Thursday, April 19, 2007 Magsaysay: Flower face By Jo Magsaysay Whatever
RACINE at eighteen is nothing at all like those pretty-pretty airheads around town flaunting their anorexic forms, their vapid personalities and language that ranges from “cool” to “grabee.”
Racine at eighteen is pretty and real, her delicate flower face open, her smile warm. She has both feet planted firmly on the ground, her head raised up to the stars, her heart in the right place. She has composed poems that sing, poems that sob; a poem that won first place in the STC English Festival, a rousing song composed for her graduation day in 2006, an original score for an English play production. She sings, she acts, she directs. She is a composer, debater, actress, playwright and editor. She has good genes, sound values, the stability of a happy home. Her parents, Dodong and Fides (Ynclino) Senining are very proud of her as are her grandparents, Judge Romolo and Auring Senining, Sr., Termin and Flor Ynclino overflowing with pride and joy. Racine at 18 is singularly gifted and blessed.
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Coming of age at eighteen, a young girl on the brink of womanhood goes through a rite of passage commonly known as a debut. In the Old World, some social arbiter, usually a grande dame of nobility, sponsors eighteen-year-old girls of a beauty, brains, breeding and bank account to present then at a formal debut to adult society and eligible gentlemen. In this New World of commercialism, a collusion of couturiers, beauticians and boutiques cashes in on the fledging debutante who in the crash language of teenagers announces, Hey! Man! I’m available! Whatever. If my grandchildren’s yaya asks for leave to go to her hometown in Asturias because “mag deboot man ko, 'day,” who’s to quibble?
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So Racine at eighteen has her coming-out party. Her debut with all the trimmings: a sit-down dinner at the City Sports Plaza, a winsome cousin, Aime Echivarra tip toes out of Ballet Center to perform a solo, a classmate (or is it another cousin) exhibited an amazing moonwalk dance (Look ma, no bones!); her 11-year old brother, Reston who had previously won first honor for best song interpretation gave all his heart and soul in a song and, of course, classmates from STC and the Velez School of Nursing presented gifts, candles, flowers, as did all those closest and dearest including Mariquita Yeung who dropped everything in her crowded calendar, the colleagues Jimmy Picornell, Joe Recio, Nelia Neri, Cookie Newman, Mayen Tan, Chinggay Utzurrum, Honey Loop in full rah-rah booster, Linda Aronson in the pink looking delicious and many more.
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Went fishing in Big Mao and caught a sea bass. Fishing? Big Mao? You better believe it! Derek Dytian has this gimmick that has one-upped other gimmicks. Where aerated aquariums in other restos have live fish, crabs, lobsters, eels, turtles and other sea creatures swimming happily for the diner to pick out a meal, Dytian built a small pond, covered it with tarpaulin and stocked it with fish. You get a fishing pole, a plump shrimp for bait and voila!
In less than a minute you hook a fish which are likely starved. Fish caught is fish bought and our sea bass was large enough for the Big Mao chef to cook three different ways: steamed with black beans and herbs, fried with sweet sour sauce and simmered in creamy tofu all delicious. Our fish dinner cost us only P750, the bass having weighed a little over 7 grams. Fun and yum. Absolutely.
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“May we live as long as we love and love as long as we live, always,” a romantic couplet for a golden couple on their 50th wedding anniversary. Dito and Toya (Abad) Bugarin will be given full honor and glory by their children, John and Gigi, Duke and Lucille, Rena and Tito Tenazas, Carl and Emmy at a grand celebration on the 4th of May. The renewal of their wedding vows to be held at the Archbishop’s Palace will be officiated by Msgr. Roberto Alesna and Rev. Fr. Carmelo Diola with Capt. Nemenio Bugarin, Erlinda Abad, Cesar Gorre, Anita Gorre, Ret. Maj. Dominador Tenazas, Remedios Tenazas, Engr. Apolinario Seno, Nancy Rodriguez, Enrigue Diola and Elena Diola as principal witnesses. Dinner reception at the Casino Español will be attended by relatives and friends of the much-loved and esteemed Atty. Expedito and Victoria Bugarin.
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Another one of those delightful e-mail fillers quoted by Dr. Pacita Libi Co for her good friend Lorena Santos Yu to pass around to “bright, funny women you know and make their day”
Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my shape to keep Please no wrinkles. Please no bags And please lift my butt before it sags Please no age spots. Please no gray As for my belly, Please take it away Please keep me healthy. Please keep me young And thank you, Dear Lord For all that you’ve done.
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A life-style link has been added to Chains from Banilad Town Center to Paseo Center, Arcenas Estate in Banawa. Forge a new link to the Chains where you can find everything you need, even find anything you don’t need but will want to have.
