Oh yes, Subic was a real blast.  I have never enjoyed everyone so much, nor have I felt as close to all of you.  Age
has treated most of us quite well, and I have found that our smiles and hearts are as big if not bigger than our girth
(there are exceptions of course).

The last night of singing, revelry and all out dignified carousing, was about the most fun party I think I have ever
been to.  Jerry was commenting at midnight, that he wished this would never end, however at around 2 am, our
fifty year old bodies gave out.  It was then talking at the hotels/apec houses until four for most of us.

Everyone was memorable, specially our emcee, EQ.  I think I will call him now EQ "Benini" (correct spelling? as in
Roberto Benini of It's a beautiful Life) Pablo.  He was the life of the party, singing, and dancing and getting
everyone to join in, and not only to make a fool of themselves, but mostly extracting the last iota of fun from all
us.  He got us all to let our hair hang down.  It was so much fun, even the band got drawn in; they were only to
play for three hours, but they played for much much more, and forgot about the time.  How about that!

Jerry, the balladeer, we all knew you could sing, and you proved it again.  The back up singers of Jess, Boyet,
Joey and Perry...they all were good.  A new singer and star was born, unfortunately he will never be a Real
Prepian, just an adopted one... JOEY II !  He was Great, an absolute blast.  A perfect complement to EQ.

Of course we must thank those who really made this work... Ray Dan, who did all the secretarial work, legwork, and
all the work before and during the reunion; Clem Pablo who worked with the clubs for the menus, and of course
haggled them down to reasonable prices...EQ, who oversaw everything, and continuously barked out orders, and
of course made the tapes etc.; Gerry,who got the Apec houses for the lucky few; Teddy Bernardino who donated
the use of the coasters, and the Chinese Lunch; Vic Yenko who helped in practically everything... The Power
Point/CD boys... Ed. Umali, Jess Lucas, Joey Mundo, Boyet Dominguez, and of course Perry Alcudia... The weekly
(having a good time )planning committee... which aside from the above included Liz Plana, and also Army dela
Cruz and Guilly and Benjie S....Have I missed out anybody?  Let me know... The problem is my memory, it has
gone... and I can't find it.  See what marriage does?  ...or is it a because I am young 50?

And YES all of us... We are Prep '66!  (whatever that means)

Sayonara...

Butch

       I just want to congratulate everyone who made this reunion not only possible, but a
       smashing (a blast from the past) success from what I've heard so far.   Kudos to all the
       organizers as well as the attendees and their families.  As a jealous non-participant, I
       could only imagine the camaraderie and excitement that went on all weekend.   Thanks
       to the cyber-network, I have become a "virtual" (albeit non-physical) partaker of the
       joyous event.   I just wish I were able to attend...(sigh)

       Ernie

       P.S.   Merry Christmas to you and yours!  Here's wishing everyone a better and more
       prosperous New Year, and good health!!

Everyone who attended the Subic reunion will have his or her story to
tell. They will come in many variations but everything will lead to the
same ending ... it was all worth the sacrifices and special efforts.
There is no single person who could claim credit for "what had been" or
point to anyone for "what has been not". After 35 long years, we the
members of the class can now claim that we are one solid group of Prepians
who happened to share the same vision and concern for all.

To those classmates who failed to join this affair, there will be more
in the near future. As reflected by the various reactions of most
members of the class, in the next affair, do not rationalize your
attendance. Just be there and you're guaranteed a good and totally enjoyable
time.

At the beginning, I thought that three days was quite long. I was
afraid that we will ran out of activities. I was dead WRONG! In fact, we
could have extended the affair and still discover at the end that time was
not enough. Just the simplest of activity, getting to know each other
again, reminishing the past, the good and bad times, the ups and downs,
the pleasures and pressures of being a student at the Prep, learning
the secrets we have been hiding for a long time, and the close frienships
we have been wanting to renew for a long, long time, the time at Subic
was simply not enough.

The real reason for the euphoria... those who were not enjoying the
affair had the ability to hide their displeasure and cover this with
ecstacy. If only we can do it again tomorrow, it will be worth all the
efforts and sacrifices.

The next planned Grand Reunion will be in the year 2005 and with the
great anticipation of those who tasted Subic 2000, the date is just
around the corner.

Ed Umali
 

                                            Reunion

                          On lighter things, my high school batch '66 at UP Prep finally
                          managed to pull off an ambitious plan for a grand reunion
                          over the weekend at Subic after two years of planning.
                          Maybe it was because half of the class migrated to the US,
                          Australia and points beyond that it was difficult to get a grand
                          reunion going.

