Leonisa Jo Tanchan, regal at age ninety

“James Smith, a health economist at the RAND Corporation, has heard a variety of hypotheses about what it takes to live a long life — money, lack of stress, a loving family, lots of friends…” If you have all the elements of this hypothesis and you celebrate your 90th birthday, then perhaps all the things that James Smith heard was right.

In Chinese tradition, wealth, health and longevity represent the three most important aspects of good fortune. Mrs. Leonisa Jo Tanchan, the mother of my very good friend, Santiago “Dodong” Tanchan Jr. is blessed by the heavens to have acquired all three elements. And on the occasion of her 90th birthday, a big celebration gyud was planned to mark this most auspicious occasion, sharing it with family, relatives and friends.

 The thanksgiving dinner was held at the Grand Ballroom, Grand Convention Center. A special appetizer plate, four Cold Cuts and two Hot Cuts, consisting of sliced roast pork, century eggs, braised shrimps, siomai, pickled jelly fish and vegetables was served while waiting for the rest of the celebrators to be seated. The Tanchan Clan then made their entrance; strict protocol was observed with the eldest of the children first then the birthday celebrator, Leonisa Jo Tanchan escorted into the ballroom by her eldest son, Santiago “Dodong” Jr.

Second item on the menu was the Birthday Woodong Noodles decorated with traditional red-dyed eggs. Very traditional, this dish as a symbol of longevity except that I found the noodles too large and filling since a lot of wonderful goodies was yet to come. The soup was delicious, Winter Melon Eight Treasures Soup with precious ingredients like sea cucumber, mushrooms, dried fish maw, scallops and others. Only problem is that scallops settle at the bottom and you have to fish them for that second serving.

Fried Pigeon came next with each guest savoring half a pigeon each. No way can you eat this with chopsticks; manual labor was required to extract that luscious meat. This was quickly followed by the Prawn BBQ with Salad, Deep fried Crabs with Dried Scallops and Garlic and the Australian Scallops with Broccoli. The crabs and scallops were huge. More hand dexterity was necessary to dig out that delicious meat hiding in the crevices of the crab.

When your host is wealthy and most generous, excuse me, more dishes could be served but stomachs have finite boundaries and a banquet with more than eight dishes would go to waste. At one time, when your favorite food columnist was active in the kitchen, he prepared 16 dishes for one dinner. When dish number eight was served, guests started to groan when they knew that eight more were coming.

Final dish before dessert was the Steamed Live Lapulapu with Soy Sauce. In Chinese culture, this is a symbol of prosperity as the word fish is the homonym for riches and abundance. Eating fish will help your wishes come true.

While the guests were feasting on this wonderful dinner, each branch of the seven children of Leonisa went on stage to entertain guests with their singing, dancing and interpretations of Broadway musicals. Even those members who were abroad gave their greetings through digital means.

My prayer for this occasion would be that the Heavens shower all those present with good fortune that we may be able to participate in the 100th birthday celebration of Mrs. Leonisa Jo Tanchan.