a J-filled weekend

My super long overdue blog that's supposed to be published sometime March is now here. I guess I slack off too much with something (and maybe someone?) else. These three parts are dedicated to my best friend J.
13 February 2pm
Earlier that week, I've been having my own call center established,only with J as my caller because of the excitement he can't contain for his forthcoming trip. My sister Tea, on the other hand, have been requesting for me to cook spaghetti for her and her husband's birthday dinner.
I just finished taking the pot of sauce off the stove and packed it carefully together with the noodles. J kept calling every minute but I didn't bother picking up because I was busy preparing food and packing some overnight clothes. I gave instructions to the househelp to carefully load the sauce when the car arrives to pick it up. And I was off to a wonderful weekend with J...
3pm
I waved at J from the cab. It took forever to get to the bus terminal because of the Chinese New year parade. And there he was, in his tight fitting pants, sneakers, sunglasses and duffel bags. He craned his neck to see if it was me and he waved back excitedly flashing his million-dollar smile. He loaded the bags at the back of the vehicle and hurriedly ran to the car door where I was at, he hugged me warmly and handed me my favorite Krispy Kremes. We took Military Cut-Off road because it was the fastest route going to Starwood Hotel. I let J sink in the cold weather and I can tell, he was just too happy to be here, in the moment.
By the time we unloaded his bags and settled in his cozy room, we gathered our pocketbooks and key and left for late lunch at Sizzling Plate a few minutes after.
We had noodle soup, Iced tea,sizzling porkchops, java rice and their house specialty for dessert which was Sans rival.. He was a tiny bit disappointed because he liked buttery silvanas better than the wafer-like sweet that he finished in probably, a few seconds.
After lunch, we lazed around the hotel room as we were getting ready for SLU Glee Club's Valentine Day Concert that included my brother as a tenor.

6pm
The concert turned out to be spectacular! me and J loved it! Their playlist was well-planned and well-applauded. The mini orchestra, the theme of the concert and the audience participation all contributed to a great show. I am, to this day, beaming with pride for my brother W who was part of this stellar cast and allowed me and J to be a part of it. The show lasted two hours and we decided to head to CityLight for pre-dinner cocktails. We were in the middle of drinks, cheesesticks and fries when we suddenly felt sleepy, we realized we got off the graveyard shift the night before that and we were fast approaching twenty four hours without sleep. I looked at J, he was smiling wearily but for whatever strength was left of it, he really wanted to hangout at Nevada Square and check out the al fresco club scene. Me? I was just after a shawarma craving.

8pm and Freezing
A few beers, shawarmas and grilled streetfood later,I was ready to fold. it was unusually freezing out and I encouraged J to go bar hop a bit while I was contented looking at my cold beer forming beads of sweat at the side of the bottle. Then a sharp white pain down my back hit because of the cold, so that was a major signal that I had to call it a night. At least for myself. I called J to bid goodnight and told him to just enjoy himself and get to know the crowd with Shakey.
As much as I would like to crawl to bed and hide beneath the warm sheets, I smelled like beer and smoke and it's just disgusting that my strawberry-scented hair was mixed with the scent of nicotine. Ugh! I took a quick shower and nestled comfortably in bed, it was time to say goodnight to a fabulous Saturday (to be continued)

