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Pre-party jitters: Maximum set at 16 because "My dining room can only accommodate 16 people."  Early replies easily filled up the maximum and Medy was in a quandary when others called to confirm. "We have another gathering at Bonnie's the following day all day, let's go there...it will be fun!" But conflicts in schedules or distance and transpo problems prevailed. "How could I refuse Margie, Paz, Nieves?" At 20, I texted Patis and her unfortunate reply was "That will be fun!"  How could I then refuse Dido, Maureen, and Sheba?  Their schedules just cleared up close to the party or some urgent matter came up on Jun 26 and they were even very gentle in asking "... if there still is space." Cory wanted to thank M&M's by being present after Win's operation. So it went on and on!!! "How did we get to be this many? 27!? I frankly do not know how we will fit. Hope it doesn't rain." Then Marite's urgent email calling for prayers for Patis for her kidney operation. Panic...we have to call off party at worse. Only to receive Patis' matter of fact text message.."No, our dinner is on. My kidneys are laser blasted and I walk in and out. No problem."

At the Party: Friday came and final count was 34!!! Just like at Punta Fuego.  (Garnet and Patis were double counted! People kept moving around! Poor Cyn. But if wifey Margie in London, mother Zelie with visiting daughter and dutiful Dolly in the wake  did not do a "no show" at the last moment,we would have been 37!) Early birds were Peach, Elen, Chi, Ads, Garnet, Marilyn, Marite, Marimil, Myrna, Olive, Bonnie, Grace, Elen, Yvonne, Mad and Dido. We had congregated in  the dress shop display area, eating pistachios (That's healthy, not a nut! some M&M remarked, so more got busy eating!) and squealing with delight with every witty or even not funny comment. Being together just does that to us.

Patis (who did not at all look like she had just had her kidneys blasted so I forgot to ask her about them) herded us to her beautifully laid out dining room when we were just enough. She said it was her bodega but she was just fixing it up. So chic! Wish all bodegas were like that! It was really all set for 16!  But the buffet table belied the number of guests Patis had expected. It was piled high with yummy pamplina soup from Ads kitchen, big platters of spaghetti noodles and a fresh tomato sauce with mushrooms and chives in olive oil, italian spices, tomato paste served with parmesan cheese and garlic french bread; we had a generous supply of  delicious roast chicken with stuffing and gravy; and a delicately flavored fish dish all from Patis' kitchen. Ads donated two big bowls of her fast going salads in a bed of lettuce: one of kani (crabsticks), mangos and walnuts  and another of  prawns, avocado, grapes, apples and almonds topped off with strawberry vinaigrette and the honey mustard dressing, respectively. The wine table was filled with various bottles of red and white wine brought by designated  M&M's. So was the dessert table filled up with native guinataan from Marimil's kitchen, sinful chocolate cake brought by Bonnie, Mil Ojas from Doris and Sans Rival from Marite.  Grace said the grace and Paz said, "You surprise me with your many talents!"

Then more M&M's started to arrive. Somehow, there was always room for one more, we spilled over to the formal dining room which opened to the garden. Paz, Nieves, Joanne, Girl, Evelyn, "Do these many M&M's always attend the reunions?", remarked Patis. The Alabang girls Corro and Doris had brought a pleasant surprise --- one of SuzyQ, Patis, Grace and Olive's group mates --- Ruby Natividad! (Other groupmates were Tess Bustamante and Violet who were not around) And she came all the way from Los Banos! Also thank Grace for being relentless in making sure Ruby could attend! Emily, Jopie and Marite arrived. Marie just lives a few houses away but was one of the last to arrive....basketball beckoned! She had Cory with her; she had hardly spent any time away from Win in the hospital. He was now home, and she told of how he practically kissed the wall of their house, since he could not believe he could get out of the hospital alive (after the operation and the subsequent stroke. As of this writing Win is again in the hospital for internal bleeding due to aspilets but is now better...more prayers, girls). Cory wanted to personally thank the entire M&M's through those of us in the party for all the support being given to her.

We had two more surprise arrivals. Monina Oliva and Chi-chi de Leon! They sat with Bonnie and SuzyQ so I will have to ask them for stories. Chi was just in town for three days but a chance meeting with SuzyQ at Rustan's in the morning, convinced Chi that she had to be in the party. Good decision! We laughed ourselves to the floor with SuzyQ's stories of their Imeldific trip to the Middle East with Pitoy Moreno. SuzyQ was hilarious with her   impersonations. Emily said, watch her hands! (Very graceful; like a dancer. She tells stories  with full action and gestures!). The pictures should be out soon (Dido? Patis from your son Nicky?)

