The bordeaux boys

Out of the blue, I stumbled upon this email that raised my eyebrow. I never expected to receive a message from a long lost friend. He is not just an ordinary friend... this one knows me... he knew who I was and certainly knew what "stupid" things I have done before.

Laser James Galang, whom we fondly call Jembong, is one of the original five members of the Bordeaux Boys? A what? Bordeaux? Huh! it sounds corny not to mention it's a name of a wine but that's how we label our group.

During my high school days, we were proud to associate ourselves to something or someone that defines our style, our taste, and our personality. And the famous groups at that time were Bagets and Menudo. Well for us, I remember we had one whole Saturday brainstorming for the name of our group; picking words from the dictionary, combining the initials of our name, pseudo-name a famous pinoy band Hiyas, but eventually ends up with Harold's choice - Bordeaux.

Oh, I almost forgot. The other three were the bully Harold Gallego, the smart-ass Victor Marte, and the ever slowmo-man Reynaldo Bautista. Yeah, I put names to my friend, and you may ask... what is my name tag? James was the handsome good boy... and Jorge was the dancer-ous.

We used to hang out at Jembong's place, our favorite hole, because we can spend whole the day playing Atari for free, watch Conan the Barbarian in a Betamax over and over without getting bored, tag along with James while learning the piano, and if we get tired... we simply go down in the ground floor and play bowling or billiard. Yeah, that's how rich my friend was. James' family owns the only recreational center in our town and needless to say, having him as our friend is like having a unlimited access to the best toys in town. Hehehe... those were our good ole days.

Sad to say, I didn't hear from my friends after graduation. We were like young Alexander over eager to conquer the world when our parents unleashed us to the real world. Harold went to Iloilo city for college, Victor went to some unknown place to try his luck with technical courses, Rey went to Davao to take up Chemical Engineering and at the same time work part time at Venee's Hotel, James joined his siblings in Manila to take up Engineering, and... me... I really never had any plans yet because I know my parents cannot afford to send me to higher education.

But.. on the fateful day of May 4, 1985, I got a chance to change my life... forever. Well, i just received a blessing - three scholarship for college. Hehehe..!


Twenty year! See how fast time fly?

Hmm... are you asking what was the message of James to me? Nah, I will not share it with you. It's private... sorry. But don't worry, someday... i'll publish it in my blog.