Cafe Moda

A good plan gone bad. Funny night...a going away party was planned for Nance and I on my last day of work. I had never heard of Cafe Moda but got the address, the time to meet and looked forward to going. We, as the guests of honor, decided to be fashionably late so planned a 6:45 show up for the 6:30 party. Away we go...arrived at the restaurant and noticed it was in a kind of seedy strip mall, throwing caution to the wind we made our way to the entrance where a number rascally fellows were hanging out by the door. As we made our way around the Limo, parked sideways in front of the entrance, we entered what looked like a wedding hall with a reception going on?? Noticing we were the 1st to arrive and not sure of our location, we inquired, if in fact, we were in the right place. After being hustled into a corner and offered drinks multiple times, by multiple people, we were informed that someone named Valerie had made reservations for 10 people. Huh, the place was packed, we were pretty sure about 30 people were coming and this place could not hold all of us. Keeping the faith we decided to wait outside and went on a stroll thru the seedy strip mall. Finally we see someone we know...there to our rescue comes Valerie herself, together with fear and loathing we make our way back to the Limo blocked entrance and reenter the restaurant. Now the fun begins...as guest slowly arrive we come to the realization that our corner will hold no more than 10 people. The powers that be at Cafe Moda, now see their dilemma and decide to seat part of our party within what looks like a cross between a wedding reception and a prom. We make our way to our seats and notice sideways glances from the other party goers who appear to be a well dressed group of Filipinos (it being a Filipino restaurant). We certainly can't blame them as we have intruded right into the center of their celebration (which actually was a birthday). Sheila, who was hosting this send off, looked at me and asked if I would be more comfortable going somewhere else. In a word I said, "Yes...please". So now it was decided we all drive down to Ellis Island to have dinner and what we hoped would be at a better location. Only problem was only half the guest had arrived. Arrangements were made to call all the managers and have them call their employees who wanted to come and thus spread the word.
 Now the fun really begins, Ellis Island is packed, we have zero idea how many are coming so there is no way to give a correct count for our party that may or may not be seated in 2 hours!!! Where's the bar!
Hooray the bar is empty...we secured two long tables (picnic style) and settled in for bar food, hopefully drinks and a little karaoke. And now the fun really begins because here comes Elvis. I have to admit I have seen one of the greatest wonders I will see during my trip...this guy was 5 ft. tall, weighed ninety pounds and didn't know 1 word to one Elvis song...he got up and just mumbled...funniest thing I've seen in years! A skinny, short Elvis who can't sing. All the frustration of the night melted away and I found myself laughing alot. Thanks everyone for a story I will be sharing for years.