6 posts tagged “party”
Revel with friends who give off good vibes.
Work the camera. Drink like a fish.
Enjoy the moment, as if no one's taking photos.
Start a dance competition.
Call out your illustrious lineage.
Get drunk.
The Supermarket Is Not My Playground
In preparation for ‘Death by KaSosyalan’ – the killer grand opening party for 2008, I was tasked to shop for ingredients for party food. Russel and I wanted the meal to be extra special; not just a bulk order of takeout food served in fancy plates. After much thinking at the hotel lobby, we finally decided on the following items: chicken (Roast Chicken and Gravy), pasta (Linguine in Puttanesca sauce, with optional meatballs), and extra carbs (Mashed Potatoes).
The appetizers were purchased earlier that day. I went to the Salcedo Market and got Spinach and Artichoke, Cream Cheese and Herb, Spanish Sardines, and Cheese Pimiento dips from various stalls.
Appetizer? Check.
It was already 4pm when I made a mad dash to Rustan’s to buy the ingredients for the pasta and potato dishes. I figured that the Roast Chicken could just be ordered from the rotisserie inside the supermarket. I got three whole chickens cut in party-size pieces.
Chicken? Check.
Now, the pasta. Paulo texted the ingredients while I was already inside the supermarket, shopping cart in tow. I felt like a helpless child figuring out which aisle to go to and how to budget my money. For someone who spends a lot of waking, non-work hours in retail establishments, I was lost. Unlike my gourmand and culinary friends who feel a sense of Zen each time they explore supermarket shelves, ingredient shopping for a non-cook is very stressful.
Then came the element of portioning. How do you feed twenty people? How many kilos of pasta do you need? What is the ratio of sauce to pasta? How many cans of capers and olives are needed? Is a kilo of ground beef enough? And how about the potatoes? (The recipe I received via SMS only listed the ingredients. Quantities were not mentioned.)
My trip to the supermarket was an endless runaround from aisle to aisle, a chaotic process of adding and subtracting cans, kilos, and bottles. I hoarded three kilos of linguine, seven cans of sauce, half a kilo of capers and olives, three cans of mushrooms, a quarter kilo each of ground pork and ground beef, and a bottle of merlot for extra flavor. Taking after my mom’s philosophy of making sure guests are well-fed, I thought I got everything in the right amount, with a little pad to make sure we don’t run out. But since I am a master of second thoughts, I called up Paulo and B’ley – gourmands – and Russel – pragmatist – to check if my calculations were correct. Save for the bottle of merlot, I returned half the quantity of everything on my cart. Calculations were wrong.
Good thing Paulo came to my rescue and helped me with the rest of the ingredients. He also took care of searching for ingredients for the Mashed Potatoes. (Real potatoes! Not the instant kind.)
It was, all in all, a taxing and learning experience. It’ll probably take time before I do ingredient shopping again. I’ll allow myself a little recovery from retail trauma.
The Kitchen Is Not My Kingdom
I never had the courage to cook for others. I have meager, even close to non-existent talent for cooking that does not deserve to be exposed to the rest of the world. In fact, I would only cook to save myself from hunger or death by hunger (on the condition that restaurants are closed or there is no food on the fridge). At my best, I could create pasta sauce out of mushroom soup and butter, or garnish anything with Parmesan cheese. At times, I would even choose to munch on Parmesan cheese rather than boil pasta.
Thankfully, Paulo was there to cook dinner for everyone. All I had to do was to fix the table, road test the alcohol, and provide a little comic relief in between chopping onions and observing sauce reduction. Paulo, with Russel as assistant chef, prepared the pasta and potatoes. The menu was a hit with our guests, who asked if we bought or had the food catered. Must have meant they liked it!
Pasta? Check.
Potatoes? Check.
Hosting Is My Domain
Finally, something I am good at.
Good Vibes? Check.
Just days after my wonderful August, I was welcomed by a tough week at work and in life. I'm running a new material for a class of twenty-five tenured trainees (who have lots of issues with learning and tardiness, and attitude!!!). That's no biggie. I am used to it. It's learning a new skill (a more challenging one), studying for it, and transferring knowledge that's driving me crazy! (It's the studying part, really.) Tiring but all good.
On another end, four really good friends bade farewell and went to different parts of the world/country/city on the same week. Now that's a happy/sad moment. Can't write about that yet.
Oh well, after five days of mental and emotional gang-rape, I decided to make the most out of my Saturday and have fun.
