Howie Severino finds surprise 'reptilian visitor' in his drink

May 1, 2021

1753

Veteran broadcast journalist Howie Severino was enjoying a glass of a healthy drink, but got baffled when he felt “something tickled my lips”.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Howie shared the interesting story of how a lizard, or butiki in Filipino, jumped into his power shake drink unnoticed.

“Yesterday, my son and I were enjoying our daily elixir. After I put down my glass for a moment, I was sipping its thick and greenish contents when I felt something tickling my lips,” recalled Severino.

It was only after he had checked his glass when he realized that there was a little reptile in his drink!

“When I looked inside my glass, there was a butiki (a common house lizard) looking back at me with its beady eyes, appearing as surprised as I was.

“It had dived or fallen into my glass without notice and was probably enjoying a cold, milky bath when my mouth invaded his space,” said the 59-year-old journalist.

Realistically speaking, Howie added in jest, “If I had consumed my power shake more ravenously, I might have swallowed the butiki, and who knows what I’d be writing now (maybe from a hospital bed?).”

He then decided to put away the rest of the power shake “along with its reptilian visitor into our garden”.

Followers of Howie, on the other hand, threw in their guesses after the journalist wondered what it means “when a lizard falls into your power shake,” referencing to the superstitious belief that rain will soon come if a lizard falls on your head.

According to Howie, the pandemic has led his family to turn to making power shake drinks to help boost their immune system.

His family’s powder shake drink usually is a mixture of fruits, leafy greens, peanut butter, granola, dark chocolate, soy milk or other variations “depending on whatever’s available in our kitchen and garden”.