It’s the time of the year again when I fill my blog with loads of photos! Thursday night was our company’s Christmas party in Crowne Plaza and it surely was personally unforgettable for one obvious reason. I will reveal later why. It was fun, fabulous, loud and filled with really good food. 7 Corners really does not disappoint.
Cham is a friend I first met in high school. We became very close and then went separate ways only find ourselves together again in college. And because of that, he’s my only friend who also has his own personal relationships with all my closest friends. If there’s such thing as a lingering friend, he’s that and I like it. 
He celebrated his birthday last weekend with a party I’ve never seen before. Darn! We really are grown ups now.
Pictures after the jump…
And there it went – the night we were initially reluctant to spend turned out to be the happiest time, so far, I had with them since we graduated from college four years ago. Too bad Chester wasn’t there.
Stories and pictures after the jump…
Early this month, Bhu decided to celebrate her birthday in time for RJ’s short visit here so we’d be “complete.” We can never be complete since Gilbert’s in the US and the others have been inactive for a while or are bound by their self-imposed irrational limits. And the gathering happened last weekend. Due to Bhu and RJ’s conflicting schedule, we had to have two separate nights out for them. RJ’s welcome-home dinner was Friday while Bhu’s birthday was Saturday.
RJ
RJ took us to Hai in SM Mall of Asia. That place looked better than their Fort Bonifacio branch, where my credit card got accidentally maxed out several months ago. And RJ loved the Japanese-style tables. It was perfect for a quiet dinner that we wanted.
The amount of food was overwhelming! Same thing about RJ’s quick weight gain in just six months. She looked radiant but you could not miss the big change in her. Hours passed as we reminisced the old days, talked about RJ’s life in Qatar, and issues around our own relationships. If Hai were like bars in Malate, we’d be there talking and laughing until daybreak. Haha! No, we don’t stay out that late anymore. Plus RJ had plans the next morning.
After Hai, we went around MOA where Lhen and RJ tortured themselves inside these giant floating balls. We enjoyed ourselves while watching them, though. Haha!
We then went to Music 21 but Kaye was starting to play the curfew baby again and the rooms were all occupied so eventually, we decided just leave and call it a night.
BHU
Bhu wanted to settle around SM Mall of Asia again so Lhen could come. Lhen works in TeleTech and was only allowed to skip work for one day (Friday). Anyway, the least noisy place that we found was Pier One near the bay but it was also the least photogenic, ever! And their service sucks! The crew ignored our call, forgot some of our orders, and were barely visible in case we needed something. I’ve been to other Pier One branches but I never experienced such waiting and crappy service than in Pier One Mall of Asia.
Anyway… We still stayed – it was the only place I knew that served Gilbey’s Premium which was Bhu’s favorite. Nothing else really bothered us aside from the service people. The location was relatively quiet and well-lit. Bhu made the most of it by taking as much alcohol as she could. Haha! I have to admire her discipline nowadays. If I were in her shoes, I’d be tempted to skip school to be with my friends I last saw a many months ago. RJ also stopped by after her afternoon stint at a friend’s wedding. She looked gorgeous.
We plan to see each other next on my birthday. That’s how busy we are. RJ can’t be there but I hope it will still be as fun. And I’ll make sure not to do it near SM Mall of Asia! I think it’s not the best place to dine out.
A week ago, we were twelve-year-olds again. For Kaye’s birthday we had an afternoon of laughter and fun in the rain. I was actually worried Daddy (Kaye’s dad) would scold us for getting too soaked. It was fun. If we weren’t carrying our cellphones and cameras with us we would’ve stayed out longer.
Story and more pics after the jump…
God is so good and He wanted us to take this vacation. The sun shone brightly and hot on Sunday morning after hiding behind rain clouds all week. It’s Monday night and I just got home from Lucena where Eric very sweetly accommodated me, Jeyelle, Jerome and RJ in Pueblo por la Playa – literally the most colorful resort I’ve been in.
Stories and pictures after the jump...
It was that time of year again when work was left in the office while we enjoyed our time away from the city, noise, meetings and deadlines. It was all about having fun!
Stories and photo bomb after the jump…
I just got a beautiful message from Bhu:
If you laugh really loud, talk spontaneously and you don’t care what your face looks like, you’re probably with your real friends.
True. And last week’s celebration of Lhen’s birthday in Alchemy was another realization of that. It’s been a while since we last went there and got drunk – Liquid and O Lounge were still open then. Although we missed RJ and Liezel’s presence, we still had the coolest time. It might be because I don’t usually go out anymore that I really appreciated how much fun it was to get so drunk with your friends and dance. Of course everything was taken care of Vern, who always makes us happy whenever we go there. Thanks a lot!
More pics after the jump…
In every ending comes a new beginning. And every new beginning is a new challenge that will broaden further our knowledge about life and our purpose of living it. Lalim noh. But it makes sense. Recently, certain people left to take on new challenges and the latest ones to go were Liezel and Myles. I admire their determination and courage to take risks. Sometimes I wonder how they do it – take career and love with them wherever they go and make both work for them.
Last week we had a little party for them in Global City. Good thing it was Sunday so very few people were around. There are times when I like to see a huge crowd of happy people but last Sunday wasn’t one of them – I wanted it to be as intimate as possible. We had dinner in Hai. It was quiet and I liked it but it was too quiet for us. You see, I got loud friends. We’re probably the loud group you hate in a restaurant. But I don’t care – and I like seeing them go crazy once in a while. So after dinner, we transferred to The Fort Strip to drink. Most of the bars were closed so we just settled in Pier One.
I could not remember the last time I went out with them for a drink but I felt the difference of not having RJ, Gilbert and the others with us. That night I noticed we were getting fewer. But then, it’s not like we won’t see each other again. It may take a while but surely, we’ll meet again. We’ll drink beer again and laugh at the same stupid things again.
We left the place by 12AM because I still got work the following day. But we had another round of picture taking, fooling around and lots more loud laughing at the parking lot before we took our ride home. Kaye was crazy! I think he got drunk. And I liked it that Piglet was with us.
To Myles and Liezel – Bhu told me you’re okay there now. Thanks for the happy times. I never really felt saying goodbye. I always have this feeling that you’re near and we’ll see each other again soon. But whatever… Good luck and I hope you two get what you want and be happy in all the things that you do. See you soon!
Very very busy guy. Very ambitious. Developing workaholic. In a committed relationship. At continuous work towards achieving goals. Firm believer of positivity and determination. That works all the time! Trying to mix it all up without losing sanity, sparkle and fun.
