An August Body

Attendees
The F&B management of Polo Club is a new group and was amazed at what they saw today. It was their first time to witness a Batch63 Grand Kapihan birthday affair. From the usual 6 to 7 guys who go to the Kapihan every Wednesday, a group of 24 uninhibited people came this time. Yes, August month is the joint birthday event for Benny Ang, Lito Quiogue, Paqui Campos, Raffy Villareal and Vince Misa! Patrick Go would be there too, but he is based in Cebu so he just sent in his contribution to the party. From Batch63, here’s wishing the August celebrants a very happy birthday! Gracias para el desayuno, viejos!

Apart from the 5 celebrants above, the guys who were there at the breakfast were: Joey Estagle, Gary Salcedo, Jackie Arellano, Mari Duarte, Gabby Valdes, Steve Hontiveros, George Cunanan, Quito Moras, Ed Lim, Ed Oleta, Tony Estonina, Dendy Abdon, Oni Mayo, Joey Angeles, Boy Carlos, Bert Saenz, Francis Horn, Doug Marcaida, and Joey Ingles. For this assembly of old friends, Batch63 is grateful to Vince Misa who is the incessant organizer of the Grand Kapihan and who make it happen the way it has in the past couple of years.

The Celebrants

Benny Ang is a quiet private man. When I tried to interview him, he said he would email me his details. So far, no email. He would aptly be Batch63’s “Mr. Quiet”. Anyway, Benny is retired from his hardware store business. He looks relax and healthy and you can always count on him to support Batch63 affairs.







Lito Quiogue is looking dapper as usual. Among the Kapihan crowd, he is known as “Mr. Guapo” (Sometimes Lito switches it with “Mr. Big”). It’s a self-appointed moniker with sexual overtones that Lito coined for himself to the chagrin of an envious Jackie Arellano. Jackie is sore that he didn’t think of the titles for himself earlier. Nowadays, Lito continues to be involved in a Lending Investment firm. It’s good that this role does not prevent Lito from joining Batch63’s motor club (members: Gabby Valdes, Jackie Arellano, Bert Saenz, Doug Marcaida) who goes on out-of-town sorties from time to time.


If Lito is “Mr. Guapo”, Paqui Campos is “Mr. Charm” of Batch63. With his record of three beautiful socialite wives (official wives, mind you), the title suits him fine. In the vernacular, Bert Saenz however says that Paqui’s title best translates to “Senor Bolero”. Like Lito Quiogue, Paqui has a convenient job that takes up only 50% of his time. While he is in his retirement years, Paqui continues to manage the varied Manila real estate holdings of his family.





Today, Raffy Villareal is a successful entrepreneur in the mold of many DLS graduates. He owns Autocarpets Inc - a company that provides the carpets for most Japanese cars imported into the country. Raffy was affected for a while when Japan carmakers stalled production after the tsunami thing. But Raffy is smiling again today since it didn’t take long for Japan to bounce back. Speaking of bounce back, one sport that is bouncing back is Football (due to Azkal’s success). One exercise idea is for the Batch to have a small football game going from time to time (instead of merely jogging or walking around the field). Raffy is Batch63’s “Mr. Football” (DLS Football Hall of Fame) and is willing to lead the batch in this activity


Vince Misa is off course Batch63’s “Mr. Karaoke”. He has a collection of Karaoke CDs (60s and 70s songs) that puts Karaoke commercial places to shame! During the heydays of Seventh Note, Vince was a fixture there during Happy Hour time. When Vince is not wasting time at the Kapihan, he is currently dealing in VMobile electronic product business with his brother. Most days, Vince walks around the Rockwell Mall with his wife. With their Senior Citizen cards, they can watch all the free movies they like in Makati.




It’s too bad Patrick Go wasn’t able to attend his birthday celebration. Patrick is mainly based in Cebu where he tends to his family. We know that Pat’s wife is ailing and his Mom is now very old. We wish them well, Pat. Now and then he goes to NY where his children are based. Patrick is big supporter of Batch63 affairs.

Call for Assistance
Last week, an old classmate suddenly popped up at the Kapihan. The guys present then (Linggoy Araneta, Gabby Valdez, Jackie Arellano, Joey Ingles and Oni Mayo) were surprised to see erstwhile GS59 tough guy Joselito “Joey” Alonso. He had a plastic patch over his right eye that needs a cataract operation. He actually had supporting documents from his Doctor at Makati Med to back up his situation. He had come to ask Batch63 for financial support – if he could.

