ERICJAZ FOODIES: OUR CHRISTMAS 2018

Thursday, January 3, 2019

OUR CHRISTMAS 2018

Yohooo! Christmas is here once again, so let me ask you this question:

How do you choose to celebrate the birth of our Lord?

Will you whine about the unimaginable traffic around the Metro?
Will you complain about the high prices of groceries and various goods?
Will you nitpick the simple gifts?
Will you further alienate the family members whom you can't stand?
Will you groan at the thought of going to work during the holidays?
Will you measure and be all emotional at the inches you'll be gaining in the next few days?

If yes, then I pity you. SO MUCH.

Because really, you don't go to a party all dark, solemn, and complaining about the food and the attendees. When you attend the birthday bash of your special someone, you get all happy and excited, you'll enjoy whatever's served, you'll chat up and laugh with the other guests. Bottomline is, you're all there to celebrate and honor the VIP of the night. Not be a pathetic party pooper.

To think it's going to be the birthday of our Lord!!!! Now why can't you extend the same kind of happiness for him?? Pang-friends ka lang GANERN?!!!!!

As for me, I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS. There's really something about Christmas that brings out the loving warmth and childlike joy out of everyone. Yun lang, even if I'm usually excited and happy vibes-all-the-way, I'm somehow dreading Christmas because my Mom and sibs will be in London for the holidays. As for us, we'll be left behind with our brother because of the family business and work.

DRATS.

Not only WOULD I ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO BE IN LONDON but I can't imagine Christmas without the family. This would be the first Christmas where we would not be together.

And because of that, I found myself almost whiney like what I posted above.

But then, like in the true sense of Christmas spirit, everything became okay. What I thought would be a lonely and sad season, became very fun and memorable. My Gatdula family may not be here but THE YAPPY BUNCH and my brother are with me and we were able to make a loving, warm, AND FUNNY (promise) celebration that strengthened our bond.

So yes, it's still a SUPER Merry Christmas!!! This is surely one of our most unforgettable one to date!!!

I sincerely hope you all had one too!

MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!!!!!!!!!!

I have these weird personal traditions that I imposed upon myself accidentally:

One is when I hear Jose Mari Chan's "Christmas in Our Hearts..."

And Two is when I've had my Grande cup of Toffee Nut Latte.

When I hear the song and I've had my Toffee Nut Latte, THAT'S when Christmas season officially starts!!!!!!

Every year, the family exchanges gifts on Christmas eve. In preparation for that, we will post our wishlist to ease the shopping life of our family member and give suggestions on what we wanted.

I've asked the Yub to do this for SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO long and when he did (finally), he was the first one to write!!!

CHE!

Some have their decors set up after Halloween. As for us, Mom fixed it the first week of December. Would love to have it earlier kaso everyone's busy din. He he he he he he!

It's ok. What matters is that we have a tree and I super love what we have at home!!!

In the second week of December, we had a simple Christmas lunch for the Gat's staff.

We really appreciate our household and office staff. Besides being dependable and trustworthy, they still love and remember my Dad (their former bossing) up to now!

Next day, we visited Daddy in his hometown in Cavite. My Mom and other siblings are going to London so this is our Christmas "getogether" with him.

Yun lang I'm sure he's going with them to London. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

On the days leading to Christmas, Andrei is again obsessed with catching Santa Claus. He even downloaded an app to monitor the location of Santa as he goes around the world.

AND success!!! We caught Santa while he was sneaking into our house. It was so fast but what matters was we got a video of him.

Check out the video in Andrei's Youtube channel. Please like and subscribe also.

AND ON THE DAY OF CHRISTMAS EVE......

I gotta admit that every year I always join the rush on Christmas day for last minute shopping because I'm such a crammer.

This year, I was very efficient: I already bought gifts for office mates and friends as early as November. As for my family, I ordered their gifts online.

Yun lang I realized I don't have a gift for the Yub yet! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ayan I crammed so much kasi!!!!

I didn't want to rush at night so my angel and I started work on the table early.

I think we did a pretty good job don't you think??

That night....

The family went to the church in Powerplant Mall for mass.

The ceremony will start at 8:30pm but we were there at 7:00pm so that we'd get good seats. We just prayed the rosary for Daddy.

If you're looking for Kuya Jon, he's shopping around while we saved his seat. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

There he is! He he he he he!

Me and Master Mati!

The Yub with bunsoy Andrei!

Hay. Bunsoy talaga!

My Kuya with the boys.

The chapel filled up fast.

Fr. Jerry was the priest that night. He gives lively yet meaningful sermons.

After the mass we went to the chapel's simple belen.

Baby Jesus was also presented to the congregation.

