Four days ago, I attended the Christmas Party at my former workplace. I was still invited even though I left a month and a half ago. :)
I arrived earlier since I wanted to catch up with my former colleagues before the party actually started.
We had the usual stuff: dinner and exchange gifts. We only had one game that night. Haha. One colleague brought Magic Sing at the party so everyone were just too excited to steal the mic from each other and sing their hearts out instead.
I had to leave early since I still had a Simbang Gabi to attend to with my family. So yeah, nabitin ako sa Magic Sing. As in hindi ko man lang nahawakan ang mic. Hahaha!
Yesterday was a time for me and my friends from high school. It was our annual Christmas thing to meet up and just catch up. It was also sort of (since I am still hoping for one game night before leaving) my last hoorah with them. :) That day happened to be a day (and night) of a few more firsts for me. :)
We were supposed to meet around 11 in the morning at Tagaytay but traffic was just horrendous! Some woke up late due to Christmas parties and school responsibilities. Keng and I arrived around 2:30 in the afternoon! My golly. Haha. We were starving and Jolo had been waiting for us for two and a half hours already!
For the very first time, Jolo was our driver for the day! We drove to Bag of Beans for lunch. It was my first time to go and eat there. I must say, it was such a nice and cozy place. Personally, I prefer to eat at places that isn't too crowded. Even if I am at the mall, I would really take time to look for a restaurant that is less populated by people. Or if I am craving for a specific food and the place happens to be crowded, I would wait and just eat later than usual.
The place wasn't loud either, well, of course, given that we were seated on an open space. But the tables were situated apart enough that you wouldn't hear what the people on the other tables were talking about. It was a good place to getaway from the busy restaurants in the metro. The weather in Tagaytay wasn't what it used to be though but still, it was better than Manila. It's like summer in Manila! You would wonder if it's really Christmas. Oh well, global warming, my friend. And seriously, why were construction of condominiums being done there??? It's sad to witness that one of my favorite places in the Philippines is being slowly 'commercialized' already!
Anyway, we waited for others to arrive while the three of us ordered lunch first. We ordered a breakfast meal! Jolo missed eating tocino while Keng and I missed eating beef tapa. The food was good. Or probably we were just too hungry? No, it was good. I have no photos to show the meal but trust me, it was really good. Do you see that plate? That plate was full. It was also freshly cooked when they served it to us. My tapa wasn't too dry or oily. It wasn't too salty or too bland either. The pork tocino though is slightly oily, but not enough oil that can make you lose your appetite since all you taste is oil. Not enough oil that can clog your arteries, if you get what I mean. Haha!
Lee arrived next. Then RC and his girlfriend, Mae. It was our first time to meet her. While waiting for Johnnel, we spent our time catching up, making fun of each other and talking about random things. Keng and I haven't talked since 2006! It felt like the first time again but he was still the usual. Haha! I almost forgot how 'interrogative' he was! He threw questions just like that! Haha! I missed spending time with this people! :D Unfortunately, Lee had to leave early though. Johnnel arrived about 15 minutes after she left, sayang!
Our plan was to head to Jolo's place. However, he mentioned that our high school alma mater had opened a coffee shop beside our school and the retreat center also owned by our school. We decided to check it out instead.
The Caffe Sant'Antonio can be a good place to go to if you want to relax, read a book and getaway from the now overcrowded and seemingly overrated Starbucks. The feel and the ambiance is just the same, only quieter. It was opened just recently so we didn't know if they already have that enough customers though. We were the only customers that late afternoon. The menu was written in Italian so we had to double check what the words meant so we can get what we actually want. Haha.
The prices were a bit cheaper than Starbucks (I made the comparison with Starbucks because of all the coffee shops there, I believe it is the most popular and populated one.). I love that they served the hot drinks in mugs. It felt more homey to me. I had a strawberry banana frappe. The taste reminded me of the strawberry banana flavored blizzard in Dairy Queen. Only a bit sweeter, I believe. They also had pastries. We had a sansrival cake. It was so-so. The sweetness taste was just average as well.
Beside the Caffe Sant'Antonio was Rogate, a place where you can buy religious images, items and church supplies.
The Caffe Sant'Antonio also had tables and seats outside. It's nice to hang out here, don't you think? We even thought that soon enough, this area will be covered by the Prefect of Discipline as well. They will find the MIA students here. Haha!
In fact, our voices dominated the whole space inside since we were still busy catching up and laughing in between our drinks.
We had decided to finally head to Jolo's place. But on our way though, a random idea materialized instead, we drove to Nuvali in Santa Rosa, Laguna instead. It was also my first time to go there, too! The place reminded me of Bonifacio Global High. It was also the first time we had a night roadtrip, too! Jolo chose the shortcut way and boy, that way was scary. As in suspense story location kind of scary.
We had dinner at Uncle Cheffy and again, it was also my first time to eat at that place. That panizza was insanely delicious. Well, I maybe biased since I love cheese and anything Italian. Haha! In fact, that wasn't what we ordered. We ordered an All-Barbecue one and this was what we got. But whatever, it tasted so good! You can choose any of those three stuffing, put on some hot sauce (at least that's for me since I love anything hot and spicy) roll them inside and stuff them into your mouth! Yummmm! We also ordered Surf and Turf which was a platter combination of lamb, tuna, chicken, potatoes, etc.
We also played Pictureka while waiting. Yes, di talaga pwedeng hindi maglalaro e no? Hehe. It was my first time to play that game and I scored 3 cards only. Well, not bad for a newbie compared to RC and Jolo who were hustlers! Haha! Keng and Johnnel got no points at all! Hahaha!
After dinner, we strolled around, checked some stores and the bazaar. The picture below was taken in one of the model houses we saw beside the bazaar area. Creative enough, right? They had it decorated with a Christmas theme! :)
Oh, how I missed these boys! I missed 'The Clean and Green Act' with boys that I seem to have forgotten since I had been hanging out with girls lately! We were just laughing the entire day! As we were about to go home, Johnnel surprised me with this:
 |
| A free retail therapy! :) I'm a lucky friend! Hahahaha! |
Before I wrap this baby up, let me greet everyone:
Merry Christmas!!! :)