Anyway, I was saying that September 18 dawned too bright and too early for me, but the phone fiasco didn’t dampen my spirits. There was a spring in my step as I boarded the van I borrowed from my son Pao and headed for Megamall. First stop, picked up Joann at McDo Sucat. She was ready for walking in her denim cut offs and Nike’s. So we were off to
Megamall.

And there they were, at the rendezvous spot all ten lovely ladies of SPQC Class 66: Joyce, Terry Lehun, Ludy, Mina, Fe M. Evlin and Papoose, who brought along her pretty daughter Angela who had just arrived from Dubai for some mother-daughter bonding time. Everyone piled into the van (literally:patong-patong kami) because we were too many for one van but it was not a long ride to the Guadalupe ferry so not a problem. Nag umpisa na ang kuwentuhan at tawanan.

As we entered the Guadalupe station we posed for a snapshot in front of it, and attracted a few onlookers (ngayon lang sila nakakita ng ganun karaming magaganda all in one place, at nagpoposing pa!). Ting was already there, as she decided to go straight to the station to meet us. And then, it was the usual presentation of senior citizen cards to avail of the 20% discount, of course! And then while we waited for our ferry to arrive, at the waiting area, more “kodakan” pa rin! In fact, there was a gentleman passenger who was nice enough to offer to take our pictures, and patiently clicked away (paiba-ibang angle pa) as one after another we handed him our cameras. We must have looked so cute and happy because everyone who saw us smiled at us!

Then the ferry arrived and we walked down the pier to board it. We were laughing and joking about how mabaho the river was… what a big sewer… falling in would be a fate worse than death… buti nalang aircond yung ferry… and so on and so forth (as Sis. Maurice used to say)… Inside the ferry, the temperature was cool, there was an LCD TV showing a “James Bond” movie (starring Roger Moore pa yata — one of the old ones), but of course none of us, and none of the other passengers understood the movie kasi ang ingay ingay namin . You cannot imagine the “halakhakan” that ensued when someone pointed out an elderly man making “poo-poo” on the riverbank. After he evacuated what had to be evacuated he shook his butt and put on his shorts again! EEEEEEEEEEW! Di ba?

The only part of the river that looked good was the part where Malacanang Palace and Malacanang park were. The rest of it was so decrepit. What a pity! Anywhere else in the world river banks are prime real estate. Well, at least the squatters don’t have to build toilets and bathrooms. They can do everything al fresco…

In about 45 minutes, we arrived at the Escolta station. outside the station there were pedicab drivers calling out “168! 168″ — aha! malapit pala yung 168! I thought that was in Divisoria! It was a toss up between having some Savory Chicken which was just a few steps away from the station or a “duck four ways” real chinese meal at President. So Lehun asked for directions (in Chinese of course) and she was told President no longer has a restaurant, just a tea house serving dimsum. Fast thinking Lehun saw a restaurant with huge fish tanks in fromt and said “Let’s go!” and we all followed her inside Emperor’s Villa. Much to our delightit had a huge dining room full of Chinese! sitting at big round tables partaking of what looked to us like real authentic cantonese fare. The waitress seated us at a table for 12, and suggested a set menu and before long, after we had all paid our respects to the resto’s clean restroom, the waiters came marching in with our food. The bird’s nest soup was the best I’ve tried, (and I’ve tried a lot, even in China: Shanghai, Guanzou & HK) it was so good! And the Pata Tim! Grabe! It was so soft and the balat and taba were so creamy!!!! If I wasn’t afraid of dropping dead in Chinatown I would have gotten a third serving but NO! Tama na yung two servings. The chicken and pansit and seafood rolls were beyond expectations, and the bottomless ice tea was sweet… Of course the almond jelly dessert topped off that great meal very nicely. I don’t know if the food was really that great or if it was the company of fabulous and dear classmates that made it taste so good.

We left the restaurant and trekked down Bustos Street in search for more gastronomic delights like HOPIA , siyempre, di ba? Of course Joyce purchased enough hopia to fill half a balikbayan box kasi daw, when she gets homesick for us, she’ll just pop a hopia into her microwave and in a few seconds she’ll be transported back to her bayang magiliw. My eyes almost popped at the veggies being sold on the sidewalk. Wow! The freshest bok choy,  asparagus, broccoli, cherry and greenhouse tomatoes, watercress, spinach… nakakaloka!
Ting and I were having a difficult time trying not to be “takaw mata” and bought only the the  ones we wouldn’t be able to get at our regular groceries. I bought fresh shitake mushrooms and a big bundle of asparagus as well as some cherry tomatoes. I also bought 2 bags of gala apples (8 pieces per bag) at PHP60.00 per bag. How can you go wrong?

After the gulay and hopia stops, we headed for the chinelas store. The beaded slippers (yung mukhang pang lola) elicited ooohs and aaaahs from all of us. The lucky ones with dainty feet were able to benefit much from being in this shop. The rest of us with peasant-size feet (MIna, Terry, Papoose and me) stood at the door exchanging notes on where we could buy big-size jeans (with garter waist: Landmark) and big-foot shoes (Sketchers, Hush Puppies). I bought Lolo slippers for my hubby…

Papoose and Angela headed for 168 to do more shopping. The rest of us walked back to
the Ferry station where the van was waiting. We piled in and Mina regaled us with stories of her new-found luv, in her orgasmic voice (you’ll have to ask her to tell you the story of that),
amid peals of laughter and squeals of delight from her rapt audience (kami yon — mga chismosa talaga!) Ludy slept through the whole noisy ride!

Back at Megamall, parting was such sweet sorrow. There were big big hugs for Joyce who is leaving Tuesday, and hopefully returning NOT after five years, for Evlin too because she’s celebrating her 60th birthday on the 24th in HONG KONG (sama kamiiiii!!!). More big hugs came from Fepot for Ting because she was so overwhelmed with what happened to her daughter. Great big thank you’s were heaped on Lehun who gave all of us packages of tea (from China which she brought back from her last visit) and tablea chocolate (EH!!!!). And we all hugged each other and promised to get together again on OCTOBER 1!!!! to celebrate the SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS.

It was a wonderful day… it was… it was. All I can say is, Classmates, hindi ko kayo ipagpapalit kailanman… not for all the tea in Chinatown !

Tapos, soaking wet, I ran into my grandson’s room and turned the aircon off and looked at his bwisit na snoring yaya who didn’t even bother wake up to do that. Well, the wind, the rain, the darkness — perfect combination for yayas to go into a coma.

In fairness, I saw the labandera dash out to the backyard to gather the clothes that were  hanging on the line.  She also  carried the cat into the warm kitchen and  locked  the daschund in the terrace or else he’ll eat the rooster.

I turned on a small battery radio and heard a hyperventilating announcer say that a ship carrying 700 passengers was nowhere to be found…. 40 bodies washed ashore in Iloilo…
was that the President scolding a nincompoop coast guard commander?.. . merese… he should be executed at  the rotonda of the Mall of Asia…

Whatever else was wrong with the world this rainy morning hindi  ko na alam… nakatulog na uli si Superlola.