Christmas Blog

Can't believe my holiday break is half way through. And how did I spend my 11-day vacay extravaganza? Lemme think back...

The 23rd - Last minute shopping for groceries, stuff for our family par-tey in Casa Geocaniga. I visited my officemates in the afternoon to delivery a gift and a goodbye to Maila (sama! sama!) After traversing some gruesome holiday traffic, a somewhat awkward, not-one-of-my-best presentations conference calls, I ended the evening with a lot of gift wrapping. Christmas was just around the corner, and I didn't want to be caught unprepared (by unprepared I mean with gifts unwrapped), by any of my god kids.

The 24th - Super last minute shopping. No gift for Renren yet! And I have to be on the look-out for the perfect skirt / pants for Maila's wedding. I have my top. But no skirt. Rushed to ATC, an hour before closing time. Found Renren's Super Advance Yoyo, and some potential skirts. Bought a brooch to compliment my green Topshop top for Christmas day. Quick dinner at Phoa Hoa. Distributed gifts to Maan and Karina (both were not at home, at the time of my visit). Then heard the 930 Christmas mass at Teoville East. Twas quite a nice mass. Not too long. The priest's homily was about the essence of Christmas. They played a Josh Groban song before the Peace-Be-With-You part, and I found myself a little teary-eyed. We used the same song during Tito Ely's funeral. Twas a reminder how this'll be the first Christmas without him. After mass, we went to Tita Myr's house for a quasi-traditional (Quasi-traditional because this is the third year I think) Christmas Eve Dinner. Loads of foood! Then at 12 MN, transferred to Tito Mar's house for some more feasting.... Does the eating ever stop?! After stuffing ourselves silly with food, twas back to our humble abode for some gift opening. Opening presents are always a success! Mewi Kwismus!

December 25 - Christmas Day! And what a hectic Christmas Day it was. Late lunch at Tandang Sora, which was pleasantly peaceful. Hehe. After steak, shrimp, and a tall glass of iced coke, we went to Ninong Johnny's house and was amused by the dancing Santa Claus. But disappointed at not seeing my beloved godfather. The yummy superlicious chocolate moist cake from Chit Dee will have to make up for it. The evening was equally busy! Last minute house fixin, hiding-of-christmas-presents, and pseudo-tidying, our yearly Family Christmas dinner commenced!
Highlights of the evening...
Unexpected guests - Lola Juling and the Roxases made it! So very cool! Chacha's relatives from Japan also made a surprise visit... thereby unleashing the hidden powers of our refrigerator reserves!
Food Hits! - French Fries from Pricesmart bestseller! Thanks to Monterey as well for the Sisig and the flavored Chicharon. Of course, the Lengua and Sugpo are always crowd favorites.
Drink hits! The main man of the evening : Jose Cuervo! He is the guy to be reckoned with!! We finished close to two bottles and people were still crying out for more! His shots were king! In the absence of iodized salts, we had to make do with the rock salt from our kitchen. Lemons were abundant in supply, and eager shooters... haha! Just waiting to be challenged! It was pure genius and pure fun!
Fun family pictures Informal and formal shots... everyone was game. Funny faces, drunken looks, tongues sticking out... Everyone was in the mood!