When I was 15, I watched Coyote Ugly in theatre. I saw how Piper Perabo, as Violet Sanford, did her thing with the other Coyotes at the Coyote Ugly bar. They pulled up bottles from the speed rack like how a sheriff pulls out his gun from his holster, free pour tequila into shooter glasses, dance on top of the bar and having the time of their lives, and spray out jets of water from the bar gun whenever any poor dude asks for a glass of water instead of a glass of gin tonic with extra lime.

I admired how they could toss the bottles into the air and catch them ever so deftly, pouring alcohol into the boston shaker while doing other bar juggling tricks, mixing the cocktails and drinks and looking like the ultimate coolest barmaids you could ever see on film.

That, dear readers, was—and still is—my ultimate dream job that I could never seem to let go.

Over the years, I had no chance nor opportunity to learn this trade due to my ever-overprotective and strict parents that have brought me up for over these past two decades. And as time passed, I feared that I would never be able to be as cool as those Coyotes behind that bar.

Eight years, I dare say, is a long time. And here I am, eight years later, and finally one step closer into getting that dream job. I have moved up from being a waitress/server/barista for the last six years and am eager to learn anything related to attaining that title “bartender”.

(Technically, I know the proper term would be “barmaid”. However, I feel really weird being called that. Furthermore, “mixologist” would be a better and more professional term. Sadly, the locals over here do not treat bartenders with that kind of respect that mixologists earn overseas like maybe say, Europe, or so I have heard.)

I guess it would be a matter of time before I move to somewhere else, open a beach bar, spend my days surfing and my nights chilling at my awesome bar.