Thursday, 30th September …..

The Rotary Club of Calamba decided to give us a farewell party tonight which means caterers are employed, tables are set up in the outdoor area and the karaoke comes out. Kit’s oldest son, Raoul, brought his family along and we had gifts for his new baby and the two sons. The older boy, Ramon, wasn’t there so his gift was set aside – a Time 2011 Almanac, which we thought was a pretty good gift for a 13-year old. Rex surreptitiously opened the present and has become so interested in the book, he won’t give it up. It looks like we will have to replace it.

Rex was encouraged to give up his baby bottles so Marilyn suggested he put them in a gift bag and present them to his new cousin, baby Addie. He took this on board quite well and the ceremony was cheerfully carried out.

There was a good crowd from the rotary club and the caterers excelled themselves and, after several bottles of red wine, the party was certainly starting to heat up. Sadly, the karaoke was a disappointment and I wasn’t able to trot out my prize-winning performance of Piano Man. Oh, well, there’s always next year.