74 hours in Long Beach: The Narrative

My unscheduled trip to Long Beach actually started last April 2005. A group of Pangasinenses visited my father, Commissioner Al Fernandez, to invite him to be again the guest of honor and inducting officer of the Pangasinan Association of Greater Long Beach, Inc. Pepe Palaganas, the incoming president, seemed to have a good foresight at that time and told me that if my father would not be able to make it, they would want me to substitute for him. I gladly obliged. August 2005, my father requested for a personal leave from the DOJ and it was granted. Last August 17, the DFA announced that Garcillano was already out of the country. My father was supposed to leave on August 18, but due to the turn of events at the time, he decided not leave the country. On August 18, I was informed that I need to represent him in Long Beach as Guest of Honor and Inducting Officer. A commitment was made by my father and I was part of the commitment. As a true son and committed public servant, I responsibly accepted the call of the time. I then requested for and was issued Permit to Travel by DILG Sec. Angelo Reyes as I was then the Acting Mayor of Dagupan. August 19, Friday, 10 p.m at Los Angeles. Upon arrival at the U.S., I was met by Paul Quinto (great guy; he was with me the longest), who was in charge of taking care of all dignitaries together with Manny Rabara. They then brought me to the house of Pepe and Lilia Palaganas, incoming President of Pangasinan Association of Greater Long Beach Inc. (PAGLB). I was surprised by a Bienvenida Party attended by all PAGLB officers, including outgoing president Violy Salomon and Pangasinan Brotherhood president Bing dela Vega. The food was great!. Kambing, Kilawin, Lechon Baboy, the works! It was well prepared. (Thank you, Tita Lilia for preparing it with the PAGLB officers). We sang the night away. The girls had their jam sessions, the boys had their barkada session. I was criss crossing from one group to another. The party lasted till 3:30 a.m. with toast master Lemuel Navarette literally toasting everyone. I was then checked in by Tito Pepe and PQ at Holiday Inn Lakewood in Long Beach. (I guess the time difference was responsible for my one and a half hour sleep) August 20, Saturday Today, 10 a.m., Pepe Palaganas, Manny Rabara, Paul Quinto and Jojo Braganza picked me up and had brunch at Russell's restaurant in Lakewood (good food, thank you Jojo). Later, we dropped by the Circuit City to buy a charger since I forgot my charger in Dagupan for the digital camera. At this time, I was feeling the fatigue caused by the trip. We then went to Savvon to buy personal things I will need for my stay, including over the counter medicines, to relieve me. I was then brought back to the hotel at 3 p.m. for a much needed rest. (Jet lag pa rin.) Then comes the Big Event, where I shall stand as Guest of Honor and Speaker, representing my dad, BI Commissioner Al Fernandez. There to greet me were the incoming president, Pepe Palaganas, with first lady Lilia, and outgoing president Violy Salomon, who attached in my barong a Special Guest of Honor PIN, and Councilman Elito Santarina of Carson City. I was impressed with the very organized flow of the program and warm reception given me. Attached is the speech I delivered during the induction. A message seeking assistance from different US-based community associations to build classrooms in their respective Alma Mater in the Philippines as an opportunity to give back to the public school system what these have given to our expatriate Pangasinenses. It was also an opportunity to mingle and have fun with at least 25 Pangasinan community associations’ membership in the area. I then tried to entertain them by singing two Beatles songs: I Saw Her Standing There and A Hard Day’s Night. The program then shifted to the Crowning of Miss PAGLB 2005. I escorted the outgoing Queen, Olive Magsambol, to Crown Mrs. Mary Corpuz. After which we had a midnight snack fellowship at the suite given me by the PAGLB at Holiday Inn Lakewood. There the party lasted for another two hours, where everyone had a great intimate time with each other, coupled with great tasting Filipino cuisine. PAGLB then presented me with their token of appreciation for attending their Grand Induction Ceremonies with a thank you card filled with notes to cover for the transportation to make my trip possible. Thank you very much, PAGLB and thank you, Uncle Pepe for believing in me! August 21, Sunday 8:30AM, Romy and Lydia Ceralde, president of Dagupan City Club picked me up at the hotel and brought me to the Catholic Church at Carson to hear Mass. The Mass was solemn. After that, we met with Nieves