Mango twin

My buddy Jonas runs a restaurant called The Mango Tree in Mandurriao. While Jonas is still in Manila, his twin brother (and restaurant co-owner) Jason was there, so last night I was able to swing by for a couple of beers and an impromptu game of poker, where Jason cleaned me out.

I'd known Jason since we were in high school, and I saw him occasionally through the years. But it's been a while since I last saw him, so I found it really disconcerting to find that they've basically turned into the same person.

See, they were (er, are) identical twins, but back in college, they were just similar. Jonas had the more active lifestyle, so he was always really skinny and had dark complexion, while Jason was fairer and had a fuller frame. They talked differently and they had different mannerisms, which I'd always attributed to the fact that they went to different schools and hung around different people.

In fact, I remember one incident when Jason went to visit our restaurant and introduced himself to my tita as my friend. My tita already knew Jonas at the time, so the next time she saw Jonas, she couldn't help but ask, "Bakit yung kakambal mo, guwapo?"

Now? Well, Jason has even gained more weight, but apart from that, he looks exactly like Jonas, from the hair to the complexion. More than that, they now have the same affectations in their speech and their manners, that is was really quite disconcerting talking to him.

But it was all great. For people who know Jonas and have never met Jason, it's kind of hard to believe, but Jason is much, much more extroverted than his brother. Nag-gin-istoryahan anay lang kami. I even got around to telling the story behind Jonas' favorite toast from our recent Christmas Party:

"To the one who got away!"

I'll probably go back the Mango Tree, after my side trip to Bacolod. Then I'll post pictures of the yummy food and the nice place.

Labels: iloilo, longvacation

- posted by jaemark @ 1/04/2008 03:41:00 PM