ON January 1997 Connie Cimafranca of Cathay Pacific Airways informed me and other media friends about a famtour to Canada on a direct flight from Hong Kong to Toronto, on the first week of March.
Our dear friend Dr. Jose “Bebe” Barba, who was in Cebu for the Sinulog, told Flor Ynclino that it would be perfect for us to make a side trip to New Jersey. He and his wife Dr. Fidelis
Alcazaren Barba had some time ago moved into a large house at exclusive Saddle River.
“We have enough rooms for all of you,” Bebe said, meaning Eva Gullas, Chinggay Utzurrum, Flor and me. Nelia Neri was all for the side trip, and she’d stay with her sister Zenda who also lived in Saddle River. Our other companions in the tour were Mila Espina and Maripal Sandiego.
Meanwhile I had to undergo a minor surgery by Dr. Boni Cabahug at the Perpetual Succour Hospital. I was a little dazed from the anaesthetic when the anaesthesiologists approached me to say, “You are Jaime Picornell; your mother was Anita Rodriguez?”
“Yes,” I said, perking up. He recalled, “I remember her when she was still single. She lived in Bogo with her parents and two other sisters, Consuelo and Maria Luisa. They always wore white and walked around Bogo with wide-brimmed hats.”
“This is 1997 and you are remembering my mother before I was born in 1942, more than 55 years ago,” I countered.
“Doctor, you must be very old.” He answered, “Yes, and these memories keep me young.”
Since I had perked up with the conversation, they put something to my face and I immediately conked out. I stayed only two days in the hospital, and recovered fast.
In February I was ready to accept Ingrid Sala Santamaria’s invitation to Manila.
Ingrid was bringing the Cebu Youth Symphony Orchestra to perform in Malacañang for First Lady Amelita Ramos, and Sen. Marcelo Fernan who had obtained great support for the CYSO from generous sponsors. The CYSO also performed to a grand audience at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
There was a new Spanish Ambassador and I took the opportunity of paying a call on him at the embassy. Don Delfin Colome was a well-known writer, composer, and orchestra conductor.
He had been chosen for this post in view of the 1998 celebration of General Emilio Aguinaldo’s declaration of Independence from Spain 100 years ago. Ambassador Colome’s task was to stress the positive and deflect the negative as best we could.
Back in Cebu I started to prepare for the trip to Canada. Our escort would be no less than Paul Loo, the Cebu manager of Cathay Pacific. Our day of departure was March 4.
We took a CX direct flight to Hong Kong from Cebu and spent two days for briefing and sight seeing. Our hotel was the Ritz Carlton where we luxuriated and enjoyed all its amenities.
The flight to Toronto was long, with a stop over in Alaska, but it was most comfortable. Upon arrival it began to snow. It got so cold, way below zero, that the lake close to our hotel, the West in Harbor, turned into a thick slab of ice overnight.
Next day we went to see the famous Niagara falls, and crossed over to the United States for a shopping spree at a mall in Buffalo. The attraction was the outlet stores of name brands.
Because of my size, I had never been able to buy myself a Christian Dior suit, but here I found one that was just right. Happy with the purchase, I went around the mall toting my hefty bag with the designer’s name emblazoned.
I saw a bookstore that was closing down. There was a pile of paperbacks selling at $1 each. On top of the pile was Anthony Hope’s 19th century novel “The Prisoner of Zenda.” I had seen the 1952 film and had always wanted to read the original. Here it was.
I went all around the mall, and with plenty of time before pick up, I returned to the bookstore and ransacked the pile.
I did not know that “Zenda” had a sequel, and here I found Anthony Hope’s “Rupert of Hentzau.” I had quite a number of coins in my pocket and the totalled to $1, so I got the book.
On my way to the van, a group of youngsters came to me, one of them exclaiming, “Oh God! Listen, God! Hello God! Hi God! “ I ignored them as they were harmless, and when I got into the van my companions, for some of whom I was holding their shopping bags, kidded me, “Only God can manage to carry so many Christian Dior bags.”
We crossed back to the USA for lunch at the Skyline Brock Hotel with a grand view of the Niagara Falls. Many celebrities stayed in this hotel, including Princess Margaret and Marilyn Monroe when she came to film “Niagara” in 1952.
On March 7 Flor, Eva, Chinggay, Nelia and I took the flight to Newark, New Jersey for the weekend. As we emerged from the terminal, we noticed a man with a sign that said “Picornell.”
It was Dan Perlas, a Filipino driver contacted by Bebe Barba to welcome us with a pearl-white Cadillac limousine. We dropped Nelia at her sister’s place and drove to the home of Bebe and Fidelis.
We had dinner with them and chatted until 3 a.m. We awoke relatively early and Bebe brought us to New York City, to the apartment of his daughter Gia. There awaited Flor’s daughters Tata and Fiza who came to Saddle River with us.
In the afternoon Bebe took us to New York City once more to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Quite impressive was the Temple od Dendur, brought piece by piece from Egypt. In the basement was a retrospective exhibit of Christian Dior clothes by the famous French designer from 1947 to his death in 1957.
Dior became very famous in the alte 1940s when considered as the “dictator” of fashion, he lowered the hemlines of women’s skirts which he called “the new look.”
For the next 10 years, his dictates were accepted as fashion dogma.
Our day was complete with a Broadway show, “The King and I.” Then we had a late supper at the famous restaurant Tavern on the Green. Those chandeliers have colored prisms that sparkle like gems.
On Sunday, March 9, Bebe and Fidelis took us to Mass at the St. Gabriel parish in Saddle River and then we went to New York City once more to have brunch at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. It was quite relaxing to listen to harp music.
In the afternoon, we went to Woodbury for more shopping. At a bookstore I bought one more book about the Romanovs. In the evening there was a dinner party at the home of Iman and Zenda Lat. Among the guests were Dr. and Mrs. Raul Sala who reminisced about Cebu, and his mother, piano professor Lourdes Perez Sala.
I woke up before dawn on March 10 just as it began to snow in what seemed like slow motion. I stood for quite a while at the window watching. Later, my companions told me why I did not awaken them.
In the morning we went to Sym’s, what could be the biggest outlet for clothes and accessories. One could get a Dior or Perry Ellis shirt for just US $20.
Bebe took us to lunch at La Taverna, a Spanish restaurant where Chinggay asked the waiter, “Que sopa hay?” she was brought a large plate with a very well condimented soup.
In the evening we were back in Broadway, this time to see “The Phantom of the Opera.” After the show, I espied a video shop across the street. I was given four minutes to go in and buy whatever. I got the VHS of “Prisoner of Zenda” thinking how my sons Jimmy and Louie would enjoy the sword fight of Stewart Granger and James Mason.
Back at the Barba home, we toasted with champagne on our last evening with them. Next day at noon there was the white Cadillac to bring us to the airport and catch our flight to Toronto. From there we flew to Hong Kong and the next thing we realized was that we were back in Cebu. It had all been quite surreal.