..then there was Valentines (2/3 parts)
I woke up sleepily with J smiling at me like sunshine. I grunted. I was definitely not a morning person. It would take a crane to lift the corners of my mouth to form a smile everytime I wake up.We got dressed after freshening up and settled for Breakfast at Tea House, one of my favorite restaurants in the city. He loved the Lechon Binagoongan, while I was struggling to finish the hefty serving of vegetables and fried chicken on my plate. I was just happy to be transferring half of those crunchy greens onto J's plate. For dessert, we settled for Chona's delight, it was a sweet taro version of the Missisippi Mud Pie classic, only this came in plastic bowls good for two or three.
I said our goodbyes that morning and told him we were having lunch at Central Park with my folks. This Valentines Day is a little more special than the previous Valentines that I have had. It'll be the first time that my parents would get to meet my best friend and share this day with them altogether. It was a brief lunch of Roasted Duck, Dumplings, Yang Chow Fried Rice, Chicken Feet,Sweet and Sour Lapu Lapu and Milk Tea. My parents were on their way to celebrate Valentines day together with their friends. Me and J waited for Anton, the driver because were touring Baguio. I was also excited because I really don't get to stop and see Baguio for what tourists sight-see for. I'm only a happy camper with the cold weather and nothing else. It was also a welcoming relief from the busy city to see the countryside.
2pm
So we went to La Trinidad to check the strawberry fields so J could enjoy his liesure time with strawberry-picking. I kept insisting that the strawberries the side vendors were selling were much bigger, ripe and juicy , but he was after the experience, so I let him take his sweet time, bask in the foggy atmosphere, with Anton acting as a photographer to document it. We took loads of strawberries home. The sweet scent wafted inside the car and my mouth watered almost intantly, so I took one out of J's take-out box and took a bite. Wow! Heaven!
The next stop was Mines View where Anton and J went to the viewdeck to take some pictures of some amazing view and Sebastian, a Saint Bernard pure bred, it was the resident dog that tourists take a photo-op of. I was hanging out lazily in the car waiting for them to finish when he appeared out of nowhere giddy, holding a japanese corn on a stick motioning me to take it. He hurriedly left to make a beeline on the stores lined up across the park that sold, almost hundreds of souvenirs made of silver, trinkets, sweaters, jars filled of sugary things and wooden toys. We passed by the Good Shepherd Convent to buy jars of sweet taro, and cookies so J could bring them to Manila. While waiting for Anton to bring the car around, we took pictures at their viewdeck, the air is amazing up the hill,time feels slow just hanging out and lazing around.
Our last stop was Camp John Hay I wanted to take J to Starbucks but along the way, he just wanted to take pictures near the tree cove, bushes, at the Butterfly Farm and anything he can lay his eyes on. I let him do whatever he wants on this trip, since it's his. And mine,of course.

We were tired from a long day so we took an afternoon nap at his hotel and as the night fell, we scrambled to Forest House. I was a little worried because we had no reservations and it was Valentines Day. But luckily, we got a table after a few minutes at the veranda. It was a little cold but we enjoyed the view of the mountains that was covered with thousands of lights from the little homes sprawled across the city. He ordered spareribs while i was in the mood for Hungarian sausage and fries. Our orders came but I was a little disappointed with my order. It was just a sausage placed on a plate. They forgot to put the fries on the side. J kept trying to hide his laughter but we did enjoy the night despite the mishaps. I took him back to the hotel but I noticed he was a little sad. Much as I wanted to be with him, I needed to spend the last minutes of Valentines with my family too. It was a conversation that he had with his significant other, M that ticked me. M just yelled at him for all the wrong things but unreasonable at that. I am just seeping with anger at M for doing that to my bestfriend. But given any circumstance, J was strong, too strong in fact, he could handle all of it.
The next day it was goodbye, we just bought some last minute stuff like raisin bread from the cottage near Country Club and he was off. I cried a little, because who knows when i'm gonna see him again. I hugged him tight wondering where our next adventure might be..

