#ben razon

  One of the last strongholds of Old Bohemian Malate, along with Penguin Café and Hobbit House, Oarhouse first opened its doors in 1977 by retired US NAVY man Chuck Monroe.  Musicians began coming in during their breaks from other bars for the cheap beer and the bumper pool table.  Theater folk began coming in too, through Carrie, who eventually became Chuck’s wife.  Susan Calalay, of the Metropolitan Museum also started coming, and soon the CCP artists followed, dividing their time between Penguin and Oarhouse.  In the mid 80’s Jun Medina’s took it over from Chuck, since Chuck had and Carrie decided to move back to the States.  Jun was the former manager of Channel 9 and so media people began spending time there.  When Jun went back to Channel 9, his son Chino managed the place, bartending later on when bartender Wilson left.  Those were the days I first stepped foot in Oarhouse- my uncle took me there as I sipped juice or soda at the bar some late afternoons and early evenings, getting fed Chino’s baked eggplant (a version of which continued on the menu even after Chino’s time). 

  In 1998, Chino had to shut the doors of Oarhouse (for reasons known to him only) and everything else that took over the space (including a roast duck place and a version of it called Ore House) in the next few years failed miserably.  Finally, in 2004 Nonoy Tan, who loved Oarhouse decided to bring it back- and with him came a lot of the old crowd, including former bartender Wilson who has also been a Malate fixture, having bartended as well in the old Blue Café on Nakpil Street.

  Last December, Oarhouse was about to close again- Nonoy just couldn’t keep it going. The word went out on December 28 that it was Oar’s last night and the old photogs and journalists and bar regulars showed up to at least have one more San Miguel in their haunt.

  A couple of the Oarhouse habitués, also concerned for the loss of Oarhouse, stepped in, and as luck would have it- Nonoy passed them the torch.  Reg Hernandez and Redgie Cinco are the new managers of Oarhouse- and with them stand Ben Razon, who has been in charge of the Oarhouse Blog, and of course, yours truly and other friends who have been putting their time and even manual labor into a bar that we have loved for decades. 

  It is essentially the same place, standing in the exact spot where Chuck Monroe served beer.  It is a tiny place, and we haven’t changed it  much, but bringing new energy yet the old integrity and simple dignity the place had.  It’s gonna take a lot of work, love, and patience, but slowly, I think we can do this.  We’re retaining old favorites in the menu, and we will slowly be adding new things,  Wilson is still the bartender, and we’re eventually going to have acoustic nights.  We shall be serving you the cold beer and food urselves, and we hope to breathe life back into a place which has been a home for many writers, photographers, artists, thinkers. The walls will still hold exhibits- for all photographers, and visual artists.  The eclectic mix of people who have been there and are part of Oarhouse include the late Santi Bose, Miguel Faustman, Bart Guingona, Dodo Lim, Dong Allegre, Ben Razon, Julie Yap Daza, Butch Aldana, even former Congressman Bebot Alvarez (when he was still studying) and of course, Pepito Bosch (to name a tiny few) as well as countless theater people, musicians, journalists, artists, photographers, bankers, students, peace corps volunteers, backpackers, and other Malate bar owners. 

  The Old Malate is dying, Oarhouse is a landmark, and we cannot- should not- let that happen. There is history in those walls, and there is a lot of history that has yet to be written.

  Be a part of it.

  (Thanks to Uncle Dave Limsico, who has been part of the Malate scene forever, and has been there since the first day of Oarhouse in ’77 for sharing his memories with me.)

  Oarhouse re-opens on Friday, January 11, 2008 5pm onwards, but we will be operational on Wednesday, January 9 for our dry run.  Hope to see you there.

  Oarhouse is located at 1803 Mabini St. Malate, Metro Manila (beside the old Hobbit House).

  www.oarhouse.blogspot.com

[email protected]

Oarhouse is closed on Sundays.  It's the day we finally get a bit of sleep, nurse the collective hangover from the week.