In his young years, Joey was the terror of his batch. For sure a lot more than one spirited tot then acquired either a bloody nose, a black eye, or torn uniform courtesy of Alonso. Today, “Bad Boy” Joey is Bro. Joey – a reformed Christian. Ironically, Mari Duarte - who had his clashes with Joey in Grade School then – apprised Batch63 about Joey’s situation today.

The hat was passed around and a sum of about P12,000 was raised on the spot. It won’t cover Joey’s entire financial requirement for his operation but it should help some. Message to Joey: If you are reading, you can thank those kind hearted guys present at the Kapihan today (listed above) for this.


See slideshow for more photos.

Eating Out

In recent Kapihan get togethers at the Polo, some Batch63 stalwarts thought of starting a food club. Simplistically, the objective was to sample interesting food fare of selected restaurants. On July 22, 2011, the first activity of the ‘club’ was launched at Cirkulo. Cirkulo is a resto along Pasay Road Makati serving Spanish-type food. The Batch63 guys who joined in this first food club activity were Gabby Valdez, Lito Quiogue, Jackie Arellano and Oni Mayo. In what turned out to be a worthwhile 3-hour lunch break, the four relished the new food fare and bonding time.

Cirkulo’s spacious interior is a dim quiet haven. It is in stark contrast from the din outside. (It’s always a joy when one chances on a public place where patrons can converse without strain.) The meal started out with a cocktail and tapas. The main course consisted of delectably tender lamb chops, refreshing roasted veggies and sumptuous paella. Coffee and chocolate cake capped the meal. Please see photos of the fare selected by the group.

The four would-be gourmets of Batch63 spiced up their meal with spicy exchanges about . . who else? . . . those who didn’t join this activity! Earlier Jackie had texted the Batch to invite them to this affair but he only got a couple of responses. I understand that Paqui Campos and Lito Domantay expressed interest but the last minute invite was not conducive to ther skeds.

Those guys who didn’t come to Cirkulo missed out since Gabby Valdez picked up the tab. Gabby reasoned that it is the inaugural activity of the club and he wants to kick start it in a memorable way. In typical Batch63 (sardonic) style, Jackie frowned on the development. Jackie said that it is important to pretend that the Batch63 gourmet club is an elite group whose members need not be hosted to come (Ano sila, mahirap?). Despite Jackie's typical showmanship, the group appreciates Gabby's special effort to encourage activities of the Batch.

God willing, the outings will happen at least once a month. The other places being mulled for the next time are special eating places in the Metro and even as far away as Pampanga, Bataan and Baguio. Jackie, Gabby and Lito are car buffs who like to drive around Luzon to experience quaint places. Abangan! By the way, we are in the process of coining the name of the club. Any suggestions?

See slide show for more photos.

The Boys of Summer

Grand Kapihan Attendees

Cameron Hall of Polo Club was enlivened once more with the presence of Batch63’s raucous group. Yes, it’s the joint birthday bash of George Cunanan, Joey Angeles, Quito Moras and Jack Arellano. Two celebrants who contributed to the blowout but didn’t make it were Polding Arnaiz and Bro. Ray Suplido. Bro. Ray is somewhere in LA and no one knows where the moody Polding is. Whatever, Feliz compleanos, hombres!

The 22-strong attendees to the Kapihan included rare birds Paqui Campos, Raffy Villareal, Vic Corpus and Dendi Abdon. Paqui is his usual funny self who claims that he will not marry again (it’s 3rd time around for this amorous guy). When others doubted his claim to not marry again, Paqui said it’s because of the pre-nup he signed that stops him from claiming what used to belong to him (does anyone understand this statement?). In the case of Raffy, he is undergoing a forced vacation from business that he hopes will not last. Raffy owns Auto Carpets Inc, a company that supplies rugs to Japanese carmakers who we all know have completely stopped producing cars for a while.

Vic Corpus is looking good and who is onto something again - in Tuguegarao. Vic said he is involved with something like turbine emplacements that’s good for the environment. (Call Vic for details - the madcap setting at the Kapihan did not allow me to get further info about this.) Finally, one guy everyone was glad to see in good form and spirit is Dendi – the original Batch63 submariner! Dendi is faring well considering the recent special surgery he had for a blocked rectum. Keep it up, Dendi! The other guys who were at the Kapihan were: Joey Estagle, Joey Ingles, Oni Mayo, Tony Estonina, Ed Oleta, Steve Hontiveros, Ed Lim, Joe Assad, Gabby Valdes, Doug Marcaida, Lito Quiogue, Boy Carlos, Bert Saenz, and Vince Misa of course.

