2007 Reunion Part 2

October 28, 2007 Ray Bueno Resto
Greetings, mga Pongs!


Ang saya saya ng JASMS reunion natin last night at Rey Bueno’s resto. Note that I used “natin”…that’s because I was nominated by Marcial “Boy” Samson and unanimously approved by the batch-mates present to be a Guest JASMS classmate. I would have preferred however to be considered an “honorary” classmate of JASMS defined as…Junior American School for Memorial (este Military pala) Services…para sa akin miski Reynolds, okay na rin…basta’t blue.

Kudos to Koots who initiated these JASMS reunions which kicked off at Subic last month. Present at Subic were hosts, Dickson Foo with wife Susan and son David aka Ranchie, Koots and Beth, Rey Bueno and wife Joy, Monty Sarabia and wife Lanie, Henry Laygo with eldest daughter, Janine (to be married next year) and son, Justine, Tony Benasa, yours truly with wife Jane.(15)

The Subic all-expense-paid reunion with overnight stay at Boardwalk Resort Hotel was sponsored by none other than Don Dick aka “Bosyo” and recently christened “Mr. Tiger Balm”. Despite the inclement weather, every one had a grand time with walang sawang kuwentuhan at alaskahan to death. Ang sarap ng tawanan na halos lumobo na ang mga ilong namin...muntik na ngang malaglag ang pushtisho ko sa katatawa eh. Koots in his sartorial best—an all-red “Formula-One-inspired” racing attire provided the starters. (Binulong pa nga ni Beth…na meron pa raw siyang all-yellow attire). Sa bagay, lakasan lang ng loob yan eh… Pero ako…when I grow up…I don’t want to be like Koots. Joke, Joke, Joke…Luv ya, Kootsy baby!

Special mention should be given to Susan, Dick’s better half who prepared a sumptuous steak and seafood feast for our dinner. We also got to enjoy the biggest pizza in the Philippines at Extremely Espresso (owned by the family of the late Benson Foo).

The reunion last night at Rey Bueno’s “Bahay Ligaya” bar and restaurant lived up to its name. We had lots of “LIGAYA” with a bigger cast of “characters”…Rey and Joy, Koots with Beth and son Carlo, Monty and Lanie, Tony and wife Margie, Jane and I, Dick, Henry, Steve Santos, Alex delos Reyes, Boy Samson with friend Roland, and the two lady classmates, Tessie Kasilag and Emily Sta. Romana. (19)

And YES…you guessed correctly…Koots was in his Schumacher, all-yellow attire with matching yellow shoes (to go well with his yellow teeth?) And you wouldn’t believe this…his son, Carlo later passed by the resto in a yellow Hyundai Elantra sedan…para yellow all the way…

Many thanks to Steve Santos who brought along images from the JASMS year books as well as photos you never knew existed till yesterday. Boy Samson promised to have the yearbook photos reprinted with his photo as the lone one in color… and through the magic of today’s technology…magkakaron na raw ng two front teeth ang old picture niyang bungal…for distribution in the next reunion.

One photo from Steve’s archives showed 5 monkeys seated on a sofa at-- Arthur Prollamante, Monty Sarabia, Phantz Jamlang, Jale Laygo and I in the middle. Pinansin ni Rey Bueno the way I crossed my legs in the photo…pormang “Ricky Reyes” daw…sabi ko…“RR” doesn’t stand for “Ricky Reyes”...kundi “Radio Romance”. (Naks naman! Vintage 60’s ang dating!)

All-night entertainment and laughter was provided by Boy Samson, the lover-boy of the group. Married 4 times… producing eight children…and has invited all of us to his forthcoming wedding to his soulmate…a waitress he just met at Rey’s resto. According to Boy, it was love at first sight! Or was it at first bite? (Ang tulis ng mama!) He also gave practical tips to Tessie Kasilag who is married to her husband, 5 years her junior… para hindi mambabae ang asawa. Whatever the tips were, you have to ask him yourself at the next reunion. But I overheard Boy advising Tessie to buy her husband “Diatabs” instead of “Viagra”. Kung nagpapatigas daw ang Diatabs ng ebak, pareho na rin daw ang epek sa …you know what!

Boy also confided to the group that he was then truly convinced of Dickson’s “Ubiwasa” powers…kaya medyo ilag daw siya kay Dick noong high school. If Dick would have only pursued this craft or witchcraft, I wouldn’t be surprised if he would his own sect by now. Alam ko na!!! Yang “Ubiwasa” ang ginamit niyang gayuma sa negosyo niyang catering ngayon…imagine, he feeds 15,000 mouths a day at the Subic EPZA. AMEN, Brother Dick??? AMEN!!! Kaya, when I grow up…

The next reunion will be held on December 1, a Saturday at the same venue at Bahay Ligaya. Pot luck as usual and exchange gifts worth at least P100 were agreed on. Individual efforts will be exerted to locate missing classmates and invite them to the reunion. By the way, Winston “Winnie” Ungson has already committed to attend on December 1.

I personally look forward to seeing Phantz, Turing, and Bobs in one of our future reunions. God willing…before we all become “Dual Citizens” according to Kuto…bago maging Senior Citizens na rin daw tayo…sa bagay, LIBRE na tayo sa cine sa Makati by then…nakapila na sa first full show together with the others…PLUS we shall be entitled to 20% discount at any Mercury drugstore for our maintenance pills…HaHaHa!

Mga Pongs…till then…mabalos…to the bat cave…

RENE RODRIGUEZ
aka Bangawski
“Ricky Reyes” din daw?
True believer in “Ubiwasa”