November Birthdays Celebration

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For yet another day this year, Batch63 filled up its long table at Willow Root once again. The guys came in force in the Kapihan today. And why not, it's the combined birthday bash by five of the Batch's bona fide members. The five celebrants are Gabby Valdez, Steve Hontiveros, Bambi Goco, Doug Marcaida and surprise, surprise . . Jimmy Estrella. Jim Estrella is a rural boy by weekday and a city boy by weekend - he tends to his business in Pangasinan (that's why he doesn't join the Wednesday Kapihan) and comes to Manila only on weekends (for R&R?). But today was a special day for him and he couldn't say no to the urgings of his friends. So once anew in behalf of the Batch, feliz compleanos esta mes , amigos y muchas gracias para la desayuno.

The celebrants must have been close friends to some rare birds who now found the time to come to the Kapihan again. Taking their place in the Kapihan again are the not-so-usual faces of Manolo Cristobal, Vic Corpuz, Tony Estonina, Aderito Yuhuico and Babes Alvarez. And because both of them do not come to the Kapihan all that often themselves, Babes Alvarez did not immediately recognize Manolo Cristobal. When forced to give a guess, Babes hesitatingly said: You are Manolo Carrillo Cristobal! Vince Misa had to pipe in: Wrong, he's Manolo Carrillo Relova Cristobal! The large party ultimately morphed into small huddles where the guys joined that group which conversation interests them. Joey Estagle was all agog as he took some tips from Bert Saenz on ways to handle a suspecting Missus. Steve Hontiveros talked about his recent angioplasty and recalled how he almost fainted when the surgeon insisted that he looked at the extracted whatever. And as usual, Joey Ingles had a pink concoction on the dining table that he downed along with his dozen eggs! Coming from a recent Mallorca tour with wife Cang and daughter Cristine, Bambi Goco brought along a souvenir. It's a calendar he acquired there and wishes to share with the guys. See scanned image below.

With Jimmy Estrella and Dendi Abdon in an eventual huddle, the two former band mates got excited and there is now a move to put a Batch63 band together for the Grand Reunion affair in February 2009. For those interested, the band practices are being planned for weekends when Jim is in town. In the meanwhile, Vince Misa and Oni Mayo took advantage of the presence of the many guys there to distribute the Grand Reunion agenda and the solicitation letter. The Grand Reunion preparation activity is off to a good start and it promises grand entertainment for Batch63 and their spouses come February next year. More news on this later but in the meanwhile, we advise our US friends to already consider coming home for the Alumni Homecoming next year otherwise they will miss the fun chance of a lifetime!