THE WKND SPECIAL Vol. 9

This is a late post but whatever. :)

September 01, 2016 | Phillip’s Birthday

Family time!

There’s no easier and faster way to gather the family than by the mention of *you know it* FOOD. It always works! Haha!

It was my cousin Phillip’s birthday + we also really wanted to visit his family’s new home.

The new home is huge! And pretty! And near ours so that’s great news! I’m so happy I got to visit! It has plenty of rooms and space, manicured lawns, a large balcony, high ceilings, nice furniture. Aaah! #GOALS Hahaha!

It was a pretty intimate night with mostly just us relatives there. Dinner was simple but complete with pasta, pork, beef, seafood, fruits, veggies, and desserts. The rest of the evening was mostly spent by the front yard. Cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and even dogs came and went sporadically. School activity, work, social life, and household chores could get in the way of people’s schedules, but we would always try to make do.

Happy birthday again, Phillip! He’s 26 now I think? :)

September 03, 2016 | Isaw Date/Spontaneous Road trip with College Friends

So this was supposed to only be just a simple and quick meet-up with friends. We were just really missing the isawan.

If you live in Tanauan or Sto. Tomas in Batangas or anywhere near this place, you’ll know which specific isawan I’m referring to! In my personal opinion, this isawan has the best street food out there. And the vinegar sauce, I can’t even explain how much I love this food spot’s suka.

This isawan played a great part in helping us survive college life. This place witnessed some crazy hilarity among friends, the coming and going of people in our lives and the stress eating caused by school deadlines. Hahaha, crazy!

After eating stick after stick after stick of chicken intestines and other innards, we had nowhere else to go, no plans. Since Aileen Mame was Lipa-bound to buy some lippies, we thought we should go with her for some road trip fun, so we did. We were, as usual, laughing the whole time, the laughter mainly brought to us by Mame, her driving skills and candid funniness. We were laughing out our nerves 70% of the time while she was driving because she is still new to this whole driving thing. It was even her first time to drive at the expressway which was nuts! Hahaha! It isn’t the safest road trip I’ve had but surely one of the most memorable ones, what with our lives on the line. At least it became an interesting story. LOL

September 16, 2016 | UPLB Fridate

Jason and I always go on our LB dates on Fridays because they serve as our simple workweek capper. Dates are always a good idea, and UPLB’s the nearest place that can get us going for a long time without boring ourselves out.

And finally, Big Belly’s again! Remember that last time in July that we were here? That time when it was *gasp* closed? Thank heavens it was only temporary.

We got there around past six after work, so we got to order and finish our plates of Cheesy Garlic Chickens in peace – no whiners, no panicky waiters, no long queues, very few occupied tables! I’d say it was a good time to recapitulate the whole workweek. :)

We then went strolling around the area, like we always do. Going in and out of shops to check out whatever, we were just basically killing time. We were enjoying ourselves too much that we didn’t notice the time. It was already 9, so we started looking for this particular food trike. I chanced upon this food trike online when my cousin posted a photo of it. It got me feeling intrigued, and it so happened to be in UPLB so win-win for us!

Interestingly, this food trike only comes over every 9 or so each night. The idea is the driver/server sets different menus every night, so it’s always something else every time. What manong offers is cheap, ranging from P10-P40, and pretty unique for street food fare. On that particular Friday, there were macarogna (obviously a play between the classic baked mac and lasagna), yema cake NHN (NHN stands for “na hindi nakakataba”) and pizza! They are good enough for what you pay for.

This food trike is perfect for students who are on the go and down to their last straw of allowance for the week.

September 24, 2016 | Antoniette’s Birthday

It was Antoniette’s or, as we so fondly call her, Tegs’s 24^th birthday! How come she’s only 24? Boo, haha!

This has become a yearly thing for my college best buddies and me. How would this not become a yearly thing when the celebrant/celebrator knows how to cook so well and does not just prepare enough but floods the table with too much food goodness? Feel us?

Since it was also Zhello’s birthday last September 14, she, along with Antoniette, received quirky gifts from us too. When I say quirky, I mean something I’m not comfortable showing here and something they wouldn’t wanna use in public! Haha! Btw, Roc’s also a September baby, but he didn’t make it. He still contributed to the party, though. :)

We were all just either in Antoniette’s room lying around and making fun of each other or at the big table munching on food the moment we already felt hungry from too much laughing. Yup, laughing can be tiring. How can you not laugh too much while watching friends struggle to do sit-ups?! Imagine their crumpled facial expressions every rep? Haha! Aaaan yuuup, we were living the boss life for a day.

As for Roc, Zhello and Antoniette, I wish happiness and light and love for them!

Belated happy birthday, friends! xx

Photo sources: Antoniette Pulutan, Aileen Malbataan, Justine Dador, yours truly!