Like No Other

Attending the induction of the Museum Foundation officers seemed like visiting a medieval monastery filled with antiques, statues of saints and cherubims carved during the colonial period, and old paintings. The uncommonly high ceiling tapering off to a pyramid-shaped roof, and the candles illuminating the living room deepened the charmingly old-world ambiance.

What was this unique place? The Q.C. residence of Jesus "Susing" and Maritess R. Pineda. Special guests, among others, were Ambassadors Gilles Chouraqui, Theo Arnold and his statuesque, exotic wife Kessara, Deanna Ongpin Recto, FA Adviser/First Secretary of RP’s Permanent Delegation to the UNESCO, Gina de Venecia, Isagani Yambot and Jose Manuel "Babes" Romualdez.

The superb native menu was "climaxed" by bibingka and suman–delicious!–and the delightful musical, which followed, inevitably turned into an entertaining "contest" (a most friendly one, to be sure) between Eileen Espinosa Cura and tenor Lionel Guico who sang operatic arias, and Ramon "Chinggoy" Alonso who sang hits from Broadway and the West End. Batangas impresario Tony Pastor surprised the audience with wonderful piano renditions of Mozart and Chopin.

Immediate past president Tata Labrador, who had accomplished so much during her tenure, was succeeded by the equally energetic Maribel Ongpin as the new president. Gracious Gina de Venecia, in an exquisite terno, inducted the new Museum Foundation of the Philippines’ officers who were likewise in elegant evening wear.

After the induction, the night really began: guests still suffused with the holiday spirit, took to the floor to "trip the light fantastic" (Milton’s words) and danced till the wee hours! No doubt, the absent trustees–Ching Escaler, Amando Doronila, Robert Lane, Ambeth Ocampo and Cynthia Valdes–missed an evening like no other.