A Rocking Time

Cubao X—aka the Marikina Shoe Expo in Cubao behind the old Rustan’s—is quite the place to be now. Or so I’ve heard. It’s a booming little cul de sac now brimming with art galleries and other little curious shops, with events like exhibits, gigs and film screenings thrown in.

It’s really just about 15 minutes away from home, but there was always something more pressing to attend to than checking out the new stuff brewing over there. After all, just a block away is the supermarket, the mall, and the restaurants we turn to when we’re to lazy to cook.

Tonight, though, the restaurant we chose was Bellini’s. It used to be the find in that corner of the world, before the area was developed into the bohemian locale it’s turning out to be.

It was supposed to be a quiet night of pizza and family time, with a bit of catch up time sneaked in with Kaz who was at a café nearby. But Matthew discovered that across the restaurant was a place far more interesting. It had turtles swimming in the aquarium, and other aquariums with lots of fish in them. The table tops were designed to be aquariums themselves, with a little fish swimming under your plate, if you please. The extent of my observations ended there, as I didn’t even get a chance to see what it was they actually served. I was too amused with Matthew making friends with a boy and his sister; he must be four and she must be one. He was distraught when they left, but was comforted when he saw a “big dog!” sitting outside.

Kaz had told me that there was a Locked Down gig going on the other side of the road, so we headed there afterwards in time to catch Sandwich setting up. We said our hellos—most of them meeting Matthew for the first time. It certainly was nice to see old friends, and even nicer that it came so naturally for me to have my family with me too.

When the first song began, I thought it was too loud for the boy. I covered his ears, and we led him farther away. We didn’t realize how fixated he was on what was going on, until we were walking away. Matthew refused—he wanted to stay.

He watched, he bounced, he clapped and asked for more. My son is one rocker, no doubt about it now. He loved the live band vibe, and got all hyper running around between songs and making comments throughout the set. I almost thought we was going to run in front of the band and dance, but I think he got shy so he turned back. We waited for Cambio’s first song, then it was really time to go home. Too bad that it was already way past bedtime, and we had come unprepared—I need to find something to protect his ears with.

When we got home, the plan was to bring the boy to the bedroom while Armand was to spend some downtime with his guitar. When Matthew saw the setup, he exclaimed, “Daddy, dance!” We had an impromptu little jam, with Matthew asking for his toy drumkit. It has been packed away for a while, since it’s been quite the season for dinosaurs and giant robots. I have a suspicion that it’s time for some music-making business, and hopefully some more gigs to catch too.