Nanay's 95th Birthday!

My grandmother, whom we fondly call Nanay, just celebrated her 95th birthday. Given that it was a milestone, I wanted to organize something special. Since I'm kinda like the designated organizer of birthday celebrations at home, I decided to make this as special as I possibly could.

First, I had to check if people were comfortable with a party at home. Nanay often gets too tired when she travels away from home (when our family goes out, even if it's just to have dinner a short distance away, she often begs off) so it was logical to celebrate at our house. As Nanay's birthday got closer the number of Covid cases had gone down and hospitals were reporting fewer and fewer cases of severe Covid. Since the situation wasn't as dire as it had been in the past and everyone, including Nanay, had already been boosted, we agreed to have a party at home.

Next: the date. I asked Nanay when she wanted to celebrate and she decided the best date would be the Sunday right before her birthday.

Next: the guests. The plan was to invite Nanay's children and their families as well as Nanay's sister and her family. This would amount to around 20 people. It would be our biggest family gathering since the pandemic started. I also checked with my two aunts and both thought that meeting up for lunch would be best so people could go home earlier.

Next: the food. Now that I had an approximate headcount, I knew how much food to order. I decided to get food that I knew Nanay liked as well as food I felt guests would enjoy. I ordered several dishes from FoodTray2Go, one of my go-to places. Nanay really loves the Chicken Relleno from Dulcelin so I ordered that as well.

Next: the cake. I needed to make sure Nanay would have a grand cake that would make her feel extra special. I reached out to some potential cake makers and I decided to go with Baker Rae on Facebook. My main idea, which was inspired by a cake I found online, was to decorate it with photos of Nanay that were printed on edible paper. Since I needed to provide Baker Rae with more details, I searched for more ideas and found some good ones. I also asked a friend for her suggestions. I ended up combining some concepts I got from different cakes to come up with a final design which I then shared with Baker Rae. Since the design would include photos printed on edible paper, I also had to provide pictures at least a few days before the party (which I did).

Next: my gift. I decided to give Nanay a Photobook. I had hundreds of photos of Nanay with my family but I wanted to make sure other important people in her life would be there too. I asked some relatives for pictures and I also searched the Facebook accounts of other relatives since I knew they would have some good pictures of Nanay, especially during parties and family gatherings. Once I got a good enough set of pictures, I had to choose which ones to use. This was a huge effort! In the end, I deecided to use about 350 photos. Now I had to do the layout. This also took a massive amount of time. I must have spent fifty hours gathering pictures, selecting which ones I would use, organizing and sequencing them, laying out the book, and adding captions. Whew! (Sadly, my gift didn't make it in time. But Nanay still appreciated it when it arrived, especially when she saw photos of big family gatherings that she hadn't seen before.)

Next: the party set-up. Since we were celebrating at home, and our house is not really equipped to accommodate 20 guests, I had to get tables and chairs. I asked my friends if any of them could recommend a reputable place where I could rent tables and chairs. One of them said she had portable tables and chairs that I could borrow. Awesome! Naturally, I had to pick up the chairs and tables and I decided to do this the day before the party. (I also had to return the tables and chairs once the party was over.)

Finally: preparations on the day itself. The cake was delivered to me in the morning. Thankfully, Baker Rae delivered it even earlier than our agreed time. Such great service! It was a large and heavy two-tier cake so I drove slowly to make sure I wouldn't damage it along the way, especially since I still had to pick food up from Foodtray2go and Dulcelin. I arrived at my family's house at 11am. As my mom prepared the food, I set up the cake in the living room table (it wouldn't fit in the dining table anymore, plus having it in the living room meant people would see it as soon as they came into the house). Everything was ready shortly before noon, which was perfect because guests started arriving.

I didn't tell Nanay who was coming so she was especially surprised to see my aunt who now lives in Batangas with her entire fmaily. Nanay had a great time catching up with everyone! After people had settled in, we invited everyone to start eating. I'm glad people enjoyed the food I got. After lunch, we brought everyone together in the living room to sing "Happy birthday" to Nanay. Thankfully, Nanay loved the cake, as did everyone else. She was also so excited to see the edible photos!

