Lauriat in Tokyo with Rene So

By Al S. Mendoza

GUESS what Rene So and I did only a while back?

We had dinner in Tokyo together with, among others, Danny “Sir John” Isla and Elijah Sue Marcial. It was held on October 23 in a plush hotel where only the likes of Lucio Tan and Bill Gates can afford to dine in nightly without hurting their wallet.

Of course everybody knows Sir John, the dapper Senior Vice President of Toyota Motor Philippines (….TMP), and Elijah, the TMP dynamite of an executive who orchestrated with much gusto the evening’s memorable affair.                                

But Rene So?

Well, he is “only” the owner of Toyota Dagupan who, like Sir John, is also a gentleman of the first degree.

The first time I met Rene some years back, we hit it off right away.

An easy-going fellow and a guy with a boundless smile, Rene and I share the same passion: golf. Sir John, too.

Rene loves golf that much that each time he comes to Manila – and that happens almost weekly – he makes it a point to play a round at Mimosa in Clark on his way back to Dagupan, the city of my growing-up years in Mangatarem.

“Golf helps me ease the tension and stress in my system,” Rene says. “I feel extremely happy whenever I play the game. Happiness is what   makes life worth living.”

Our dinner last week was at Keio Plaza, a hotel in downtown Tokyo that peasants like me will never be able to enter – much less have dinner in – until Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) came along.

Yes, as I had said in a previous piece here, TMP had me invited to the 40th Tokyo   Motor Show, the greatest show on earth when it comes to displaying both the latest automobile technology and the car of the future.  The dinner at Keio Plaza last week was part of the itinerary for Filipino journalists invited by TMP to the Tokyo Motor Show.

The affair was a timely respite to our hectic   schedule in the Tokyo Motor Show that   included a tour of Toyota’s Tsutsumi Plant in Toyota City (where the Prius and Camry and Lexus are being manufactured) and a test-drive of 10 hybrid cars at the Fuji International Speedway in Nagoya City that included the Prius, Lexus, Camry and Estima (Previa in the Philippines).

The 9-course dinner at the Keio Plaza was just perfect as we drove straight there from the railway station after a two-hour binge on the bullet train from Nagoya to Tokyo.  The tight schedule freed us from changing from slacks to smart casual (coat without a tie) as required by the occasion.

Aside  from Rene So, among the distinguished Filipino Toyota dealers present that evening included Joe Laurel and Francis Laurel of Toyota Batangas, Rey and Cosco Oben of Toyota Balintawak and Otis dealerships, Franklin Lim of Toyota Quezon Avenue, Lincoln Lim of Toyota Commonwealth Avenue Q.C., Boy Lim of Toyota Davao and Leo Ferreira of Toyota Cubao.

Our gracious host was Hiroshi Ito, the president of TMP, who came in the company of, among others, former TMP presidents Tsuruga-san, Fukuda-san and Tabata-san.

Seated to my left in one of the five tables set up that evening was Tito Hermoso of Business World and C! Magazine and to my right was, yes, Sir John. Seated to Sir John’s right was Rene So.

We began the night with Kirin, Japan’s biggest selling beer, graduating to red wine as the lauriat got better and better.

“I don’t usually drink beer, but tonight, I drink beer because of the good company I’m with right now,” says Rene, heartily raising his glass to propose a toast. “OK, Lincoln (Lim), I give you one-one tomorrow.”

Rene was referring to a friendly bet he had   wagered against Lincoln in a golf game scheduled for us the next morning at the posh Itsumi Golf Club.

Rene, Sir John (Isla) and I were placed in the same golf flight but unfortunately, Sir John and I had to beg off to TMP top banana   Sherwin Chua-Lim, the tournament chair, because of aching bones and joints accumulated through four days of motor show activities.

A golf nut through and through, I’m sure Rene still enjoyed the next morning’s round of golf without Sir John and me in his flight. Knowing Rene, he’ll savor every minute of his stint on the Japanese fairways and greens. And did he collect some shopping money from Lincoln after the round?

I’ll not be surprised if he did.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/general-admission/ Readers may reach columnist at also147@yahoo.com . For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

 

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