Velada

October 19, 2009 at 8:00 am (2000s Philippines, Current Events, Family Traditions, Humor, Random memories, Religious Traditions, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)

Assumption Convent High School Batch 1969 celebrated their 40th anniversary “velada” last night, Sunday, 18 October 2009 at the auditorium of the San Lorenzo campus.  They were some of the most accomplished  ladies in the land.  Among the ruby jubilarians were Tess Barcelon, Lody Barranda, Jojo Borromeo, Charo Cancio, Lynnie Castillo, Fay Chan, Annette Chanco, Coritha, Tutti Crisostomo, Aida Cui, Nini Diaz, Deng Dimayuga, Emy Faustino, Paula Feria, Gigi Fernandez, Nena Fule, Vicky Ignacio, Stella Illustre, Ito Kahn, Roxanne Lapus, Tess Lopez, Clarita Magat, Marivic McCann, Annie Molina, Mayen Ordoveza, Nenuca Ortigas, Mau Padilla, Lidia Pamontjak, Annie Rocha, Rose Rodriguez, Marivic Rufino, Tina Samson, Helen Silva, Pandy Singian, Tina Ty, et. al..

Happy Homecoming, Ladies!!!   :)    :)    :)

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“Walking Through Years of Friendship:  The  Assumption High School Class of 1969″

By:  Tess Z. Lopez

It’s show time for the glittering rubies of High School Class 1969!

As we prepared for the velada, we swung to the tune of “Pretty Woman, in celebration of life as fulfilled women in our chosen vocations.  We rocked to the beat of “ These boots were made for walking” remembering the twelve years we walked together at the Assumption Convent, coping with the disciplinary measures of the Assumption nuns,  cramming for quizzes and tests and, on the fun side, sneaking out of the watchful eye of Mang Segundo to eat at  Blums Coffee Shop in old Herran!  Those were fun days when life seemed so simple and everything a bed of roses.  After all, we belonged to the Age of Aquarius and “Flower Power’ was the “in” thing.  We became idealists, seeking peace and harmony in a world racked by global turmoil.

As we bade goodbye to the ivy walls of the Assumption after graduation, we began our individual journeys to fulfill our destinies.  We were full of queries where life would lead us to and what the future had in store for us.  Young as we were, we were charged with an adventurous spirit, and were willing to challenge whatever stood in our way of fulfilling our dreams.  And true enough, with determination, we found our niches in the world.  Many of us became full time mothers, others chose to pursue a career or business while raising children, a few have remained single.  No one chose the religious life! 

Forty years after high school, we come together again to celebrate the friendships that were nurtured through the years.  Thanks to the Age of Technology, the Internet has successfully located classmates who have been silent in the different  corners of the world.  Our friendships, aged by the passing years, resonate with the happy and sad times that  have been shared through the years.  Age and  the passing winds of time have developed new episodes in our lives.  A number of us have become widows, others are now young doting grandmothers and many have retired from their careers.  A few have left us forever to live in eternal peace.  We may not be as physically fit as forty years ago, but the class still holds on to a wellspring of zest and enthusiasm for life, seeking new dreams to pursue, never holding back to the ongoing challenges of life.

In whatever path of life my classmates have taken, I take pride that all of them have become the “ideal woman”  that the Assumption education prayed we would be.  In their sphere of life and work, Class ’69 has given dignity to womanhood, shared their material and spiritual resources to their families and workmates, taken up their crosses with strength and patience and in a thousand ways given of themselves for the betterment of society.  Truly, this has been the dream of our Mother Foundress!  As the curtain goes up on October 18, forty glittering rubies of High School Class 1969 will bring the show down in a dance medley celebrating Life, Love and Friendship.