It was mid-afternoon when people started to leave. There was a lot of cleaning up to do and I still had to return the tables and chairs to my friend. It was really exhausting organizing this party but I am really happy that Nanay enjoyed it.

Happy 95th birthday, Nanay!

[Throwback] Visting Vietnam

I had a business trip to Ho Chi Minh many years ago. At that point, I had never been to Vietnam so I thought it would be a good idea to fly there at the start of the weekend (my business trip would officially start on Monday) so I would have more time to go around the city a bit more. My friend Duncan was assigned in Ho Chi Minh during that time and he had a spare room at his place so he kindly agreed to host me over the weekend. I arrived on Saturday and Duncan took me around. We passed by some establishments that offered day trips and I looked at some of their packages. I really wanted to see the Cu Chi Tunnels and I found a tour would take me there and also to the Cao Dai Temple. I booked this day tour and took it the next day, Sunday.

Cu Chi Tunnels

Our first stop was the Cao Dai Temple. Caodaism is a religion in Vietnam that combines other religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and even Christianity. We got there around noon and when we arrived, a mass was ongoing and there were lots of people inside. Despite that, we were still allowed to go in (although I think we had to stay away from the prayer area while worship was ongoing). Visitors also have to leave their shoes at the entrance.

Cao Dai Temple

We spent maybe an hour or so at the temple. You can find a lot of very good information about it in this link from Local Insider (https://local-insider.com/cao-dai-temple-tour-a-journey-to-explore-the-most-mysterious-religion-in-vietnam/). At the altar area is a large globe with the Divine Eye, the symbol of Caodaism.

Inside the Cao Dai Temple

We then left the temple and headed to the Cu Chi Tunnels. When I was a kid, my mom told me that the Viet Cong built these tunnels during the Vietnam War as a way to protect themselves against, and to ambush, American troops. They are now a tourist attraction and since I was familiar with their historical significance, I wanted to see them.

Our guide shared information about the Cu Chi tunnels with us and took us around the grounds where we got to see booby traps...

Booby traps built by the Viet Cong

...and even broken tanks.

The highlight however was actually being able to go into the tunnels. We were told that it would be dark and hot and that people who are claustrophobic might have some difficulty. There were two tunnels, a shorter tunnel that would require people to crouch as they passed through, and a longer one that might require people to crawl and be on their elbows. I tried the first one but what I didn't expect was how hot it would be inside. Despite it being a short tunnel and only requiring me to crouch to get through, I ended up being drenched in sweat by the time I got out. (Of course, I still needed to have a photo op while there haha).

Me inside the tunnel

I originally wanted to go through the second tunnel as well but I was already absolutely soaked and I didn't have a spare shirt nor a towel with me. I thought that going through the second, narrower tunnel would cause me to get even more drenched and I was worried that if I got in our air conditioned tour bus in wet clothes, I would get sick (which wouldn't be ideal since my business trip would start the next day). As such, I skipped it. If I get to revisit the Cu Chi Tunnels, I would surely bring a towel and a spare shirt.

The rest of my stay in Vietnam went well. Since we were kicking off a project there, we even had a team-building activity at a beach at the end of the week. While I didn't get to see too many places during my business trip, it still allowed me to see some really interesting sights, have some pretty cool experiences,  and meet some great people. Hopefully, I get to visit Vietnam again.

Quarantine Stories Part 18

I have finally gotten to eat at Mendokoro Ramenba! I've been hearing about Mendokoro from many friends who say it's the best ramen they've tried in the Philippines. However, I know that the queues here are always really long and I don't have patience to fall in line to eat and the few times I had been near a Mendokoro restaurant, it was always packed with a long waiting list. As such, I had never gotten to eat there. That is, until recently. I attended a wake in the evening but I didn't get to eat before going. I left in the late evening and by then I was quite hungry and wasn't sure where to eat until I remembered there was a Mendokoro Ramenba in Salcedo Village, about 10 minutes away. I checked its operating hours and it was open until 11pm. Perfect! Despite me arriving there at around 10pm, it was still almost full! I ordered the Shoyu Ramen and Gyoza. The verdict: it definitely lived up to the hype! It was sooo good, I kept thinking I want to eat here again soon. Hopefully, I get to do that soon.

