THERE’s something inarguable about ducking off a traffic-choked city street for a quick smoke and a couple of beers. If you share the same sentiment and happen to find yourself along Kamagong Street in Makati, you might want to try Driveway Bar and Grill.

Just after the Petron Station at the corner, it’s the newest among Kamagong’s restaurant-bars, which have become the ad hoc meeting places for Makati’s working class mainly because of cheap beer and pulutan.

Driveway sits on top of a three-level ramp and shares the same lot with a car detailing and repair shop on the ground floor. There’s not much of a view up there—you’re still in Kamagong after all—and there’s no proper barroom inside, but it still makes for a cosy, breezy place to chill-out while you’re having some work done on your wheels.

On any given night, you are likely to be welcomed by the bar’s owners—Alice Galang whose day job is with Avida’s sales training, Grace Domingo who works for RCBC’s Treasury department, Buboy Arriola, an I.T. guy from Lawson, and businessman Ron Coronel. They are young, friendly, Makati working class people themselves, and their willingness to mix with customers is something that keeps people coming back to Driveway.   

“We needed somewhere to hang out after work, and rather than spend our money on other bars, we taught of putting up a place of our own,” Alice said. 

The owners are self-described foodies who certainly won’t settle for a strictly “beer and nuts” place. While Driveway’s menu isn’t fancy, their Chef Gerard, who moonlights as a DJ and a guitar player for a band, is as good as any sous chef. Try his Liver Pate in Filo Flowerettes (P140) and Panfriend Prawns in Rouille Sauce, for a nice change of pace from all that Sisig and Tokwat Baboy you’ve been having as pulutan.

The night I was there though, a long table of elderly guys were spending their pay checks on buckets of Pale Pilsen along with Papaitan, as they quietly watch Bikini Destinations on the giant screen cable TV, with smiles as though they are getting away with something. 

Alice tells me they are locals who make Driveway their last call every night.

This is a long way from my house in Malate considering the notorious Manila traffic, but I might just make the out-of-the-way drive to become a regular at Driveway. I like its vibe, and I like the locals already. ###

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The much-anticipated showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, tentatively scheduled for March 13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, has collapsed, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com on Wednesday night.

"The fight's off," Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, said from Las Vegas.

The fight died after a last-ditch attempt at mediation between Top Rank and Golden Boy, which represents Mayweather, failed in an effort to determine the drug-testing protocol.

Pacquiao had agreed to move off his hard-line stance of refusing a blood test inside 30 days before the fight, but Mayweather wouldn't budge off his desire for random testing all the way until the fight, Arum said. Nor would Mayweather agree to a public apology for remarks he made accusing Pacquiao of using performance-enhancing drugs, Arum said.

"I am very disappointed that we could not make this fight for the fans and I am angered because of the false accusations from Golden Boy and the Mayweather camp that I used some type of drugs, and that is why I have instructed our American lawyers to proceed with the lawsuit to clear my name," Pacquiao said in a statement.