WEST COAST LUXIDS HOLD SUMMER REUNION 2008
By Jay de Leon

On the last Sunday of summer, Sept. 21, 2008, the West Coast Luxids held their 2008 reunion party at Simon’s Restaurant in San Pedro, by Long Beach, just outside of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Simon’s is an upscale restaurant with an ocean view, in one of the many ports of call in the Long Beach area. Several Luxids lent some decorum to the event by wearing suit and ties, and being on their best behavior. The ladies as usual were elegant and gracious the whole evening.

The West Coast Luxids have had several informal reunions in the past, as in Manny Tiangha’s birthday a couple of years ago. Present at this reunion was New York resident Johnny Noble, who often flies to California to visit his mom and sister in West Covina and Baldwin Park (suburbs of Los Angeles).

For the record, here is the list of attendees, in no particular order.

Jimmy Lorenzana and wife Christine
Joffre Salcedo and wife Linda
Manny Tiangha and wife Lydia (Baybee)
Alex Gomez and wife Amy
Noah Cu and wife Susan
Vic Perez
Johnny Noble
Jay de Leon

Dinner was a choice of either salmon or steak, with overflowing coffee and sodas (these old men cannot hold their liquor no more, and the kidneys and livers have long given out). Only Jimmy Lorenzana had a couple of beers, and probably only because he had a designated driver. The conversation was endless and the banter incessant, as everybody tried to catch up on each other’s activities.

Vic Perez for example just came back from an extended trip to the Philippines and gave his impression of the current situation there.  Johnny Noble gave a brief rundown of get-togethers with those Luxid New Yorkers and other damn Yankees in his neck of the woods, such as Eric Cruz, Noel de la Rosa, Raoul Gatchalian and others.  Joffre Salcedo as usual regaled everybody with stories about a multitude of topics spanning the globe and several decades.

Alex Gomez reminisced and came up with a complete listing of Jesuit scholastics during our time who never graduated to the priesthood and instead found solace in marriage. Jay de Leon mentioned that Ernie Diokno and he were able to chat with Fr. Walter Ysaac, S.J, after the Mass at the Jesu during the reunion at the Ateneo last year.  Fr. Walter was one of the officiating priests, and was pleasantly surprised to find a much reformed Ernie Diokno of the notorious 2C (then home of Conrad Cuesta, Babes Oreta, Johnny Nanagas and other ruffians) attending Mass.

The highlight of the evening was Joffre finding his way to the piano at the end of the dining hall, tickling the ivories and coming up with a medley of sweet ballads, Filipino songs like “Dahil Sa Iyo,” a couple of Ateneo songs and just great piano music. Noah Cu valiantly croaked some lyrics to the piano music. Alex Gomez whispered to me that, listening to these romantic and nostalgic pieces, he felt like getting married again.

Note that there are three bachelors in this group—Vic Perez and Johnny Noble who are both widowers, and Jay de Leon who has been loveless the past several decades.

The party reluctantly broke up at around 10:00 PM, way past Manny Tiangha’s bedtime.

Our thanks to Christine Lorenzana and Manny Tiangha for handling the details of this shindig. This particular group enjoyed this reunion so much that it has threatened to go on a week-end cruise for its next reunion, scheduled in a few months.

True to Ateneo tradition, this group will always remain stout-hearted and stay together, hopefully for a lot of more years to come.

My thanks to the photographers that night who contributed the photos you see in this article, namely, Jimmy Lorenzana, Johnny Noble and Manny Tiangha.

Animo Ateneo.

Johnny Noble, Alex Gomez, Noah Cu, Jay de Leon, Joffre Salcedo,
Manny Tiangha, Jimmy Lorenzana, Vic Perez (from left to right).

Noah Cu, Jay de Leon, Manny Tiangha, Alex Gomez,
Jimmy Lorenzana, Johnny Noble, Joffre Salcedo, Vic Perez
(from left to right).

Christine Lorenzana and Baybee Tiangha (seated, front)
Susan Cu, Linda Salcedo, and Amy Gomez  (standing).

Noah Cu and Jay de Leon (seated).  Jimmy Lorenzana, Vic Perez,
Johnny Noble and Alex Gomez (standing, left to right).

Jimmy Lorenzana, Noah Cu, Jay de Leon, Alex Gomez,
Vic Perez (from left to right).

Alex Gomez (left) and Atty. Vic Perez

Taipans or tong kingpins?  Noah Cu (left) and Jay de Leon

Co-champions, Best hair-do of the night--Joffre Salcedo (left) and Johnny Noble.

Mr. and Mrs. Manuel Tiangha

Mr. and Mrs. Jaime Lorenzana

Mr. and Mrs. Noah Cu

Mr. and Mrs. Alex Gomez

Mr. and Mrs. Joffre Salcedo

The Lonely Hearts Club.  Vic Perez, Jay de Leon
and Johnny Noble (from left to right).

The entertainment of the evening par excellence—
Joffre Salcedo at the piano.

Behind every successful man is a …

Till the next reunion…