Through the Years

Friendships like ours, are not made in a day or even a year.
Friendships like ours, are built with long talks and revealing our true selves.
Friendships like ours, make us feel accepted and loved.
On your birthday, I want you to know I feel blessed to have you in my life.


I'm glad to have a wonderful friend like you. See you in June!

Ribs and Laughters

Since it’s the season for giving gifts and endless parties, for us, it is also a season of reunions and re-acquaintance with people we have not seen for a while. It has been years, I cannot even recall if it is five or six, but it’s been a while since we last bonded face to face. Good thing we have email, SMS and FB, the friendship is still intact.

The original date was weeks before but we had to reschedule because of the flu. We’re supposed to attend our HS reunion but conflicts on dates forbid us to attend. After a week of delay, we had our date set and ready for a night of chitchat and laughter.


For our date, we find La Maison Brasserie, a French Casual Dining Restaurant, in Greenbelt 5 an interesting place to eat and share good food. It was advertised as having the “best steaks” or at least something along that line.

First to arrive was the super trendy, Ms. Charito “Chato/Iking/Chamy” Gabriel, clad with her powerful Prada bag, Mikimoto pearls and of course, the Philip Stein watch. As always, Chato depicts the corporate banker type with elegance and character. I love her salt and pepper hair, suit her more compared to the highlighted do from before. She’s on the thin side nowadays but as I told her, adding a few pounds will do her good as well. As we were getting settled at our table, Chato bombarded me with tons of questions, I cannot help but look at her and go back to years back when we were still classmates in HS. I did miss her laughter, her antics and sarcasm and most special of all, her with and humor! Nothing beats Iking!

As we were waiting for our other date to arrive, we had to update ourselves and it was tiring yet fun. As the clock ticks later in the night, we wondered how come she’s still a no-show. I suddenly remembered she gets lost in the area. Tadah! She did!

The other Maria for the night is the very petite and cute, Ms. Rubyanne “Deng” Canasa, sporting a new hair color and laughing out loud that she got lost again within the Greenbelt 5 premises and having a hard time finding a parking slot. The ever conscious Deng is still the same, prettier in fact, as others say, the added years suit her best. She lamented on how hard it was for her to find a parking space for hours and it was a real laugh for us to hear her rant! Between the two, I have more contact with Deng through the years, but hearing her voice again, brings back memories.

We feasted ourselves with the house specialties and the baby back ribs were indeed tender and juicy as mentioned by some friends who already dined at La Maison. The service was good; very polite and helpful staff. The ambiance was quiet and comfy, stylish but relaxed. It is absolutely perfect for a date place. Overall, we really had a great dining experience.


Even though we missed my dearest twin, Mrs. Evangeline "Vangie" De Jesus-Cruz, the laughter and the voices were really ear-splitting with our own stories to tell and the tons of chismis with regards to our other class/batchmates. Just like in any occasion, we talked about almost everything under the sun. Next time around, we do hope to have Vangie with us - physically.


Much as we want to stay longer and chat, the night was almost over and everybody have her own schedules for the next day - getting ready for the last working day for the year and for flights to catch. After exchanging presents, kisses and hugs and tons of pictures, we said our goodbyes.

See you again soon, Deng and Chato! Hopefully with the rest of our intriguing classmates and friends! Oops, might be sooner, maybe along Harbour City Shopping Centre perhaps?!

A Double J Celebration

It was a rainy Thursday when Vangie sent a personal message informing me she’s already in Manila for a short period of time. It’s a double header celebration for her two beautiful daughters – Julianne’s 2nd birthday and Jasmine’s baptismal. As always, the party fell on a Saturday. Knowing Vangie, she won’t take no for an answer even if I did give her my valid reasons.

Since I have class till 6pm, I asked my sister to buy my presents. I asked her to buy my twin’s two daughters dresses at Rustan’s Makati and to have them gift wrapped for the occasion. Dutifully, she obliged despite not having eaten lunch that day!

Back to my story, class was extended for a few minutes and as usual, traffic in EDSA was the worst. As we were going to the De Jesus’ residence, I can’t help but reminisced some of the funny moments with Vangie during our ES/HS days.


The party for the kids started at 3pm. We came in at around 7pm. Even though we are 4 hours behind, there were still a number of guests. Food as always was provided by Corrhin’s Catering. I got to taste again Nanay’s special fried chicken. Even my sister enjoyed the Hotdogs. Yum!


Although we were late, I got to chat longer with my twin. We talked about almost all the topics that can be covered while I ate dinner and enjoyed each other’s company. I always feel at home whenever I’m at the De Jesus’ residence – para ka lang nasa bahay!


