kodak moments

the first quarter of 2005 has transformed me into a busy b.

in january, i was busy adjusting to married life with B at hotel hogan, which is what we call our house on hogan street. his mom runs it like a hotel. we just love the room service and the free accommodations. hehe.



later that month, B, G and I had lots of fun in Enchanted Kingdom in San Pedro, Laguna. since it was their low season, the lines were short so we got to ride our favorite attractions twice! it was a good idea to bring an extra set of clothes as a couple of rides left us so drenched that we had to squeeze all our clothes (including our underwear) before we can pack them in our bags.



in february, i organized the party for nanay lilia. nanay has been with our family for at least 37 years. she never left us even if for a time we could not afford to give her anything more than the tuition and the allowance of her daughter, ate janet. ate janet is now a nurse-midwife in uae so nanay is no longer working for us. but since she is very close to our family, she opted to live next door to our (or rather, fatherlily's) house. for her 70th birthday, we invited some of her friends to dinner and a videoke session at the rooftop of fernandina 88 suites in cubao. it was well-attended (she had 91 guests!) and almost everyone got to sing and/or greet nanay on stage. i was so tired but i was just so happy to see nanay finally celebrating her birthday without having to cook anything. i was also so touched that she chose to wear the gown that she wore for our wedding.



earlier this month, i turned 30! unfortunately, we were negotiating a big contract that day so i welcomed my 30th birthday while drafting term sheets for at least 3 definitive agreements. it's a good thing that the secretary of the partner i'm working with remembered my birthday and reminded her boss about it. so in the middle of the contract negotations, they brought in a cake with a giant candle, asked everyone (yup, including the german foreign counsel) to sing the birthday song, opened a few bottles of wine and gave me a gift that i prayed for - they let me go home early (actually, i got to leave at 7pm but that was already relatively early.) i couldn't believe that i got to eat my birthday dinner with B! we pigged out in Circles, at Makati Shang. the roast beef wasn't that good but the shrimp, the crab claws, the salmon and the chocolate fountain more than made up for it. we didn't take any pictures as we didn't want to have any evidence of our gluttony. hehe.

a few days later, B's daughter, G, graduated from elementary! she looked so pretty in her gala uniform and i happily took the pictures. i also got to meet her relatives from her mom's side (but not her mom, whew.) we celebrated her graduation in Circles a few days later. (masaya na naman ang mga bulate sa tummy ko!!!)



i also got to attend several weddings during the past few months. on fred and teenee's wedding, clarice and i got so hungry during the mass that we spent most of the time eating snacks at the sari-sari store in front of the church (ang sama!). during grace and patrick's wedding, rey and got to chat with clarice and bernard and eileen and matthew. we all proudly showed off our wedding rings when the host asked us to join the bouquet and garter toss.



for the holy week, we heeded the priest's advice to love one another. hehe. seriously, though, we went to the Lourdes Grotto in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan for the stations of the cross. We also visited a few churches yesterday. And yes, I took photos but I haven't been able to upload them as I couldn't find my card reader. Maybe tomorrow.