A Birthday Blog.

January is my birthday month. January 3rd to be specific. It's kind of a big letter month for The Crew since there are four of us who celebrate: me then Peewee on the 4th, then there's a huge break and then Jay and Dicey on the 26th and 28th respectively.


Over the years certain traditions have naturally evolved:

One is that my parents wake me up at 3 in the morning because I was born at around that time. They bring in a cake, with a candle ready for wishing on. There is singing. And, of course, there are hugs and kisses. Once I was still awake so I pretended to be asleep when I heard them coming to my door. Another is that I meet my birthday at midnight accompanied by The Crew and I have a dinner everyone on the 3rd itself.

This year was a small break from these traditions as I had a lot of relatives visiting for the holidays. They were in Boracay til lunchtime of the 3rd so they was no ceremonious waking of the birthday girl. BUT they did all call me anyway during my blended salubong (had dinner with the Crew at Penang Hill and drinks with everyone else at Grilla, reserving my actual birthday for family) ... and there was singing and greeting and virtual hugging.

At Bellini's for the big 3-0.

My cake was served not in the dead of the early morning hours. Instead it came -- warm and fragrant -- at the end of a delicious meal at Bellini's. Cake in the morning or cake at night is all the same to me when it is presented with love that I can feel 24 hours of the day.

But I digress.

The most recent tradition (in that this is only the second year I've ever enacted it) is I take off for a surf trip the weekend closest to my birthday. Last year I went with Zeny and Kathy. This year, I took my cousins for one last beach trip before they left for the States. My brother and his girlfriend followed for the day on Saturday to collect on free surf lessons Moro had promised them as their Christmas gifts. (I know I am going to digress again but I just have to mention that Saturday morning, we arrived at Bacnotan for their lessons to find that, save for two other beginners taking lessons, we were the only people there. Dom and her friends had been there earlier and were just about to head back to Urbiztondo... leaving the beach break to us. Woohoo!)

I wrapped up my birthday week with a visit to Skinworks (owned by my favorite tattoo artist Rikki Sta Ana) where my cousins Mark and Justin got inked. While they waited their turn, I wandered around the pet section of Cartimar, pretending I could afford to buy an adorable black Shar Pei, a chocolate Labrador, another pair of Ringneck Parrots and 50 gallon saltwater tank. (In real life I bought a darling gerbil to keep my other gerbil company. The new gerbil I've named Latte and he is currently co-existing with my other gerbil Macchiatto whose dear friend Espresso passed away before Christmas. Then there were the 8 parakeets for my mom that we haven't tried to name yet.)

Dinner saw us at Leslie's in Tagaytay. But before that, a quick pit stop at the Speedo outlet in Sta Rosa where I scored two new bikini bottoms and one top for a steal and my brother scored reef shoes for P750. At Leslie's, the wind was cold and the fog was deep. Never had their sizzling bulalo and accompanying soup tasted better!

And so ended the birthday week.

For more photos click this