Reposting from my other blog (www.mrsnoodleboy.com). It was such a blast that I have to share it here! :)


I had 15 days to come up with the best FIRST birthday party for my Little Mao. Although at 6 months of age, I already knew what kinda party to throw. My Mikko loves Sesame Street to my delight because I grew up with the characters so I already envisioned the kind of birthday event we will be having. I didn't want to splurge so much and stay practical so I made a 10K budget to make my SESAME STREET party happen.
Now I have this idea that in order to get things done I must make invitations first and give them early on for my motivation. To save $, I made, designed and printed the invitations myself.



Then I got T-shirts for *ALL* of us...




Everybody happy? That's right!

Along with other printed materials like the party banners and banderitas, I also made the goodie bag tags, play money for use to buy food (just for fun!), gift certificates as prizes for the party games (such as the classic Filipino "pabitin" and break the pot), and props for the photobooth.













And to add more color to the party, we set up a NAIL COLOR "booth" so everyone else can get colorful nails like I did. Kikayness. A sure treat for the yayas and the moms.





Along with the super fun photobooth by SALA Lounge + Café (ahem!) and nail color areas, we rented a local cotton candy machine maker, put up a hotdog/marshmallow table, and bought 6 gallons of delicious local Batangueño (dirty) ice cream. It's not dirty per se but that's what it's called and we kids here in Ormoc City grew up eating this awesome cheap local treat.

The cake & cupcakes were given as a gift from Ninang Ishshah Franco-Kangleon of Buttercup Boutique & Novelty Shop, my pretty sis-in-law and made by Julina Larrazabal-Algarra. The balloons and tables were from This & That, the premier gift shop here in town. Paid for as a gift from Mikko's great grandparents. :P Aren't we lucky? Hehe. We were also blessed by generous sponsors for the food prepared. Also we are fortunate to have people working and volunteering to get the party going. Shout outs to Yaya Mila, Tatay Bobby, Mianne, Liny, Melinda, Diday, Dorothy, Diane, Anrie, Yaya Maricel, Yayo Marjun as well as our cousins, friends, and neighbors Cecil, Rae Ann, Tita Agnes, Celsa, Tita Baday for all your help.

We thanked the Lord above for the gift of life before celebrating Mikko's birthday even though he kept crying and screaming at church either because he got hungry or it was too hot. (Better than a rainy day, right?)



Okay, I think the rest of these photos below should speak for themselves.




























It was indeed a truly remarkable and unforgettable birthday party that I hope Mikko will appreciate when he's older and sees the photos we've taken to remind us all of the fun we had celebrating his FIRST birthday party. It was tiring really but it was all worth it. Anything for our baby boy.

We love you, Little Mao. Wishing you many more happy years ahead!

When I first met Tito Rene Gacuma, who is a consultant of Guthrie-Jensen, he introduced the Birthday Problem. What is that? Well, according to Wiki:

In probability theory, the birthday problem, or birthday paradox pertains to the probability that in a set of randomly chosen people some pair of them will have the same birthday.

True enough, in our humble class of 42 students from St. Paul's School Batch '99, I share the same birthday with a good friend, April Marie Meneses. I only know of very few relatives who share the same birthday as me but having a classmate who celebrates it the same day as I do is something else. It's like having a twin, but you know, in a different kinda way. And every year during our birthday, I used to tell Ep-Ep (Shhh! She goes by that name around us!), "Hey, Ep... Happy Birthday. But you do know you'll always be older than me." Tee hee. All because she was actually born in 1982 and I was born in 1983.

Unlike most of my classmates who I've known probably since I learned how to read and write, April transferred to SPS when we were in the 5th grade.



My bestfriend back then automatically became her new BFF. I don't really remember how that happened but I'm guessing it was a case of "When BestFriends Fall Out" and then I found a new set of friends or barkadas. It was also that time when I realized that if nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies. So it is true that the only constant thing in life is change.

Even our school has changed since we left SPS in 1999. They have a huge 3-storey building now.



But back then, our school was pretty small. We had only one section until we graduated high school. Everyone practically knew everybody inside and out. Like no stone left unturned, we had no secrets. We all knew our classmates' parents, memorized phone numbers and birthdays by heart, and if my memory serves me right, there's a big chance that everyone did know back then who we had crushes on and who were our first loves. (Ahem! Hi, Noodle Boy!)