Coquia, Gil and Volet Mislang, and Mr. and Mrs. Ben Valencerina. We were treated to lunch by the Dagupan City Club at La Barca Restaurant in Downey. We ordered Virria or goat, which I say was good Mexican dish. (Thank you very much, Tita Lydia. Ang sarrap! Thank you Uncle Romy for your generosity.) We then proceeded to Gil's house at Downey, whose yard was full of different fruit bearing trees. I was then offered to sleep for 30 minutes and I refreshingly accepted it. (Thank you Tita Volet, for your thoughtfulness.) Then, we went to the Brotherhood meeting at Bing dela Vega's house in the City of Bellflower, where we met with the different presidents and officers of the different clubs of Pangasinan. The food was excellent. It was like you never left the Philippines. (saluyot, pakbet, binagoongang upo, dinuguan at puto, lumpia, nilagang mais, buong lechon na baboy, kambing, boneless bangus, turon na saging, bopis). My message was another opportunity for me to promote the construction and funding of school buildings of different associations to their local city or municipality. I also took advantage of promoting the coffee table book being sold by the city thru the Dagupan City Club president Lydia and Romy Ceralde. I was then invited to join Roger and Cecilia Coson who were so warm (malambing). They brought me to Macy's for sweet SEE’S memories I shall be sending my wife and kids. As a sweet couple, they made sure I would be bringing something sweet to my family. (Thank you very much, Tito Roger and Tita Cecilia). There, we met Ads Diaz and Johnny Maramba, who generously assisted in the gifts we shall be sending home.(Thank you very much, Uncle Ads and Uncle Johnny). Uncle Ads was so thoughtful to remember my dad and my mom. (Sabi nga nya, malaki ang pinagsamahan namin ni Al sa Kuwait.) We then proceeded to the Korean BarBQ buffet at Cerritos where we met Louie-Ching Arzadon and Naning and Dory Aoanan. There, we had our sumptuous (sarrap) dinner hosted by the Greater Dagupan City Association of California, with Roger Coson as our host for the night. Johnny Maramba, president of the Bonuan Association of California, then brought me back to my hotel at Holiday Inn. I was impressed by the GPS he has in his car, which acted as our Navigator going back to Lakewood. (Congratulations Tito Johnny, you have maintained your place as the number one distributor of the world’s tastiest bangus in the U.S.) August 22, Monday My last day in the U.S. Uncle Pepe Palaganas and PQ checked me out at Holiday Inn at 8:30 a.m. We had breakfast at IHOP (International House Of Pancakes), Lakewood courtesy of president Pepe. A traditional American breakfast which was very filling. We then proceeded to Macy's at Cerritos for last minute shopping for my children and later to the Banning’s Community Center at Wilmington Harbor to attend the regular weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Wilmington which meets every Monday at 12:15PM. (Thank you, Tito Bing for arranging the meeting where I became an instant resource speaker about Dagupan City). The Rotary Club of Wilmington was founded in 1928. It currently has a membership of 15 who are all able and active Rotarians bringing projects that are considered of great impacts to their community. (Uncle Pepe and Uncle PQ are being invited to join their club) Being very close to the clinic of my Uncle Hector, I took the opportunity to see him. He then called the Ate of my Dad, Tita Paz, to inform her that I was proceeding to meet her at their Palos Verde residence. At 6 pm., we met Bing De la Vega at TODAI (Japanese buffet restaurant), Cerritos, where I had the time of my life with a buffet of lobsters and Alaskan crab legs. (Thank you, Tito Bing, for a memorable dinner and for your thoughtfulness).Hurriedly, we drove to the airport just to find out that my flight was delayed. I was met by Romy and Lydia Ceralde who were thoughtful to send me off. Luckily Jojo Braganza and Romy Ceralde are well connected with PAL Manager Narciso Cervantes who was very helpful in checking me in and very accommodating in the request of the group to make my flight comfortable. Since the flight was delayed for two hours, the boys, Tito Bing, Tito Pepe, Tito PQ and Jojo Braganza stayed with me until before take off. We had leisure drinks at the Daily Grill Bar, LAX. THE TRIP TO LOS ANGELES WAS TRULY MEMORABLE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND KABALEYANS WHO MADE OUR STAY COMFORTABLE AND WARM. I HOPE SOMEDAY WE WILL BE ABLE TO REPAY YOUR GENEROSITY AND KINDNESS WHEN YOU VISIT THE CITY OF DAGUPAN. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Mabuhay ang Pangasinan! Mabuhay ang Dagupan! May GOD Bless us all!