In My Last Twenties

So today is the day when I finally become a year away from the big 3-0. I am definitely in my late twenties. Yes. I am in my last twenty!

Last night, I decided not to sleep at the condo. Didn't want to spend the eve of the big day alone. This turned out to be a good decision. I ended up chatting with Irene and a few other friends before going to bed. Augmoc happily greeted me a happy beeday, and I got to chat with Irene over the phone.

My Beeday morning started late. I couldn't get out of bed early, hence I arrived at the office late. When I groggily looked at my phone, I had 19 messages! Thank you thank you to everyone who greeted me! I haven't deleted any of my beeday greetings for today, and I think my inbox is full! Haha.

Anyway, more greetings when I arrived at the office. 'Course, there's the usual, "Hindi ka ba magpapakain?" banter. Hehe. Then came the first highlight of my morning. Cellphone rang, and lo and behold! Hollah!! Meriyen from Socal was slammin! Haha. I spoke with Maan for a good 50 minutes! Had to step out of the secured area because I was embarrassed about taking a personal call for an extended period of time. Hehe. Our convo jumped from topic to topic, and I ended up just missing the complete Jologzbitchin trio. I'm totally looking forward to our trip to Bora this December.

Lunch time rolled around (more SMSs and phone calls here and there). Mike approached my desk and shyly handed my a small paper bag. I was genuinely and pleasantly surprised! He gave me this super nice (genuine leather, mind you!) green wallet! Haha. After months and months of calling my white round wallet ugly, he ended his (and my misery). I did dream about him giving me a wallet a few weeks ago, so I guess this is deja vu? Haha. We had lunch at Mr. Choi's. I didn't have to open the menu to know what I wanted to eat. Hehe.

The afternoon was mostly about meetings and work. I got kinda P.O.ed about this one email I received. That sort of brought the dark cloud in my afternoon. I felt a little off until about early evening. Mike noticed this and asked what was wrong. Did I want a cake?, he asked. Hehe. We delivered some news to the leads in our meeting, and they weren't exactly jolly news.

Anyway, I told Mike I hope the evening ends my beeday with a nicer note. And I have to say, it most certainly did!

Mark, my cousin, hitched a ride with me to Makati. We picked up Karina and then went to Powerplant to meet up with everyone else. This was my beeday dinner with the family, surprisingly something I haven't done for my past beedays (Family beeday dinners were typically scheduled during the weekend).

When we arrived at Crustasia, we found Mama sitting by herself. She said Papa got bored and started walking around the mall. A few minutes later, to my surprise, he arrived, carrying with him a bouquet of roses! And that, totally turned my mood around! Haha. I finally figured out what was missing! Flowers! Hehe. It was so sweet of my pops to give me a bouquet.



Then the crew arrived! Rommel with Jean (bearing a box of Mary Grace delights), Yssang, and Tonton and Shayne (bearing a cake from Bizu). We were a table of ten! Food was good. The black pepper crab was worth every dime.



The cereal prawns could have been better. The bottle of red wine did its job to put us in a festive mood. Hehe.

Jokes all around! About Mark's name tagged shirt, his surprised must-not-breathe ID photo, Tonton's eating habits, and the usual asaran. Karina was my jowangertz (beau) for the evening! There was a nice, comfy feeling having everyone together. Tis perhaps a preview? Haha.







The evening finally ended and we exchanged our good byes and final birthday greetings.

So my birthday realizations?

Birthdays are better spent with loved ones of course. You know who cares about you! They put an effort in making the day special and happy.
It's always nice when people (sometimes the least expected ones) remember your birthday.
Pleasant surprises are sometimes answered prayers.
The day's not over till it's over.
More importantly...Tis my last twenty! I better make this year count!