Brotherhood of Scholars Program II - 2010:

A Running Pictorial of Brods Ezzy Escoto & Allan Ibanez' USA Visit

** October 13, Wednesday: Despedida in Manila, Philippines **

Ezzy Escoto & Allan Ibanez get airline tickets and bucks from Rolly Reyes, Kim Cabatit & Ollie Jumao-as

 ** Day 1 - October 16, Saturday: Aboard Hawaiian Airlines (Port of entry - Honolulu, Hawaii) **

Arrival at Los Angeles International (LAX) - October 16, Saturday, 10pm

Dinner at Denny's

First American meal: Chicken barbecue & Philly cheese steak

l-r: Edsel & Mayette Arceo, Art Martin, Pat Escalante, Allan Ibanez, Ezzy Escoto & Nonoy Bautista

** Day 2 - October 17, Sunday: Lunch fellowship at GP Edsel Arceo's residence **

Allan & Ezzy present the Diliman resident fraternity projects and activities from their pc

Brothers of all ages, for the ages

               Seated:    Manny Gatmaitan'67, Bernie Bacosa'71, Art Martin'69 & Hernan Tabamo'61.

               Standing: Hermie San Luis'59, Ezzy Escoto'10, Edsel Arceo'73, Allan Ibanez'09, Jun Valenzuela'73,

                             Nonoy Bautista'60, Aman Carolino'71, Norman Bituin'65, Manny Boado'69 & Danny Galoso'65.

** Day 3 - October 18, Monday: Various Downtown L.A. **

At Dr. Art Martin's animal hospital

Filipino Town

L.A. River

Universal Studios

Chinatown

Disney Theatre

Hollywood

** Day 4 - October 19, Tuesday: Getty Museum, LACMA **

Getty Museum

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Paris Hilton admiring the handsome Betan dorbs

** Day 5 - October 20, Wednesday: Board of Education, Rotary Club, Univ. of Redlands **

Brods Allan and Ezzy exchanging jokes with young students who are future teachers. I don't know what was happening but both groups of young ladies talking to our Brods were laughing and giggling and having fun! Napalaban ang mga Beta Sigma. Thank you Brods Allan and Ezzy for engaging with my University of Redlands without preparation. -- Joe 69C

As you can see from the photos, Brods Allan and Ezzy were having a ball. Ezzy, did you ask for Jasmine's e-mail address or phone number? Allan, your Beta Sigma cigarette mark looks gross!!!! Who burned your hand and why? -- Joe 69C
 

                        ** Day 6 - October 21, Thursday: Americana Glendale, Cal Tech, USC,

                                                                             El Pueblo, Universal Citywalk **

** Days 7-8 - October 22-23, Friday-Saturday: Las Vegas, UNLV **

The Strip

Brods Allan, Joe & Ezzy sporting a University of Redlands sweatshirt! -- Joe 69C

Beta Sigma Scholars want to have some fun, too!!!! What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!
Joe'69, Edsel '73, Nonoy '60 and the new blood of Betan Scholars!!!!! -- Joe'69c

Downtown - Old Las Vegas

University of Nevada in Las Vegas (UNLV)

Buffet with ex-GP Eding Hizon

** Day 9 - October 24, Sunday: Arrival noon in Sacramento - Capitol, Old Town, etc. **

          Sacramento International Airport                               Upon arrival, a crash course in California system of government

                                  Inside the Sacramento Capitol                               Entrance of the California Governor's Office

 Gallery of the California State Assembly

California Capitol grounds

Cowboy country of Old Town Sacramento

    Sacramento River with steam ship turned hotel and restaurant              Drawbridge of Sacramento, one of the city's landmarks

          Beside Tatang's flowers-and-fruits painting                                                       At the garden of Tatang

 Allan & Ezzy with the Sacramento DVMs: Dr. Fred Aquino'57, Dr. Narsing Lapuz'48,

 Dr. Cecilio & Anita Felix'52, and Dr. Emy Fajardo'57 & niece Beep

Narcing '48 advises: "MAINTAINING YOUR (ACADEMIC) STANDING IS YOUR HIGHEST PRIORITY"

 Welcome Dinner by Sacramento Betans & Wives

** Day 10 - October 25, Monday: Oracle, Folsom, Sierra College, UC Davies, etc. **

                        Oracle Training Center in Rocklin                            At Dept. of Motor Vehicles in Rocklin to observe efficient service

