Birthday celebrations during Ghost Month
Getting deliciously crabby for Mia Borromeo & Michelle Tiangco
Ghost Month did not deter birthday celebrations with friends who make it a point to get together regularly despite busy schedules and travel.
It took several months to set a date for Kaye Tinga to host a belated birthday for everyone’s favorite amiga, Mia Borromeo, and an advanced birthday for effervescent Michelle Tiangco. The consensus among us — it was definitely worth the wait since the charming hostess made sure chilled champagne was the starter for a sumptuous, home-cooked Asian menu that featured a pomelo shrimp salad followed by crispy spring rolls and a tasty but healthy Hainanese chicken.
The piece de resistance was the large crabs in a sweetish curry sauce, which everyone just had to eat “kamayan” style to be able to pick the luscious crabmeat from all the crevices. Dietary restrictions were forgotten with three scrumptious cakes to end the meal.
As we said our goodbyes, there were boxes of takeout food prepared by the thoughtful Kaye. We all declared that we were more than ready to return for her mahjong sessions so we could all be spoiled with more of her kitchen goodies, as we chimed in that even if we didn’t play the game, we would gladly volunteer to partake of her merienda offerings.
Three cakes for Tina Cuevas
Due to conflicting schedules, it took some time to gather six ladies to belatedly celebrate the birthday of popular Tina Cuevas in Chef Jessie. The decibel level of the group’s laughter seemed to go higher as the evening progressed with topics ranging from the rising food prices, to everyone agreeing that living in the Philippines is the best choice for us and ending with slightly more colorful topics that were sweetened when three cakes were brought out for the celebrant, complete with the waiters singing in the background.
Manila’s orig 400? Marivic Vasquez & co. know
Having built a vacation home during the pandemic, Marivic Vazquez can often be found in Batangas, where she can de-stress with her nine aspins (native dogs) that are her current favorite provincial companions.
On her exact birthday week, she made sure to be in town to celebrate with choice friends in several small gatherings that included the amiable Negrense couple Maribel and John Quimson at Benjarong in Dusit Thani Manila.
The next celebration was another intimate dinner at the newly opened Old Manila given by good friend, Joy Rojas, who wears several hats, including that of a lawyer and an artist with a recent, successful, one-man show. Art connoisseur Toto Gonzalez entertained us with talk on the intertwined family ties of the original Manila’s 400, when elegance and style were the norm.
There seems to be some talk going around that there may be a book or novel written about the hidden skeletons and secrets of the old families. It may turn out to be a bestseller, but the author may not have too many friends left if he opens the Pandora’s boxes of those families.
