Benj Espina

While I would concede that most people don’t consider a night of trivia as a great way to spend a work/ school night, I’m sure there are still a considerable number who would love to battle with other like minded individuals to be proclaimed the king of the hill when it comes to the mastery of general information and other forms of generally useless matters.

It’s a great way to relieve stress. Going to quiz night allows you to be in a non-threatening yet competitive environment that would force you to remember all the things that used to cram into your head when you were still in high school or college.

I only found out about quiz night late last year – around October, methinks. I was with friends who were absolutely into the same idea as well – geekery and drinking. After having attended almost ten quiz nights since then, I’d say I’ve already gotten the hang of being a quiz night veteran/ addict.

It’s best played with a large group – the more friends, the better! This would certainly prove that extra brains could help you get closer to the answer much faster. It only takes one, after all. Virtually all the quiz night venues have the teams squaring off in a table vs. table scenario making it very interesting and exciting.

I’ve been to three venues so far and here are my insights regarding their hosting of quiz night:

Panama Jack – A Venue , Makati Avenue

To Join: Just show up and pay 100 pesos for the registration. You will also have to consume at least 200 pesos – this is per head.

The Opposition: Yuppies, the older crowd (a team called the Beer Hunters usually dominate the standings), expats and a few Couchsurfers (yes, that’s our team!).

The Deal: There are eight rounds of questions with 10 questions each. You have to write your answers on a sheet of paper for every round. The sheets are collected at the end of every round. There is one round that usually tests the quizzers through visual puzzles or even sound bites. Starts at around 830.

PROS

• Panama Jack is a cozy restaurant that serves good food. I’ve sampled their pork chop and it’s beautifully seared to perfection. The serving size would also satisfy anyone’s appetite! The thing is just huge!
• The host is very engaging and really makes the show very entertaining and fun. He doesn’t simply read out questions – he does the entire gig with quips and anecdotes.
• The prizes are relatively huge compared to the other quiz night venues. Winners get a bottle of whiskey while the jackpot kings get a share of the registration fees for the night – a pot that rolls over from week to week.
• It ends early compared to other quiz nights. It’s usually wrapped up by midnight.

CONS

• The use of the paper answer sheets makes the game immensely boring. It also makes cheating a lot easier – especially for those with access to the internet — since the answer sheet stays with the team for over ten minutes at a time.
• There is no transparency in the scoring and you don’t really track if the papers are being checked correctly. It doesn’t make for an exciting game since you’re essentially unaware of how well the other teams are doing.
• The questions can be a bit “old” for some people. A lot of the popular culture references are from the 80s and older.
• This is easily the most expensive of all the quiz night venues. At 300 pesos per person, it’s quite easy to understand why the attendance has been dwindling since the last season when the registration was only 50 pesos.
• Some of the people in the wait staff can be quite unprofessional with their side comments and general behavior. Again, “some” not all.

121 Bar And Grille – Allegro Center, Pasong Tamo Extension

To Join: Show up. You will be better off calling for a table reservation though. Quiz Nights usually make the place packed with geeks and competitive nerds so try to get a table in advance. Those who reserve also get a starter on the house! For reservations call 8560529.

The Opposition: It’s a mixed bag – the young, the old, something borrowed, something blue. Everyone seems to be there for some reason. I usually play with my team THE STRIPPERS. This team is one of the most dominant teams in 121′s Quiz Night history. *evil grin*

The Deal: Eight rounds of roughly 10 questions each. White boards are raised by teams to show the quiz master the answer when time is up. There is a break every two rounds. Starts at around 930.

PROS

• It’s very affordable. Unlike Panama Jack, there are no exorbitant fees to pay just to play. You don’t even need to buy anything – but of course, it would be a lot better if you do.
• The food and drinks are relatively cheap as well. A Jagermeister shot for just 30 pesos?! That’s almost dirt cheap, right? If you want to have dinner there, you could also gobble down a serving of Tapsilog for just 119 pesos.
• Very nice crowd – as I said earlier, it’s a nice mix of folks.
• There is one visual round for every week. For the two weeks I was there, it was about kitchen utensils and movie scenes.
• Interesting game play. Teams could use a “doubler” (to score two points for that question instead of one) or “steal” (to get credit for another team’s answer) every four rounds.
• There is a prize (a gift certificate to Culiere High Street) for the top scorer of the first and third quarters of the game as well as a weekly raffle for a bottle of Jim Beam bourbon. The overall winners get a one thousand pesos gift certificate at 121 – always helpful in covering your bill for the following week.

CONS

• It ends late. Most games end at around 1 AM. It is a weekday so it might be a challenge for some people.
• Most of the teams that play (around 70% or even more) are mainstays. This makes getting a table fairly hard.
• The lulls in between quarters can seem a bit too long for some people. It can kill the momentum of the game.

Capricciosa – Connecticut St., Greenhills

To Join: Show up. Reserve a table! The place is quite small.

The Opposition: A lot of young people… and Urban Fervor

The Deal: Eight rounds of questions. Teams use a white board for answerinf questions. Any team may choose to “double” the points of any category after the category is revealed. Points are doubled for every correct answer made this round. Starts at around 10.

PROS

• Capricciosa has a very animated host who takes a lot of effort in making each question as unique as possible. Some of them can even be really educational.
• There’s a one thousand peso gift certificate to the restaurant waiting for the week’s winner.
• The week that I joined, the special round consisted of a bidding game for grocery items! The team who got the closest price took the item as well – the items ranged from nail polish to spaghetti sauce to a can of Pringles.

CONS

• It can be quite hard to get a table.
• Now this one starts really late – almost at 10.

Viewed 4529 times by 1692 viewers