                          This year, the award for the most heroic effort to attend has
                          to go to class valedictorian, Myrna Lopez-Soriano, now a
                          physician, an endocrinologist based in New Jersey. She,
                          husband Carlos and son Matthew endured over 12 hours
                          sitting on a Northwest plane stranded in the tarmac at the
                          Detroit International Airport for a series of reasons. When
                          they finally got to Subic, they had been travelling over 40
                          hours.

                          Come to think of it, that Detroit Northwest hub is a real
                          horror story. My brother-in-law, Dr. Art Ludan, passed
                          through this airport a few weeks ago and came home without
                          his luggage. Some years ago, he and his family were traveling
                          together and their luggage ended in Vancouver ahead of them
                          and required a lawyer to get the suitcases back to America.

                          Actually, if you aren't too colonial minded, the best way to
                          cross the Pacific Ocean is via our good ol' Philippine Airlines.
                          PAL has the best schedule. The late evening flight enables me
                          to sleep on my way there and this minimizes my jet lag. From
                          San Francisco or Los Angeles, you always have a choice of
                          flights going East. Best of all, Filipina PAL stewardesses
                          always make my flights a lot more pleasant. Coming back to
                          Manila at dawn also gives me a full day ahead.

                          Anyway, the star of our reunion was former Presidential
                          Spokesperson Jerry Barican. After that number he sang with
                          the circa 60s combo, Jerry won't be jobless for long. How
                          about being a torch singer for a career change? Public Works
                          Undersecretary Mabini "EQ" Pablo is also ready for a
                          post-retirement career as a stand-up comic. Too bad Dr.
                          Ernie Espiritu, our favorite joke contributor, couldn't leave his
                          ER in Texas. But pre-martial law ABS-CBN Radio Patrol
                          reporter Perry Alcudia, now a Los Angeles resident, made it
                          to Subic.

                          Nostalgia, menopause and fears of creeping Alzheimer's are
                          always potent motivations for high school friends to get
                          together. If you guys haven't tried it, go out there and do it.
                          And don't forget to invite your old teachers too because they
                          love it. As Thelma Garcia Abiva, our guidance counselor
                          commented, "we are happy to know we look younger than
                          some of you." Given that she had the responsibility of looking
                          after our mental health in those days, her comment really
                          made our day.

                          Boo Chanco

 THANK YOU, PREP 66 FOR BEING THERE FOR OURSELVES
 !!!!
 

 That was one terrific party!!!

 To thank you for your individual contributions
 (effort, time, money, spirit, etc) would not do
 justice to the event that had just transpired.
 I do not even dare to describe it for I know that
 I lack the capability to do so.

 Perhaps, if we all send in our own recollections
 and assessment of our GRAND Prep 66 Subic Reunion,
 we may be able to piece them together and capture
 the essence of its grandness.

 Manny
 
 
 
 
 

 -------- Original Message --------
 From: "Jess C. Lucas" <jess@carmelray.com>
 Subject: RE: THANK YOU!!!!

 marami pong salamat sa lahat! napakahirap
 maintindihan kung papaano nabuo ng ganoong kaganda
 ang reunion. maaaring isa lang ang dahilan, dahil
 na rin sa mga prep66 classmates na nagbigay ng
 kanilang buong loob na pakikiisa sa nakaraang
 pagsasama.

 it was good to see you all once again.

 jess
 ----------
 From: jymundo@kodak.com
 Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2000 10:24 AM
 Subject: Re: THANK YOU!!!!
 
 

 From: Jose Y Mundo

 Good Day MANNY !!

 Thanks for the note and the kind words.  Real
 teamwork and true team spirit
 propelled the grand reunion to its resounding
 success. Everyone's
 willingness to participate and contribute in
 whatever measure was the key
 to success and I guess each and everyone found the
 trip back to memory lane
 so enticing and adicting that it was almost
 impossible to stop the ball
 from rolling. For those who did not make it to the
 affair, they really
 missed a chance in a lifetime and it could even be
 said, they missed half
 of their lives. . . . . . . . . . . . . I know at
 times, people just could
 not respond as expected due to personal or
 business reasons but one thing
 is sure, they are reading the mails! I think each
 and every living soul
 inside that room that evening had a great time,
 way beyond expectation and
 my hope is that sometime in the future, we can
 replicate this. Thanks!!

 Warmest Regards!!

 Joey

Dear Classmates,

Its been a couple of weeks since our Weekend At Subic and am one of
those (guilty ones) who just opens the Inbox and reads the mail. Not
knowing what to write and still agog over our Very Senior Prom Night, I
thought of just leaving it to you Guys to "gosh and wow" over our
Reunion.

