When 3 Hours of Fun and Talk Ain't Enough... UESLS Batch 89's Party-Party!

It was Saturday, a week before Christmas. We have to be at Kamayan Restaurant in Quezon city by 7:00 pm. The place only serves dinner from that time till 10:00. Saturday was a peak day so we had an earlier booking. It was a table for 20. Someone beat us in reserving a conference room by just 5 minutes. We weren't really hoping that a large crowd will show up because only that number of people confirmed. Mervin Pobre's invitation. He was the batch's Student Government President  and arrived town early December from the US of A. He announced that he will be staying in Manila for good. He wanted a get together and so we organized one on that day, At first, we didn't have a day and venue. I suggested a day. Then, the group decided on the venue later. Kiddingly we entitled the event as 'Mervin's' treat.

There was a banner in a long table that anyone can easily see from afar. That will tell the group where we are. Mavic Ilagan and Christine Reyes were talking about life and what has changed over the years. Some of the questions were thrown on Mervin asking him what happened after graduation and what he's been doing. Then the conversation shifted to odd topics from love life to gossips about what-happened to who and where-the-hell is he or she? A lot of what-I-heard about... stories floated in the air as each one was eager to see each other.

I was there slightly past 7:00. I really don't want to come too early and the Saturday traffic is really unbearable. Using my Honda Beat with my wife Gina, we went pass the killer highway in Commonwealth to cut our trip short. Boy! It was really a nerve shaking trip on a motorcycle to the well known killer highway. A lot of road mishaps have occured in that long highway which stretches from Quezon city Circle to Fairview. We got there just in time to start the casual chats. My wife was attending another Christmas party with her highschool friends so she didn't stay with me that evening. We can't text each other so I promised her that I'll be there when she comes back after her party.

We want a picture with Victor from UK so here it is!

Mervin, Christine and Mavic were a little worried. Who won't be, it's already past 7:30 and you can still count the crowd in one hand. They're hoping that we'll have all those that confirmed present. I assured them that the batch's corpse commander, Uldarico Morales and his high school sweetheart turned wife Jackie Siva will be around. We met a week earlier and they said that they intentionally didn't confirm to surprise the group. Mervin laughed and then they tried to get in touch with another colleage, Victor Lafuente in UK. Victor gave me directions to get to Kamayan for I wasn't really that familiar with the place. I asked him if it's near Kanto Tinio and he just said he didn't know. It's actually a joke which Antonio Baradi easily understood. We had a video chat whth him while we're waiting for the others. Thanks to Smartbro, we got in touch with him and had a very, very long video chat. The wifi of the restaurant wasn't working well.

Everyone was looking at their watches. One by one, the small group became bigger, and bigger. The more new faces arrive, the noisier it becomes. In a short while, Victor Coria, Fatema Abdullah Royo, Haidee Remo-Magno, Emma Ruth Cuyugan, Madrideo Leony, Joyce Pellas Jurado, Rommel Eric Carpio, Cherry Mauricio Jolly Inocencio and Antonio Barradi came. This is becoming a big crowd now. We waited for the others to arrive and decided to have dinner at 8:00 pm. Daisy Aboy and Deny Buan will arrive later. Daisy's caught in traffic and Deny will come all the way from Cavite. She knows she can't make it, but assured everyone that she'll be in a second venue, if ever we decide on going to another place.  Cristina Bote also arrived minus her husband. She really alloted this day to bond with the gang. Vivian Calalang-Reyes also arrived and shared her time and stories. Rocel Robles who works with the NBI are on red alert so she can't make it.

Fresh from the US of A, Carlo Roberto arrives. He's here only for the holidays for his children and heard about the get together. So he made sure that he'll make it. Then as promised, Uldarico and Jackie arrive with their celebrity son, Makisig. He's a wonderful boy and really made heads turn to our table. Even the waiters and waitresses wanted a glimpse of the young singer/actor. We tried to control ourselves and pretended to be ordinary folks with Makisig, however, the girls in the group can't help having a celebrity around. They have to get a shot of him and make sure that they'll have a remembrance shot. Uldarico introduced me to his son and said that the craziness he taught his son came from me! I refuted and told Makisig that only the  bad lessons in life  came from me, and the good ones that he leared are from his father and mother.

Mervin and Daisy: How sweet!

Daisy Aboy arrived and talked about her being single and what she and her brother Zeus were doing. We told her that she's lucky, Mervin isn't married yet. So all through out that time we were pairing the two ex-classmates. James Lester Allado arrives just when it was closing time. He ate out and just dropped by to say hi to the group. Unfortunately, his head was counted as part of the buffet table. So to avoid any misunderstandings and confusion, he took some bite from the place and joined the group.

Three hours wasn't enough. The place was closing when we left. That gave the waiters and waitresses enough time to pose beside Makisig and get some souvenir shots. The serenaders came into the picture and sang a few songs to the group, and even did a duet with Makisig which impressed not only the batch but also the staff of the restaurant. Some of the people in the other tables even stoped munching just to hear the young boy sing. Mervin wanted a night cap. The group agreed to leave the place and continue the party-party at Music 21 which isn't very far from the place. Uldarico and Jackie begged off because they'll have some scheduled appointments with their children. The girls in the group don't want the day to end. So in a convoy, they drove to the music joint. I called home using Rommel's cellphone to relay a message to my wife.  I told the group that my wife Gina will arrive a little later so I have to stay behind and make sure that she'll see me. I promised them that I'll follow them to Music 21. The only problem is, I don't know where it is. Rommel Carpio told me earlier that it's just along Quezon boulevard so when Gina arrived more than an hour later, we tried looking for the place but can't find it. I told her to text and tell the group that we'll be going home instead because it was also very late.

The pictures you'll see in this blog are evidence how strong high school bond is. Like the batch before them, they've all grown up to become wonderful people. I remember the conflicts and worries that they had when I was still they're teacher. I'm glad that they didn't count out or isolated any of their batch mates regardless of what sections they came from. I felt sorry not to see the others whom I've been dying to see for a long time. I also regret not following the group to Music 21 as I promised. I checked out their pictures and deep inside, I wanted to turn back the hands of time and join the group. I'm pretty sure, the group had a wonderful time there as well. At least, they'll have time as a batch so that they can talk about other matters which will concern them. Until next time, I hope to see a bigger crowd. This will be the start of something good for the batch. Again, Mervin, congratulations for a job well done!