October 5, 2008
It all started as a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon that October 4, 2008.
To begin the day's homecoming celebration, we batch mates all gathered first in St. Jude Church for Holy Mass. Our beloved Prefect of Discipline Fr. Charles Tchou (now Monsignor) was already there. There were already initial interaction right there with some teachers who also chose to attend the Mass with us.
Our concelebrated homecoming mass was officiated by Bishop Leopoldo Jaucian, SVD. He was a former SJCS Principal, and now bishop of Abra. And then, midway through the Mass, the clouds in the sky turned threateningly gray.
Suddenly, we heard a loud splashing sounds from outside. The rain had started to fall in strong torrents, or as our batch would call it "cats and dogs." Inside, the Mass still went on smoothly. Afterwards, the obligatory group photo was taken.
Yes folks, that driveway was flooded!
Once you get inside though, you would immediately feel that the atmosphere was already picking up the festive air.
Drummers were playing their familiarly loud fiesta music routines, in keeping with the Street Party theme. Classmates and guests began to get their snacks from the food stalls, and mingling and chatting with each other.
The stage and tables were all set. Luckily the rain had stopped pouring and the housekeeping staff were hurriedly doing last minute clean-up of the party venue.
We hardly minded though.
We were all already in the thick of reunion fever!
The mood was very festive as classmates gathered together among themselves and among the teachers whom they recognized (and those who recognized them!).
Everybody was exchanging stories, catching up, taking pictures, digging up and sharing old memories. The organizers were able to gather teachers from our High School all the way back to our Nursery days. Kudos to Jackson Lee and his assistants!
There were impersonators, mimes, and street magicians doing the rounds of the tables to provide some diversionary entertainment. There was a roving female emcee (in her HS uniform) who went around interviewing people (classmates and teachers) about what their thoughts are re the homecoming.
Because of the clean-up operations, the programme of events was already delayed by about an hour. At around 7pm, the Doxology ("The Prayer" originally by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli) was sung by Iric Chua, Lilibeth Tan and Fred Hawson. You can watch this opening song in this VIDEO LINK
After that opening prayer, the dinner buffet was opened. As promised, food was aplenty There was roast beef, garlic prawns, barbecued chicken, among the viand choices. Sumptuous! Soda and beer were also overflowing.
As dinner went on, the ongoing entertainment consistent of impersonators giving life to 80s icons like Boy George, Michael Jackson, Cher, etc. For more exotic excitement, there were also Fire Dancers who displayed their skills onstage.
After these dinner-time show, the formal program began with Opening Remarks from the Caesar Peter Sy and the Empress Irene Ngo, who delivered their speeches in English and Mandarin Chinese respectively. The current Father Rector Fr. Jerome Marquez gave the Welcome Remarks for the school.
After this, they showed the most-awaited, months-in-the-making Audio-Visual Presentation of our Batch. The organizers had been shooting clips for this from the First Photo Shoot in May, all the way to the song and dance rehearsals we had 2 days before the actual event. There were lots of revealing information in it, like Janet del Mundo's
list of male and female heartthrobs of our batch, or that unexpected confession by the Tanya twins of their secret switcheroo during one Chinese oral exam.
That whole video is classic! There were lots of laugh-out-loud moments in there, as well as sentimental moments too. Based on the appreciative audience reaction, everyone loved it. If you like to watch it, click on this VIDEO LINK.
The first big production number of the night (and I mean BIG, probably even exceeding anything we have seen on TV) was presented by our batch mates in the Dance Group. This very exciting number featured songs from back in our 80s days, brought to life in most exhilarating steps and colorful costumes (was that 5 rapid changes or more?).
They started from "Always There To Remind Me," then segued to Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". There was to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"; Madonna's "Material Girl", Kenny Loggin's "Footloose" and Industry's "State of the Nation". In the middle there was this innovative sub-number by the girls using flashlights (was the music by Eurythmics?) featuring Leslie Wong and Irene Tan showcasing their flexible moves.
This dance number was a true showstopper! Words fail to fully describe the grandness and electricity of this number. You can watch this spectacular number at this VIDEO LINK.
