March 25 - 31, 1962

March 25 - Sunday


First think I’d like to say is that I’m going to Baguio tomorrow. Lita has invited me and we’re staying for 4 days! Yipee! I’ve packed all my things and I’m rarin to go. Baguio, you old loveable city, here I come. I went to the ANC after Mass. The usual gang were all there. Conchita had lunch with my Mom and Dad and later Dad dropped us off at the Rizal to see “The Greatest Show On Earth” and everyone was there too. I sat beside Mary and Dita. I congratulated Mari V. and he did same right back to me. Outside in the lobby I met Arno, the Whirlpools and Ginny Andrews. Arno kept making a point that he was going to Ginny’s house to see Ginny (Brooks) and Beli and that Carlos would be there too. He was being a bit obnoxious. Ginny Andrews dropped in at the Polo Club. Linggoy was playing polo and his team won. Conchita was on her usual cloud about him. We saw Spik down by the swimming pool. Maripaz, Lorraine, etc., were also there. Later we were looking through the Teen Guest book and we saw a lot of the guys’ we knows signature including Carlos. Tita Nena Araneta saw me and I kissed her hello and she invited me to sit with them a while (at the Tea Dance after the polo match). Linggoy said hello and I congratulated him. Maite, his sister, is a lot of fun. I met Carmyr Singh’s sister and a girl named Carla Zulueta who after a while asked me if I knew CARLOS GARCIA (of all people) and Baby Alvarez. It turns out she leaves across the street from Carlos. We came home in a taxi. Right now, I’ve wiped Carlos and Arno out of my mind. Right now, its Baguio here I come!



March 26 - Monday - Baguio

We left for Baguio at 9:30 this morning - Lita, her parents and I. The trip here was wonderful. The delicious smell of pines is so wonderful. I can’t say enough things about it and this cold, fresh air - well some dreams come true! Our rooms here at the Baguio Country Club are comfortable and cosy (with hot water in the bathrooms). After our baths, we took a long walk through Camp John Hay and that cold air sure does things to my morale and appetite. Later Lita, her parents and I went to see “Flower Drum Song” with Nancy Kuan who is so lovely. We ate a delicious dinner of t-bone steaks at the “Rose Bowl.” We walked a lot and the cold air and pines and flowers just make me feel glad I’m alive. I feel so cozy and happy in the room on the bed that I could be here forever. My appetite is better and everything is just marvelous. Only one thing which I can’t seem to escape is the thought of Carlos.



March 27 - Tuesday - Baguio

I slept pretty well last night and woke up with Baguio’s cold, clean, pine air in my nostrils. Lita and I ate a hearty breakfast of juice, waffles, bacon, bread, papaya and milk shakes. We took a jeep and went to Tita Trining’s house on Legarda Road. No one was there. We walked to the market then to St. Louis School. I bought three fine, lovely, silver bracelets and gave Mom’s butterfly pin to be repaired. We came back here to the Country Club and since we were tired, we slept from 10:30 to 12:30 pm. We ate lunch with Lita’s parents (hamburger steak, soup, rice, salad and milk shakes - yummy!). This afternoon we took a bus and went on a tour of Camp John Hay. There were some very attractive guys there at the Tea House. We came back to the Club and I bathed while Lita dozed. After freshening up, we went to the Dining Room and ate a delicious supper of adobo with vegetables, muffins and a little glass of vermouth. We later sat by the fireside and played cards. Lita played bowling while I read “The Nun’s Story.” Its so wonderful and peaceful here I don’t ever want to leave. This air is unmatched anywhere else and I feel so free, at peace and contented and happy.



March 28 - Wednesday - Baguio

This morning, Tita Chat, Lita and I went downtown. Later we came back to the Country Club. We napped for a while and ;then I ate a light lunch of soup because my stomach feels like a drum since I haven’t been you know what. (Gee, Lea, how delicate of you!) This afternoon, we went bowling again and dressed later for dinner. We went to the Halfway House (that’s at Camp John Hay) for dinner and there were a lot of attractive service men there, natch. We had a delicious dinner. We came back to the Club at 9 pm. We danced the twist in our bras and chemises and had a pillow fight. We were pretty wild for a while but calmed down after a bit. Right now, Lita is talking to her darling Morris over the phone. I simply cannot stop thinking of Carlos and how perfect it would all be if he were here. I guess nobody can stop me from dreaming....



