The slew of reunions continues.
I had lunch last week with Vilma, Jeanne and Jomel at Friuli. I missed these people, and I missed this place. I miss foodtripping around UP in general. I was glad to be with these guys again. They all gave me an overdue birthday present, a purple shirt with a young Vilma Santos. They were in between classes so I drove them back to UP after our hearty lunch.
Then I met Pet at the gym. She had returned to Manila. I was really glad to see her again; she's always so happy and positive. We met up with James and had pretentious coffee in pretentious little cups in a cafe along Tomas Morato. Afterwards, we walked around, and had bibing-crepes at Half Moon. It was a fun night, albeit alcohol-free (James and pet don't drink).
Then on Friday, Andre invited Pet and I to his house in Paranaque for dinner al fresco. Since his Mom left to be a nurse in the US, Andre has been taking care of their family business, creating Vienna-style deli meats, taught to them by a Viennese family friend. Andre has a knack for cooking, and for dinner, we have seafood pesto and pizza. We dined on their garden full of orchids and little trinkets and shells and such. It was a divine night. I was glad I brought the bottle of Ouzo I bought from Chicago; I gave it to him to thank him for his hospitality. Since Paranaque is so far away from Quezon City, that night, we slept in their living room.
Random other meetings during the weekend. I had lunch with Macri at this quaint restaurant she discovered called "Greens" in Tomas Morato. It's a garden-style restaurant that serves vegetarian fare. The food was pretty good, and I missed Macri so much. She liked my hair. She filled me in on her life so far as a trainer at a call center, which she didn't seem to mind, except for the commute, since she lives in Pasig and her work is in Makati.
Later that evening, me and my family went to our niece Alyssa's birthday at the clubhouse at Corinthian Gardens. It was great seeing my family again, and we certainly had a lot of catching up to do.
Yesterday, I visited Ate Mon at her residence in Robinson's Place Manila. It was quite a commute but I kind of missed commuting around Metro Manila anyway. It was so nice to see Ate Mon's pleasant face; we have been writing to each other. We ate at a Japanese place in the mall, and walked around.
Then I went to Eastwood in the evening to meet with Anjee. Anjee, my Galinda. I am her Elphaba. I missed this beautiful talented girl so much. We ate and went boywatching in Eastwood on that Sunday night. There was a live concert of some band I didn't know that tried to play like the Beatles. We talked about our boys. I'm glad for her that she's found her one true love, a professor named Gremil. He is cuter than his name is.
So many people I missed. Makes me wonder why I went away in the first place, sometimes.