MAYETTE'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AT PASIG CAPITOL COMMONS 1 November 2018

Dear classmates today is Mayet's birthday celebration and celebration of  life. She is no longer eligible  for transplant but she is doing well. This is the first time since her miraculous recovery  that we saw and talked to her. She sure had a lot of stories to tell. Today is also our Thanksgiving lunch because our original  group of  4 is once again complete with a bonus - Ting.   Linda P

             Left to right: Ting, Edwina, Pete, Tony, Macky and Dimples Navalta, 

                                  Rene and Linda Padilla, Choy, Mayette

Mayet had not been able to talk for almost two years because of the ever-present tracheostomy which could not be closed. At lunch, she had so many stories to tell, so many thoughts to share. And so many questions to ask about the class and all the happenings since the first reunion at Mike's. Time became our enemy as we had to break off after three hours so she could rest before her dialysis later in the day. She wishes we could meet more often and asked who will have a birthday next. To which Ting replied: why should there be a birthday? Why, indeed?     Choy

Mom was not able to undergo kidney transplant and will no longer have the procedure due to possible complications. But she is much stronger now thanks to all of your prayers. Please continue to include her in your prayers for her tracheostomy to be eventually removed. God bless all of you and good health to all as well. - Dimples (Jocelyn Navalta, daughter of Mayette).

Thank you for celebrating mom's bday with her Tita Linda Padilla, Tita Choi Tiuseco, Tita Edwina Tan and Tito Ting Tiongco! ❤❤❤  Dimples

                       
                Sharing laughter...and a drink of water! The love goes on.

     Three of six OB-Gyns of '71. Missing Cel, Fems, and of course Melds.

     Have to correct myself; there are more, Boy Lopez and Grace Buenviaje. And of           course, Bert Miranda.

CLASSMATES’ BIRTHDAY GREETINGS FOR MAYETTE

Thank God Mayet's kidney transplant is successful. She now looks healthy. Happy birthday Mayet! I hope you still remember me.  Judith

Hi Dimples! Thanks for letting us know that your Mom is recovering even without the transplant. I will continue to include her in my prayers. I send my warmest regards to all our classmates who are always standing by her, giving their moral and emotional support.  Judith

Wow, you all look good, but especially the celebrant! Good to see you, too, Pete and Rene. You are always in our prayers, Mayet!   Nans

Glad to see you looking good, Mayet. Hi to Linda P., Choi, Edwina, & Ting.   Linnie

It so good to see Mayet join all of you to celebrate her birthday! God bless you all for making her day special. Such true friendship! We continue to lift up Mayet in 🙏🏼 prayer!   Gerry

Hooray to Mayet celebrating her birthday with classmates. XOXO everyone!  Merle

Glad to see our prayers are being answered. Mayet looks good and so are Choi, Linda P, Edwina and  Ting as well as Tony and Rene. Hi to Macky and Dimples.  Manny V

Dear Mayet You look good! Take care.  Grace Eusebio-Torres

Looking good, Mayet and everyone else! Thanks for sharing, Linda P. Hopefully, Mayet will be strong enough to join us at Mike's?    Enteng

Choy’s response: Yes, she plans to join us at Mike's. If her tracheostomy is finally taken out as planned, for sure she's going.

It is heartwarming to see friends get together and support each other. Reminds me of the song Lean on Me. The chorus is really meaningful:

                              Lean on me, when you're not strong
                              And I'll be your friend
                              I'll help you carry on
                              For it won't be long
                              'Til I'm gonna need
                              Somebody to lean on.

Vicente Velasco, Blogmeister

Note: I used Mayette in the title because that's how Dimples spells it.

