Christmas Meet-ups

Movie with Roy and Jess:
I was able to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 during its opening day here in Manila. It was my first meeting with Roy Moore, our British friend, who's now living here in Manila for a charity and his Masters study at UP. Jess was also with us for the movie.

I did not watch nor read any of the first 6 books of Harry Potter. I didn't even read the 7th book. So when I watched the film, I was a bit clueless at times, although in all fairness, I was able to follow the story. The movie was quite okay, and with the fact that I can understand it as a stand-alone movie, I must say that it is well-made.

Christmas Dinner with Isa and Nikka:
Last December 11, I had another dinner with Nikka and Isa, this time, for our Christmas Dinner. Unlike the one last month, we decided to watch a movie first before eating. We watched the third installment of the Narnia series: "The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader". Like HP, I wasn't able to watch the first two installments of the series. However, unlike HP, I was able to easily follow, without parts which I cannot fully understand. Perhaps it's becoming my habit to watch movies without their prequels.

We then ate at Sumo Sam, a Japanese restaurant. Quite expensive, but the food was heavenly. Perhaps what I liked best was their Green Tea. We then went to this ice cream place and ate 20 scoops of ice cream. After which, we went to Capone's, a bar owned by Isa's former professor.

Christmas Party with MaFia:
Perhaps for the first time this year, I joined in an activity with almost all of my Masters batchmates. We had a Christmas Dinner at Jet's House, along with AMF majors who weren't part of the Masters course. It was a happy night.

Christmas Breakfast with Singapore Friends:
Perhaps ranking high in my favorite days of the year would be December 18, the day after the MaFiA dinner, when I finally met with my Filipino Singapore friends. It has almost been a year since almost all of us met together.

Getting together this time proved to be a happy occasion. I missed hanging out with them. I practically lived and spent 4 months of my life with them. They were my family in Singapore. I just wish we can meet more often.

Monse and Jess, I meet all the time. Smile and Jhoana, living just across the street from school and yet we seldom meet. Gwen who studies in DLSU, living far from Ateneo, though we talk quite often. These girls were part of my Singapore family. Too bad Bonvin had a prior engagement the day before, and Wayne forgot about it.

Christmas Dinner with High School Barkada:
December 20 was another eventful day. For the first time, I agreed to meet on short notice. I met with Gian, Nikko and Aidz. I waited for more than an hour at Ateneo HS for Gian, who was coming in late from home. Although we were late, we somehow arrived at the same time as the other two, who came from work. We ate at New Bombay with some delicious meals.