MEDIUM RARE
For one reason or another, the four of us alumnae, belonging to different batches, missed the big homecoming, the one marking the 50th anniversary of Immaculate Conception Academy Alumnae Association. To make up for it, we had our own little reunion – a reunion of four, four years after the Covid-19 pandemic.
As usual, Anita Austria offered her patio, big and brilliantly lighted for her long dining table to display all the gorgeous food coming from Linda Panutat’s kitchen. It was also the perfect time to congratulate Robina Gokongwei Pe for her promotion to CEO of Robinsons group of companies. Anita, Linda, Robina, and myself, we meet to eat, once or twice a year to taste Linda’s latest inventions – she’s an expert in Thai cooking, too.
Part of the appeal of those meetings is picking up the latest gossip, ICA-related or not. There was a fleeting mention of “a man running away with another man’s wife,” but the rumor did not have legs for lack of names, his and hers. (As far as I’m concerned, the real shocker would be when a man ran away with another man.)
I was more interested in Robina’s son, Justin, who according to the grapevine has been trying to outrun, outwit what I would call a tribe of prospective mothers-in-law – they’re interested in his movements, his whereabouts, even his addresses. What can his father, Atty. Perry Pe, do to discourage the ladies? Then again, why should he?
Justin, 29, hopes to invent the world’s best-selling confectionery. The family business includes crisps and snacks, so maybe the company’s just waiting for Justin’s candy to take it to the sweet side.
Fresh from a trip to Bali where she stood as a wedding sponsor, Robina joined our party for a secondary reason: to break her own record of consuming 16 servings of Linda’s famous abalone salad. This time, she stopped at no. 10.
The rest of us cheered her on, but there were other temptations: seabass, duck in curry sauce with lychee, shrimp, chicken, sapin-sapin, grapes, oranges, and dikkiam to end the meal.
Linda’s kitchen magic is legendary – “I have only two assistants” – the more so because her daytime job is a demanding one: SM Malls’ wall-to-wall indoor advertising.