I have lived the dream! Believe it or not, I’ve been there and done
that! The ultimate of all these dreams is
Geo Café where Bohemian reigned.
Geo Café was an organic restaurant at a
time when organic was seldom heard of. I
took over the helm of the café from spouses Edgar and Yvonne Guevara. Not only did we serve organic food but we had
vegetarian food as well. Thad Gayanelo
and business partner, Jane Paredes created the menu and supplied the herbed
bread. Jacqui Alleje made sure we had
organic lemon grass tea and organic goat cheese. We served highland brown rice, organic
vegetables and free range chicken. All suppliers
verified and recommended by the organic guru herself, Mara Pardo de Tavera.
 |
| wackyontheloose with Mara Pardo de Tavera, acknowledged organic guru |
The café served a highly specialized
group; people seeking an alternative lifestyle – free of chemical pollution and
toxins. The group was an interesting mix
of high achievers, famous artists and eccentrics. With the latter making the operations most
interesting.
Activities were as varied as the
characters that frequented the place.
There were organic food fests, tai-chi sessions, ballroom dancing
nights, stand-up comedy nights, spirit dancing nights and special nights when
the in-house band played. There were
lecture series covering alternative healing modalities. Well-known alternative healing practitioners
came and gave us pieces of their minds. Almost everyone who came was a luminary in
his/her own endeavor; Drs. Dick Manubay, Omar Arabia, Dr. Jaime Galvez-Tan,
Riza and Frank Regis. Gilda Cordero
Fernando, Mariel Francisco, Rose Scott, Lyvia Martinez and others.
 |
| Edgar Guevara discussing his organic farm in Pangasinan |
Against this array of high profile
celebrities, one regular character in the café that stood out was Jess Abejo. Medium height, extremely thin, long, oily, salt
and pepper hair usually pulled into a loose ponytail, Jess pronounced his
family name as Abejou (A – be – jew ) to give it a French kick. From his introduction, you immediately realize
that this man is a character extra-ordinaire!
He spoke with a stutter but always the
grammar was impeccable and the manners were refined. He spent his nights in the tree house within
the café’s compound together with all the other homeless pseudo-artists in the
community. He was a constant presence in
the café and could discuss various topics intelligently. He never ordered food and we suspected that
every peso he had was reserved for whatever drug he was hooked on. Nonetheless, he was always fed courtesy of
the management. Besides, he ate like a
bird and a little always seemed too much.
In return, he entertained us with the stories he spun. His background was always a little
intriguing; considering that his manners and behavior reflected someone “to the
manor born” as they would say. When asked
about his family, he revealed that he was from the rich Abejo clan from Misamis
or some Visayan province. I cannot
exactly recall by now. He claimed that
his family owned the only tertiary hospital in the province and that he came
from a family of doctors. His story was
that he, himself, was studying to be a doctor.
Due to an accidental ingestion of glass splinters while on a drinking
spree, he almost died. Investigation
later showed that the splinters were intentionally put in his drinks. As he was too drunk at that point, he did not
feel anything unusual. After his
operation for which he had a long abdominal scar to show, he had a change of
heart about finishing his medical course.
He decided to study arts at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
Jess spoke French fluently or so it
appeared to us. For all we knew, he
could have just been throwing all kinds of French words together! I, for one, was agog at this skill. He loved everything French. When France’s Independence Day was nearing,
he personally went to the embassy to inquire about its planned activities and suggested
that the café join them in some way.
Unfortunately, plans had already been made months before and there was
no way our participation can be accommodated.
Not to be defeated, this puzzling man came up with Plan B. Because we had our in-house band, he
suggested that we could have a whole night of music and dancing and frolicking. Somebody added that to make it more
challenging, we could invite other bands from Baguio City. Thus, I gave the go signal for the event we
called “Tatagal ka ba?” (Will you last?) to be held simultaneously with the French
embassy’s “Fete de la Musique”!
From nowhere, I started getting
confirmations from bands of their participation. They came with their groupies on the
appointed day and played by turns from 4:00 in the afternoon – with complete
abandon. Beer flowed, crowds came and went,
supporters and guests had a good time.
Even the resident ghosts made an appearance. Until, of course, the police came to snuff
out the noise at 4:30 in the morning!
Everybody was in a stupor days after.
Looking back, I regret not having spent more time to solve the enigma that was Jess Abejew. I still ask myself whether he had been
disowned by a wealthy family because deep in my heart, there was no doubt that he came from a good and well-educated one. Now and then, I remember him and wonder where
the winds of time might have carried him.
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