a lovely Father's Day weekend

This is one of my favorite days of the year where we remember what a wonderful dad we have. I'm one of the luckiest in this world to still have mine living under the same roof. I have spent the whole night planning what to cook for Sunday when Mom made some phone calls the next morning to Tea inviting their family to spend it with us. I'm as ecstatic as everybody because, this will be the first time I get to spend with my baby nephew and niece. I was kinda disappointed Dad didn't want Pancakes for breakfast, I reminded him that we had to eat something light since we'll be spending Father's Day Lunch at Tea and Joh's place, but he was just too happy to have a big freshly baked Tilapia and rice for breakfast. We went to hear Mass and I was almost always calculating in my head what my last minute grocery shopping details were gonna be. I was still thinking of what dessert should be served without the usual cake or ice cream in tow. Lunch at my sister's was sinfully superb! Her version of Nilagang Shortribs was simply the best! She kept looking at me, trying to see if she passed my standards, and it was the best shortribs stew I had in awhile. The sweetness of cabbage, freshly cracked peppercorns and soft potato quarters had married perfectly with the soup. I think I slurped it so deliciously that I passed on the chicharon and the Pata Tim that was ordered at a favorite restaurant. My brother-in-law served Vintage full bold red that afternoon, but I really didn't like wine, my mom insisted that I take a sip wherein I joke that I had the coolest mom ever. So I obliged, cringing quietly on my seat. We were all so full that dessert never crossed our minds. The rain poured heavily and we had to head out because I was past my deadline on preparing the menu. Hours later, I was still wrapping the egg rolls when my sister Tea and the rest of the family came, I got really panicky because our scheduled early dinner was fast approaching and I still had one food item prepared! Good thing, my sister dragged two of her househelps plus one on mine,and they were just as amazing to execute all the thing that I needed in a timely and prompt manner. We got every food on the menu spread at 7:10 pm. My sister was looking for the dessert surprise, so she sneaked in looking for it at the refrigerator, but to her delight, she saw two big rolls of ice cream cake nestled on the freezer which made her drool even more. i prepared coconut milk shake, my most expensive version of Pansit Bihon which my dad liked so much, baked soy ginger chicken, deep fried spring rolls and ice cream cakes. Everybody had a great time celebrating this day. And they took home doggie bags to enjoy some leftovers as well. Thinking of what event to plan next..;)

the Reunion

I arrived in Manila at 4pm from the bus terminal, heat greeted me in a warm way. It had been a year since I last saw this place that I used to call home. I was scheduled to meet with Sher for cocktails after doing occular inspection at Astoria that night because of the reunion that will happen the night after. I was nervous and excited at the same time.
I sleepily dragged myself out of bed, my travel pill still kicked in almost strongly and then heavy rain started to pour. I begged Sher to move our appointment to a later hour because she was early but she wouldn't hear me out.
So half an hour later, I found myself with Sher and Cris (one of the super friends I consider) in a cab laughing about anything we could think of. Too bad Cris wasn't coming with us because she had work. We finally arrived at the Astoria, I fully paid for the suite and did an occular inspection. It was posh! I couldn't wait for tomorrow for everybody to get together. My heart was beating fast with excitement.
After the occular, me and Sher decided to hit Sbarro for my favorite pizza -- Chicago White ( a deep dish pizza with white cheese and white sauce on top), it was the bomb! So far, I am loving where I was at the moment. We decided to go for after-dinner drinks at Allan's grill at Marikina Shoe Expo, me and Sher frequented the place before. And we missed the place. My bestfriend J was calling non-stop and I feel bad, because he only had an hour of lunch and we were just nearby his office at that time but we opted to move to a different watering hole.
J was one of the reasons I went to Manila, I missed him so much. he's the male bestfriend that I could comfortably say "i love you" to, I guess because he is such an amazing person to begin with and we click in so many ways. He's a driving force in my life and I'd definitely want him to stay there.
Allan's Grill was filled that night but we managed to find a table. Sher ordered a few beers, and because of my medication, I had opt for a delish Sago Gulaman, we food-tripped on Tokwa't Baboy and Turon because it was their house specialties, and as expected, it did not disappoint.I had wish Cris and J were there at that very moment. At least I wouldn't have to hear Sher talk about her points of vew on politics and the on-going campaign brouhaha. We called it a night at around midnight. I was sleepy that I wanted to crawl on my way home.

