Pagpasok ko nung Friday (medyo tanghali na dahil nag-movie premiere the
night before)  dalawang notes na agad ang naghihintay dine--from Ruth and
Debbie. Kaya pala,nakapag-set up na ng dinner reunion ang dalawa! Option ang
dancing sa Bahia sa Intercon. Sus, naka-walking sandals lang ako! Sige, sabi
ko kay Ruth. Kaso, baka daw mamahalan ang iba, kaya either Dad's or Cabalen
daw. Ayoko sa Dad's, may bubog! So, Cabalen na. Hindi ako makapagtatawag,
may meeting ako. Siya rin, may meeting. So , I made a broadcast and told
everyone to confirm with Ruth's office. I did call Luis, who never opens
e-mail. Left a message with Josie. Yung mga may e-mail, na-broadcast-an na
ni Ruth the night before pa. May regrets na nga si Jimmy, nasa Subic daw
siya. Ako e wala sa bahay kaya hindi na-contact by phone the night before.

May hirit pang e-mail si Pat, maingay raw sa Cabalen. Ay, mahirap nang
magpalit ng venue, kasi na-broadcast na at natawagan ko na rin si Luis at
paalis na ako for my meeting at Businessworld.

Hanggang 6 pm ako sa Businessworld, sarap ng discussion about e-commerce,
ayaw ko pang umalis.

Ang dali pala mag-commute to Makati! Nandoon na ako before 7 pm, nakadaan pa
sa SM to buy toiletries. Nang tatawid na ako pa-Glorietta, nasalubong ko si
Ella, na kausap pa sa celfone si Dona Ruth. Salamat at di ko na hahanapin pa
ang Cabalen, may guide na.
Holding hands kami, lakad-lakad. Ops, namali nang labas sa may bagong
glorietta 4. Pasok uli.  Ayun pala ang Cabalen!

Salamat at may reservation pala si Dona Ruth. Mahaba ang pila pag wala kang
reservation. Nasa center ang table namin. Upo. Ella, alam mo, gutom na ako.
Hindi kami halos nakakain sa meeting dahil ang sarap ng discussion. Mag soup
na tayo. Sige, at naliligo pa raw si Debbie dun sa bahay ni Ruth, huwag na
naming hintayin.

Nakakakilig ang asim ng sinigang soup! Nakakabusog ang appetizers na kinuha
namin. Dumating na ang na-mi- miss ko nang si Wilma, kasama si Zeny K. Aba
at mas matindi sa amin, direct na sila sa main course.
 
Eto na si Ruth at  Debbie. Ang nipis ng katawan ni Debbie! Pero ang
gana-gana namang kumain! Naalala na naman yung incident noon sa 8 Treasures,
na nang maghanap siya ng mga kaklase e ang sagot ng waiter: Wala pa ho, yung
dalawang matanda pa lang ang nandiyan (sino nga ang mga iyon, na hindi
nag-tip dahil nainsulto daw?)

Tumawag si Aida, ten minutes before we got here, so ipinasundo ko na sa
driver ko, sabi ni Ruth. Bagalan lang ninyo ang pagkain, kasi 3 hours nating
hihintayin si Aida.

Maraming masarap na putahe. Balik at balik pa kami.

Atat na atat ang mga waiters na kunin yung isang table namin (3 dikit-dikit
iyon). O sige na nga.

Ayan na si Franklin. Dala ang camera, at video pa. Si Pat, nasabit sa
kakilala dun sa bukana ng Cabalen. Sayang, dapat sila na sana ang sumundo
kay Aida. Hindi namin alam, sabi ni Pat.

Ibinalik ng waiter yung table na kinuha nila. Idinikit uli.

Ayun na si Felix, o. Upo siya muna sa seat ni Debbie. Isod si Franklin.

Eto na si Aida. Tumataba ka rin, sabi sa akin. Inilalahad na ang palad niya
para mahulaan!

Finally, dumating na si Luis.

Kinuwento ni Aida ang experience niya the night before sa airport. Nandoon
si Luis, sinusundo ang sister niya, kaya pati si Aida, nadali ang processing
through customs.

Sunduin na rin daw kaya namin si Girlie sa airport? She was due to arrive
that night!

Nakakalito. nasa gitna ako. May tsismis sa kanan, iba sa tsismis sa kaliwa.
Magugulo ang mga bata sa ibang tables.

Continuous ang kain namin, ha? I justified my generous serving of halo-halo:
Sabi ng doctor ko, drink milk daw, eh.

Okay lang kami until we asked Debbie to speak in Italian. Ang gandang
pakinggan. Nagsimula nang humalakhak si Luis.