MINI-REUNION AT KYMA 27 October 2018

MINI-REUNION AT KYMA  27 October 2018
TEXT AND PHOTOS by Geraldine Gomez-Pinder

It was good to see everyone again! Thanks to Ely & Hilda who decided to accept Merle's invitation to go to New York City and watch the opera with her. So Merle thought of gathering classmates who live within the tri-state area & are within driving distance to the city. Two days before the appointed date & time, the weatherman predicted possibility of a thunderstorm, heavy rains all day & high winds. Oh..uh.. Were we ready to venture in that kind weather? Texted Merle the day before. Well, she says, she already made the reservations at Kyma, a Greek Seafood restaurant. Ok, I said, we'll see what it would be like in the morning, as predictions are notoriously known to change. And silently prayed, it would. I so want to see Ed, Angie, Mandy & Chi. Manny & Alice came  the week before to the opening of Godfrey's Society of Philippine American Artists exhibit at the Philippine Consulate. It would be nice to see Merle, Ely & Hilda again, even though all three were at the San Francisco Annual Grand Convention of UPMASA in the summer. Hoping that Linnie, Rene, Benjie and Clem would be there too. True enough that Saturday morning, there were high gusts of winds and rain in New Jersey. Called Merle. Only a drizzle in Manhattan, she says. Ok, we'll brave the weather. God will protect us. And He did! By the time we reached New York, it was just a constant drizzle, occasional wind, but not as gusty as predicted.  So wonderful to see 11 of us come. We missed Linnie, Benjie, Rene & Clem. The food was excellent from the appetizers which we shared: grilled octopus, calamari stuffed with cheese, zucchini fritters, pita bread, chicken soup; the entrees: Tsipoura (choice of mediterranean fish, grilled) Tiger Prawns, Swordfish skewers; to the desserts that we all shared too: baklava* topped with pistachio ice cream, cheesecake & 2 other Greek desserts.  Amazed that everyone was health-conscious. It was quite evident that everybody looked fit. Nobody ordered meat, although it was offered in the menu: lamb chops, steaks, pork chop. Appetizers and dessert were shared among each other. We had very good service. The waiter was very friendly and accommodated our numerous requests to take our pictures from different cameras! LOL! He even offered to make me taste 2 different kinds of wine as I don't like dry wine at all.  I'm not much of an alcohol drinker. I like Moscato, although I know it's a dessert wine. (All the connoisseurs looked askance at me).  But I've had one before, during a meal that was not as sweet, and the alcohol did not make me sleepy. So he made me taste another wine, this time a Riesling. That was not bad at all. Godfrey thought I had a good deal - getting to taste what I would like. LOL! The when it came to choice of desserts, he announced I know what you all like: Turon-turon & Halo-halo! And everybody chimed in a YES! Of course he was kidding! The conversation centered mostly on grandchildren's antics, and a show-off of their pictures - grandparenting tales that portray the stage of our lives we are in now, inspite of the fact that we all endeavor to look young by striving to hide the grey hairs, tucking-in that stomach bulge & smoothing the creases on our faces (which Mandy offers so generously to do).  Of course, jokes and updates about Class 71's plans and "peace offerings" were part of the lively discourse that contributed to the camaraderie and great fellowship.  Then, since we were in the city, Godfrey was supposed to pick up his art piece from the Philippine Consulate, where the exhibit of the SPAA ( Society of Philippine American Artists) was held. So we all traipsed there. Fortunately, some of the paintings were still there to enjoy and another photo-op took place. One of the artists whose painting won an award was moonlighting as the guard during the weekend and he let us in. He richly deserved the award as he showed us more of his paintings on his iPad.     *Nans, is baklava related to bakla crab? Photos Photoshopped a little bit kaya maganda lahat! Unlike Mandy's creation, this just took minutes, not hours, and no healing period required. Vicente Velasco, Blogmeister

FEL AND DOMES' DESPEDIDA PARTY AT TIUSECO'S HOME

DESPEDIDA PARTY FOR DOMES AND FEL AT CHOY AND TONY'S HOME
September 21, 2018

by Johnny Fong
ABS-CBN Entertainment News Reporter


Choy and Tony were perfect hosts for Domes and Fel's despedida party.

         Maganda kayong lahat. Sabi nga ni Pong, if he knew that the ladies would look this               good in their 70s, he would have made a pass at you during medical school.


Food was excellent and delicious. Each of us had our favorites. Domes and Linda P tackled the crispy pata. Ting showed his Chinese roots and devoured the chicken feet. Elmar loved the corn soup. The ever demure Edwina and Fel tasted a little bit of each food. I loved the ukoy.

From the top: Crispy Pata 1, Chinese Lumpia, Grilled Head of Maya Maya (Red Snapper), Crispy Pata 2.

(Masarap talaga ang crispy pata, may sequel pa.)

LAING

CRISPY UKOY

CHICKEN ADOBO SA GATA

CHAPCHAE KOREAN NOODLES

                                     CHICKEN FEET IN TAUSI


Ting was the life of the party. He was his usual self.  He drank. And he was merry. After his 8th beer he confessed that he had kids all over the world. (Don't be surprised if Ting's progenies will establish health co-ops globally.)  And that he married Edwina 3 times already.  He discussed his 2 books and cracked jokes. And in moments of minimal cognitive impairment, Edwina fed him his next line. He played the piano and he sang old classics.

It was the perfect party. When it was time to go Ting asked Edwina to point him to his car so he can drive Edwina home.

Before leaving Ting tried to kidnap Choy's two cooks. He wanted to bring them home with him to Davao. I think he got home okay. He was not in the nightly news.

Vicente Velasco
Blogmaster

UP MED 1971 ILOCOS TOUR JAN/2018

Narrative by Ging Dizon-Moore       
Photos by Art Flores

Yesterday  turned out a perfect day to visit Ilocos Norte. We started with some downpour going to  Paoay  to see the oldest San  Agustin Church. 

Then a stop over in Bangui, the wind mills and Marcos Malacanan of the south.  

Pagudpud was our main stop. The road was a little bumpy but the scenery of the ocean became better and better as we approach  the place were  the Philippines Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. Unending shorelines with  huge waves. We had a  specially prepared  lunch in a  3 story home overlooking the surf and also a zipLine! What a sight and worth the drive. 

We were in 2 vans. We did not mind how long it took to reach our destination. We  were laughing so hard at Pat's jokes until we were coughing and I was afraid I wiould have an asthmatic attack. In between we  munched on our garlic corn, potato chips bought from the street stalls along the way. We sang  songs even with our hoarse voices.There were a lot of teasing and wondering what the classmates in the other van where doing and talking about.  For sure it was about us. We bonded  more and more. No texting or Viber as there was no wifi.

We were so  lucky to have Art doing all our professional photo shoots.He  was not contented with the colors of our  attires. On our way back to Bangui, he was so gracious to buy each one a souvenir shirt  for our last memorable perfect picture.

Last night  after dinner  and special fresh buko, bought  along the way, we said goodbyes to Pat. He had to go back back to Manila .

More highlights

Calesa ride on Calle Crisologo

Dancing fountain and LASER show

Heritage City

Sitio Remedios in Paoay, Ilocos Norte

Someone please identify location of following pictures, in order, in Viber.

Lady of Lourdes
Grotto in Baguio

Once upon a time there was a tavern
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
And think of all the great things we would do.

Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.

Tuloy and ligaya at kainan post Ilocandia hosted by Choy and Tony