Happy Christmas, everyone!

Happy Birthday, Jesus! :) 

In celebration of the birth of our Savior, we had the usual family tradition. We ate dinner, had our family picture taking, attended Mass, waited for 12 midnight and ate Noche Buena! My parents had always gone to sleep right after Noche Buena while my brothers and I do whatever until we felt sleepy. :) Then earlier today, as part of our family tradition as well, we had Christmas lunch with the rest of the family from my father's side. 

We requested our Mom to bring back the 'opening of gifts' tradition but it didn't happen. Haha! Ever since we outgrew our Santa Claus phase, she lets us pick our own Christmas gifts. And she buys gifts for us waaayyy advaaance, as well. (Pano, pag may gusto kaming ipabili, at dahil naubos na namin ang pwedeng rason na occasion sinasabi namin pang-Christmas gift na lang! Hahaha!) Meanwhile, my father is too lazy to wrap gifts.

Oh, this is probably my last Christmas here in the Philippines! :(

Anyway, here are a few more of our Christmas portraits!

From my family, we wish you, your family and everyone else a Blessed and Happy Christmas! :)

But of course, it wouldn't be complete without my very own Christmas greeting! So before I wrap this baby up, let me extend my greeting through my personalized holiday card, if you may consider it as that. Haha! 

(The things you do at 2AM and you can't sleep. Haha!)

Yes, this is me (with 7 crazy lookalikes and random props from our Christmas tree, haha!) greeting everyone a Blessed and Merry Christmas! :) And Happy Birthday, Jesus! :) For all the blessings you bestowed upon me, my friends and family, thank you. Sobraaaa. :D Let's make everyday like Christmas: positive, good vibes, happy, bright and nice! :)

Pre-Christmas things

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!!! :)

A Post-Christmas Affair X Mom's Christmas gift

Last Monday, my high school friends and I headed to Batangas for our Christmas get-together.

I met Vinci, Lee, Jolo and  RC in Tagaytay after lunch. We were supposed to meet at 1:00 PM but traffic was really bad that I arrived around 2:30 PM! OMG. We bought chips and drinks at Robinson's Tagaytay first before heading to Munting Buhangin Beach Camp, the resort we would be staying in for the night. It was an hour or so drive. Upon arriving, we checked-in and headed to the beach while waiting for Johnnel and Joanne to arrive.

The long drive was worth the wait. Nice beach, relaxing view. We all loved hearing the waves and just dipping our bodies in the water.

(Photos from the next morning)

Low-tide.

(More photos of the beach camp)

The accommodation was okay, too. We rented a Family Room that is good for 8-10 people. It has 4 sets of double deck, TV, DVD player, refrigerator, living room set, terrace area and the room is airconditioned, too. It has its own bathroom with functional shower and flush and clean water. Outside the room is a grilling area and washing area so you can bring and cook food there. The houses are placed apart but the rooms per houses are placed side-by-side and above each other. Though you wouldn't bother so much the people from other houses from playing games or music, the people located above or beside you might be. My friends and I were just lucky that no one was occupying the room beside us and the group staying above us were playing games and making some noise, too. Hehe. Of course, making too much noise is rude and impolite so we toned it down a bit around midnight. The beach camp has different types of rooms so just check out the site to see what suits you and your family or friends and what other facilities they offer.

The room we stayed in

This treehouse is for rent, too, and you can stay overnight.

Around dinner time, we went back to our room and ate chips for the meantime since Johnnel and Joanne had not arrived yet! Some of us took a bath first while waiting and while I was in the middle of bathing, the two arrived! With food! Yay!

We played games after dinner. We played Pinoy Henyo first then Charades. We played Charades most of the night. Then Jolo brought out his UNO Madness game then after a few rounds, Lee brought out her Monopoly cards. We had so much fun playing! 

My team

I think we made more noise compared to the group who were staying above our room. Haha! Charades + Pinoy Henyo + UNO Madness+ Monopoly cards = spontaneous and continuous cursing that we were able to invent words with curses. Hahaha! (So kids, don't play all of them together and consecutively or else... Hahahahaha!) We're the two groups who were playing something that night. In the middle of observing them play Monopoly, Joanne and I headed to bed first. We slept around 4:00-4:30 in the morning, the rest followed by 5:00 AM.

After getting four hours of sleep, more or less, we woke up to hang out by the beach. Johnnel and Vinci rented a kayak. I wanted to try kayaking but I don't like staying under the sun for too long. Jolo, RC and I just sat by the beach, under the tree and watched them. Johnnel and Vinci swam afer 30 minutes of kayaking, Lee and Joanne followed.

Around 11:00 AM, we headed back to our room and prepared for check-out. While waiting for their turn to take a bath, Johnnel, Lee, RC and Jolo played UNO Madness and Monopoly again and interchanged players with those who are done preparing.

We had lunch at Mahogany Market in Tagaytay. We were starving so bad that Vinci coined the term "brunchenda" since we didn't have breakfast and lunch and it was already 3:00 PM when we had our lunch, supposedly merienda time already. While waiting for our food, Lee, Jolo, RC and Vinci played Monopoly again. Yes, addicted much! Hahaha!

Lee dropped us at Summit Ridge in Tagaytay; Johnnel dropped Joanne there, too, before they head home respectively. Vinci and Jolo went home first while Joanne, RC and I went to buy tarts before heading home.

We were all exhausted and I know we all plunged into bed to sleep upon arriving home (But I watched our videos first before hitting the sack. :D).

It was such a good and definitely-not-quiet night with my high school friends. I missed them so bad! :) Till next affair, guys! :)

*****

This afternoon, my Mom and I went to several jewelry stores to find a ring that looks exactly like the one she gave me on my 11th birthday. I lost that ring (read full story here) last year and I asked her to give me another ring that looks like that as a gift. The problem is, she had it specially made for me years ago using the remaining pair of the earrings that was snatched from her. If only special made-to-order rings are not quite expensive (yes, even the simplest one with only one stone! They're already quite expensive in the past years, how much more now?), she would have made the exact same ring again for me. Fortunately, we found something that looks almost the same to my old ring! It's nothing very big and sparkly but I love it! :) It's the sentimental value and the feel of that lost ring that counts for me. :) Besides, I don't want a ring that looks like an engagement or wedding ring to be given to me by my Mom. :)

And she bought under ring for me, too! :) Yay, thanks Mom! :)