Because it’s been our tradition to celebrate Christmas with the entire family, all four of us (Justin, his Dad, me and his yaya) trooped to my parents’ place in Dasmariñas, Cavite last December 24.

We actually did not have a Noche Buena because we really intended to have our Christmas family get-together on Christmas Day itself. That’s because we still had to wait for my father’s older sister (Auntie Mameng) who has celebrated Christmas with us for several years now. She’s our original Santa Claus.

It’s from her that I inherited the habit of giving gifts to family and friends on Christmas Day, no matter if I’m not able to buy anything for myself anymore. LOL! Christmas is giving, right? So I give ‘til it hurts! Ouch! But I’m happy to share my blessings with the people I love; that happiness is my Christmas gift to myself.

First things first, we needed to eat. Here’s what we had for lunch on Christmas.


Yummy!
Of course, we had our photos taken beside our sumptuous Christmas feast.


Ed, Tetcha and Justin


Ate Cristy, her husband Kuya Jhun and their children Tin-Tin (oldest), Hazel and Ron; Ate Ayie is missing in action!


My younger brother Dennis, his wife Meg and their daughter Em-Em


My younger sister Meann


Auntie Mameng and family


All of us!
After eating, we proceeded to the living room for our traditional gift-giving and exchange gifts. We took more pictures of us before that, though.

The cousins


The couples and the single again


Gift-giving time!


Time to open the gifts


So happy with what I received! Thanks, Tin!


Justin playing with his new toy


Exchange gifts!
Then, it was singing time!










Isn’t it obvious that everybody wanted to sing? My son hogged the limelight, too. Never mind if he sang the same two songs over and over again. LOL! We all wished there were more karaoke machines to accommodate everyone.

As you can see from the pictures, we all had great fun on our Christmas family reunion. We’re all looking forward to a grander Christmas celebration next year!

Last Saturday, December 4, the day after I had a Christmas lunch date with friends, I met up with some of my high school classmates, too, at the Wine Museum Hotel & Resto located at Aurora Boulevard (formerly Tramo Road), Pasay City.


The Wine Museum is a family-oriented, non-smoking establishment consisting of a hotel, a colonial and Spanish restaurant, and the Wine Education Center. There’s a wine station at the dining area that offers a choice of 24 wines from different countries. These wines are available for tasting in various glass sizes.


Photo source: http://thewinemuseum.org/amenities.asp
Because I was busy catching up with my high school classmates whom I haven’t seen for 22 years, I wasn't able to pay close attention to the place, as well as the food that we ordered. But I remember we had Crispy Toro, which is one of the restaurant’s specialties. What I didn’t forget was to have lots of our pictures taken.










The Wine Education Center is located at the second floor where you can see wine artifacts, like an antique wine pressing machine, oak barrels, and photographs relating to wines, among others. We had our pictures taken there, too.










That was fun! We should do this more often, guys!