Reunion

Surigao del Sur, Philippines

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. “
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

And this we did, definitely!

Our high school batch (1995) have been planning to have a reunion since the early months of 2009. We even opened a Facebook discussion page so we can really hash out the plans and schedules for our December reunion, and yeah, maybe do a little catching up with old classmates and friends. We started emailing back & forth and sending FB messages to each other.

We were all so psyched up. We called the event --- Batch ’95 Reunion (Double Up) --- coz it was a mix of 2 schools (the blue and the green uniforms will unite for this event!).

I really had fun during the planning stage. We went around in motorbikes armed with a list of names of our batchmates from both schools (I can’t remember all of them coz I only went to school in our town for 1 year and did not graduate there). It was my first time to visit some of the barrios. As in, nagronda galore kami!

I was the designated “manukotay” (the money collector) coz I am the most “mataray” among the group. Hahahaha……I had to make sure everyone contributes more than they have to! Lol

Day 1 – December 29, 2009

The group decided not to hire a caterer for the event coz we wanted to do it on our own, and we have really good cooks in our batch (thanks to the guys for their cooking abilities!). The ones who are not blessed with cooking skills went to the market and groceries to shop for the ingredients…..as in ang haba ng listahan!

(the ladies were tasked to make the "fruit salad" -- coz that's the only thing we know!)

Our venue for the first day is the new “resort” being built in Carrascal --- the Pacific View Beach Resort. We rented out a room for the kids and ladies to sleep in (as in me sumingit talaga na lalaki sa room! Hahaha) and a cottage as venue of our kainan and inuman!

It was a feast!

After dinner, we had a medyo hindi na seryoso session of “self-introduction” complete with public forum afterwards. We had fun heckling each other lalo na at medyo lahat naka-inom na! It was a colorful bunch. Me mga pulis, forester, kapitan, etc…….

Some of my married batchmates brought their kids to the party and they created an additional flavor to our group.
As usual, we ended up all sloshed……..whatever happened to our slogan “let’s morning the night!” and “walang tulugan”???? lol

(we finished up I think 4 bottles of The Bar that night...as in more than 1 bottle each?)

The Way We Were
(Barbara Streisand)

Memories light the corner of my mind.

Misty water color memoriesOf the way we were.
Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind,

Smiles we gave to one anotherFor the way we were.

Can it be that it was all so simple then,

Or has time rewritten every line?

If we had the chance to do it all again,

Tell me? would we? could we?

Memories may be beautiful and yet,

What's too painful to remember

We simply choose to forget.

So it's the laughter

We will remember,

Whenever we remember

The way we were.

Day 2 – December 30, 2009

I woke up early coz it was so cold in the room and was sandwiched between Brax (he had the gall to ask me kung saan daw ako natulog! Hahaha) and another batchmate.

The scene that greeted me was awesome. The sea was so calm, the place was so quiet (except for the snores coming from the cottage!). We even saw a rainbow circling above us!

We went out to the nearby village of Bon-ot to get some fresh catches from the floating restaurant. The restaurant is just next to Bon-ot Bridge. After breakfast, we all piled back again to Ralph’s cab coz we are transferring to our beach house in Consuelo. We wanted to go to the nearby Casarica Islet after lunch for a quick swim, and I also want to show them the island and how pristine and beautiful it still is…..

First priorities when we arrived, the guys immediately went to the table to eat....

And then its "tong-its" time.......

Tapos may naglihi yata ng buko.......pina-akyat talaga sa puno.....

We went on a scenic banca ride from our house to the island. I haven’t been on a banca for ages!

What a welcome! White sand beach, clear blue-green waters coupled with the craggy background of the rocky hill in the island.
I couldn’t get enough of the water…..as in kinareer ang paglangoy! Lol Of course the drinking went on, tagayan pa rin kahit sa dagat!
It started to drizzle a little bit so the guys said we had to go back to the house. So off we went (I forgot again my tsinelas!), back to our beach house for replenishment --- food & drinks. And to also wash ourselves off of saltwater! Kainan na naman. We had another round of Sutokil (sugba-tola-kilaw diveh?) from the fresh fishes we bought from Bahang-bahang.

When it was time for us to pack up and go, the diehard drinkers wanted to stay back and was urging me to stay as well (ako nga naman si San Pedra, the holder of the key! Lol). I would have gladly left them the house keys but we really all had to go home coz the following day is New Year’s Eve.

Till the next year guys……. We have to plan for our 15th year anniversary!