EMERALD 2 1/2
(Conference Texting/
Face to Face Gathering)
Marriott Villas,
Newport Beach, California
November 17, 2016
November 17, 2016
By Evelyn Machan
Andamo
I was still recovering
from my Phil Am Chamber of Commerce Oct trade mission in the Philippines
jet lag in Las Vegas. Thus, I did not volunteer to contribute
for our 55th Reunion 2 blog. Well, serves me right. I got volunteered to write
the blog for our SoCal 55th reunion 2 1/2 (a miniature one but not any less fun
in spite of its size!). My apologies for the delay but better late than
never. I could only send a blog after my Thanksgiving week celebration
with my family. Thanks to the e-tech savvy of Norie and Enteng, lest this
blog would never have gotten posted.
For a change, I shall
format this blog differently.
Here goes: Yes,
our day at Norie's and Roly's time shared venue at the
lovely Marriot Villas in Newport Beach for our Reunion 2 1/2 gathering
metamorphosed to a three day event.
Actually, it started with exchange of texts the day before and ended the
next day after the face to face gathering of your senior- ager high school
classmates on November 17 at 11:30AM. Yes, it was a blast of a three day
reunion for us UP high So Californians invited by the hostess with
the mostest Catiis couple! The reunion's camaraderie
really started in the wee hours of Nov
16. The day's fun chats before the actual physical event could be
depicted with the following texts. Hoping sharing the exchange of
texts will keep you entertained! Enjoy!
____________________
Nina texted - "Am at X-ray clinic for my lungs today
to rule out broncho
Pneumonia I have been
coughing for 4 days
I got the cough
from Dony but he's well now and I am the one still coughing but hope
it's nothing serious"
Nora texted - “Wishing/praying for the best...take care!
Keep us posted!"
Nina replied:- "don't want to Miss emerald 2 1/2
"
Merle texted tempting
Nina - “ Will
bring dinuguan and Turon tomorrow. You don't want to miss
that Nina! “
Nina did get
tempted---“Sarap ! I have to make it there ! "
Evelyn texted-
"Nina, hoping you get over your coughing and nothing
really serious. God bless. Merle, now the guys better leave some for me!
(Evelyn scheduled to arrive later at 1PM that afternoon due to a
morning meeting)"
Aura texted-
"We will bring mango bread and biscotti. Ok ba?"
Merle quipped
with her usual jest- "Okay Evelyn, don't rush!Drive safely
and cross your
fingers that Paul will
leave some for you!"
"Merle,
may kasama bang putong puti yong dinuguan, my
favorite." Paul
Evelyn begged
- "Aura, tell Paul pls leave some for me.
Thanks. "
Nina begged, as well-
"Damihan mo Kaya Merle para siguradong makatikim
kaming lahat "
Merle warned-
"I thought you guys have high blood pressure?
Aura texted-
"Bring lots of Ashitaba"
Merle
texted at 11:12 PM- (Aura/Paul to ride with
the Borreros to Newport Beach)
"Aura, please
come at 1030. I have to go out and buy food. Norie won't be ready
till 1130 anyway."
(Thanks heavens, we
were finally able to have our most needed "
Nina texted
early at 6:07 AM on THE DAY ( Nov 17)
"Merle stay close
to me in the food line this time ok "
Nina concerned-
“Wala si Enteng to take most of the photos , who
will take them for Emerald 2 1/2 ? “
Evelyn volunteered a
replacement -
“Rose. She is great at
taking pictures. And she does a great job! I vouch for her takes!
Not to worry.”
Merle texted teasing
Evelyn who was coming later directly from a meeting - “ Norie,
do you need plastic glasses, spoons,etc?
Let me know so EVELYN
can bring.
Joke only!
Pero let me know if
you do.
Who is 619 851 ...?”
Nina texted -
“I think it's Freddie di ba ? He is already getting
ready for our Windsor reunion !
What's our color motif
for this emerald 2 1/2 still green ?
Will we still bring
our scarves ? “
Merle texted
back - “Mine is brown because it's fall now and so the green
turned brown.
I will look for my
green scarf.”
