1998 — Full-Time

Chris Tometh shares: “It started as an old photo of the Section 65 Bucketheads. Victor Hartono had scanned the photo, uploaded it to Facebook, and tagged a number of friends. The comments started coming in. Len Ross’ comment was typical: ‘Just an awesome gang, such great memories.’ Then, Val Kucherenko says, ‘I suggest to get all of us together … maybe in Thailand or in the US? I will come anywhere.’ Others chimed in. And so, the unofficial 2010 Reunion of the Kellogg Class of 1998 was born!

	Alumni from the Class of 1998 at a dance club in Hong Kong. Front row: Jay Sala, Shy Perez-Sala. Middle row: Harold La, Andrea Barsotti. Back row: Victor Hartono, Pornchanok Tanskul, Chris Tomseth, all ’98 except Perez- Sala
	Class of 1998 alumni gathered in Hong Kong for an impromptu reunion. Front row: Harold La, Cynthia Meng, Pornchanok Tanskul, Lou Abela-Samson, Isabelle Gecils, Victor Hartono. Back row: Val Kucherenko, Jay Sala, Shy Perez-Sala, Walt Ling, Tamaki “Mickey” Tanka Ling ’99, Jayson Ayroso, Andrea Barsotti, Chris Tomseth, Wendy Zhao, Read Flake, all ’98 unless noted

“After dozens of comments, including several from people in other sections, Hong Kong was picked as the location, and the date was set in early May. Altogether, 15 people (Andrea Barsotti, Chris Tomseth, Cynthia Meng, Harold La, Isabelle Gecils, Jayson Ayroso, Jay Sala, Lou Abela-Samson, Pornchanok Tanskul, Rachel Fleishman, Read Flake, Val Kucherenko, Victor Hartono, Walt Ling and Wendy Zhao) converged on the former British colony, along with a couple of '99 Kelloggians (Tamaki “Mickey” Tanaka Ling and Wynn Kwee), some future Kelloggians (Read and Wendy's kids), and some very patient and well-natured spouses (Shy Sala and David Zou, Wendy's husband). 

“People literally came from all around the world, not letting a few thousand miles or kilometers stand in the way. The locations of Moscow, Rome, Dubai, Singapore, Bangkok, Bejing, Jakarta, Tokyo, San Francisco, and Chicago were all well represented; with the Hong Kong-based crew (Jay, Shy, and Harold) providing tremendous effort to organize this truly amazing event.

“The weekend included activities such as a hike along Dragon’s Back, offering great views of the coast; shopping, ferry rides, and fantastic dim sum. On Friday night, we took a trip up to famous Victoria Peak, and on Saturday night, we participated in a spectacular farewell dinner at the China Club followed by a night of karaoke for those who were up for it.

“The success of the weekend reunion was summed up in a series of Facebook comments that came in the days following the event. The best was from Val, the person who helped start it all: ‘I did not want to tell, but ... I am still in the airport because I missed my flight after drinking at Harold's place … I did not wake up.’

What a super time which brought back so many great memories! We hope to do another informal reunion in each of the next two years before our next official one in Evanston in 2013. Lead candidates for destinations so far are Sardinia, Bali and San Francisco. Get your votes in!”