Motor Mouth Christmas: Eat and Sing to You Heart's Content

- December 23, 2013, Monday.

- Some of my high school friends decided to meet up for Christmas, and coincidentally, the 6 of us who were able to meet today were the five ones who met yesterday for a friend's wedding, plus another friend from the bunch.

- Still sleepy, tired, and somewhat full from yesterday's wedding, we met at Starbucks Lucky Chinatown before riding the shuttle to SM MOA. We got off at Choice Korean Buffet, since everyone, except me, hasn't tried it yet. It was my first time to eat there during lunch. From my observation, the speed of refilling the food was slower, as compared to dinner time. Since we went during lunch, and on a non-holiday weekday, we only had to pay a mere 490php. It's a cheap buffet, but definitely a good "choice."

Roasting marshmallows!!

Outside Movie Stars Cafe.

- After lunch we went to MOA, and had karaoke at Center Stage. It's located at the bay-side area  right outside the mall, and beside Movie Stars Cafe. Center Stage has a hi-tech song-searching program, but it was definitely more hassling than looking for a song using a songbook.

Frustrated with the song-finder thing.

Oh well. Haha.

- Strangely we finished our supposed "afternoon hangout" around 8:30 in the evening. So much for an afternoon. I'm glad we all got home safe, and not later than the time we left for home. At least we got to maximize our time together before Christmas.

"My Best Friend's Wedding": Not the Musical

- December 22, 2013, Sunday.

- Nellie, one of my closest friends, got married today in San Sebastian Church, one of the most beautiful churches, and the only steel church in Asia. (It was designed by Gustav Eiffel, whose masterpieces include the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty.) Nellie was the first to get married in our high school class, and I am very fortunate to be part of her entourage. I was in charge of lighting the candle, together with my classmate and close friend Jessica. Our other friend Josephine was Nellie's maid of honor.

Halloooh everyone!!

With Jessica, my co-candle classmate.

Josephine walking down the aisle.

- Blessilda, Erlyn, and Nathalie came with us to the church early in the afternoon, and waited for the ceremony to start. I gave them a short "tour" of the church's main hall to kill boredom, apart from taking photos. The San Sebastian Church was glittering with color when the lights went on; the lights also brought out the colors of the stained glass windows. When the ceremony started, Bless was the one in charge of taking our photos since I couldn't bring my bag and cam to the front.

Nellie!!

Selfie with the couple (and Nellie's Jang-Geum inspired hair.)

- After I congratulated Nellie and her husband Solomon, Nellie told me that she wanted to tell me something, although I had to wait until the after-wedding photoshoot was over. Turns out, Nellie's braided do was inspired by me, since I used to "torment" her hair like the Korean period drama, "Dae Jang Geum," or "Jewel in the Palace." I was touched, because apparently my hair-tormenting days had some nice outcome after all.

- We went to Hyatt right after the wedding ceremony. Because we were early, we were one of the first groups of people to get to savor the chocolate fountain. We also had some photos while less people were around.

From Disney's "Frozen."

Some artsy shot while the girls were in the restroom.

Just setting a trend: a photo with the couple at their table.

Last photo before we go home.

- The wedding reception was pretty straight forward, with some games and videos/photo slideshows. It was during those photo slideshows that I saw how genuinely happy Nellie was with Solomon. As for us guests, we were genuinely happy with our food, especially the white-chocolate-filled buchi. It was a first for me, and I'll definitely want to have more of it if I just could.

- We all went home around 10:30, after taking the chance to have a photograph with the newlyweds.

The Second University Christmas Celebration: UST Paskuhan 2013

- December 20, 2013, Friday.

- Two days after my leg-killer UP Diliman lantern parade, my UST alumna friend Nathalie invited us high school friends to celebrate the University of Santo Tomas' annual university-wide Christmas celebration: the "Paskuhan."

- I was initially reluctant to go because I sort of wanted to rest today, and short but heavy downpours kept shooting Manila in the late afternoon. I'm also not a fan of really crowded places like this event. Still, Nathalie, Bless, and I, still decided to go anyway.

- We first ate dinner at Adobo Connection, and went inside UP to stroll around the campus and take some photos. I saw some other friends too, which made me a bit more "at home" in a university that I was never part of.

Dinner.

Main building, not the church.

- We stayed in one spot to see the opening ceremonies, and saw roughly-centimeter-tall Jeric and Jeron Teng, the currently-famous basketball-player brothers. Of course, Jeron comes from De La Salle University, but I think those two are two peas in a pod, and are only separated during the UAAP basketball tournament.

Big lights will inspire you.

"Tourists"

Christmas tree.

Teeny tiny Jeron and Jeric Teng.

- When it got too crowded, and I started feeling some uneasiness in my chest, I asked Nathalie to recommend a nice place to sit and air myself - preferably a place with something cold to drink. Not long after, we ended up in Cha Dao to drink some milk tea, cool off, and just hang out and talk. Bless and I went home around 10:15, and Nathalie stayed behind. The Paskuhan was a nice and lively event, but it may not be the best event for me because of the big crowd. Still, I finally got to see this annual event everyone always mentions during this season.