From Gimmick to Hayahay

While taking hopeless shots (yep, my Fuji E550 does not like darkness) of the sea of motorcycles just in front of Gimmick (photos at last paragraphs of previous story), I was aware there was a group of youngsters scattered by the roadside. All too many of them kept revving up those bikes it created a kind of noisy sweet music in my ears. At one time I even closed my eyes hard that my mind transported me quickly to when I was in 3rd year high school. Motorbikes were my life, really. But, the saner part of me prevailed, so I dropped the nostalgia and stood there waiting to flag the next tricycle that would pass by.

I saw a lanky kid in an offroader! The rider in me naturally eyed his bike I even had to tilt my head to try and read what bike-maker it was made by. He spotted me. In no time, the kid was in front of me saying “kumbangwa tumadachi, you want to ride?”. I calmly said “sige lang dong, mag-tricycle ra ko”. He let out a crazy “hehehe” and all the while his bike-riding companions were shouting at him that “the race” was due any moment. Then he darted off away from the place with the loudest roar he can make out of the bike and his friends shouted and clapped. He was gone!

Two or three minutes later, I see two front lights heading my way. Initially I thought it was a car approaching. Then the other light came a bit faster and I heard the same roaring thing again. So back came the lanky kid in his dirt-road bike grinning, a lighted cigarette in his lips but both hands on the bike. With a cool screeching drift that made his companions cheer and clap again, he raised both hands high up and exclaimed loudly… “Mr. Tourist, your limousine has just arrived”! And I could hear everyone around laughing; even the tricycle driver came in grinning – what with all the fanfare amongst these friends of probably 20 bike riding kids just in front of the gate of Gimmick!

So I attempted to hop into the trike. And the kid was just by the side of the passenger cab, making way for me to get in. With a bow, I jokingly said “arigatoo gozaimashita” then slapped him a bit hard on the abs. The response was… “oops, good thing it did not reach way down there” and we laughed. Before I finally went into the tricycle’s cab, I jokingly corrected him saying “hey, its not tuMAdachi, its toMOdachi”. The reply was a giggly, “ok, hai sensei, hai”! We laughed and I thanked him for getting my ride. The proud reply was “my pleasure sir, we are all here to help you enjoy Dumaguete”. Hmm, that was some kid, I thought! Boisterous, loud and crazy as they are, kids these days do have their own kind of courtesy – even gallantry!

Told my tricycle driver to deliver me to Hayahay and he happily obliged. As we cruised the highway, the driver asked “mga friends nimo, sir?”. I said no and that I just encountered them there at the gate to Gimmick. The driver was still saying something in an attempt to have a light conversation when all of a sudden a roaring motorbike came beside us, right side, and nearest me. Oh! It was this kid again, then he let his bike run slow to keep with the tricycle’s speed. I said, you again? And the reply was, “why is it against the law?!”. We laughed and so did my trike driver. The kid told me his race was not yet up so he decided to “escort” me all the way to Hayahay. Interesting… I was sitting in a moving tricycle and actually conversing with this kid while he was in his motorbike running along just beside. Interesting really!

At Hayahay, I asked the tricycle driver to stop and drop me a distance before the bar since it was teeming with a lot of people inside and out. A band was playing, the place was full to the roof and a rather big crowd of motorcycle-riding men and women were out on the road in front and across – obviously to just listen to the band music without the expense of ordering food and drinks from the bar. When I gave manong driver two ten-peso coins (yes that was more than enough), the kid was gone. But before I could even start walking towards Hayahay, there appeared the kid again… this time he had a waiter in tow and exclaimed “sir, this is Mark, one of the waiters here, he will take care of you”. Surprised, I said oh thank you, indeed.

Then it was my time to return the kindness… I asked the kid “since you have been stalking me anyway, why don’t you just join me?” After the laughter he said “after my race sir”! So I was ushered into Hayahay by the waiter. It was a bit of energy wading through a lot of tables with a lot of diners crowding everywhere

And I was settled at Hayahay. And the race was over. Then I had company. And the rest is history! Oh well… hey kid, you know who you are… ayo-ayo dong ha?!

For a chronology of stories on this trip, click the following article numbers: