NDJ Hi-School Reunion - The Gimmick of Class ''79

Notre Dame of Jolo High School Homecoming Reunion. The Gimmick of Batch’79
Day 05 – Tuesday, 29 September 2009

I went to my sis Beth’s home for quick change ‘coz I’m supposed to meet Arnie Perera for breakfast, but was caught up with the aroma of fried dried fish with fried rice plus corned beef with side dish of egg omelette. As if drawn by imaginary string (or another excuse for sheer greed), the next thing I know I was sitting comfortably on the dining table armed with fork & spoon. Coffee was already brewing at the percolator & its aroma was really overwhelming. Sheepishly I asked Arnie to be excused from the ‘meeting’ & of course I had litany of reason which most of them didn’t convince her.

What was supposedly a quick change dragged to an hour of eating hearty breakfast. Regrets? Not at all when you can make excuse of going for exercise later which is another topic.

I still have another ‘meeting’ to attend to and later that morning I met up with another old collegiate classmate who fed me with info about our batch as I wasn’t able to attend the college homecoming last year. I learned also that our classmate who is now City Councillor is intensifying her campaign despite the election date is still some 6 months away. Of course he himself was approached personally by this friend, which he confirmed with that she is in the camp of ‘lesser evil’. Sad as it may seem, this is how politics is played in the Philippines.

There were other things to talk about like family and long lost friend but then it was time to bade goodbye again as another ‘meeting’ was on the table. Later I proceeded to Albert’s place and was getting ready to go the beach for an evening picnic again. It was asgreed to be at the beach by 3pm.

While Albert's wife Elaine was busy preparing lunch, I was surfing the net with Albert’s daughter Brittany “Bien-Bien”, whose friends at the Facebook had multiplied with the addition of her dad’s friends. One particular friend that Bien was attached to was Queenie, whom she brushed off as ‘suplada’.

Anyway after lunch, Albert was getting more and more busy along with his boys in getting all picnic paraphernalia in order. Soon we were cruising along Sta. Maria-San Roque road towards the beach, but our choice beach would close by 6pm, so we went to Golf Beach instead. It has basic amenities including dirty toilet & non-functioning shower (Bert,sorry for the blunt remarks). There was also b-b-q pit where we char-grilled our fish. The kiosk was big enough to sit 12 persons comfortably. While getting ready the b-b-q pit, Agnes De Castro arrived together with her brother.

Later Queenie arrived with an entourage of almost-middle aged girls headed by Madel, followed by Arnie, Irene, Jennifer & Des. Annabelle didn’t make it on time to join us as she was with her relatives at the farm supposedly gathering ‘lanzones’ for us. Different types of tidbits were passed around but it was ‘kilaw’ raw mango that seemed to dominate the appetizers on the table. It was almost sundown when we finally had our meal which made the setting even more romantic with candles flickering thru’ the night. We had char-grilled tuna, succulent young squids and fried chicken and some other non-descript dishes but otherwise scrumptious. The ‘piutu’ we bought earlier along the roadside proved to be everyone’s favourite as it blended naturally with raw mango salad with 'kinilaw'. Just before we could wallop everything, Belle arrived with all drama enfolded in the farm but no fruits in hand. Some more freshly grilled fish was served by Albert’s handymen to the delight of Belle who would never say no to food—good food!

Later while we were having out desserts, three boys from their batch joined in but I only knew Laureto thru’ word of mouth. Irene, you didn’t formally introduce to me you boyfriends!

Later Madel & Arnie excused themselves and headed towards the water for a night swim. Altho’ the weather was breezy, the water was calm and warm. Had I brought extra shorts, I would have jumped in as well. That’s why I waited for Arnie to change and lend me her shorts. As usual all these girls had always topic to discuss and the ceaseless conversation could continue whether in the house, at the beach or even in the car. Madel enjoyed most of the chat ‘session’ (file-downloading according to Madel) where she could confirm things, probe doubts or disqualify some known facts as Arnie plus Queenie had always almanac of truth to share. From what I deduced, Des & Fheng, who are both are civil engineers, went to the same school since elementary to hi-school and until college and that explained the closeness of these two.

Then it was time to say goodbye again. As I’ve said the info-sharing continued even when we reached Arnie’s home. Before Albert bade ‘adios’, he reiterated his invitation for dinner the next day at his cousin’s stall somewhere in Paseo de Jardin in Pasonanca Park. Good night.... Another memorable day had gone. Ed edlim001@gmail.com