Evelyn finally got the
day's messages and texted - “Sorry. I went to Baskin Robins
last night since I thought the piyaya (an Iloilo specialty) would go
well with ice cream for desert. You guys should have told me that you needed
utensils since I have galore of such supplies at my
center. But am not coming from there, though. Plus, you would need to
eat with your hands before I got there! Say, I am also
bringing ampalaya veg and ground meat sautéed with tiny cut up veg (I
do not know the name) from my center's lunch yesterday. I ordered extra food
from the menu to bring today. So lots of food really. Perhaps, Norie, you
should not prepare too much food lest you would have to shove leftovers in your
tiny villa fridge
! See you guys
soon! “
Merle texted with her
usual wit -
“ Evelyn, I said
'joke only'
I feel funny already
so I'm writing what my finger dictates.
For all we
know Norie isn't reading this because no response.
Come as you
are! Matatabunan mo na naman kami sa kaseksihan mo!
O ito joke din. O gusto serious?”
Nina texted-
“ So Much food na ! Baka we cannot taste
the others na “
Merle texted-
“Don't worry about too many food. Remember Norie offered that
we can sleep there? I'm bringing pan de Sal for breakfast so somebody bring
eggs and bacon! “
Aura texted -
"Hi, all. FYI Norie reads our email. When I talked to her
yesterday she mentioned our conversation. So it's good that she knows
that Merle is bringing lechon. Art told Paul that they are bringing wine
and persimmons.
Ok will bring my
cushions and extra underwear so I don't have to turn it
over tomorrow.”
Nina texted adding -
“And pajamas too”
Evelyn texted -
“By the way, Rose reminded me that the pictures she would take were silly
ones. Thus, beware. Sorry, can't take part in this communique, anymore. Got to
go to mtg. Till the gathering. So long!!!”
Aura texted -
“Ok see you all later.”
Merle texted-
“ Muntik na akong mabilaukan reading
about the lechon and underwear and pajama!
Okay don't bother
me anymore . I'm trying to prepare our breakfast!
See you Aura and Paul
at 1030. It's 40 mins away!”
(The texting chats
finally ended. They were followed by directional texts, thus,
nothing worth sharing.)
THE DAY
As expected, there was food galore: host Roly prepared his
sought for bulalo soup and hostess Norie graced us with her
yummy baked salmon smothered with all sorts of herbs!, Korean “japchae”noodles
and rotisserie chicken a la-lechon manok! She even introduced us to
rice cooked in a microwave. Now, that was true innovation. Typical of
our Norie. Nothing could stop her. No rice cooker; use the microwave.
And they had an array of fruits in a tray to ensure that we also ate some
antioxidants for our aging skin! As though our food was not enough:
Rose's and Art's usual box of persimmons with homemade
Guava guinatan and wine, Merle's and
Nelson's turon and dinuguan, Lelit's freshly roasted
cashew and Evelyn's piaya of Iloilo ( ala mode with ice
cream), ampalaya vegetables, sayote vegetables and ground
beef with cut up carrots, potatoes and red peppers (sorry, I do not know the
name of the dish since along with the vegetables, the caterer at my center made
it for me). So nice of everyone to wait for me. So there were lots
of dinuguan for all to savor. While we were not privy to the
men's conversation doing their powwow in the living room section of the unit,
the ladies' chat was as smorgasbord as our food. No topic was
spared: in-laws, Las Vegas reunion, Batangas Resort reunion, and more
jokes/ teasing. Oh yes, a friend was going to entertain us with
"Hello" as he would play the piano but he got tied up with a plumbing
emergency at his office.
And, for some precious moments, we had
Freddie Bueno in our midst via the airwaves joining us. We passed the phone
around and the ladies made him guess who was on the line with him. In fairness,
of course, Freddie recognized my voice. After all, I was with him over the
phone for some time when I learned he had difficulty breathing. I gave him
instructions on application of pursed lip breathing and diaphragmatic breathing
in his activities of daily living. Indeed, we were pleased that Freddie
sounded great and we enjoyed the little time we each had with him. Freddie suggested that June or July would
best for the 2017 Windsor, Canada, visit.
We bade our good byes to Freddie and
continued to take pictures. We decked
out ourselves with green scarves, consistent with our emerald theme.
