Saisaki DInner with Mark, Mads and Donald

For the third straight day, I was able to sneak in another dinner with friends outside of a busy work schedule... Had dinner at Saisaki with Mark, Mads and Donald for a lot of reason... for one another birthday celebration for me... another for Mark's arrival from London (he arrived hours after my Saturday celebration and for Mads despidida to St. Maartens (Wherever that is?... hehe...) Of course, I had to leave early the next day for my trip to Taipei...

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Had so many things to celebrate... so little time... and yet still another get together... Of course, gone were the times that we'd have She (now in Cayman) and Jay Anne (now in New York) would form part of the celebration... and soon Mads would also miss this mini celebration... I always say this when people leave that it's a small world... and a interconnected one at that... so there's always ways and means to communicate... and that's how I always projected myself... someone you won't really miss because I'm always around... an email... a phone call... a text... a chat or friendster message or just a blog away...

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The festivities were short-lived but I'm happy for myself and the rest... for Mads who now can seize the overseas opportunity she'd long for... for Mark who have experienced a fraction of his life living in Europe and its laid back culture and lavish lifestyle (a lifestyle I too once experienced... albeit a different Country... Mark - London, Me - Paris)... and for Donald who can look forward to all the opportunities that life in or outside of SGV has to offer... For Jay Anne and She who has now reaped the joys of being immersed in a different culture and locality...

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Bittersweet as it is... It's great to see send off now... since you're seeing friends move on to greener pastures... and have the comfort that they'll always be your friend no matter the time, the place but there's always boxful of memories you can hold on to... and life always goes on...

Back to the dinner... Saisaki's an all you can eat restaurant so it's quite obvious that we'd ended up very much nourished... hehe... Had to end the festivities early since I had to pack my things for my trip to Taiwan the next day... and have a whole lot of sleep to catch up to as well...

An Arra Dinner with Sharon and FAA

Just as I thought all the celebration relating to my Birthday is over... we still manage to squeeze one more this time with Sharon and FAA who wasn't able to attend last weekend's celebration... This time, the venue was a Korean Restaurant, Arra, located at Malugay in Makati...

It was a different cuisine with combination of meat, vegetable, rice eaten taco style in a lettuce leaf... which is a healthier and at the same time delicious... hehe... though I don't have a very discerning taste in food really...

It was also a mini send off for Me and Sharon, who'd be going on separate out-of-the country business trips for our respective companies... as an added bonus, Sharon's baby Yohannce came along (or rather dragged along) to pick up Sharon... Yohannce has been sick lately and a lot thinner from the last time I saw her last year... Hope she gets well soon...

Another night and another dinner... come to think of it, I really need to hit the gym tomorrow morning as I've also had a full dinner yesterday at the Old Spaghetti house with AGSB friend, Grace... or else, I might start gaining additional pounds amidst all the festivities... Though I guess, It'll be a lot less food for me in Taipei owing to difficulty in ordering food in most Chinese Restaurants there... hehe... really need to start learning Mandarin... but I'd rather catch the gym first tom... hehe...

A Burgoo Dinner with SGV Friends

For the last part of my birthday bash... I had dinner at Burgoo Rockwell with SGV Friends... As expected, there were only few friends who made it... Donald, Ruth, Carol with Jason... Thanks for coming... Among those who missed the event was Sharon who was with a flu-stricken Baby Yohannce (Get well soon Yohannce!!!)... FAA who attended a wedding that day (FAA's always a ninong at weddings), Anna (business related)... Madz (National Artist related)... and Macoy who begged off at the last minute...

Anyway, still have to make the most of the day and the food we had to eat... hehe... We all had a lot to eat since there were only so few who attended... No time was wasted though as we spent a lot of time chatting about vacation (always a favorite topic with ace bakasyonista around), career plans and developments (to leave or not to leave, that is the question), driving (with co-newbie driver Carol) and so on... and as such, we failed to notice that we've been at Burgoo for more than three hours... hehe... No worries though, as they have a bit high end price for food and service charge... At the very least, we might as well maximize the eating time... hehe...

So the festivities related to my birthday have ended... and it's back to those regular days again... Well, just have to be creative to make each moment fun and exciting I guess... Anyway, just wanted to thank all my well wishers who remembered my birthday... I really appreciated every text message, friendster message and greeting I received from family, friends and whoever took some time off to send a message on my birthday... Thanks really, from the bottom of my heart... and 'til next year again folks...

