a good life decision on his part. This is me talking with Jim. Notice that there is still plenty of gin left in the bottle. It was early in the night. He was an interesting guy to talk to. He'd done some drilling in the past so we talked a little bit about that. Then he told me that he used to operate a big crane and he was now retired. Then we chatted about his travels. He was doing a really quick tour of the Philippines and he told me where he'd been. I suggested a few places he should go and he wrote them down. Then he told me he was gonna go to Thailand next so I gave him some information on that too. Jim left quite early before the band really got hot. But as you can see by the sweatiness of the dancing pic, everyone was hot, not just the band.

As the night wore on Shella and Alana were dancing with the local guys and me and Mally were drinking. They ran out of ice so I started drinking warm G&S. Not the greatest but after about 10 or 12, who cares? I was pretty happy not to dance because I was pretty sweaty just sitting at the table drinking. So there was a lot of this:

You can't tell I'm getting a little bit drunk, can you? Alana ended up trying my Gin & Sprite and liking it so she drank a few too. That's more than usual for her. But I think she was perspiring from dancing too. Even though I wasn't dancing I wasn't bored. I would have been happy to spend the rest of the night emptying that bottle of gin and watching the band. They had a couple female singers and the one had a voice really similar to Janis Joplin. She sang Journey well. Than the guys sang too. All kinds of songs. But suddenly they started playing one of those songs that made both Mal and me say, "I can't believe they're playing this!" And we jumped to the dance floor. We had to. I just wish I could remember what song it was. Well I busted a few moves and Mal was getting funky in his bare feet and people were cheering, high fiving us, the place went crazy! The dance floor got really crowded and hot. But man it was fun!

I sat down after a few dances and noticed that my bottle of gin was empty. This was my reaction:

So I switched to beer. After downing a bottle of gin. And this may be an overshare but I didn't go to the little boy's room a single time that night! Hard to believe, but true. These are the crazy things you do when the atmosphere is just right. But it was about to get even crazier!

Round about then the band played "The Sultans of Swing". THAT I was into! So I went up closer to watch and gave the singer a 100 peso tip. He didn't know the words 100% but he heard me singing along so he handed me the mike. Just handed me the mike. So what could I do? I sang the last verses and airguitared during the solos with my San Miguel in hand. I was the Sultan of Swig.

There's a crowd of young boys fooling around in the corner. Drunk and dressed in their best brown baggies and platform souls. They don't give a damn about any trumpet playin band. It ain't what they call rock and roll. And the Sultans played Creole. Ahhh Creole. So the fat, yellow shirted man he steps right up to the microphone... and he says at last just as the time bell rings, "Good night, now it's time to go home." And he makes it fast with one more thing. He is the Sultan, yeah the Sultan of Swig. Shella got into the act too. She didn't sing that I can remember but I think she played the drums a bit. I went back and talked to the drummer a little too. He was a nice guy. I gave him a tip cuz by this time the band had hit its stride. EVERY song they played was a good one! And not a single stoppage! All night they played and played. I think they let us sing and drum just to get a little break. Here's the drummer and Shel shmoozing:

And here's my best Mark Knopfler impression. See my beer? I was bottlenecking, baby. At least in my mind I was the best guitar player in the world that night. But the hilight of the whole night for me was when the drummer handed me the drumsticks. And I'm not talking about chicken! No air drumming either! I was drumming in a live performance! Really! And not doing too shabby either. At least not to my drunken biased ears. And lots of high fives were exchanged afterwards so I couldn't have stunk too badly. What a gas! Go to Pedro's if you get the chance.

Look at me! Five minutes in a band and I already have groupies! Look at the smile on my face! I can't imagine how I could have had more fun. Do you see that white spot on my shirt just below the collar? That was the only dry spot remaining. I'm giving that shirt away too. Rob, Mark or Jen, whoever gets it, you may want to boil it before you wear it. lol. What a night! What a trip. I can't wait to get back there!