Quietly Turning 32

I celebrated my 32nd birthday last friday. But unlike the previous year where I made half of my KL friends drunk to oblivion (including myself), these year I celebrated my birthday quietly. I specifically chose not to have a big party this year because I wanted to make it more meaningful for me. Not that last year was bad. Turning 31 was very significant as I really thought I wouldnt make it past 30 when I was a kid (not to sound morbid or anything) so I wanted a big party to welcome that year. This year, I just wanted a quiet day to reminisce about the blessings I've had over the past 32 years (senti mode!)..

Ella and Classmate flew in on the 4th of Feb and on the eve of my birthday the four of us (Ella, Adrian, Jay and I) waited for Feb 6 on top of the Skybar at the Traders' Hotel in KLCC. We had beers and margarita and enjoyed the view after a lovely dinner at the foodcourt of KLCC. At 12 mn we headed back to the condo and waited for my actual birthday (I was born 12:55am). When the clock finally struck 12:55, I blew my make believe birthday cake (it was a chocolate flavored candle from Ikea) infront of my three friends.

The text messages and emails started coming in early in the morning. Karen was the first one to greet all the way from Manila. My sister called early Friday morning and most of my friends in Pinas sent in their greetings all throughout the day. It was such a great feeling to be remembered by them. Even my dad whom I havent seen or spoken to in over 8 years greeted me. I'm glad he remembered my birthday this year.

Friday night we had dinner at the Korean Bbq (suki na kami nito) where we pigged out and drank korean soju. There was a funny moment in the resto when I found a bug on the lettuce leaf and asked the waiter to take it away. He thought I was asking him to eat it and he said, "I don't eat bug!" I nearly died of laughter. All of us could barely keep it together. After dinner, it was a round of drinking at the house till 3am.

It was a small celebration this year but I kind of liked it that way. I got to celebrate my day with my closest friends and my bestfriend was here (Sana pwedeng ijeep na lang ang pinas para we can do this every weekend).

I got almost all the things I wished for on my birthday (may isa na lang na di natupad.. but sabi nga patience is a virtue)..

I am grateful.

And the Winner is...

A couple of months ago there was a challenge--the adobo challenge to be exact. I even wrote a blog about it. Finally last night natest na ang adobo prowess ni gidiyap. We even had a special pot allocated for it (sponsored by Ikea).

The verdict? It was really good. Well worth the wait of 4 months (yata) and 3 hours (1030 na kami kumain eh) See good sport ako! ... walang bitterness yan! hahaha..

Sabi ko nga, I know when to admit defeat (sabi kasi ni Sr. Rose sa bridget before tuwing sportsfest that we should always have "humility in victory, and graciousness in defeat" ). So I am giving the adobo crown to my worthy competitor (parang nadal-federer match to.. long awaited..).. May iba pang challenges sa sunod. hehe..

And sige na, maalat talaga ang adobo dati. :)

Ang pagbabalik...

I have been remiss in my blogging for the last 2 weeks for 2 reasons: going back to work after a month long holiday is chaotic. Had to catch up with a lot of stuff not to mention I had a graduate class to run. But more than that moving houses is another chaos. I decided to live closer tot he city and be nearer the KL campus thus I packed my stuff over the Chinese new year break and embarked on another adventure in KL..I never realized that I could accumulate so much stuff in a little over 2 years of stay in Malaysia. Literally I gave away 1 whole balikbayan box of clothes alone. Andyan pa ang mga stuff like stuffed toys, books, etc. Ay naku! ang daming kalat.. Buti na lang may mga loyal workers (ay super heroes pala.. itago natin sila sa mga pangalang C J & DM) na matiyagang nakibuhat sa aming mga gamit nung grand lipatan day. May utang pa kaming mamak meals sa inyo. hehehe..

And finally kagabi nagka internet na sa aming bagong home sweet home.

Yahoo! back in circulation again. ;)