6 Comments

It’s Time

October 4, 2009 at 6:31 pm (1900s Philippines, 2000s Philippines, Angst, Current Events, Personal, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Past, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians, Tristesse)

When I was very young and blissfully ignorant, and that was many, many, many years ago, the arrival of a typhoon was a happy development, specially if it reached Signal Number Two, because that meant that classes were suspended.  We children could look forward to playing most of the day inside Lola Charing’s big house, which was impervious to floodwaters and strong winds.  We liked to  “play house,” “cooking-cooking,” Barbie dolls, G.I Joe figures, “Sungka,” “Piko,” “Patintero,” Hide and Seek, Exchange Places [ in the elegant living room, of all places  :P  ], ”Old Maid,” “Monopoly,” “Scrabble,” etc..  We could watch our favorite cartoons on TV in the afternoon [ "Superman," "Aquaman," "Mightor," et. al. ], and eat all the sugary delights — today’s “tooth decay specials” — we wanted from Lola Charing’s fully-stocked kitchen, and I mean fully-stocked [ "Selecta" and "Magnolia" ice cream;  "Pare" Bito Nuqui's homemade "Mantecado" ice cream of carabao's milk and slivers of "dayap" lime rind { IF there was any left after Brother Andrew and us hungry grandchildren!  :P };  Ate Talia Padilla's homemade cakes, "ensaimadas," "sans rival," traditional pastries like "panaritas," "caramelitos," etc.;  "barquillos" and "broas" cookies from Lola Nena Gala, "Panaderia de Molo" cookies from Lola Gely Lopez, "See's" chocolates, etc. ], and from Aling Maring’s and Aling Esa’s nearby sari-sari stores [ "Sarsi" soda, "Mirinda" soda, "Tarzan" and "Texas" bubble gum, "Choc-Nut" peanut chocolates, "Butterball" butterscotch candy, "White Rabbit" candy, etc. ] for “merienda.”  Those simple pleasures were what typhoons meant to us grandchildren.         

Typhoons then didn’t seem so bad.  Yes, we would see helicopter footages of the Central Luzon provinces — Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac — inundated in floodwaters, but everyone was smiling and giggling as they waved to the cameras of RPN Channel 9 [ or did President Marcos or Madame Marcos also order them to do that??? ].  And because we were stuck in the house with Lola Charing and Ate Talia during such days, we grandchildren also saw, to our collective chagrin, more episodes of “Aawitan Kita” starring the irrepressible Armida Siguion-Reyna and other howling singers.   I remember “Didang,” a particularly strong  typhoon in the early 1970s.  Now that one caused a lot of damage!  We also had no school for a week!  Yippee!

Thirty years later and Everything is so different now…

The coming of a typhoon nowadays in the 2000s means Difficulty, Desperation, Destruction, and yes, even Death.

I had not realized until now that one could actually get killed in a flood.  I stupidly thought that it was only a matter of swimming well with all kinds of strokes — doggie-style, backstroke, freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, etc..  Yes, one could get electrocuted by an open electric wire in the water, or, fall into an open manhole [ what with all the steel manhole covers being stolen for sale to steel recyclers! ].  Or contract the dreaded “Leptospirosis” [ infection from rodents' feces ] by open cuts and wounds.  But what I didn’t know was that one could just be swept away by the rampaging waters, and be hit, all too helplessly, by all kinds of flotsam and jetsam — floating vehicles, uprooted trees, loosened concrete, wooden beams, G.I sheets, stones, and all —  until one is simply… DEAD.  Just like the villains in those “Indiana Jones” adventure movies!!!

Last night, I was at Santo Domingo Church for the third day Novena and Mass in honor of the “Santo Rosario,” Our Lady of the Rosary [ an Old World tradition I took from my Lola Charing ] .  We lifted our hands and the “Our Father” was sung beautifully by the grand choir and, and oddly enough, rather soulfully by the congregation.  I thought of all our fellow, suffering Filipinos and the terrible videos seen on TV and YouTube… and my mind’s eye replayed the horrors over and over, and over again.  And I wept…  Of course, Social Me kept my composure [ ramrod straight posture!  Queen Mary-esque pulchritude  :P  ] but the tears just flowed.  I was lucky, only a few, unused things got wet… but many other people lost their livelihood, hard-earned possessions, homes… and lives!!!    The Sheer Devastation wrought by typhoon “Ondoy’s” floods on Filipino Life was just so awful, wasn’t it?

And now, there’s supertyphoon [ first time I've heard the term!!! ] “Pepeng” whirling towards the Philippines…  Ohmygod.  What worse devastation can that one bring???                         

It’s Time…  It’s Time to Pray, and Pray Hard, like we never did before.

