4/5 Fun Night! (Kung Maibabalik Ko Lang)

We are back from the Philippines, just in time for us to participate in the Philly Pinoy Bowling League Fun Night this past Friday.  See our dedication to this league, that we scheduled our vacation to end just in time for us to make it to what originally was scheduled to be our finals (naks, pa-epek pa!)?  It was great to see everybody again, although we did bowl while on vacation, at SM North EDSA with Joel's Daddy (our bowling Miyagi) and at the beach place we found in Batangas, Pico de Loro on the Hamilo Coast near Nasugbu, which had six lanes that were not too bad.  Lanes in the Philippines are great, but it is not so great to bowl with house balls and house shoes = we missed our gear!

The few bowlers that came on Friday and participated in Fun Night fit in a total of eight lanes with maximum three people per lane, which made for quicker play.   Three games were played:

1. Everybody's favorite 8-pin no-tap, where hitting 8 or more pins with your first ball is counted as a strike
2. The most dreaded lowest score, where you must try to get the lowest score but always hit a pin with each ball (coz gutter balls and misses are counted as strikes or spares!)
3. And last but not least, regular scratch scoring game = good practice for next week's finals 

My GoPapa Joel and I were missing our teams (they all had an early road trip scheduled the next day) so we played with Rachel on our lane, and with Ces, Bicoy and Commish Jay on the opposite lane (we were on lanes 21 and 22 near the new blue wall).   Lots of folks were out of town, less competition for the delicious palabok and chicken, and other scrumptious delights (marami kayong na-miss!). 

We started out hot with 8-pin no-tap, my Papa and me.  Joel C had previously gotten a 300 game at 8-pin no-tap at the Philly Pinoy Christmas Party Jingle Bowl this December, and so he was raring to do a repeat performance.  Art actually ended up getting the first 300 game that night = my-ayayay Bowleros, yebah, ang galing-galing!!!   Unfortunately for me it really nangangamoy jackpot na, but it was all a sad "could've been" *hikbi*. Made it perfectly to the 10th frame where my first ball was a strike, with many legit strikes as well in previous frames, but oh kung maibabalik ko lang ang 11th ball ko, it was a dud and did not hook/flip...too tentative was my release, and so i settled for a 282, still my first 200 game (200 daw muna....saka na yung 300), still excellent but oh what could've been!  So, of course, my very own GoPapa Joel, the ultimate clutch player, kept his focus and clinched his second 300 game at 8-pin no-tap, Go Go Go Papa!!! We are winner!  So here is the print-out of our scores, still my first 200 game (yippee!) and Joel's second 300 game.

Score Sheet for Philly Pinoy Fun Night: 8-pin no-tap for Jing, Rachel and Joel

On to lowest score, where the "precision shooters" prevail... That i certainly was NOT, lasing ang bola ko, panay ang strike at spare o kaya'y kanal (could not throw my spare ball right) kaya I had a "low score" of 170, ngiihh!   Prize for lowest score goes to Angie for the gals (HANEP) and Art (he was ON FIRE) for the guys.  But the Sotomangos were in the running to win it all until wayward balls wrecked havoc on the Brothers A (Andrew and Angelo), ayayay!  Matitinik ang Sotomango, sharpshooter!  At si Art, Bowler of the Night, wowowee!  At hindi pa tapos ang gabi!

OK, huling hirit, we played scratch score for regular game (although we enjoyed 8-pin no-tap so much we were considering doing that again....).  All my powers were gone, I was happy to get a score in the 120 range, need practice with spare shooting!  So nag-cheer nalang ako sa aking idol na si Rachel, sa aking GoPapa Joel, kay Ces na maraming "surprise" strikes (say, getting better, ah! may sapatos na, bola na sunod!), kay Bicoy na super-improved at maraming good shots, and of course cheer ako kay Commish, na nagbilang din ng maraming strike!  I don't know who had the best scores in the scratch scoring game, coz at the end of the night, fatigue and jetlag was setting in...

So ended the Fun Night: super fun nga, 'no?    But of course, I cannot say bye-bye  and end this blog without another song, di ba?  So here are my words to "Kung Maibabalik Ko Lang" (as sang by Regine "brumhilda, ang taas ng boses mo" Velasquez):

 

Sayang lang

ang dugo, luha

at pawis ko

Ang pangarap ko

nawala nang parang

'sang bula

 

Sayang

bakit hindi

ko naibato ng tama

Pinaghihinayangan ko

ang lahat

 

Kung maibabalik ko lang

Ang bolang ika-labing isa

Ito ay iingatan ko

Babatuhin ng tama

Kung maibabalik ko lang

Ang ika-labing isa kong bola

Ang gusto ko ako'y di na muling magsisi pa

(at magwagi na!)

Ang gusto ko ako'y di na muling magsisi pa!

Kaya tuloy ang practice, mga kapatid!  Practice, practice, and more practice is the key to success. 

Kita-kits sa finals: it will be Part 2, Rematch of the Lima Bean Battle with Lords of the Lanes (LOL) vs. BowlStars (BS), battling for 7th and 8th place (naks, akala mo, contender....).  Good luck to all the teams as they prepare this week.

Bowl, baby, bowl!