Anywhere you go in California, New York or Vegas, the Pinoys are almost everywhere. Thousands of them you see in churches, malls, and restaurants and more especially at Filipino markets where Pinoy products are available much to the chagrin of others. More of the Filipinos come from the north.
The Visayans usually have their own community or organization. Last week we wrote about the Bisaya Picnic held as a yearly affair by the Cebuano-speaking Pinoys.
And speaking of Cebuanos, our very own girls…Trixie Lebumfacil, Tata Ynclino, Winnie Murillo and Jovita Manguerra Thayer gathered friends at the home of Mariquit Ong Veloso, wife of the late prominent surgeon of Victorville, CA to welcome this scribe. Mariquit’s children who were there were: Internist Dr. Angelo “Toto” Ong Veloso, Dr. Glenn Ong Veloso and Madeleine Ong Veloso. Also there were long time friend Annie Rabor, wife of the late Dr. Tony Rabor, Roxanne and Derek Murillo and others who are actually not Cebuanos. We had fun reminiscing our days at Chong Hua Hospital while we savored the sumptuous lunch they prepared for the gathering.
Other Cebuanos we met were Nicnic Cabucos and wife Cherryl with daughters Angel and Therese from Calgary, Alberta, Canada who came to California to visit cousins Gerry and Fiza Du. They spent three days with other relatives in LA but most of their stay was on a shopping spree since Cherryl was so fascinated to no end with the marvelous dresses and bags from Banana Republic, GAP, Ann Taylor, Talbots to name a few at the famous South Coast Plaza Mall in Orange County, Ca. According to her, in Canada, shopping for clothes is very expensive. And so, she splurged on clothes and shoes. Omigosh!