October 16, 2018
The gala night was the culmination of several months of planning. Thanks to Facebook Messenger, the technology of call and texts, Edmund was able to successfully organize their Santa Maria Catholic School’s first ever high school class reunion of class 1974 after 44 years with the help, coordination and cooperation of his classmates specially Zandra, Franklin, Chester, William Tan, Inocencia, Helen, Wood, Nonoy, Sammy, Stewart, Adonis, Felipe, Zue, Milagros, Mila, Avelina, etc.
I initially thought it would be a formal event with the ladies wearing cocktail dresses or gowns. The dress code imposed by my husband was no shorts, no slippers, no sando. He wanted everyone to feel as comfortable and as relaxed as possible.
I was happy to have found something comfortable to wear for this evening. Not formal yet not too casual. The best thing was this dress was an unbelievable size XS and it hid (a little) my 7 months preggy look.
Glamorous sisters Inocencia Llamado and Helen. They are both batchmates of Edmund because they are only a few months apart. Eleven nga silang magkakapatid, sobrang mass production yung parents nila. They are named from A to K. Helen is the 8th child, while Inocencia is the 9th. Inocencia flew in from Los Angeles.
Inocencia and Helen are the best dressed ladies of the night.
It was a joy seeing my husband in his best mood ever.
Nothing beats the bond between friends from kinder to high school.
Zue, Nonoy, Felipe, Edmund, and ___
Edmund with Josephine, ____, Milagros and her husband, who flew from Michigan to be here. That was really nice.
Mila, Joanne, Zue
Dr. Chester, Nonoy, Franklin, Dr. Nelson Lee, Edmund, Zue, ___, Vic, Felipe, Wood, Sammy, ___, William Tan. Nelson is a renowned dermatologist with clinics in Iloilo, Bacolod, and Metro Manila.
Venue was sponsored by Dr. Chester Jardiolin at their family’s sprawling events venue, Alicia’s Garden in Pavia, Iloilo. This place is different and separate from the Pueblo de Alicia which Doc Chester also owns.
The Alicia’s Garden and pavillon can accommodate up to a thousand people.
There was only a sprawling garden in the beginning but one day a wedding was being held when it suddenly poured. The guests and the bride were soaking wet from the rain. Iyak daw ng iyak yung bride. Abah kahit sino naman. Imagine your dream wedding, after all the dreaming and the planning and the execution, and the expense, bigla kang binuhusan ng tubig! WAhhhhhh! After that, Doc Chester built a covered pavillion.
Liberty Locsin, Mila Sy, Joanne Ledesma, OMB, Dr. Mary Ann Jardiolin, and Susan.
Doc Chester also sponsored the food.
The class contributed for the lechon and the drinks. I pity this pig, sobra syang isiniksik sa food tray, para syang lumiit tuloy. I will soon buy a baby pig to be my pet. I don’t know how I will balance loving my pet pig and loving lechon too. My conscience will have difficulty assessing which way I should go. Give up lechon? Oh that’s tough to follow.
Zandra, and Avelina (in stripes) with her husband. Zandra had been busy working with Edmund in making sure their reunion was a big success. Avelina generously contributed P20,000 to help defray some of the expenses.
Gwapo ka man gid.
I ate a lot of fruit salad and lechon. I was wondering why I got a piece of fried chicken. I passed it on to dear husband.
The lower part of my dress is see through. My legs could be seen. If I wear a half-slip, parang baduy naman. Before leaving Marriott Hotel I told my husband that my dress is shockingly revealing. Baka kako maeskandalo mga classmates nya. Hayaan ko na lang daw kasi if I change my dress, it would take another hour for me to dress up. Late na kami. Kaya heto parang kulang ang suot ko.
