The Sixth

Six years ago, 05 November 2001, Cecile and I marched down the aisle at the Church of Vietnamese Martyr in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

It was wedding planned in five days, after Fr. Tony Salas or “Pads” as he is fondly called agreed to marry us while we were having breakfast at Legend Hotel, along Ton Duc Thang. Just across the Saigon River. After that breakfast, we quickly went into high gear. Went to Khai Silk, along Dong Khoi, for our wedding attire. I do need to scan and upload a picture.


Within those five days, Kath Mojica, maid of honor, organized a bridal shower at her house. While I had a stag party, with Bong Banal and other McCann friends like Maung Maung, Thang and Lee.


We also met with Bert and Ditas Lara at United Pharmaceutical. Both were the “elders” in CFC (Couple’s for Christ). And invited Sally Carino for dinner at our home. Both Bert and Sally would eventually be our ninong and ninang! Fr. Pads again met us at Amara Hotel for our own pre-CANA meeting. He gave us tips and insights on what lies ahead in our marriage.


Cecile says, “Today it has come full circle” as it was a Monday when we got married in Vietnam, and today, is also a Monday.
Another circle as today in the Tech Times of the Manila Times, my 6th column was published. Agnes Francisco of McCann says, “Ang sweet ng greeting card mo” as she refers to my personal greeting in my column in the Manila Times.

To quote these greetings, “Thanks to e-mail technology, I got replies from Google, Yahoo! and Research in Motion. But most of all, e-mail technology helped Cecile and I overcome an LDR and contribute to our celebration today of our 6th year of marital bliss. Happy anniversary to us and I hope we can get more personal time!”