Post Mortem: From Patis " It was a great party and all turned out well even with the heat. No need to be wary, I am just a perfectionist freak. And yes we should do it again, maybe when we open our restaurant in Putol, San Pablo City in October."

From Olive: "Enjoyed the party! Wish we can meet every quarter!" (Reveals her school orientation, doesn't it!)

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Sixteen of us made it to Bonnie's the next day. Those who were also present the night before at Patis'  were Mars and SuzyQ, Mad, Cyn, Medy, Jopie, Yvonne,  Marite, and Bonnie. We were happy to see Malu Juinio, Sheba, Melin, Dolly, Mariza, Ellen Rivera, and Missy. We all tried to arrive in time for Dolly's cooking demonstration. Dolly was all dolled up for her presentation. Sheba took a video of the entire process which Bonnie intends to put in a CD for US viewing.. View the pictures if you want to agree with me that she looks fabulous! Must be all the natural stuff she consumes.

Dolly decided to double the recipe. She was great in doubling the main ingredients but had trouble with the fractions of the Bulgogi sauce. ("I never was good in Math!"). So assistant cooks Medy and Cynthia had to make sure measurements were right (Are you sure, Medy???)  Sheba was good with boiling the noodles, she knew when the pot was boiling! (She happens to own one of these high tech pots with a whistle that pops up and stays erect when the water in it is boiling, it just rattles right before it reaches boiling point). Senior assistant cook was Marilyn who actually held the skillet to saute the garlic (take two! the first was a little too toasty; Nigela is really finicky), onion, carrot strips, tenga ng daga, and cabbage strips.

The noodles were done ---  only to find out when she poured the bulgogi sauce into the noodles  (This is the secret. Do not mix sauce in the saute pan but rather directly into the noodles in a pyrex serving dish. The taste is really absorbed in the noodles.) that her driver had bought a different brand of Korean vermicelli noodles, more expensive than the brand she recommends (buy the cheaper one) and worse, the package was only 300 grams! Luckily she had decided to buy two packages because she originally planned to double the recipe. But the waiting time to boil moved our lunch hour back another 15 minutes! And Medy and Cynthia got busy dividing the doubled recipe into half.

Worth the wait! Agreed everyone. We also had Kare-kare made from scratch with all the forbidden stuff and oxtail for the less adventuresome, toasted and ground rice, peanuts not peanut butter, atuete seeds and not mixes, served with delicious bagoong. Rellenong bangus was the other dish we did not ignore! And Missy's "short"-gonizas cooked to crispy perfection. For dessert, buttery and sinful sans rival.

To digest our food, we told stories galore; we scanned pictures we brought for our yearbook; Sheba took professional photos of those who had no mug shots or who were not happy with their mug shots in their respective web pages. So do not blame them if they have gorgeous poses in our online yearbook. Photos by Sheba!

There were serious moments too. As expected, Mad let her shallow tears flow (literal translation of mababaw ang luha) as she gave advise to Melin. Melin shared some of her feelings about the tragedy that befell her husband when they got into that vehicular accident that took his life some 6 years ago, and how she and her children are still going through a lot of pain up to now.

Mariza also prodded Medy to tell about how Melanie found it difficult to attend reunions since she had to care for her sick husband, who has retired since he could no longer work after his second stroke. It is fortunate that their daughter , a sophomore,  who is studying to be a Chemical Engineer at UP Los Banos is now a scholar. She is praying that she will continue to be a scholar and expressed some fears that she might not have enough   in case she loses her scholarship. But right now, Melanie is still managing to make all ends meet. (Daughter was salutatorian in HS, who could have been the Valedictorian if she participated in extra curricular activities, which she couldn't do because of caring for her dad and lack of funds, Mariza added.). This is one project I think we could get into; since it is an investment into the future of a deserving student and her M&M family. And we have done this before, I understand, on a one-time basis, (Right, Garn?)

Malu Juinio is just recovering from her silent ulcer operation. She is a true M&M, a survivor....and with no complaints! I happened to visit her at DBP during one of my amortization days and she was on leave, when I came back the next month, she was there, but no peep about her illness. She just said she wasn't well then. She looks good in her pictures!

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And like a children's party, we all had loot bags! We raffled off three stations of the cross plates that were left over from our Coral Jubilee gift and each of those who did not win,  got chimes specially made by Bonnie. I got a special silver pendant made by daughter Mara, because it got stuck in my hand as I was awarding the prizes and handing over the chimes. Bonnie said I could keep it for all my effort! Thank you, thank you! SuzyQ brought out the "banig" of lip glosses she brought from the States, and we all happily chose the colors and flavors we wished for. We have pictures featuring our fully glossed lips. Click on the link above to go to the pictures.

Plans are afoot for a pottery session next time.