It was a special day. Who knew that Mon’s parents and my parents have the same anniversary?!?
For weeks, Mon and I had been planning how we’ll spend that day as, it may be good to celebrate it the exact day. At one point, we decided that we’ll celebrate with my parents and my family on a Saturday, and then his parents and his family on a Sunday.
We got too daring though and decided to, well, just do everything (i.e. two separate celebrations) the same day!
That’s crazy.
But first things first, I do not want to gloss over the fact that I very much expressed my strong opinions on the results of the elections last May.
I have not spoken to my parents since the aftermath of the election day, and it would my the first time to meet them again. I knew there’ll be some slight awkwardness given my disappointment but I eventually chose and decided to move forward from it. They are my parents after all.
I just hope that we’d eventually have a meeting of minds in the coming weeks or months about the choices that were made. But I will just let things to naturally take their course and not impose anything. Besides, I really look forward to traveling with them in 2023 and put into fruition Mama’s lifelong dream to visit Rome.
Lunch at Chili’s, Alabang Town Center with Mon’s family
Anyway, for lunch our first stop was at Alabang Town Center. I barely slept the night before as I am still having trouble sleeping since last year. By the time we had to wake up in the morning, we should already be traveling from Makati to Alabang.
I slept for only around 5 hours.
I was not feeling very well around lunch because I was so sleepy, to the point that I mentioned to Mon that we may have to go home after lunch so I can take a nap before the dinner celebration with my family. It was that bad.
Mon’s parents blowing the candles of their anniversary cake
It only took a coffee right after lunch to inject a bit of energy into my system. While I did not take any of the carb-laden plates in their menu, the serving in Chili’s was so big that I could barely breathe as soon as I set my utensils down.
We had time to loiter around ATC before my brother, who also lives down South, would drop by around 3:00 pm so we can hitch a ride going to Marikina for dinner.
By the time he arrived, we immediately took off. Unfortunately for us, the traffic was bad. It took us more than 2 hours from Alabang to Marikina that we arrived minutes before 5:30 pm, our reservation time.
My family were already there earlier in the afternoon, and they were just going around the mall before they headed to the restaurant. I was not sure how my first meeting with both of my parents were, but all other election-related feelings aside, I was excited. ^_^
Anniversary dinner with my family at Tong Yang
We were a big group of 2 tables, yet it took no time for us to head to the buffet tables. As Tong Yang usually has this promo for those celebrating their birthday for the month, we manage to also not pay for 2 people.
The great thing about buffets is that Mon and I can choose to try food we normally do not eat. It may be the feeling of not getting our money’s worth (LOL) but I even ate a small portion of ice cream, some Filipino desserts, and even a couple of spoonfuls of cake.
Another thing, my nephew, JB, also tagged along his girlfriend!🤯
Proof that I’m old: my nephew now has a girlfriend!
I have long posted about my nephew and niece here, and it seemed only yesterday that 10 years ago in 2012, I brought him to a family day in the office, a museum visit from tickets he won from that family day, or even celebrated his 8th birthday. (I know he sometimes check my blog, so hello! =P) Heck even my niece, Brie is about to start junior high this September as well!
Yes, I’m now really old. And nothing wrong with that. HAHAHA
My parents blowing their anniversary cake
Despite me closely giving up in middle of the day, Mon and I were very delighted we were able to follow through with the plan for the day. More than anything else, we are very much grateful that we had this opportunity (and most of all resources) to spend on experiences with our loved ones.
Again, one important thing we learned during the pandemic was tomorrow is never promised, and we had the scare of our lives if we’d all be able to get through COVID-19, as others were not as fortunate. My family even had to quarantine last January as it hit us hard. Good thing our new house now has an open air veranda that they were able to fully utilize while recuperating.
The pandemic is far from over (with occasional surges as we speak), but we have to eventually live our lives around this fact.
Nevertheless, we look forward to other similar celebrations in the years to come!
