Didn’t exactly have the best holiday season, and January has not been kinder either. Met up with some friends for some form of therapy, and confessed that I was ashamed that I hadn’t been seeing much of them in the past year or so. To be fair, none of them said the thing I was dreading they would all say: We told you so.

First up was my high school buddy Namtab Pots and his partner of over a decade, Paulgrrr. Paulgrrr used to have a blog as well, back in 2010, called Paul From The Future. We had dinner in Single Origin in Greenbelt, then hot chocolate in Tsokolateria.

We had this platter with 3 kinds of sausages, I had this tex-mex rice meal, and the Namtab and Paulgrr each had a waffle plate. TBH the food wasn’t all that great, and with inflation and all that we always feel like we are eating overpriced food. I got myself a buy1 take 1 cocktail. I always suspect that in these deals they just split the alcohol in 2 glasses.

Namtab Pots has been a fixture in this blog, and he made quite a few appearances in Even Ducks Get Liver Cancer. Namtab and Paulgrr are now in a Singapore-Malaysian Cruise. I asked them to bring me to the Crowne Plaza Valentine’s Day buffet promo, where the 3rd Wheel gets to eat buffet for free. They remind me that it will be Ash Wednesday.

The following night I met up with my writer friends, Jessica Zafra and Lord Charlemagne, in a hotel restaurant in Rockwell called Prologue. I had a cheese burger, the sort that is difficult to eat because it’s taller than wide. Jessica gave me different kinds of cat food for my Persian, Clawie, because I revealed that all she would eat is the sodium-filled Whiskas. I also asked them why Clawie was always sitting by the window, looking out longingly as if she was waiting for someone, like a boy. “Lock the window, lest she participates in cat orgies. Not kidding,” Jessica said. I said I’m ok with Clawie giving me one granddaughter, before I bring her to the vet for spaying.

Met Smoketh in Ace Hotel and Suites, where Ace Water Spa is located. It is also the location of our friend Kathy’s dermatology and laser clinic, Refinity. Was pleasantly surprised that Kathy has been keeping a copy of my book in the waiting area! Come to Refinity for your beautification procedures! All the doctors here are PGH grads.

In the middle of the weak went to Tagaytay with family for dinner in Rosario’s, which used to be Josephine’s. It is hell going to Tagaytay on weekends, so we always go there on Mondays or Wednesdays. We were excited to slurp the bulalo, but couldn’t The soup was super oily, I couldn’t take even just a spoonful of it. Good thing they have this nice veranda for picturifications, but otherwise not a very nice dining experience.

Met once again with Smoketh, this time with Mrs. T and Rose Zamora for some Spanish. Barcino was always a nice default. Ordered our favorite chorizo and chicken paella and sangria. Great therapy session, I don’t think I’d take that Lexapro just yet. Amazing how friends always have varying insights, all of them wise, fair, and concrete. On to the next friendship tours!

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