It turns out that our Old People, who prayed hard and prayed often, really knew what they were doing.   :|    :|    :|

*unfinished*

16 Comments

Under the Sea

September 26, 2009 at 3:10 pm (2000s Philippines, Angst, Current Events, Manila Houses, Personal, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians, Tristesse)

Manila and environs literally went “Under the Sea” today with the 24 hour nonstop rains of typhoon “Ondoy”…

It would be ideal and so “above it all” for me to say that I wasn’t affected at all by the flooding of typhoon “Ondoy” [ international code name:  "Ketsana" ].  OF COURSE I WAS.  Although the house is built on high ground, water just came from nowhere at 11:00 a.m. and quickly inundated the basement level, where I had a lot of good things stored for future use.  Antique Filipino furniture, paintings, art books, vintage photographs, cushions, antique textiles, silver, china, crystal, impedimenta, etc. all went underwater for many minutes before they were patiently gathered one by one by the industrious and conscientious househelp.  Surveying the catastrophe hours later, I was happy enough that the things were not lost;  true, several were damaged, but that’s Life!  I was actually more concerned with the health of the staff.       

I thought I had it bad, at least until I saw the TV coverage hours later.  Ohmygod!!!  Quel desastre!!!

So where were you???

51 Comments

An afternoon at “Tana Dicang”

September 23, 2009 at 5:34 am (2000s Philippines, Current Events, Design and Decoration, Domestic Travels, Family Traditions, Personal, Random memories, The Global Crowd, The Ilonggos, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos)

2 Comments

Social conscience and responsibility

September 22, 2009 at 1:57 pm (2000s Philippines, Angst, Current Events, Domestic Travels, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Global Crowd, The Ilonggos, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, Tristesse)

It is only expected that those here in Manila, used to a life of ever-increasing expenditures, are clueless as to what the amounts — usually very considerable — they spend for food, grooming, clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry, home, entertainment, travel, etc. can actually buy in terms of life-changing equipment for our fellow Filipinos in the far-flung provinces of our country.

On the tenth day of our trip, 14 September 2009, Monday, Tess Lopez brought upcoming Silaynon artist Carlos Ruiz and I to the Vallehermoso Central School to conduct an Art workshop for the Grade School children;  the art works would be used for Christmas greeting cards to raise badly-needed funds for the Saint Francis of Assisi Parish Church of Vallehermoso and its Parochial School which burned to the ground a week before we arrived.

And while the Vallehermoso Central School was a perfectly charming place [ an old "Gabaldon"-type school building designed for tropical Philippine weather set on commodious grounds ] with perfectly charming students and noble and concerned teachers, I came face to face with the reality [ for the umpteenth time ] that much of the resources that we take for granted in Manila could go a looong way for the children, happy and content as they are, in this distant provincial town…

And so one thinks of the affluent life that has always seemed normal, even ordinary for the fortunate ones:  endless dinners at “Lolo Dad’s,”  “Le Souffle,”  “Aubergine,” and “Antonio’s” [ and lunches in similar places ];  regular salon and spa treatments at the Shangri-La and Mandarin hotels, Emphasis Rockwell, and at BeloMed;  European couture dresses and British and American bespoke suits;  French and Italian leather shoes and bags from Hermes, Blahnik, Vuitton, Ferragamo, Tod’s;  all the modern Italian furniture and interiors;  theater seasons in London and New York, the casinos in Las Vegas and Macau;  the safari trips to Kenya and the larks to Morocco;  etc., etc..  Imagine All the Real Needs that All those Luxurious Wants can buy!!!                

Someone did tell me, long ago, that the excess resources one has should not be used for one’s pleasures, but should instead be used to help others.

I countered that “It’s so much more fun to make messes of ourselves!!!”  *winks*

9 Comments

Teves town

September 22, 2009 at 1:54 pm (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, 2000s Philippines, Design and Decoration, Domestic Travels, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Global Crowd, The Ilonggos, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Past)

Of course, Negros Oriental Governor Emilio “Dodo” Macias M.D. reacted suitably when I casually mentioned over the Bais fiesta lunch at Angelo and Ruby Teves’ house [ 10 September 2009, Thursday ] that “Dumaguete = Teves,” at least in Manila circles.  The good Governor — despite being at the top of Negros Oriental politics — was magnanimous and politely agreed that it was the popular perception, at least in Manila circles.

