Two cold bottles of Red Horse beer were slid down our wooden table. In front of us, the late afternoon sun was filtering through the coconut trees. On the beach, a group of kids were playing a serious game of Frisbee while tourists frolic across the glittering waters of Boracay. On the horizon, a row of paraw boats were waiting for the sun to set. We were at Cocoloco Boracay—with sand under our feet and a cold beer in our hands—it probably can’t get any better than this.

We overslept. Awkwardly sprawled like drunks on our hotel’s freshly made sheets, we snoozed the remaining part of the afternoon after binging away on crisply fried chickens during lunch. We were exhausted. From the day-long connecting flights from Lombok to Bali and Labuan Bajo, we fell into a deep stupor that lasted exactly an hour later than our scheduled wake up time to attend a sunset cocktail at one of the highest points of the island.

COLORFUL BOATS DOCKED ALONG LABUAN BAJO’S SMALL PIER

We arrived in the town of Labuan Bajo in Flores a little after lunch. The town is small, with narrow dusty streets lined with hostels, souvenir shops, diving centers, restaurants serving Western dishes and local warung eateries. Along its sidewalks, we spied European backpackers, barefoot, donning their Bintang singlets and totally unmindful of the afternoon heat. Indeed, this town is a popular base camp for travelers wanting to explore the nearby Padar, Rinca and Komodo Islands.

Baguio City has the perfect weather for al fresco dining, but it’s even more perfect for outdoor drinking. Before discovering 108 Session Road Café, Bohemian Café was our go to place when we wanted a bucket of beer in the City of Pines.

BOHEMIAN CAFE’S AL FRESCO AREA

Located at the corner of Lower Assumption and Session Road, its setting is perfect for people watching. We’d usually sit ourselves on its outermost wooden table, almost kissing the sidewalk, before ordering our favorite drink, Red Horse Beer. The street intersecting Session Road is busy enough for an entertaining afternoon session. And yes, we usually frequent this place during the daytime, 108 Session Road Café being still closed during those hours.

Session Road has always been special to me. I love walking along its chilly sidewalks, dodging both locals and tourists garbed in sweaters, boots, and bonnets. I love the many shops and restaurants inside both new and old buildings. I love how during rainy Baguio days, we’d hole up on a second floor veranda of a certain bar and simply watch the passing cars along its slick roadways, beer in hand, stories passed around.

That certain bar, 108 Session Road Café, is located at the old La Azotea building, the same one where celebrated filmmaker, Kidlat Tahimik’s quirky Oh My Gulay! can be found. But we frequent La Azotea, not for OMG’s leafy offerings, but for a few hours of beer and acoustic music.

Fire! Out! Out! Out! We were herded outside J.J. Sports Bar Paranaque, not because the building was about to be razed, but because… Oh well, okay, there is indeed a fire, a fire dancer to be exact, waiting outside to twirl and spit fire to the ooohs and aaahs of the bar regulars. We all stood mesmerized by the performance as fiery streaks of light bloomed through one of Airport Road’s side streets. It was one of my favorite bars’ first anniversary, and it was turning out to be a hot one!

IT’S A PARTY AT JJ’S SPORTS BAR PARANAQUE!

DADA & VEICKA, EGGING J.J.’S CROWD

We arrived at J.J. Sports Bar at around nine in the evening. It was a Saturday and the place was packed to the rafters. People were already having a good time but the night was still young. Hoots mixed with laughter rang throughout the first floor area as the tandem of Dada & Veicka tickled the crowd’s funny bones.

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Guitar chords jangle through the room as I lifted a bottle of cold Red Horse beer to my mouth. The notes progressed into a verse and the crowd started to clap and cheer. It was almost nine in the evening and I was at the second floor of a posh bar somewhere along Parañaque City’s Airport Road, J.J. Sports Bar.

NEW COCKTAILS AT J. J. SPORTS BAR PARANAQUE

Craving for plate of classic tapsilog from Maty’s, my feet led me to the streets of Parañaque City once more. It was a long way from where I live but I simply have to sate my cravings before it drives me mad. It has been years since I’ve had it.

With nothing else to do right after, I decided to check out J.J. Sports Bar, a restobar I visited a few months back when I arrived too early at the NAIA Terminal 4 for a flight. My timing was spot on, it seems they’ve got something new up their sleeves, an acoustic night!

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A display cabinet filled with boxing, football, racing, and basketball mementos—some even signed by their respective sport heroes—stands right at the heart of a sports bar at one of the unlikeliest places in Parañaque City.

I was invited to cover this bar’s opening, which was graced by not a few PBA basketball stars, but I was on the northern part of the country, busy revisiting Vigan City. A few weeks after, en route to Terminal One of the Manila International Airport for a flight outside the country, I decided to visit the bar rather than wait at the airport and see what the fuss was about.