More Reasons to Celebrate

My dear friend Joyce celebrated her birthday last month and because it was a milestone, she organized a big party at Frisky Hipon at the corner of Sct. Torillo and Sct. Fernandez. Joyce said that we could be there as early as 4pm and I know that parking in the Tomas Morato area is difficult so I decided to arrive early. Thankfully, I did because I got a good parking spot and shortly after I arrived, all the available parking slots at the restaurant were occupied.

Frisky Hipon at the corner of Sct. Torillo and Sct. Fernandez

Joyce told us that the reason she picked this place was because she liked the food here and I agree. Most of the invitees to the party were people from our high school so it felt like a grand reunion. I also turned into the evening's accidental entertainment. The party had a mini-stage with a microphone so earlier in the evening, I was asked to sing a song (I performed Callum Scott's version of "Dancing on my Own"). Towards the latter part of the evening, our group of friends decided to sing Fra Lippo Lippi's "Everytime I See You" but they struggled with the verse due to unfamiliarity with the non-chorus parts so I took over and the moment I had the mic in my hand, it stayed there pretty much the rest of the night haha. I ended singing a lot of songs including U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking," Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine," and When in Rome's "The Promise." It was probably past midnight when we called it a night, with everyone happy that we got to celebrate Joyce's birthday with her and with everyone else.

birthday decor at Frisky Hipon

My friend and ex-colleague Jay also came home to the Philippines so a few of us from our previous company met up with him while he was there. We normally meet up at the BGC area but this time, we had dinner at Locavore in Estancia. I love Locavore and even if I eat the same food here whenever I visit - my two staples are the sizzling sinigang and the lechon and oyster sisig - I don't get tired of it. Most establishments in Estancia close when the mall closes but Perfect Pint stays open so after dinner, we moved there for some drinks. It was a wonderful evening and while I normally avoid staying out late and even having some drinks on a weeknight, Jay being in town felt like the perfect time to make an exception.

Sizzling Sinigang and Lechon and Oyster Sisig

My board gaming friend Kat also came home for a few weeks from her international assignment. While we normally play boardgames on Saturday nights, we couldn't find a Saturday schedule where more than a couple of people were available. Thankfully, enough of us were free on a Friday night so we agreed to have game night then. It's been a while since I last saw Kat - I actually didn't get to see her right before she left the Philippines for her international assignment - so it was great to catch up and play board games with her and the gang again. I will say that we played one game that night that I really dislike: Buffet Boss. I dislike it because I don't particularly like dexterity games and this one requires you to balance irregularly shaped food items on top of each other. (I did win both rounds of Pokémon Go that we played so that night wasn't too bad haha.)

My losing attempt at building a Buffet Boss food tower

My nephew also turned a year older and to celebrate, we had lunch at Texas Roadhouse. It's been a while since we last ate here as a family so it was nice that we got to visit again. I am clearly a creature of habit when it comes to restaurant food because I had my usual order of Roast Beef (I really should try more of their dishes, like the Monterey Chicken) but I did try one new thing: Turtle Pie for dessert. It was pretty good.

Turtle Pie from Texas Roadhouse

Just about a month ago, I wrote about having several special moments with family and friends. A few weeks later and here I am, writing about more celebrations. I really do feel very grateful that I am able to continue spending quality and quantity time with the most important people in my life.