Birthday Blessings

Through loved ones, family, friends, friends, and friends in all of 366 (2008 is a leap year) days since my last birthday, grace had been at work.

Now, what about the next 365 days? Hey, let’s take it one day at a time. I look forward to growing in years and in faith, and discovering more ways of investing the rest of my days in writing about life's chiaroscuro.

Today, I thank my friends for their email and text greetings. I also thank Tony, JC, JB, Gianina, Adrian, and JR for these surprises:                           
          
A chatty dinner at Circles, Makati Shangri-la. The boys thought Chinatown food is infinitely yummier. Well, they could say anything they wanted, I was determined to enjoy every morsel.

Appetizer or main course? For me, nothing beats juicy, fresh oysters anytime of day. We used to have them almost every day, fresh from the sea, in the town where I was born (Agoo, la Union) for free. Tonight, the boys just had to pay for them through their teeth.                                                 

Lamb chops with mint jelly, main course or appetizer? In the town where I grew up (Umingan, Pangasinan), we had goat meat, cooked in five different ways. We had boggoong (fish sauce) instead of mint jelly.

Dessert? The raspberry jelly is sugar free; the rest, well, I allow myself some guilty pleasures one day a year, the 20th of this month. The photo does not include a tall glass of halo-halo (mixed native sweets with crushed ice). We had no chocolate fountains in those days but we sure had the best halo-halo under the big tamarind tree in the wet market.

I have been around so long, times and foods have changed!

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17