Grand Wedding in July

The wedding of Tito Legasto’s daughter Jenny to Lawrence Yu last Saturday was clearly a grand wedding affair. The reception for at least a thousand guests fully occupied Makati Shangrila hotel’s huge ballroom. The five course dinner of the affair was sumptuous where younger guests savored it all while senior citizens struggled to cope with the volume of the quality food fare.

The guests mainly included: Legasto and Yu kinfolks (from all over the world); neighbors; friends and classmates of the young couple; and friends and associates of the family. The Triple A gang came in force. Triple A’s Tito Legasto and wife Marilou were of course the beaming parents of the bride. Ruben Umali and Oni Mayo came with their their spouses. Just to set the record straight, Triple A stalwarts Sonny Vicente, Temay Padero, Celia Aurellano and Lydia Echaus were the decent ones who attended the full wedding ceremony at the Church. Since the 2PM wedding rite was a long time from the 8PM dinner service, the Triple A gang made provisions. Upon arriving at Shangrila hotel, the Triple A early group can be seen sharing a clubhouse sandwich at the lounge.

Triple A’s Cora Claudio came with daughter Lizette who was Jenny’s maid of honor (classmate during their Poveda years). Like any doting mom, Cora is impatient with Lizette’s single status. Upon finding out that Tony Sotelo has a bachelor son still, she teased him if there can be a possible match (I’m certain this is without the permission of daughter Lizette) . Looking directly at Cora, Tony glibly answered: "That it all depends on which of her parents Lizette took after".

It’s too bad that Noni Dolera and Chit Manabat couldn’t make this affair. That’s one demerit each for you guys. Under Triple A's self-serving rules, demerits can only be erased by hosting a party for the group! (we wouldn't mind if you take this rule seriously). Noni and Chit not only missed a great event but also effective bonding time for the Triple A gang (many of whom are still too pre-occupied with their careers still).

From out of this gathering and being the organized executives that they are supposed to be, the Triple A just had to have plans for the next eventful meet up. I understand that upon the advice of Lydia, some of the Triple A gourmet members are now considering taking up a one-day cooking course at FEU school of cuisine next month. Temay is extending invitations to a classical concert sometime soon. Oni Mayo expressed that he is open to having regular music (karaoke?) sessions for Triple A members if they wish. What’s it to be for next time guys?

Get-together at Mandaluyong

After a long time, the on-and-off AAA get together finally happened. Probably due to busy schedules, birthdays came and went, holiday seasons passed, and the group failed to implement their traditional celebrations in most of 2009 and early 2010.

In recent months however, AAA’s Lydia Echaus was commended by many academic and professional groups for outstanding work in her field. The distinguished groups which acknowledged Lydia’s life accomplishments are: TOFIL (outstanding Filipino), STCAA (distinguished alumni), DLSU (masters award), Ulirang Ina Foundation, City of Manila (outstanding Manilan), and Soroptomist Sampaloc (outstanding professional). Six awards in six months – mind boggling! Because of these accolades, Lydia was teased no end by AAA friends to give a blowout. With the shameless AAA gang on the alert, it’s quite risky for members to obtain any spot of achievement and good fortune at all – they will need to give a . . blowout?

Thus on July 26, the AAA finally had their long overdue blowout party. Never mind if it’s a Monday and people still had hangover from the weekend before. Lydia hosted the affair (was arm-twisted?) in the Torres St. family compound in Mandaluyong. The gracious Lydia however insisted that the party was more for the benefit of all the birthday celebrants in recent past months. These guys are Noni Dolera, Ruben de Lara and Lydia herself.

Apart from the three celebrants, the AAA diehards who were at the party were Sonny Vicente, Oni Mayo, Celia Aurellano, Tony Sotelo and Cora Claudio. As usual, Cora was late in coming so the gang had a lot of opportunity to talk about her vivacious personality. The steamed crab appetizer was great fare. Lydia’s prepared dishes were special ones: baked pigeon, blanched Bangus fillet with belly, and sinigang soup. Other food contributed by the group were noodles, a chocolate cake (that Ruben said was the greatest in the world since he baked it himself), drinks and more dessert.

The dinner conversation was typical AAA – interesting, amusing and emotional albeit with tongue-in-cheek passing shots. It was no-holds barred as the AAAs vented their sentiment on many recent events and issues, some of them quite esoteric, personal and controversial. For a while there, the AAAs became armchair analysts on sensitive topics. The AAAs has been buddies for more than 30 years and there were not many reservations between and among them. It was great fun with revelations and lessons learned. What more can I say – it’s something where you just have to be there to fully take it all in and get to be a learned person!



















And lest I forget – July 30 Saturday will be a BIG day. Tito Legasto’s daughter has a grand wedding coming and the AAA are invited to the occasion. Tito, you missed all the chismis and the opportunity to contribute your likely ineffective advise like all of ours. If only because you are FOTB however, we didn’t talk a lot about you in the party. See you all at the wedding!

The Nueva Ecija Jaunt

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The tour of the LAC farm in Nueva Ecija was set on a Friday (February 26). Being a working day, most of the Triple A group (TA group) just could not make it. Some had acceptable reasons for not going to this rare excursion for the group. Yes, I said only some had acceptable reasons considering all the hard work that Celia did in organizing the trip to include the TA. (The absentees are not getting off that easy – after all didn't the TA agree that life is too short to pass over opportunities with true friends, hehehe...).

