"Jhen?!? JENELYN OLIVEROS?!?" I said, surprisingly.
"In the flesh!" And then seh winks, as she always did back in the old days.
I hardly recognized her. Unlike before, she is a bit taller now. Has a fair-toned skin and of course, much sexier! And so I hurriedly signed all the permits, turned it over to my secretary and took the day off.
Jhen and I had lunch in one of the finest restaurant in Manhattan Road. I've learned that she's now residing in Canada and works as a Production Consultant and at the same time, a Talent Manager in one of the prominent TV station in Toronto. I've also learned that she just got back from her visit in the Philippines. And from that visit, she packed a lot of stories about our good old classmates...
HAZEL ALMAZAN is one of the highest paid choreographer in the Philippines, alongside VIDA ALLEYN LAURICE FLORENDO. NOLYLONE MIJARES, Alleyn's husband together with LIMMUEL MAGLINAO are two of the distinguished cameramen and editors in BBC Asia.
ROMEL MACARAIG, our beloved, multi-awarded class president is now the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He is also the Assistant Station Manager of the Lyceum Campus Radio 103.7. GERALD LUCKY LOU MAYOR, was awarded the Best Sound Engineer in the recently concluded FAMAS Awards. He works full time in ABS-CBN.
KHAREN LALAMUNAN and MINETH MITRA own a Talent Center and trains a lot of up coming stars in the Philippines. KHAREN PELAGIO, on the other hand is now a very succesful Cinematographet and a Talent Manager at the same time. She manages big stars like Richard Gomez and Gary Valenciano. And oh, who can forget FERDILYN CAIGA? She also works full-time in ABS-CBN as a Talent Coordinator.
BERNADETTE BAUTISTA got a Doctoral Degree in Law and now, she's one of the most respected Human Rights Lawyer. MYLA ABRIL runs her own production company, with GERLYN PANGANIBAN, HIASMIN CABUHAL, MARIA ARLENE ALAFRIZ, LIELANI CUETO and JANETH CABRERA as her executive producers in different divisions.
As we walk on downtown Manhattan, we passed by a television store, and we can't help but noticed the new Coca-Cola Commercial. RONAN MENDOZA? In the Coca-Cola commercial?!?!??! We can't believe it! Guess who directed the commercial. It's ARLENE MONTES! Oh WOW!
5th Avenue is always been a busy street. A magazine stand caught Jhen's eyes. We saw a familiar face on the cover. MARICEL COLOMA! Now a DKNY Supermodel?!?! Jhen and I can't believe what we're seeing! On the next pages of the mag, we've seen a lot of fantastic and gorgeous snap shots of Mace, as we fondly calls her on our college days. It was all shot by a now succesful and hig-paid fashion photographer, BERNIE FALLURIN.
As we reached the entertainment section, we've also noticed some familiar names. MARIA SARENA ATIENZA, co-owns Dreamwork Pictures with Steven Speilberg. DON KING PANGILINAN, now residing in Las Vegas won as Best Director for his Documentary on the continuing deforestrarion in Central America, with his scriptwriter, MARISSA CLEMENO.
Meanwhile, Ms. Saigon will Hit Chicago this spring. And guess who will play the part of 'Kim'? MARY_ANNE DE CHAVEZ!
I always knew we could go this far. Ten years ago, we were just a bunch of fun-loving individuals running around the classroom without worrying about our future. But look at us now, we re all making names in this side of the world.
Jhen and I parted ways with the memories still lingering in our hearts. I turned the TV on and watched the news. 'Abah, si JANETTE CARDILLO!' News Anchor sa CNN! Galing ah!
I ended the day reminiscing my college days. I never grew tired looking t our pictures together over and over again The memories are still fresh as if it only happened yesterday..
Then I sighed...
"Ms. Dador, please come in. Mr. Johnny Manahan is ready for you. Hand him your resume before the interview starts."
I entered the room... smiling..