what are the chances...

that i'd get to cross a street in manhattan (fifth avenue, on west 45th atreet) on our way to times square, with a person i had known from way, way back.

we decided to eat at this new pinoy restaurant in midtown manhattan that i found on menupages. it's called bayan cafe, a small joint on east 45th street (between second and third avenue, for those curious). the food was okay, not great, just okay. it's a very small place, and could only accommodate 16 people at a time. anyways, review will come soon. for now, back to the story.

we parked on second avenue and initially decided that we'd walk to times square to burn the calories we consumed. then someone asked the waiter at bayan how far times square would be and he quipped, "ay naku, ang layo po!" and i asked back, "di ba mga six blocks lang?" and he replied back "oo nga, pero malayo yun talaga." so, we went back to the car, and discussed the pros and cons of bringing a car to the theater district where parking is crazy. eventually, i prevailed, and we walked. and walked, and walked.

on fifth avenue, one of us whipped out his camera to take photos of the philippine consulate and on our way back to the place where we were about to cross, i looked at my left and saw an apparition. si ate guy. hahaha. joke lang. it was ned legaspi, a good friend of mine from college and abs glory days. it was a surreal feeling. how could we be in the same exact place at the same time, when moments earlier, we were contemplating on taking the car to times square. when moments earlier, we crossed a street to take photos of the philippine flag on fifth avenue.

it turns out that he's in new york to accept abs-cbn's award from promax for the tfc plug that they produced. ned told me that they also won last year, it's a back to back thingie for them. this is the station id/plug that they produced starring gary valenciano while last year's was that of lea salonga's. we talked for a few minutes and bade each other goodbye. he was on his way back to his hotel where his cousin is waiting for him while we were on our way to look at the sights and sounds of times square.

yes, it's a small world, after all.