The element of… surprise

Netnet Camomot

IF only we can ask terrorists, extremists, and gun-wielding people with unknown motivation to please avoid places that are familiar to us. So that each time we see videos and photos of their attacks, memories won’t do instant replays in our hearts and minds.

Resorts World Manila is the perfect staycation venue for one who prefers a controlled environment, i.e., airconditioning all throughout your stay, with a few non-airconditioned walks if you’re crossing the street to, say, Remington Hotel.

And it’s the perfect venue to stay in if you want to avoid traffic in going to the airport. It’s located right across Naia Terminal 3, and recently opened is Runway Manila, a walkway that connects Naia 3 to Newport City, the area where Resorts World Manila is located.

It has hotels, stores, restos, a casino, a theater for the performing arts, and a mall with its own stores, restos, and cinemas.

You could stay in one of the hotels, dine in its restos, go shopping, watch a concert at the theater, and watch movies in the cinemas. The gambler would of course stay in the casino for hours, even 24/7 if his health can allow that much, uh, fun. The non-gambler can enjoy his nightlife, too, at the casino–listening to bands while having drinks and pulutan.

While dining in one of its restos last year, we noticed a commotion. Celebrities tend to prefer the place and we thought this was another celebrity sighting. But a celebrity with many bodyguards? Oh, it was PNoy. All we could do was stare while he and his bodyguards were on an escalator to the upper level.

This same commotion could have been observed by its patrons as the gunman walked to the casino. A lady security guard did see him at the entrance by the parking area and she fled to, uh, secure herself?

A concert at the Newport Performing Arts Theater has become a factor whenever I’m deciding to whether watch a concert or not. I was staying then at Remington, with nothing to do for the night. I don’t gamble, and my usual nightlife companion at the casino is a non-gambler nephew who happened to be elsewhere that time, so, what to do for the earlier part of the night? Aha! The theater! But the performers for that night were not familiar. I had no idea who they were. Unknown. Never heard. Still, I bought a ticket, then had dinner at Crisostomo–the most delish paksiw na pompano! Yum! And waited for many moments to pass. 30 minutes before the concert, I went to the theater, and thought this would be the perfect time to learn how to take selfies.

Finally, the concert began, and I noticed, Oh, they do sound like them. As promised by the show’s poster. I don’t remember now who they were supposed to sound like. But they did.

You know how it is. Say, if Pinas can’t have all of Earth, Wind & Fire’s original members, it may have at least the soundalike.

The concert was over, I texted my nephew, and at last he was at the casino. I went there, and guess who were singing with the band–yup, the performers at the concert. Talk of encores.

I now look back to that concert whenever I have to decide if this concert I’m buying tickets for right now is worth it. If I could watch a show featuring unknowns and still survive, I can watch one more.

Survival was the main word, too, for those who were at Resorts World Manila around midnight on Thursday. That’s when the gunman entered the casino, resulting in speculations of this being another terrorist attack, no thanks to the ongoing Marawi siege. But the authorities insist it’s a lone gunman who tried to steal P113 milllion worth of casino chips.

Witnesses, however, also insist that there were two gunmen.

Meanwhile, more than two gunmen are here, there, and everywhere in Marawi. You get this feeling that the government will end up blasting all of the city’s houses and buildings to smithereens, and still not able to arrest the terrorists they’re bent on arresting.

The collateral damage of the military’s airstrikes now includes 11 soldiers. The country’s telecommunication system is one of the worst in the world, but communication inside the complicated world of the military is still expected to be as precise as their surgical strikes.

They now have to explain to the soldiers’ families: How could something like this happen?

Resorts World Manila also has a lot of explaining to do. How could a lone gunman create that much havoc?

It’s the element of surprise. Even surprise parties are not appreciated by celebrants who prefer to be dressed decently when there’s a videographer recording the surprise. Imagine this. It’s 12 midnight, you’re sleeping, someone is knocking on the bedroom door, you open the door, and…surprise! Family and close friends are all there, shoving to your face a birthday cake whose candles you’re now obliged to blow. You have not combed your hair, unidentified objects are stuck to the corners of your eyes, and the thinnest of nighties could barely hide your, uh, assets. Happy birthday!

But recent incidents in Pinas are not making us happy at all. In case you haven’t noticed, those incidents have already “visited” the country’s three island groups–Bohol for Visayas, Marawi for Mindanao, and Manila for Luzon. Based on Facebook posts, though, these have not stopped Pinoys from enjoying their summer vacations. Well, as Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”