Last night as I went to bed, vivid images of 1962 at the fourth floor of
the Rizal Hall alternating with images of our Weekend At Subic flashed
through my head. It was awesomely wonderful, I hardly slept as I matched
our faces then and now, reliving how I knew each of you then 30+ odd
years ago. Then I knew I had to write you Guys about this........

Just wanted to say Thank you for being my Classmates and being there in
1962 thru 1966 when we were young and raw and malleable like bits of
unshaped clay. What we are now was, in large part, formed during those
years. Each of us shaping ourselves and unknowingly influencing the
shape of each other's values and aspirations as we grew together in high
school under the tutelage of our beloved faculty.

In Subic, time not only stood still for us, we turned back the hands of
time. Thank you Classmates for that Precious Weekend at Subic. These
fond memories will linger and have found a special place in each one's
heart as we Cruise through the Golden Years of our Lives.

Thank you Classmates for the Anticipation each one of us now have as we
eagerly look forward to a Repeat of our Nostalgic Trip down Memory Lane
in 2005. That's something really worth waiting for! Now that all has
been said and done, Lets Do It Again Guys because to be with You, dear
Classmates just feels So Good!!!

Happy New Year to All!!!

Euly aka Bibot

I wish I had Jerry's journalistic talent so that I can better express the
magnitude of my feelings at that grand reunion.  You will just have to put up
with what I have put together here.

We arrived back in San Diego Wednesday evening.  Our children and some of
their friends met us with a huge "WELCOME HOME" sign at the airport.  The
drive home was quick and short.  Wow, walang traffic!

Jetlag used to be no big deal for me.  But this old body seemed to have
minded it this time.  For the past few nights, I have been unable to get a
good night's sleep, and the few winks that I have been able to get here and
there are filled with dreams of you, dear classmates, and the glorious time I
had at the reunion.  It's now 3:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and here I am
typing this.   But then again, maybe it's not jetlag.  Maybe, it's something
more infectious and more lasting, like happy nostalgia, or the longing to
hold on to make that magical feeling last a little longer.

Our grand reunion is easily one of the most awesome times that I have ever
had in my life.   It was such an enormously remarkable feeling to see and
talk to classmates after so many years, people who we spent four of the
happiest and most impressionable and crucial years of our lives with.  Nobody
has changed; everyone is the same basic good person he/she was back in high
school.  Dare I say that even our looks haven't changed much, in spite of the
gray hairs, no hairs, etc.  Time has done us real good!

The sunset cruise was a fitting time to get to know each other again,
including family members (remember "Getting to Know You" in first year high
school?).  It was a time when everyone started to "mold and fit" into each
other's lives anew.  All the meals, the delicious seafood lunch at the Villa,
the breakfasts at the Triboa Bay Country Club, the Italian dinner at the
Yatch Club, the Chinese lunch, and the international buffet with a beautiful
ice carving, were sumptuous and elegantly served.   Everything was first
class, five-star.  Who can forget the prom night?  The band was great; they
captured the spirit of our time with their music.  Everyone looked so
exquisite in their formal attires.  However, as in Jerry's words, everyone
"came armed with the soul of a child," and we all let our hair down and
couldn't/wouldn't hide the free and fanciful innocence of our youth behind
the evening gowns and suits.
 

Thank you very, very much to the movers and shakers of this momentous event.

EQ PABLO - You're DA MAN.  Your tireless energy and enthusiasm made every
minute of the weekend so pleasant for everyone.  I play that CD in the car
all the time.  Of course, a BIG thank you too to CLEM, who is the moving
force behind EQ.  Kung wala si Clem, asan si EQ?

RAY DAN - A little less noisy than EQ, but equally energetic and
inexhaustible, and in his quiet and unassuming ways, made sure everything was
squared away, from the tiniest details to the biggest items in their agenda.
Thanks for making the facilities at the Yacht Club accessible to us.

JERRY B. - I enjoyed your singing, dancing, and jokes.  It was gratifying to
see that you haven't changed in spite of your position, power, etc.  Thanks
for the villas, the munchies, the alaga.  Thanks for that beautiful article -
makabagbag damdamin.

MANNY - The guy who started it all.  You have been there from the beginning
to the present.  Keep it up, Manny!  The group needs you.

JO A. - It was so delightful spending that time with you on the ferry boat
and getting all red in the face together because of the wine (it's all your
fault, Benj!)  Ed and Hugo are a good combination, ano?  Parehong kalog.
Thanks for the phone call on Monday.  We'll surely do something together next
time - dito o diyan.  Promise.

ED - Boy, that bus ride to Subic would have been really boring without you!
Matagal na akong hindi nakakatawa ng ganoon.  Nag-circulate tuloy ng kaunti
yung air sa lungs ko; napalitan ng Manila air.  Thanks Ate Arlette for
sharing Ed with the class.  Thanks to your boys, too, for helping in
completing the CD.

