In early December, my office friends and I decided to have a fancy Christmas dinner as a way to reward ourselves. By fancy, we meant splurging on buffet at a five-star hotel. The first choice if of course Manila Diamond since Mark’s dad works there and so we have a better chance of getting a discount. On December 11, we went through with the plan but sadly, Ela and Enny couldn’t make it because of previous engagements. So Pia and I braved the Ortigas-Makati-Manila traffic in order to get to Manila Diamond where Mark was already nearing unconsciousness because of hunger.
When we arrived, Mark was already having his soup and soon after his dad called, looking for him. The General (Mark’s Dad) then came to sit with us over dinner, much to Mark’s disappointment. But when his dad started ordering different dishes straight from the kitchen, we were all thankful that he was there with us.
The menu theme for Thursday night was Spanish so most of the food fare were sumptuous, spicy and flavorful. We tried sampling everything but we had to leave room for dessert. Good thing we did because the cakes and pastries were heavenly! We even tried asking the chef if they can sell us whole cakes, but sadly, they don’t do that in their hotel.
Much later, Mark’s mom came, done with her spa treatment. They stayed for a while and when they said goodbye, they left us with a special treat… dinner is free! We thought that we were just getting a good discount but Mark’s dad footed the bill.
After dinner, we did a photo op at the hotel lobby. Manila Diamond has a very interesting Christmas tree so we thought of taking our pics with it.
We capped the night with coffee at Starbucks Magallanes. We were all feeling dizzy while making our orders and we all thought that it was probably from all the food we ate earlier. It was not even 12am then but we were feeling sleepy already. Pia attributed it to age, Mark from being tired from work, and me from having late nights for more than a week. Soon after we said goodbye and took separate rides home. It was weekday after all and there’s still work the next day.
It is always great being with these two, even if i have to be the "bridge" all the time.
When we arrived, Mark was already having his soup and soon after his dad called, looking for him. The General (Mark’s Dad) then came to sit with us over dinner, much to Mark’s disappointment. But when his dad started ordering different dishes straight from the kitchen, we were all thankful that he was there with us.
The menu theme for Thursday night was Spanish so most of the food fare were sumptuous, spicy and flavorful. We tried sampling everything but we had to leave room for dessert. Good thing we did because the cakes and pastries were heavenly! We even tried asking the chef if they can sell us whole cakes, but sadly, they don’t do that in their hotel.
Much later, Mark’s mom came, done with her spa treatment. They stayed for a while and when they said goodbye, they left us with a special treat… dinner is free! We thought that we were just getting a good discount but Mark’s dad footed the bill.
After dinner, we did a photo op at the hotel lobby. Manila Diamond has a very interesting Christmas tree so we thought of taking our pics with it.
We capped the night with coffee at Starbucks Magallanes. We were all feeling dizzy while making our orders and we all thought that it was probably from all the food we ate earlier. It was not even 12am then but we were feeling sleepy already. Pia attributed it to age, Mark from being tired from work, and me from having late nights for more than a week. Soon after we said goodbye and took separate rides home. It was weekday after all and there’s still work the next day.
It is always great being with these two, even if i have to be the "bridge" all the time.
