Blue Moon

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LIKE A BLUE MOON IT HAPPENS VERY†very rarely so when all of a sudden an opportunity to do it presents itself, I drop everything and grab it.† I am referring to a “boys night out” with my college pals.

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There are a few of us who still manage to see each other once in a blue moon. There was a blue moon over Mandaluyong city on June 18 (Wed) and I went to Robinson’s Pioneer to meet with Mann (Marvil), Mitz (Picardal), and Allan (Sabado).

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Mann and I have been texting, calling, and e-mailing each other quite frequently of late, thanks to our common interest in Golf.

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Mitz every now and then drops a note or joins in a discussion thread in our googlegroup (slu-pals@googlegroups.com).

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Allan… well, Allan has always been Allan and we see him when he wants us to see him. Now that I think about it he may actually be our blue moon. Almost three years ago, the last time we managed a boys night out there were also the four of us. Allan may very well be the determining factor of our successful get-togethers.

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And then there were four.
(Our last boys-night-out before June 18, 2008 was on Dec 1, 2005!†
From left:† Mann, Bong, Mitz, Allan)

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And so there we were at the lower level of Grilla at the south side of Robinson’s Pioneer. A bunch of rowdy college friends, now with expanding foreheads and graying sideburns. Some 30-40 lbs heavier, too, than our invinsible and sculped selves some 20-some years ago, except Allan, who seems to have found the secret in maintaining his weight (Josie and their four kids). We all noticed, with a mix of dismay and amusement that most of the weight we gained since college went straight to our bellies.

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Which should have increased our capacity for more beer.† But that doesn’t seem to be the case.† Again with much dismay and amusement we noticed how we now tend to eat more than drink.

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A boys night out with my college pals, what’s left of us that is, is always nostalgic as we inevitably retrieve from memory our younger days, when we were reckless (aren’t we now?), fearless (we certainly aren’t now), and almost always cashless.† Last Wednesday we wondered about the rest of our friends.† We haven’t quite heard from Ramil (Vargas) since he went to Afghanistan. Bhong (Lopez) may have migrated to the US. Lino (Mina) is back in Caguioa St. in Baguio and took up Nursing (what?). Last month Glenn (Duque) suddenly called me since we parted ways in 1992, reporting that he now has a daughter about to enter college (WHAT?).

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We talked about our ex-girlfriends (limited only to those each of us share a room with at present), our kids, our jobs. We discussed the rising fuel costs, Mitz’s brave and ongoing battle with the big ugly C, what M.U.S.I.C. stands for, etc.

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And then it’s over. After about four or five bottles of beer, three or four bottles beyond my capacity, the blue moon over Mandaluyong faded away. Only God knows when it will again come by. #