The Send-Off, Argentinian Style!

- September 19, 2013, Tuesday.

- My friend Tiffany will be leaving the country in two weeks to pursue further studies, and so she wanted to make the most out of her last few pre-departure days by hanging out with as much friends as she could. As for me and my neighbor Charmaine, we thought of having dinner with Tiffany at Gaucho, an Argentinian restaurant in Robinsons Magnolia. Tiffa has been talking and posting stuff recently about wanting to try Gaucho, not only because of its unique Argentinian food, but also (and mainly) because of the restaurant's Tuesday Milonga. The Tuesday Milonga is a weekly activity where tango performances and zapateo dances were done, and some dance instructors are also present to assist interested customers/dancers. Obviously, it only happens on Tuesday, and starts at around 8:30pm.

They were rehearsing some tango.

Gaucho!!

- After a torrential rain in the afternoon, I arrived rather early at Rob Magnolia, rain-soaked, tired, sweaty, but at least I had three hours to dry off before Tiffany and Charmaine arrived from work; I went to Rob Magnolia after school. I was told by the waitress that we should sit upstairs, since the ground floor seats were reserved for the tango people - mostly comprised of the dance instructors and the usual old women (and some young ones) who were serious about dancing. A 150php-per-head will also be charged to people who insist on sitting on the ground floor seats during the Milonga night. The three of us didn't mind sitting upstais; it also gave us a nice bird's eye view of the tango performances.

Taking photos of the food.

Yay!!

- Gaucho's food was a little bit expensive (not expensive-expensive, just a little bit, still within reasonable range I suppose,) but was definitely an experience. We had Gaucho's roasted pig as our main course, and is accompanied by unlimited plain or garlic rice, and three kinds of pickles. we had some side dishes that perfectly complemented our main entree.

- Perhaps, the highlight of the night was when one instructor called everyone's attention, and encouraged interested customers on the dance floor, and learn the gaucho Chacarera dance. The Chacarera is very distinct from sensual tango, since the Chacarera dance was sort of an Argentinian line dance; true enough, "gauchos" themselves are the Argentinian counterpart for the American cowboys. A part of the Characrera was the Zapateo, which required plenty of foot works like stomps and kicks are done, at least by the men. I told Tiffa and Charmaine that it reminded me of the golpes and other foot works from Spanish flamenco. I did my research after dinner, and found out that my observation was true: the zapateo by the gauchos was influenced by the Spanish flamenco, and arrived in Argentina during the Spanish colonial era.

Zapateo!!

Our turn!!

Motherfather....Gentleman????

- Tiffa, Charmaine, and I didn't miss the chance to learn the dance, at least one short routine of it. It was a good way to digest some of the food we ate, I think. (And no, we did not have to pay the 150-php-per-head additional, since we still weren't seated in the ground floor anyway, and we did not do the tango with everyone else.)

- We left Gaucho at around 11, leaving the Milonga night still alive and vibrant - it usually goes on until around 2am, the waitress told us. Tiffa and her dad were kind enough to take Charmaine and me home. I know that Tiffa was happy and fulfilled from Milonga night, and will be something she will remember when she leaves the country soon.