A PLACE CALLED INDIANA CAFÉ
by Louie P. Oviedo

As you step into this secret hole which lies on the third floor of the Pan Pacific Hotel, a cave complete with stalactites and stalagmites from the entrance down to the den, you feel a sense of adventure is about to happen. Not only do you see a picture of Harrison Ford hanging in one of the walls behind the bar---look up and you will see ropes suspended on the ceiling as you cross the room. Inspired by the three-part adventure movie, Indiana Jones, thus, the name---Indiana Café.

It was already twelve midnight when I stumbled upon Ruben. He stays in the Pan Pacific Hotel and a balikbayan who haven't been in the Philippines for over twenty years. In his search for fun and friends, Ruben happened to stumble into this place. He was having jetlags, could not sleep, decided to go downstairs, heard the music streaming from this place and went in for a drink. "I heard music and followed it, I didn't even know what its name was until you mentioned it. Now I know it's Indiana Café," he said.

Ruben, I learned, was on his first week stay in the Philippines. He is a doctor, already in his fifties, and was wearing a sport shirt with cargo pants when I met him. He is one hip and ultramodern grandpa---he is no dirty old man. It's just his hobby to surprise people out of their wits just so he could see their reactions.

"I learned about the Pan Pacific Plaza through the Internet. I made reservations via the e-mail and the woman, after thanking me for choosing this place, mentioned that if I would be needing anything more, she was "at my service". My wife and I read that, she suggested I should ask this woman for a date since she informed me that she was at my service then see how she would react to it. The woman declined my invitation stating that it was not ethical. In the first place, she shouldn't have said the "at your service" if she can't do all the things that I ask her to do."

I then asked what he thinks of Indiana Café. "The people here keep on calling me "sir", same thing when I go out they all call me "sir", I keep on telling them to call me Ruben because that is my name. Don't call me "sir", it makes me feel old. The music is very catchy but nobody dances, there should be dancing here. It's my only complaint, the people are too stiff."

The manager, Stanley Apo, points out to him that most Filipinos are too conscious of what other people will say and are basically shy, to which Ruben replied, "Why should I be shy? I don't care what people would say as long as I'm having fun and the person I'm with is having fun. I like the music so I'll dance. There should be dancing in here."

I asked him what keeps him coming back despite the fact that people don't dance.

"I like it here 'cause I can talk to the people even until five in the morning. I like the people. On the scale of one to ten, I'll give them a ten. The food, I'll give it an eight. But, I must admit I stay here for the company."

I asked Stanley about his reaction to this, "I am thankful for people like Ruben---he tells it straight to my face what he does not like. One of my staff approached me and told me that Ruben keeps on complaining to them, I told them that they should be thankful they are hearing his complaints. Be more afraid if you hear no complaints because sooner or later we might find ourselves on the newspaper with a bad review."

A NOTE TO FIRST-TIMERS:

If you are planning to visit Indiana Café one of these days, I suggest you try their Caesar's Salad, Oysters Rockefeller and Menage Au Trois.

Their Caesar's Salad has been liberally garnished with herbs and spices---delicious. One thing the croutons, bacon bits and lettuce have in common, they are all crunchy.

The Oysters Rockefeller I would recommend for pulutan since their oysters are very big, sumptuous, slightly spicy and very tasty. This is best eaten when it's hot.

The Menage Au Trois is a crepe filled with three kinds of berries, namely: blueberry, strawberry, and raspberry. It has sponge finger biscuits underneath then topped with vanilla ice cream. I was already full when they served me this. It is not too sweet, and you can taste the fruits in every scoop.

They also let me try their Chicken Arabiata, I do not like the way the spaghetti tasted. Their spaghetti sauce tasted more of tomato sauce.

Their ladies' room is clean---complete with tissues in every cubicle. The place reminds me of the ladies' room in UP's Palma Hall wherein you can find tissues, candies, powder, lotion, sanitary napkin, a woman who sells these things, hangs out in here and cleans it every now and then.