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Good Plan - Boot called in January 07 about Kuya Libby's 60th birthday and that started a chain of secret planning amidst clandestine calls (tunog James Bond tengtereng-teng...). We would call each other when Kuya Libby's at work, pag nag-swimming o kahit inilalakad si Fuji - kailangan kasi para hindi mahalata. One of the cardinal rules of a surprise party - you have to make sure the celebrant does not suspect anything which was rather easy kasi by nature, Kuya Libby is not nosy. The place was set for Tivoli Restaurant in Rosslyn, Va on April 14, 2007. The invitations were to be conceptualized and crafted in California, shipped to Ate Fe and Tito Jess' house at si Boot ang magse-send out. Kailangan covered ang tracks. The plan was to have him deliver a cake to a party that he didn't know was his - and as he puts the cake on the table, everybody will descend from the ceiling (ala Mission Impossible) and exclaim "Surprise!!!". Okay I know, it's too cinematic, pero do you get the idea?

People - Next task: kailangan hanapin ang matatandang classmate (oopps sorry) - ang mga kaklase noong araw (pangit pa rin pakinggan). Sino nga ba ang mga kaklase niya na may contact pa siya - si Pepe Miranda na kapitbahay sa Sulok, si Tony Ramos na anak ni Rupert parehong nasa California. Nag-search kami sa Alumni.net, looked at old address books and found contact info for Madonna Breton - ang dati niyang kababata, pati na rin ang mga kapitbahay sa Sulok, Patchi at Baby Salcedo. Boot did a good job looking for former co-workers and friends from long ago (haha - wala talaga akong magawa everything sounds ancient).

Picture - Part of celebrating is reminiscing and what better way than through pictures. Dito pumasok ang Sulok connection via Kuya Andy who diligently searched, scanned, copied and burned and made sure everything gets to us on time. The technical part of putting them together in a wonderful artistically entertaining audio-visual package was all of Grace Vinco's painstaking effort and imagineering (professional lang pakinggan pero siya po ang gerpren ni Allen). Ang sama-samang larawan ay nilapatan ng musika sa saliw ng tugtog ng Beach Boys at iba pang hits noong 1960s.

Party - Personally what makes for a good surprise is the unexpectancy of what one expects, at para sa aming nagplano, the giddiness that forms from knowing what will happen. People were all excited to see the celebrant and the people they haven't seen in a long time. It was a reunion of sorts, with a lot of catching ups as well as re-acquaintances, of pleasant anxiousness while we await Kuya Libby to walk through the door. When May announced "It's time!", everybody took their places and hid on one side of the room. And as Kuya Libby walks in, nagsigawan na kami ng "Surprise" and kumanta ng "Happy Birthday". He turned around and froze for one whole minute hindi makapaniwala and he was all red in the face and flushed the entire night.

And all these combined spelled SURPRISE and GOOD TIME for everybody.

Whew!...Paulit-ulit niyang sinasabi "Unbelievable" at "Wala na bang surprise?" - ibig sabihin ba Kuya Libby nagustuhan mo ang surprise namin?