March 29 - Thursday - Baguio

Lita and I went to the St. Louis School to pick up Mom’s pin. We passed by Morris’s house and Lita dared me to go in but I haven’t got that much nerve. We came back to the Country Club and went bowling again with Entang del Prado. My score is steadily improving, at last. This afternoon, we ate lunch and slept a while. Later Morris called Lita and said he was picking us up to go for a drive. So, I finally met Morris and I think he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met in a long time. His sister Susie seems to be nice and fun loving but Morris is just the nicest. He isn’t handsome but he’s very attractive. He’s got a great sense of humor and many times when I looked him straight in the eye I had to lower my gaze. Anyway, he “belongs” to Lita. Tomorrow we leave for crummy Manila. I hope I get a chance to come back here. Morris must have had a pretty scatterbrained impression of me. I was pretty silly. I’m afraid Morris has made a very deep impression on me. (It must be the older guy, tall, dark, handsome thing.....) While we were at his house, I wasn’t aware of anyone else, only him. Oh hell!



March 30 - Friday

Well, here I am back in Manila and all I can say is as soon as I get the teeniest chance back to Baguio I go. We left for Manila at 8 am after eating a hearty breakfast. Usually I’m blabbing all the way but this time on the way back down to Manila I didn’t utter a world. I only sang a little. All I could think of was that I was leaving those pines, cold air, mountains, and lets face it - Morris. I kept re-living those wonderful 2 hours with him (and did I not remember that he was Lita’s boyfriend?!!) Carlos was momentarily forgotten. I have a tiny suspicion that if I’m with Morris one more time, I’ll fall for him and that wouldn’t do at all since Lita has a hands off sign on him and I wouldn’t hurt Lita for the world. I like her too much and she’s one of my best friends so I’m going to forget I ever met Morris Tani - try anyway. (40 years later.........) We arrived home at quarter to 2 pm. I talked with Conchita and Mercy over the phone. Conchita and Luli were at the Polo Club last Wednesday and they were with Carlos and Linggoy. It seems Linggoy is giving Margie Casas the rush and Carlos had to borrow Luli’s suntan oil since he wasn’t very successful in getting tanned with (brace yourself) Vaseline hair tonic! (Ok, I never said he was a rocket scientist!) They spent the whole afternoon talking with him and having a great time. Why is it something always makes me miss out on these wonderful chances to get acquainted with Carlos?! I think God does this purposely since talking with Carlos would make me like him even more and anyway, my friends think he is going steady with a girl from the American School. So any chances I may have had, slim as they were, are now completely hopeless. I might as well forget about him. Of course I just complicated my life by getting attracted to another boy - Morris - who is off limits.



March 31 - Saturday

This morning us girls helped arrange the furniture for the party tonight. (Party, tonight?)

I spent the afternoon making sandwiches. The party proceeded very well. Everyone liked my straight hair and dress. At first Arno, Chiqui and Eddie Gonzalez were talking with me. Later more people began arriving. As soon as Beli arrived, Arno’s attitude changed completely. I can’t explain how but he became sort of aloof and I also caught Beli looking at me once or twice very coldly but said hello very warmly. The Whirlpools came and Fritz and I chatted many times during the evening. He does groovy imitations of Carlos singing and loves to tease me about it. Incidentally Carlos did not go but somehow I didn’t care and this comes as a surprise to me???!!! Maybe I’m finally getting over him. Fritz is very nice and Magu seems to take him very much for granted. She’ll be sorry some day. Honey was his wonderful old self this evening. He chatted with me, teased and joked and for Honey to ask me to sit and talk to him, well that was something! Honey can be adorable when he wants to. I danced quite a few times though I wished Arno had danced with me at least once. He dances so well but that’s my hard luck. Many times during the night I felt so alone all of a sudden in that crowded room. Funny, the one person who I wish had been there was not Carlos but Morris! Lita is a lucky girl and if only he were Catholic and not a Jew. (Geez, did I actually write this but I’m looking at this 40 plus years later but then I only meant it in the our-religions-don’t-mix way. Still in these “pc” times, it seems harsh.) I’ve just got to get back to Baguio and don’t think its because of Morris but its that wonderful city and climate. Conchita’s spirits were a little dampened since Linggoy, after all his big talk, did not go. Darn him, the least he could have done was go for at least an hour. Tony Ortigas was his usual handsome, devastating self. He brought the records he promised and when you look past the fact that he’s so handsome, you find out he’s so nice too. Fritz brought me home at 1:20 am. Mom and Dad are fast asleep. It’s been a nice party yet there was something missing and I dare not analyze what.