Skip to main content

Good Old Friends

December and January are the busiest months for us, fashion designers. The "wedding-est season of all" I call it. Making sure my brides look their best on their wedding day, my assistant Liza and I would dress them up and see them march down the aisle.
One of my brides had her wedding in Lipa, Batangas and I thought it was a good time to go on a side trip to visit an old friend of my mother, Fr. Jun Quiambao. They were friends since college, my mother a medical student and Fr. Jun then a seminarian at the University of Santo Tomas. We always thought  he looked like Erik Estrada of CHIPS fame. He is now the parish priest of Talisay, Lipa where he and his generous parish has built a beautiful and modern church dedicated to St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
It's was good visiting Lipa, it still has its quaint charm in spite of the two huge malls now dominating its cityscape. I only wish local officials will do the same as our President and do away with huge billboards, and "space age" design lamp posts. It will certainly make the city twice as lovely.

Chubby chickens in Bluroze Farm




Giant ferns


The Cathedral of Lipa


St. Sebastian



St. Therese of the Child Jesus Church



The Church's backyard - Mt. Malarayat Golf Course

The parish priest, my mother's friend of 50 years, Fr. Jun Quiambao

At 74, Father Jun still bikes and he uses a "bambike".

Labels:
Location: Lipa City, Philippines

Comments

  1. UnknownWednesday, January 23, 2013 at 7:29:00 PM GMT+8

    Yey, biker din si Fr. Jun. I love his bambike, haven't tried one yet though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My Refrigerator DoorWednesday, January 23, 2013 at 7:50:00 PM GMT+8

      I should bike more often too, so I'll be as healthy as Fr. Jun when I'm seventy :)

      Delete
  2. UnknownTuesday, November 19, 2013 at 12:45:00 PM GMT+8

    Hi JC, Just want to share this sad news. Fr. Jun died today. He was a dear professor of mine back then in College.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My Refrigerator DoorWednesday, November 20, 2013 at 1:48:00 PM GMT+8

    Hi James, yes, we've heard of the sad news. We went last week to visit him at the hospital. My Mom went to Lipa today, to see him one last time.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The House Of Dr. Luis Santos

Our tour of Malolos continues, from the Cojuangco ancestral house  http://myrefrigeratordoor.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-cojuangco-ancestral-house.html , our gracious host  Melecio Cojuangco  brought us to the house of Dr. Luis Santos. Mel arranged the visit with one of the heirs of Dr. Santos,  George Imperial . From the outside, one would already be in awe of the sheer size of the house. The house was built in 1933, according to the marker by the gate. Upon entering, you will marvel at the grand staircase, the expansive receiving room and the foyer filled with hard bound medical books and mementos of Dr. Santos' career as a well loved doctor in this town. The second floor was something else, as our group slowly ascended the magnificent staircase, my heart literally skipped a beat at the sight of the ceiling mural and Art Deco details. We found out later that the mural was painted by the great  Fernando Amorsolo  himself. There was a private chapel in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes
5 comments
Read more

The Cojuangco Ancestral House

Our next journey takes us to a historic town in Bulacan, thirty minutes north of Manila. My road trip buddies, my college friends who all share with me the same fascination for heritage houses were privileged by an invitation from Melecio Cojuangco to visit their ancestral house in Malolos. Mel, his cousin in law Marissa Lopa, Rima Datuin and Evelyn Bautista  and I discovered each other's funny bone   because of our love for the ice cream served in a huge bowl at Peninsula Manila's lobby. One evening, to justify our appetite, we pretended it was my birthday and we had the string quartet play happy birthday for me, from then on, we became good friends. Mel's grandfather,  Jose Cojuangco  was born at the Malolos house, very near the Barasoain Church. Jose's mother traded rice from Nueva Ecija, sacks transported by boat via the river at the back of the kamalig to Binondo, Manila. Like most turn of the century houses, the Cojuangco house uses piedra china stones f
2 comments
Read more

Her Name Means Peace

I started blogging five years ago after reading the book  Life On The Refrigerator Door  by  Alice Kuipers.  So touched was I from the story, I named my blog  My Refrigerator Door . Ms. Kuipers wonderfully weaved a story about a daughter and her mother who battled with breast cancer in a series of notes posted on the refrigerator door. Last Sunday, at the funeral of Tita Passy,  Paz Cojuangco-Teopaco,  I was reminded of that beautiful book. She too fought a long battle with the disease, but in her suffering, she has brought her family back together. I met the Teopacos through my good friend  Kris Aquino . In one of Kris's anniversary specials on TV, I was introduced by Kris' mother,  President Cory  to her youngest sister, Passy. After that, I got to bond with Kris's cousins, Tita Passy's daughters,  Marla  and  Rina  in a summer trip to Mindoro. Sharing the same love for sentimental music, and deep affection for Kris's son  Joshua , Rina and I became the b
Post a Comment
Read more