Three, maybe five (I honestly don't remember how many we were that time) of us were huddled inside a small nipa hut, waiting for an event that we barely know anything about to happen. We were told to keep our voices down and were specifically advised to turn off our cellphone, or at least activate its silent mode so as not to create any noise. And no camera. It didn't make sense to us but they said it's very important that the place must look like it's completely uninhabited.  All lights from the bar and the nipa huts surrounding it were extinguished -against our will - including the solar lights scattered around the lawn, even those hidden under the bushes.
Except for the steady light coming from a thousand Christmas lights coiled on a man-made walkway bridge few meters from the place-that-must-not-be-named, the area was virtually dark. With dark clouds looming overhead, the chance of moon appearance that night was close to nil. It was the type of scenario that the production crew of a famous American reality TV show could ever hope for. For us, however, it was a curse. We wanted to witness what was about to happen, but it would prove quite impossible without any light in the area.

"A celebrity is passing by here any second from now," the owner of the bar told us in a careful whisper. That explained why they had to shut all the lights. "Which celebrity?" we asked, the excitement in our voice was palpable. "We don't know. They won't tell us," she whispered back. "I wish I had a night vision or something," I told my companions who were equally beside themselves. The suspense was killing us. We were dead tired, we were blinking off sleep, and yet, our stamina wasn't breaking down.