Five members of the Class of '71 met for dinner on May 15, 1998 in Manila. The group included Joe Assad, Faith Barros, Fil Benitez, Gerry Geronimo, and Louie Quisumbing. Vicky (Javier) Assad was unable to make the dinner due to the sudden illness of her daughter, Maja, and Lance Perfecto was out of town.

(Click on picture to enlarge)

The dinner was held at Mario's which is owned and managed by Marlo Benitez ('73). 3 bottles of red wine were consumed and we were the last patrons out of the restaurant.

Here are the rest of the pictures taken during the dinner which lasted past midnight: (1), (2), (3), and (4).

Faith called it quits after dinner and headed home. (Thanks for the Brent Manila t-shirt! My wife Tammy already appropriated it.)

The boys weren't ready to call it quits yet, and they ended up in a karaoke bar. Joe and Fil did a good job singing until they attempted to tackle "Dahil Sa Yo" (Because of You). They truly butchered the song. Louie and Gerry were perfectly content to drink and listen.

We closed the place down, getting home about 4:30 AM. Home was Joe's beautiful house at the Manila Polo Club.

Thanks Joe, Vicky, and Maja (she gave up her room for me) for putting me up. Their son Felix was gone the entire time I spent with them so I never got to meet him.

Here are 2 pictures of Joe, his assistant and me busy working on a problem with his Manila Properties Web site the following morning: (1), and (2).

I left Manila that night only to find myself back in Manila the following morning because of engine trouble on my plane while halfway across the Pacific. The airline (we won't mention names) put me up at the Manila Hotel (I got a chance to tour the Intramuros which is close by) where I took this picture of Manila Bay from my hotel room.