Another friend visiting over the holidays, Caloy and Ria. They were actually on their way to Bangkok for their wedding and since we were not able to join them, we hosted a dinner for them, though Ria could not make it but his daughter, Sam came :-)
Cute Baby Mariana of Raj and Kai 
Congrats guys!!
We were not able to attend but waiting for photos Watch out for more on the wedding of Caloy and Ria
Aside from the christmas rush, we celebrate friends visiting like Jerome ( For Jerome January 19, 2012 ) and Suharto and Rina!! A couple who we really love and many other do too! ( Hilarious pose by Suharto!! )
When they are in town, we are happy to spend time with them with all their friends. It’s been a year and a half since they have been back! Thank you to their friends who always make us part of their celebrations and for being our friends too! They always take care of everyone in their part of town so when they get back, everyone reciprocates their generosity and kindness!
Sonny and Natalie took us to Lorenzo’s Way at Greenbelt 5!
Bombie invited us over to his poolside This is the La Salle group of Suharto - James is not from La Salle but they have made us part of their get togethers when Suharto and Rina are here and sometimes even when they are not!
Even Dad and Mom love Suharto and Rina! They hosted a birthday lunch for Rina :-)
Thank you again to our wonderful hosts for organizing a get together for our friend, Jerome! We are always happy to see Jerome when we can
Because we all LOVE him!
“I just want to wish you a very, very happy Dragon New Year from everyone here at Burberry. Thank you for all your support for joining us on this journey. I wish you very, very good health, all the prosperity in the world and I look forward to seeing you soon.” Christopher Bailey, Burberry Chief Creative Officer
Lucille invited us once again to her home…It seems like she is doing it every other year
Previous Entries: From the Kitchen of Lucille December 17, 2007
Lucille’s Birthday Treat January 8, 2009
Here she is welcoming us as we arrive and take note of the parol on top of her. She is part of the group from St. James Parish in Alabang who sold these beautiful parols last Christmas
She is always proud of her two children who are presently studying abroad
Our group photo taken by Lucille’s Staff
She had different cocktail drinks for us since we all had dietary requirements - buko juice for me, orange and apple for the others
It was Lucille’s birthday and we made her cook for us again! WE LOVE IT!! Quoting here a note from Det who said it very well:
Dear Lucille,
Many thanks for being the usual gracious host!
Each year, as December comes, I always look forward to your birthday lunch! What I most love about visiting your home (apart of course from the very good food) is how I feel the warmth of your hospitality; how each year you have transformed into an Oprah a Martha Stewart which you do so well with your own personal touch and style! The only downside is, each time I leave your beautiful home, I always ponder about having a sabbatical even just for a month so I get to learn “your favorite things.” It has always been my dream to become a home maker but sometimes life takes you to a different path which of course I can’t complain!
Cheers to you birthday girl and cheers to loving company and a friendship which will forever be in our hearts!
Always,
Det
And Mother Butler Lucille says our grace before the meal
The buffet
This was the highlight of our meal. Lucille’s homemade Cochinillo!!!! YUMMY!!!!!! It was half a piggy and it was really really good!!!!!
Here it is again up close
and we had other Filipino dishes
Luzanne insisted on having her cochinillo with Mang Tomas sauce!! It’s a good thing Brenda had some with her. Luzanne can finish almost half the bottle
LOOK AT THAT YUMMY COCHINILLO!!!! Homemade dishes are more meaningful and taste much better!!! And Lucille’s cooking is always WITH LOVE!
And dessert
Happy Birthday Lucille!!
And Lucille shares with us her FAVORITE THINGS
Her waring smoothie blender! We all want one!!!
and she made a fresh strawberry smoothie for us using fresh Holly’s yogurt
previous entry: Lucille’s Smoothie Recipe June 10, 2011
Fresh super sweet Mangoes from her farm in Cebu!!!
Fresh super sweet pineapple with champoy powder
and her Viking oven where the cochinillo was cooked. It has to be big enough to put the little piggy in
And we all exchanged gifts for christmas and we all support our very own
Brenda from the commissary she works in
Triumph underwear from Det
Lucille will always shop at Rustan’s! Forever Rustan’s loyalists just like all of us!
Golden Spoon from me :-)
Taken with an
My friend, Det De Leon, General Manager of Triumph International. We used to work together in Rustan’s and she was a Division Manager of the Ladies Division, and now she is the big boss at Triumph! And Det is still looking very young and looking even more beautiful!! :-) I am so proud of her!!!
And Congratulations to Triumph on their 125th Anniversary!!
Congratulations Rico and Gina! Ella is so adorable!!!!
Previous entry: Baby Shower for Gina October 10, 2011
The proud first time grandparents! Lolo Johnny and Lola Rose
After dinner, at around 10pm, we all gathered in the hotel room of Dad and Mom. We celebrated New Year in Seoul, Korea. Everyone was just hanging out and waiting for 12 midnight to celebrate the New Year
Our New Year spread! Mom likes to go to the food court under department stores and buy our noche buena. We did something similar when we were in Tokyo two years ago
Previous Entry: New Year’s Eve January 1, 2010
Ham and cheese is a must always
with bread
Oops! we could not wait til midnight, everyone was eating already
I made sure we had cheese, we cannot not have cheese in our family
Mom got ROUND food like grapes, cherries, macarons and mochi balls which is supposedly good luck for new year
Not to forget the drinks and there is one for everyone in the family including the kids
New Year’s countdown on TV
Happy New Year and GOOD NIGHT! 
And Dad will not leave the table messy so he will clean up himself!!! James helped him while we were all amused!
Everyones cameras! We all share our photos and put them in one DVD so we have complete photos of our trips and celebrations!
We celebrated Mio and Mischka’s birthday two weeks ago
Thank you Father Rodriguez and Father Julian for saying mass for the family
We just set up in the garden of Dad and Mom
We had yakiniku :-)
With Bryan Flannery rib eye
and rib cap!!!! WOW!!!
And for dessert, PINKBERRY FROZEN YOGURT!! YUMMY!!!
Then we had Christmas games!!! Fun Fun Fun!
Decorate your Christmas tree!
Winner was a tie between Danni and Mio. Javier didn’t win! haha
Fill up the sweaters with balloons!
Build your own snowman!
Winners!!! A very creative snowman that looked like the Michelin man!
The real winner snowman with all the folds Stella the Snowman!
Taken with an
