Some men fall in love at a wedding. Some fall in love at the gym. I fell in love in a cold beer and wine store in Manila, at 33 degrees in the shade, when Dua Lipa bought me a 48-pack of Kokanee. None of this happened. All of it is true in my heart. Here is the tall tale, plus the official video for the song that is now, unofficially and without her knowledge, our song.
How a guy from BC ends up thirsty in Manila
Manila in the afternoon is not hot. It is a personal attack. I had walked along Roxas Boulevard to watch the famous Manila Bay sunset, and by the time the sun was going down, so was I. My shirt had given up. My sunglasses were fogging from the inside.
Then I saw it, glowing pink and blue on a little corner: a sign that said Cold Beer & Wine. Back home in British Columbia that sign is a promise. Somebody inside is keeping something cold for you. I walked in the way a man walks toward an oasis in a cartoon, arms slightly out in front.
The fridge was magnificent and completely full of San Miguel, which is fair, because this is the Philippines and San Miguel is excellent. But I am a BC boy. In my weakest hour, I wanted a Kokanee. I said, out loud, to nobody, “I would give anything for a Kokanee.”
The 48-pack
A voice behind me said, “You look like a 48-pack guy.”
I turned around. A woman in big sunglasses and a bucket hat was standing by the chips. She reached behind a stack of mango juice and pulled out a 48-pack of Kokanee. Not a six-pack. Not a twelve. Forty-eight cans, sweating with cold, in a country where I am fairly sure Kokanee is not even sold. I have no explanation. Love does not need one.
She paid before I could get my wallet out. I tried to argue. She just said “training season” and smiled, which I did not understand at the time and have now thought about roughly four thousand times. Then she picked up all 17 litres like it was a handbag and carried it out to the curb for me, while I followed behind carrying nothing, including my dignity.
It was only when the jeepney pulled away that I realised who it was. My only words to Dua Lipa, international pop star, were “thank you, ma’am.” Ma’am. I called Dua Lipa ma’am.
The 11 most romantic minutes of my life
For the historians, here is the full minute-by-minute record. I have reviewed it carefully and can confirm it is emotionally 100% accurate and factually 0% accurate.
Training Season: our song (she does not know)
Naturally, I went home and studied the clue. “Training season” turns out to be a Dua Lipa song, released on February 15, 2024, as the second single from her album Radical Optimism. The song is about being done with people who need training to be a decent partner. She wants someone who shows up already ready.
I want to be clear that I was not ready. I called her ma’am. But I am a fast learner, and a man who can carry a 48-pack, eventually, up three flights of stairs, is a man with potential. Here is the official video. Watch it and tell me she was not sending me a message.
If the video does not load, watch Training Season on Dua Lipa’s YouTube channel.
Am I boyfriend material? An honest checklist
After the song I did what any serious contender would do. I sat down with a cold Kokanee and graded myself.
Four out of seven. Not bad for a guy who was sweating through his shirt in a liquor store. Still in training, as the song says.
What a 48-pack taught me
First, keep things cold. Forty-eight cans in Manila heat are a cooling problem, the same kind of problem as a rig in a closet that runs hotter than Manila in May. Respect the fridge.
Second, do not spend everything at once. I could have bought a round for the whole street out of pure joy. Instead I am working on a calmer plan for money than buying rounds for strangers, so I can afford a plane ticket if she ever calls.
Third, grand romantic gestures age strangely. People in 2021 were buying each other digital art and calling it love; here is where all those digital love letters ended up. A cold 48-pack, on the other hand, never goes out of style. I am still saving a New Year’s Eve collectible for our first anniversary, just in case.
And fourth, dream big, then put real numbers on it. These days I spend my evenings in the AI Build Configurator, which is the closest thing I have to a plan for building something that would impress a pop star. If that does not work, I still have 47 Kokanees. I drank one while writing this.
Dua Lipa, Kokanee and cold beer FAQ
Did Dua Lipa really buy Kevin Katovic a 48-pack of Kokanee?
No. This post is a humour piece and a daydream. Dua Lipa has never met me, never bought me beer and, as far as I know, has never heard of me. The love part is real, though.
What is Training Season by Dua Lipa?
Training Season is a Dua Lipa single released on February 15, 2024. It is the second single from her third studio album, Radical Optimism, which came out on May 3, 2024.
Is there a Dua Lipa song called Training Day?
No. The song people often mean is Training Season. Its official music video, from Dua Lipa’s own YouTube channel, is embedded in this post.
What is Kokanee beer?
Kokanee is a Canadian lager brewed in Creston, British Columbia, and sold by Labatt. It is named after Kokanee Glacier in the West Kootenay region of BC.
What is a cold beer and wine store?
In British Columbia, a cold beer and wine store is a privately run liquor store, often attached to a pub or hotel, that sells chilled beer, wine and spirits to take home. They are a BC thing, which is part of the joke.
This is a humour post and a work of imagination. The meeting described never happened, and nothing here suggests Dua Lipa has met, endorsed or bought anything for the author. The store is fictional. The embedded video is from Dua Lipa’s official YouTube channel, © Warner Records. Kokanee is a trademark of its owner. This post is not affiliated with or endorsed by Dua Lipa, Warner Records or Labatt.
Images: four original illustrations by Kevin Katovic. No photos, no likeness of any real person, no brand label artwork. © 2026 Kevin Katovic, all rights reserved. To license an image, email support@kevinkatovic.com.