A place where you’re bound to bump into friends

Friday, Oct. 4, was a classic case of serendipity. That day, I was invited to cut the ribbon for the “One Town, One Product (OTOP) Food Fair” of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) at Glorietta Center. While I was going around the activity center with my daughter Gabbie, I bumped into long-time friend Keren Pascual as he sampled the various foods.

When we got tired from walking, we decided to try the newly opened Thai restaurant Cha Tra Mue on the second floor. While we enjoyed refreshing glasses of Thai milk tea, Leah Puyat (sister-in-law of my cousin Nina Daza-Puyat) joined us. She was supposed to meet Keren earlier but was delayed because of the Friday traffic.

Leah then ordered kropek and I also ordered the mango with sticky rice to go with our drinks. After about an hour, Leah spotted former ramp model Suyen Chi, who to this day has maintained her looks and slim physique. Soon all five of us were gossiping and laughing.

I didn’t want the chat to end but I promised Gabbie that I’d take her to the newly reopened Sugi, our favorite Japanese restaurant, at Garden Towers right across Glorietta. I invited Keren, Leah, and Suyen to join us for dinner and they happily agreed.

When we got to Sugi at exactly 6 p.m., there were already diners inside. I made the mistake of not making a reservation but luckily Ria Lim, the floor manager and my ex-cousin-in-law (the Lim family owns Sugi, and Manuel Lim, Ria’s cousin, is my first ex-husband) was able to accommodate us.

The first diner we spotted was Rowena Tomeldan of Ayala Malls who was having dinner with colleagues. And then, seated next to our table, was Jim Fuentebella of Max’s Group of Restaurants with his siblings.

A few tables away from us was Cecille “Chuvanes” Zamora who dropped by our table to say hello. While we were enjoying our appetizers (haikara maki, spicy tuna sashimi, salmon sashimi, kari-kari bones, edamame, kaiware kani salad), I got a call from Florabel Co-Yatco who heard we were at the DTI trade fair earlier and was checking if we were still at Glorietta. I told her we were already at Sugi and invited her to join us.

In a few minutes, Florabel joined our party as well. And because a