SURPRISE!!!

(ganda ng cake ko, nakakahinayang kainin)

Backtrack. Some weeks ago: my mom collected my highschool barkada's contact numbers (something fishy). A week ago, i saw my baby pics scanned (still fishy). My close gal friends said they can't come to my birthday outing on the 10th. I invited most of my barkada but many of them said they can't make it because of enrolment, OJT, vacation, etc.

April 9, my big natal anniversary.

• 12AM - text greetings started pouring in...
• 430-7PM - church (gave the gift to the birthday girl)
• 730PM - started to travel towards the resort
• 845PM - had a flat tyre. mom calls. some guests are already hungry. i knew some churchmates and relatives were already there since i told my barkada to come the day after, para reunion na rin.
• 930PM - i arrived at the resort. they told me to put my bags in the room. my guests are preparing the tables to eat.

i opened the door of the room. SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!! my whole barkada was there waiting for me. i was surprised, but i didnt look surprised. asteeeg sobra! mga sinungaling!!! white lies. ang galing magpalusot ng barkada ko, may nalalaman pa silang hindi sila makakapunta. i was really touched by their presence. inside the small room, they were standing on the bed and the couch holding a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner, throwing confetti and some pop-up party ek-ek. galeng! my mom's modus operandi worked. they had good coordination. happiest birthday so far. woooot!!!

we ate. we bonded. sabi ko kay nanay wag na magprogram kung hindi, uuwi ako. we did have a program, but i cant back out, the people who attended were so special i cant leave them behind. walang cotillion. but they gave words of wisdom and advice to me, who i am to them, and what i did to them. i love my highschool barkada, walang kapalit, walang hihigit, the best, never failed me. it's where i really belong. we talked. we chatted. we played children schoolyard games. we shared stories. we swam. i didn't swim of course because i can't. i just soaked and floated with the "salbabida" gift. hehe. walang tulugan. half of them left 6AM the next morning. the rest left about 1030AM. walang tulugan to catch up with stories. connection, connection, connection.

i would like to thank the presence of my highschool barkada (plus their special someones who tagged along): allain, jan-michael, ryan james, pat, mark, gregore, sammy, john eric, marvin, uly, joedz, anj, elaine, mabel, ange, joy, lala, joan, danes

haaay... im eternally grateful. asteeg kayo!!!

next up! wedding year 200x!!! :)