Train like a Hunger Games “tribute” at Gandiva Café

A Katniss Everdeen wannabe?

(Image credit: http://images5.fanpop.com)

TRAIN LIKE A TRIBUTE for Hunger Games, or simply enhance your dexterity, at Gandiva Café. The venue—located at 7/F One Corporate Center Bldg., Julia Vargas St., cor. Meralco Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig City—offers both relaxation and action through its:

• Dining area (café) — provides a variety of food menu, from thin crust pizzas to pasta, as well as choices of drinks, ranging from lemon grass tea to macchiato
• Archery range — provides bow and arrow and other necessary archery equipment, such as arm guard and sight, for a minimum payment

Together with three other officemates, I recently tried archery as a sport in the hope that at least one of us could hit the center of the target—if sending a whip-fast arrow right through an apple in a pig’s mouth is a too-advanced trick for our level. Marge, Paolo, Rhoda, and I availed of a 50 percent discount voucher from CashCashPinoy, decreasing the usual Php600.00 fee for an hour of archery session at Gandiva Café to only Php300.00. Other payment options include:

• Onetime fee of Php6,000.00 — includes 10 sessions, 2 hours each session
• Regular fee of Php600.00 per visit — offers an archery session for only 1 hour

Whether you avail of the onetime payment for 10 sessions or regular 600-peso fee per hour, or even a discount voucher, Gandiva Café management requires you to schedule an appointment by calling their landline at (02) 571-9000 local 125 ahead. I phoned them on a Monday afternoon for our Thursday appointment, three days ahead of time. When we were there, about 2:45 p.m.—15 minutes earlier than our 3 p.m. appointment—the staff asked us to wait a few minutes while offering a seat at the archery hall. Then they started gearing us, getting us all set for more instructions and, most of all, action. Our photos in the "battlefield" include:

Gandiva Café's archery equipment, including bows and arrows and quivers

 Me being prepared with the instructor's help

 Paolo being prepared with the instructor's help

Rhoda being prepared with the instructor's help 

 Marge and I being taught by our instructors how to focus on the target

My first time to hit near the target 

 Rhoda and Paolo doing something I can neither explain nor describe

Rhoda and Paolo while waiting or, perhaps, resting 

Marge in her shooting position 

Marge asking me to take her photograph 

 Me doing something called "self-shot"

A closer look at my target paper, where I hit near the center—almost 

Afterward, we gorged ourselves on food and drink choices, such as pizza and fries, macchiato and lemon grass tea. See following photos:

 

Marge took a photo of me while overlooking Ortigas through the window

 Caramel macchiato Marge paid for Pph85.00 (it was very bitter, according to her; check her review here)

 The lemon grass tea I paid for Php70.00 was worth it

The crispy, salty french fries we enjoyed for only Php165.00

 The four-cheese pizza we paid for Php255.00 and devoured in a few minutes

The 12-inch pizza we ordered had a total of eight slices like this

Note: Using the bow and arrow is just one of the weapon options in the Hunger Games. If you find it useless for survival, you might want to consider other lessons, such as fencing or even wrestling and camouflage.