San Miguel Oktoberfest 120 (Siento Bente!) was officially launched on September 5th, 2008. It was my first Oktoberfest launch and it was very… interesting, to say the least. Why? I’LL TELL YOU WHY!

Had a couple of beers with Bim and Mike at Sidebar after we got our complimentary (I’m living the dream!) tickets from Juned (Thanks, Juned and Fritz!). Yes, we drank beer to warm up for an event that’s all about drinking beer. That’s how we roll.

Bim and Lauren had the foresight to not enter the event premises and wade through a sea of sweaty emo kids, fat drunkards, and tattoed punks. Mike and I didn’t. We navigated an ocean of sweat, unpleasant body odor, and inappropriate body contact. It wasn’t pretty. On the plus side, I got to touch a few nice female butts.

For a good 15 minutes (or maybe longer?), the fireworks display awesomed MY FACE.

I couldn’t hear what Ariel and Maverick were saying, but I LOLed every time I saw them. Must be the outfits.

Several of my friends didn’t get to go inside. I heard they closed the gates at around 9 pm. I was surprised that a riot didn’t break out.

I have never seen so many kids in all-black in my life.

The new Rivermaya isn’t as bad as I thought they would be. Third Eye Blind was more awesome than I expected. Sponge Cola… well, I liked their performance of “Jeepney” that was sprinkled with beatboxing.

I met up with my brothers and sisters in UPLB MASS at a section of the bar with the friendliest bartenders ever. They were so friendly, one of them bummed a smoke from me. In return, they gave us all the ice we could handle. Our neigboring beer drinkers weren’t as pleasant, but they were OK.

We met a couple of cute Third Eye Blind fans from Ateneo (or is that The Arrneo?). It’s comforting to know that there are still people out there who are willing to have a non-confrontational conversation with my drunk ass.

The Dawn, as usual, was mighty entertaining. I could’ve sworn Jet Pangan said “Buddy Zabala” when he introduced their bassist. I could be wrong, considering the amount of alcohol I’ve already consumed when they came on, but nevertheless, it made me exclaim “HOLY SHIT, THAT’S *hic* FUCKEN AWESOME!”

We didn’t see a single knife fight. Boo.

We stayed in the general vicinity of the main stage so we didn’t get the chance to see what the other three stages had to offer. I wanted to see Sugar Free perform and the Kitty Girls gyrate, but nothing could’ve made me dive into the cesspool of sweaty beer guzzlers again. So yeah, I stayed put.

I didn’t hit anything or anyone on the drive home. I call that a WIN.

P.S. Maureen Larazabal has magnificent knockers.