But last Sunday, April 6th, Oarhouse was open for two parties- make that one massive party:  It was photographer Ben Razon's (ahem) th birthday and the opening bash for Edd Aragon's exhibit- Digitalla Prima- the first of three he's having in Manila after a long haitus from his home country.  Edd has been living in Australia, and does the wicked editorial cartoons for the Sydney Morning Helrald.  He and Nonoy Marcelo (of the Ikabod cartoon strip) were friends, and he had gotten to know Pepito from the old days when Nonoy used Pepito as a character in Ikabod. 

Edd has the energy of a 20 year old.  His longish silver hair kept in place by a doo-rag (three that I've seen in the two days I spent with him), a salt and pepper goatee, but his eyes are young, as is his spirit.  His artwork on display on the walls of our little bar just draw you in.  It's like LSD and the good pot we used to smoke 20 years ago.  He takes images and manipulates them with simple computer programs such as photoshop- he calls it "painting with pixels" and the result is some pretty amazing images.  My personal favorite is titled "Sun Spots"  which was the first item sold.  Edd sold 6 works that first afternoon.  He'll have two more exhibits in Manila:  Mulat:  Aragon's ultra-violet light-reactive (inivisible) paintings on canvas of legendary Filipino and western rock & blues musicians, nudes and allegorical images which he's showcasing at Banyuhay ni Heber Art and Music Center on April 12th; and Op-Edd! A collection of Aragon's opinion editorial (op-ed) cartoons and caricatures published in The Sydney Morning Herald, including prints of his political cartoons, which opens at Maestro, Masterpiece Art Depot on April 19.  But come by Oarhouse and check out his exhibit there this week.  Or for more of an idea what his works are like, check out his blog. Then come by Oarhouse.  (First Photo above is one of Edd Aragon's works.) 

There was wine, there was food- including some things not on the oarhouse menu, such as pita pizzas (a classic margherita and a lucban and kesong puti); pandesal hoagies with either bistek tagalog smothered in onions or kesong puti, marinated tomatoes and basil (on whole wheat pandesal); Razon's chicharon and chicharon bulaklak (which is wicked with pinakurat vinegar); a ton of steamed mussels that someone brought in; a massive marshmallow cake that the young photogs brought for Ben; hummus; Ninang Sol's salmon cream cheese spread with lettuce leaves; and the usual fare of eggplant mozzarella, shakshouka, etc. 

The bar was made non-smoking for the first several hours, mainly because Heber has bad allergies to smoke- of course, everyone would stand outside to get their nicotine fix (and Heber would come right out and join us- classic). I'd misplaced my cigarettes at one point and was lucky enough that Wally Gonzalez was having a smoke break as well, and he passed me a smoke as we talked about gigs  (I still feel guilty for not having time to gig with him- but maybe Wally Gonzalez and Anabel Bosch acoustic sessions at Oarhouse?), about how much he likes the place (and how much his wife liked the food!) and a lot of kind words in regards to personal matters which I'll get into in some future post, perhaps.  Another smoking buddy I made that day was writer/poet Marne Kilates who totally floored me:  one- he knew my name; two:  he thinks I'm a good writer, he likes the cadence and rhythm of my poetry and thinks I should keep at it, and agreed with Ginny that I should submit some of my stuff to this lit contest (which incidentally is called The Palancas).  Flattered, but I am still too unsure of myself.  Krip Yuson also graced the event, and sat talking to Butch Perez most of the afternoon.  But then again, between Edd and Ben, the guests were a who's who of Manila artists, writers, photographers and musicians:  Derek Soriano, Red Constantino, Apa Ongpin and wife Ana, Dodo Lim, Juan Cagicla and girlfriend Trisha, Veejay Villafranca (adorable young boy who was being teased mercilessly by his peers- but that's our manok!), Paolo Picones and John, Jake Versoza, Rica Concepciona and Egay Navarro...the list is endless.  Plus the Bangaan group of Ben and Edd: who at some point went out to the street and stood in the middle of Mabini for a photo.  Buti nalang walang nabangga sa Banggaan group. And of course, Edd did a bit of a jam session with his pals.  That's Edd on the harmonica.

All in all, it seemed that everyone had a great time.  Especially dear Ben. 

  And I LOVE Ben.  We all do!

To sum up the evening, here are photos of Ben cutting his cake:

  Happy Birthday, Ben, and Congratulations to Edd Aragon!

For more on this day go to:  http://oarhouse.blogspot.com/