These pink lanterns welcomed us at the entrance of The Castle when we went there a few weeks ago. Joining us were Cal, Thorn, Ava, Bowzung, and Mrs. T. Of course we discussed, with as much vile judgment as we muster, our favorite gossip fodder: people with black hearts. There’s a classic Dr. A.B. Rotor collection of stories, The Men Who Play God, which is a difficult book to get hold of. Someone should re-publish it soon. Every time we talk about people with black hearts I can’t help but refer to them as The Men Who Play The Devil.

Cal brought Sake, which, as he explained, should be taken with food to enhance its taste. I took shots of it to drunkenness, and discovered that it went well with pistacchio-chocolate cake. Smoketh had purchased a samgyupsal set and had bought pre-packed side-dishes in the supermarket. Mrs. T grilled the meats.

As if I haven’t belabored it unnecessarily before, I am not the biggest samgyupsal fan. As someone who finds eating a chore, samgyupsal is the exact definition of a chore: grilling the meat, putting all the garnishes and condiments together, wrapping the meat in greens, and so on. I even avoid eating siomai, even though it’s a favorite, because of the effort involved in putting together the chili oil, calamansi, and toyo, then you have to wash your hands pa mid-preparation because of course you’ll get oil on your hands. Laziness trumps hunger.

Smoketh has recently purchased a massage chair and a treadmill. Bowzung and I went to her room to try it out, and the massage chair was fantastic. It has settings I didn’t know exist, and in a few minutes I felt like I was going to pee dark pee from rhabdomyolysis. It is like a full body industrial-grade vibrator.

Not with us were Helliza, who was swamped with corporate work; Chepoy Marasigan, who is currently in the US visiting her parents; Frichmond, because her husband, Mallorca, was on duty at the ER; and HTGOF, who flew to Barcelona to attend face-to-face classes for a business administration course. I suspect she plans to escape the Philippines permanently. We want to escape with her.

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