A DerDerDer, A DaDaDa (UPDATED w/ Pix)

Yours truly, Diana and Tintin (Ngo) went to Cebu over the weekend to attend Eda and Derwin's wedding. We caught the 5am Cebu Pacific flight, and an hour later took a P425 airport taxi ride to the newly reopened Marco Polo hotel. Coinkydink #1 came in the form of Juvee Ting, my former tutor (and Wilson's batchmate), helping out for the groom's team.

The girls first went up to our room while I took advantage of the free breakfast buffet. The upgraded (unsolicited, but not unappreciated) room came w/ complimentary mangoes and chocolate, but w/ only a queen-sized bed, so I slept on 2 chairs then later on the floor. W/ that disadvantage I felt I was entitled to to the bath foam. (Ahh, hot water massage...)

After sleeping off most of the morning we got spruced up and rode in one of several shuttle vans that headed for Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. Weather was bearable, so it was just wearing a barong again that was uncomfortable. Beautiful female faces were abound, particularly w/ the bridal entourage, comprising mostly of the bride's relatives. Makes me wonder if all that combined wealth contributed the Good Looking Gene.

The entire ceremony took an hour and a half, probably because every liturgical response was sung instead of spoken. And speaking of spoken, the know-it-all priest take it upon himself to (incorrectly) correct the pronunciation of the groom's name, so once he started with DArwin instead or DErwin no-one corrected him. He'd made the same mistake later in the reception.

On the ride back instead of heading straight to the hotel we took a slight detour to the Gaisano residence, courtesy of fellow passenger Edmund "Eddie" Gaisano, Eda's dad. His... odd behavior on the minibus made for some bewildered looks and nervous giggles among the others. Boy, he's really giving that eccentric millionaire persona a run for its money,I thought.

The house was huge, with enough floors to warrant its own elevator and a dense, forested back lot you could probably hold paintball war-games in (or dump a body, wink wink). With all us "youths" there having a rich old man (then later his son) showing us around I felt like we were being set up for a reality show. Some of us availed of the bottled iced tea in the fridge, and even helped Mr. Eddie choose a Hawaiian shirt to wear. (Why? Who cares? Eccentric Millionaire.) In the kitchen lay a stack of magazines w/ his face on the cover, though his picture didn't sport the goatee he currently has on. That's one way to self-promote, I guess.

It was here that I met a cute girl named Mona who, like the other pretty girls I get smitten over, started speaking to me like she knew me beforehand from somewhere (and as usual I couldn't recall neither when nor where). Coinkydink #2: she was Annette's (my former batchmate) in Beijing, and knows Weng and Manol (from her stay in Shanghai). Yey, another reason I'm glad I took this trip!

The reception at the White Gold House (w/c was neither white nor gold) was expecting 1000 guests. Eda didn't like the Oriental look of the third floor dining area so she had the walls and ceiling draped in large white sheets, and over the presidential table hung hundreds of orchid flowers. Paolo Santos provided the professional entertainment for the evening (supposedly Side A and/or Gary V. couldn't make it). They gave away special prizes in the form of IPods, PSPs cellphones, digicams, and various name-brand scents. The initial prize was given raffle-style by choosing a message at random from the guest book, much to the regret to those who didn't bother to sign it. The rest were given away by lottery and quiz-show format. For everyone else the wedding souvenir came in the form of a chocolate bar w/Dada and Derder's name on it.

Later in the evening I pissed Di off while we hitched a ride w/ our friend Stephen back to the hotel. I joked to Tata that she needed a ride to the airport tomorrow, then he later texted her to offer her/us that ride. Why this joke-turned-friendly gesture made her mad was beyond me. Even after Mendel and his girlfriend Shirly took out for pudding and iced tea later on the evening was soured between us (and TinTin since she usually takes her side).

The only highlights of the morning after was me running into Mona (and her sisters) at the breakfast buffet (though she ordered ala cart) and riding the hotel's "scenic elevator" (Enjoy 45 Seconds of Cebu Scenery!) with them afterwards. Otherwise the sourness returned: that feeling of cold shouldering between roomies that's momentarily broken by the presence of other friends showing up, either to say good-bye or give us a ride to the airport (Mendel and Shirly).

To summarize: big wedding. Bigger reception. Met a pretty girl. Ticked off my travel companions (at least one of them for sure). Whatta weekend.

POSTSCRIPT: Guess whose picture we found on Cebu Pacific's in-flight magazine?

It's Aileen! Miss you, dear.