At Sierra College to gain some insight on the community college system of America

At Tatang son Victor's house with grandma Mercy and "apo" Jaena and backyard athletic courts in Granite Bay

Folsom Lake - a source of drinking water and a favorite picnic grounds of  UP NorCal

Growing Old in America: RP dorbs interact with senior citizens at Hart Senior Center in Sacramento

                      Sacramento County Main Building                                      Chambers of Sacramento County Board of Trustees

 Inside compound of one of Sacramento's many Victorian houses                                 Visit to the County Courthouse

At Tatang nephew Reggie's 2-level boat

Mondavi Arts and Culture Center in UC Davies

Ezzy & Allan with Kiko Delmendo, Gerry Abenes, Frank Morales & Tatang

"Dorming in" at Gerry & Lleva Abenes' home

** Day 11 - October 26, Tuesday: Wine Country tour - Napa Valley **

Ezzy & Allan with Kiko Delmendo & Gene Samson on a fun wine-tasting romp

The high-jumping geeks

Culinary Institute of America

Artesa Winery

Inside the Sattui Winery cellar: could last a few jugalugs with the brods, maybe...

Mondavi Winery

Picnic time at the grapeyards

Pumpkin pie anyone?

** Day 12 - October 27, Wednesday: San Francisco, Dinner at Ike's **

San Francisco - Bay Area

                             San Francisco City Hall                                                             Lombard - the Crookedest Street

                                  Exploratorium                                                                                 Fisherman's Wharf

The most famous SF landmark - Golden Gate Bridge

Haight-Ashbury - center of the American hippie counterculture in the '60's

                               SF Victorian homes                                                                                      Pier 39

Sausalito in Marin County

Touring with UPLB kingpins Eric Punzalan & Manolo Banzon

With Gene Samson, Gabby Moraleda, Cy Abiog & Other Pretty Ladies

Dinner at Ike & Tanya Araneta's in Palo Alto

                   Seated: Fay, May, Loret, Ezzy, Allan, Tanya, Cy. Standing: Gabby, Cyrus, Pogs, Babes, Manolo, Winston, Ike.

** Day 13 - October 28, Thursday: Palo Alto - Google, Apple, Stanford, etc. **

Overlooking Silicon Valley

HP, Apple

Google

"Basically, our goal is to organize the world's information and to

  make it universally accessible and useful." - Larry Page

"The Internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand,

 the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had." -- Eric Schmidt

Facebook

Stanford University

Ezzy, Ike & Allan at Stanford Chapel

Statistics - Allan's college of interest, for grad school?

Engineering (Physics) - Ezzy's college of interest, for grad school?

                            Bill Gates Computer Science                                                               The Gay Varsitarians

As you walk to the inner Quad you will see the Rodin sculpture on the left, the Burghers of Calais. During the 100 years war, the French town of Calais was under siege by the English and supplies were running low. Rather than force everyone to starve, Edward III demanded the town's most intelligent and influential people sacrifice themselves to save the town. Six men stepped forward to save their city and face their death, but England's Queen stopped the execution, afraid that it would bring bad luck to her unborn child. The statue honors the courage of the six men who offered their lives for their town.

** Day 14 - October 29, Friday: Mendel Biotechnology, Oracle Arena **

Lleva Abenes with Ezzy & Allan at Mendel Biotechnology

Dutch Aragones with Ezzy & Allan at Oracle Arena

Golden State Warriors beats Los Angeles Clippers, score 109-91

** Day 15 - October 30, Saturday: UC Berkeley, Halloween party **

UC Berkeley

Ezzy & Allan with GP Gerry Abenes at Sproul Hall, a site of early protests against the Vietnam War

Sather Gate

 "This soil and anything space above it shall not be part of any nation

 and not subject to any entity's jurisdiction"

Unprecedented Free Speech Movement in honor of its leader Mario Savio

Inside Senior Scientist Dr. Gerry's (DVM, MVSc, PhD) lab at UC Berkeley Division of Infectious Diseases

Sitting under a prehistoric fern

The Campanille or Sather Tower is mostly built of California granite

Halloween party at Ding & Julie Cavestany's in Hayward

Where's Allan & Ezzy?

