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Ruins
revisited
Finally,
a beerhouse devoted to music, not out-of-tune
voices trying to ape the originals in videoke
joints.
The
former Ruins (now renamed Harong ni Lola, after
some nut applied for the name when Ruins closed
in the mid 90’s) reopens today, Feb. 28, in
San Roque. Those who patronized the place for
its ambience and jazz pieces are in for a
surprise, unpleasant for the purists.
Gone
is the main entrance near the street corner.
When Ruins closed with the departure of one
partner for Germany, main man Freding walled it
off when he moved in with his family. The new
operators, Kag. Paul Sumalde and Isla man Jerry
Tabirao, fenced off the front with “kagingking,”
with the new door opening to a view of the
former fountain area.
The
musty, moldy two-foot thick Spanish-era walls
have been painted over, the white hue making the
interior too bright. Oldtimers will miss the
white wall on which they signed their names in
Pentel pen when the original opened in `92.
Gone,
too, are the low stools fashioned out of old
wooden posts. What present butts will rest on
are Cofta monobloc stools that would guarantee a
backache in 30 minutes. With the old,
brown-lacquered tables probably chopped into
firewood along with the stools, waiters now lay
down the beer on similar, two-inch thick slabs
of wood trunks, painted an ugly white, too.
The
antique (can a 70’s turntable be that old?)
Radiowealth stereo console is missing, probably
a victim of the fire that struck the Alcala
residence two years ago. Now, a Sakura VCD/MP3
player bought from some Muslim trader in Quiapo
plays music ranging from Frank Sinatra to the
Carpenters, Billy Joel to Bread, jazz selections
to Big Band ones. The sound, though, is great,
courtesy of four speakers plus two small
subwoofers placed strategically in the
medium-sized main hall.
The
cook listed the “pulutan” as sisig,
calamares and sinalpungan, with barbecued
drumsticks added on grand opening night. He says
they also sell snacks and quick meals during
daytime, which the old Ruins group deigned to
perform as they all woke up late with heavy
hangovers.
The
small fountain is being excavated after some
sect turned it into a garden way back. The
cottages at the side, which provided some
privacy to those who desired anonymity, have yet
to be installed.
While
the new owners would be well advised to listen
to the complaints of oldtime Ruins customers, we
nonetheless welcome a return to an old haunt.
There is nothing more relaxing after a hard
day’s work than hunkering down on the wooden
sala set, chugging bottles of cold San Miguel
and picking on fried “libro” dipped in
“limon” and “tauyo,” with the familiar
strains of jazz playing in the background. See
you there this evening.
Classhomes,
not classrooms. This is the radical change in
the design of schoolbuildings being sought by
public school teachers and parents particularly
in rural barangays.
Already,
some of them, through the Parents-Teachers
Association, are undertaking the conversion of
their individual rooms into "classhomes"
by adding a toilet cubicle each.
This
is an idea which is long overdue. For decades
now, we have been using schools as evacuation
centers. With the addition of a CR cubicle right
in the individual classrooms, children would not
have to run in the rain or risk a snake bite to
relieve themselves.
Perhaps,
government engineers should consider school
buildings with concrete slab roofing or, if
funds are scarce, GI roofing with concrete
gutters and rafters; provision of comfort room,
small kitchen and drainage lines; and, aluminum
jalousie windows with steel grills and built-in
typhoon-guard slots. In addition, DECS people
can supply them with stackable tablet monobloc
armchairs. Now, if only we can get the DECS,
DPWH and Congress to turn over school building
funds to functioning school boards...
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