From Bopeep   classmates from overseas, i am sure you are eager to know how our event at cat's place went. i hope this will not be the only account, but i thought that it would be best to write while the memory is still fresh...  full story  From Sue  Here I am, taking a break from my workload, as I feel like sharing with you guys some tidbits on the "35 Years After" reunion:  full story

Bopeep's reflections;
first of all, i must lament the fact that none of us brought (don't know if any of us owns) a digital camera. so we have to wait for maline to give prints from her camera to bing, who will then scan the pics and send them to jet or noy or jess or spike for posting in the website. this is a call for all those who had cameras, to please send ASAP your pictures to maline so they can be put together and made into some kind of photo album. (nainggit kami sa journal ng US based classmates) medyo magulo ito kasi first edition. hopefully someone can do a more coherent write-up.

Part 1
When i slipped out of the party at one-thirty, the small group left was being entertained by karaoke queen - minnie (all the way from toronto). Yes, she was the talent discovery of the night. You should have heard her sing with conviction!  Earlier, she surprised us by doing a dance number with betsy!  Sayang, didi left early so she could not be challenged in song and dance. (Besides, the system used did not have a "quality rating", unlike the one melanie had in new jersey).

Happily providing support to  minnie were gigi, tony arcilla,  agnes, orly borja and sue.

The remaining spectators (that i recall seeing)  were cat, edsa, joey romero, dinggol, freddie poe, cynthia pundol,

Sa isang sulok, nag-iinuman at kuwentuhan, sina doy, bb (the last two to arrive), butch jimenez, ramon veluz, at bing. I may have missed out on one or two names. Sorry!. 

Part 2
The early bird award went to Hec Morada and family.  Chuchi, Noel and Nestor came together. Chuchi, being the host, stayed up unusually late, but eventually the trio exited quietly.

Before Loret left she  informed me that we had forty five people who signed our yellow pad registration sheet. Siempre, hindi ko isusulat iyong forty five names, as I don’t have the list with me.  You will see them na lang in the pictures, when they eventually come out.  (We wanted to be organized and even put up a registration desk, pero nagulo rin). We gave out in a canvass bag with our trademark logo (rushed for the occasion care of maline) , chuchi’s sovenir t-shirt, the US reunion journal, the updated directory and the CD.

We had a multi-media projector to play the slideshow in the CD. It was truly entertaining to see how we all looked 36 years ago in our Clarion pictures.

The short program was emceed by Councilor Baby Zafra del Mundo, Sue and Tabby. It was intended as a formal part of the gathering to honor the teachers, families of our dear departed friends, classmates in government service, and to give an update of the class projects.

The teachers who came (in the order of appearance) were: Ms Munarriz and Mrs. Flores, Dr and Mrs, Socrates, Mrs. Pineda, Mrs de la Cruz, Ms Villlalobos, Ms Mejillano and Mr. Diaz. During the part of the program where they were acknowledged, they each took turns saying how pleased they were to be there and how proud they were to have touched the lives of each one of us.

We also remembered our dear departed friends. There to join us were Marie and Apple Damasco who travelled all the way from Baguio just to attend this gathering. Apple reminded us all to love our work, but not to sacrifice the quality of our lives for that.

Panny ensured that the three children of Delfin Plata were there, who expressed their heartfelt thanks to the class.

A very touching and inspiring letter from Sammy’s mother was read which gave us deep insights into the life of “Sonny”. Memorable words from him: “I am God’s work in progress…”

Peter’s mother and 15 year-old son could not attend as she was not feeling well. Cris Tagamolila left for Hague earlier that day and sent his regrets. We were not able to reach Pids or Edwards’ families.
 
Part 3
We  honored the classmates in government service (ang dami pala nila!). It was great to see Lucy (who was dressed like a real government official) whom we have not seen for a while!  We all know that true service is akin to a  “vow of poverty”, and it made us proud  to be among those who have chosen that path.  Whether it is in education, armed forces, local governance, regulatory agencies, we will find one of them.

Lucy, being in TESDA, proposed that our batch work on a project to build up the Practical Arts program and facilities of UPIS. She promised to pursue this upon the suggestion of Mr Diaz.
 
Part 4
According to the UP High-Prep-Elem, IS Alumni Foundation, Batch 66 is a model class when it comes to generosity and service to UPIS. Our class has really done a good job with pooling our resources to help others.  Doy was supposed to give the update on projects, but as he came at past ten, we had to pitch in for him. I had to report to an inattentive group ( not of particular interest, this topic) of what we have done and what we intend to do in this area.

(I think I will write a separate update on this to incorporate some ideas that Jet proposed)

  Part 5
I have to stop here first as I need to get ready for church. Will collect my thoughts and resume later.

Cheers to all of us, classmates. It is always a great feeling to be with friends who are golden (literally and figuratively)!
 
(Bop continues the next day with her thoughts...)

