Valentine Dinners (Part 2) The Russians have arrived

My second Valentine dinner occurred on Valentine's Day itself to share a  day of happiness as a Russian and a Filipina exchanged their marriage vows at the beachfront of Microtel Grand Resorts Mactan.

The love affair began in Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte last May 2009. Deep sea fishing/sport fishing, then a stroll on the beach where these two lovely people eyeballed, talk gamay, discovering so many common interests like the love of the sun, sea, sand, food and travel; hearts and hormones began to activate, e-mail to keep the torch burning and long distance bills between Russia and the Philippines started to accumulate.

The Russian gentleman is Victor Sergeevich Saminskiy, a graduate of Wood Technology Engineering and Microsoft System Engineering in Moscow, Russia. He has started a business here called Quickpay Phils., a state of the art system in bills payment, electronic prepaid loading and ticketing that has gained momentum in Eastern Europe. The Filipina is Emmylou Matugas Abejo (friends, including my daughter Abigail Alonso, call her Melot), graduate of Advertising, Educational Management and Finance in Manila, Cebu and New York, USA. She is the Proprietor and Managing Director of WoodRidge School and other business interests operated by the Matugas-Abejo clans in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Love bloomed and the inevitable, marriage, happened and my wife and I went to witness the crowning of this Russian-Filipina love affair including family and friends from Russia and the U.S.A. The rest who could not come, including my daughter who had prior commitments abroad, well… cell phone greetings na lang.

Dr. Sergey E. Saminskiy and Dr. Tatyana V. Saminskaya joined their son, Victor at the altar to welcome the bride, Melot, escorted by her mom, Elizabeth M. Abejo and uncle, Rep. Francisco T. Matugas. Principal Sponsors were IIia V. Shurygin, Engr. Ernesto T. Matugas, Dr. Ramezan Ghassemi, Ronnie S. Tiu, Jack Gaisano, Atty.Grace Diores-Tudtud, Conchita S. Uy, Adelaida Ghassemi, Dr. Sol F. Matugas and Russian Consul Armi L. Garcia.

After the marriage contracts were signed and sealed by Judge Victor A. Teves, your favorite food columnist took photos to share with his beloved followers. Soup was Tom Yum and the dishes on display were Fettuccine in Pesto, Spicy Adobong Pusit with Black Ink, Sweet and Sour Fish and a chicken dish I could no longer remember.

Then I took a look at the food items that were undergoing slow roast at that moment: Lechon, Legs of Calf and Pacific Lobsters, airlifted, excuse me, from the Matugas Lobster Farm. These dishes definitely activated my salivary glands and pity on those poor folks in Surigao, abstain sa from eating lobsters! And seafood that were harvested minutes before being cooked always has that taste which ordinary folks like me call "tam-is." Other food enthusiasts call it "Umami."

And the fun part at the end of dinner was the launching of the miniature hot air balloons which has become a fad in Thailand. After several frustrating minutes of building enough hot air, my balloon, took off, then almost crashed at the shore line but finally lifted majestically to the skies. Hopefully, the wish will come true soon.