The Taal - Tagaytay Excursion

Golden Jubilee Initial Project

Taal   

On the last Saturday of May, Batch63 headed for Taal for the first leg of their batch excursion. Joey Estagle; Boy Carlos; Tony Estonina; Chito de Vera; Bambi Goco; Vince Misa; Francis Horn; Oni and Bili Mayo rode the rented van. Jackie and Marilou Arellano was joined in their vehicle by Mike and Lucy Sun; and Manolo Relova. 

The group got to visit several ancestral houses in Taal (the Agoncillo, Villavicencio and Ilagan houses). Most of the houses are vintage 1850s that still displayed most of the best interior appointments of those days. (fine wood carvings and panels, Machuca cement floor tiles, graceful grills of ventanillas, tin ceilings with embossed design, hand-painted leather wall covering, old photos, etc.).

The Ilagan house has also been turned into a camera and photo museum to the delight of camera buff Joey Estagle. The claim is that all the cameras – ancient or otherwise - are in working order. An interesting photo displayed on the walls of the gallery is an actual scene of the execution of Jose Rizal. (From an original photo found by a Filipino historian in a French curio shop decades ago).

The Taal Basilica (now mostly restored) and its predecessor, the 16th century Caysasay Church, were evidence of the great history of the town. The respite during the tour was the buffet lunch at the Don Juan resto that feature genuine Batangas cuisine. Probably due to a missed breakfast on account of the early trip, the hungry batch cleaned up the buffet in good time.

Leave it to Manolo Relova to provide the impromptu entertainment.  During the visit to the Taal Basilica, there was an ongoing wedding to be.  The bride was standing alone in the aisle when Manolo cheekily approached her to praise her beauty.  In the process he whispered if he could have her cellphone number.  This must have made the bride cry for she was seen wiping her eyes!  During lunch, Manolo also tried to get Boy Carlos to marry the young waitress serving the group. Of course everyone had their raunchy quip about the prospect. The scene was so raucous that it led one of the wives to say that every time Batch63 gets together, they become like little boys!

Tagaytay 

After the Taal tour, the batch headed for nearby Tagaytay to visit Gabby’s hideaway in that notable breezy City. Some of the guys who did not participate in the Taal tour had actually gone straight to Gabby’s house. These guys were Ramon Arnaiz, Mari Duarte, Lito Domantay, Gary Salcedo and Jimmy Estrella. The main batch of excursionists arrived in Tagaytay from Taal at around 4PM. 

As one drives into this large Valdez compound, the first building visible on one side is the huge garage that houses Gabby’s more than a dozen car collection. The garage is really also a motor shop (for tinkering with the vintage cars).  The car lift inside is proof of this.  Stepping into the entrance hall, the literally open walls of the house reveal a landscaped panorama of the main yard which is most of the land area of the 5,000 sqm. compound. Gabby is a botany enthusiast of late and which work he took to task when he created the verdant yard. For a new yard, the large trees there were quite impressive to see. 

 In tandem with the spacious garden, the main house is an entertainment space par excellence. Was it Boy who said that it could give the Folk Arts Center a run for the money? Whatever, the shameless Batch63 guys made it their own.  Jimmy and Lito D brought out their groovy professional guitars and led the music fest for anyone who thinks they could sing. The others enjoyed the pica-pica and flowing drinks while relaxing in the many seating places in the place. Gabby and Pam Valdez were such gracious hosts that the unabashed Batch63 guys were already “imposing” on Gabby what batch party they could hold there next time.

Suma total 

The places visited that Saturday provided a really great experience for the Batch.  The trip was made even more memorable by the company that was there. The heritage of Taal was quite informative for many. It also provided a window on how other towns can develop their tourism (and economy) if they put their minds to it. Interesting outlooks (and wit) were obtained from the new guys who we don’t see enough off in past events (Chito, Manolo, Mike, Tony). The generosity of Gabby and Pam for sharing their home with the group speaks well of the brotherhood that is Batch63. In behalf of the batch, thanks again Gabby for inviting us to your vacation house.  

 This outing turned out so enjoyable despite the tiring pace of the trip and summer heat. I dare to say that it rivals the other fun excursion of the Batch in Baguio some years ago. If only because of this, the GJ committee is planning on more activities in the coming months where more Batch63 guys are expected to participate. 

Below is the slide show of the photos during the excursion.  About half of the pictures shown there are from the camera of Joey Estagle.  Animo! 

See slide show for more photos.

May Day

Happy birthday to the May celebrants!! These are Joey Angeles, Jackie Arellano, George Cunanan, Mike Sun, Quito Moras, Ray Suplido and Polding Arnaiz. If you must know, Batch63 came in record turnout to celebrate your birthdays! Only five of the above celebrants were present at the Grand Kapihan. Joey Angeles came despite being a member of the ‘organic’ club. (This club is about internal organs and problems with them. Known members include Dendi, Ed O, others). Due to family obligations, George and Quito don’t regularly come to the Kapihan nowadays but for this Grand Kapihan, they unhesitatingly did their part!

And Jackie – how can he forget the Kapihan when he is the Master Texter who reminds everyone about the Kapihan? (He probably includes his name in his text barrage so he won't forget. It’s a good thing he understood his own mysterious Spanish.) Brother Ray and Polding are unfortunately abroad and could not be physically present. Both guys however still managed to participate by sending in their contribution to the blow-out. Thank you for you buffet breakfast blowout, May celebrants! 

The Batch63 guys at Polo today were: Joey Ingles; Gary Salcedo; Joey Estagle; Bambi Goco; Ernie Cuyegkeng; Mari Duarte; Lito Quiogue; Chito de Vera; Tony Estonina; Ed Oleta; Joe Assad; Ed Lim; Oni Mayo; Raffy Villareal; Manolo Relova; Boy Palanca; Gabby Valdez; Boy Carlos; Bert Saenz; Doug Marcaida; Francis Horn and of course, Vince Misa.

Several balikbayans are in town – Mike Sun and Manolo Relova. I don’t know whether to consider Gary Salcedo as one since he’s always here. Anyway, this is a rare visit from Mike Sun. He boasted once that he knows the Batch63 Manila guys by face more than they know him. He said it’s because he sees their photos often in the Menagerie. When put to the test, he confidently identified Raffy Villareal as “Raffy Munoz” and Bert Saenz as “Robert Sanz”. Que pas?

 It was a noisy affair as the guys presented their different advocacies to the group during the party. Visiting in from Sorsogon, Chito de Vera made a move for persuading La Salle school to recognize Batch63 as “La Sallite” rather than the new term – “La Sallian”. He said that he was known as a La Sallite then and he will die a La Sallite now. Meanwhile, Joey Estagle wanted a monumental photoplay so he can utilize his SRL to the max. He moved for everyone to go to the Manila Polo poolside for a group picture - and he was so right. The urged pose was unique and so different from our usual. Check out the pics.

Meanwhile Oni, Gabby and Bambi continue to push for the GJ projects they are promoting. The GJ projects in the forefront today are: the Taal – Tagaytay tour; the Finance committee fund raising campaign; and the Golden Friendship Video. The Taal-Tagaytay tour is scheduled for Saturday where the guys at the Kapihan joining the tour dug into their wallets and paid up. Part of the cost of the tour will be defrayed from early collections of the Finance Committee. The photos coming out of the tour activities will definitely be material being compiled for the Video project. These projects are the initial initiative of the GJ committee and which we hope to build up on all the way to March 2013 – the homecoming month.

We are thus taking this opportunity to enjoin everyone to support the GJ projects since it really makes for good bonding opportunity for Batch 63. Animo!


See slide show for more photos.