Celebrants Profile

Joey Angeles
Joey A is semi retired depending on how you look at it. While he has time to be involved in social work with his barangay (Joey is Senior Citizen adviser for Barangay San Antonio where he resides) and to service family requirement (tigas), he continues to conduct management seminars (team building and strategic planning among others) from time to time. Joey honed his professional skills while working for both the private sector and Government (Department of Budget). He and his wife Nessie have worked all their lives and now he wants to do some real traveling. He will have to wait though until Nessie retires this year from DOT where she is a career official.


George Cunanan
George’s life is an example of a successful one. From a fulfilling banking career (VP, Citibank - now Citigroup) in the 80s, George went into early retirement during which time he adroitly managed his assets while indulging in his hobbies (golf, tennis & photography). Between his wife Maricel and him, they are happy today to support the professional careers of his successful children in whatever way they could. George is doting grandpa to three grandchildren when he is not sending out inspirational emails. I asked George if there is anything else he would like to do today given the limited window of opportunities that we Seniors face. George thought long and hard and said that he might just learn to play guitar. Attaboy Georgie!


Quito Moras
Just last April, Quito suffered a TIA (mild stroke) that gave him temporary amnesia. It was surprising news since Quito is fit and an up-and-about kind of guy every time we see him. Although hospitalized for a while, Quito is his usual again at today’s Kapihan. We expect more attendance from Quito to the Kapihan in the coming months since he and his wife Karen are moving to Makati (from Alabang). While Quito is retired from his long time role as project executive for mega condo projects (the Comunidades business), the developer in him remains. Today, he wants to be involved again in the industry but with low rise apartments instead of high rise condos. Quito is fully recovered from his amnesia. The downside to that is that he will get to remember again the shameful antics of Batch63 buddies.


Jack Arellano
One of the pillars of the Kapihan, Jackie was an advertising proprietor who retired long ago. After retirement, he engaged in vintage car collection, playing golf and other adult pursuits (?). Today however, he is once again a proprietor. Yes folks, Jackie with his daughter Sandy are the owners of Sandy’s Pizza (try out their salted fish-laced Pizza!). His latest branch is located in Makati near the Rockwell area. Among the important roles of Jackie today is to send out text messages about Kapihan events to Batch63 at all hours of the day or night. His messages are usually in odd Spanish sentences that our Conyo boys find hard to understand. Jackie claims that his words are so high-hat that they can only be fully appreciated by Spanish aristocrats or men of noble lineage. According to Jack, there are few who are at par with his nobility. To rub elbows with him, Jackie set as criteria the following: 1) You should understand the Spanish language the way he says it; 2) you should have a vintage car preferably a Jaguar or some European car; 3) you should play good golf; and 4) you should be a man of the (under?) world. Today, he is still evaluating if he will accept Gabby Valdes and Linggoy Araneta in his exclusive noble circle.


Bro. Ray Suplido
In school, Ray Suplido was a nice quiet nerd (?) from Section A. Hence it is not surprising that he would eventually hold masters and PhD degrees today. Ray is Batch63’s contribution to the alma mater’s Christian Brotherhood movement where he was Brother Provincial at one time and where he served for many years as a member of the Brothers council in Rome. Today, Bro. Ray is the president of La Salle’s USLS school in Bacolod (since 2007). He is happy to be working in a place where he can also enjoy the company of his 5 siblings.

For those who are not familiar with the USLS school system, it is a huge institution with two progressive campuses (and a prospective third campus) thanks to the vision of the Brothers community there. USLS’s current 9,000 strong student population is about the same size as the Manila DLS campus system and growing fast. Moreover, the USLS has all kinds of courses (preschool, integrated school, collegiate, post graduate, arts and crafts, etc.) that would rival the best Manila schools in facility, type, quantity and quality.


Polding Arnaiz
Polding Arnaiz is Batch63’s typical Conyo boy. While he has not been consistent in coming to the Kapihan, Polding is ever present when the Batch63 event concerns more adult fare. Before I get into trouble, adult fare means essentially premium alcoholic drinks and pulutan! Polding is a well-traveled guy (probably why he didn’t join us today) since he is in the travel agency business. To date, he has resisted the request of some Batch63 friends for him to organize a sex tour of China.


Jubilee Event

Vince Misa and Joey Estagle are doing their jobs as reps to the DLSAA and are enjoining the Batch to come to the Jubilee celebration next month. They are trying to muster a group of 10 so that they can reserve one table. Those who have already signified are Joey E, Quito M, Tony E, Eddie O, Gabby V, Raffy V, Joe A and Ed Lim. For further info, please contact Vince.


See slide show for more photos.