I always remember what my friend Maymay, once said. One time she invited me to a birthday party at her beautiful guest house in Ayala Alabang. When I asked when her birthday was, nakupo ang tagal na palang lumipas, as in 3 months ago. She said, the whole year is still her birthday.
She’s right. As long as it’s within the year, it still counts as your birthday. Come January 1, that’s a new cycle, that’s for the next birthday.
My own birthday was in May but I never got to celebrate with close friends as I had wanted to.
If I’ll wait for the right time, and the right energy, I will never get to celebrate my birthday.
So, with that, I messaged 5 people, Dick Penson, Serge Ortiz-Luis, Jr., Anton Sayo, Chian Callaghan, and Katrina Sanvictores. We’ve been friends since pre-war times.
They were all busy but they re-arranged their schedules to meet. For Katrina, it was especially challenging since she’s based in Cebu, and had to find someone to dog-sit her 28 dogs.
Chian and I decided to co-celebrate, since her birthday was coming up on September 21.
And so there we were. The first hour was spent simply laughing and giggling — and it felt like no time had passed at all.
Short clips from my mini birthday party: Please click
That’s when I realized how detached I had been in the past 20 years — ang dami kong hindi alam! Some I’d already heard from others, but many were new to me.
Some of our crazy conversations went like this:
Bakla daw si senator 1.
ACDC daw si senator 2.
Bakla din daw si senator 3.
Ang tawag daw ni B kay senator 4 ay sis.
Ang tawag daw ni senator G kay B ay bro.
Anak daw ni N si senator 5.
Kabibili lang daw ng Ferrari ni Z.
May order daw na 2 top of the line sports car si neighbor.
Mayaman daw si H na kayang bilhin ang mga alahas at bag nya, sabi ng kamaganak nya,
Kinontra naman nung isa, galing daw kay senator 6 iyon.
Hindi daw matatapos ni BBM ang termino nya
Ang sagot naman, ay para tayong lumukso sa kumukulong mantika.
Sabi naman ng supporter ni D, lahat daw corrupt.
Si friend bumisita daw sa Hague pero sa labas lang sya.
Si former cabinet secretary C daw ay sobrang mabait at hindi street smart kaya madaling na-inlove sa isang pangit na pangit na babae, at iniwan ang pamilya.
From politics, napunta naman sa mga bayani at religion ang tsimis:
Kinopya lang daw ni Jose Rizal yung Noli. Itanong mo daw kay Chat AI.
Naintriga lang daw si Andres Bonifaco.
Inilipat na daw ang bahay ni Mama Mary sa Italy.
Kinontra ko naman kasi nakapunta na ako sa bahay ni Mama Mary sa Ephesus, Turkey yun.
Sabi daw nung waiter ang gaganda namin pero ang tatanda na. Ouch but true.
Anton called my restaurant choice “opulent.” I chose Old Manila at Manila Peninsula because it’s quiet and not too crowded. And I figured kulang ang kwentuhan namin, so we could extend with coffee in the lobby. Which was exactly what happened.
Bitin pa ang kwentuhan at bitin din ang mga tyan kasi ang liit ng steak servings. Parang tikim lang.
As soon as we sat down in the lobby, Dick and I ordered two big bowls of lugaw and a plate of palabok which we all shared. Yan na ang dessert namin.
After our mini-get-together, I realized just how much I missed them. We also missed our dear friend, Bobby Amores (RIP).
One of the funniest moments came when Chian started inviting us to her birthday:
“Punta kayo (sa Narra Hill) sa linggo, birthday ko. Walang food. Walang party. Pero may food for the 40 staff. Wala akong choice but to prepare food for the 40 staff. . Punta kayo — may food yung mga staff.”
Anton and I couldn’t stop laughing. He said, “Okay yung invite niya. Parang, pumunta kayo pero huwag kayong pumunta. Bahala kayo sa sarili ninyo.”
Chian owns the most beautiful events place in Batangas, Narra Hill. She invited the four of us to stay for one night — may apat na bedrooms daw.
I joked, “Dapat individual villas, kasi Dick needs privacy.”
Dick said: “Saka na pag may girlfriend ako.” Since both Chian and Dick are single, I teased, “Bakit hindi na lang kayong dalawa? Hahanap pa kayo ng iba.” They didn’t find my idea enticing.
Katrina is also single — but living with 28 dogs.
It took me two hours to get home from Manila Peninsula Hotel due to heavy traffic. I was grateful for Katrina’s pasalubong from Cebu, Guadalupe dried mango strips. I ate it in the car while stuck in traffic, and saved some for Theo, who loved it too.
I’m already looking forward to our next get together in October. I think Dick will be the host, then Anton in November. Since I’ll be out of the country all of November, I requested we meet in early December instead.
Till then.
