Coconut News Ngayon 2012

Meet up with my friends from grade school. I was an hour late, and in my defense, I really was working on something very important at the office. Anyway, we had dinner at the Mango Tree in Bonifacio High Street, then I brought them to one of our events, which was happening a couple of steps away, literally.

You might recognize Sanidine from the series of adverts she did for Neozep. You might recognize Daisy from the series of Youtube videos I posted of her throwing up on the street. You might recognize me as the guy who almost starred in Magic Mike, had Channing Tatum not slept his way to the project.

But, can you recognize these kids?

Yeah, that's the three of us back in grade school. We were doing a spoof news report for class. We wrote the jokes ourselves, and starred in our own sketches.

As you can see, there is a bit of a difference in how I look like then and how I look like now.

No wonder one of the girls from our batch didn't know who I was.

The girl on the right is Ian. She was the prettiest girl in school back when we were in 5th grade.

She happen to be at the same restaurant that night.

"OMG, you really should go and say HI to her, Malvar!" Daisy said, sounding like she would pee her pants anytime if I don't oblige.

"YES! You absolutely must!" added Sanidine. Apparently, in the hour that they were waiting for me to arrive, they've caught up with Ian over appetizers.

So, bullied by two lovely ladies in plunging dresses, I approached Ian--who, it bears repeating, was the prettiest girl in school when we were little.

"Hi!" I said. I like using hi as an opening. You can never go wrong with a simple opening.

"Yes?" she said.

"Ian! It's me! Malvar!"

"Oh..." she said. "And where do know each other...?"

And then it hit me. I was never in the same class with this girl. I transferred to our school in FIFTH GRADE, and she was gone after the SIXTH. And we never shared even ONE SUBJECT.

And she was the prettiest girl in school, while I looked like the boy who died of pneumonia and came back thanks to science.

"Uhm." I hate saying uhm. It's a weak closing. "We were... I mean... you were in school and I was there and... never mind."

I ran back inside the restaurant and stuffed my face with Thai food.

"Oh, what did she say? She's so nice, isn't she?" asked Daisy.

"She doesn't know who I was," I mumbled, in between sips of Tom Yum.

"Well, it's been years, you changed a lot..." said Sanidine.

"No," I told them. "She has no idea who I am!"

"That's impossible," said Daisy. "You're..."

"Oh my god," they chorused. Finally, they realized how insignificant I was in grade school.

"It's so embarassing!" I said. "She looked scared. I scared her! I scared Ian. Great job, guys."

We burst out laughing.