Visited my home country, the Philippines, for the first time since I started working in Singapore. I made sure to book meet-ups with most people I missed, and as a result, I had an event-filled nine days of vacation (from March 28 – April 5).
Highlights:
I would like to thank my sponsor, AA, who let me stay in her condo in Riverfront Residences while I was in Manila. I love the place, but how I wish it were closer to Makati, where my heart still lies!
Videoke in Red Box Karaoke (Greenbelt) with P&G friends. This was a welcome back party for Gelle and me as well as a birthday celebration for Drew. I really missed videoke, as well as these guys!
Caloy showed up after our three hours were up (Red Box charges by time blocks, and not by the hour), so we had coffee while catching up on P&G gossip in Seattle’s Best Coffee. The cafe choice was mine, since there are no SBCs in Singapore and I was craving for their Javanilla shake, which they boast is the best coffee milkshake in the world. So far so true, for me.
Dinner at Dampa with former housemates in Makati. While I was still living in Makati, my housemates and I always had seafood in Sharmila’s at Dampa whenever there was a special occasion to celebrate. We had our usual – buttered shrimps, baked mussels with cheese, green mango ensalada, kilawing tanguige and a few other dishes. It was Cate’s first time there, and it was also Maya’s first day back in the Philippines after a couple months’ training in Houston, Texas, for Shell.
After a very sumptuous dinner that strained my stomach badly, I suggested we take a long walk so that our food would go down before we had coffee at Starbucks. While walking, we ran into Sir Jason, who used to teach Accounting in AdZU then worked for GSIS since the days when we were doing our practicuum there. He still remembered all our names, though only Jefrey had been his student. What a brain. What a small world.
Bonding with my family – my mom, brother, and our dogs. The newest addition to the family is Julian, the 6-month-old pup that I’m holding. My mom is holding his mom. My dad is currently on a volunteer service in Mozambique, South Africa, that is why he is not in the picture.
Swimming in Astoria Regency Convention Center, Flisha’s and Gim’s newest favorite hangout place. My first time here, though the place has been up for a long time. It was supposed to be lunch with the Berchies, but only my fave couple showed up. Oh well.. just like old times! My fondest third wheel date with these two happened on my last day in our hometown before I flew to Manila to work. We were watching Love Story at Flisha’s house, and in the middle of the movie, we suddenly had a craving for ice cream. So we went out to buy some from the nearby store, but they were out of stock. Most people would probably have given up there and gone back to their movie, but not us. We decided to drive to a store in a nearby barangay to have our fix. Both stores there were also out of stock. We ended up driving all the way to town where we finally found what we were looking for. As we drove back, Gim kept shaking his head, saying, “through hell and high water for ice cream!” Today we did not go through all that, but just ordered a couple of shakes each (it was sooo hot!) in lieu of ice cream. No we don’t have pictures of us in the pool in our swim wear, as all three of us had gotten a whole lot bigger since that ice cream day almost five years ago.
Jotie was one of those who was supposed to meet up with me in Astoria, but he couldn’t make it due to his review lessons. I ran into him that night in Lantaka Hotel, where he was attending a wedding and I was having dinner with College friends. He shared some juicy gossip before bidding me adieu.
Dinner was supposed to be a reunion of College blockmates, but only Rona missed us enough to show up at Lantaka Hotel. She said she was making up for all those times in College that she never hang out with us.
On our way out of Lantaka after dinner, Tyne recognized Carl’s car parked infront of the building and concluded that he was still in the premises. So we asked three guards to point us to the director’s office, and sure enough, we found him in there with Monsi, the politician who is his boss. Carl asked us out for coffee, and Monsi asked to go with us, and we all headed towards Third Cup (the latest place to be seen in our hometown).
On my last day in my hometown, I dropped by my alma mater to bring Chi’s and AA’s pasalubong for their dad who also happened to be my fave RS teacher and SALT org moderator back in College. We had a long chat in his office and had a picture before I went back home.
I have resigned myself to the fact that reunions will never be complete. Only former KPMG partner Boss Ed was able to meet me from my KPMG friends. He suggested dinner at Fish Out of Water in Greenbelt 5. I also allowed him to order for us – he chose paella and hito (catfish). Normally I am not a fan of hito, but this one was really crispy and delicious. The paella was good too. I was really touched at the end of the meal when Boss Ed insisted on picking up the check. When I protested that this should be my treat because I was the OFW, he told me, “Save.” And that is the reason why I am home now instead of chasing after a sale in Expo.
I had lunch planned with P&G AP folks, and at April’s insistence, I dropped by my old office where I was suddenly at the center of everyone’s attention. Since it was raining, we had lunch at the building’s 36th floor, where I used to have lunch everyday. To my delight, they were serving my favorite – okra with bagoong. I also grabbed five of my favorite pastillas.
After shopping in Glorietta the entire afternoon, I met the TGs in Apartment 1B, a cozy restaurant in Salcedo Village, Makati. The food was very expensive but delicious and well-presented. I was happy enough with my chosen drink, fresh dalandan shake, my favorite drink of all time.
Kes, Drew and I checked into a Greenbelt Radisson’s condo unit on the night before Arni’s wedding. We had dinner at Cyma, a Greek restaurant in Greenbelt 2, where the waiters startled us each time they yelled “Opa!” when guests ordered a flaming cheese appetizer. Greek pasta is yummy, but I still prefer Italian.
The reason why I decided to have a vacation – to attend Toby and Arni’s wedding. Arni was my batchmate in P&G. It was a wonderful occasion – the groom shed tears, and the bride was simply ravishing in her gown with the long veil.
The guests (that means us) enjoyed themselves immensely with the delectable dinner (gimme more of the lechon and food for the gods!), soothing serenade, and most especially the souvenirs – pictorials in a photo booth. We all said that Gelle should definitely get Arni’s caterer and photographer for her own wedding next year.
Bonus photo – can’t help but succumb to guffaws whenever I see this picture.
This is my most expensive vacation to date, but it was worth it, though I probably won’t be going home again anytime soon. Maybe when there’s another wedding to attend next year. In the meantime, I’ll content myself with trips to the Philippines through memory lane, especially now that I’ve brought pictures of my childhood for me to scan!!