[ what seemed to be missing from my story was how magulo and masaya everyone was. the poor emcees struggled to keep the attention of the audience, who seemed just engrossed in "kuwentuhan" with whoever was around the table. classmates were just moving around the seven tables, making sure they got caught up with each other's lives.  the dinner spread was such that we could stand up and eat all night. we had flowing "novelle" wine for the light drinkers and harder stuff for the serious drinkers. the surprise appearances of the evening, were, of course, minnie bandayrel and maritess natividad (she left UPIS and went to mindanao after second year high school. she was (is) petite, very fair and curly haired. we had seen neither in previous gatherings. it turns out that maritess and jorge (as in george and not hor-he anymore) sibal are neighbors.  it was great to see betsy and pepot, though their appearance had been announced in the web.

the teachers who were picked up and brought home was a source of concern for us. initially saying that they were not staying long, we were at a loss after a while since none of them seemed interested in standing up to leave, though it was getting late. in fact, mrs soc said mr soc did not want to go. and mr diaz, had to be cajoled to take lucy's ''red plate" car, as he was happily settled in front of the tv singing "my way" with gusto.

among the government servants, baby was also a stand out in a really feminine blue chiffon-like dress! hector morada announced that he had filed for a six month leave from the government (after we honored him!) to be adviser for the UAE government. he wants to know what it is like to be liberated from the "vow of poverty" i guess.

torch arrived late and missed the opportunity to be honored. only rey alcasid was present among the military guys. gene and the rest must be busy  pursuing the abu sayaf.  (joke lang)

no show were the other UP faculty,  doms "joji" ilio and nini alcantara.

ano pa ba ang tsismis?

didi left early as she had a dancing party to catch in malate. at least nag-attend ng reunion sa manila!

sue caused a stir after we found out that she came in a hummer. a hummer!!! it looked really massive and intimidating! can you imagine sue driving one in the city? well, it turns out she had a driver and it belonged to her brother. this car is now assembled in the philippines and comes with a prado engine.

dinggol, tabby and maritess were chuckling over the realization that tables had turned and  their kids were now in charge of picking them up.

o sige, bukas naman ulit. i have to get ready for work tomorrow. sana may iba pang susulat ng comments. bobby sanchez, didn't you do one last year?

love to all of you!

bop

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Sue's Views
* When the families of Pol Damasco and Delfin Plata were called, we asked the children to say something. I was impressed with the maturity, self-confidence, fluency and depth of their messages. Pol's daughter, for example, advised us not to focus too much on work to the detriment of family and health. Wise words from a young girl to her Dad's 50-something friends!

* Lucy Lazo, who used to project a scholarly, almost nerd-ish image in the old times, looked very glamorous with a golden silk scarf around her neck and a matching neckpiece with a long black dress. Picture it? Somebody said Gemma Araneta was in the crowd. I said she looked more like Imelda Marcos! 

* It was very touching to see our teachers. They looked about the same way they did in 1966. I was most touched to see Dr. and Mrs. Socrates.

* Mr. Diaz, in his speech, advertised a product called "Intra". It keeps him young, he said -- better than Viagra. Judging from his capability to deliver a long speech, it looks like the product works. We later learned that Chuchi started the company selling "Intra' in the Philippines; Mr. Diaz did not even know that.

* Early bird awardee Heck Morada was not able to receive his gift from Cat Echanis, a music CD, because he was also an early departee. Couldn't blame him. He was scheduled to leave the following day for the UAE to earn petrodollars for his retirement. As we were recognizing him for his service to government, Heck announced that he had just spent his last day in office as a government servant.

* Minnie Bandayrel, the surprise of the evening, was mainly reponsible for keeping the fun going at the karaoke center. She was truly a belter with a natural flair for showbiz. Second to her was Agnes Quodala, who was being teased as an "AIM" graduate (not for "Asian Institute of Management", but for "Akin Itong Mike". Biro long, Agnes!). At around past midnight, Minnie requested for her signature song, and said, "Let's have this as our last number" (as in, this song is special to me). Alas, Minnie couldn't make singit, as Agnes belted out the song instead. Minnie could only watch as she held her own mike, waiting for a chance to sing a few lines. Tony Arcilla couldn't stop laughing! (Sayang, Didi, you would have been a good contender for the karaoke champion but you left early. Almost everybody scored "50" only.)

* The most frequently repeated statement in the teachers' speeches was "Your class looks very prosperous". Not surprising. The party was held in Cat's beautiful home. And we had the likes of Chuchi and Brigadier General Rey Alcasid, who looked every bit successful. Actually, we have quite a number of famous names in our class.

* Joey Romero, himself a famous name, was more good looking and charming than the actors he directs. Everybody sought Joey for "inside" information on the celebrated Nida Blanca murder case. Joey, like Nida, is a member of the MTRCB (the Phil movie censors board) and saw Nida at the MTRCB offices on the day she was murdered . He attended the wake and gave interesting tidbits. Does Joey have a suspect as to Nida's murderer? Yes, he has one, but we'll keep that in suspense...

* Bops arranged for a projector that flashed the Clarion photos, page by page, on a screen. Of course there were sporadic applauses depending on whose face was shown. Didi was the only one who went right up to the screen where the spotlight was, and waved animatedly to the crowd. Just before doing that, she told us she was shy!

*  It comes of no surprise, of course, that Betsy still looks as sexy as ever. In her Bostonian accent, Betsy invited everyone to the 2003 reunion to be held in the Barangan Estate in Laoag. Betsy was one of the night's singers. You should have seen how she and Minnie danced the shuffle, locally known as the swing. (Sayang na naman, Didi, we could've seen your dancing skills if you hadn't left early). Betsy's hubby Pepot patiently hobnobbed with everyone.

* Doy came very late. But he agreed that the "36 Years After" gig will be held in his newly constructed home next year. That gives him more than enough time to do the finishing touches.

* Yes, I had a Hummer with me that night (borrowed from my brother, because my car was carnapped a couple of weeks ago, but that's another story). I didn't know the Hummer would cause a mini-stir. Tony insisted to have his picture taken with the car!

So there! If I remember anything else, I'll let you know. I don't think any of the past reunions held in the Phils can match this one in terms of people going from one table to another. It used to be, that people kept to their tables until the night was over.

This is probably the longest piece I've written. Halata bang nag-enjoy sa party?
Cheers to UPHS 66.