reconnecting with old friends

met up with dear old friends during my last trip to manila.

since my former boss left zamboanga about two years ago, we have never really managed to sit down to talk for a lengthy period of time, something we used to do a lot when he still ruled over adzu, something which i thoroughly enjoyed (the chats, not necessarily the ruling over). he'd still come down to zamboanga from manila where he is now based quite often but when he is in town, so many people want a piece of him (like they do britney spears) that it's impossible to get a quiet moment with him.

after several moving around of our schedule - because apparently, many people want a piece of him in manila too - we finally decided on meeting up for breakfast at.....macdonalds. yuck. i know. but what can i do? he had to say mass at AIM across the street at 9.30. good thing they have a mccafe there now, an isolated area where you can sit amidst calming browns and adult furniture instead of being assaulted by all the reds and yellows and high chairs.

as usual, it was a good chat. we talked about many things: kidnappings in mindanao (i have a theory about this but tom clancy might plagiarize it), this and that.

the food was remarkably unremarkable.

this is me and my former boss, bill kreutz, the loveable slave-driver (his mom's irish, his dad's german. is this a politically correct info to include here?):


fr. bill and i were joined an hour later than he should have by a former student and now friend kenny macrohon. his alibi was that he watched grey's anatomy til three am. hah. we let him think we believed him:


kenny is one guy in a hurry. he's smart and he can do anything he wants to do. and he has an uncanny ability to always emerge at the top of the heap. amazing person.

BUT, one, he came late for our appointment. Two, it turns out the party he said he was heading to right after our breakfast turned out to be not just NOT in the venue he thought it would be, it was NOT even taking place on the time and date he thought it be. He showed up with a pink ribboned gift for a little girl who was going to have her party a week later. Nice one, ken.

thanks for the breakfast, fr. bill. next time, we should have coffee at dusit or intercon, even if, sigh, they do not serve toys with their meals.

my last trip to manila was a hectic one. but i am glad i managed to meet up with old friends. even if it was over an awful cup of coffee.