Saturday morning. D- Day I woke up at 10am getting lots of messages and phone calls from friends regarding the reunion, I was just too lazy to even reply. WTH! That pill (name withheld) should have worn off by now! J had been calling to meet up for breakfast but I had so much to do that morning, preparing and packing my second luggage for the hotel. I secured my receipts, cash, my miniature video cam, makeup and clothes and stuffed it in a few minutes. I just hate to pack but you would be amazed on how organized I can be after getting through that phase.
Tina and I met at the lobby, the receptionist, was a little slow on finding my account, she didn't even know I paid for it, that we had to wait for half an hour to have housekeeping check the suite and get my reservation in place. She was embarrassed that she sent two complimentary iced teas to our table while she finished some last minute details on the account. While I was busy catching up with Tina. Ben called to check if the event was going to push through. My heart fluttered a little. I was the most excited person to see him. I guess I never really wanted to let other people know mainly because, I didn't want it to be a cocktail anecdote that night. heck, I couldn't even say it out loud. I just wanted to savor the moment and it was only for myself.
As we opened our suite, My mouth opened dropped open. The room was everything the website says! Polished brown walls, marbled floors. coffee tables, a circular glass dining table were arranged beautifully at the center of the living room. There was a kitchen near the doorway that was as big as the two bedrooms. Tina and two of our other friends Mitch, and Fatima, immediately helped me arranged the tables, pumped balloons and placed tea candles on some dark corners of the place. I sighed nervously. The party was going to be beautiful. At the last minute, there were two guests who had texted that they will not be able to make it. So I made a few phone calls to have a party-sized pancit delivered to the room. We finished in 30 minutes and by five o'clock, we were all lazing around the living room watching Kimora on TV. My right thumb hurt from texting a lot of people in just a minute. I've never had this kind of affair with my phone before. I just wanted to get it over with and have a long bubble bath before the party.
Because the place was hard to find for some and that they were on their way, I had a few minutes to enjoy a quick shower so I could get back on the phone. Whew! Anticipation is killing me!

8:05 pm Friends started to arrive with food. And for every person who would ring the doorbell, everybody shrieked excitedly. It was so fun. We played games but mostly we sat there, eating, laughing, taking pictures and talking about the past five years that had happened to us. I forgot to eat because every minute had been just so precious connecting with everyone. I guess I didn't wanna miss anything. And holding a videocam takes me away from the conversation but I know it would be worth it. Later, i gave the videocam to my friends so that they could take turns in taking some good clips and it served as a perfect excuse to go and mingle. i looked at the time, Ben wasn't there yet. And every minute that passed, a pound of nervousness replaced my excitement.
Finally, there he was, a long pregnant pause overwhelmed us both. I didn't wanna go so much into details but then it was a wonderful moment to be just there at that very second. Everybody cheered that we were united and I was really happy he was there. It felt..wonderful to be in his arms again. It was a defining moment, ha-ha! Anyway, the event was very successful, I may say. I gave myself a mental pat on the back. The party lasted until 7 am the following day and until now, they are still asking if there would be a repeat of the event..hmm.. can I think about it? :)

Session Road in Bloom - part 2

"UYY, I CAN'T come, really," my heart was crushed when J IM'ed me those words, followed by a text message from Cher that she couldn't come because of schedule conflicts. I logged out of my computer almost instantly to make a few phone calls on cancelling a few activities. I RSVP'ed late and my party of eight shrunk a little to six. I was looking at what to wear in my closet when Jacky called to confirm several times about how many we actually were. The street party will start promptly at 8pm and everybody will be there to see all the happenings in Session. The fireworks display will launch at Burnham Park and it'll be a blast as we all wil expect. I munched on the freshly-baked (and delivered) raisin-bread from Country Club, I was supposed to give it to J as my "Welcome to Baguio" gift and the three-foot cheese bread for Cher is sitting prettily in the fridge. Session looked more like a market rather than a sophisticated party, but tonight, it will definitely transform to a mini Mardi Gras! I will definitely run into people I love, people I don't wanna see and people I am related to, so I'll behave tonight and enjoy the remaining days of the festival. I took my medication obediently so I won't have to be in pain later in the night. Sayang, no alcohol and white sticks for me tonight or ever because my doctor says so. The streamers, blimps, balloons, colorful food are on display in every corner possible. Of course the cute guys will be there, we can spot the locals from the out-of-towners. I'll be logging out now, time to hit the town!

