We were in Manila when I received the email invitation from Philippine Airlines for the Million Miler Night, which was usually held in Los Angeles, but this time in San Francisco. It just so happened that Edmund and I would be in San Francisco on June 5, so I confirmed our attendance.
Theo was sleeping when we left for Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Burlingame. We didn’t want to be late so we gave a lot of allowance for rush hour traffic. Hindi lang sa EDSA mahaba ang traffic. Dito rin sa California.
The attire was Business Filipiniana kaya eto suot ko. This was the second time that I wore this dress. Dapat maisuot ko pa ito ng mga labing limang beses para masulit-sulit ang ibinayad ko.
Our good friend Joseph Callao looked dapper in his barong. Joseph is the Assistant Manager of Philippine Airlines in San Francisco. Joseph is an avid golfer and ff you want to play golf here, he is the guy that you must call. He will introduce you to a hundred Filipinos here who share the same passion for this sport.
According to Joseph, they limited the number of invitees to 150 Mabuhay Miles Million Milers to have a more intimate and personalized party. Para daw maasikaso nila mabuti ang mga bisita nila. How nice naman. Kaya pala hindi gaanong magulo. And one thing I noticed, we didn’t feel like strangers. Maraming kakilala and madaling tandaan ang mga faces and names nila kasi nga konti lang kami.
(left to right) Atty. Abe Marapao, owner of Napa de Oro Winery, and Discovery Golf and Country Club, Joseph Callao, PAL San Francisco Asst. General Manager, Delia Merano, PAL San Francisco General Manager, and yours truly.
(left to right) Joseph, Atty. Carlos Luis Fernandez, EVP & COO of Philippine Airlines, Lucio Tan III, President of PAL Holdings, and the most talked about apo of Taipan Lucio Tan, Sr., me and Edmund.
Atty. Carlos said Lucio III is Philippines’ most eligible bachelor. He is also very good looking and mukhang 16 years old lang. Siguro young girls are dreaming of marrying this young fellow, 32, who inherited his grandfather’s name and empire, and tons of responsibilities and extremely high expectations too.
Edmund and I were feeling a bit hungry going to the party. There were pass around canapes and flowing drinks but I only took two bites because I wanted to eat a proper sit-down dinner, however, my husband suggested that I lower my expectations because usually hotel food daw ay hindi masarap.
Marriott Bonvoy proved him wrong. We loved the steak and most especially the fish. It was perfectly seasoned and cooked. The salad was also good and the servings were generous. Except for the assortment of dinner breads. Nakalimutan i distribute. Busog na kami lahat when we found out there’s a basketful of delicious-looking bread waiting to be eaten. Balutin sana namin for breakfast kaya lang my body is already full of carbohydrates.
We were at Table 10 which we shared with the most amazing PAL loyalists:
(left to right) John Hoyt and wife Ria, John Espiritu and wife Maria, Edmund and me, (standing behind me) Nand Prasad, and Jerry Dovlack.
Jerry W. Dovlack is the CEO & President of ZirCon Labs, Inc. and several other companies. Jerry has flown a total of 7,100,000 miles on Philippine Airlines alone, a feat that is very hard to beat unless you will start flying weekly from Manila to San Francisco and back beginning today. You need time, lots of energy, money, stamina. When I asked him how frequent he flies. He said once a week. The next day after the party he was flying to Los Angeles, then on the same evening, he would fly to Poland, then after four days, he was going back to Manila.
Nand K. Prasad, is the president and CEO of NexGen and currently lives in Palo Alto. He had lived in many places in Manila such as Ritz Towers, Forbes Park, and Dasmarinas Village during his many years of doing business in our country. He has many other businesses in the Philippines. He is traveling again to Manila in July. He has flown close to 7 million miles on PAL. He has slowed down on his travels so most likely he will not hit eight million miles. I don’t even know if there’s any body who has reached 8 million. Age will be the deterring factor.
John Espiritu is the current president of the prestigious Olympic Club, and sits on the board of many corporations including DATEM. He is a single-handicapper and his wife Maria said her handicap is 14. John’s parents were also Million Milers. His dad was Eduardo Espiritu, the former Secretary of Finance during the time of President Joseph Estrada. I am sure John attained his Million Miler status sooner than most people. Baka teenager pa lang si John ay naka 1,000,000 miles na. I am guessing he has flown at least 5 million miles.
TANDUAY has an open bar booth with free t-shirts, pins, and baseball caps. I got a t-shirt and Edmund got the cap. Thank you Tanduay.
Filipino pride Atty. Abe Marapao, not only produces the best wines in Napa Valley, magaling din syang sumayaw at kumanta. Next time we’re here, I will go to Napa de Oro Winery, ayain ko si Edmund and Joseph Callao.
It was a night well spent and enjoyed. Sincere appreciation to Eileen Galindez and Joseph Callao and to the PAL organizing committee. It was a wonderful event.
Time to go home. Our apo must have been wondering where Wowo and Wowo were. We left him with Tito Nyke.
