The Road to 40 Day 61/365: Home cooking Wednesday

The kids slept late again, so the day started really late with them waking up at 11AM.

We planned on swimming this day, because the jacuzzi that was re-painted last week was finally open. It was a rainy morning and we went down when it was stopped for a bit. We stayed for less than 20 minutes before we were asked to come up because of the rain.

It sounds stupid to ask people to come up from the pool when it’s raining, but I’ve gotten used to it when swimming in the presence of a lifeguard.

We were the first people to use the jacuzzi after the re-paint, and it was evident after we saw Tia have some paint spots on her. We spent more time at the pool trying to take them out than actually swimming in it.

I still had marinated bulgogi in the fridge, and I thought I needed to cook that already. We all had it for lunch, so at least that’s a lot of money saved between the three of us in BGC.

Eating out here is damn expensive. There are definitely cheaper options, but it’s still going to set us back at least 500-700 pesos. Cooking what we get from the supermarket helps lower the cost and maximize flavor.

The kids drink juice, and we ran out. There are a couple of supermarkets nearby, but we didn’t have an umbrella. My genius idea was to take the car and drive to McKinley and shop there.

I haven’t really explored the place because we don’t usually hang out there, so we took it as a chance to check it out.

We found a playground with trampolines and stuff. The kids wanted to play, but I said I needed to cook something for Che at home and it will take some time to do it. However, if we played the early the next day, we can play it 100 pesos cheaper. The kids agreed to put a pin on it for tomorrow.

We did have time for some ice cream. Kathreen bought the kids Dairy Queen the other day, so I thought we should try a different ice cream place. We went to Rita’s Italian Ice.

It’s pretty much like Slurpee, I feel like. Tia finished hers, Vino barely ate his choice, while I got a McFlurry-type ice cream.

During this time, I had to lecture Vino about tablets on the table while there were three of us. He always says he misses his Ate Tia, but now that she’s right in front of him, it’s not cool that he’s still focused on his tablet.

I told him it’s precisely why he’s never going to get a phone.

We then went to the supermarket to buy juice and ingredients for burger steak – what the kids requested for me to cook next day.

In the process, we ran into a friend of mine, Nics, who also happened to be doing her own grocery run.

Nics is Bert’s friend who has become a good online friend of mine. We talk about a variety of stuff – from random things we come across to serious life stuff. There are times we also ask each other about the male or female perspective on certain things.

We had her on the podcast once, which basically kicked off this friendship. Over time, I thought she would be a great match for a friend, and I tried to pair them up.

However, my good friend decided to keep the fact that they met up, while the friend of just about over a couple of years accidentally spilled the information. As it went on, we talked as we normally did, but I was increasingly getting frustrated that my guy never opened it up to me.

Later on, he figured that girl and I talked, and he started getting weird about it. Still, my guy never brought it up with me. Things boiled over eventually, so girl decided to just cut ties with everyone, including both of us. I thought it was her annual social media detox, but I learned on this random run-in that she actually blocked me on IG.

I apologized for my part in this whole mess, but we agreed that we were friends before all of it, and we can move past the episode. Whether they meet again later or not, I wouldn’t care, and I told her that if guy’s super sensitive about it, then we can just not talk about him if she decides she wants it to work.

I’m not holding my breath for it though. 

I love my guy, but damn. He can be very juvenile when it comes to love life, among other things. It’s probably why Che never gets offended when he calls her “ate” despite him being a year older than her.

We went back home so I could cook, but Che said someone got her food. When I told her I was going to cook, she said she’d come home, but I said I could just cook for the kids instead since she hasn’t had lunch yet and it’s already almost 6PM.

I still had salpicao in the fridge, so I cooked that for the kids. It’s a great wine pairing, and Che didn’t finish the bottle we had last weekend. So naturally, I’d have my own version of dinner.

When Che got back, we had a rare chance to sit down and catch up. She at least got a bit of wine and was able to share some of the things she’s going through right now.

She realized she needed to report some expenses and was horrified to know that she had lost one of the receipts. The place was nearby, so I volunteered to go down to ask for a copy.

I’ve been wanting to try going down to experience the BGC nightlife while we’re here, so this was a good chance to do so.

Since the place was taking a bit of time trying to retrieve the receipt, I ordered takeout food and a glass of beer while I waited.

Unfortunately, they had to ask for it from the head office since the June sales are no longer accessible in their local system. I left our details and went back.

When I arrived, the kids were still awake. We agreed to start the next day early, but it was almost 12 and we were still eating hotdogs. Tia said she’ll wake up at 7AM and Vino said he would too. Let’s see how they do tomorrow.

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