Unfortunately, we were unable to pose in
front of the pool and other great spots at the villa. The culprit? We
all got carried away with munchies and chats. Was truly another blast of a
reunion to remember.
And when we parted for
the night at 5:45PM, one would think that we had enough to say to
each other for the night. Are you kidding? Like teenagers, these senior-agers'
exchange of words did not end at the villa. Texts took over. What would we do
without smartphones, huh? Some thoughts were serious but most were simply
hilarious typical of their face to face conversations. Let us entertain you as
we did each other from the time we left our super hosts to the time we took
our Zzzzzzs that evening:
Nov 17 at 7:16 PM. Norie texted
- “Thank you to all of you for coming and having fun here with us to hold
an Emerald 2 1/2! Thanks for EVERYTHING you brought...we had food enough
for an army! Will surely miss all of you. Evelyn, thanks for
agreeing to write the blogs. I just realized I have very few photos...can you
all share whatever shots you have? Please send them to me
at norieqc@gmail.com. Thanks again...and wishing all
of you a Blessed Thanksgiving..Merry Christmas and Happy
2017! God bless...
and
for now..Safe travels to all of you! “
Evelyn texted -
“We had so much fun. Thanks for hosting. As usual, most gracious
hosts, you two! We had another blast of a mini-mini reunion. Much
thanks to all for the fun, laughter and food!!! Love you lots!!! “
Merle texted- "Thank you Roly and Norie for hosting
our mini reunion in your time share in Newport Beach!
'''Twas another
fun day filled with laughters, kainan and tawanan!
I wonder if Nina was
able to taste all the food!?!”
Evelyn texted
- “Fuiuuunny! Merle, and all, please send your pictures
for our blog. Thanks for another memorable gathering, you all! Till next
time!”
Norie texted
again- “Ha ha!! Thx for the nice photo...pls send more if
you can..via norieqc@gmail.com...hey,Evelyn. Looking forward to your
blogs!”
Evelyn
texted - “Will next week. . Bz with our
UPAGLAA FALL FAIR.”
Nina texted
- “Thanks Norie and Roly for hosting such an
enjoyable luncheon . Not a dull moment ; so
much fun from
start to finish . We are so blessed to be sharing moments like these which we
will treasure the rest of our lives ! Looking forward to seeing you
in Windsor !
Sobra ang dami ng food I was not
able to taste everything which proves what I have said about food is really
true . Heavy ang food so I really was not able to taste all the
food !”
“Many thanks to all
you wonderful friends who make our lives blessed. First of all,
to Norie and Roly for making itspossible in their
beautiful timeshare and so much food. Then to Merle and Nelson for our
ride and pass through the gates(!), turon and dinuguan, to Lelit and
Tony for the best roasted cashew nuts ever, to Evelyn for the
good pinono (?) and ice cream, to Art and Rose for
the ginatanbayabas persimmons and "Baby Santa" for my
tree and to Nina and Dony for their best effort to get out of their
hospital beds
in order to
join us. Thank you all for being our friends. Until our next
reunion. Sorry if I missed anything. Tandana kasi, eh.” Love from Paul and Aura
Evelyn
texted - “All our pleasure!!! GN and sweet dreams to ; Mind you all,
lovers are ageless since love may be expressed in several ways!!! May your
fires of love maintain their eternal flames always. God bless.”
Nina texted
- “Merle See
tama talaga ako , Kung Sobra sobra ang food
you can't taste all the food anymore ! I did not get to eat piyaya and
ice cream . Buti na Lang I was able to take home
some piyaya and just ate some now with dinuguanagain before
taking my hot green tea with honey and my meds . I don't know what
else I
Missed because I was
so full after my first plateful
I couldn't eat anymore
even if I wanted to. Anyway it was really a luncheon to remember in
a very nice setting with so much good food and most of all the
best company !
Sweet dreams everyone
I'll just forward photos tomorrow”
Norie texted last,
to close THE DAY – “Good night
all!! Still not sleepy from the excitement of our get together! Sweet
dreams to y’all!.
(And the next day was filled with the
continuation of the two days before. Judge for yourself.)
Aura texted
at 7:43 AM on Nov 18
“Good morning! You
know, I did not find my piyaya among my loot. I was looking for it
for my dessert but it was nowhere to be found. Sayang! Anyway I have a
little of everything. Too bad NnR could not take much in their
suitcase.”
