Friday, August 17, 2007 Birthdays By Rene Lizada Papa’s Table
LET me see. This is a little difficult to explain but I will try.
My family is confused actually. It has been for the past several years but it is a rather wonderful form of confusion. Let me see, this is a little difficult to explain but I will try.
Chona's official birthday is August 11, what year I cannot say because if I reveal what age she is now, you will not believe it. But that is not the point here. It is the official birthday because according to her birth certificate, the date of birth is truly August 11.
That would have been the end of it but one day, long ago, her mother told Chona that she was born at dawn, now what date is the one in question.
So ever since that time my wife has been celebrating her birthday of the 12th because that is what her mother told her. She was born at dawn, what dawn no one knows because quite frankly her mother forgot. So that leaves us with the dilemma of her birthday.
When is her true birthday? And to make matters even more confounding there is that hanging issue as to the date of that dawn. The only real thing is that she was born at dawn, but what dawn? What dawn was she born in? The 11th? The 12th? Or even the possibility that she was born August 12 but it was probably late so there is the possibility that in truth her birthday could very well be the 13th!!! Kasi dawn nga eh!
So we are actually looking at a world record here, the woman with the longest birthday, a 72 hour birthday, a birthday that stretches three days. But as I said it is a wonderful form of confusion.
Actually on the week of her birthday we had a very gastronomic affair. On the Wednesday of that week I was at the Marco Polo giving a talk and so I ended up having dinner at the Cafe Marco together with the senior citizens of Davao as Wednesday is the day the hotel gives huge discounts to senior citizens.
I ended up eating pasta, crabs and prime rib roast. I was so stuffed that that I could hardly breathe while all around the other senior citizens were doing the same but with a little more hesitation.
On Friday I got call from my wife. Marco Polo was launching their Japanese buffet and she asked me to come. I have always had this thing for anything Japanese. I suspect that in one of my previous lives I was Japanese. I like Japanese music, the flute and the taiko drums. I love those Japanese monsters like Godzilla and if memory serves me right, Gameron.
And Japanese food, I love Japanese food and so I happily went to the opening. I was not disappointed. Marco Polo boasts of the longest food buffet and that night was a mouth watering punctuation mark to that statement. The food was simply great, the angus beef was something else.
And so for second time in three nights I was stuffed. But wait, this was the prelude. After all August 11 was still to come. The first of the three day celebration.
Normally on a Saturday my wife and I would have our customary lunch but this time since it was Part One of her birthday she told me that we would be having lunch at home. I was a little disappointed because I wanted to eat out but she told me she had a surprise. She said that she had seafood paella and what is probably the best blueberry cheesecake in the entire city of Davao, both these plates coming from Marco Polo.
So merrily we went home and together with Shayne, her eldest sister and Eps, we had seafood paella and cheesecake. (Gabo was with his friends!) And again the paella was great and again I was stuffed.
On that day she got a lot of calls and text messages about her birthday. I got the seafood paella and the cheesecake. Again I was stuffed. We had all agreed that on the night of the 11th we would not eat out because we wanted our stomachs to rest but we ended up eating barbecue. Day One? Done!
August 12 is the day where most of her relatives and old friends think this is her true birthday. So it was understandable that the messages and the calls came in.
Again. And being Chona she was smiling and reading all those messages. You cannot believe how many friends she has. Breakfast that day for me was bulad and fried rice. I was waiting for the lunch food because Chona told me that this was going to be a two sister affair. She was going to cook her fabulous bulalo and Shayne was going to cook prawns with garlic. (You should taste the bulalo of my wife. I told her we could make a fortune by just selling her bulalo.)
And so our lunch was truly wonderful. Hot, steaming bulalo and prawns with garlic! But the day was not over. There was still dinner And dinner was at Aseya, a cozy Asian inspired restaurant tucked in the corner of Umberto's. If you have not been there then I suggest you go. The food is wonderful. I love their Kamameshi rice. Just go. After dinner we could hardly move because everything was just good. The kids decided to have this wonderful dessert at Mcdo! I had ice cream too. Finally Day Two was done.
The following day I was not really expecting anything anymore but then again, two of our friends who work in the States treated us to lunch and so we had another great time. And somewhere, somehow, someone texted Chona, Happy Birthday Chona! Hmm. Three days! But you see it ain't over.
August 15 is the feast of the Assumption and Chona's full name is named after that feast. So in effect we have a three day birthday, then a break on the 14th and then we once more celebrate on the 15th!