The boys also gave baby Jesus their kisses.

Christmas mass with the family!

There was a short fireworks presentation after the mass. But we all had to hurry home to cook! He he he he he he!

The table is already set.

Do you like how I jazzed things up?

When we got home, we had a bit of a pictorial.

Kuya Jon with the little guys!!!

Me and the Yub with some photobomber.

The family with our super favorite Christmas tree!!!!!

Kuya Jon manned the steaks!

Somebody was hungry already. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

And finally our spread is ready! Yay!

Garlic Bread!

Sauteed Green Beans!

Buttery Mashed Potatoes!

Baked Lasagna!

And finally the STEAKS!!!

Egad... These were SOOOO good!!!! Great job Kuya Jon!!!!

Our family Noche Buena!

Of course, before eating, we offered a prayer of thanks.

Ayan Mati! You could eat na!

Before settling down, Kuya Jon offered a toast.

To good health and happiness for the everyone here and our family who left us for London.

CHE!

He he he he he!

Let's start off our dinner!!!

Kuya Jon and a very excited Andrei.

Huy Andrei props lang yan. Ha ha ha ha ha!

Me and my big guy!

The Yub didn't want to share.

One of my requests from our dear ate Marie is for her to cook some Molo Soup. This is indeedy a family favorite and every year my Daddyowzers would make lambing with it from my Mom.

And yep! One sip and it was sooo perfect with the cold weather with Sinatra in the background. Suddenly I felt like everyone from the family is here.

Nom... Nom.. Nom...

Andrei really enjoyed his medium rare steak that he didn't put gravy or get the other dishes.

Aba.... Aattempt again on the champagne!

My first plate of food... Isn't it pretty?

SOBRANG SARAP PA NIYA ANAK NG....

My handsome teenager ate his steak with Lasagna.

My second round of food!!!!!

A different but happy Noche Buena pa din!!!! Though we still missed the others, we enjoyed the night where everything was just relaxed, warm, and just enjoyable.

While eating, my Mom and ugly sister called from London.

CHE!!!

We also called BGP Marian and Manong Fred to wish a Merry Christmas.

After that delicious dinner, it's time to open our gifts!

Andrei got a jacket from his Tito Jon!

More gifts he he he he!

I got a special wok!!!! WOAH!!!

Master Mati received some collectibles.

The Yubhub also gave moi a special type of pan!

I gave Master Mati some clothes!

Same goes for Androse!

The bunsoy rechecked his letter to Santa Claus and was a disappointed that he did not answer it.

Andrei's letter to Santa...

He was really fine with everything but I just thought Santa needed something specific. He he he he he he!!!!

But when he looked inside the tree...

Santa's gift was there!

The bunsoy also got some drum accessories from his Daddy!

Then, even if she's in London, I received a special envelope from her.

Yun lang it's from Manila Water Company... Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

BUT WOAH!!

I don't care kahit paper bag pa yan! Look at my loot! Wohooo!!!!!!!!!!

Could you guess how much???

Our mess afterwards.

Every year, we would have this Christmas program that showcases our talents (or lack thereof). We thought we're not going to do it anymore since it was just the 5 of us, but Kuya Jon said we should still push through it with.

Tonight, Master Mati was the master of ceremony!

Andrei did a MARVELOUS magic show. He he he he he! Though his performance was not as smooth as he hoped it would be, we were still awed (and so laughing) at his tricks!!!

The Yub was next and he gave a very emotional rendition of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." As in emote na emote siya.

Yup. THIS was how we were all emoting with him while he was singing.

As in talong talo niya si Lucianno Pavarotti sa galing.

SLOW. CLAP.

The Master of Ceremony made his usual stand-up comedy stint that was SO corny... este... funny, that we were crying tears of joy.

I made a bet with my audience that I could sing the 12 Days of Christmas without any mistakes. And you know what, I really could BUT I could recite it better from 5 GOHOLDEN RIIIINGS or ON THE 12TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS....

If I do it from the start, I get lost.

And that I did with the 7th day of Christmas.

GRRRR! STUPID SWANS A SWIMMING!!!!!!

Kuya Jon did the same at the end but since he used Andrei's special cards, his magic was somehow foiled. He he he he he!!!!

Andrei talaga!!!!!!

In a perfect world, we're spending Christmas with the family along with my Dad.

But since they're not here, we made the most of what we had and just enjoyed our togetherness as a family. Truth be told, I'm so happy that the others are experiencing Christmas time in London. My Mom always wanted to travel. As for me, I'm thankful for opportunity to bond further with my family and brother. I'm glad too that we continued to honor our Daddy's tradition of not leaving the house lonely during Christmas eve.