a brief family reunion

Last Saturday was one of the few times that my entire family (parents+siblings+me) was together. It's only during the Christmas break that all of us get to be with each other.

MORNING
Dominic's college graduation (UP has two kinds of graduation: college grad and university grad) was from 7-11 AM (he was supposed to graduate last year... oh well...). Since each graduate was only given three tickets, I could not attend his graduation (I could still attend it, but only at the later part of the program - when they no longer check for tickets). The two tickets were for my parents while the third ticket was for Beth (his girlfriend).

I stayed overnight at my parent's room in the UP Hostel. I woke up at about 9 AM, took a bath, got dressed, and waited for my eldest brother. We proceded to go to the venue and took a seat (while searching for my parents, I noticed some people in the audience were asleep). We found my parents+Beth+Oliver seated near the door, and we also sat next to them. Some minutes later, the program was over. After the program, it was pictures galore. There were shots of Dominic+Iligan graduates, Dominic+Beth+parents (Andrei: sige... wedding picture na ni), entire family+Beth, Dominic himself, Dominic+siblings, Dominic+me+Andrei, etc.

LUNCH
After the picture taking, my family+Beth (hmm.. maybe Beth should already be included in "my family") decided to eat at Aveneto's. We ordered bottomless iced tea, pizza, seafood pasta, and pesto. For me, the lunch was sulit because all of us who ate were 7 and my mom spent less than P1200 for the entire meal. Dominic (who has an extremely loud voice) couldn't help but comment, "sulit na biya kay 7 na jud ta dayun mga P1200 lang ang gasto." Andrei couldn't help but remark, "i-announce pa jud nimo?"

AFTERNOON
When we finished eating lunch, we (still including Beth) went back to my parent's room in the UP Hostel. We rested and slept for a bit before parting ways. Beth and Dominic went to get tickets for the university grad, with Beth going to her tita's house after that. Andrei went home and then went to the gym. My parents+Oliver+me went to Megamall to grocery some stuff, buy clothing for Dominic (because he keeps on borrowing things from Andrei), buy shoes for Oliver, and buy a cake and ice cream for dinner at my aunt's house.

DINNER
My mom did not have enough money to take my aunts and their families out for dinner in a restaurant. Instead, we had dinner at my aunt's house in Mandaluyong, since she has a rooftop that is ideal for gatherings. My aunt agreed to prepare all the food, just as long as my mom will refund her for her costs. We had grilled squid, grilled ribs, sotanghon, lato (seaweed), shrimps, lumpia, chocolate mousse, and ice cream. Yum yum!

My aunt has two dogs, namely Britney and Paris. When I went to her place last February, Paris was still a small and cute puppy. I was surprised to see her larger than what I expected her to be. I know this is quite strange, but Britney is a lesbian. She wants to hump Paris (which she doesn't like at all). It is interesting to observe homosexuality within a dog.

My cousin Aiko asked my brother to teach her how to use Photoshop for creating a picture that has more than one subject in it, although it is still the same person (e.g., a picture contains 3 Angeli's doing different things). This eventually led to other lessons concerning layers and other editing tips. My aunt Bebe eagerly listened since she wanted to apply what she learned (her homecoming is near and she's sending edited pictures of herself ["bahalag sa picture lang niwang ko"]). My aunt Bebot also listened to my brother's "lecture" (aunt bebot: bisita ra jud diri ug usa ka adlaw dayun magsturya ta; andrei: bahin unsa pud te?; aunt bebot: sturya ta bahin photoshop. The latter part of the evening was devoted on Photoshop. At about 11+, we left my aunt's place and I got back to the dorm by midnight.

That pretty much sums up what happened last Saturday.

I'm the only student left among my siblings. Oliver had his university grad today (his college grad will be this May). Dominic had his university grad last Sunday. Both of them are officially part of the working class.

Here is how Andrei describes life in the workforce:
"Sauna kung naa si Mama sa Manila kay maka-save pa ko. Karon kay makagasto na hinuon ko."

//This post was finished this April 24, 2007.  The date on the entry still states April 22, 2007.//