During our unofficial farewell party, April and I had our picture taken together as a souvenir of the two who celebrated their birthdays on the 18th of April.



Time went by so fast and all of us went our separate ways... some left for the big universities while the others stayed in town to study in the local colleges, and then eventually some of us came back to work here. April left the country soon after she earned a Nursing degree. In my class prophecy that I wrote back in high school, I had written that she was going to be a child psychologist in 10 years' time.





Well, everything I wrote in that prophecy never came true. EPIC FAIL! But people changed alright; they just didn't change into what I had imagined them to be. Myself included.

Recently, I also found my high school slumbook while doing some spring cleaning and was amused at the stuff April had written in it. All 5 pages of it!











Until now, what's behind that envelope holds a secret that only the two of us know... Teehee.

*Sigh* Memories...

I tried to suppress most of my high school memories because I went through a lot and I'm just glad to have survived it all. I didn't see much of my classmates after SPS and we never really had a formal reunion even until now, just a handful of small gatherings whenever one of us is back in town.

But time does fly and after almost 11 years since we left St. Paul's School, guess who's back for a vacation? APRIL MARIE MENESES!!! And no, it wasn't anything like Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, April just called for a small gathering and it was just a couple of us around who showed up at SALA Lounge + Café for a mini reunion to catch up with good old friends. And when I mean, old friends, it's actually oldest friends since we've known each other for like... ever since... forever.

Noodle Boy, Joenel, and I planned a surprise for April. Although she was the one who invited everyone (as announced on our FACEBOOK group page) to come over, she didn't know we had other plans and some tricks up our sleeves.





But we didn't just prepare a welcome home banner, balloons, and colored papers, we went all out and got her a cake!!! Cute, huh?



Thank God for Goldilocks. They have just what we needed. Goldilocks truly reminds us of birthdays celebrated back in school as well as the yummy polvoron and caramel popcorn. We used to eat those during recess (and as long as we don't get caught, even inside the classroom!)... One bite of the cake and it's like we're students all over again! But you know what the best thing about the cake this time though, we got to customize it into this:



LOL! The Visayan message "Asa ang pasalubong!!" roughly translates into, "Where are our presents!!" Take note of the exclamation marks. Because we are THAT close, we get to demand our pasalubong [Tagalog word which means souvenir(s) brought for loved ones or friends]. Hehe! Onli in da Pilipins!

And then she arrived.



Although I'm not a huge fan of reminiscing the past, seeing your oldest friends, talking about changes, and having the time of your life really can't be beat.



















Everyone looks different now. Some gained weight, some lost some pounds. Some grew their hair out, some kept it short. But one thing stayed the same, we are still a bunch of people who can talk really, really loud. This is a set of people we can be with where we don't have to pretend to be somebody. It's just like being with your own family. 



Think of the Goldilocks cake, it may have changed over the years but it is a definite classic... it still tastes absolutely good! Now that's quality, baby! Memories came flooding back as soon as we tasted it, so if you're looking for that unique Pinoy flavor (especially for people who have been out of the country for a while), then Goldilocks will surely make your day. Just ask April. ;)



Now who says April and I only got one thing in common?



Also aside from being Monday Sweepers... we ended up with the same fate.




When love feels like magic, you call it destiny. When destiny has a sense of humor, you call it serendipity! What am I talking about? You see, we fell in love and ended up with our own classmates! Who says you need to go to the ends of the Earth to find Mr. Right when he has been with you all along?



There's April & Me... and then there's Noodle Boy and Enyong. Ayeee! That's a relationship change you don't see a lot happening everyday now.

With this reunion, only one song comes to mind. Here listen to this... you can sing along with the lyrics. This version is by a Filipino singer named Jed Madela.



Okay, boys and girls... This had been a long blog entry, so I better stop wasting your time now and leave you with the words of Marcel Proust... "Time, which changes people, does not alter the image we have retained of them."

 
xoxo,



P.S. Check out the new Goldilocks logo. Just like us, we changed the way we looked, we changed our addresses, we changed our goals in life, and some even changed their last names...! But we are all still the same inside... only better. Mabuhay ang Paulinians '99! Shout outs to Goldilocks! ^_^