Our secretariat initially reserved a private room for our Christmas lunch. It was a bigger room with a P25,000 minimum price tag. since there would only be 12 of us, they (Manila House) moved us to a smaller room that could accommodate a dozen ladies and with a lower minimum consumable charge of P12,500. Half the size half the price.
I was the first to arrive, after half hour, Chit and Boots. They came from TESDA, had a meeting with the new head.
At 12 noon the others were not yet here.
Boots—–“Mag-order na tayo”.
We scanned the menu selections.
A—–“Mahal pala dito. Ano’ng oorderin natin?”
Boots—-“May-pera tayo ha, basta mag-order tayo. Gutom na ako”.
While waiting for the other ladies, we ordered shrimp tempura super mini pala. Pag-naubo ako, baka liparin sa kabilang mesa. One plate was so konti so we ordered a second for the road.
Chiqui arrived and she ordered pasta. Ang bilis ng service. It arrived within 15 minutes after she ordered. Jeannie and Monette made tikim. I did too. Pasta was good but too heavy because of the cream.
One by one the rest of the bunch trekked in. And now we’re complete.
I ordered corn soup. Hmmm, this soup needs some repairs, renovation, re-evaluation and some serious rejuvination.
Cynthia what’s that soup?
Chit, one of the three ladies behind the successful ECHOstore, walks the talk. She ordered healthy food—- salad and hubad na lumpia. That’s what being organic is all about. Hubad ka dapat.
Evelyn, Lorna, Flor, Chit.
Atty. Kapunan ordered seafood kare-kare. I gave this dish a perfect 10 for presentation. What could be more perfect than two giant fresh water shrimps staring at you. Eat us please.
Lorna said the dish was cold. Mukhang matagal ng ready to be served but the food attendant was slow in bringing it to our table. Lumamig na.
The sun’s glare was hitting our eyes. Nakakasilaw.
Boots to the waitress—-“Paki sara yung curtain.”
Hindi pala pwede. The side drapes were only for decoration and not to fully enclose the room to provide us with privacy. 1/4 curtain lang.
Chit—–“We originally reserved the bigger room, 25,000”
A—–“Pag 25,000 mas buo yung kurtina?”
I don’t remember who ordered this and what this is. It looks like a chicken leg.
Our secretariat, Russel, and a male staff were eating in the main hall just across our table.
We didn’t order this one whole giant turkey. Namangha lang ako sa laki nya kaya I took a photo. There was a group dining in the bigger room adjacent to ours and this turkey was theirs. Kami we were there to celebrate Christmas, sila medyo late siguro Thanksgiving party nila. Christmas is also Thanksgiving. When someone gives you a gift you give thanks.
It’s huge. I like huge.
Three or four of us ordered grilled black cod. After more than an hour of waiting and three follow-ups, ay salamat dumating din. It was perfectly cooked and delicious. Worth the 1,250 per order price tag. But not worth the hour wait.
The service was slow. A couple of times Chit stood up to get platito, utensils, etc. Sya na naging servidora.
Boots—-‘Graduate yan si Chit ng HRM”.
We were magulo. Twelve excited ladies eager to talk and share their thoughts.
Sometimes we were all talking at the same time then all of a sudden, we would all stop talking, parang nahipan ng hangin.
Monette was having a bad migraine. When she said her blood pressure was 150/100 the night before, everyone played madre superiora.
“Ay umuwi ka na”. “You should get a check-up”. “You should go visit a doctor”. “Go to a doctor, now na”.
“That’s bad, that’s high. You should go to the hospital”.
Cynthia—–“Hindi sa tinatakot kita…”
(My eyes grew bigger. I was like oh no Cynthia please don’t say that.)
Cynthia continued…
“Si ABCDE kilala mo sya? ABCDE si ano _____. She died. Namatay sya”.
(I was seated in front of Cynthia. If there was a camera, you would have seen my face looking horrified. Oh no Cynthia pls stop. Baka manerbyos si Monette.)
A—–“What happened to her?”
Cynthia—–“Asthma”.
(Oh no Cynthia that’s not related to high blood pressure! But I was relieved that she didn’t say that alias ABCDE died of high blood.
Before I knew it, all of them were having their blood pressure checked!!
Our Christmas lunch turned into a BP checking session.
Flor’s BP was a bit on the high side.
Mylene —-“Annie, ikaw na lang hindi pa nakukunan ng BP”.
A——“Ayaw ko, manerbyos pa ako”.
The minimum charge for this room was 12,500 consumable. Our total bill was over P18,000. Eto na, labasan na ang mga senior citizen cards.
There were 12 of us, only two didn’t have a senior card, Mylene and I.
Chit to me—-“Bakit wala kang card. Ayaw mo lang kumuha.”
Si Chit talaga, pinapatanda ako. Hoy miss, 55 lang ako!
Next year 55 and a half na ako.
The cashier was swarmed with 10 senior IDs.
After several minutes, their ID’s were returned. Wala daw discount kasi discounted na. Ha? Not true.
We all ordered from the regular menu which means our food was not discounted. Yes we reserved for a private room but we met the P12,500 minimum charge but that didn’t mean that we got our food at a discount. No, it’s not discounted.
Mylene contacted the manager. Wala daw talagang senior discount.
Cynthia wanted to contact the owner Doris Magsaysay Ho to ask.
Imagine 11 strong-charactered women, sasabihin mo walang senior citizen discount? And we have a lawyer with us. Atty. Lorna Kapunan. She cited the law. It’s the law, they have to honor the senior discounts.
Someone said she’ll not dine here again. One lady said “we don’t belong here”. “One said she’ll not get a membership. Me naman, cool lang. I told them “baka tayo ma Youtube”. I didn’t want us to catch attention, we might end up on Youtube.
Remember some months back this place became controversial because of the video clips showing Ricco Ocampo getting angry at someone due to an argument over the food. Someone might capture us on camera arguing over senior discounts. “Mga matatandang babae nagwala dahil hindi nabigyan ng discount!” Sira ang image.
