Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

Last week, a group of intimate friends gathered for a special celebration— the birthday of LA’s Patron of the Arts Bong Prada Lim.

Our staging area was Bong’s fabulous pad. Upon arrival at Bong’s place, our interior designer friend Alex Pineda was itching to wave his artist’s wand as a force of habit.

After getting Bong’s blessing, Alex proceeded to rearrange the interior. The others, including yours truly, followed Alex’s cue and started picking up furniture here and there.

It became an instant bayanihan. Before we knew it, we had given Bong’s pad a fresh and quick flip.

The birthday boy was naturally impressed. Alex’s designer tendencies is truly a 24-7 frame of mind because he also did the same thing when he happened to be at my condo one day. As usual, he always gets good feedback.

We easily settled into the newly flipped surroundings of Bong’s pad and toasted the birthday boy with overflowing champagne.

Afterwards, we opted to dine out, choosing Jerry’s Grill in Cerritos for a relaxed atmosphere.

If you compare Bong’s birthday celebration last year—held at a hip Koreatown club attended by a long list of guests—this year’s fete was relatively toned down.

Bong is known for throwing grand and memorable parties.This year’s was a reflection of the times, however. For me, it was more personal and therefore more memorable.

It involved only a handful of friends but great memories. The food at Jerry’s Grill was pretty good and the company was even better.

In attendance were Bong’s closest friends Eugene Supnet, Nardie Presa, Alex Pineda, Lou Sabas, Sonny Madera, Michelle Molina, Oliver Carnay, Ben, Rose Paredes, Cezar Leoncio and yours truly.

We all had a great time! To you Bong, I want you to know how much I appreciate your friendship. You are one of the most generous and loving persons I know. You are also one of the most effortlessly glamorous and stylish persons I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with.

I will treasure all the memories—our casual out-of-town adventures from New York to San Francisco. They were fun times and I’m sure we’ll have plenty more.

I wish you all the success and good health, my friend.

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During the 1980s, the so-called heyday of the Fil-Am entertainment "industry" here in the US, a lovely Filipina named Lou Baron was among those who stood out. I first saw her sitting alongside boxing legend Muhammed Ali during the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena. Back then, she was one of the newsmakers; a very busy producer and active community leader.