Sinalihan pa ni Wilma ng Erap joke, lalo na.  Sa French speaking country,
nag-request daw si Erap sa waiter: Please show me the way to the restroom.
Oui, Oui, sabi daw ng waiter. No, no! replied Erap.
Uu! (Diyos me, sa katabi naming table, may nagsisikain pa!)

Tawag si Luis ng waiter: Pare, bigyan mo ako ng agua caliente del sol!
Hagalpakan kami! Pangalan ng resort iyon sa Pansol, sabi ni Ruth.

Mag-Malacanang Tour daw. Sige. At doon na rin maghulaan sa office ni Luis.
Basta pakikinggan ko ang mga hula, sabi naman niya.

Closing na ang Cabalen. Saan tayo pupunta? Bibili daw ng kape sa Starbucks,
tapos dun sa Park iinumin.

Sige, lakad na. Worried ang security ni Luis, dahil lalakad ang boss nila.

Kani-kanyang pila sa Starbucks. I have not been to one before, but I have
read about their mocca frapuccino, so I was going to try one now. Gaya din
si Wilma sa akin. She is not much into coffee. Ako rin. Additional whipped
cream? Sige, sabi nga ng doctor, drink milk!

Pinag-tabi-tabi ang 3 tiny tables. Ako sa high chair naupo. Tabi sa isang
silya ang mag-asawang Ella. Kasya sa isang silya si Aida at Debbie. She is
only 1/3 of me, sabi ni Aida. Mahabang kuwentuhan pa rin doon sa 6750 Starbucks.

Ubos na ang mocca frapuccino, which most of us ordered.. Uuwi na. Restroom
muna. Pila kami. Lumabas si Luis from the Men's C.R. Tapos binalikan ang
pila namin for a goodbye beso-beso. Pati yung pumasok na sa ladies C.R. na
chick, gusto rin i-beso-beso! Ang tagal nung chick. About face na rin kami.
 
Sasabay na kami kina Pat, si Aida, ako at Debbie. Kinuha ang  bag ni Debbie
sa car ni Ruth. Nahulog ang pendant ni Ella somewhere so nag-retrace steps
sila. Nakita ba?

Nakuwentuhan pa kami ni Debbie ng trip niya to Antwerp, sa bahay ni Peter
Paul Rubens. Naalala ang mga art teachers natin.

Nakuwento niya rin kung bakit siya nandito, nag-aasikaso ng mga stocks and
properties inherited from her mother. The next day ay pupunta nga raw sa
Laguna. Would like to dispose of two lots sa Sta. Rosa. Laguna. Huwag mong
ipagbili, sabi ni Pat. Tumataas ang value doon. Naluluma daw yung nakatayong
bahay.

Pagkababa ni Debbie, kami naman nina Aida ang nagkuwentuhan. She wants to
get someone they can send to school who will be a companion to her mother.
Set in her ways na raw ang mother niya.

Small world talaga. Aida's father knew Vergel's Dad. PMA '45 daw ang father
niya, sabi  ni Aida. Sagot naman ni Pat, boss ng Dad ni Vergel ang Uncle niya.

Ibinaba na ako sa bahay. Thank you, thank you.

Hintayin ang kasunod na reunion. Siguradong meron. Aida will be here till
Aug 12(?) tapos andito na nga si Girlie.
 
 
 

 From: Ruth Flores <ruthy@skyinet.net>
Subject: Seeing Debbie and Aida

Dagdag lang ito sa kwento nina Felix at Ana.  Felix, bilib naman ako, iba
na naman ang style mo.  Nakakatuwa.  Masarap basahin.  Ganyan ka rin bang
mag-lecture sa AIM?  Siguro mag-e-enroll na ako dahil iyan na lang ang kaya
kong intindihin ngayon.  Ayoko  nang mag-isip ng mahirap.

I had to have Debbie picked up from Cubao where she had an appointment with
her lawyer.  When she arrived, pawis na pawis at namumula.  Pagod daw, init
at H.F.  Kaya, pwede raw bang makiligo?  OK, dalian mo lang dahil gagabihin
tayo.  My reservation at Cabalen was from 7-7:30 PM.  Ang bilis nga, kasi,
may carrot akong di-nangle, she can browse the NYC Mild, Medium Hot Photos
in my computer.  Kailangang pagbigyan dahil crush niya raw noon si Lolong.
I told her Lolong is still very boyishly handsome.  "Pinaka" sa mga
ka-klase natin.  She said he sent her daw some pictures of NY reunion.  To
be able to keep the reservation, I had to ask Ella to be early at Cabalen.
Ang problema nito, we knew that the others, like Luis, Felix and Aida will
be coming b/w 9-l0:00 PM.  How can we hold on to the tables na hindi kami
pa-aalisin?  So we ate slowly.  Isa-isa muna ang kuha. Finally, dumating
ang lahat.Sobra pala ang ingay sa Cabalen.  Mistake ang choice ko dahil we
had to compete with the noise all around us. But the food was good.