Norie texted- “Good
morning! Surprised to find last night
two piyayas wrapped in white table napkin.. it was
yours pala! ..and also, you left a crystal dish which I called you
about for...and you said just take it with us to NJ...so so your "senior
moment" resulted in a nice souvenir from you!”
Aura texted
back- “Enjoy! I am happy to will my plate to you. Hope you can take it
with you. “
Merle texted
- “ I'm not guilty! Just enjoy the rest of your
loot!(baka mabulunan pa siNina!)
I had wine and a
persimmon for dinner.
Thanks ArtnRose for
my favorite fruit and my Christmas tree ornament!
You are always so
thoughtful!”
Evelyn texted-
"So nice to hear that you guys had a good rest. Aura, I will
remember to give you piaya when I get a package from Iloilo again.
Bong sends his regrets for not being able to sing yesterday. He
texted:
‘Sorry about
yesterday's snafu. Plumber took longer than anticipated. Today am attending
an all day conference on Women's Health Issues at Marriott in DC.
Check email.’ Enjoy savoring yesterday's fun filled
gathering. Await for the blog sometime next week. Still lots of
catching up to do. Love to all. Norie and Rolly, do
have a safe flight back home on Sunday”
Norie texted
- “Missing you all already....but for sure, see you all in Windsor!
God bless!”
Lelit texted-
“Same here - we're on the road to Hayward...”
Nina texted
- “Sus ang aga naman ninyo mag chit chat
. Parang mgateenager pa Kayo in energy . Aaaay Aura
you left the 2 piyayas I left you ? I ate one last
night before going to bed Sarap ! pala with hot tea and
honey . Anyway Baka you will learn to make piyaya too and we will
just buy from you like your food for the gods , biscotti and
mango bard which are all to die for ! Evelyn , Bong
sings to you everyday ? Wow Kaya ka pala blooming talaga . Sige na
go for it ! So little time left ! “
Merle
texted- “Amen to that Nina! “
Lelit texted-
“Go Evelyn!”
Evelyn
texted - “You guys are crazy. Btw, no daily serenades. Nina,
you are a romantic dreamer! “
Norie texted- “Text
just recd from Florence...how nice of her to think
of us..sent her some of our photos..say hello to Florence
who is part of this group text!
Fwd:’Dear Nora
& Rolly,
Good Friday to
you! I'm sure you had another fun-filled,bellyful, & laugh till you
drop day with ageless northern Californians.Just thought to drop you
a line or two & wish you safe travels as you return home this weekend.
Shared the fabulous
blog with my brother, Eric who is going home to Manila come February for his
UPHS'67 Golden Ann. Reunion.x
Take care for now
& God's best.’
Love, Florence”
Nina texted
also- “ Hello Florence , You would have had the loudest
laughter if you had been with us
! Walang tatalo sa tawamo ! Love to you
and Manny ! “
Evelyn texted
additionally- “Hi Florence. Surely, you will get to read the blog on
our momentous gathering with Norie and Rolly's super
hosting. Hopefully, I shall find time since I will be gone for a
week starting the 22nd for Thanksgiving to be hosted, as usual,
by Emm, my second daughter, amidst the woodsy grounds of
Woodside, NoCal. Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!”
Truly another blast of
a 55th reunion to remember in the years to come. It
pales in comparison with the number of classmates able to join
our Batangas resort and Las Vegas reunions but equally fun and
memorable, indeed!! Our eternal thanks to our super hosts, Norie
and RolyCatiis!!!
SHARING
WITH ALL PHOTOS OF OUR NOVEMBER 17, 2016 Eemerald 2 ½ IN NEWPORT
BEACH, CALIFORNIA…WE ARE SURE YOU WILL ALL AGREE: THESE PICTURES ARE WORTH
A THOUSAND AND MORE WORDS!
ALL HANDS AND FEET WERE ON DECK TO MAKE IT
REAL FUN!
Once again I close an exciting chapter of our greying years wonderfully spent with our family without birth certificates
but just as special in adding color to our lives! Till next blog of our upcoming gathering for year 2017!!
Till then !!!