Session Road in bloom - part 1

SESSION ROAD IS so jampacked! The week is in its sweet glory as street vendors line up the two-way street. Me and the girls went to have dinner a few nights ago at North Drive. The chilly Baguio air was just too tempting to smoke a few cigs and drink wine. I didn’t like going out that night as I was too curled up with my food magazines, a cup of hot chocolate and a soft, big-ass bed with my laptop nestled comfortably on the nightstand if I wanted to go online.
But Jackie and Carly persistently wanted the dinner to happen that I was just obliged to go, slightly irritated.
The traffic to Leonard Wood Road was so bad I could have put on my make-up perfectly in slow motion…with eyes closed! As I got to North Drive, I had to make a beeline and find an impatient Carly tapping her white stick as she looked at her watch, when she saw me, her mood magically changed, brows creased were replaced by a camera-ready smile. I haven’t seen her for two years and just like any loving friend the hug welcomed me warmly. I got my social calendar full for the week, it’s insane. But this is what I missed and crave for. The natural adrenaline rush of doing several things until time runs out. Love the feeling! So anyway, I’m coordinating with J if he’s coming (fingers crossed) for the street party by Thursday, I sweetly convinced Sher to come with, too. My friends are preparing to meet J and Sher, I am so excited about this, so I’m taking a mental list of restaurants my girls wanna try. I’m so dying to see J for the first time in months! The street party will be as fabulous with her there. I’ve been hosting for my relatives for quite some time and it would be such a relief to be in the company of friends for a change where I can loosen up and bitch about things. Get ready to have some major fun!

a long December 10 - part 1

December 10 of all the years to come will always be important for the family. It is a longtime tradition of remembering and celebrating a very important event -- my brother's birthday. We're six children and all of our birthdays are special. But what makes my brother's even special than the rest of us? Well, the fact that we forgot his birthday in years past. My parents were in London, and all of us had to be someplace else where it required overnight for schoolwork, my excuse was thesis. Anyway, when we all got together the weekend after my brother's birthday, he reminded us that we forgot and he went out in the night, blew a candle on top of a big mac and cried.
So in the longstanding tradition of this event, we got him his favorite cake on the eve of his birthday. A Coffee Crunch from Red ribbon, Bihon from Lola Helen's, barbecues and sodas. His eyes lit up like a child when he saw the bounty.
After a few days, Cai surprised him with a birthday dinner at the Shang and we had a blast. It was the best dinner we had for some time. Sharing it with my loved ones made it a perfect evening...

my Homecoming

CeeCee was a little upset with a tiny loose thread for our homecoming this December. I can sense she was both excited and exhausted keeping up with the forum chats and making sure the website is updated for all our batchmates. We're making sure everybody rides the train before it blows its final whistle at the end of the month. I made sure this was part of my itenerary as I am looking forward to party with the girls..I'm also sure my former classmates will be snipped, curled, blown and polished for the big day. Saint Louis Girls' High was my Alma Mater and when I graduated 6th grade, I was pretty flattered that I was part of the 300+ girls whose hopes and dreams will be realized someday.

My school did not crave for the high-end glamour and sophistication others thought of. Our school taught us well and our teachers made sure that despite of the mischievous rants, rambles and antics we had, we were still kids learning to be grown-ups in the grand scheme of things.

I remembered we try to lobby for a Highschool Prom to happen between Girls'High and Boys' High but it never materialized because our school was run by sisters and they wanted us to be sustained from social events with the boys. I have the fondest memories of all of my classmates who turned from girls to women and have realized their dreams from early on. I take pride in knowing that our schools had no dropouts. Everybody stuck it through four years before finally deciding if they were meant to pursue and go on to college.

I have obtained a copy of the first page from my highschool yearbook as you can see above, and NO, to answer the question that boggles your minds, dear readers, the yearbook is at default black-and-white, it did not simply fade through time, otherwise, I would have been very old in my deathbed.

I studied my closet to see what I could wear for the homecoming and sighed. There is nothing in there that will make me stand out of the crowd. It doesn't really matter whatever I flaunt, as long as it's elegant and confident. The best accessory I will wear is a smile on my face to get me through 300 plus girls waiting to share the story of their lives...