As I said my goodbyes, I can’t help but be teary eyed. It was as if we were just mere students the other day and now my twin is a mom of two beautiful girls. As the night goes deeper, I got good news – she’s coming home for good before the end of the year. Definitely more time for bonding and as I was leaving, I kidded her, one more round – make it a boy!

Gie, don’t forget to get me a room at the Venetian! Let’s have some fun in Macau before you head back to Manila for good.

S-S-S

Saturday. Surprises. Strawberries.

Last March 7, 2009 was another extraordinary Saturday for me. Days before Saturday, one of the KIDS, informed me that she’ll be in the area and asked if it is okay to visit me during class hours. What else can I say but yes! Though I was looking at my notes, I saw the note that visitors are not allowed, hahaha! Screw the rules for a day. I can spare a few minutes.

Two classmates celebrated their respective birthdays but the uber generous Erson had a Buko Pandan delivered for Owen and Venz. Because of work related commitment, Venz left after the morning session and wasn’t able to enjoy the cake but Owen gladly posed and enjoyed the birthday cake while being serenaded by the class.


Jannice texted me that she’s already in the area and I sneaked out from the room during the start of the afternoon session. It was a little bit over five minutes and with a few hugs and smiles and it was over. I can’t stay longer since I can’t miss a lot from class and we can’t go out after the end of the class since I have earlier plans. We just exchanged gifts and promised to meet again on the 21st and will ask the rest of the KIDS to join us. For sure it will be a riot full of laughter and gossip and most of all food!


The lesson for the day was very informative and helpful for my daily work yet as usual I drifted for a few seconds in the computation part, whew! It was a bit of a nosebleed since we are without the handy Excel worksheet.

As most of my friends know, my top three fruit choices are Grapes, Cherries and yes, Strawberries. Ian was in Baguio City for a client presentation and he brought me a pack of fresh hand picked strawberries. Sweet! He gave the strawberries after class and I brought it home and had it chilled before I started munching the berries. Thanks so much, Ian!


Another fun-filled Satuday it was. Next Saturday it will be another one for the books. I’ll be one of the host team members with the very pretty, Iyah, and the equally guwapo, Jigs; and to top it all, I’ll have dinner with Moises and Weng after class.

I can’t wait for Satuday Sunshine! Countdown begins…

When time was with her... She came early at last!

It was an advance birthday celebration (December 22 is the exact date) and a Christmas get-together rolled into one. I was leaving the next day for a Winter Holiday with my siblings and I cannot afford NOT to party with my Sistahud.

If you’ve been following our dates, you’ll know our side remark regarding the birthday girl, Mary Ann aka Marianna. She walks a lot. If the meeting place is in the Makati area and it’s a work day, she’ll definitely walk her way to the venue. Given the proximity, yes, it is good to walk but guess what, she always comes in late. So, for this date, I applaud Marianna. She came first to the venue. Hooray! December 17, 2008, a sure date to remember!

Yes, she still walked going to Tony Roma’s. I, on the other hand, was the tardy Sistahud. I got caught in terrible traffic coming from work and they were already eating appetizers when I reached TRG4. I cannot blame myself entirely for my tardiness, it’s the holiday season and everybody’s out for last minute shopping finds.

Once settled, we immediately got busy eating our ribs, seafood and steak dinner. Yum! Yum! Since we love the freebie bread with herb butter from TRG4, we asked another serving and just munched them away. While we are having dinner, we talked about updates regarding career, family and of course, love life. This is always a necessity! Tsismis Sa Gitna Ng Tsibog!

You bet we do have our colorful love stories especially the birthday girl’s love life. All along she didn’t know that we’ve been talking about her in her sister’s blog. Even her Mom was part of the conversation. See, Marianna, you’re very famous! Charing!

Before we finished dinner, I brought out Rachelle’s Christmas presents for Elline and Marianna. Mom brought home from LA the gifts and I was really intrigued with them. Elline got the white bag and Marianna got two music CDs. Wow!

We also exchanged Christmas presents and gave Marianna’s birthday treats as well. In return, they gave me Rachelle’s Christmas presents intending to bring them with me when I leave the next day.

It was another year of good food, tons of laughter and precious moments with the Sistahud.

The next cycle of dates will be my birthday celebration unless Rachelle decides to visit Manila before June 2009, we will definitely book a weekend all together and bond!

Mary Ann - wishing you every good thing that life can bring, on your birthday and always.

Yaya Juvelyn

Thank you for the wonderful care you give. It takes very special people like you to look after others with such kindness and concern. We want you to know you are appreciated!