The Teves are generally regarded as a Spanish mestizo family, like so many of the Old Negros Oriental aristocracy.  But according to them, the original family name was actually Tan of Chinese origin.

The most prominent Teves these days is the current Secretary of Finance Margarito “Gary” B. Teves.  He is acknowledged by the clan as a financial genius as well as an upright man of unquestionable integrity.  He is a son of the formidable Herminio “Miniong” Teves by his first wife.

1 Comment

The Cure

September 22, 2009 at 10:51 am (2000s Philippines, Angst, Domestic Travels, Humor, Personal, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Global Crowd, The Ilonggos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, Tristesse)

For a month before I went on a jaunt with Tess Lopez to Negros Oriental, I had been quietly enduring chronic stabbing pains in my right ribcage.  It was most painful when I was about to lie down, when lying down, and when rising.  But on the eighth day of the trip [ 12 September 2009, Saturday ], I suddenly realized that the pain had finally disappeared!!!

I don’t know what did it, but it must have been one of these three, or all of these three things, that rid me of the chronic stabbing pain…

What Vivian Yuchengco told me two weeks ago [ 21 August 2009, Friday ] over lunch at her sister Connie Yuchengco-Gonzalez’s was right:  roads and bridges are being constructed / reconstructed all over the Philippines.  Driving from Vallehermoso town to Dumaguete City — passing the towns of Guihulngan, La Libertad, Jimalalud, Tayasan, Ayungon, Bindoy, Manjuyod… — that Monday morning [ 07 September 2009 ], we saw, nay experienced, that 45 kilometers of the national highway from Bais City to Dumaguete City — passing Tanjay City and the towns of Amlan, San Jose, and Sibulan — had been torn up and were being reconstructed.  So for all those kilometers, Tess Lopez’s van, and the three of us Goyong the driver, Tess, and I inside, were constantly whipped from left to right, then right to left, shoved forward and backward, backward and forward, and diagonally both ways!!!  Good thing Tess and I were engrossed talking about everything under the sun or we would have positively gone bonkers.  Wednesday afternoon [ 09 September 2009 ], we drove from Dumaguete City to Bais City for the annual town fiesta [ Saint Nicholas Tolentino, Feast Day 10 September 2009 ], and it was the same story.  It was even more fun because Mercey Teves-Goni and other friends were with us so there was more to talk about.  Thursday afternoon [ 10 September 2009 ], we drove from Bais City all the way back to Vallehermoso town.  Now that was another memorable drive:  the national highway from Bais City for many kilometers was also torn up and was being reconstructed.  So for an unimaginably bumpy number of kilometers, Goyong the driver, Tess, and I were again whipped from left to right, right to left, shoved forward and backward, backward and forward, and diagonally both ways!!!  By the time we got to La Libertad town, I felt that I had had Swedish, Shiatsu, Thai, Hilot, and whathaveyou massages all at the same time!!!  It’s called “lamog” [ "all beaten up" ] in colloquial Pilipino.

During the three wonderful days [ 07 - 09 September 2009, Monday to Wednesday ] we spent with the lovely Mercey Teves-Goni at her Dumaguete City residence, there was a steaming pot of ”Chocolate Eh” on the dining table whether it was breakfast, lunch, merienda, or dinner.  YUMMY!!!  For the first time in my life, I had access to “Chocolate Eh” practically 24 / 7, and I absolutely didn’t mind.  True to my delightfully bad manners, I gulped it down instead of sipping it slowly like the ladies, Mercey and Tess.  The effects were wonderful:  We were happy and giddy all the time.  By the third day, I had consumed enough “Chocolate Eh” that I had begun to smell like a candy bar.

We were also constantly laughing about Anything and Everything…!!!  After dinners, Mercey, Tess, and I related the darndest stories of our lives, stories which made each other’s jaws drop to the floor, and it was way better than any comedy show on TV because it was all for real, however incredulous some of the episodes were.  Some of the stories, all real-life, could have put the world’s best fictionists — Ernest Hemingway, et. al. — to shame.     

