It’s the weekend. Do you know where you’re going? It’s a question that has tormented young people for ages. And though there have been solutions offered in food and beverage magazines or lifestyle magazines or websites of the ClickTheCity fare, those often come off as too impersonal, too safe, too timid and generally lacking in any sort of identity. The youth need a genuine voice to tell them where all the best spots are to party and get wasted. The youth want honesty and candor and the fearlessness to go to places that Big Media just won’t touch.
Hence The Amats Project (http://www.theamatsproject.com) was created. Otherwise known as TAP, the project’s goal, as stated in its mission statement, is “an effort to go around the Philippines in an effort to find the best (and worst) places to get drunk” and assures us that “there isn’t a beerhouse too shady, club too exclusive or music too loud” to hinder the pursuit. “More than just the alcohol, the food, the crowd and the music, TAP is about the experience.”
TAP has gone around the metro featuring all sorts of drinking joints from high-end places like The Distillery to quirky hole-in-the-wall dives like the German bar/deli Treffpunkt, by far the cheapest place to get a bottle of authentic German beer, and to the shady yet culturally-indispensable experience of the Pinoy beerhouse. Each place is given a thorough look-around, taking in everything from the ambiance, to the food, to the attractiveness of the waitresses. The articles are as diverse as they are honest, and TAP does not pull punches when describing the crowd, the price of beer or the music being played.
Celebs aren’t spared from the eyes of The Amats Project. In their Distillery escapade, they managed to catch the newly public couple of John Lloyd Cruz and Shaina Magdayao checking out the liquor stock before quickly dashing out to avoid the attention, in true celeb fashion. On the same night, TAP spotted Jake Cuenca doing his own little bit of partying with a pretty unusual crowd for someone of his fame. To top the night off, PBA superstar Willie Miller pulled up in his black SUV and got a nice little bottle of alcohol to take home. It ain’t exactly Gatorade, but who’s judging?
Also featured on TAP are college drinking stalwarts like Cantina along Katipunan Avenue, where you can find an eclectic mix of Ateneans, Skolar ng Bayans and Knollers. Then there are places like Murphy’s Pub in Legaspi Village, where there’s an interesting mix of retired white guys looking for love from the local ladies and geeks looking for a fight on Quiz Night. There’s also special coverage of events, such as the Coheed and Cambria concert (that was fueled by a Tanduay open bar), and the Manila Beer-sponsored Manila Design Week in Cubao-X. Finally, special alcoholic drinks and concoctions are also reviewed. TAP has written about the experience of drinking Black Absinthe, which is an illegal substance in some countries (but not here). All sorts of places, all kinds of stories.
In a country where beer companies are so powerful and wealthy that they’ve taken over airlines, power companies, farms and land developers, alcohol is as much a part of our social life as anything else. Heck, even schools are built with Tanduay and San Miguel money. Alcohol is one of the main fibers of our social fabric. And so, we need to find better ways and better places to get drunk and have a good time. It’s our patriotic duty.
The Amats Project is there to answer that call. The people of the Philippines, most especially the youth (those of legal age, that is), deserve a good time. TAP is there to point you in the right direction. If the point is to get a good buzz, TAP has got you covered.
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Find The Amats Project on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/theamatsproject or follow them on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TheAmatsProject.
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You may e-mail me at carlfrancisramirez@gmail.com .