tis the season to be chubby

Christmas season begets reasons to be jolly, along with countless more reasons to be chubby. Nothing can prove this more than four consecutive days of partying, eating, wishing strangers and friends alike a merry, merry holiday season. My jeans are getting tighter, my smile bigger, and Christmas nearer. For a start, this is how my dec 15-18 went:

CCI Christmas Party (Dec 15)

The party’s highlight was having the company CEO dance in the middle of our circle while he screamed “Carlo! Asan si Carlo?” Where’s Carlo.  Second in my list was Chiqui’s Sally costume from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Third is Marah’s Jack Skellington costume, which is seriously creepy. I told her this, and she spent the entire night following me and staring at me. Last is sir Frank, giving away stubs for bottomless tequila sunrise. Woo bottomless fun.

(stolen from KM's facebook. still too lazy to upload my own pictures, sorry)

Hazel’s birthday celebration at Fiamma (Dec 16)

Went to Megamall early to meet up with Gel. Stayed at Starbs while she looked for what to wear. Debated on whether I should go back to Forever 21 for the camel leather jacket I saw on the mannequin. Read poetry. Wrote poetry, kind of. I did return for the leather jacket. Turned out it was the last piece and somebody else bought it. Doubts. Followed (as if on cue) by regrets.

(stolen from Kist Ong's facebook. Quite surprised I even have a picture that night
being that I stayed for less than an hour.)

Waited for JMP at Tiendisitas for almost an hour. Got lost for another hour along Makati Ave. Thought of boycotting Hazel’s party for midget wrestling or macho dancers. Decided otherwise. Both would probably make me cry. Arrived at her party at 12. Brother arrived to pick me up at 12:45. Hello, goodbye.

Lim cousins bonding (Dec 17)

We used to take pride at coming from a large close-knit clan. The inside joke is that we can't even fit on a panoramic picture. We were used to extremely loud family gatherings and closing down one section of Cecile’s. But that was before people moved to the States or got married. Now, there’re probably less than 20 cousins here in the Philippines. Those who could this night, met up for some drinks and karaoke. But as expected, the parents didn’t want to be left out from all the fun and they all decided to come, too. Talk about 20 year olds with chaperones. 

I don't think we have a group shot this night. Anyway, here's (clockwise from leftmost)
Ella, ate Abeng, kuya Omar, kuya Rouel, Kiel, ate Maribel and Tomy.

Intelogs (intellectual jologs) Meetup (Dec 18)

This is for Cris, who slaves away at the Philippines’ second biggest TV network (I refuse to call it first, sorry). He feared that we’d have to wait til Jesus’ second coming before we all get together for some old school discussions. But holidays are for reunions anyway, so why wait. Hah.

The beginnings of yosi yosi (to the tune of saucy saucy) materialized at the smoking area of Shang. Cigarette breaks turned talk shows on the latest showbiz gossip hosted by Vane, Moi and Cris. Ehm, Gel, Laurence and I being mere bystanders to this whole antic. 

This date isn’t complete without a trip to the bookstore, and fighting over books (Laurence and I fought over a copy of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight Children). Can I just say how absolutely horrified I am that Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is sold out on all Powerbooks and National Bookstores nationwide? And how two years after, I still don’t have a copy of Gamalinda’s Zero Gravity? Why!! I eventually went home with the original scroll of Kerouac's On The Road and Garcia Marquez’ Novellas.

We finally convinced Laurence to abandon his patriotic outlook for pursuit of higher education. He’s almost done with his MA in UP Diliman, and we’re now looking into scholarships in higher, bigger universities. Such a waste if he would squander away his superhuman brain unchallenged. Didn’t sir Glenn say that our right most endangered is our right to be our best? Don’t get me wrong; I love UP. I fucking love UP! BUT despite being the most prestigious in the Philippines, I don’t think it amounts to anything outside the country. K. Ranting now. Bye.

Anyway, I'm now no longer looking forward to other parties, except for the PANTAS workshop/party and the party at Ken's house tonight. From today til next year, I'll either not work or work at home, which means that I don't need any more parties to gain holiday weight from, my mom's cooking would suffice. Happy Christmas Parties everyone! Haha