The Thrilla in Manila

What happens when cousins separated by only Chinatown bus fare –from Philly to Maryland– meet up serendipitously one April day in Manila?  The Thrilla in Manila!  That’s exactly what happened when unbeknownst to her, Cindee Jacobs (and all and sundry) found out that her prodigal cousin Gina Gozum has been in Manila for all of a week ni ha ni ho and suddenly pops up out of nowhere like a pop-up advertisement on Yahoo!  Serendipity, spirituality and Selecta ice cream (brazo de Mercedes flavor) conspired to bring them together as well as sickness: Mommy/Tita Naring’s and the Spring fever that brought them all together in summery Manila.  As of this writing, this blog author (who shall remain nameless) has spent one whole afternoon being “home serviced” by a portable beauty parlor better known as Vangie, with the works: head-to-toe pampering not seen since the days of Cleopatra, eaten her weight in Philippine cuisine homemade at Chez Teves, and read more magazine articles and books on wholistic healing than Andrew Weil himself! (the last part was only slightly exaggerated)  Despite the decadence brought on by the abundance of all these earthly delights, family and personal projects were not forgotten.  More on that later!  Read on…