March 25, 2017. This morning, I sat with my laptop on a chaise lounge relaxing with Andre by the cliff at Crimson Hotel in Cebu. It was the morning after the beautiful wedding of Loui and Rain Luque (nee Quisumbing).
Andre was godfather at the wedding, partnered with Isabel Remedios, a childhood friend of his. Loui’s mom is the beautiful and feisty Martha Tuason of Cebu’s Y101 fame, Andre’s radio partner. Martha and her husband Joseph Stevens have been wonderful hosts, and I’ve enjoyed meeting the Tuasons (Bolo and Cookie, Conkoy and Doodie, Chuchay) as well as the Quisumbings, Rain’s family.
Andre has always been close to the Tuason family, and his first job was working for the Tuasons as PR for Squires Bingham, which eventually became Armscor, and also in setting up 99.5RT with Emilio Tuason. Andre is forever grateful to them for having treated him as family.
I enjoyed listening to Andre and Martha reminisce about their early days in radio. For those who don’t know, Andre’s radio handle was Tiny Andy. I also met last night Little John, another famous radio DJ from Y101, Cebu’s Top 40 station.
The wedding was perfect, unfolding just as Martha and Rain had painstakingly planned. It was a beautiful sunny day. The guests in their Hawaiian-inspired outfits added bursts of colour to the garden wedding by the beach. With the expanse of startling blue sea and sky as background, the stage was set for the wedding. A drone flew above recording this momentous occasion in the lives of Loui and Rain.
It was a Christian wedding, with heartfelt vows of love exchanged by Loui and Rain (including an “I’m glad I swiped right.”), and blessed by God, witnessed by friends and family. The minister reminded the couple and all those present to keep three ingredients alive in their relationships; faith, hope and love.
As the sun was setting, we moved to the bar for cocktails, while the couple and the wedding entourage had their photos taken. Parched from the heat, we tried the refreshing piña colada served in fresh pineapples complete with cherries and tiny umbrellas, and nibbled on delicious Japanese sushi with spam.
From Crimson’s stellar salmon Carpaccio, tuna poke, fresh shrimps, grilled vegetables, roast beef, lechon, and more, the repast was simply amazing. Fire dancers provided entertainment during dinner. After the traditional cutting of the cake, toast and messages from family and friends, the party went into full swing as guests danced, drank and celebrated the coming together of two families.
I enjoyed meeting Binggoy Remedios, who owns Dos Mestizos in Boracay, his partner Niña Bustamante, their daughter Chabeli, Isabel “Baching” Remedios and her friend Cindy Tolhurst. Since Andre and Baching were sponsors, they had to sit at the head table, so we were left chatting at our table.
Binggoy is an amazing and interesting individual. He relayed how he decided to live in Boracay in the 80s after he lost his job in Manila. He first set up a Hobbie Cat rental, having refurbished broken down Hobbie Cats, which he got for a song from a friend. A foodie at heart, he then decided to set up Dos Mestizos, a Boracay “must-eat-at restaurant” with a friend. He and his partner Niña have a rustic home on the mainland far from the maddening crowd in Boracay, where they grow organic vegetables for the restaurant. Niña homeschools their beautiful six-year old daughter Chabeli, who has an enviable childhood in the farm which serves as her playground, interspersed with travel with her parents.
Cindy Tolhurst accompanied her friend Baching to the wedding. It was Cindy’s first visit to the Philippines, and she enjoyed discovering her mother’s country. It is always interesting to talk to people visiting for the first time and to see the country from their perspective. Cindy loves the country’s cuisine, especially pancit palabok and halo-halo, and looks forward to sampling Cebu’s famous lechon. She recounted how she swam with the baby whale sharks in Oslob, showing me pictures of her underwater exploits. Another item to tick off my bucket list. That, and paragliding.
The night before, the two families had gathered for dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Cebu. Andre and I joined the Quisumbing family in the van on the way to the restaurant. Rey Quisumbing, Rain’s father, is a gentleman farmer from Pagadian, Mindanao. He grows a lot of fruit trees including the famed sweet Thai coconut, which he propagated from just 5 coconuts to 15,000 trees, and his siling labuyo, which he processes into garlic chili oil when siling labuyo prices are down. Rey gifted us with two bottles of his garlic chili oil, which I am dying to try out in Manila.
Emil Quisumbing, his only son, takes charge of distribution of soft shell crabs in Manila, in between his work schedule as supplier quality engineer at BPO Nidec Motor Philippines and taking care of his wife and son. Also in the van was Rey’s niece Paula and her friend Misha, a Nepalese-Russian. Both work in New York and had come for the wedding.
We had a pizza and pasta lunch at the Azure Beach Cafe together with Loui and Rain and the Quisumbings. Merlou, Rain’s mom, and her two sisters, Adeste Siguan and Imelda Sy Egco, as well as their friend Elena from New Jersey were there as well. And finally, we had a taste of Rey’s Q’sina Sayao Farms chili garlic oil which added a zing to the pasta vongole (I forget the name of those delicious large clams). He has a winner recipe here.
Dinner tonight was at Martha’s home, where she whipped up the most delicious prime rib roast, coupled with creamed corn and mashed potatoes. Joseph kindly did the carving for everyone. I learned later that Baching had brought the meat for the roast all the way from the US. After partaking of the sumptuous roast beef, Konkoy, Doodie and Chuchay had to rush to the airport to catch their flight back to Manila.
A low handicapped golfer, Joseph taught Martha’s grandchildren and their friends how to properly swing golf clubs. And I got the chance to pour over a book on the Tuason’s ancestry and Martha’s facsimile of Noli Me Tangere. We sang “Happy Birthday” for Dino and Martha’s daughter Tamara and her cousin, Yana. And later, took a family photo of the Tuasons on their staircase. (This seems to be a tradition for most families, as we do this in ours as well).
As I write this, I look back on the past three days and thank God for the gift of friendship and pray for a long and wonderful life together for Loui and Rain.