My recent trip to Manila was packed with reunions--one with my family, one with my childhood friends, one at my high school, and one with a very dear group close to my heart, the UP Concert Chorus 1990. As expected, these reunions were filled with uncontrollable fits of laughter only the memories of my past youth could bring.
We had a blast at Starbucks Las Pinas on the first night I was there. Our childhood and almost-like-a-sister friend, Czes, flew all the way from Riyadh. My friend Clark, who was from Chicago, braved the infamous traffic of Coastal Road just to have a meet up. Friends like these are the sweetest in my book. Thanks to Clark's friend, Doc Hazel for tagging along too.
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| Sitting: Our childhood friend Czes, my comedian sister Ben, and me. Standing: My 'slang-tongued' friend Clark |
If you have not laughed out loud (I mean, literally, ha? Not just your 'LOL' FB comments) for some time, I suggest that you hang out with the Alvarez sisters. I assure you that there will never be a dull moment with us. What say you, Clark and Doc Hazel? Kape at keyk lang ang katapat! Oh, it also helped that both of these dear friends of ours brought some 'pasalubong' for us. Thanks a mil!!!
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| My other sister, Midette, was not there to join us. |
The first one was the 25th Year of my sister Ben. You might be wondering what in the world am I doing gatecrashing someone else's jubilee year. You see, all of the Alvarez sisters graduated from the same school, St. Mary's Academy, one year after another. I graduated high school in 1984 (ok, so I'm THAT old!), and Ben graduated in 1987. For me, it was the ending of our family's era at our alma mater. So that's why I attended. My husband doesn't also get it. Haha.
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| Even my mom had to attend the affair! |
It's good that my two batchmates, Anesa and Grace, were officers of the SMA Alumni, so they were there to gossip with me. Hindi naman ako masyadong na-OP!
At 9:00 p.m., I said goodbye to my high school friends and went to my next destination: Xavierville, Quezon City, to see my UPCC '90 batchmates.
The UP Concert Chorus is celebrating its 50th year with a concert participated by all the members from the different decades. (More of that story in my next post). My batchmates, the Dekada '90's, have been practicing for a few weeks now. So I just had to go and attend the rehearsal last Saturday. If you are from Manila, you know that going from south to north is a big headache, with all the heavy traffic brought about by the holiday rush going on. It's good that I had a ride and was driven to the place.
Imagine the chaos that ensued when I saw these people! We were shouting and laughing the whole time that our pictures were being taken!! I think that the Cabreras, our host, are officially banned from the homeowners association of Xavierville!
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| L-R: Aids, Cynthia, Neysa, Menoy, Sally, Lionel, Me, and Leo. Sitting L-R: Lito and Jonathan |
In the UPCC tour, I had a group called Byanangs (short term for lesbiyana--haha! long story), and we were composed of Cynthia Culig-Guico, Mary Ann Uy-Hsu, and me. We were inseparable, like triplets. We even had matching scarves, blouses, and palazzo pants!
Whenever we wanted to call attention to ourselves (oh, how we DID need the attention before!), we had this shoutout ala Power Rangers. Of course, we had to do it all over again!
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| Byanang 1!..Byanang 2!..Meh-ann, where are you??? |
The guys are as wacky as ever!
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| Best in projection goes to...the Altos!!! Sally Castro-Jose is still the queen, hands down! |
Break a leg, my dear Dekada '90s. You still sound and look good as ever!
Walang kakupas-kupas ang mga Korus!
After twenty-two long years, I realized that I still love these guys. The trip was so worth it. I'm glad I travelled far and wide to see some of them again.
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| UPCC 1990, San Diego, California, USA |
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| At Richmonde Hotel. The miniature house at the background was a real gingerbread house! |
Hanggang sa muling pagkikita!
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