AYAYAY SINGS POP

Last January 28, Oni Mayo invited the Ayayays for a night out since it was his Birthday. From the elegant birthday dinners the group usually have, they had something different that night. They went to the RED BOX karaoke place in Greenbelt. Those that were hungry had to do with the simple buffet that was there. Lydia Echaus had a craving for peanuts and there was none in the menu. The room attendant received an earful from the hard-nosed executives in the party. There is no excuse for a decent restaurant not to have the basic peanut appetizer.

Tony Sotelo disappeared but came back soon enough with a bag full of chichiriya including Lydia's craving. A denizen of Makati commercial center, Tony knew the Greenbelt layout so he went to the movie house area to secure the goodies. Being the shrewed bargainer that he is, he also intimidated the attendant. He declared that outsourced food should have no corkage charges since the resto is remiss for not having peanuts.



Despite this initial inconvenience, the rest of the night was for the singers in the group. Noni Dolera started the show with his Diomedes version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Cora Claudio raised goose bumps (and eyebrows) with her coloratura version of the same song. As the Cliff Richard and Jack Jones numbers kicked in, Tony Sotelo and Tito Legasto contributed to the music. And then it was the Broadway and Elvis tunes on the Karaoke system. By this time, these familiar tunes coming out of the speakers had everyone - Lydia, Chit Manabat, Temay Padero, Sonny Vicente and Celia Aureliano - taking turns (or altogether in harmony) crooning on the mic.

By about 10:30 pm, things were getting hot (and hoarse?). it was too bad that Celia had to pull a Cinderella. She was being serviced by a borrowed driver and had to leave. The group broke up then but not before flashing their Senior Cards that enabled Oni to get a hefty discount on the bill. Overall, the group seemingly gladly participated in the singing. It is hoped that they will now be familiar with karaoke procedures for the next time they do this. For now, until next time and thanks again for coming to the party and for the gifts.

THE DELAYED NOVEMBER PARTY

In December, Tony Sotelo invited the Ayayay gang to a dinner party at Philam’s Tower Club. It was some three weeks after his actual birthday last month, but it didn’t matter. Everyone knew that Tony had been busy in the office mitigating the fallout from that now notorious Wall Street global miscue, and thus it was only in December that he could invite the Ayayay gang to celebrate.

The Pinot function room at the Tower Club was elegant. The food that eventually came was great. There were too many waiters standing around for our small group but I guess they were making sure that Philam honcho Tony remains pleased. Notwithstanding, the Ayayay group relished the service as they were pampered with the food array if not the free-flowing wine.

The talk over dinner was the prospective activities that the gang might take up in the coming months. The suggestions ranged from bird watching (Cora Claudio); formation of a singing ensemble (Oni Mayo); Detox ionization (Lydia Echaus); excursion to Bulacan Pig Farm (Mon Soriano) and including the cruise tour broached by Chit Manabat previously. The suggestion of Tony Sotelo for forming an exclusive Osmosis Club was met with perplexed looks by most around the table. Apparently, only two people who happened to arrive early for the party had a chance to discuss it with Tony. The fact that all three who initially discussed the Osmosis thing are male gives an indication of what the nature of the Club could be. Whatever it is, Ruben de Lara wants a piece of it.

The four-plate dinner was satisfying and which ended with kodakan and distribution of gifts. Corporate give-aways were delightful to receive. The highlight of the gift-giving was the novelty birthday gifts to Tony by Celia Aurellano and Temay Padero. Tony was forced by Celia to immediately try out the head massager. Meanwhile, the printed T-shirt had to be returned. Clearly Temay needs some experience in sizing up a man!

But all’s well that ends well. More Kodakan were endured all the way to the elevators. Cora would not budge until she had a shot beside the Christmas Tree in the Philam lobby. And so, Happy Birthday to Tony from the Ayayay group! And to the group: Hasta la vista el ano que viene!

TITO'S BIRTHDAY BASH

The Ayayay gang assembled once again courtesy of Tito Legasto who added yet another year to his Senior status. Shang Plaza was a first class assembly place and the Chinese fare was extraordinary. Oni Mayo arrived promptly at 7pm even slightly ahead of the birthday boy who came right behind him. It seems that Celia Aurellano and Temay Padero were already in the hotel but who didn't immediately proceed to the restaurant. Together with Ruben de Lara, the five comprised the early Ayayay batch in the restaurant's function room. There, they had the privilege of sniping away at those who were not yet there. The non-intellectual catty exercise was witty and refreshing, if not unusual. Clearly, the Ayayay guys were taking a break from the serious things they are known for most of the time.

Noni Dolera had advised that he was not going to make it that night due to his gout condition. When this info came out, one can imagine the snide remarks directed at the hapless Noni from the group. Mon Soriano and Tony Sotelo came later and were not spared taunts from the early batch particularly concerning their dark head of hair that made them look 20 years younger. Cora Claudio was vintage unflappable as she made her dramatic entrance into the function room. She made a beeline for Oni to show her sketches of floor plans for her proposed new abode in a subdivision in the Fort. As Cora explained the details of the plan, Oni and Temay (both in the construction business) were impressed with Cora's miracle of an idea for a minimal construction budget for the large house!

And then Lydia Echaus came. Lydia had commitment to fulfil in another affair at the Mandarin Hotel before she could join at Shangrila. When she came, the gang coyly refused to repeat what had already been discussed. Besides, it was made clear to her that part of it was about her! What the MBA gang couldn't help talking about are the economic issues of the day. As ever, the insurance (Tony) and finance (Tito) experts in the group were put to the task of explaining why and how now. The way Ruben and Cora pressured the two experts on where they might put their personal funds indicate that this group is actually far off from being impacted by the vaunted world-wide economic fall out.

The only regret that night was the absence of Ayayay stalwarts Chit Manabat, Sonny Vicente and Noni Dolera. As a penalty for being absent, the group around the table inflicted continuous outlandish fact and libelous fiction upon these missing personages even as they enjoyed dinner! Talking about that dinner, it's actually a double penalty for the absentees since they missed the delicious cold cut, seafood soup, prawn, crabs, garlic pork, braised fish and the almond jelly and dumpling dessert ordered by Tito.