Reminiscing in Bacolod

Just got back from Bacolod. I had the good fortune of being invited to back to give a talk to a Rotary Club. I only stayed overnight but it was great to be able to see some of friends who I haven't seen for close to 30 years!

It has been a while since I last visited. Last year I literally passed by on my way to and from Sipalay but I didn't really get to see much of my childhood hometown. Before that, I had visited in 2004 and I did get to see old family friends like the Namins and the Jacintos.

This trip though was especially memorable. I got a surprise call from an old swimming team buddy, Romy Lopez. He and a couple of Batch 81 friends were having an impromptu reunion. He saw my face in the Rotary print ad and decided to invite me as well.

Although I recognized Romy I had to struggle to with the other guys. 30 years! Its amazing I could still remember some of the names. John Bonnin, Bong Gindap, Mayo Unson, Vince Soberano, Dave Alba, Gerard Mora, Gil Octaviano, Baby Legaspi, Ray Tiongson and Jonathan Sales. As we talked though, memories began to flood in and their 40++ year old faces started to become younger and younger as the night wore on. By the 4th beer, I could see all of them as 14 year old faces.

Those were memorable years indeed. We were in the middle of puberty and our hormones were rampaging through our bodies. And the experiences and escapades were retold again and again that night. First loves never really die. Nor do first crushes. We recalled our trip to Siliman U in Dumaguete for a dual meet of the swim teams. Vince and I vividly recall the 2 beautiful mestiza sisters from Siliman who broke records and some young hearts.

Vince is amazing. A 44 year old world title holder in Muay Thai (kickboxing)! He looked like he got carved out of a granite rock. I couldn't believe this guy's passion for his art. He's the real deal. Google him and check out his knock out fights on You Tube.

Romy is the same Romy. He was probably the most down-to-earth nice guy then and even now. He was just one of those reliable and conservative friends, who would never give you any BS. He was one of the most hard working in the swim team. My impression then was he got a solid set of values from his "Papa" (who seemed to never fail to personally pick him up after school). Now he is married to his former bank officemate, and they have a 2 boys, 13 and 7. but surprise, surprise, a girl on the way. We each had a nice bowl of pancit molo soup to wind down the evening at 2am; a truly traditional Illonggo way to nurse a hangover after a night of drinking.

We agreed that I have to come back.... soon. Perhaps a climb up Mt. Kanlaon in November? I remember being very upset at not being permitted to climb this fabled volcano way back in the 70s. Last year, some of the guys sent me an invite to climb but my trip to Switzerland got in the way.

Well I'm aiming for that climb in November... I hope the weather holds out. I've had a streak of bad luck this year caused by weather. Rains prevented a boat trip (and a dive) around El Nido in January, my climb up Guiting-guiting was aborted due to fog, and our voyage to Tubbataha got scuttled due to the early monsoons. Weather weather lang yan.