Another Birthday Bash with Medtecs Finance and SGV

Managed to sneak in another birthday celebration at Dencio's this lunch with Medtecs finance and SGV Audit team... Technically, it wasn't really my celebration but more of a post financial result announcement lunch with auditors but we timed it to coincide with my Birthday... sa wahlah... another celebration in the books...

Anyway, quite a heavy meal for all of us... since we did order a lot... and in one rare opportunity, we were able to have the SGV audit team big bosses this time... MFG, Peps and ASS... Well, it was also some sort of despidida for our controller who's leaving at the end of the month... No comment on this part but if you're one of my close friend you'd know how I'd react over this departure.... hehe...

Though the audit is not yet over... hopefully we were able to gather up enough momentun to finish ahead of time... and that I guess is wishful thinking... probably on time should do... hehe... but I do hope I get some sleep when I do get to finalize the annual report in Taiwan in the next few weeks... unlike last year when I rarely had the chance to enjoy the comfort of my hotel room... Though it was a crash course in crisis management...Since what happened last year, proof reading Annual Report in Taiwan is not something I look forward to but as they say... a job is a job and somebody has to do it... and I guess that somebody is me...

It's a Good Earth Birthday with AGSB Friends

As the clock turned over a new day yesterday (March 8) - officially switching to March 9, my birthday... I was in the company of my friends from AGSB in Good Earth at Rockwell...

The party started hours before with early birds Mascy, Diane, Blue and Owen arriving earlier than me... and as the night went along and so were the other guests... Grace, Anton, Jan, Sig, Chelsea, Bogz, Nikki, Rocky, Jay and MJ... It was a time for a lot of catching up... and having another chance to get together again...

It was fun getting to see each other again and for me it's a welcome relief after all the stress with all my deadlines lately... A great way to welcome a birth day... in the Company of great people called friends...

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

In a few hours, I'll be turning a year older... a lot can happen in a year... and I am really so blessed in the past year and as things go, I will be keeping my momentum this year... Things are a lot better and every thing is quite different now... in all aspects...

Quite exciting though that in a few hours, I'll be reuniting with friends from Ateneo as I await the turn of the time... and this Saturday, with friends from SGV... somehow... a bitter sweet affair since I'll get to touch base with the few who's still in the country yet I'll be missing quite a handful who's out of the country...

Somehow, I got to contradict myself since I planned all my celebrations... I'm always the methodical one... wherein I was hoping for a lot of surprises... Somethings never change I guess in this diverse times... Anyway, as long as i get to enjoy the day then I guess, it would be well worth it... I've always valued my birthday compared to any other holidays since this is an event I can call my own... As the clock ticks closer, well... it's happy birthday to me time once again!!!

Advance Birthday Bash at Baguio City

Had an advance birthday celebration last Saturday in Baguio with my family... Preparation was hush hush and short notice... The afternoon before the party... Each time, I go home to Baguio, it's almost always last minute decisions since someway or somehow, something always gets in the way... But after meeting my deadline, I guess it was time to feel the chill of the cool Baguio climate once again and at the same time celebrating in advance my birthday; as well as, catching the tail end of the Penagbenga (flower festival) celebration... Ahh... forget about the Penagbenga celebration since except for a short stroll in Session Road and a glance at a car show in SM Baguio, I wasn't able to witness much of the festival...

Arriving early morning at Saturday, I attended to the first order of business, which was to catch some sleep... hehe... The whole afternoon was spent on buying and preparing food for the party... The party was simple but it was really the joy of celebrating with your family and relatives... The party was a simple dinner and everybody was full and satisfied after... Of course, the guest list is small since most of my relative is scattered around the world...

I've never written anything about Baguio without a tinge of nostalgia as I've spent my first 21 years living in the country's summer capital... fully immersed in the simple lifestyle and low cost of living here... More on nostalgia... I've spent my lunch last Sunday at one of our favorite eating places, Marosans, which is now conveniently located a few blocks from our house... Their pork chop fried rice is timeless, which provides you with a scrumptious and affordable meal... I guess s420 people can attest to this...

After another round of afternoon sleep... hehe... We went to John Hay with my Cousins to see what's new there... Not much really but the skating rink is back... I miss skating... and the recreation area known as Scout Hill is now half occupied by fully developed log homes... So much for the John Hay of old... Anyway, we wrapped up the day with a round of coffee at one of the new coffee houses in John Hay...

And in a few hours... it was my trip back to Makati... to end a short yet relaxing vacation at home in Baguio... and now, it’s back to business... once again...