HAYAHAY

Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental is not a foreign place to me.  In fact, this is the place I used to frequent back in college with a few chosen friends and is also where I learned to speak the Bisaya dialect like a native.  Those years ago, I had been an on and off visitor and consider myself knowledgeable of the ins and outs of what Dumaguete was all about.  That was more than a decade ago.

Through the years, I have been back but never really considered the changes and the new things that this dynamic city had to offer.  The visits were few and far apart.

Today, after the pre-oral defense of a friend, we decided to hit the night spots which honestly I have not been familiar with for years.  We took a ride and found ourselves in a strip of bars along one part of the popular Boulevard; several drinking places that were filled with people from all ages and who at first glance seemed to have come as they were when they decided to go and have fun.  And fun was the agenda of the night.

Along this strip we found a quaint bar that is situated beneath a good sized tree house.  Hayahay Treehouse Bar and Viewdeck offered a view of the boulevard and much of the strip that was teeming with hundreds of locals and visitors; both local and foreign.  The ambiance was just what I wanted.

Wednesday night was reggae night and as we sipped on the mixed drink specialty of the house; Reggae Madness, a green tinted concoction of gin and pineapple, and Zombie, we were treated to the sounds of local bands playing the best of reggae.  The crown was ecstatic in Hayahay. 

We also decided to try some of the items in their menu.  Their own take on Sisig, Calamares were delectable.  I could not find fault on the classic Grilled Pork as well.  Hayahay is not only music and drinks but food as well.


For sure, I'll be seeing myself within the company of these reggae loving people sometime soon. Join in the music that induces the state of well being, well known and ready to be shared by those who frequent Hayahay Treehouse Bar and Viewdeck; worthy to be known as one of the new landmarks of Dumaguete City.

CATCHING FIRE

There have been a great number of books that have given me sleepless nights.  The very first that I can remember was way back in high school when I first read the Amityville book; and that because of the horror that my vivid imagination gave me.  After that, there have been an innumerable string of titles that I can barely remember the titles of, simply because I could not put them down as soon as I started reading.  But then, I can remember reading something that I had to pause in between chapters and think about what I have just read - that is, not until the second book in the Hunger Games series; Catching Fire.

After i virtually devoured the first of the series, I was totally prepared to be taken into the whirlwind of Panem after Katniss' and Peeta's victory.  As expected, the book delivered the twists and turns that though some have been forming at the back of my mind while reading the first book, others have totally unnerved me, but, totally in a good way.  If I though I was addicted in the first book, i'm totally much worst here in the second staging of the Hunger Games.

Katniss as always is the girl on fire.  The other cast of characters have been totally hard to hate and its hard to root for the main characters when some of the other tributes are equally as appealing.  Finnick, Johanna and the rest have given me stunned minutes as I imagine how they might look like.  The ending is as always a bomb!

I still can't wait to see the first of the titles on screen as Hunger Games open in theaters March 23, 2012 but now I have something else to watch out for, Catching Fire, out in theaters November of 2013.

Now I'm on fire as I am immersed in the third and final installment.

HUNGER GAMES

I have heard a lot of good things about the HUNGER GAMES trilogy by Suzanne Collins but for some reason, I did not have the push to read the book when I started by YA bookfest late last year.  It was only when I had nothing else to read that I finally got down to haphazardly read the first book of the post apocalyptic series.

And boy was I blown away.

The Hunger Games series is set in the future where the continent of North America, or what is left of it has been taken over by what is known as the Capitol; a pseudo-communistic government that is led by the snake and rose smelling President Snow.  The center, Capitol, is home to the rich and privileged while the rest has been divided into Districts.

In "celebration" of Capitol's win over the people, the districts are made to "sacrifice" two of its teens every year in a reality-television game of survival where the lone winner must kill each and every other tribute in the arena.  In its 74th year, the Hunger Games pits 24 youth whose cunning, skill and sometimes luck will eventually decide the victor.  It is a story of Katniss, of Peeta, of Gale and the rest of the cast who though some are silent in the book have made what could only be one of the most exciting premise I have ever read.

I was so immersed on Hunger Games that I lost tract of time and am currently devouring the next book.  Sad, I may be as the pages I have yet to read gets thinner, I hunger for the third book and am eagerly awaiting the movie coming out next year.

For those who wish to see the movie and is excited on how they look, here are the main cast of HUNGER GAMES coming out March of 2012.

KATNISS EVERDEEN

PEETA

GALE

PRIMROSE

CINNA

THRESH

RUE

GALE during the District 12 reaping

Katniss and Gale at the forest near District 12

Katniss as District 12 tribute

Peeta at his family's Pastry Shop