JOEY - My heart went back to high school when I saw you, my dear.  I missed
Noli and Alex and the rest of the group.  That was an amusing and sentimental
presentation of our high school years.  Congratulations on having a lovely
family.  Baby is very charming and, of course, my boy, none other than JOEY
II, what a great kid!  Everybody fell in love with him that night. Padala mo
naman siya dito sa akin, pahiram sandali.

BOYET - Hindi ka pa rin nagbabago, quiet, humble, unpretentious.  It was nice
to see you and talk to you again.

JESS - Great psychedelic design for the CD cover and t-shirts  Very apropos
for our time.  Thanks for sharing your time and talent.  Nice looking sandals
too!

BENJ - Hey, in Anna's words, you looked dapper in that vested suit and red
bow tie.   Wish I could have spent more time with you.  You and Ed are a
riot!

VIC - Thanks for your time and efforts in working with the planning
committee.  Thanks for passing out the chips during our sunset cruise.  I was
very glad to meet Marilyn.
She is quiet, but very friendly.

LIZ - Lola, you are as cute as ever!  Thanks for being part of the planning
group and for representing the girls.  I had a very enjoyable time at the
prom night with you and the rest of the girls.

NELLIE -  Balae, pang-ilan ba ako sa pila?

PERRY - Tawagan mo naman ako paminsan-minsan.  Glad to see you there.  Enjoy
ano?

FRED, BUTCH - It was worth travelling all those miles, right?

EULY - Very distinguished looking; napagkamalan ka tuloy na "guest of honor."

LEONARD - Kahit pala mahirap kang hanapin, you show up when you need to.  It
was good seeing you again.

ARMI - What a beautiful family!  Viol is very friendly, ever smiling.

SUCHIE and ANGGE - Mga mare ko, what can I say!  Mga D'MMUR's pa rin tayo at
heart.  It was sweet to remember "bente-bente", "Ticket to Ride", "Honey
Don't", etc.
Felisa, Naoms, Inday, Ixie - wish you were there!

NORMS and LILY - Fun times with you guys at the prom night and on the ferry
to Manila.  We appreciate all your efforts so you could be there that night.
 I think you deserve a special award (like a special weekend at the APEC
Villas, calling Jerry, EQ, Ray).

GUILLY - Thanks for the good company and the white wine on the ferry back to
Manila.  And also for the lunch at Don Inggo.  And of course, for the
gorgeous anthurium arrangement; we somehow managed to make lusot sa customs
and it's charm still graces my living room.

TEDDY, LAWRENCE, MYRNA, RICKY, DEWES, BOO (beautiful daughters, they take
after the mom :) - Thanks for being there with your families and for all your
contributions and hard work in making this affair a big success.

BOB REYES and TONY CORTES - It was good seeing you at the luncheon.

ANNA - Hope you had a good time with Prep 66.  I think you did, 'cause I've
been reading your write-ups.

I hope I didn't forget anyone.  If I did, forgive me.  My mind is still hazy
from all the excitement.

For everyone - NAOMI MIGUEL-JONGCO sent me a card and picture to share with
you all.  But unfortunately it arrived after I had left.  So kung sinusuwerte
ako, baka magamit ko iyong scanner and I will broadcast the picture to
everyone.  Pag medyo minamalas-malas naman ako, ay ipagagawa ko na lang sa
anak ko.

I called INDAY and BOB DEL PILAR the day after we arrived and gave them the
scoop.  I will mail them their copies of the CD (songs) and if any of you
guys have time, can you mail them copies of the power point CD also?
 

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!  I wish I could have stayed longer to spend
more time with everyone.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL AND MAY WE BE CONTINUALLY BLESSED WITH GOOD FORTUNE
SUCH AS THE ONE WE HAD THAT WEEKEND IN SUBIC!!
  
 - - - - - - - - - -

edna,

what journalistic talents of jerry are you talking about!
the guy has to try oh so hard to eke out a living, pati
tayong mga 'fine and decent' classmates ginagamit pa.

you're right it's a magical feeling, not jetlag, and it will
last foreverrrr...

time has done you good, but i can't say the same for jerry,
boo, lawrence. si euly, medyo binagayan ng kaunti. si benj,
well-preserved, ang pagka-ilokano.

nice roll call, definitely better than counting sheeps in
your sleep.

churn out some more of what keeps you awake at night nang
mainggit sina naomi, inday, toots, poyang, atbp.

hugo, aren't you the lucky one!!!

see you peoples, very, very soon.

EQ