So how did I spend my day ?

Well, I woke up as early as 5am cause I usually start my birthday by going to church. My parents decided to join me. I guess I also mentioned that breakfast afterwards is my treat. After mass, we headed to Rocha's to buy some special puto. Their puto is so soft and tasty that it can virtual melt in your mouth with minimal chewing.

Then we passed by the Marikina Sports Center to check if my tito and tita were there exercising. If they were, I wanted to invite them for breakfast too. Luckily, they were there and so we all headed to McDonalds. I chose the McDonalds branch which had a McCafe so I could order a slice of cake to serve as my birthday cake. Unforunately, parking was full so we moved to the other McDonalds branch just across the street. This branch was brand new that it was freezing cold inside. But with the morning rays penetrating the glass, the temperature was just fine.

So after all of us ordering a big McDonalds breakfast, we whipped out the box of puto to complement our coffee. I think one of the crew members was guessing where the box of puto on our table came from. Since we got a complimentary newspaper (and refillable coffee), I went straight to the Horoscope section of the Inquirer to find out what special message was in store for those born on that day. And here it is:

I think I like my horoscope... very much.

After breakfast, we all headed to my tita's house cause I mentioned that I needed a coat for an upcoming event. And it's a good thing that one of her son-in-laws left his coat in their house before migrating to Canada simply because it didn't fit him anymore. And guess what ? It was a perfect fit on me ! My tita also honestly thought I was 7 years younger than my age. I love my tita ! :D

When I got home, I replied to the many people who greeted me via my mobile, e-mail and over the phone. Thanks everybody ! Every year since 1995, I've been getting birthday greeting cards and less of them as the years gone by. This year, I guess everything is now digital. Cause I didn't receive any cards anymore. Oh well, any which way the greeting gets to me is much appreciated.

Since I started my day early, it was still morning by this time and I decided to get some tasks done. So I went to the dry cleaners to have the coat cleaned and passed by the bank to settle some bills. Right across the bank was a Tunay na Pancit Malabon branch. I figured that since this year, I didn't plan of any noodle dishes for the day (for long life), I'd get pancit malabon. And since I love the taste of their miniature puto, I bought a pack of them with the pancit.

I just realized it when I got back home that I already bought a box of puto earlier. Oh well, puto and pancit for long life !

After lunch, I didn't have any plans of going out since I had some work to finish. That's when the day went downhill for me. It suddenly became gloomy. Then it started to rain. I wasn't surprised because every year, it rains on my birthday. It never fails. I'd be surprised if it didn't rain. What I didn't expect was the weather to turn into violent winds and heavy downpour. And so after almost 2 hours of non-stop rain, the inevitable happened, we got flooded. In Marikina, that's common. But we were caught unprepared and so we had to lift up our things and place them somewhere elevated all while flood water was rushing in our house. Luckily, only our kitchen, sala and dining room where mildly in water. I say luckily, cause it was just about an inch. The worst we've experienced was waist high inside the entire house. So this wasn't a challenge for us. It was just a hassle since the rest of my birthday afternoon turned into general housecleaning when the water subsided. To make matters worse, we didn't have electricity for 4 hours during that time.

More of my friends were greeting me on my phone and asked how I was doing. When I told them that there was heavy rains here, they said, that's a blessing. If that's so, I think I'll be expecting overflowing blessings since it flooded here.

And so by the time I finally got to rest, clean myself up and go online, it were the people from the other side of the world who were awake and greeted me online. Thanks!

I usually don't celebrate my birthday as most people do. I'd like to be alone, reflect more on the year that has passed and give thanks as well as wishing for another great year ahead of me. And that's more important than an unexpected turn of events for the day. Cause looking back, the greatest event that happened to me in my past year was becoming engaged. And before my next birthday, I'll be married.

Happy Birthday to me !