MEDIUM RARE

When Sebastian Chua throws a birthday party, as he did last week, it’s bound to mutate, as it always does, into an anniversary celebration or reunion. Old friends meet again, some of the new faces from last year are back. There must’ve been 300 people in Ballroom C of East Ocean Palace, and when it was chow time they formed two long lines inching toward the buffet of lechon, steamed shrimp, noodles, broccoli, siomai. As democratic as the gathering was meant to be, a VIP table was reserved for Sen. Cynthia Villar, Jojo Binay, Chavit Singson, Isko Moreno, Antonio Trillanes IV, and Mayor Francis Zamora without his father, Rony, and uncle, Manny, both of whom are members of Baste’s Thursday Club. Is there a Saturday or Friday Club? Next year I’ll remember to ask. At the ladies’ table sat Charo, Lulu, Odette, Mrs. Monteverde, with WCY and Robert occasionally dropping by from their table to look after our welfare and catch any whisperings of scandal; unfortunately, the ladies were too lady-like to spread anything of the kind. What was clear was that the presence of so many hundreds gathered in the building’s five ballrooms, named after the first five letters of the alphabet and all located on the third floor, likely contributed to the jamming of signals – it would’ve been a good excuse, then and there, to demonstrate the power of Xiaomi’s smartphones. Baste’s company is the exclusive distributor of Xiaomi, which manufactures everything hi-tech from phones to cameras and robot vacuum cleaners, even a “smart cooking robot.” Throughout the dinner and in intervals of 60 seconds, a Xiaomi product was being given away to the delight of one and all. Baste’s Girl Friday, Clarita, worked the ballroom to make sure everyone was fine, including those who did not win any of the raffle prizes. It was almost not a surprise to learn that the biggest prize was a 50” TV. What was the surprise was this message: “All my good friends who attended this birthday party will be entitled to a 10 percent discount on all Xiaomi products.” Alas, offer good only until March 6, 2023. But that’s Baste, giving away loads of gifts, instead of receiving them, on his birthday.