The next big number was the very cute Modern Dance number presented by the kids of our batch mates. The first part with the younger kids with songs like Christina Aguilera's "Candy Man" and Kat DeLuna's "Whine Up". The second part was with the older kids who danced to more hiphop type songs like Flo Rida's "Low". The last part danced to the tune of Pitbull's "Boom Boom Shake Shake Now Drop" brought all the kids together, along with our batch mates who are their parents! Watch this fun number at this VIDEO LINK.
Other jubilarian batches also presented their numbers to join in the celebration. The most impressive was that of Batch 78 who gave a very energetic and well-choreographed disco dance number. Penthouse Live levels! Batch 73 (the very first SJCS graduates) and Batch 98 both had song numbers.
Next up, all our past teachers and administrators were gathered up and presented onstage. And then they were serenaded by what I think was a most inspired choice for balladeer for this occasion, no less than Jose Mari Chan! He sang Petula Clark's 1969 song "You and I" and some teachers were singing along to the familiar tune. You can watch his performance on this VIDEO LINK.
Our class representative, the "Emperor" Constantine Kohchet-Chua then went up the stage to present our mentors with our individual gifts to them, Round-trip Air Philippines tickets for 2 to any domestic destination!
After the teachers left the stage, Mr. Chan sang a couple of more songs. Then, he was followed by another pop singer from way back, Janet Basco, who still looked very good in her shimmering costume.
After the series of love songs, our tireless Batch dancers took to the stage again, this time with The Manoeuvres! Yes these are the original Manoeuvres with the infusion of some new blood. We saw our classmates Wilson Chan, Jonathan de Guzman, Jackson Lee & Cons Kohchet Chua go step to step with them in some intricate dance moves. And wow, Francis Pua had a spot number by himself and two Manoeuvres! You have to watch this exciting dance at this VIDEO LINK.
After this number, our batch ceremonially presented the symbolic key as homecoming hosts over to the representative from Batch 84 (who had the guts to say that they will come up with something better than what we had! LOL!) The next ceremony involved our batch reps presenting the school with our gift to help the school -- a check worth P2.5 Million to serve as our batch scholarship fund.
Then, it was time for the Batch Song Medley, beginning with Cats & Dogs staple, Florante's immortal hit song "Handog." After an a capella solo intro, the rest of the choir came in together with the music. This was followed by another timeless inspirational song, Lea Salonga's "Journey." Lilibeth Tan then addressed the school and our mentors with a short but moving message of thanks, as our pictures were being flashed on screen. I could have sworn Lilayh's voice was cracking with emotions already, as indeed the moment was very dramatic.
Then we sang Nikki Gil's "Glowing Inside" which is basically a song of "thank you's". After that, we came back to "Handog," concluding with an a capella solo once again. After this, all our other batch mates in attendance took their place on stage behind the choir and joined in to sing the upbeat Mandarin song of hope "Ming Tien Hui Geng Hau"!
Witness and listen to our signature sentimental Batch 83 style of serenading our teachers on this VIDEO LINK.
With that, Cons Kohchet-Chua went center stage to thank everyone for attending and joining in our celebrations. He called SJCS "the best school in the Philippines", which was of course greeted with wild applause by everyone.
It was not yet over as the Grand Raffle Draw for the big prizes was still held. The only batch mate I know who won a major prize was Rosana Fuentes who won a Sony Ericsson cellphone (4th Prize). The First Prize was a trip to Singapore for 2 w/ US$500 pocket money, and I think it went to someone from a younger batch. With that, the formal program came to a close. By then it was already 12 midnight.
The ageless Joey Generoso and the rest of local premiere band Side A band played the night away with old and new favorites. This band is really good! They can sing their own material, as well as covers from Aerosmith to Maroon 5 effortlessly.
While some people hung on to watch the concert, some were already making their way to the exit to claim their generous (meaning very heavy) loot bags. Everyone was very tired, but obviously very happy.
The 2008 SJCS Grand Alumni Homecoming sponsored by Batch 83 was an unqualified success! Kudos to the dedicated and tireless members of the Synod who worked so hard to ensure that everything fell into the right place. Congratulations to all of us, SJCS Batch 83! Onwards, classmates!