You give so much of yourself, when you take care of us. Thank you for all you do for me, Chloe and Reyboy.

Have a wonderful 24th birthday, Juvy!

Julianne's First

More than a month prior to the birthday party, my very good friend, Evangeline “Vangie” O. De Jesus-Cruz was already informing me about her daughter’s first birthday celebration.

Julianne whose exact birthday is May 8 celebrated her first birthday with a Hawaiian themed party at the Poolside of Legaspi 300 Towers in Roxas Boulevard. They flew in to Manila from their home-based, Macau, on the day of the birthday. The family decided to celebrate the event here with close family and friends.

Since it was a Saturday and I have plans every Saturday morning, I told Vangie that I’ll be late since I’ll be coming from the other side of the city. Just as I told her, I was late – big time! Traffic was bad and some parts of the Metropolis were experiencing a terrible rainfall.

I arrived with my sister just in time with the blowing of the Lilo-inspired birthday cake. It was great. Julianne or Lianne is such a cute girl though she doesn’t like being passed around to visitors – good thing when I was talking to her Mom she gladly came to me even for just a few seconds.

The food was good since Vangie’s family catered the event as well but since I was late I only took just a few bites and spent the rest of the time chatting with my so-called twin.

Sad part was it rained and most of the guests were seeking cover in the tent. Since I still have to meet with my brother and my parents, we left and said goodbyes.

To Julianne, happy birthday! To Vangie, it was just like old times. To Vangie and Jayson, congratulations and wishing you all the best during this happy, happy time.

Mango Madness

I got an early call from Tito Rolly and he mentioned that he’ll have something delivered before I leave for the weekend. Guessing if it was Suman from Batangas or home-cooked pasta made me hungry while waiting for the messenger.

Lo and behold, I got a big basket of green mango from Pangasinan. Seventy-one big ones. Sarap! Thanks, Tito Rolly and belated happy birthday too!


I will give Mom half of the mango and I’ll prepare pickled mango and wait for some to go yellow for my cheeblings favorite.

Now, let me get a knife and I’ll start sampling a big one!

Mini Oble

The Oblation has always been for me the symbol of being a true UP student in which nakedness is not about the lack of clothes but instead the freedom to embrace ANY culture, perspective, race or tradition because in UP, you open your mind and emotion to everything about life and that has taught me very important lessons.

I got my Mini Oble from Gobleth Moulic, a batchmate from UP.


Thanks to Emerson Cuyo for he was the one who facilitated the Baguio-Manila transfer of our precious.

This treasured Mini Oble is beautifully done by Kigao Rosimo of Baguio City. I hope his works will always be a reflection of his creativity and artistry.

From one UP student to another...

Claw Time

Chloé celebrated her 27th birthday last Monday, the 28th of January.

With no definite plans until 5pm, we got ready for a dinner somewhere in the area of The Fort. There are some new restaurants in Bonifacio High Street that we wanted to try out and that day is one of the best days to eat out. Right before leaving the house, Chloé decided to call a number of restaurants and find out which will appeal to her appetite.

We finally decided to have dinner at Claw Daddy’s Crab House and American Grill at Bonifacio High Street. They serve seafood and South American dishes. Claw Daddy’s a family-friendly restaurant and very casual.

Mom, Yaya Helen and Master Joeric were the first to arrive and were already seated when we reached the place. As we read the menu, there are so many to choose from and it was quite difficult to pick what we want to eat.


Together with Chloé, Reyboy and Yaya Juvy we started feasting with the buttered corn on the cob that they serve for free as appetizers. It was good! Corn on the cob is a better replacement for free bread. What a great start to a great night.

As we waited for our Dad to arrive with Patrick, Tito Joey and Tita Amor with her three fellow Pediatricians, Mom dissected the menu and stared ordering.

We tried the Boston Clam Chowder (sans the sourdough bread – sad!), Creole Crispy Shrimps (crispy enough), Classic Caesar Salad and Nachos for start-up. It was all good except for the BCC. According to my Mom, Italianni’s Clam Chowder is way better. But it is still delicious!


For our main course, we ordered three plates of All-Shrimp Basket, Cold Seafood Platter and of course, the ultimate crabs - two types – Butter Ginger Crabs (sautéed in white wine ginger and lots of butter); and Szechuan Crab (sautéed in sweet, spicy, and gingery Szechuan sauce).


It was a fun experience for everybody since we get to use our hands to eat all the seafood. We were provided with Orange Bibs with the fading imprint of “Who’s Your Clawdaddy?” Semi-hot wash towels and tons of paper towels were given to us to prevent any stains.


