Naughty or Nice, Martinians Unite for the 2nd Time!

Back in the 70s, there was this school that stood proud among the other schools in Pasig. It was a school where public transportation was scarce and at the same time, it sits right on top of a plateau. It overviews the entire valley or as we call it, the industrial city of Pasig. It was St. Martin Technical Institute.  The school where the term discrimination was never heard of.
It was a tough school. There was a time when a Martinian is in a mall or shopping complex, everyone will know about it. Schools like Lourdes, PCC, Ateneo, La Salle would unite against a Martinian, but won't dare touch one if they know there are several scattered all over the place. They know that the students of St. Martin are united by brand, that the brotherhood and sisterhood that each one has. They're protective of each other. So in cases where something goes wrong and you're up against one Martinian look again. They're everywhere!

The same is true in the professional world.When you know you're dealing with a person from St. Martin, they'll listen only to a fellow Martinian. They're born stubborn and with a strong disposition in life.You have to be tough in school because that's the atmosphere we have. The bathrooms explode with locally timed firecrackers that everyone in school knows how to make. Water bombs and pranks are very common, and everyone is proud to say that we survived them all. The school accepted any student in need of education. The students that other schools won't give a chance will have a second home in St. Martin and they are welcomed well as a brother. All this changed when the government bought the school and improved the grounds. They converted the place as a government institution for higher education and kept the facade of the buildings and how each room looks like. The big trees that grew there survided, I'm not quite sure about the berry tree that we love climbing. When the school closed, everyone was taken by surprise. In just one click the old school is gone...
After several years, the Martinians got together again. This time, one by one, we regrouped ourselves in Facebook and became one big organization again. Thanks to Willie Robles and all the efforts of our fellow brothers who are not living abroad. Then later, they organized a reunion and it was attended properly and because of time constraints, there were familiar faces that didn't make it. As a result, a 2nd Grand reunion was organized. This time in the old home. In the same grounds that we all grew up in. At first we thought it was impossible. But Martinians will make things happen. Months and months of planning paid off. Everything was set for a grand assembly.

Wow! you should see the place. The familiar faces all started coming between 2 to 4. Early dinner was set and a program was all arranged. Every year level was represented. Everyone talked about their personal adventures and misadventures as a student of this great school. The plus factor was having some pioneer teachers around like Miss Empe and Mr. Calacal. They brighten up the evening. Each student had their chance to thank the old teachers for their efforts to teach us. We didn't understand it at first but eventually we later found out that their efforts on us was worthwhile. Each Martinian in that party became somebody. No matter how big or how small each one's accomplishment was, it doesn't matter. A Martinian's virtue is being resourceful. We produce when there's nothing and we survive the changing times. To all my brothers and sisters in St. Martin Technical Institute, I love you all and may the spirit of St. Martin be with you always and forever!

A Nice Way To Earn $500!

Well, here is something interesting that I'd like to share to everyone. Right now, I'm working as a writer and one of my assignments is to look for stories related to gold. The fun part is that the only gold I know about are the ones we see in Ongpin. So what I did, I made some surfing along the web and guess what I found? Here it is. A set of antique golden false teeth that's in a fine estate liquidation site.
The fun part is this. The people who have them don't even know the story behind this false teeth. Probably the last one who turn it over never noted down the story behind it. As a result, they held a contest for anyone who will give to them an idea regarding who owns this teeth. If you can present proof and accurate details about it, then you win $500! It's that simple. They're pretty sure that someone will have a story to tell about the.
Well the site also anticipated some funny stories that will come their way. As a result, they held another contest. You can go for the consolation prizes of $300, $200 and $100 by giving to them a funny possible story about the golden false teeth. Well, I tried to give them one, and they replied by saying that they enjoyed the Cinderella angle I gave them. He-he-he. It was really fun writing about it. If you're interested, just follow the link and do your own share. The prestige of winning is always there. At the same time, I hope they pay through PayPal...

Thanks for the Visit!

