Dinner Dates in Manila: How to make it work or turn it around if it doesn’t

*This article is written by our guest writer, Troy Dizon. We decided to end 2010 with a BANG and welcome 2011 by posting this great article from the Filipino dating and attraction guru himself. Read on and expect some more great articles from Troy in the future! Wishing you more happiness and love in the new year!

Romantic in Springtime by Yoga-Photowork

Before I go into this article, I’d like to thank the Manila Reviews team for putting up this great site and allowing me to write for Manila Mingle, their dating column. I was actually surprised to hear that it was just the two of them running this. You guys are doing an awesome job and being awarded a finalist at the Filipino Blog Awards was definitely well-deserved.

Who am I? If you’ve been reading the Philippine Star for the past two weeks, listening on the radio last November, or seen my company on MTV or Channel V then you probably have heard my name before. If anything, you might have been my schoolmate once in La Salle. To cut the introductions short, check out the two Philippine Star articles HERE and HERE to know more about me.

Other than that, I’m Troy Dizon and I’m here to talk about dating and I’ll break it down to you like a science if you’re clueless or need tips to make your love life more successful. Let’s start with what I think of the standard dinner date.

First off, let me say that I usually avoid dinner dates. Having dated more women than a guy could even in ten lifetimes, I can say that in terms of success, it’s not something I would immediately recommend. Well at least not until I pondered on what to write for my first column here.

See, dinner dates are not that effective simply because it’s a very “formal” sit down. If you’ve ever been on a date I’m sure you can remember those moments where you had to carefully place every piece of food in your mouth to look as proper as you can while exchanging bits of information to your date. Even if you’re hungry as hell and that bite of parmesan chicken would put you out of your misery you have to pretend as if you’ve had a hearty lunch and eat slowly and carefully.

To add to that, you have to attempt to impress the person who is in front of you. The dinner date experience almost feels like a job interview for many. It’s all about impressing the other somehow through a question and answer portion that I feel could be done better outside of such a formal environment.

Now as much as here in the United States I try to avoid dinner dates, I cannot help but ask someone out to dinner when I am in Manila. The result is always more than positive for both of us. I’ll tell you why and how you can enjoy the same positive results I’ve had.

First, the why:

Luckily, Manila is such a dining culture. Not only are there restaurants that will leave you awed by the setting and ambiance, but have a wide array of dishes from all around the world to choose from. No type of food is left unturned when you’re in Manila.

Plus, with the presence of our super duper mega huge malls, you can hop from one place to another and enjoy an entire experience in just one date. I’ve had such a great time starting off with brownies at Serendra, to having a great time with my date looking at Menu’s outside High Street, to eventually making a choice, then later on having Frozen Yoghurt somewhere else. I’m not even counting in how awesome it is to drop by Eastwood City and look at the nice Bellagio like fountain they got to cap everything off.

It’s that good and I always tell this to people here in the United States. With the culture and the way things are in Manila, it makes the standard dinner date “experiential “rather than just a sit down where two people try to figure each other out. It becomes an enjoyable experience filled with discovery and memorable times.

Okay so here are my tips so you can have an awesome time when you’re out with someone you fancy:

1. When asking a girl or guy out, invite them to “check out food choices at the mall” rather than a selected spot. You must also give at least a half hour before the date so you guys have time to go through the fun experience of choosing and discovering.

2. If you DO have a spot in mind, always have a back-up plan. There could be problems if your date really HATES a certain type of culinary dish and it so happens to be that it’s the specialty of the place you hand-picked.

There have also been bad cases of dates when the place is packed. If the place is packed you should ask the server on how long the table wait is. If the table wait is longer than 30 minutes I suggest you bail. Staying in line for more than that can make the enthusiasm and excitement of the date wane. Move on to plan b.

3. Research! Research! Research!!! There’s a reason I support sites like Manila Reviews because they provide INVALUABLE information so you can make your dates progress smoothly by preparing ahead of time. Find out what the menu is, look at pictures of the place and the dishes, check out what other people are saying about it, and of course the price range. You may be able to keep certain things coy, but a dinner tab higher than your month’s half pay will probably give you a minor heart attack while on a date.

4. Choose a place that makes you feel comfortable. As I’ve said before, the dinner date shouldn’t be this formal, uncomfortable, pressure-filled hour or two for you. Choose a spot where you can be vocal, funny, expressive, and not be afraid to show your appetite (just don’t bite off that chicken leg like a rabid wolverine).

You might want to regularly check out restaurants and food spots and get a feel for the crowd and the setting to figure that out. See if the background music is not too loud where you can’t hear each other or if it’s so dead silent like a scene from Paranormal Activity.

5. When on the date, don’t sit squarely in front of each other. I like sitting beside my date or if it’s a table for four diagonally from her. It makes things more comfortable, trust me.

6. Finally, to all the food lovers out there: don’t be afraid of telling your date that you love food. I personally tell women I date that I love food and I love to eat ahead of time, and so when I do order a lot and get to the food slaying they actually find it cute and charming rather than off-putting.

So, that’s the verdict on dinner dates in Manila. I love ‘em. Use these tips on your dates and I guarantee you that it’ll make things smoother, easier, and more successful for you to convey your awesome self to the opposite sex. If you have any questions, comments, or just want to vent your frustrations about the opposite sex, you can email me at [email protected]. I always make time to reply to my mailbag stuff.

Happy Holidays to you all!

*photo taken by Yoga-Photowork

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