Still Going Strong After Nine Years…

Despite the fact that we have been so busy lately that we’ve forgotten it was our 9th Anniversary last August 14 (and it was my Grand Papa’s birthday too!), we did manage to celebrate our wonderful nine years together. Of course it wasn’t always smooth sailing.  It wasn’t always this perfect. There used to be major fights the size of World War III  and hearts have been broken in the process. The closest of our friends witnessed these things so many times in the past and they have always been there to help us patch things up.  There were sleepless nights and petty quarrels, as well as paranoia and resentment thrown in here and there. The very flaws that run in the veins of our relationship were the very nourishment that brought us both to this blissful commitment we now have. Yes, we used to be so young and reckless…

It was a rainy and quite stormy weekend and we didn’t wanna go far. We remember Joel recommending to us a very romantic dning place nearby — Sky Lounge in Vivere Suites located here in Alabang.

I’m thinking it would be fun to hold a private pool party here next summer!

I remember back in 1999, when Peter professed his love for me for the very first time, I completely laughed my head off! You see, we’ve been like super close since 1995 (first year college). We were suicide and depression buddies (we used to get depressed a lot and we counseled each other like super psycho geeks). He was the “kuya” of our block and he was this wiz kid/ walking encyclopedia/walking dictionary of our batch. He was the only first year college student I know who can walk up to Ateneo professors and Jesuits as if they were his equals. He was just simply amazing! And whenever I’d have a fight wth my then boyfriend from UST,  I’d always run to him for support. And of course he’d always tell me to do the right thing like fix my relationship and be happy with my then BF. Who would’ve thought that this uber amazing guy would fall for the cutey/kikay/geeky/down-to-earth/emo teenage girl that was me back then? And the rest as they say, is history. 

It was very windy that I had to immediately drink my ‘not-so-hot-tea-anymore’

Lately, whenever I go take my shower, I’d think of our past…like analyze some facets of our relationship from the beginning, mostly thinking if we have really been happy and enjoyed our lives. We married so young (at the age of 24) and I don’t like to feel like we’ve missed out on our youth or something, especially now that I notice our circle of friends getting bigger and most of them are so young, single and fabulous. They live their lives as if it was their last, enjoying every moment and simply having fun! Were we like that too? So I went tripping back to memory lane. And despite my disbelief, this is what I found out:

 So many food, so little tummies…

We can do it baboo! We can eat all this grub! Popsy taught us well. Hehe.

Chicken Salad with Mango Pesto sauce, toast & french onion cream sauce

Oriental Seafood Noodles & Lengua Estofado

1999 - I was a Prep teacher at Ateneo then. It was my first job and my first experience to really earn some good money. Peter was then handling weddings & events. And I remember going to work almost every day with a hang over! Gosh, we did party every night until 3 in the morning! Yes. EVERY NIGHT!!! There was even a time when one of the parents of my students caught me partying in Shangri-la wearing a tiny form fitting dress that showed off my curves and because it was a chilly evening, it actually showed off more than that. We were both shocked! Good thing they didn’t say anything to the headmaster. Whew! 

Peter savors his food while enjoying a nice view of the city…

2000 - I was with Broline Internet in Makati and Peter & I started living together. We got a studio at Cityland 8 and Ayala was practically our living room. We partied at Jupiter and Glorietta on Friday and Saturday nights and usually hung out at Starbucks in 6750, meeting fabulous expats left and right. Several times they thought Peter was my pimp and I was his whore. That was effing hilarious! (It also gives me an idea for our Halloween costumes this year.)

Sky Lounge, me likey!

2001 - Peter and I were two of the first few hundred of people who pioneered in the call center business. I was a QMS (Quality Monitoring Specialist) at Etelecare and he was an escalation agent at Source One. Both were located in Eastwood and during our lunch breaks (at 12 midnight), we’d eat our “baon” at Macau Restaurant or Delifrance (which closed early at that time). So we set up their tables, light some insect repellant (a.k.a. katol) and bring in some candle light for romantic ambience. And when we’re not feeling very romantic, our lunch breaks were spent in Blue Onion by dancing with gorgeous strangers, showing off our dance moves on the ledge for a few minutes, and having beer before heading back to work. What fun times! But this was also the year we broke up for a month. He took care of his ailing mom as I partied with boys almost every night. I did some wild and stupid things and I missed Peter so bad.

We’ll come back here, we promise.

2002 - I got pirated by GSIS and Peter and I got married. His mom died of cancer (Mama, may you rest in peace) and after months of depression, we got back on track and started traveling all over. We became beach bums!

Dinner time at this authentic Italian Restaurant At Festival Mall.

Pizza Targini,  Ravioli Pasta, Crostinis with creamy garlic butter

2003-2007 -  We never stopped traveling, gimicking, and simply enjoying life. We had a taste of wild times like experimenting on illegal stuff, getting sexual & orgy propositions, etc. It was also at this time that we left Peter’s house in Bulacan and rented an apartment in QC where our friends found haven and comfort as we helped them deal with life’s surprises. It was a good life!

Coffee at Cravings… 

Latte, Devil’s food Cake & Cappuccino

2007-2008 - Life just kept getting better and we eventually found our permanent haven here in Alabang. Partying never stopped and traveling is still a very important part of our life. And as the blessings keep pouring in, we’ve learned to give more. I guess we were able to fill our respective cups after all those years and it’s now time to pass them on. Just yesterday, we doled out a hundred k in cash to buy my bro additional two power pcs for a mini internet shop we’re setting at my folks’ place, an eeepc 700 for his office and an eeepc 900 for our traveling. And we felt good.

 To cap the evening off, we caught the last full show of Wall-e.

Wall-E was a heartwarming tale of a robot who gained sentience and a personality who travels across the universe to hold the hand of someone he fell in love with. It’s lovely and you all should see it. It also handled some very hard core sci fi themes very well. Ever wonder if structures like the pyramids or stonehenge was created by aliens? Well, what if the human race as we know it now is actually decended from ancient homo sapiens who have conquered the stars? Then the supposed aliens aren’t exactly visitors. They’re just us…coming back home. 

Happy 9th Anniversary Baboo! After all these years, I’m still excited at the thought that I married you. *Mush*