It's been more than a month now when we were visited by two lovely women. My aunt Bing and Menchu. They are the sisters of my mother who currently live in the US. They announced their arrival way ahead and everyone was very excited to have them around again.
My cousin Joel was in charge of their pick up. They arrived from the airport and was brought to another cousin's home in Marikina. The home of my cousin Ramon Buenavista. They stayed there during their entire stay in Manila. Too bad, when they initially planned for the trip, they were thinking of being around for my  aunt Pat's birthday. Unfortunately, my aunt passed away last December. But they still pushed through with their trip, rain or shine.
We greeted them with warm embraces. I was so surprised to see my Aunt Bing! I almost cried when I saw her. She looks exactly like my Aunt Baby who passed away a year before. She gained a few pounds last time I saw her and to my surprise, they're exact replicas! Well, they came form the same mother...
We had some local dishes that they've haven't had for a long time, the famous "Pinakbet" was served by my cousins courtesy of Randy, who was in-charge of the cooking. We also had the time to bond. We haven't seen each other for quite some time, so it was a chance for us to have a few chit-chat with each other.
A few weeks after their arrival, they visited my father and had a look at his condition. The entire gang was together again and we had a chance to drink with uncle Joe, the only living brother of my mom. We talked about the good old days and how simple life was then.

Their bon voyage party was held at my cousin Bubut Nadal's place. Earlier that last week, we had a christening party then the big feast was celebrated. The party coincided with my aunt Pat's 40 days. So we gathered again for a feast and munched our way to artery bursting goodies.
It's been a few weeks now since they've left. They earlier announced that this will probably be their last trip to the Philippines because they're too old to travel in the future. We will always remember that wonderful moment they spent with us and we hope that another gathering like this will come our way to strengthen the bond that we all have as a family. Aunt Bing and Aunt Menchu, thank you for spending time with all of us here in Manila. We love you very much!

Another Year, Another Challenge, Same Old Friends...

From left, me, Arnel, Gina P, Thess S, Gina L and Joy S in front of Banapple

Happy New Year to everyone! That's the very first 3 words that everyone said when the clock struck twelve lat January 1st. It's another year and so far we're thankful that everyone of us didn't get any injuries while playing with local fire crackers. It's tradition in the Philippines to spend time with loved ones during new year and pop some fire crackers over a bottle of beer. As a result, those that were less careful are rushed to hospitals with missing fingers, while others have to bear the scars of a boomer gone wild.

My college friends in the University of the East have been planning to see each other as early as first week of December. There were a lot of activities that each of us has to accomplish so some of us has to beg-off. As a result, we finally fixed a date last January 2nd at the Ayala Triangle in Makati. What? I don't know where that place is. I'm familiar with Glorieta as our common meeting place in the past but the Ayala Triangle, I've never been there! I was sending words to my friends that I'm not familiar with the place but will definitely show up no matter what happens. We're going to Banapple, one of the hang outs at the park.

To make sure I'm refreshed, I took a very long nap immediately after lunch and made sure I'm awake just in time to get to the meeting place. The nights are a little cold so I have to make sure someone's at my back to keep the cold out. That means I have to bring along my wife who is also dying to see my friends which she became fond of conversing with. So off we go to Makati and let's just make sure we can ask someone where that place is.

The only landmark that was mentioned to us was that the place we're looking for is close to Manila Peninsula. So what I did, was position my motorcycle as the car park that is just behind Manila Pen. We asked the taxi drivers and other chauffeurs that were around, but they seem to don't know where Banapple is.Finally, one of the security guards told us that it's just across the street, which is known as the Ayala Triangle. So! Finally, we hit the jackpot! We're in the right place and has a wonderful space to park our Honda motorcycle. All we need to do is bring our helmets with us, cross the street and look for Banapple. The Ayala Triangle is the big open space between Manila Peninsula Hotel and Paseo de Roxas. It's the big open space where the Makati Stock Exchange is situated. The city government finally converted the place into a park for everyone to enjoy. That's the very first park I've encountered that has trashcans for pet droppings. It's more like the Luneta park in Manila. The only difference is that Ayala was able to preserve some of the old trees that used to grow there. In addition to that, there's a lot of space and place now where anyone can jog and have a cozy shade to rest when needed. There are children running around in the blue grass that covers most of the park and some of them would try out the remote controlled toys they got for Christmas. In one stretch, you'll find a row of eateries that has been serving people. One of them has to be Banapple.