A very special Halloween trick-or-treat party

                        As Eileen Basbas said to them during the meeting - "There is no other that compares to the sense

                        of brotherhood that our fraternity members have for one another and that wherever you may find

                        yourself in this world in the company of the brods, you will find this to be undeniably self-evident."

                        Can't say that she may have said it exactly this way, but I believe that it's pretty close to what she

                        meant. Enjoy....Mabuhay ang UP Beta Sigma!

                        Ike'71, 10-31-10

** Day 16 - October 31, Sunday: Great America in San Jose **

(No pictures available)

** Days 17-19 - November 1-3, Monday-Wednesday: Hawaii **

Yay Topacio, dad of Luigi'10, touring the young dorbs

Miller (or is Heineken) time?

Dole Plantation

Matsumoto ice shave

Orly Orlino, Allan & Yay Topacio

Ezzy at Pearl Harbor and a spectacular Hawaiian view

Allan at Pearl Harbor and with US Navy Logistic Officer Brod Bong Jamir 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Letters of Thanks

(1) From Ezzy Escoto '10B

Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2010 05:53:25 +0800
From: esmerando_escoto05@yahoo.com.ph
Subject: Thank you very much!
To: gbabenes@gmail.com; arceo321@aol.com; yaytopacio@yahoo.com; tatang_up@hotmail.com

Brods,

I can still recall vividly our first hours in Los Angeles. I was overcome with awe, admiring the lights and sounds and the distinctly different air of America. Allan and I didn't know where and when we will meet our brods; I even thought of riding a cab to the Denny's just in case we weren't able to meet them at the airport. While we were waiting at the carousel, Brods Edsel Arceo and Bernie Bacosa saw and approached us. Weirdly, I was amused at how closely they resemble the pictures I saw at the website. It's like I still can't truly believe I'm in the USA.

At that time, I was still amazed that this Brotherhood of Scholars Program 2010 did push through. After many discussions and plans with Brods Kim Cabatit, Rolly Reyes, Poti Aparato, and Founder Rico Arranz done inside coffee shops and a beer house and after many problems regarding the schedules of our appointments for our passports and visas, our businesses with the DFA (thanks to Brod Jimmy Yambao, whose letter made us treated as VIP's during our application for passports) and the US Embassy went smoothly. There are three moments which really stuck to my mind: the moment our visa application got approved by the consul, the moment we bought the plane ticket in Makati accompanied by Brod Ollie Jumao-as, and the moment our plane parted from the ground. These are the moments where I thought to myself, "Tuloy na tuloy na nga!" then after some seconds I would then ask myself, "Totoo ba 'to?"

The Los Angeles tour was overwhelming! Just looking out of the car's window was very entertaining for me, seeing things I only saw before on movies. Looking through the window even felt like watching TV at times. Some places we went to made me think "Ito na pala 'yun?" like the Hollywood Walk of Fame which was stepped on like any other sidewalk, and some made me say to myself "Ito nga 'yun!" like the Caltech with Brod Bernie Bacosa which I've read about many times. The Las Vegas tour with Brods Nonoy Bautista, Joe Lalas and Edsel Arceo was an excellent way to end our South California tour. Though we weren't allowed by law to play or drink or watch some shows in Las Vegas because of our ages, the sights and sounds already were amazing.

Though our stay in Sacramento was short, we learned much about the government, history, volunteerism, thanks to Brod Tatang Vergara. Our tour of North California was very diverse, from seeing wineries in Napa Valley with Brods Gene Samson and Kiko Delmendo to high tech businesses in Silicon Valley with Brod Ike Araneta, from the old towns and Victorian houses to the very expensive houses beside the bay with Brods Gene Samson, Manolo Banzon and Eric Punzalan, from the crookedest street to one of the longest bridges in the world, from the birthplace of the hippie subculture to the most prestigious universities with Brod Gerry Abenes, from the silent laboratories to the loud basketball game with Brod Dutch Aragones. We even had a long talk with the president of a university (who is a physicist) thanks to Brod Pogs Gaspay and we even learned a new form of dance from a PhD holder from MIT! Even the food we ate was diverse: from Thai to Vietnamese to a buffet of Asian foods to Korean to Japanese to the different sea food in Sausalito to Italian and of course to Filipino food.