Shoyu Ramen and Gyoza from Mendokoro Ramenba

As I was sharing my Mendokoro experience to a friend of mine, she told me that maybe I can also try Marudori, which is also owned by the same people who own Mendokoro. The difference is that it used a chicken-based broth. Marudori is located in Rockwell Makati so when I found myself at Powerplant Mall one afternoon, I decided to have a very late lunch here. I ordered the Shoyu Paitan with Aji Tamago. I also ordered some gyoza. Everything was good but I do prefer the pork-based broth of Mendokoro. The gyoza was also pretty interesting in that it was shaped differently, more like xiao long bao.

Shoyu Paitan Ramen from Marudori

Marudori Gyoza looks different from traditional gyoza

I also recently got sick with a bad sore throat. I was worried that I might have contracted Covid again. Thankfully, I had a few antigen test kits at home so I administered one to myself. It was my first time doing this and it was a bit difficult to insert the swab into my nose because I was worried I wouldn't insert it the right way. It also caused me to sneeze right after. Thankfully, my test was negative. Whew!

Negative Antigen Test

I also got to watch a few more Netflix shows. The Queen's Gambit was extremely popular when it was released back in 2020 but it was only recently that I watched it. It's not your common story but I found it really interesting and exciting. In one episode, the lead character Beth was challenged to solve a chess problem that she does so in seconds. Since I played chess as a kid, this piqued my curiosity so I looked for it online and found it (check it out here). Needless to say, I did enjoy The Queen's Gambit and I understand why it became the talk of the town back in 2020.

In Joanna Lumley's Silk Road Adventure, the presenter Joanna Lumley takes the silk road from Venice to Kyrgyzstan, passing through many countries along. A lot of the countries featured in the show are places that don't often get featured in travel shows so I found this really interesting and engaging. One of the most interesting places she visited was Persepolis in Iran. When I saw these ruins, it made me really want to visit Iran. She also visited Cappadocia in Turkey. This place has been in my bucket list for years. I really do love travel shows like this and I appreciate Joanna Lumley because I find her very respectful of the people she interacts with and of local traditions. This is the third and last of her series on Netflix that I got to see - I also saw Japan and the Trans-Siberian Adventure - and I enjoyed all of them.

Finally, I got to watch the animated limited series Maya and the Three. It was recommended to me by Netflix based on other shows I watched and I'm glad it was. The story is interesting and entertaining enough but what I loved most about it was the animation. It was just such a visual feast! After watching a few episodes, I recommended it to my friends because the animation was done so tremendously well, as if it was moving art.

I still have a lot of movies and shows in my Netflix list (as well as my HBO Go list). I do have a planned 1 week vacation soon so maybe I can catch up on more movies and shows then.

Game Night!

For the first time since the pandemic started, I had a face-to-face game night with my friends! We had all been talking about the possibility of finally getting together in the same room to play board games once the Omicron surge abated and after we all got our boosters. Almost everyone in the group had already started going out so many of us had already gotten used to less physical distancing. We figured we were ready to meet up and so we did. And I gotta say, it really was such a blessing.

I couldn't stay too long since I had an early day the next day but I did get to play three new games. First was Canvas, a beautiful art-themed game where you compete to produce the most highly-rated paintings. What's unique about this game is that it makes use of transparent art cards that you lay on top of each other to form your painting. You need to choose the right cards and you need to figure out the best sequence to maximize scoring. I had never played a board game before that made use transparent cards so this was a really interesting experience. I did quite well for my first time and my final three paintings were called Risky Anxiety, Heavy Moment, and Liberated Expanse. I look forward to playing this game again.

