Meetups @Greenbelt: Lunch With Humans, Coffee With Apes

According to scientists, marine turtles go back to the same beach where they were born to lay their eggs. Although I am not a marine turtle, I recently crossed the sea to go back to the same playground, not to lay eggs, but to play some more! Ha-ha-ha!

All those years of working in Makati City, my friends and I turned the commercial area into our playground of sorts, just play, not lay eggs! Ha-ha-ha! Although I don't miss the stress, I miss all the fun! And of course, my friends, too!

So, on my short stopover in Makati before I flew back to the Seoul, I had to squeeze in a brunch at my favorite restaurant in the Greenbelt area, Cafe Mary Grace, where I chatted with friends Cielo and Marlu in preparation for their next trip to Korea. This time, just like the UN Forces during the Korean War, the Korea Drama Queens plan to start from the Busan Perimeter and work their way up to Seoul. 

At Cafe Mary Grace, I just had to enjoy again their brunch of Vigan longganisa, which was the kind of taste I needed to savor before I left the country. It would have been nice if Mary Grace herself was there at her cafe; I could thank her again for the box of soft cheese rolls she brought for me in Seoul last spring.

And to walk off our brunch, Marlu accompanied me around Greenbelt as I looked for some footwear to bring back to Korea. (Some shoe brands are actually cheaper in Manila than in Seoul; that's why I get my formal footwear here). Ironically, Marlu ended up looking for shoes herself due to a footwear malfunction. And as we were moving from one shoe store to another, we bumped into Marlu's friend, Jessica Zafra, whose hospital stint went viral a few weeks back. Jessica told us she was already well; she was her witty self again during the chat.

Later that afternoon, over pizza, I met up with Amy and Jenelyn, who were my very helpful assistants when I used to live in Tambo, Paranaque. And while still full, I made sure I had a ticket to any interesting movie there was to watch at the Greenbelt Cinemas. 

                                    (My movie ticket)

                 (For a change, Starbucks not from Korea)

And before heading to the theater later that night, I grabbed a cup of coffee jelly frappuccino from that Starbucks at Legaspi St. (I'm not sure if this coffee jelly frappuccino is even part of the menu here in Korea). Since it was Saturday night, it was almost full at Dawn of the Planet of the Apes movie, where Caesar, a chimpanzee and the leader of the apes in the film, seemed smarter and had more integrity than the current brood of Philippine senators, congressmen and government officials. Ha-ha-ha!  

I was glad I watched that movie. For 130 minutes (and while I was sipping my frappuccino), the apes made me realize that, while we humans walk upright and don't have to swing between branches, we're not exactly better than other animals. The biggest threat to our own existence is, ironically, ourselves.  

And while wandering around the commercial area made me felt at home once again, I never expected to bump into a couple of college classmates, who were also based overseas. I guess they were in the area to also meet up with friends. Human friends. Ha-ha-ha! But unlike me, they said they didn't have time for coffee with apes.

            (A visit to the commercial area is never complete 
                 without visiting the Greenbelt Chapel)

So, thanks to my human friends for a fun time @Greenbelt, and thanks to the apes for the reminder that humans, even with their superior intelligence, are not the most trustworthy politicians. :-)