Thursday, August 30, 2007 Magsaysay: First night out By Jo Magsaysay Whatever
IT'S good! So very good to be among old friends on my first night out.
Call it my coming out party. Coming out from the drip, drip, drip of dextrose; out from the hiss and susurrus of oxygen through my nostrils into my windpipe; out from antibiotics, the huff and puff of a nebulizer; out of the ICU of my bedroom converted into a mini-hospital with a shift of nurses; and out from the tender mercies of my ministering angels Bert and Maureen. Out! And free! Well, almost. Until I get a full clearance for good behavior.
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Nothing like the good company of Les Girls of Happiness turning out at The Gustavian’ to celebrate the birthdays of our fair-haired boy, our nino bonito, Jaime Picornell and his guapisima senora Cecilia and dear Viring Romoff.
At the last minute, Viring who had a birthday early this month, begged off from recurring aches and pains from a recent surgery, minor, but irritating.
Must be our creeping and creaking old age, but Azon Mercado who does her own marketing, splish-splashing in Carbon and Pasil, also opted to stay home.
As did Marisol Putong who is so faithfully complida with her religious and social obligations, missed the get-together to nurse a swollen ankle. Sorely missed, too, was Millie Sembrano and her Parmesan peanuts, still having a swinging time in Las Vegas to attend her grandson’s wedding. Last time we saw Millie was when she was joyfully swinging on the dance floor, her stiletto heels flashing multi-colored lights.
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No matter, Monching and Genieng Solano were present, brimming over with pride that their daughter Hope, as in whoopee, had successfully passed the recent medical board exams. They were still flushed glowing from their European tour, extensive and I should think expensive, too, from the brand new Rolex Monching sported on his wrist a gift from Genieng while in Switzerland. Just as Ben and Tina Ebrada were all aglow that their Pebbles, who had her own Bake and Cake shop in Boracay, for the past five years, will be baking up a storm at Shangri-la Mactan Resort and Spa starting next month.
Clucking like a mother hen, Vivina Chiu Yrastorza, the inexhaustible, indomitable pediatrician-cum- civic spirited leader and social butterfly, who will be flying off to Budapest this week, was looking after her houseguests.
They were a couple of courteous and nice looking post graduate medical interns from Switzerland. Vivina had ordered the dinner menu and made an excellent choice of clam chowder, tossed green salad, surf and turf, and creme brulee. It was wonderful to be with Didang Paulin again, still fashionably chic in a little black dress that that perfectly set off her white hair.
Her sister, Trining, is doing just fine, thank you; but has occasional lapses of memory. The genteel Milagring Borromeo quietly enjoyed the Gustavian dinner, conversing with Jaime and the Swiss medical student on either side of her. Lovely party. Lovely people.
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Strike a high note to score another triumphant concert tour for Cebu’s multi-awarded artist, Ingrid Sala Santamaria and pedagogue Reynaldo Reyes.
Their 14th Romantic Period Concerto Journey, which covered classical concert performances and music education, started June 25 in Malaysia and ended Aug. 6 at the Ateneo de Manila University with a rousing standing ovation for the performance of Tchaokokosky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor op 13. A recipient of the French Honors Chevalier de Ordre national du Merte from the French government, Ingrid said: “It is heartwarming to feel and see how our music has blended cultures and galvanized relationships in the Asean region.” Ingrid does indeed make us all proud of her accomplishments and her achievements.