It was not even messy for us since they do have this bucket in the middle of each table. You’ll always have a clean plate since you can easily dunk your empty shells into the bin.


Before I forget, they don’t have a cracker; instead they have a square marble tile with a black stone. Yaya Helen and Yaya Juvy were laughing their hearts out since the black stone reminds them of what we usually see in spas. Get my drift?


Chloé enjoyed her birthday dinner so much that even the free birthday dessert – a slice of the Mudslice Cake was memorable enough for us. We even brought the birthday cake Mom bought for Chloe and the servers gladly serve it for us after tons of picture taking.


On our way home, I was telling Mom on the phone that it is better to go to Claw Daddy for lunch so that you have longer time to shell out the shrimps and crabs and more time to savor the good food.


As for the rest of the birthday dinner attendees, I can guarantee that they did enjoy every minute of their dining experience.


Until our next clawing session and to my favorite sister: Wishing you health, wealth, peace, and the warmth that comes with loving family and friends.

Seafood Night

It was Maria’s birthday last Monday and even though she’s approximately 7,500 miles away, we celebrated anyway last Wednesday with the Sistahuds (Mary Ann and Ella Elline) and guess what; Maria was represented by her beautiful daughter, Kyla.

Kyla’s currently in Manila for a three-week vacation before another term in school starts. During our dinner at Fish & Co. in Greenbelt 3, Kyla distributed the goodies.


We also met Kyla’s latest beau, VR. Hmm… promising boy I heard. Ha, ha, ha!


Just like any food trips of the Sistahud, we feasted on eating fish, shrimps and chips. We told Kyla that for the night, she’ll be her mom. Oops, before Maria can react to this post – yes, you’re way prettier than the daughter. Hint! She even got a free birthday dessert since we told Liezl (our server) that it’s her birthday.


Although Maria enjoyed the pictures from our dinner, she still missed a great night of laughter and good food. Next time around, we do hope to have her with us – physically.


Next time… sa Olive Garden kaya? Mary Ann and Ella Elline – wat u tink?

Back to UP

After a few months and a number of “rain-checked get togethers”, I was finally able to meet with Cutie Iyra and Jer, last Saturday, even for just five minutes. It was enough though to make updates and photo-ops. They just had to sneak out during a class that afternoon, hehehe.

Iyra is still a sight to see; still petite but I sense a lot of stress from her eyes. As for Jeremy, he’s still that same jolly person and has not lost his thoughtfulness.

I wish we could have bonded longer but I had errands somewhere else in the campus and the “kids” had a class to finish. Even so, we promised to see each other soon with the rest of the “kids”. This is a PAGING CALL for Sheryl, Mike, Marvin and Ja.


After that, I took a few more rounds around the academic oval and a lot of pictures of my alma mater.


2008 is a big year for us – mga Iskolar ng Bayan, for it’s our Centennial! I missed the opening ceremonies two weeks ago but for sure there will be more events to cap the celebration.

Oops, before I forget, thank you Tuesday for the heads up regarding the Mini Oble. I’ll get my statue next week with Emerson.

Go, UP!

Six "Single" Ladies

As early as the last quarter of 2007, Kumareng April’s very excited for her trip back to Manila. We didn’t get a chance to see each other the last time April and her family went to visit in 2006 so I’m so eager for their next visit.

Before they left Vevey, Switzerland I already confirmed with April our date with other HSFs. Gladly, I called and informed a few HSFs and booked the date. She’ll have a hectic schedule with the family and we want to have a concrete date of our kitakits. January 3, 2008 turned out to be a memory-filled event for us.


Along with Mrs. April Daisy Tupas-Buenaventura and me, four more HSFs were able to attend. Mrs. Adina Benosa-Manansala, Mrs. Ruth Cervantes-Casiño, Mrs. Czarina Imperial-Cuenca and Ms. Agripina Banigoos completed our group. Yes, only six HSFs, I invited a few more but due to their work load and the traffic that day they opted not to attend.


Six HSFs is a good number. April was happy to see familiar faces after a long time of nil communication with other HSFs. Agripina who was back for the New Year from Malaysia was also happy with the dinner date. Much to our surprise, Adina was able to go with the permission of the very jealous husband (hihihi). Czarina was able to leave her kid with her Mom to enjoy a night with friends.

Even though we’re only six, the laughter and the voices were really earsplitting with our own stories to tell and the tons of chismis with regards to our other class/batchmates. Just like in any occasion, we talked about almost everything under the sun.


