Bess Silva of LA is in town once again. It is her regular visit to the Philippines where she touches base with her family. After satisfying family affairs, Bess and the Manila CAFASingers finally met up. The activity became doubly enjoyable when Tong Salgado joined the get together. He had Emailed the Manila gang at the last minute that he will also be in town. Tong came to the Philippines to attend a reunion with his HS classmates in Baguio City.
On Wednesday, Dinky, Hector, Alex and Oni had dinner with the two balikbayans at a restaurant at Market Market at The Fort. Bess came over with pretty daughters Amanda and Barbara (and Barbara’s beau, Mike). The get together was zany. The most outrageous innuendos about the CAFAs who were not there were shamelessly expressed. Even those present were not spared. When Bess inquired about Alex’s status, Tong conjectured that since Alex is essentially staying single, he may no longer be interested in girls (if you get the implication). Of course, this was when Alex was not listening.
Walking up High Street (an outdoor mall strip just outside the Serendra area) for coffee after a Pilipino dinner, the group viewed the various shopping outlets there. One shop visited was the sales exhibit of the Serendra condominium where the sales lady / agent tried to sell condo units to the Balikbayans. Finding out that Dinky and Oni owned condo units in Serendra she presumed that the two lived there. Oni deadpanned that it was actually their mistresses that did. This was misconstrued by the sales agent that Tong was seeking a condo also for his mistress. Did Tong make an indecent proposal? See photo of Tong with the saleslady.
A major discourse of the gathering remains the upcoming CAFA Grand Reunion at Pala Mesa in September. With regard to this reunion, the Da Dero project is uppermost in the minds of the CAFAs and so the group decided to see him when he performs at Musica again on Friday.
Fast forward to Friday: the same group went over to Musica to listen to the Rocking 60s group of Dero and Titus Santiago. Tong and Irene were unable to make it. Dero, Titus and their female counterparts (Lory Paredes, Nancy Reyes and Weng Erana) comprised the Rocking 60s group. They entertained the crowd at Musica once again with their retro music. For me, this group with their 60s repertoire of songs is getting better and better by the month!
As before, the CAFASingers who sat around one table were greeted enthusiastically by Da Dero as the audience looked on. By the time the second set started, the CAFA group was urged to go up on stage to perform some songs. The game but undermanned CAFAs did Cherish and Summer Song. They even took on the unrehearsed Tennessee Babe song at the insistence of Dero. The different type of CAFA music fare seemed to surprise and entertain the crowd some.
The next day was still work day for the busy CAFA guys so the group called it a day come the hour close to midnight. The Musica activity turned out very positive especially considering the brief meeting with the Da Dero. Earlier while Dero was taking a break from his singing, Bess collared him to obtain a commitment that he will join the CAFAs at the Pala Mesa reunion. I don't know how Bess did it, but elusive Dero finally agreed to attend the reunion at Pala Mesa! When this happens I’m expecting a great get-together with great musical activities come September! Reunion na!
See slide show for more photos.
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