2005
it was the year of a thousand movie nights.
...of scary movies and funny movies
...of good ones and bad ones and anything in between
...of watching more movies in a year than i ever did in my lifetime


it was the year of finding our favorites (if i may borrow the 2006 starbucks planner's goal) - the places we've been to and the food we ate not once, not twice, not thrice...but n times.
...of our favorite place to eat: this japanese carinderia called Keiji Japanese Garden resto located at the Fort
...of our favorite chilling out place: for it's ambiance and comfy pillows - Ziggurat
...of our favorite cocktail mix: frozen gin pomelo at Masas GB2
...of our favorite casa mix: rhum slush is out, but we have wine-sprite with a splash of orange, gin-sprite-gatorade, extra booze, and our very own Shewang drink
...of our favorite inuman place: Bistro/Gweillos in Palanca and Booze Stop right beside bobet's apartment in Kakarong Kamagong
...of our favorite hangover/comfort food: Nanking beef, spicy garlic squid and beef with brocolli at North Park in Makati Ave


it was the year of trying out new things.
...of italian cooking and acrylic and pastel painting classes
...of chocolate fondue and ice cream in Manila Pen
...of flirty tops and skirts and two-piece swimsuits
...of the Luneta experience and CCP food trip (yes, it's new to me)
...of badminton games and timezone trips for the percussion freaks


it was the year of weekly routines and special celebrations.
...of Monday night McDo's in Paseo Center and People Support
...of thursday nights turned 80's night every wednesday at Grilla in Kalayaan
...of the Mazzini Zobel de Ayala NJ celebration in Manila Pen
...of the great Ogos Minas dance showdown at the PA/DE celebration in Dusit
...of the luau cruise around Manila Bay for the MD/VW celebration


it was the year of tireless coffee sessions - from makati to libis to alabang to tagaytay to just about anywhere
...of late-night stories and debates with our frappes and hot mochas
...of crying, ranting, and laughing sessions over our (non-existent) lovelife
...of the mad scramble to get 21 stickers for the coveted starbucks planner


it was the year of road trips and beaches
...of the Batangas to Quezon 12-hr trip just to find the perfect beach
...of summer in Boracay and Puerto Galera
...of trips to Planet Dive Anilao and the great snorkling place that topped Galera 2 yrs ago (salamat Taytay!)
...of the Pahiyas Festival in Quezon
...of the whole day Zoobic Safari and the scary lions and tigers
...of CSI - Matuod in Batangas
...of unplanned trips to tagaytay just for the bulalo and coffee


it was the year of countless sleepless friday nights. (i can count with one hand the number of times i slept through Friday night in 2005)
...of the perpetual casa parties at the call of ANY occassion we can think of
...of videoke nights with the provocative ladies prancing around in their swimsuits
...of dance revolution nights...until morning (and yes, it's baduy to be learning it at age 23, but i'm proud that i'm finally good at it)
...of numerous poker nights using mentos and fox's candies as 5-peso and 10-peso chips
...of board games night that proved CLUEDO is not the game for a group of drunken idiots like us
...of the year that saw us consuming insane amounts of alcohol - our footprints practically etched in the alcohol aisle of shopwise. hehe.


towards the end of the year, however, our casa group had to "break up". jen was assigned in ortigas and had to move out of the casa because she lives in marikina, marlette was assigned in pioneer and had to work midshit (as in 2PM-11PM dapat, but she works til morning), ogos had to teach and moved to 6750 so he has to prepare for his class each night, glenn had to work irregular shifts, chix became busy sometime december, and JT had to work on weekends as well.

it was a drastic change actually just not being able to see each other everyday (yes, we're attached to each other like that because marlette, shawie, jen and i used to live together in the casa and the boys just come and go as they please). harder still that we had to work different shifts. it became nearly impossible to keep the old routine, the old lifestyle now that our work schedules don't jive at all anymore.

i used to wish that 2005 would never end. but alas, there are only 365 days in a year. we knew it had to end sometime but we were still shocked to see the changes unfolding before us. but as i said, it wasn't all sad ending for me. looking back at 2005, i can only be thankful that i was given not just a day, or a week, or a month to enjoy all the best things in life, but a whole year. :)


************

happy birthday to my favorite nephew, JIRO :)