Rochie's 2015 birthday celebration :)

Yes, another "over-celebrated" inconsequential number. As always, it took me a week of partying to celebrate my birthday. 

I kickstarted it on Tuesday. I ate dinner at The Black Pig with Ana, Anna, Pau, Annette, and Matty. A strange mix people, it seems, but really it's a group of my friends all involved in heirloom rice, who love rosé wine, and some I went (or got dragged into) roaming the exhibits and ice cream shops of Madrid Fusíon Manila with. As always, the food at The Black Pig was excellent; Carlos has outdone himself again in the kitchen. Anton and Berna, as usual, were very warm hosts. How could I not drop by for a great dinner when the restaurant partners are all my friends, right?

On Wednesday night, I had dinner up in the heights... near the infinity pool at the penthouse floor, in fact, of The Nest, of Vivere Hotel (in Alabang). This time, I was with my foodie friends: Man, Ate Bing, and Justin. Ate Mary opted out at the last minute; otherwise, the group would have been complete. I learned of Justin's food enthusiasm when he and I became probies at the invitation-only Dinner Club. Man, Ate Bing, and Ate Mary last joined me in our biggest June 19th cultural food trip splurge to date: Bale Dutung's scrumptious 10-course dinner.

Thursday was all about family again. I drove to Sta Cruz to eat Calda's Pizza's famous giant pizza with my aunts, cousins, nephews, and niece. This pizza, for me, is made all better with an additional helping of olives. The potatoes are also very good here. 

Friday, Matty took care of our lunch at Mio Cucina, where I really love the pako salad with white cheese and radishes. I then had a pizza reprise for afternoon meryenda. Thing is, it was with officemates and we got four huge pies from Yellow Cab... My got-to pizza for when I'm at work because it delivers. I was just overwhelmed (and the boss was too) by the amount of food because aside from pizza, there's pancit, cake, and bread too! But like at any party, the food was efficiently polished off. It's as if a party didn't happen.

Ironically (because it was the start of the weekend), Friday night was quiet. No dinners out. No parties. I just went home and slept. 

Then I had Saturday lunch with Lola Bats, Tita Ising, Tito Sibing, and Annapet. Since Lola is weak already, we skipped eating out and decided to bring the lunch to Lola's house. She was quite happy to see us visiting her, complete with a blueberry cheesecake. She, as always, was excited to listen to Anna's and my adventures... I just couldn't give her pasalubong from Switzerland because they're all sweets.

Sunday, as I was winding down my birthday week, i spent the afternoon with Tito Tony, Tita Ching, Ate Nina, Pinky, and Chinky at their home. I was assigned to bring ice cream as dessert to the lunch they had prepared. As always, I had fun spending time with my childhood friends. Plus, Tito Tony is my dad's best friend... he and Tita Ching are our sort-of second parents.

I thought it was over as Sunday drew to a close. But no. Matty got me to help him search for his new mobile phone. At first he didn't want to drive all the way to Alabang because he thought it's too far. So we went to Nuvali because I found out that that's where units that matched his specifications were being sold. Yes, we've returned to Nuvali on my birthday week. Spanking new phone and SIM card in hand, we were in a celebratory mood. We had a relatively early dinner in Nuvali. But since he thought it was still early enough, we ended up going to Alabang after all... to watch Jurassic World! We didn't get over the tamed Velociraptors, the intelligent Indominus rex, the heroic Tyrannosaurus rex, and the gigantic Mosasaurus. These were our topics of discussion for several days after watching the movie.

Over-celebrated might not be the right word. It was a very good birthday week, with two of my most fervent prayers coming true. I was just sharing the Lord's overflowing blessings with family and friends. Paying it forward, so to speak.