The One With The Tilapia

The other day, I had the pleasure of having lunch with AM, an old friend from college. We were at this new place, courtesy of Dr. Vicky Belo. She wanted us to meet her newest celebrity endorser, Rhian Ramos. The 19-year-old has really great skin and seems to be a smart girl, judging by the way she answered our questions. But that's not my story.

I've known AM for years. We used to write stories for Matanglawin, Ateneo's Filipino paper. Those were good times. We were young and curious and thirsty for knowledge. It was also then that I found myself getting involved in the student movement; and many times, AM and I would meet at rallies and strikes. We may have been fighting for workers' rights but we always managed to have a good laugh. AM has a caustic sense of humor that gets me every time.

And so, there we were at this hot, new place. I ordered kare-kare while AM, who was conscious of his health (ah, the hazards of getting old), wanted the tilapia (at the suggestion of the waiter, by the way). While waiting for our orders, we listened to Rhian, nibbled on bread with bangus pate, and made jokes. Minutes and minutes passed. Soon enough, my kare-kare arrived.

It was yummy with just the right hint of sweetness, and we all digged in. Minutes passed, and P's bangus arrived. One by one, our colleagues' orders arrived. But still no tilapia. We followed it up with the waiters; and soon enough, there was Dr. V on the phone, pointing out to management that the tilapia was still missing. The sight of the beautifully dressed up Dr. V talking about tilapia was priceless.

Minutes later, one of the waiters approached AM and said, "Sir, the tilapia is working." Hmmm, ano kaya ang ginagawa ng tilapia? Bwahahaha