A reunion and a wedding

Last Saturday, I met up with my friends in the Makati area. One of our friends, Cesar, who is now based in the US visited Manila for a few days so we made sure we got to hang out while he was here. We had dinner in Romulo Cafe along Jupiter Street so that Cesar could enjoy some Pinoy food while he was in town. We then headed to A'Toda Madre which is a tequila bar. Strangely enough, no one in our group was a tequila fan. In fact, most of us didn't really like tequila. However, I thought I'd give it a try since I did had some really good tequila when I traveled to Mexico about a decade ago so I was hoping I would find similar tequila here. Unfortunately, I didn't really like the shot I got (Blue Iguana) but I did enjoy the two margaritas I ordered. I guess if I visit this place again, I will stick to the margaritas. We then headed to Moonshine Bar along Jupiter where we stayed for a few more hours before calling it a night.

Thankfully, I woke up hangover-free the next day because I was attending the wedding of my colleague in the mid-afternoon. The ceremony was held in the Shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus near Resorts World (this is one of the churches I visited that had free basement parking). The reception followed in the early evening in One Esplanade in the MOA complex. I got there quite early and none of the other folks in my table were there. I was probably alone for close to an hour and during that time, the waiters ended up passing by quite a few times, offering me canapés which were all tremendously good! They served portobello mushroom cooked in batter and served with a wasabi cream dip, chorizo and cheese-flavored potato croquettes, and salmon served on a light pancake. (Clearly they were so delicious as I remember every single one of them. :)). Eventually, my other colleagues arrived. It was a good reception and you could see that the couple and their parents were all incredibly thankful given that there was threat of terrible weather on Sunday due to typhoon Ruby (luckily, it didn't rain that day).

The rains did come the next day, Monday. Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) still caused a lot of damage but thankfully, it didn't turn out to have the same strength as Yolanda. Hopefully we don't have any more storms in the country in the remainder of the year.