Our two days in Hawaii was even cut shorter by a few hours due to a flight delay, but we still enjoyed Hawaii very much! Our tour of this 'paradise' with Brods Orlino Ancheta and Yay Topacio gave us a chance to see the beauty of nature and some 'natural beauties' by the beach. We even had a chance to tour around the Pearl Harbor with Brod Bong Jamir. Though we weren't able to go to a Luau due to heavy traffic, we were able to watch a lot of Hula dancers and listen to Hawaiian music care of the Hawaiian Airlines, which provided us with those during more than 30 hours of flight, as if to extend our very short stay in Hawaii.

Our tour of three out of the fifty states sure was fun, entertaining and memorable, but the lessons we learned through conversations during the gatherings, simple talks inside the car, interactions with different cultures, and especially from seeing with our own eyes how great our Fraternity is outside the university, are more important. It also gave us an idea of what we can become after graduation, and how we can serve the Fraternity after being a resident.

Thank you very much brods for our wonderful stay in the US! And of course thanks to your families too, especially to your wives.

Cheers!
Esmerando "Esme/Ezzy/Randy" Escoto '10B

==================================================================================================================

(2) From Allan Ibanez '09A

Brods,

Magandang araw brods! Pasensya na for this late letter. Sa maling e-mail ad ko pala ‘to nasend last week.

Sinulat ko ang liham na ito upang magpasalamat sa inyong suporta sa mga proyekto ng mga residente. Nagpapasalamat ako lalo na sa kabutihang ipinakita ninyo sa amin ni Esme sa aming maikling pagbisita sa Amerika sa ilalim ng Brotherhood of Scholars Program II.

Maraming salamat kina brods Kim, Rolly, Poti, Ollie sa paggabay sa amin sa pagaasikaso ng aming mga papeles, at mga payo upang pumasa sa embahada. Maraming salamat sa bawat pagpupursigeng itinulak ninyo upang gumulong ang programa sa pangalawang pagkakataon.

Maraming salamat din kina brods Edsel, Bernie, Nonoy, Joe at brods sa Northern California sa mga payo at enthusiasm na maipakita sa amin ang mga pamosong landmarks ng NorthCal kahit na isang linggo lamang ang panahon na meron tayo. Napakagandang experience ang pagpasok sa klase sa Caltech at Redlands dahil napakagaganda rin ng chicks. Hehehe.

Kina Tatang, Gerry, Gene, Ike, Gabby, Pogs, Kiko, brod “Popeye” Punzalan at brods mula sa Southern California, nagpapasalamat din kami sapagkat napakainit ng inyong pagtanggap. Nakaka-overwhelm ang topics tungkol sa government, politics, chemistry, biology, history at anatomy. Masaya din yung trick-or-treat experience kasama ang mga bata at The Beta Sigma Family.

Sa Hawaii brods Yay, Orlino at Bong, maraming salamat sa sisksik na dalawang araw na pinagsamahan natin. Sobrang ganda ng sceneries (beaches at mga bundok). Ang sarap ng shaved ice ng Matsumoto, ng sun bathing sa Ala Moana beach, at ng kuwentuhan over dinner sa Waipahu. Napaka-educational din ng pagpunta sa Pearl Harbor.

Nawa’y ipaabot rin ninyo sa inyong mga asawa o kapareha ang taos-puso naming pasasalamat sa pagiging nanay nila sa amin sa aming maikling paglagi.

Bagaman maikli ay punong-puno at nag-uumapaw ang aming naging karanasan. Puno sa magagandang tanawin, malalakas na tawanan, mga seryoso at di-gaanong seryosong payo. Maraming salamat sa pagbabahagi ninyo ng inyong sarili sa amin. Sa maikling panahong ito ay nakita ko kung paano maging kapatid ang bawat isa sa inyo, bukod pa sa pagiging under the saya, este pagiging mabuting asawa. Nadama ko rin ang pagiging tatay ninyo at pagiging tao para sa iba.

Marami din akong natutunan sa gawi at sistemang first-world. Pati ang university immersions na aming naranasan ay isang sobrang karanasan na hindi ko makakalimutan at maipagmamalaki ko sa marami.

Ang aking mga natutunan sa programang ito ay tiyak kong dadalhin at magsisilbing inspirasyon sa akin. Nasasabik ako para sa mga susunod na recipients ng programang ito.

P.S. Kahit san pala makarating, pogi talaga ang Tabets. Hehehe. Muli, maraming salamat brods! Cheers!

Betanly yours,
Allan Ibanez '09A

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