February 2006 Reunion of the L.A. Girls

February 10th is the Feast of St. Scholastica. And as Manila was preparing for the Annual Alumnae Homecoming, the L.A. Girls have a reunion, doing it their way. No one had brought a digital camera , but reading Louie's account is enough to make us all wish we were in L.A. for the occasion.

FUN, FUN, FUN, THE L.A. WAY

by Louie Abad Santos Davis

Dancing the Night Away in Sariling Atin

friday night, we all met at "grand inihaw". in attendance were maripol, carmel, kathy, louella, sylvia, wilma, marilyn, and suki. kathy picked up louella, then, carmel picked up both of them from kathy's house.

maripol was driven by her husband, who, the whole time watched movies in the car while waiting for her to get done, imagine!!! the karaoke at this place was really deafening, plus it was taking soooo long for the food to come, so we moved to another venue called "sariling atin" where we stayed for the rest of the night. this is an all-you-can-eat buffet place ($9 cover charge), that also happens to have its own karaoke and dance floor. the place was not really
crowded, i would say about a dozen people were scattered about including 3 dancing couples who, we found out later, usually frequents dance clubs on the weekends.

at one point, the male partners probably felt sorry for us that they actually asked us to dance with them, teaching us the right steps and tempo. carmela guiltily declared that we should probably pay/tip these men, akala niya D.I.

it was such an enjoyable night, para kaming nakawala sa hawla. the dancing and singing were spearheaded by maripol, (imagine a combined persona of madonna and cindy lauper) who practically was in the dance floor ALL THE TIME, except for the tango numbers. we did not have a care in the world whether we were dancing out of step or singing out of tune, basta, hindi na kami nahiyang magwala sa dance floor. the music numbers were just so hard to pass up, maski nga si louella, who the whole time we were dancing complained that she does not know how to dance, couldn't resist to not join us wild animals in the dance floor. we must have done about 5 line dances - syempre, hindi kami yong leader. it was fun, fun, fun.

after a while, mairpol's husband came inside the restaurant to use the restroom , then their son phoned to tell them that he was home (visiting from college). so, they had to go home. we did some more singing, with wilma belting out a finale of "crazy". then, we headed out the door, to the disappointment of the remaining patrons (we were the entertainment).

What do We Do Next

outside the restaurant, we mulled over the list of places we could go to ---- back to the hotel, what will we do there?.....the hop dance club, the music will be blasting and the crowd overwhelming, plus uuwi na si marilyn if we go there bec she does not dance. then, a brainstorm....why don't we just go back to the restaurant (which closes at 2am). pero, nakakahiya daw, after executing a grand exit. then, we saw the other patrons trickling out.
they must have been wondering what we were still doing outside, but bade goodbye nevertheless. then, finally, the dancing pairs were leaving too. they partially scolded us for being so tentative and told us that we should just go back inside if we wanted to. implication: ang tanda na ninyo, wala ba kayong self-confidence? they even offered to go back inside with us. well, the DJ must have gotten so excited at the prospect of leaving early that night that he immediately disconnected the wires from the sound system. the owner also told us to come back again and stay later next time.

Neighbors Complain

so we went back to the hotel, winded down, and left for our homes. four people spent the night there - carmel, louella, sylvia, and kathy. the next morning, wilma and marilyn rejoined the girls around 7:30am. ang ingay ingay nila that the adjoining room neighbor banged against the wall for quiet, plus reported the raucus to the front desk. the call was answered by kathy, buti na lang hindi si atty. carmela, who wanted to register her complaint and inform them of her hotel bill of rights.

Invitation to a Gala. Wow!

before going to chow king for breakfast, the girls went back to last night's restaurant bec carmel forgot her sweater. sylvia and carmel went inside to inquire. it took them 30 minutes to get out of there. yon pala, nakipag-kilala na sa owner. the owner was explaining the renovation of the place and issued a personal invitation to its grand opening - a sit-down gala. syempre, sabi ni sylvia, huwag daw nilang gawin sa march 23 because she'll be going home to the philippines---- as if, she really mattered in the decision process. so the plan is, we will attend the opening, plus we will invite the ssc '69ers, who are also without shame and care in the world when it comes to dancing and singing.

Breakfast Together

at chow king, the girls feasted on many filipino breakfast treats, complete with taho and pancit. sylvia and louella proceeded to go to the casino to donate their earnings to the
Indian reservation owners (i hope they won some), while the rest of the
girls proceeded to shop at the mall where i later met up with them. after about 3
hours, we split up to go home. carmel was supposed to be home sometime in
the morning, but i think she finally reached home by 6 or 7, depending on
the traffic.

