Ang Magiting - The Official Web Site of Rotary Club Makati North

Going Japanese next is Chinese!

By: Treas. Robert Syjuco
February 1, 2012

Pres. Archie told me last week that Brasserie, where we usually hold meetings, was unavailable next Wed. as it was booked for something else. In short, we needed a alternate venue. I suggested Metropolitan Club if budget was a primary consideration and UMU at Dusit Hotel if food and ambiance was more important. Thankfully, Pres. Archie chose UMU, which is one of the nicest Japanese restaurants locally and is a personal favorite. A bit pricey but well worth the treat once in a while.

It was pretty well attended; there were 13 of us filling the nice function room overlooking the Japanese garden. The food portions were plentiful and authentic, none of that Japanese fusion nonsense elsewhere. Last week’s fellowship at Bistro Mondo was well attended too, with 14 coming .Bistro Mondo was one of my best kept secret places, a nice fancy restaurant away from the maddening crowd at reasonable prices, now you guys know it, it’s no secret anymore he he. A little variety in venue seems to bring some members out of the woodwork.

We dispensed with the national anthem, not wishing to disturb the rest of the restaurant patrons. We did sing happy birthday to PDG Ato Magadia. Twice. Once on his arrival, and once on the announcement of his birthday as a matter of procedure. The birthday cake was brought out, and well, I think since no one brought it home, it might be recycled a few more times? Just kidding!

PP Edwin Andrews was scheduled to speak, but he suddenly had a flight to catch. For those new to the club, PP Edwin was a flamboyant guy in his days. Married 3x, he is now a pastor. It took him 3 times to realize a mistake? Oh well, I guess some mistakes are too much fun to make just once….at least for him….

In lieu of the speaker, we just discussed forthcoming RCMN activities. The Botolan trip’s schedule was once again moved (for the nth time, from Oct 2011) to sometime early March from early Feb to give way to an Inner Wheel program. Moving towards summer’s hot and sticky weather, it seems.

A scheduled Texas hold em poker tournament was announced by PP Dieter. Buy-in (entry fee) is P9,000, of which P3K goes to RCMN. Joining entitles one to win P35,000 and a free slot to enter a subsequent tournament with P175K buy in paid for.

I’ve joined such things ( and won in a couple ) and since poker is a fledgling fund raising activity for Rotary, it would have been better if the buy in was just P3k to have more players give it a try. A P9k buy-in is a bit steep for casual players, and new joiners don’t really expect to win anyway….specially if we want the volume of players to reach a critical mass, for an event we want to do repeatedly. I would also suggest a one time higher cash prize, as it can be tiring to work for a cash prize (against 100 pax ) for just 4x the entry fee .This is what Asian Poker Tour does, and my friends handled many of their tournaments around Asia. Maybe next time. Perhaps I was absent when the planning discussions were held.

And speaking of cards, PDG Ato whipped up a formula for fund raising for the club, with the tried and tested Oceans 13 formula used previously. Set for Friday next week, we shall forego the regular Wed lunch meeting for dinner at Tao Yuan in Resorts World in Sentosa, ooops, Manila, then off to the gaming tables, all for RCMN. I don’t want to pre empt anything, so let’s just keep our fingers crossed. After all, 10 of us are putting P10k each on the line next week! We will keep you posted.