surprise!

I was so not prepared for today. Originally, the only thing I had planned for the day was to meet up with Ros, Lyn, Roland and Joel for our New Year's lunch at Lusso in Greenbelt 5. I arrived early so I went around Marks first. Ros texted that she was already there as well so I told her to meet me at Marks. I was in line at the cashier (took me less than 5 minutes to find something I like!) when someone grabbed me from behind...I was like, what the?! I turned around and was really shocked when I saw who was standing there - FRO! I was literally speechless...you're supposed to be in China! What are you doing here?! Hahaha. No one knew that he was coming so yeah, the surprise really worked!

I was right last night then...something was indeed up when Ros texted me out of the blue, asking what I'm doing. We don't usually text like that so initially, I was like huh? And she tells me that Fro asked her to ask me what I was up to right that moment...I just thought that maybe they were chatting online, but Fro wasn't online so that's weird. But anyway, we texted for a bit until we decided to meet up today with our other officemates, hence the last minute New Year's lunch. As it turns out, Fro just showed up at her door last night so she was also in for a shock seeing him there. Hahaha.

Lunch at Lusso turned out really well. Good thing we decided on a fancy place...there was more to just celebrating New Year...it was very fitting for our 'Welcome back to Manila' lunch for Fro!

Because of the unexpected turn of events, I had to free up my entire day and arranged for the driver to come pick me up later that night instead of right after lunch.

First order of business was to go to a barbershop and get Fro a shave that didn't just cost half a nail (they started using how much my recent nail art costs in determining the prices of things) and won't put him into so much pain (his first 'traditional' shave in the province a couple of years ago traumatized him big time!) Lyn and I took him to Bruno's and seeing that the shave alone costs about 2 1/2 nails (yes, the Nail System works!) was a good sign. We assured him that this will be very different from the last time - for starters, there's shaving cream! Hahaha!

Suffice to say, he was very happy with it! Lyn and I were a bit worried that it might be another horrible experience for him. But It should be really good coz the entire thing costs about 10 nails! Hahaha.

The others had to leave already since they had other stuff planned for the day. Again, if we only knew he was coming we could have planned things better like bringing my spare iPhone so he could use it while he's here...hahaha! We decided to just meet up again for dinner. So in the meantime, we went to Cafe Havana for some afternoon cocktails, then got a massage at The Spa. We went back to his place so he can change into something more 'dressier' (which made Ros and I look like his yayas afterwards!), met up with Ros for wine and tapas at Barcino later that night, then headed to I-forgot-the-name-of-the-bar-beside-kitchen for more drinks. I was supposed to have my birthday shots there (I know, it's way too early!) but their lemon drop and jagerbomb shots were just so awful! I refuse to call those my birthday shots!

I left close to 11pm already. What a day! But I have to admit, it was the best surprise ever! Talk about ending the year with a bang...welcome to Manila, Daddy! It's good to have you back! ;)

family love

The holidays are made even more special when spent with your loved ones :)

touch

After almost a month since I ordered it, it's finally here - my new Kindle Touch! I met up with Icko earlier so I could get my hands already on my new toy. I spent the entire afternoon organizing and transferring my ebooks. I'm loving how small it is! I still need to get used to the touch screen though. I still find myself clicking the sides to turn the page even if there are no buttons...

And of course, I just had to dress it up in pink :) I originally wanted to get the cover with the built in light but it didn't come in pink and it was for back order only - takes 6-8 weeks for it to be delivered...to late already for Icko to bring it home.

I'm now ready to read all about Roarke again :)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas day is all about family and traditions. Since we were kids, we opened our gifts on the morning of the 25th then have breakfast with the whole family. By noon, we would head out for lunch with my dad's side of the family then dinner is with my mom's side. It is a whole day family affair and it never changed.

The little one was the most excited about the whole Christmas celebration. He's now old enough to understand what's going on. Ever since we put up the tree and started putting gifts underneath, he would check and count everyday how many gifts he has already. He now knows how to read his name so you can't fool him! I was awakened with the little one excitedly shouting by my door, "Wake up Nang-nang! It's time to open the gifts!" You can't say no to that!

It was just pure joy each time he opened a gift...

He has enough toys to last him until his birthday (which is just a week away)!

I got some pretty good gifts myself. We would usually give each other a wish list at the start of the month so we'd know what to get. I left out the big item stuff from my list though since I'd only end up opening 1 gift if I asked them to get me something from my original wish list! Hahaha.

My mom got me the new DKNY Be Delicious Fresh Blossom perfume (yes, it's pink!):

a pair of sandals from Aerosoles (in pink again!):

and more books to add to my collection - the Hunger Games Trilogy boxset, The Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Houck and The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks:

My brother got me a dress for work:

While my sister got me some beauty stuff:

After opening all our gifts, we had our traditional ham, queso de bola, croissant and hot chocolate for Christmas breakfast...

That was just our morning and we're in for more fun and family love as we head out to our reunions for the rest of the day. Christmas is indeed my favorite holiday of the year! :)

Noche Buena

For the 1st time in so many years, I didn't find myself at the mall for some last minute shopping on the 24th! I was not used to being 'relaxed' the day before Christmas. My entire family was out almost the entire day, running errands and still finding that perfect gift. Since I was the one stuck at home, I took up the kitchen duty and started early preparing for Noche Buena. It was quite tiring but everything paid off as we prepared for the midnight feast.

