The Road to 40 Day 97/365: Joining in on Celebrations

I set a random Thursday meetup so that Vino and I can do something, but it turned out that we were taking part in a couple of nice celebrations with the Cabusoras

It was still a school day, but I told Vino he could swim at Tito Rey’s brother’s house after his classes. During breakfast, He reminded me of things to bring – his water guns, goggles, and tablet.

We went off to school a bit late again because it was difficult to book a ride. This has got to change soon because we can’t always be late.

I went home first for some housekeeping and the blog. I packed the bag that we were going to bring and got my ingredients ready.

I was raised with an attitude of always bringing something when I’m invited to a house. Of course, since I invited myself and Vino to the Cabusoras’ home, I wanted to bring something. I initially thought of bringing the bottle I bought when we landed, but Kuya Tata showed me his stash, so I thought alcohol wasn’t a good idea.

What I did promise was my beef salpicao.

It’s a recipe that I am proud of because of all the hits and misses while trying to get the best taste out of it. I could have offered other things, but it was my first time cooking for nanay, tatay, Kuya Tata, and Ate Chinnie. I had to make sure that I would offer no excuses for what I brought.

I got beef tenderloin for the beef. It’s a bit more expensive than other cuts, but from experience, it offers the best bite.

After getting groceries, I went straight to pick up Vino. Kuya Tata’s place is relatively close, but I had a big bag, so I decided we should just take the cab heading there.

We waited for Rey, Lia, and Caeleb to arrive before letting the kids get ready for swimming. While waiting, I prepped the salpicao for cooking later that night.

Vino brought out his guns, and they proceeded to go down to the pool area. Interestingly, a couple of kids from Dover Court called out to Vino when we arrived. It turns out, one of his classmates lived in the same block as Kuya Tata. Quinn, his daughter, also knows the kids, so they met at the pool to play together.

Meanwhile, Kuya Tata introduced his smoker to us.

I’ve seen it in ads, but never really tried how the real thing works. It was a cool concept, and maybe if we were better cocktail makers, we would do it better.

Still, the smoke gave it a more mellow flavor than the neat shot.

We went on to the roofdeck for some early shots. Lia, Rey, and I went up, and Tatay joined in later on. Rey went down to start making pasta for dinner.

Back in college, we were a fixture in the Cabusora home in QC. The other guys more than me, for sure, but I caught up when I didn’t have a lot of student council duties anymore.

Hence, I’m always comfortable talking to Tatay and Nanay like family.

For Lia, we’ve always known her, but because of a little bit of age difference, we never really hung out much as she had her own circles and we were her big brother’s friends. Now that Rey is married to Carla and Lia gets to hang out with her, she is getting more and more comfortable with our circle as well.

I believe that at a certain age, the age difference factor becomes less of a conflict because we are all adults already dealing with the same adult problems. I’ve always found it amusing that I played basketball with my sister’s friends when she was in SG, but I never found it weird because we enjoy the same things.

So I’m happy that Lia is ok spending time with us, and I’m looking forward to more opportunities to get to drink with her like this.

Unfortunately, I had to cut our talk short as I noticed Vino just sitting on the floor by the poolside. I learned that he slipped and fell in the pool and now he said he felt sick. I reminded him that I always tell him to be careful, and the time that I’m not there, he’s not.

It makes me uneasy to let him go on playdates if he keeps being like this. I know he needs to get hurt on his own and rally from it, but as a parent, it’s still difficult to see my kid getting hurt in any way.

We went up and I got him to take a bath. After he finished, he said he was fine, and I believed him because he was bouncing the ball again.

Later, he and Quinn were playing together in the living room and in her room.

These kids have a way of talking that I feel is a bit disrespectful. But they don’t get offended and talk to each other that way. I don’t know if I should change it or just let it be, but maybe I’ll continue to observe more. Personally, I want to shift Vino’s tone of talking so that he is respectful. I believe it’s still universally better to speak respectfully than super casually.

After Rey finished his pasta and classic cream beef, I went to cook the salpicao. It’s been one of the joys of my life to serve good food to friends and family, and I’m really happy that I was able to cook for these guys who have taken care of us when we were younger.

I ordered chicken, pizza, and apparently a blooming onion that I totally forgot about and remembered when we were all very much full already. The kids had their own table, which was nice to see.

Vino even finished his food – a rare sighting. He loved the pasta and even ate pizza.

Over at the adults’ table, I’m glad that they liked the salpicao. It was finished to the last drip of the sauce. The pasta was nostalgic, and I even got a half-and-half as Ate Chinnie suggested.

Tenderfresh Chicken was a discovery I learned from a different friend group. It’s like local fried chicken, but a bit better than hawker stall fried chicken.

I learned that Tatay was celebrating his birthday the next day, and it was actually Hearty Grub’s 8th year anniversary. I didn’t realize there were a couple of milestone events, so I’m honored that they let us become part of their mini-celebration.

We cleaned up and went downstairs. It was a chance to talk to Kuya Tata more, which was a good way to connect with him. We rarely caught him in the QC house back then, and they are always busy when their family comes over. The last time I could have had a drink with him was way back when I worked for Iskina. By the time I could drink, they were ready to go home already.

I always say I don’t drink because of the alcohol, but rather because of the company. Most of my drunken moments are from when I drink with people I enjoy being with. I’ve learned how to pace myself, so I was still good, but it was almost 11pm and Vino had classes next day, as did their kids.

I wanted to drink more to be able to talk more, but adult dad in me needs to step in already and stop party me from finishing the bottle.

On the ride home, Vino was proud to say that he was about to complete his mission of bringing home this small black blob that’s a product of a glue gun.

I told him it’s fine, but he needs to throw it away at some point. He insisted that it’s not just a thing and that it has feelings. I told him if he considers the feelings of a small blob, why doesn’t he care about the feelings of his toys in the room that he doesn’t play with? I thought that it was the end of it.

After I took a bath, I saw him sitting on the floor with a sad expression. I asked him what was wrong, and if he was hurt that I didn’t subscribe to his notion about everything having feelings.

He found it difficult to explain, but he said it’s because he thought about the feelings of his toys and not caring for them. I told him that we can’t care for everything. If we did, then we shouldn’t be stepping on the floor, or throwing trash, or even eating, for that matter.

I told him that our hearts can’t care for everything; that is a fact. If he worries about not being able to care for everything, then he will only get heartaches. I said I cared about my work, the house, his mom, and him. But my heart couldn’t give the same love for everything, so I decided to stop working so I can give the love that he and his mom deserve.

For what he was feeling, I said he should know which ones to care about and what he should do to fight for it and give them the care and love they deserve.

He lay down on bed looking at me with wondering eyes. It felt like he still wanted to say things but he couldn’t explain it through words. He needed to sleep, though, so I asked him to sleep it off and if he is still bothered by it, we should talk about it in the morning.

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