My driver had to go back for Aida because when she called up na pwede na
siya, we were already in Makati. Can you imagine the Friday traffic here?
Umuulan pa nang kaunti.  Anyway, my driver knows her already from previous
visits, kaya hindi ko na sinamahan.
Since Felix and Luis did not eat, they missed a lot.  Aida was simply
enjoying it very much from the number of times she went back.  Miss-na-miss
niya ang lutong Pinoy kasi she does not cook in LA.  She lives alone and
eats out almost everyday.  Si Debbie naman, mas slim pa kaysa noong when
she was l5, kaya puro vegie lang.  Control, talaga, 'day. She looks very
young and sexy.  Her workout made her trim and firm. She looks much better
than when she was here last, eh, mukhang bata na nga siya noon. Inggit
talaga.

At Starbucks, I felt like we looked like aliens because the crowd was a
very young group. (Sabi ng mga anak ko, panay kabataan daw doon. Dapat
nag-coffee daw kami sa Shangri-la Hotel.  Pang-age daw namin iyon. Kaya
lang, pang triple digits ang price.) Kaya sumingit na rin kami sa
Starbucks.  Kanya-kanya pa ng pila.  Pati nga ang 2 balikbayan, sila na ang
bumili ng cafe nila.  Nakalimutan namin sila.  Masyadaong palagay na sa
isa't-isa.  Si Debbie pa nga ang last.  Medyo nakakahiya.  Pero ganoon nga
ang nangyari.

May kwento si Aida that when she arrived, she saw Luis at the airport, may
sinusundo.  Luis had two men helped her with her luggage.  Unaware of it,
she was wondering why two men were helping her and that she was able to
breeze through the customs in no time. Dati lagi raw siyang pinapara. It
was only that night the she learned that Luis helped her.  Kailan ka ba
nandoon, Luis, sasabay na rin kami sa pag-alis at pag-dating mo para VIP
treatment.

It was midnight, when Starbucks started closing up, that we reluctantly
stood up.  Buti pa ang McDo sa NY, kahit hanggang 4:00 AM hindi kami
pina-alis.

Aida is going to spend sometime in Pagsanjan with her Mother.  Si Debbie
naman left for Italy today, July 20. Arrivedecci.

Ruth

Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 13:26:48 +0800
X-Sender: abu@nfaco
To: "Prepians Class 1965" <abu@nfa.gov.ph>
From: "Ana B. Urbina" <abu@nfa.gov.ph>
Subject: Reunion with Debbie and Aida

Hi, folks! Kahit wala pa raw siyang pencil, eto na ang kuwento ni Felix
about last Friday's reunion. Mag-fu-fulltime manghuhula na lang siguro ako,
basta mamimigay na lang ako ng maraming pencils!
>
Ana B.
>- - - - - -
>
>I hope this gets to you this time. It is my letter to Edith on out last
>Friday's gathering. Paki-edit nalang para kasing-galing nung mga sinusulat
>mo...
>
>Felix

>
>
>It didn't reach me on time but I gave your regards to Debbie anyway. we
>also had another surprize balikbayan --- guess who?  tadaaaaa!!! It was
>Aida Caballes , She had just  arrived the day before and she still looked
>groggy from jet lag. Did you know that she lives more or less in your part
>of the woods, Anaheim, California (8 hours away?),and teaches at a college
>in Santa Monica (near the beach,but an hour away). She says she doesn't
>have an internet  connection (????). But ana b (or pat and franklin since
>they have already visited her) would have her address if  you are ever in
>the area....