Much as we want to stay longer and chat, the night was almost over and everybody have their own schedules for the next day. After exchanging kisses and hugs and tons of pictures, we said our goodbyes.

To Adina – Thanks for everything. Salamat din kamo kay Alvin. Kitakits sa YM. Ilang talon ka lang sa akin ha.

To April Daisy – I’ll see you soon and kisses to your two cute boys, sama na si Francis. Let’s keep the communication lines open especially when you’re back in Vevey. Don’t forget my Bacci.
To Agripina – I’ll miss again your laughter; hopefully, we’ll see each other before September. Don’t forget the Malaysian chocolates.

To Czarina – Freshen up your IT skills ha para mas updated. Send our regards to Oliver.

To Ruth – A few more months and you’ll be closer to my home; more bonding time with my BFF. Did Elian love the “pabalot”? Give our thank you’s to Cong. Teddy for driving you all the way to MOA and having a picture taken with the group.


Dinner was very filling and with all the stories told that night it was way over board. Kailan na kaya maulit?

Good Eat and Big Smiles

December is a festive month not only because of the Holiday Season but also because of the birthday of Mary Ann or most fondly called by the Sistahuds as Marianna. This year around, Marianna was early in choosing a venue for her birthday dinner cum Christmas kitakits.

Chelsea Market Café at Serendra was the chosen venue and it would be our first at the said restaurant. Marianna was trying to make reservations but the receptionist told her that they don’t hold reservations below their minimum of six. Can you believe that? No reservations if your company is only three pax. Hmmm.

Good thing our date was on a weekday and I decided to go early. Was in Serendra as early as 545pm and went straight to Chelsea to get a good table. I tried getting a reservation to be able to roam around Serendra but the receptionist said “madali po kaming mapuno at bawal magpareserve”, Hala! Go, Ralline – take your seat and wait!

While waiting for the other Sistahuds, I was busy reading a magazine and observing the place and the other customers. The place is a little bit on the high side. A little bit steep in terms of price but they do have big portions. The other people within the resto were all dressed and not so jologs – good thing I was not wearing my usual getup of shorts/shirt/sandals for the event or else I’d feel naked.

Elline and Marianna arrived a little over 30 minutes and the place was getting crowded. What we noticed instantly was that some people do have reservations even if their party is only good for two. Hmpfh! They have favoritism!

Food was served family style and we only ordered a few to satisfy our hunger. We got the Hamon platter, the Roasted Duck, Five Cheese Pizza and for dessert - a slice of the Toblerone Torte. It was all yummy except that we wanted some more bread. The servers were selective of their wards and we had to wait for them to notice us. Whew! Big note – next time be as lavish as possible to be served immediately.

One factor that would bring my feet back to Chelsea is their variety of fresh bread. I got three sets that night and I really enjoyed them. All breads are half-baked or frozen so that when you bake/toast them at your own kitchen, you’ll enjoy it 100%. Yum-O!

Today is Marianna’s birthday and we had the dinner three days prior the big event, we exchanged our respective Christmas presents and as always we have big bags leaving Chelsea.


As we finished dinner and was leaving Chelsea, we had our picture taken at the front door and even at the lobby of Serendra and all the time we were laughing our hearts out because of the throng of people outside the restaurants. Reason for our laughter will be kept secret until our next trip back.

For Marianna – cheers to another good year! For Elline and Marianna – thank you for the gifts!

This is all I want!

I tried the latest from Imagini and it was fun. It puts together a Wish List for Christmas based on my VisualDNA.

My VisualDNA: You're a total traditionalist when it comes to the holiday season. You love everything from eggnog to carol-singing; you throw yourself into it all 110%. Woes betide any scrooges who get in your way! Holidays for you are all about spending quality time with the kids. These are magic years so you want to grab all the chances you have to enjoy them. You're a real home bunny and you love inviting friends into your home. There's nothing more enjoyable than sitting down for a really long lunch with your nearest and dearest. You take real pleasure in making sure everyone has a great time. Your idea of a good game generally involves a pack of cards and a little gamble. Here's hoping you'll get your fair share of the action this holiday season!

Have a look at My Wishlist. Check out some gifts that I would love to get.

Let me know what you think.

Birthday Blowout

Tony Roma's Bar and Grill

Glorietta IV, Ayala Center Makati City

Treated my new family for lunch at Tony Roma's Bar and Grill. Had shrimps, ribs and tons of side dishes. All of us enjoyed the meal that we had a hard time going back to the office and staying awake till 6pm.

Thank you for the greetings and the gifts... until the next birthday celebration.