Sonny Vicente, Cora Claudio, Oni Mayo (who brought along friend Bambi Goco) and of course, Celia Aurellano of the Triple A went on the exotic trip. The BPI officials (bankers of Pascual Lab) headed by Bonnie Silva and Choy Villaluz were there of course - them being the main reason for the trip. Altogether, the group had fun exchanging information and stories with each other that the three hour car trip to NE passed by quickly.










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Arriving at the destination before lunch, the LAC farm was a revelation. The admin and plant area was actually looking like a botanical resort. Stylized native structures, refreshing pools and plants on display were everywhere. The field plantations actually included a man-made pond where people can ride a raft. Apart from their advocacy for all things organic, the LAC officials believe in TQM and so the physical appearance and convenience of the place was just great for tourists or observers.










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The tour was aptly facilitated by no less than LAC president and Pascual lab VP Jun Saret. The UP agri grad and farm manager Andy Parducho provided the technicals of the tour. The reception included a costumed reception committee, native dances and refreshment. An AV Presentation made in one of the buildings explained the LAC set up to the inquisitive group. Afterwards, the plantation tour started and the group was taken in a dozer-pulled rolling platform to view the fields where the lagundi, sambong, ampalaya and other vegetables and herbs were grown.

The Pilipino lunch (Nueva Ecija style) was held in a screened native structure made for dining events and where the served sinigang, fish, meat and fruit dishes were a treat. After the fine lunch, a tour of the processing facility and the ‘clean’ livestock pens (including bred Baboy Ramo) were made. Since the weather was just too hot and humid, the next program in the agenda was a welcome event. It was the Lagundi-taste test activity where everyone was given four cold glasses of different Lagundi juice mix and were required to select what’s best.










Soon, it was time to go home but not before the group converged in the packing hall to buy organically grown vegetables including the LAC vinegar product highly recommended by Bambi. Overall, it was an enjoyable and informative trip for those who went. Despite the presence of non-TA people and especially because of the long time in the car, the TA group present amused themselves with chika concerning those TA who were not there (to defend themselves). But that’s what they get for being absent. Come to think of it, we were even talking about Cora and she was already there with us!
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The Long Awaited AAA Party

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Last January 26, the Ayayay bunch got together at Tito’s digs in Corinthian Village. The party was actually the conclusion of a series of events starting with Cora’s untiring urgings for a group excursion, Tony’s aborted Birthday invitation in November, the snubbed Ayayay Christmas get-together happening – until finally it became a reality because of Tito’s relentless reminders regarding his birthday party. But even at that, the party was slightly off-timing since Tito’s birthday is in December. As a matter of fact, the party day was closer to the birthdays of Temay and Oni in January!

Apparently, the Ayayay group remains active players in Manila’s business scene. Despite being Senior in category, many Ayayay members are top executives with very busy schedules. Getting them together is a challenge that would take great organizational skills. Thanks to Celia and Tito for that – they were the lynch pins that provided the references, agenda and the all-important venue for the party. As for Tony and Oni, they were true to form with their acerbic kind of humor and contributed to the cause by cajoling (if not shaming) the group into coming.

Up to the last minute it wasn’t clear how many were coming. Qualifications on their attendance were sent by many. Mon Soriano begged off citing vague medical reasons which Oni claims is hogwash. Ang masamang damo ay walang panghi-hina! And then, some didn’t reply at all to the Email invite sent out by Celia. Tito’s set table by the poolside was thus earmarked for 10 people. The dinner started at around 8pm sans Cora who is always late for parties due to her radio talk-show program (now TV too). A miscue became apparent when Cora came and found no more place for her in the table setting.

Quickly, Tito pulled up a chair beside him at the head of the table. Ever the gentleman Tito said that he really wanted Cora to sit beside him in a place of honor (which we all knew is another hogwash). At last the table places were complete and interesting conversation that only Ayayay can dish out was . . well . . dished out over gulps of succulent dishes for the night. Lydia’s prawns prepared two ways and the other dishes brought by the gang were a hit. The coup de grace was Tony’s $200 Dom Perignon toasting at the end of the meal.

The conversation got serious for a while when an informal poll concerning the Philippine presidentiables was held by the group. All I can say is that the Ayayay vote turned out to be a reflection of the findings of the SWS polls. The political differences were delightfully ventilated with passion by the Ayayay members – truly a hallmark of their Boomer generation. Should the choice be: heart over mind? country over self? naivete over propensity? and purity over track record? But we knew that in the end, politics is a never ending issue. Hence, an enjoyable change was when the conversation drifted to lighter matters. As usual, the widowed Noni was chided by Tony for continuing to enjoy his singleness. Poor Noni can only mumble that he couldn’t find a partner at the moment to which Tony riposted: “kung saan-saan ka pa tumitingin e marami naman dito sa mesang ito!”

Amidst flowing wine and sinful desserts, the late evening became a Karaoke session with Noni delivering Tagalog love songs perfectly enunciation (as if he were not from Bohol). Ruben could not find his 60s songs in the Karaoke list so Oni used his trusty guitar to accompany him later. The party broke up only when the workday fatigue caught up with the group (who had to live and fight again the next working day). And still people left only after distributing (and exchanging) gifts galore among and between themselves.

Like the true organizer that she is, Celia posed the next event for Ayayay which could be an excursion to Pascual Laboratory’s company farm in Nueva Ecija. For the umpteenth time, Oni also promised to look into that music session practice activity so that there will be decent harmonizing and guitar-playing for the group every time they get together and have the time to sing. Let’s wait for the details on these events and once again patronize what clearly are the real better things in life.

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