My Canvas "paintings" and their corresponding awards

We then played Wavelength. I'm not sure how to explain how this game is played in just a few sentences hahaha so let me share the description on BoardGameGeek: "Wavelength is a social guessing game in which two teams compete to read each other's minds. Teams take turns rotating a dial to where they think a hidden bullseye is located on a spectrum. One of the players on your team — the Psychic — knows exactly where the bullseye is, and draws a card with a pair of binaries on it (such as: Job - Career, Rough - Smooth, Fantasy - Sci-Fi, Sad Song - Happy Song, etc). The Psychic must then provide a clue that is *conceptually* where the bullseye is located between those two binaries. After the Psychic gives their clue, their team discusses where they think the bullseye is located and turns the dial to that location on that spectrum. The closer to the center of the bullseye the team guess, the more points they score!" I am not good at these games so my team lost badly haha but it was still fun to play (albeit a bit stressful at times haha).

The third and last game I played was New York Zoo. Players compete to build the best zoo. Part of the game involves breeding animals in the different enclosures. It has a simple mechanic but it requires a lot of strategy and forward planning. The game ends when one player fully builds their zoo. I made the mistake of choosing the wrong enclosures and leaving chunks of spaces open, which meant I couldn't complete my board. Nevertheless, it was still very entertaining to play.

It was great getting to play actual board games (and not their online version which we had been playing for the last two years) but even more amazing getting to spend time with friends. Hopefully, the worst of the pandemic is over and we can continue playing board games face-to-face without significantly risking our health.

Meeting Up With Friends

I've started to meet up with people more often recently. First, my high school classmate Jeff was in Manila so many of our batchmates met up with him for dinner at Florabel in Estancia. It was really nice catching up with people I hadn't talked to face-to-face in years over good food. I ordered the Grilled Prawns and Salmon in Uni Lemon Butter Sauce served with Adlai Truffle Rice because I wanted something a bit light.

Grilled Prawns and Salmon in Uni Lemon Butter Sauce from Florabel

Dinner ended when Florabel closed and while most folks headed home, a few of us decided to look for some place that was still open because we didn't feel like heading home yet. We decided to have a few drinks at Tipsy Pig. We called it a night at around 130 to 2am, making this only the second time since the pandemic started that I stayed out until past midnight.

A week later, I met up with my friend Eliza for an al fresco lunch at Brotzeit in Shangri-La Mall. A lot had gone on in our respective lives since we last saw each other and we spent a few hours catching up. We probably could've talked even longer if not for a smoker who sat next to us and made it a bit (a lot) uncomfortable. I guess staying indoors at home for a couple of years means I'm not used to secondhand cigarette smoke anymore. That said, we were there long enough for me to have merienda haha. I got the Kaiserschmarren which is shredded rum raisin pancakes served with plum sauce. I realized this was the wrong item for me to order because it was quite heavy, which wasn't ideal since I was still a bit full from lunch.

Kaiserschmarren from Brotzeit

My plan after meeting up with Eliza was to do a few errands at the mall before heading home. As I was buying some banana bread, I heard someone call out my name. It was my friend and ex-colleague Gabbie. She was there planning to buy some meds from Mercury drugstore but the line was so long so I told her there was another Mercury on the 5th floor. I walked with her there - they didn't have the meds she was looking for - and we ended up just hanging out. She wanted to have am extremely late lunch but I was still so full so we got a table in Cibo where she had a proper meal while I just had coffee. It was past 8 when we parted ways. I hadn't intended to stay that late but the unexpected catch-up was a very pleasant surprise.

We also talked about trying to meet up with our other friend Marie and soon after that, we were all chatting over messenger, trying to find a common schedule. And just like that, a couple of weeks later, we all met up for an early dinner in Rockwell. Since we hadn't seen Marie in a while, we felt that meeting up earlier was ideal so we would have more time together. We had dinner in Nikkei before moving to UCC for drinks and dessert. (We were thinking of either Starbucks or UCC but we decided UCC was better because they served beer haha.) We stayed there until UCC closed.

It's really been a good last few weeks in terms of getting to meet up face-to-face with people. It looks like physical meetings with people is slowly but surely becoming part of the new normal (or next normal, whatever it's called).