Hong Kong Concluded My 2008!

Who would ever thought that out of spur and a never-ending stream of skype conversations with Oig...

a wholottaprayers&work --

in less than 6 months of planning and saving up to spend Christmas and New Year's together as a family-- we kicked it off in Hong Kong and definitely pulled it off!!!

Friends ask me when I got back and having the usual "huling hirit", "pahabol" reunions and catching up sessions...inuman...kuwentahan...kamustahan...kanchawan...kainan...

and then

pauses...
like enjoying every flavor in the palette

now reaching a deeper level of conversation kuno kasi tapos na ang kamustahan -- you know! ,

ana dayon, "What was the best thing that happened to you in 2008 Juan?", and in a blink of an eye, I always say that

spending the holidays with my family in HongKong

Then they gave me a rebuttal of questions or indefinite statements like "Why?" or "Oo naman, nasa Hong Kong kayo and nagbabakasyon! So, that must be fun!?" --

yeah! most of what they said was true and REAL to me! Who wouldn't have fun right? But I must say for the record that it was a 2 week vacation of pure temperamental and prized bliss! and just thankful and blessed that we were able to afford to do such luxury but, it was definitely more than that....

a stria of glorious reconnection occured....
reuniting happened
and a strewned family was again bonded&sealed

Frankly, everyone in my family were humbled and joyful that we were able to pull it off because, that was definitely where the fruits of our desire, hard work and determination in 2008 combined -- a collective effort rather than the "idya idya". And what highlights it; it is garnished with people who knew me from the very start and confident enough to know that they love me dearly -- even though at times I become reckless with their feelings -- I'm still convicted with that...and thus makes it more a memorable and life changing trip!

In addition -- my fiance was able to see me how I am with my family (which really matters) and see my family without pretensions and inhibitions and really spend time with them -- they now love her even more and accept her as part of our family! It was something that I would thank and be proud of my family as well.


We were able to travel, go around, go camwhoring, chillaxing, partying, steadying, reminiscing and surprisingly spend and splurge for 14 days in Hong Kong, Kowloon, Stanley, Ngong Ping, The Peak, Temple Street, Macau, Ocean Park, Fortress and everything on it!!! Definitelly after a year of not seeing each other -- being reunited with the family is definitely a reward. Surprisingly, we were still able to connect and converse on the same level after all the things that each member went through for the past 351 days of 2008.

Gio is still Gio, Ate is still ate, Enzo is still Enzo. Juan is still Juan.

Though I may say that we've all matured in time, we got to learn to value more our relationship with each other. Something that we're thankful and feel blessed about! Containing everything that I've experienced in Hong Kong forfeits the entirety of the experience. Thus, there are things that are better left unsaid. But just like the Lopez's and the Zobel's, "What's in the family, stays in the family!" ehehehe....

Hong Kong definitely concluded my 2008! Kampai! great memories yo!

Mom's Birthday (2008)

Originally, we were all craving for Tong Yang Pot Noodles food at Chimes Specialty Store. The shabu-shabu experience, the works, etc. Unfortunately when we got there tired and hungry, it was still CLOSED. We tried to ask the "bantay" to let us in but refused our request to wait there until they open again (it's just an hour wait but, there were a lot of reasons thrown so we declined). So, we ended up at

Cafe Mediterranean "Flavors of the Sun"

surprisingly was a good detour! The food prepared for us definitely flirted with our palettes! What an experience!

The food, service and ambiance were A-ok! Though the waitress who attended us first, let's call her "Cindy" was like in a hurry when taking our orders. She was like babbling more than 50 words in 10 secods that would totally make you pant with her too. To calculate 300 words a minute more or less. hehehe... Tell you, you'd be amazed like us! We were all trying to calm her down and laughing it all off rather than being annoyed. Imagine this, we were ordering our usual starter, main course and a cup of jasmine tea to be served after the meal. And then Cindy, a girl with a tiny frame and very innocent looking starts to open her mouth. Viola! She started yapping in a cute Visayan accent rendering English words and repeats your order and then suggests another one like a promotion or something and then reads your order again to confirm it...pakapin! also asked for our drinks! hehehe...what a multi-task, right? In less than a minute she got our stack of order.


Though it took like the usual 10-15 minutes of waiting... my sister and I went out and bought a cake from Red Ribbon (just 20 steps away) had it dedicated with "Happy Birthday Mom!" (with a big heart) and went back to Cafe Mediterranean. As soon as we got back, I automatically lit the candle and sang loudly the usual "Happy Birthday Song" while walking back to the table. I can see mum's big smile but was asking to keep the singing down coz there are like people over there too. But knowing me, I never cared and continued singing louder after the "sita" to keep it down. I saw the waitresses and the staff singing along with us in their counter and greeted mom after the song. What an add-on!

Once they started serving our food, we had fun enjoying their dishes. We had a lot of food like kebab meals and their all-time version of New York pizza on pita bread and I forgot the rest. I'm just happy with my mum being happy that afternoon. Everything was simple yet thought-off. To my mom, "Happy Birthday and we wish you only the BEST!" We love you! Cheers!