UNCOMMON GROUNDS
AT COMMON GROUND CAFÉ
by Louie P. Oviedo

Full to the brim...that was how Common Ground Café was like on a Saturday evening. Good-looking women in spaghetti straps or tubes are all dancing with poise on the dance floor. Everybody's running wild. And oh boy was it hot, steamy hot inside the place---makes me wonder why they like it so much in here.

Was it the music? Nothing extraordinarily special about it, the DJs were handpicked from Venezia---maybe if I were dancing, I could've enjoyed it even more. Unfortunately, looks like there was no more room for me on the dance floor, it's literally overflowing. I was there, standing, watching them dance, I thought to myself, "Great place. Poor acoustics." The music was bouncing off its walls, but who cares, everybody's having fun.

In the words of Rommel Bernal, the Insatiable Party Giver of Common Ground, "Parang sinehan kami rito, isangdaan ang papasok, beinte lang ang lalabas."

After its formal opening last May 19, 1999, they became the number one party place in Malate in just one month.

"That would be based on our sales, the crowd, and our events. Paano, lahat ng tao ko, handpicked ko ang mga iyan. Iyon mga waiters ko, hinugot ko pa iyan galing Fashion Café at Friday's. Iyon mga DJs ko, pinag-aagawan iyan dito sa Malate, galing pa ng Venezia iyan. Tapos iyon mga bouncers ko sa labas, iyon isa ex-military, iyon isa naman NBI agent na suma-sideline dito sa gabi. Kaya iyon tsismis na nage-ecstasy kami dito, hindi iyan totoo. Paano binibitbit sa kwelyo ng mga bouncers ko palabas iyon mga gumagawa ng kalokohan," Rommel quipped.

You want to know how popular this place is? A bottle of pale pilsen beer costs something like Php80 per bottle---priced as the most expensive beer in Malate---yet, people are buying it. "Just glance at our wine list and you will see countless concoctions. You can order practically anything you want. Isa pa, bawal ang barat dito. Iyon ayaw uminom, pinapauwi ko. Pero if you want to party, definitely this is the place for you," he said.

Better look your best if you want to hang out at this place, aside from managing Common Ground, Rommel is also a talent scout for commercials. He was the one who discovered Lalaine Edson, Audrey Tan, and Tim Taylor. Some of the models in the new SMB commercial and the faces for the 1999 Levi's Bad Girls campaign in London were also discovered here. "Dito, bawal ang pangit. Kapag may nakita akong chaka, sinasabihan ko kaagad na mag-ayos naman sila," he exclaimed.

A short story from Rommel about Lalaine Edson: She is in a safe place. Should she decide to talk about her abduction in England, only one channel would have the exclusive interview with her. "Paano, sila lang ang nagpadala dito ng crew nila, sila lang ang tumulong sa amin. The rest, pulos paninira ang pinagsasabi nila kay Lalaine," Rommel clarified.

This I have to see---by the time it comes out.

Do I find the place pretentious? I have to admit, that was my first impression. But while I was standing there, I cannot help overhear the conversation happening behind me.

Guy: I'm the son of the mayor of M_ _ _ _ _ q _ i and with me is the son of the first district of P_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ n. So, do you want to dance?

Yeah right, and I'm the queen of England.

He kept asking the girl to dance with him, she kept on saying later, until in the end, she finally agreed. I was so engrossed with this guy's come on lines that the girl's friend, let's call her Nicole, asked me, "Ang yabang ano?," by the time the couple got into the dance floor.

Me: Huh?

Nicole: Nadinig mo ba?

Me: Alin? (feigning innocence).

Nicole: Binagyo ka ba?

Me: Medyo hinangin lang (nagpa-buking din).

That was fun but very unethical. Obviously, I do not have the makings of a spy.

To answer my question---nope, the crowd is not pretentious.

At first glance you would think they're like that. Once inside, you'll see them gyrating at the dance floor, waving their hands like they just don't care. Obviously, they just want to have good, clean fun. Some of them getting too much dose of fun---by the time the bell rings at 4 in the morning, you see well-dressed girls crawling out of the place because of too much drinking.