The Phenomenon That Is Called Sidebar...

“Tara, SB tayo…kitakits ha…”

How many times have I received a text message like that? Honestly, I totally have lost count. It’s almost as if it’s part of a daily greeting of sorts from those wacky bunch of people I call my buddies. And they never seem to fail to amaze me, as they do not have any second thoughts on hanging out in the same bar again and again. What IS really up with Sidebar Ortigas??!

I mean, it’s a not-so-chic bar that serves reasonably priced food and drinks while dishing out hip tunes ranging from alternative rock to dance music. It is usually filled to the brim during Fridays and Saturdays, mostly with yuppies or college students wanting to escape from their frantic and dull day lives. But hey, any other bar can offer that kind of thing, and even more. Some bars have lower prices, flashier ambiance, cooler crowd, and more interesting gimmicks than Sidebar. There’s not even a live performance of any sorts (except from the boozed-up crowd) that could really draw a wider range of people. No, Sidebar is just a plain and simple hangout per se. But why do our loony gang of freaks still go back to it over and over again?

Because it’s more than a bar to us, it’s our home away from home.

Yes, we do come there to have some fun (dancing like fools to our favorite tunes), drink booze (mostly beers and tequila with matching body shots), and have a good time (watching and flirting with beautiful gals). We watch other people do the same too, but we think we’re more than that. Not only do we hangout there until the wee hours of the morning getting wasted, but we also catch up on each other’s lives like some family affair. Achievements get to be lauded and recognized, problems get to be heard and advised, and stories get to be told and passed around. Seems pretty ordinary still, huh?

What really sets us apart from the rest of the Sidebar aficionados and regulars is that we go there with some kind of devotion and commitment. However, that devotion and commitment isn’t just meant for that place named Sidebar. No, what I’m talking about here is the dedication we have as a “barkada” to gather and be with each other without any sort of pretensions or disguises. We go there knowing that someone would listen to us, talk to us, or even help us with whatever burden we have, under the glaring sounds and drunken breaths. We know that we are in the midst of friends that will be there for you either in zany adventures or in rock-bottom dilemmas. And that’s what it is all about.

For us, Sidebar is just a means to be ourselves, even for a short period of time. A place of refuge and escape from everything and everyone that life throws at us. Yet it is still an important part of our lives, because just like home, we grow more each time we go there.

“Tara, SB tayo…kitakits ha…”

“O sige, papunta na ako…”