It's the start of Xmas 2011...

It's officially Christmas.

Yesterday, I attended my first Pinoy gathering for Christmas 2011.

Friday night, I was checking Facebook and that's when I saw the message from JoAnn inviting people to their home for a Christmas gathering.

JoAnn and Kym adopted me on several of my trips here to SG. They also adopted me on my first month in SG. That's why I am so, so grateful to this couple.

After checking with Pg Boy our weekend schedule, I confirmed our attendance to the gathering with JoAnn.

I thought it was really sweet of her to call me on the morning of the gathering just to tell me to ask Pg Boy to go.

I was also looking forward to the gathering because I know that the food will be Pinoy. Woohoo!

Saturday morning, I headed to Ikea Tampines to look for present Pg Boy and I can give for the exchange gift.

Since Pg Boy moved to Tampines, it was much easier for us to get to the home of JoAnn and Kym. Their place was only a few bus stops away.

By 5PM, I was back in my first home in SG. I kinda miss that area. Though it was a bit crowded, I like it that I had access to almost everything I need.

Some guests were already there when we arrived. Other guests started arriving minutes after Pg Boy and I came.

It was a nice gathering. I definitely enjoyed the food. For someone who doesn't really celebrate Christmas, I think Pg Boy did okay. He liked the lumpiang shanghai. And he was game enough to join the games prepared by Rej, JoAnn and Jackie.

We didn't get to stay for the exchange gift part though. It was date night for us, so we had to leave around 8 plus.

Still, it was a good dinner and games night. Thank you to JoAnn and Kym for having us.

Boys just wanna have fun...

Last Saturday, I found myself having a great time at a boys night out with PG Boy's friends (most of whom I've met before because of dragonboat rowing).

We were like an ASEAN gathering. Haha! Three Indonesians. One Malaysian. One Singaporean. One Aussie-Chinese. Two Filipinos.

It was the first time that I've seen the entire group gather together. There were about eight of us. The usual get-together would be composed of about three to five people.

The night started with dinner at Casa Latina. The food was quite okay. I particularly loved the fish dish which Andi ordered. The margaritas were also quite good. What was even better was the conversation among the guys. Topics ranged from Erik's recent trip to Nepal, the new house of Ken, house hounting for Erik, Andi and PG Boy, among others.

After stuffing ourselves with enchiladas, burritos, fajitas, and so on, the group decided to walk to Bugis Junction for coffee, tea and dessert at TCC.

We called it a night an hour before midnight. It was really an enjoyable evening, I must say.

Stupid me, I didn't bring my camera. :-/ Lots of nice photo op moments that evening.

Jonrox, Ela, Sheena in town...

Nice surprise while I was headed to DB training this morning.

I was checking my FB page on my phone and I saw a Wall Post from uni friend Jon. He, together with girlfriend Ela plus, were in Singapore. Ela's best friend Sheena was also in town. They were here for holiday and to visit Sheena's boyfriend Mickey.

After taking note of Ela's number, I gave her a call and it was just really great to hear a familiar voice from back home.

We agreed to meet up later in the afternoon, since they already had an itinerary the entire day and I had my own plans as well.

Around 6PM, I was at one of Singapore's most iconic tourist spots - the Merlion Park - looking for the group. It didn't prove to be too difficult to spot them. In a sea of tourists, I saw two gorgeous girls in a flowy jumpsuit-ish number and looking very chic. Jon and Mickey were easy to find as well given their towering heights. Hehe!

I gave the girls a beso and huge hug, while the guys the usual firm handshake and tap on the shoulder. Yeah, I know, I know. Very butch. Haha!

From the Merlion Park, we went to the Marina Bay Sands and hung out at the Ku De Ta bar for pre-dinner drinks. Thankfully, it wasn't raining and we had a great night view of the city. Afterwards, we headed to Killiney for dinner at bak kut teh place that Mickey recommended.

It was really a great get-together even if it was quite short.

Always, always great to see good friends from Manila. :)

F1 weekend with friends from Pinas...

I didn't get to experience any of the recently concluded F1 fever. Hehe!

That's because both my home and my workplace are far away from the city (which became a race track for a couple of days), from the roaring engines of the race cars, from the excitement of F1 race fans coming from different parts of the world.

We'll see. Maybe next year. =)

But one good thing I had thanks to the F1 event was that several friends from the Philippines were in town and I got to catch up with them - Manny, Joi, Reg. Franco was also in town but we didn't get to meet up because he was only here for a day.

Sunday night was spent clubbing with the club-going friends. I missed tugsing I have to say. Haha! Last time was in HCM, and that was just whoa! So Sunday, no very early Monday morning, was ultra fun dancing to the awesome beats of DJ George Leong.

Monday night, on the other hand, was spent with Joi, her husband-to-be, and Manny. It's a good thing Manny missed his flight. Hehe! At least, we got to finally hang out.

We all met up at Vivo City, had dinner at Food Republic (which had nice interiors) then drinks at some Irish pub facing the harbor.

It was definitely a good F1 weekend. Hehe!