Five birthdays and a Wedding...

I went home for a quickie vacation/celebration over the weekend to celebrate five birthdays and a wedding. Despite feeling ill days before I managed to muster enough strength to fly home and be with my family and friends for our september to remember event. I arrived home in time to celebrate five birthdays-- Ves and tita dada's (21/09),Fr. Bu's (22/09), and Luis and Anthony's (25/09) and one wedding-- Whily's and Mark's. The third week of September is always filled with birthdays to celebrate for me as most of my family and friends are somehow born on that day.

The best part about going home is being able to renew ties with old friends. My first stop was of course Jollibee where I had late lunch with classmate and ella. Ella treated me to chickenjoy and creamy macaroni soup. yummy. Ella took me home afterwards where Mom ordered pizza from greenwich for dinner. I didn't get to quiz classmate but promise next time babawi ako!hahaha. Ella and I met up again the next night for dinner at burgoo. Foodtrip galore again. Calories calories!

Saturday morning was Fr Bu's birthday and I had a lecture for the Bu Eagle Lecture series. I woke up early to finish my presentation (as usual!) and managed to deliver a decent speech without crying. I couldn't say the same thing for my mom though--she was crying just as I was finishing my second sentence. In the short reunion at Admu, I got to say hello to Weevens, Ces, Jopie, Oliver, Bel and Jib. Nikki was there too. It was good to see him especially since I saw him last over a year ago during his dad's wake. He looked happy and that made me smile. Weevens and I took no time to get back to our wicked ways and bashing our "favorite" sleeper in class (I swear Weevs, maniac yon!!!)

During willeah's wedding, I was able to have a reunion with the PPPeyups gang. Gilbert, Vivi, Merly, Tintin and Eunice were guests along with Peter (na nag birthday din nga pala) and Aldwin E.(isa pang sept celebrant) We marvelled at Willeah's new body courtesy of fruitas and thought about going on that diet as well. We raided the dessert buffet and loved the chocolate fountain and array of chocolate desserts. After the wedding, Gilbert, Merl, Tin and I went for coffee (sans the coffee) in Starbucks pearl drive and talked about PPP, showbiz, travel, and life in general. We've come a long way since college days when all we could afford was tapsilog at UP SC or the occassional Mcdo meal. I laughed my heart out at Gilbert's and Vivi's anti wedding comments (di cost effective yan!-gilbert; pwede ba pag nagpakasal kayo civil na lang para walang ek ek?-vivi) and cried with Merly's story of heartbreak (hay merl! he doesn't deserve you!).

After a short coffee talk, I left them to visit my beloved pamilya badminton-- tito noel, tita nel, and kei at gbc. lolo rb was not around as he was busy with his new career in Starbucks. It was good to see Kei again since I missed seeing her the last time. Sayang lang di kami nakalaro.

The P10 girls showed up on Sunday for our traditional get together. As usual it was just the three of us again--Jai, Ina, and me. Mariel was there for a short time but had to leave early. Of course we understood (All for one, one for all in the name of love mare!). Kim and Rency also came with baby Enzo whose past time of playing superman was so cute to watch. I never thought I had the skill to actually make a baby laugh but Enzo must have found me really funny. Or mukha kaya akong clown?

Of course there was still my bonding moments with Mommy. We went to MOA on Sunday to do some shopping and eating at Terryaki boy. We also went to Ever to buy groceries. I know my mom misses having me to drive her around. I miss having her around too.

I got to play Badminton only once since it was only a short vacation. But it was still worth it. I played four matches and did a series of drills with Luis. This is what I miss the most--playing with Luis and the rest of the GBC/pamilya badminton gang. So even if I was beet red after the games due to fatigue, I was in bliss. Luis treated me to a pre-birthday dinner that Monday night in Chowking where i finally got to satisfy my craving of halo halo and tokwa't baboy. Luis and I reminisced about our adventures in the past and even got to drop by Manang's for some post badminton chikka.

The last two days of vacation was spent mostly with idol Anthony and our breakfast dates. On Monday we went to chocolate kiss where we feasted on tocilog and cakes. The best. Sayang there was no dayap cake but the Kahlua butter cake was still divine. We swapped stories about life and love and teased each other to death about our bloopers. Of course nothing could beat Idol's date at the dome and the tea "gay ka ba?" question that came with it.

I took him to work after (sorry late ka idol!) with the promise of breakfast again the next day which was also his birthday (same day as Luis). I picked him up the next day and got the honor of driving his new car-- a honda civic. It was an honor because no one has driven the car yet (even he hasn't driven it!). We took his car to Sto Domingo Church where we had mass (weevens said buti di daw ako nasunog!hahaha). We went to the virgin mother and prayed in the blessed sacrament before heading off to breakfast at heaven and eggs in Tomas Morato.

Of course true to form, there were the jaime bloopers-- as i was kneeling in the blessed sacrament i knocked on the chair by accident causing a lot of noise in the very quiet chapel. hahaha.. and have i mentioned i didn't have a license? I kind of forgot it in Malaysia. :) I told Anthony that I couldn't leave manila without our traditional last gimik together. And even though I promised myself I would not get senti over this vacation he made it nearly impossible for me not to do so. (kakainis ka idol! but thanks for the toblerone!)

We finally said good bye in front of v. luna hospital with a the promise of seeing each other again in December (baguio here we come!) and I headed back to ADMU where I met up with Weevens for the last goodbye.

By 130pm I was off to the airport. It was time to go back. ganung kabilis ang limang araw. limang tulog. kakasimula pa lang..tapos na agad. I spent some time on the phone with ella while waiting for the check in counter to open. One of the things I miss most while here in Malaysia is our telebabad nights. I got another call from Idol and had a relaxing foot and back massage before I finally boarded my flight to KL.

On my way from KL to Manila I sat beside a pinay DH on her way back home for good. She was teary eyed when she shared how she was going home for good. I could sense her happiness and sadness at the same time. She was excited to be with her family at last after being away for 6 years but at the same time I sensed her apprehension about what lies ahead. She told me how she hopes to come back again in the future.

Part of me was glad that I had a job to get back to unlike her. But a bigger part of me was envious because she gets to go home for good while I only had five days. If only she knew how lucky she was and how much I'd give to exchange places with her at that moment.

But Ella is right. I need to be here in Malaysia for now. This is my path for now. To quote Gilbert, mahirap kumita ng PPP.

But one day I shall be back.. for good.