Before the nth surge of COVID cases swept through our country, there was a great couple of weeks where my family and I had time to rest, enjoy good food, and celebrate the holidays.
Here’s that wistful look-back.
Brunch with the girls
That slow Wednesday morning feels like a century ago. It was our first time physically meeting up in months, after several life milestones like graduating, moving homes, and applying for new jobs.
It’s kind of sweet that we had this moment in Nono’s BGC —a peek into our future Tita brunches and afternoon tea time, if you will. Only we’ll hopefully be paying out of our own pockets (and not our saved up allowances) in the future.
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*Extra thank you to Lea for being my transpo buddy. I’m a mess. My driver’s license has well and truly expired.
Kaleb’s First Christmas!
The middle days of December 2021 was a confusing mix of preparing for residency (working out my medical clearance and finding a place to stay, among other things) and preparing for the upcoming season.
At the end of the day, all the stress was worth it. We got to celebrate joy and exchange gifts and eat good food as a family. In Kuya and Ate Kim’s new house, as well!
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Kaleb helpfully woke up from his sleep late in the night so we can take this photo. Have I mentioned how cute he looks like when he sleeps? No? Take my word for it. He’s hella cute.
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My gifts this year aren’t as well thought out or impressive as last year’s. I didn’t get to finish my LOTR marathon while wrapping gifts. I haven’t even sent out my overdue Christmas cards yet.
But I did get one hilarious staple gift for Ate Risa. It’s just instant coffee, and it’s the same thing I got her for her birthday. There’s literally almost always nothing else in her wishlist. (I’ll figure out something better for next Christmas, I promise.)
Back in my childhood and teenhood, our usual schedule for Christmas was spending the eve with our father’s side (in their house in Nagcarlan, or in Rizal, or in their condo in QC). Then we’d make the drive to my maternal lola’s for Christmas day.
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Staycation in Okada, featuring BTS
As 2021 came to a close, there was a driving urgency in our little family to do something. Our last time properly out of the house was way back in 2020, when we welcomed the new year in Tokyo. And with my looming stint in residency, there was no guarantee I’d ever have time for a vacation in the near future.
I spent a hot couple of days preparing presentations for short trips we could make to Batangas, or Pampanga, or Tagaytay. We wanted to spend a couple of (safe) days out of the house, refreshing ouselves with a different view.
In the end, we decided on (1) a daytrip to Antipolo to get something resembling fresh air, and (2) a two-night stay in Okada Manila, for everything else.
Spoiler alert: our two-night stay got a free room upgrade and a one-night extension, all thanks to my mom’s loyalty perks. Or something like that. It was so fun. Thank you ma, thank you Okada.
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I had a couple of goals in mind going into our staycation —I wanted to finish Hawkeye with my sister (which we did), and I wanted to finally shoot my year-end project. My mom’s goal was to shoot her first ever Tiktok video, and here it is. Featuring BTS. (It was loads of fun).
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We were joined in our staycation by our family friends: Kuya Michael, Migs, and Ate Marianne (her fiance also stopped by a couple of times). The more the merrier, always.
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A quiet New Year’s Eve
Because we went out (for a definition of out) for the staycation, we didn’t want to risk spreading the virus to the rest of our family. So a quiet dinner, an early night’s sleep, and a stitched together photo mark our introduction to 2022.
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And since there were only four of us gathered at the table, our dinner was a lot simpler too. Of course, mom still made the effort to collect all fruits humanly possible. Ate Gianna even pitched in with the potatoes. And we all enjoyed the classics (the charcuterie board from Ate Marianne, and mom’s shrimp pasta).
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(Read: New Year Chocolate Cake)
New Year, New Role
I greeted the first day and first Saturday of 2022 with a lot of excitement (and maybe a little bit of trepidation). My sister, Ate Risa and I headed to Manila at around 6AM, so I could have time to unpack and setup before heading over to PGH by 8AM.
That first duty feels like a fever dream. I’ll have time in the future to write about it. Hopefully.
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A lot of my favorite gifts that I received for Christmas were all related to this new chapter called ‘residency’. I’m still in the process of figuring it out, beyond the necessary tools and tricks.
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I’m really interested in how everyone’s holidays went. I know that for a lot of people, it was a time of great fun —but also the unfortunate beginning of waves of infection and reinfection.
Hope you’re all staying safe and doing well now. Take it slowly if you were unfortunate enough to catch the virus.
Keep sane. (I know I’m working on it.)
Until next time! ❤️
jari m 