I had dinner last Monday at Watami in Shangri-la.
Chawanmushi for me.
I met with my high school friends Luming and Malou. They are both September girls so the dinner was an impromptu treat by yours truly.
When older people get together you can be sure that we talk about rayuma, menopause, joint pains, white flower and Kotinco. Weight gain was also in the topic but no weight loss plans although we divulged our current “ilang pounds”. 145, 135 and 123.
We had our group picture taken by the waiter. The first shots were rejected by Malou because she said I looked too thin in the photos.
Malou—“Tingnan ko nga. Ay ang payat ni Annie sa picture. Waiter ulitin mo, isa pa.”
Before the second round was taken, she thought it was a good strategy to move next to Luming to be farther away from the camera. I’ve heard this theory dozens of times before. The farther you are from the camera, the thinner you would look in the photo.
Let’s see if that holds true.
Ay oo nga, I looked chubby. I couldn’t sleep the night before. I felt restless till 5 in the morning. My face looked haggard from lack of sleep.
The outcome didn’t deter us from ordering desserts.
Yummy-looking mango parfait, creme brulee,
These two are mine, green tea and vanilla ice cream. A scoop is too small so I ordered two.
We ordered a lot but I only ended up paying around 1,300 pesos because Luming used her free iced tea and 25% discount card on Mondays.
Malou— “Bitin ako sa ice cream, puro corn flakes pala yung ilalim”.
Luming’s real name is PARALUMAN Baustista – Balanga. What a beautiful Pilipina name. She and her daughter are leaving this week for NY, Montreal, Quebec and would be joined by her husband in SFO and Monday was her only free time.
Malou’s real name is Maria LOURDES Mallari – Panelo. Hers is after the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes. There’s also a saint named Lourdes. If her surname looks and sounds familiar, it is because her dearest husband Ruben is the younger brother of Atty. Salvador Panelo, Pres. Duterte’s chief legal counsel, mind reader and interpreter.
It started to rain just before we left the restaurant. There was a scary lightning shower too. Even when I was already home, the lightning strikes (kidlat) were so fierce, para bang gustong pumasok sa loob ng bintana namin.
