Last December 21, 2006, I attended Cathy’s wedding reception at Diamond Hotel with my fellow officemates. I thought we will be missing her special day since we had a problem with our ride. But surprisingly, we arrived like 10 minutes before the event proper. Thank God!

Anyway, the wedding reception was outstanding. Scrumptious food, smashing music from the Groom’s band, and perfect ambiance. Of course, the wedding reception won’t be complete without the first dance, the pigeons, the bouquet, the garter, and the cake. After all those mushy scenes and phrases, it made me wonder… Will I be having a day like this? Though we all know that gay marriage is not legal and recognized in most countries, I’m still wishing that someday will also be my special day with the guy I want to be with forever. Sigh.

Part I – Apartelle Getaway (December 17, 2005)

Two of our friends Henry and Arnold organized a Christmas Party held at Robinson’s Apartelle near Boni Ave. Edsa MRT Station. The attendees were all PLU’s (People Like Us… uhm, Bisexuals or some sort) namely Henry & Louie, Arnold & Steve, Topher & Alex, Jim & Brad, Gelo & Gregg, RT & Jerwin, Matt, Rodney & I. It was a potluck event, so we bought Pancit Malabon and Barbeque as our share. We had games, presentations, and some conversations. It was a remarkable experience with our old and new friends.

Part II – Sabiclub.com’s Christmas Party (December 22, 2005)

Our Christmas Party was held at World Music Room in Greenhills, San Juan. We also had games prepared by Jen and Mejie, and a presentation prepared by Kat and I. But unfortunately, our presentation was executed incorrectly due to lack of practice and enthusiasm. It was a short interview-like skit, each portraying a Pinoy Big Brother housemate: Ace as Say, Vench as Franzen, Marnel as Chx, Jen as Nene, Van as Jenny, Kat as Mariel, Jane as Toni, and Me as Uma.

Next was the exchange gift segment. I gave my baby (Kyle) a Reebok bag while my mommy (Mejie) gave me a Starbucks thermo mug.

As the party ended, Kuya Jonard treated us to Starbucks. As always, I had Rhumba Creme. Yumyum!

Part III – Christmas Eve

I don’t have the energy that night. I really don’t know why. It was already 11:00PM and still lying on my bed. But anyway, I took a shower, groom myself, and waited for the clock to strike 12:00AM. Our dinner table was filled with Spaghetti, Fried Chicken, Hotdog, Ham, and Fruit Salad. At 1:00AM, I went to bed.

Part IV – Christmas at Mausoleum

I woke up at around 8:00AM. We went to our Mausoleum where my grandfather and grandmother (mother’s side) were buried. We prayed for their souls and feasted the left-overs from our Noche Buena.

Part V – Pinoy Big Father

After spending few hours at Mausoleum, my two brothers and I left the place and went to Alabang Town Center to meet our father. We agreed to meet at 2:00PM but he arrived an hour late. Delay, Sigh. He was with his brother Tito Archie and family loaded in the van. Thought of him going out of the van, he asked us to get in instead. So where are we heading? I don’t know. Actually, I was planning to treat them to a movie and eat out afterwards. But, they need to buy a ponsettia plant for their sister Tita Malou. Fine. Another delay, Sigh. Now that they had the ponsettia plant, I was expecting that Tito Archie will drop us back at ATC. But no, we went to their sister’s place at Ayala Alabang Village. Thinking that they need to deliver the ponsettia plant right away, it’s fine with me.

So, at my aunt’s place, they pigged out some tuna wrap and pancit. Delay. Fine. To my dismay, my Father together with my Uncle went to the billiards table and played their thing! And he let my brothers watch a pirated copy of King Kong! Tsk Tsk! A very good plan of spending Christmas with our father did not materialize. I hate it. We visited our father not to watch VCD, but to be with him. Being irritated and bored at the same time, it came to my senses that I need to move and do something. So I started encouraging my brothers to go home. It made my Christmas not so perfect.

Part VI – Christmas with Love

Before leaving my aunt’s place, Rodney and I were brewing some plan to go out. We ended up watching the movie Kutob, starred by Marvin Agustin, Rica Peralejo, Alessandra De Rossi, Ryan Agoncillo, and James Blanco. After the movie, we had a small talk with our friends who watched Shake, Rattle and Roll 2K5. Our friends decided to go home at around 10:00PM and since it’s too early for Rodney to go to work, we went to Starbucks People Support Center Building and have my Rhumba Creme and his Creme Brulee.

November 3, Thursday, the last working day for the week since PGMA declared the next day as non-working holiday. After more than an hour of deliberating where to go after work, me and my officemates finally decided to go to Padis Point Antipolo. Yes, you got it right, a long road trip to Antipolo. Hehe!

Our company obliged us to go on a half-day work on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month. And indeed, It was the 3rd Saturday of August. Working on a Saturday is not that toxic. Actually, it is quite relaxing. Imagine, only 4 hours of work, and you can surf all you can after office hours! Hehe!

But all of a sudden, Kuya Jonard, our Senior Programmer, decided to treat us to lunch at Bacolod Chicken Inasal in Metrowalk. The food was so mouth-watering. But, one more mouth-watering about the place is the waiter. He is so cute. Hehe!

Kuya Nards, our senior graphics artist, just decided to treat us to dinner. Oh my! Food again! Whoa! Anyway, we took an FX going to Megamall and went to El Pollo Loco. We had a 12-pc. chicken bucket with rice for each of us. Yumyum! Of course, small talks and discussions took place while eating. And one thing we won’t forget is Kuya Nards’ quotable quote, “True Love starts at 35.”

Office Monday. Boring. Weekend hangover. While everyone was quietly doing their own stuffs, our accountant stated that she will be collecting P150.00 from each of us because it’s Sir Dong’s birthday, the big boss, and they’re planning to surprise him. Shhheeessh! Isn’t it the celebrant should treat us instead and not the other way around? Sigh. It will ruin my budget for the next 2 weeks. Besides, I’m not planning to have a heavy lunch today. Having a sandwich is just fine with me.

It’s 12:00PM. What a great surprise! The food came and it’s more than enough for 20 employees! Spaghetti, Pancit Bihon, Barbeque, 2 Yellow Cab pizza boxes, and 1 Red Ribbon mocha cake. Oh my! Yumyum! Chew here, swallow there. I should say that I’ve eaten more than the worth of my P150.00.

Rant no more. Surprises aren’t bad at all.