Activities in the planning:

- march 3 weekend in las vegas to include massage, manicure-pedicure, hair
treatment ( sure to go are wilma, sylvia, and louella as they have
already purchased their tickets; carmel and kathy might go if betty is able)

- dancing and singing reprise at "sariling atin" grand opening (they will
also change the name of the restaurant to english - something like "our
very own") are we being corny or baduy, we don't care!!

- summer get-together ( another cruise?? or as myrna suggested, perhaps,
meeting in las vegas where sylvia and wilma have free rooms -- tet, along
with her portable hair salon, already said she's in, hindi na niya
pinag-isipan)

Interesting trivia:

- maripol wears a size zero, or size 2, at her heaviest

- louella cannot go anywhere sans her luggage-full of make up and hair
accessories, plus, her attire has to be all color coordinated, down to the
shoes, purse, and hair coloring

- all sylvia needs is a place to sit and she can transport herself to lala
land

- wilma has in-born zoom lens for targeting clothes that are on sale

- marilyn has a remarkable memory plus is a human calculator, pero hindi
marunong mag mahjong

- suki never leaves home without a supermarket bag of chichi-ri-a (assorted
snacks)

- carmel is changing her conservative-with-sleeves wardrobe inspired by
wilma's audacious, flesh-baring fashion style

- did you know that kathy is endowed with ballroom dancing grace so much so
that when it came to line dancing disco, her feet could not keep up

this is all folks and we hope to hear about your alumni celebration as well.

wishing you the best of health and rest assured that we are keeping you
and your families in our prayers.

love, louie

Beautiphil Health Holidays Corporation

January 11, 2006

Let me tell you where Emi Villanueva Padla, Liz Monponbanua Gomez, Dess Allanigue Madsen, Temi Padla (Emi's husband), and I (Vinchu Mantaring Lapid) were yesterday, January 10th. Yes, Beautiphil was at the media launch of the Philippine Medical Tourism Program at the Manila Diamond Hotel on Roxas Boulevard in Manila.

First, let me tell you a little about what Beautiphil is. About a year ago, Emi Villanueva-Padla and her husband Temi, Dess Allanigue-Madsen, Liz Monponbanua-Gomez and myself (Vinchu Mantaring-Lapid) incorporated a company that would promote Medical Tourism in the Philippines. Our name, BEAUTIPHIL HEALTH HOLIDAYS CORPORATION. Our objectives were multi-pronged. We were worried about the exodus of Filipino medical practioners to other countries (doctors, nurses, caregivers, even x-ray technicians were leaving the country to seek greener pastures elsewhere), we wanted to do something together for the country, and we wanted to earn money for ourselves.

We didn't realize the so many details we had to deal with to set up our operations. We had to establish relationships with hospitals, clinics and doctors, seek recognition by the Department of Tourism, foster alliances with tourist and travel agencies, acquire more than just a working knowledge about the different medical procedures that we would be marketing. Then there are caregiver agencies, spas, medical laboratories, car hire services, interpreters to network with. And very important was the development of the website that would have to be updated each time we started working with a new "partner".

We allied ourselves with RxPinoy - doing the same thing, in fact a competitor of sorts, who had already done these past several years the legwork that we're trying to do. RxPinoy was invited to participate in the media launch of the government's Medical Tourism Program. In turn, RxPinoy invited us to share his booth with them in exchange for providing manpower.

In the span of one week, we were able to have brochures printed, tarpaulin posters made, and even shopped for little souvenirs as give-aways (little mirror and comb sets that Emi bought in Divisoria for P4.00 each on which we put little Beautiphil stickers).

The event itself was a huge success considering the media coverage it got. However, it got quite a mileage for Beautiphil too - we met representatives from all the major hospitals, clinics, and even spas. Now all we have to do is market our services. Don't be surprised if you see any of us in your part of the world making a sales pitch.

The Lapid Family

I thought I'd share with you one of my favorite pictures from my daughter Ina's wedding last year to Mike Juan. My, how fast time goes. Her baby girl is due next month and I can hardly wait for the first apo. Thelma Aranzaso Soriano has been telling me what a joy it is to have a grandchild. And Carivic's participation in class activities really diminished when she started "lola" duties. I wonder if that will happen to me too.


This is my family. From left to right: Norman, Ia, me, Ina, Mike, Dan, Carlo and Ayo. Norman and Carlo are twins. Both work at the University of the Philippines while taking their Master's degrees. Ia (short for Maria Angela) and Ayo (short for Antonio) are still both in High School.