For day 28 of 30 Days of Thankful, I am saying BIG THANKS for this hard earned win: the University of the Philippines Men’s Basketball Team makes it to the UAAP Finals!
This is so monumental, you better believe that Iskos and Iskas of ALL AGES have thrown their support for these 16 awesome student athletes. We have been the brunt of jokes for YEARS. It’s been 21 years since UP made an appearance in the Final Four of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), and 32 years since making it into the finals. That is sooooooo long.
Photo grabbed from ABS-CBN News Facebook post
My friends and I wanted so bad to be physically present at the game at the Araneta Coliseum but we weren’t lucky enough to score tickets. They sold out real quick. Pero even if we each watched from the comfort of our own homes (except one who did get tickets for the game!), our Viber group was blowing up with our reactions and comments. It was a lot of fun! Heart-stopping kinda fun, hahahahaha.
It was an amazing game. The Adamson Falcons definitely gave our boys a real fight. Both teams were so hungry for the win, but the Maroons prevailed 🙂
Oh by the way, my husband is from the opposing school. He attended Adamson University but says he has absolutely no school spirit so he didn’t really care if they lost. But when I asked him if we should get him a ticket to see Game 1 of the Finals with us, he seemed kinda bitter: “Tinalo nyo kami tapos manonood ako sa inyo?” Indeed, why would he want to watch (and cheer for) the team that beat his team? 🙂
20 years ago, we were freshmen Psych majors at the University of the Philippines. As strangers we walked into that 4th floor classroom in AS for our Comm I class, and then walked all the way down to attend the Freshman Assembly as blockmates.
By the end of the day I was optimistic for the next four years of my life.
Soon after, I knew I had made friends for life.
Thankful for friends who get what’s deep down in your heart. 🙂
May was a month for seizing weekends. There was the Pacquiao-Mayweather weekend, and then our Staycation at the Rockwell, then I had The Great Friendship Weekend.
May 25th was US Memorial Day and it meant no work for my program. Instead of planning a weekend trip away with the family, I decided to get in touch with friends and see if anyone was up for some no-good 🙂 Good thing, most were in the mood for just that!
The kick-off though wasn’t with friends – it was actually a huge lunch with the family. My Mom and Dad celebrated their Wedding Anniversary on the 24th and we got together for lunch at Saisaki. While waiting to be seated, Amir busied himself with taking photos:
Photographer Amir
After the extended lunch, I met up with my College girlfriends at Pauie’s grandma’s wake. It was a sad occasion, but we’ll take any opportunity to catch up on each other’s lives. We weren’t complete, but Yrish came with her husband and kids. Badong couldn’t get over my goddaughter Sab! She was one of our flower girls and she’s grown big in the last 6 months! She is so cute though, and really really adorable. And her brother is such a Kuya.
Sean and Sab
From the church, we walked to the nearby UP Town Center for some grub, and a little shopping too. It was soooo hot outside it felt like we were literally melting. It was a short walk but both Badong and I were winded. So unfit, that’s what we are. Unfit. Haha.
The next day, I had two things on my agenda – meet up with the BFF, and then with the Friendships. This is only the second time this year that the BFF and I are meeting up. The first was with his little boy, in between travels, and this one was just before they left again – this time for Qatar where they are hopefully settling down for a long while. They spent a year in Australia but decided to pack up and try their luck in the Middle East once more. Before then, they were based in Dubai. Anyway, we don’t know when we’ll see each other next, I hope I get to fly out to her then! Hehe.
I decided to bring her to The Bunny Baker Cafe and Cake Studio. It’s a cute place and they serve good food. It’s also located in the same building as my wedding reception and I know Jo would appreciate checking the place out. We shared the Ooey Gooey Dessert – a decadent brownie ala mode on a skillet.
BFF Ooey Gooey
After saying our goodbyes – I went grocery shopping for my next stop – The Friendship Send Off for Rico. The gang was already at a rented condo unit at the Eastwood and I was getting more supplies. No kitchen duty for me – God forbid – but I did bring the videoke!
food for the weekend
It’s a good thing my friends are talented cooks. All I had to do was bring some stuff, and then sit back, and relax. But that night wasn’t just about eating and drinking, and not even just videoke. We actually got some serious talking done – about work, life, and relationships.
I love having different sets of friends and that I got to see most of them this weekend. I would spend a lot of time regularly with all of them if I could, I am just so happy that even time apart isn’t reason to drift apart. There are still friends I need to setup dates with and it’s good to know that there just out there somewhere. Honestly, I didn’t think I would make friends as an adult so I am so thankful to have found my tribe at work and that our relationship has gone deeper into friendship. Now that I’m in a different program, I don’t see them everyday anymore but the bond is stronger than ever.
Weekends and Holidays. Who doesn’t love them? Unluckily for me (and thousands more working in the BPO industry) we have no such thing as a long weekend. Unless we go on leave. So while the rest of the country made plans for a long weekend, and while more still look forward to one more day work-free, here I am already over it. I already went back to work last night. Went to work silently wishing I actually had one more day. Sigh.
See, I need two days to just crash. One day to just eat-sleep-loaf around, and another day to do it all over again. This weekend, I only had half a day of such lifestyle (Sunday morning). On Saturday, we went to visit sweet Sean, his newborn baby sister Sab, and their parents. It was a good hour’s drive from the Metro.
It was a fun day and I enjoyed myself immensely, but I needed a full day to recover. Haha.
Apart from allowing Sean to show us his toys, or amaze us with his mastery of using apps on both an Android phone and an Iphone, we also gushed over baby Sab, and caught up with Mommy Y.
We even snuck in some window shopping time at Nuvali, where we also had dinner, and bought yummy bread from Purple Oven.
I cherish these rare times with my girlfriends and try not to worry about time or expense when I do get to see them. After all, I hardly ever do! Like with Y, it’s been over a year since I last saw her. So I definitely do not mind having to drive all the way to San Pedro, Laguna. It’s not even that far really.
I met up with two friends yesterday for a late lunch. Okay, so they had lunch and I was late. 🙂 It was what you’d call an impromptu date. I woke up to text messages from both girls about going out early that afternoon. I’d been sick so wasn’t sure I could go. By 12, I was feeling normal, save for the hoarseness in my voice and the occasional coughing. But what the heck, I had an errand to run anyway, so off I went.
Jack’s Loft was the spot of choice, al fresco (and very windy at that) at the top floor of the Trinoma Mall. I ordered an Oriental Chicken Salad that I didn’t care for much 🙁 But no worries, having these two for company was good enough for me:
They were having fries when I arrived, having finished lunch already. After awhile, they picked our dessert:
The mango mousse was brought out first. It was good. Real mango slivers on top of mango crème, and a pastry bottom. Not too sweet, and definitely not sour. I wonder how they made sure the mango was just right? I hate it when restaurants serve ripe mango for dessert and it turns out to be sour. That’s also what has kept me from using mango in any of my baking experiments. But I’d love to make something that channels Conti’s Mango Bravo. So I’d love to know the secret!
So a few minutes later this, uhm, decadent dessert was served:
It’s an eclair. But instead of regular cream inside, it has ice cream and a whole lotta whipping cream. Hehe. 🙂
I feel like we didn’t do a lot of catching up, we were there for just 2.5-3 hours tops. But it was nice, and something we should do more often. Not the eating a lot part, but the hanging out and just being there.
Oh and though I know Pauie won’t read this anyway, I do pray that things turn out well and there won’t be anything to worry about. 🙂