Finally we found the place and immediately noticed the gang. They're all there, just in time to order our dinner. We have to queue up at the cashier to order and then the waiters will serve our orders when done. I had pork with hickory sauce and so did my wife, Gina. The others has the same except for Thess Silva who wanted Tuna on Rye.

It was a wonderful time to catch up from the last time we met. The last time I was with the group was way back February of last year. That was the time when Fr. Joandre Beltran was around with Dong Mayo. We had a bonding trip in Tagaytay and boy! That's one memorable trip. This time, the gang had to start telling stories about what happened to each one of us in the past 6 months. It was nice to know that Thess and her husband Ely celebrated their wedding anniversary in Japan, and Arnel "Pebbles" Poblete, shows off his newly acquired Nikon camera which he got in their US trip last summer with wife Gina Gonzales Poblete. Most of the stories that circulated in that small table were related to our friends that they met in the US, like Fr. Jojo and Lefie. Gina makes sure that every time a group gathering happens, she brings with her some token gifts that Lefie gave for the group. This time she had the chance to distribute it to everyone.

It's not an invisible nightgown, it's Lefie's gift!

Gina pointed out how Lefie didn't change over the years and that their meeting was very short, because Lefie's children were looking forward to a side trip to an amusement park. Gina then described how different life is in the Philippines and how lucky we are here, considering the fact that our relatives are all within reach. The case is very different for Filipinos who are working or living in the US of A. They spend most of their time in work and their closest relatives is in another state. We're talking about hours of air travel before they'll finally meet. In our case your immediate cousin may live in the next street or in the next city. But it's something that we all take for granted. That's also the reason why Filipinos abroad are very happy to have a relative around to talk to. Joy Sanchez told us that he left his job in the call center and will dispute some procedures that were implemented to her. She talked about the treatment that she got which made me open up my sad fate as well last December. Eventually we compared notes and talked about the next steps we'll do in our own careers. I remember the wish I always have when I was working in the PLDT call center. I always wish that I'm free on new year and Christmas day. We really have to be careful what we wish for because we'll never know how we'll get them.

Lefie with Fr. Joandre Beltran

After dinner, we decided to part ways again and call it a night. But the night was still too young and so are we! So as a result, after the long walk to the parking lot, the group decided to look for a place to have a cup of coffee. We ended up walking back to Banapple and tried out the next store, Bfast. It's a place that serve breakfast meals anytime of the day. We wanted to try out the other stores but all are filled up with people. When we arrived in the Triangle, there weren't much people in the cafes. But as dinner time approaches, you'll have to literally wait outside to be accommodated in any of the eateries. Bfast wasn't filled up with guests so we finally found a spot to have a cup of coffee.  We started discussing plans regarding what we'll do when Fr. Jojo comes back early this year, and what are the plans for the Baguio trip this February. We can't polish things up because there are still certain details that we have to clear out with Jojo to make sure that all is smooth sailing for all of us when that day comes. We decided to focus on that topic by the end of this month when we meet each other again. By that time, we'll have the answers we wanted.

A text message came in, and that's our cue to end the night for good. Ely and the other kids are just around and will soon be in the side street to pick up Thess. Gina and Pebbles' car is not very far. Joy will hitch a ride and be dropped off somewhere close to Marikina, where she lives. My wife and I also got a text message from my sister in law, saying that we have to meet a grumpy woman before 8 p.m. So that ended our short get-together that was not only fun but also filled with love for each other.