[Note from Ana B: Aida has an e-mail address pero busy daw siya, hindi rin
mabubuksan!]
>
>On the other hand, Debbie, lives in Milan (or Milaaanooo, as she pronounces
>it), northern Italy. She is primarily a concert pianist and gives lessons
>on a part-time basis. we made her speak Italian (and she was very good,
>even her accent and hand mannerisms were so Italian) and I think she used
>the word semana (so she must do the teaching only one day a week)...
>
>nagloloko nga si Wilma, Holy Week lang daw. Pero may nagsabi, si Luis ata,
>na wala naman daw sinabing Semana Santa si Debbie!
>
>Anyway, it was lots of fun, there were eleven of us there. Luis, Franklin
>and me were the silent male minority. Pat, Ana, Zeny K. Wilma, Ella, Ruth
>(Ramos-Flores) were the noisy majority. It was a Filipino buffet eat as
>much as you can place called Cabalen (townmate in pampango), and the food
>was good according to those who ate plates and plates of it. It was
>standing room only, and they had to keep eating otherwise the waiters would
>have thrown us out. I only had hot tea because I came from a graduation (of
>a short course) at AIM in which they served dinner.
>Did you know that I was feeling ill the day before, and the morning of that
>day, and then had a class, conducted a  management game in the afternoon,
>prepared and gave a speech during the graduation. By all normal logic, I
>should have been in bed at 8 pm of that long and tiring day, yet when all
>my obligations were done, I suddenly felt so energized at the thought of
>seeing my classmates?
>
>Delikado na ata, ito ha? Parang opium, ano? Lalo na nung mag-umpisa na
>kaming magusap ni Debbie tungkol sa "most memorable year" sa Prep. Second
>year daw, sa II- Rosal.
>
>Since almost all the people there were in II- Rosal. reminiscing (I hope I
>spelled it correctly) started full speed ahead. That was the year we swept
>all the group competitions, and got invited to UP Diliman (by Boots
>Anson-Roa) for an encore on our group poem (as opposed to group song,
>hahaha) somebody said. There was some debate on what the piece was. Luis
>said it was The Raven.  But most of us remembered The Highwayman by Alfred
>Noyes. We told Luis that he actually had a solo part there, so he
>eventually remembered. I brought out our winning Christmas song
>(C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S), and even sung a few bars but they all put their hands
>to their ears and told me to stop baka daw bumagyo!
>
>Anyway, we walked across the street to Starbucks Cafe. Aida was impressed
>because some of her classmates not only had chauffeur-driven cars, but a
>few also  had bodyguards (Luis, Franklin, and I think our ginang bilyonarya
>). I told my small group "wait until Luis becomes President at Cabinet
>members na lahat tayo. The mini-reunions will be in Malacanang. And the
>annual reunions will be rotating globally at Ambassador Ling's, Dennis,
>Felix, etc etec etc assignments)...
>
>There was an SRO crowd again so we squeezed into a three small
>tables.Debbie and Aida shared one chair. comfortably.  How? Well, Aida was
>the typical class 65 size but Debbie was probably the same size as my 20
>year old daughter! Yes! Well, she plays tennis and goes to aerobics class
>that is why she is so sliim. she was actually wearing a hanging midrib
>sweater that made her look like the swarm of collegialas at Starbucks that
>night. I will make sure I get one of Frnaklin's picture and show it to Lu,
>para ma-encourage din (hahahaha)...
>
>Well, I have to leave something for Ana B to write about so I will end now.
>But I have to add some revelations (for me at least) that night. Crush daw
>pala ni Debbie si Francisco Dy. At si Luis, crush niya daw noon araw pa si
>Aida! That's it. Ana B will probably fill you in on what was discussed in
>the other small groups. I couldn't hear all the conversations because of
>the noisy children (real ones!) at Cabalen...
>
>Bye and regards to Prof Higgins,
>
>Felix
- - - - - - - -

Dagdag ni Ana B.:

Kaya pala nang tumawid kami through the park to the 6750 Starbucks ay
nag-baseball cap pa si Felix to protect his bumbunan. Takot mahamugan!
Sabi ko kay Pat, mas masarap yung mocca frapuccino ng Starbucks dun sa iced
cappuccino namin sa Cilantro (oo nga raw) pero mas may sentimental
attachment pa rin ako sa iced cappuccino.
Siempre! Hindi ulit nakakita ka ng mas guwapo e ipagpapalit mo na ang
boyfriend mong baduy, di ba?

Maiingay nga ang mga bata dun sa Cabalen (Gusto ko nang pagkukurutin, sabi
ng isa sa amin. Huu, kayo naman, mas malalakas pa tayong tumili sa mga iyan
dun sa New York, eh!)

Sabi ni Pat, parang prepian daw yata yung nasa isang table. Tingin daw nang
tingin sa amin. Bakit di mo sinabi agad, sana binati natin!
Minsan nga raw nakasabay nila ni Franklin si Jess Lucas sa Pancake House,
hindi daw sila nakilala, kaya nahiya silang batiin. Sus!  Bakit kako
mahihiya, e prepian iyon!

Abangan pa natin ang kuwento naman ni Ruth.
Ana B. Urbina
 
 

Ana B. Urbina