I started my rest day hanging out with Arlene and Carla at the Saturday Market in Salcedo Village. The whole barbecue and rice combo is just getting old, so we decided to go gourmet and shell cash for a good chow. I ordered Spinach Canelonni (spellcheck?) and Potato Gratin from this French caterer (forgot the name) while the girls went for Croquettes and Eggplant Parmigiana from another stall. It rained all morning and the seats were damp, so we headed to the now famous 9J to eat our expensive breakfast. Then I discovered two cans of beer hiding behind my sodas. Carla and I drank while Arlene flipped through my old CDs. Being with them is therapeutic. Sometimes, you just want to be surrounded by people who love you. And both of them do. :-)
That evening, I partied and had a blast! Peter, my big boss/friend celebrated his 30th birthday and threw a bash at Cuisine. Fun fun fun! It was great to have seen and talked to my former boss and forever mentor Ann, as well as Rina, Tiny, Carla and the rest of the people at work. I love how we are ourselves outside the office. No pretenses, no layers. It was like we were all drugged last night. The mood was happpeh! And the drinks were all for free. Loves it.
Some more pics from the party c/o Pete's site:
Arrival in Subic. Some lunch(ette) we had.
Trainers = Camwhores
Post-lunch leading to the beach.
Love it when it rains.
The brains behind the event and the team where the brains belong.
Photo op!!!
Till dawn we drank and danced.
As mentioned in a previous post, I've never had friends come to any of my birthday parties in the past. The disadvantage of being born on Christmas Day. I tried to change things last year though, and had dinner with some of my teammates/friends a couple of days after my birthday. Here are pics from that small fete.
(L-R) Bambi, Mike, Ann, me, Tata, Russel, and Hazel
We all had dinner of the 27th of December at the Galileo Enoteca. It was Hazel who suggested that we celebrate there. Hazel, being the foodie that she is, never falters in her gastronomic recommendations. The place was intimate, the food was authentic, and the wine was fabulous. Don't get me started on the freeflowing conversation....
In the presence of greatness. That's me with my former boss and perpetual mentor Ann. We go a long way back - starting out at the same time as agents until she became my long-time Shift Leader in Operations and finally, my Lead Trainer for almost two years. She saw me through my 'growing up' years at work. Our professional relationship is fabulous and our friendship is just as great. I only have praises for her. She's my benchmark of a working heiress and savvy traveler - two things I continually aspire to be. I think I'm her most successful protégée to date.
My Team. Tata and I share workstations, cab rides to the mall, and a common passion for Hollywood and music. We call each other 'tweens' and are basically inseparable. I love her and her cute son Enzo to smithereens. Russel is one of my closest buddies and currently my boss. (The setup is quite a challenge; something we mutually agree on.) The guy has a profound influence in my life and I hope I've done my share of rubbing off my kindness on him. Haha. You just have to notice his stung lips! On the right is Hazel. She's one of the craziest people I know. If in case you bump into her one of these days, ask her what her fetish is. Tell her I sent you.
Fellow Senior Trainer Bambi returned to work after a year-plus of domestic duties. I'm glad she transferred to my team! Ever the mommy, she always looks after us and makes sure that all of us are fine everytime. I love her green jokes! Mike is the funniest, wittiest, and most fabulous guy I know (next to me, hehe). He brought the house down with his wit that night, as he always does. That's Ann to my right.
A self-portrait during one of the happiest nights in 2006.
Thanks, Ann for sharing the pics with me!
I've gotten feedback from close friends saying that I've changed in so many ways this year. It's true that I did. I find it good. And that's a lot coming from someone who doesn't like change too much.
If my life were a party, change would be the gatecrasher. I am not a big fan of the entire adjustment and moving on shebang, especially if I am the one giving way to someone else's change. For the longest time, it's the people around me, those close friends abovementioned included, who've changed - in outlook, goals, priorities, taste, and social groups, among others. I was the one who stuck it out and hoped that my friends' paradigm shifts didn't mean my alienation .
I would feel bad everytime I felt that I wasn't part of the plan or wasn't in their 'big picture.' And since sulking was my thing back then, I'd pity myself and hope that one day, their lives would steer towards my direction again.
That was before.
I grew apart from them. Not on purpose. I had to. I've come to terms with the fact that people change and that includes myself. And that there will be times when you'd have to do things on your own or with new company. Looking back at the past year, I could say that I'm very satisfied with the way things had turned out. My dreams are now more within reach, I've met incredible people, took on fun challenges, and worked my way up. It was good. It's been good.
About my friends, we're trying to communicate more and patch things up. Things are not the same way as they are, but I trust that our friendships would be able to survive this cycle of harmony and heartbreak.
Now, in this red-carpet/black-tie event I call life, change is the VIP. She's the most wanted in my guest list and will probably get more than just media mileage and a loot bag. If only my friends from way back would accept the invitation to my new life/party, then I could definitely call my earth gig a bacchanalia. In this respect, I never really changed.