As always, I was in charge of setting up the table and out came all the Christmas settings. From the centerpiece...

glasses...

table napkins...

to the serving platters...

and the plates...

everything was just very festive!

Now for the menu. We kinda overdid it again given that there were only 5 of us. But then again, it IS Christmas and lots of food is happiness!

For appetizers, we got our favorites from Bizu - Mushroom Duxelle and Smoked Salmon with Pistachio Mousse:

My mom also made some Russian salad:

For the main course, we each had an assignment...

Prawns Thermidore for me:

Lengua Estofado for my mom:

and Mushroom and Parma Ham Risotto for my sis and brother in law:

We didn't have the energy to make dessert anymore so we got our favorites from Bizu again...

There's the mini Amour cakes - orange chocolate mousse in between layers of creme brûlée and brownie:

mini Samba cakes - milk and dark chocolate mousse between layers of chocolate cake and coated with chocolate sauce:

mini Opera cakes - classic gateau of sponge cake with coffee butter cream and chocolate ganache :

and the Clichy cake - layers of almond joconde, raspberry and rose gelee, pistachio creme legere and mirror glaze:

And of course, our meal wouldn't be complete without some wine (sparkling for my sis since she doesn't drink!)...

Suffice to say, it was a very good feast and such a fitting celebration for the real reason of this season - Happy Birthday, Jesus! We have so much to be thankful for and we are indeed blessed for the all the things that happened to us this year.

A blessed Merry Christmas to everyone! :)

almost done!

With only 5 days left before Christmas, I'm actually doing pretty good on the Christmas shopping front. I just finished wrapping all the gifts for the folks in the office and looking at my list, the only ones missing are the ones for our household help and drivers - that I can do in the next day or so. I'm already done with my family and relatives and by the looks of things, I think this would be the first time that I won't find myself still shopping and wrapping gifts on the 24th! Not bad given that I only had one free weekend in December - though I had to squeeze in a lot of after-office shopping in between. Just a few more sleeps, and it's gonna be my favorite holiday of the year! :)

early birthday gift

With only 1 day to go around Jakarta, we didn't really have much time so we ended up just going to the Grand Indonesia mall. I wasn't able to buy much except for some beach dresses from the Roxy factory sale (in time for my Boracay trip next month!). But just as we were about to leave, we passed by Gucci on our way out so I decided to look around...and there you go, my major purchase for this trip:

I really didn't plan on buying anything but when I saw this, I just had to get it...it's pink plus the intertwined Gs shaped like a heart is a sure win!

Since I already got myself an early Christmas gift, this is my super early birthday gift for myself - yes, I really have to justify this purchase! On a side note, this will be my last major buy for this year...I've splurged so much already! ;)

My Best Friend's Wedding Part 2

The main event of my weekend trip to Jakarta is to attend Andrea and Rony's wedding. As promised, I'll fly to wherever they are just to be with them on their special day - just as I promised Cristy when she had her wedding in the US a couple of months back. So here I am with just a handful of her family and friends to share this moment with my best friend.

Rachelle and I got in by midnight last night thru PAL but we still had to wait for Andrea's brother, cousin and aunts who took the Cebu Pacific flight. Their flight was supposed to arrive the same time as ours but unfortunately, they were an hour delayed so it wasn't until past 1am when we finally headed to the hotel. The bride was still up when we got to the hotel and after some catching up, it was already close to 4am and we had to get up in just a few hours for the 10am wedding!

The wedding was held at the Orkid which was just across the Merlynn Park Hotel where we were staying.

Just like any other bride, Andrea was blooming that day...

The actual wedding was attended just by us who flew from Manila and Rony's immediate family. I just learned when we arrived that the reception wasn't until 7pm and that's when all the other guests would be around. I'm a sucker for weddings...I always cry whenever the bride starts to walk down the aisle and this was no exception. Her parents weren't able to make it (they're in the US and couldn't fly out) so it was her twin brother, Miguel, who walked her down the aisle.

The wedding ceremony was in Bahasa though, so we really didn't understand what's going on except for their vows which thankfully, they said in English. Unlike a Catholic wedding, they didn't have the cord, veil and candle ceremony. The exchange of rings was there and there were a lot of prayers and blessings in between...

This part we understood...you may now kiss the bride!

After the ceremony, we headed back to the hotel to rest, get some sleep again (we only had 3 hours of sleep last night!) and recharge for the big party that night. By 7pm, we went back to the Orkid which was now beautifully dressed up in different shades of orange and peach...

I loved how their prenup pictures were displayed amidst the fall background (by the way, it's customary in Indonesia to be in your wedding gown for the prenup pictures)...

The main ballroom was a sight to see! They weren't kidding when they said that the reception was grand!

The couple was a perfect picture of happiness as they walked in...

The wedding traditions were done before dinner was served. There was the cutting of the cake...

The pouring of the wine...

and their first dance (which we learned wasn't usually done in Indonesia but they put it in anyway)...

It was indeed a perfect night filled with much love and happiness and I'm glad that I flew all the way to Indonesia to be part of this special day.

Congratulations Andrea and Rony! :)