So the next time I have chronic body pains, I have very good ideas on what to do…   :D    :D    :D

6 Comments

First Class

September 22, 2009 at 10:43 am (2000s Philippines, Current Events, Design and Decoration, Domestic Travels, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Global Crowd, The Ilonggos, The Manilenos, The Negrenses)

On the third day of our trip, 07 September 2009, Monday, we proceeded to Dumaguete City, about two and a half hours drive away.  We left Vallehermoso town at 9:00 a.m., drove through the big town of Guihulngan [ said to be one of the biggest towns in the Philippines in terms of land area ], and because Tess Lopez wanted me to see a new resort and meet its artistic genius, we visited the “Lalimar” resort in La Libertad town.

“Lalimar” seemed to be a nice-enough private beach resort with a rather chic, native Filipino leitmotif, the 3 – 5 star kind that had clean, stylish guest rooms with clean, contemporary bathrooms and a pleasing dining area overlooking the sea…  Until Tess told me it was “public” and a “government project” to boot.  What???

“HAH???!!!  Impossible!!!”  I insisted.

 ”Well, it is.”  Tess declared as a matter-of-fact.

I thought to myself:  It’s hard to believe that it’s public and it can’t possibly be a Philippine government project because I know, We all know, what a Philippine government project is like, specially a Philippine government project resort:  YUCK, YUCKIER, YUCKIEST.

But it was… it really was a government project.  Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod.

Well, pray tell, Who was The Genius behind This???!!!

Jocelyn “Josy” Sy-Limkaichong.  Congresswoman of the First District of Negros Oriental.

In the simplest terms, She’s First Class.

Why-oh-why can’t we have more congressmen / congresswomen / government officials like her???!!! 

*unfinished*

1 Comment

Fruit Batty

September 22, 2009 at 10:34 am (2000s Philippines, Domestic Travels, Humor, Personal, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Global Crowd, The Ilonggos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos)

I’m not a fruit lover, unlike my late paternal and maternal grandmothers, my late mother, my sister, and my Korean sister-in-law.  But I discovered that I could eat tons of fresh fruits in Negros Oriental…

In Vallehermoso town, We found ourselves in hilly orchards of “lanzones,” “rambutan,” and other fruits.  The trees were dripping with fruits!!!  Thanks to the generosity of the owners, We were left to our own devices for a little more than an hour…  So we just picked at any fruit within arm’s reach.  They were sooooo SWEET and SUCCULENT!!!  Even the very few sour ones were still delicious.  Until then, this city kid had no idea that fruits directly picked from the trees tasted incredibly better than those in refrigerated supermarket shelves!!!  I just ate and ate and ate until I ballooned like those horrible, spoiled children in “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”…!!!  

Ah, the great pleasures of the Philippine countryside!!!  Eat your hearts out, expats!!!   :P    :P    :P

3 Comments

Balay ni Nonoy Tiking

September 22, 2009 at 10:20 am (Domestic Travels, Personal, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Global Crowd, The Ilonggos, The Manilenos, The Negrenses)

And so, after a convivial, leisurely lunch with Lanibelle Javelosa and her family in Bacolod City, we proceeded with the one and a half hour drive to Vallerhermoso town in Negros Oriental.  We passed through verdant mountains, through the beautiful towns of Salvador Benedicto with its pine trees [ which is what Baguio City in Luzon must have looked like in the early 1900s! ] and Prosperidad with its hills.  It was such a scenic, beautiful, soothing drive!!!  Then we were in the flatlands and in San Carlos City, the domain of the famous Congressman Jules Arenas Ledesma.  Before long, we arrived in quiet Vallehermoso, the first town on the border of Negros Oriental coming from Negros Occidental.

It was already 7:30 p.m. when we arrived at the Lopez farm in Vallehermoso town.  The “farmhouse” was located in Barangay Bagawines near the sea.  It was the beloved, lifelong domain of Tess’ late father, Manong Tiking Lopez [ Vicente Hofilena Lopez Jr. ], which he in turn inherited from his father, Don Vicente “Cente” Lopez y Villanueva of Jaro, Iloilo.  Manong Tiking called his farmhouse ”Il Paradiso.”  My first view after stepping off the van was of a generous garden with trees and shrubs and of an arbor with flowering vines.  The cheerful household staff greeted us and took our bags.  The house was on the right and there was a spacious Filipino-style pavilion on the left, designed and constructed by Tess after her father had passed away.  

It was a commodious, comfortable, elegant, yet unpretentious 1950s house.

It was affectionately called “Balay ni Nonoy Tiking” by the villagers.

*unfinished*

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