NOOKS AND CRANNIES GETAWAY
by Louie P. Oviedo

A fifty-one year old houses this latest nightlife hangout down at Bocobo Street, Malate. This place has an area of one thousand square meters of pure, raw entertainment down to the bones thus the tag line "entertainment mousetrap" this side of Manila.

Compared to their old place in Greenhills, which was closed last February 1999, this place's only form of entertainment was through its nightly live performances. Ratsky Malate not only entertains its visitors through their live performances, it also houses a semi-fine dining restaurant, a coffee shop, KTV rooms where you can sing your night away, a cigar room, function rooms, and a billiard table.

As soon as you step into Ratsky, you will be asked to wait at their lobby, beside it will be their Zarafisimo (short for Sarap mismo), their dining place, while opposite the lobby will be the cashier's desk which has souvenirs (e.g. t-shirts) with the name Ratsky on it---a local impression of Hard Rock Café or Planet Hollywood. While behind the reception table would be their big staircase leading to their second floor where one can find the KTV rooms which they named Earport.

On ordinary nights, you'll be asked to pay the fee of Php300, your entrance fee which also has consumable drinks and food that goes with it. But if there's a celebrity performing live, it can go as high as Php600 to 700, as with the case when Rosanna Roces had her show.

Once you are allowed by their securities to enter Ratsky, that's the only time you get to see their stage where a live band plays neatly tucked almost behind the staircase. If you are one of the early birds who arrived, choose to be seated at the middle. The area has its posts located at the middle that should you ever choose the sides, you can no longer see the performers and just have to content yourself with watching them through their television sets which are by the way hung on each of these posts.

At the back of the audience's tables is another smaller, steel, spiral staircase that leads to a more private mezzanine where their celebrity guests prefer to stay. It has velvet drapes which they can close and peep into as the show progresses. It also has a tv set, two sofas and two coffee tables. About 16 to 25 people can squeeze into this place. I was informed that this is where Rosanna Roces stay with her friends everytime she visits Ratsky. And, if you would want to have your stud party, your bridal shower, or any kind of party which you'd want to be kept private, reservations can be made with a fee of Php3,500 for the place they call the Spiral.

Should all the tables in the first floor become occupied and you have no place else to place yourself, have no fear, chances are their second floor has still a space for you.

The Railing, the one on the second floor which is placed directly above the stage. You can either stay standing so you can lean over to watch the show below or stay seated and watch the show on the their tv. This room has peach walls with purple and green linings and can accommodate the extra 300 people the first floor can no longer accommodate.

The comfort rooms are clean and are reliably place at almost every corner you turn to. However, I was not impressed with the acoustics of this place. The sounds tend to bounce because most of the walls are cement coated with paint. The posts near the stage on the first floor did not help with tempering the sounds either since they get to pass by all the nooks and crannies in this place then bounce back from all directions.