the.gipster: Falling off the Calendar.. sort of

Deciding to be a little different this year, I was able to convince myself not to plan anything on the only day I know I should feel special. I thought that a day without complications, a day free from the worries of work, a day I can allot for myself is all but enough to make and complete my special day. I wanted it to be quiet this time. I wanted it to be tamed.

My day started just like a normal day. Occasional text messages and phone calls didn't bother me and just made me think that everything is going as I planned.

As I was happily slouching in the sofa watching TV.. watching the The Da Vinci Code over at HBO, I received a text message from Pam telling me and apparently the entire gang to meet up for some snacks over at Conti's Serendra. Well, I just saw Pam, Jill and Fifi. But yeah, what the heck.. They're busy with work. I still get to see them sometime during the week.

Pam and the others were bugging me about my plans for the night and I never got tired of telling them that I didn't have any plans at all. Well, giving to a little peer pressure, I decided, fine.. let's have a bowling party tonight. Mozzie had a gig that night and I have to put my bowling party right after their gig since it was the gig that came first on their schedule.

After Conti's, I accompanied them to Chrie's clinic for their practice. While Mozzie was busy practicing their repertoire for the night, I busied myself browsing the net through Chrie's laptop and um.. very reliable one-bar-signaled-don't-ya-dare-move Wi-Fi service. :D

After their practice, Pam and Jill rushed out to head off to Pam's office to drop off some work. Since they were done practicing, the laptop I was starting to get too accustomed to, was seized back by it's owner. As our dentist started getting busy with her laptop, I was time to entertain myself by exploring the clinic.

Getting tired from all that net surfing and clinic exploration, we all decided to get some dinner over at McDonald's, Greenbelt 1. For some reason, Greenbelt 1 got the vote since we were planning to getting some unlimited nacho's from Chilli's after we get our dinner. Tipid mode daw si Chrie.

So we drove off to McDonald's and tried hurrying up despite the sluggish movement in the streets because Fifi was apparently in dire need of the little girl's room. I walked with Fifi to McDonald's to go get and find her moment with the little girl's room.

After I tried pointing out the restroom to Fifi, for some reason there's this function room in McDonald's that caught my attention. I saw Rollie bouncing around and trying to take pictures. I was so curious that I decided to approach him and make a little detour. I was really that curious to know what brings Rollie to Makati. When I tried opening the door, a big SURPRISE!!! couple with a lot of flashes from holga's, fisheye's and all sorts of cameras greeted me.

I saw some of my most priced friends plus some new found friends from LomoManila in the room wearing party hats with all but GUR and TI written in them. The room wasn't jam packed, but it sure did paint a pretty big smile on my face. These guys decided to throw me a surprise party. And that blew me away.

It was a ton of unadulterated fun. Games filled our night coupled with a ton of jokes and laughter. Sprinkle that with a lot of lap sitting, kissing and hugging. And you have a perfect recipe for a fun-filled night. Well, it's a bunch of grown-ups doing a kiddie party. What would you expect?!

I wished for one thing last year -- it is to celebrate my birthday in a different way, like spending it in a different country like I did before (I was in Canada then). I thought I'd feel happy feeling privileged enough to travel (for free) and celebrate it somewhere else if not lavishly. Sometimes, I do forget that I am already privileged enough to be surrounded, cared for and loved by the wonderful people around me. I can't put it any simpler, but, thank you!