Akeng kambeng nga maging imong tatay in Cuynon or IKINAGAGALAK KO NA MAGING IYONG TATAY in Tagalog , means I am glad to be your dad. Thanks to Rodel for help with the translation and Chester for the design work.
Yes , the first girl I sponsored at University in Palawan turned 21 last week and had a big party to celebrate at her residence in Baratoan. I was so upset I could not be there in person to present her with my gift, a gold necklace and earrings she asked me to buy when I was last in Dubai just before Christmas 2020. I have been keeping it safe in my suitcase all this time.
My 21st Birthday gift for Jhoanna
So what do you do when you are locked down in Bahrain and the party and birthday girl are in the Philippines. Well you cannot miss a 21st and one of the things I have learnt as I transition to being Pinoy is that they know how to celebrate properly. There has to be Lechon ( a dish made with a whole pig or Baboy), Balloons, Banners, Pictures of the birthday person through the ages and all your friends and family. Colour themes are important so the clothes and balloons and banners must all match. And lots of messages on Facebook saying:"Good health always.. MBTC.. God bless po.. "
It took me ages to work out what MBTC meant- Many Birthdays To Come!
So I asked my friends going to the party to take pics for me and everyone said they had an amazing time.
So here I present the best of Jhoanna at Twenty One
The Amazing Cake from her elder sister May An in Manila
On the morning of the party Jhoanna messaged me to say
"We borrowed your Tarp , Tatay!"
So maybe I was there after all looking down on the whole thing. In February, when Jhoanna was staying in my rented house in Puerto Princessa and my 53 boxes of Belongings were due to arrive my then Landlady, Daniw, suggested the girls buy a Tarp ( Tarpaulin) to cover the boxes outside in case it rained. When I did not get my visa and gave the house back to Daniw to sell Jhoanna took the tarp back to Baratoan to use for her party!
Jhoanna and Grecil
One of the people I asked to take photos for me was Grecil, who I sponsor at Western Philippine University and who worked for me in Puerto cleaning my house, unpacking my things and trying on my aprons!
Mr. Gregory, would you agree it looks better on Grecil than on me??
I had a wonderful online conversation with Grecil just before the party ( me in Bahrain and Grecil at Nacpan and Jhoanna at Baratoan)
Grecil are you going to Jhoanna's party?
Yes Tatay
What time does it start?
I don't know!
Jhoanna , what time does your party start?
2 pm Tatay, why?
Grecil, it starts at 2 pm, get moving !'
Opo
Tatay , its 1.56 pm and I am on my way now!
Tatay, they won't let me in because of COV 19
Girls! We need to do the forward planning and eat the frog sessions again when I get there! I cannot tell you how Grecil did manage to sneak in but I am glad she did and sent us these great photos.
As a back up ( always have Plan B Grecil!) I asked Kit, my newest scholar who is 19 and going to train for the Navy in September, to take some photos and he sent me this....
I sent him a message asking who the really good looking guy in the GAP tee shirt and he replied....
ME Tatay!
Good choice of scholar TBK!'
I also asked Ate Jhe to send me some photos of all the Gwapo at the party and she sent these...
Well Richard Batoy and Gwapo go together like Strawberries and Cream and Rodrigo and Sara Duterte! I asked where the other gwapo was and she replied that Jullytot was shy and was hiding in her room.... but he came out eventually
The happy couple, Jullymar and Jhoanna
I was so happy to see these amazing photos ( and being a Pinoy party there were hundreds) and I know that they must have spent hours planning everything, buying dresses, balloons, and banners and getting everything ready for the big day. I have a couple of Phillipino friends who make a living from doing party decorations and I see all their photos on Facebook- but this was the best ever- so well done Jhoanna.
More Gwapo and sweet Spagetti
Glad my Tarp was finally of use!!!
Gwapo Makulit Making and Magenda Ate Jhe
For those of you who do not know Making is Jhoanna's step brother and he will be 14 in September. The last time I saw him was in January 2020 when he was just 12 and I could pick him up and he was scared of me as I was so big! Now he is bigger than Jhoanna. He helped at the HOPE Event at Manlag Elementary school with Jhoanna, Althea and Elay and we stopped for Breakfast at El Nido Cove, where I first met Jhoanna. It turned out to be the last day the hotel was open so we were able to say goodbye to our friends Ritchelle and John. Sadly no one told me Making gets car sick, and this photo was taken just before he was very ill , poor boy.
Elay turns 17 in July and when she is 18 will become The British Kabayan's 6th Scholar! I loved the sisterly photo from the party as well...
I love Elay and Jhoanna's dresses , and especially how Jhoanna's dress linked to the Party colour scheme of Gold and Black. One of the other things was that Jhoanna went round to see all the guests and had a photo with each so she, and they can always look back on her special birthday party and smile.
I think my favourite photo is the one Jhoanna put as her Facebook Cover photo
She gave it the caption "Loyal kami" which translates as "We are loyal" as the picture is of her most loyal and long term friends ( who also juts happen to be incredibly good looking) . I am so glad they could be there for her special day and I look forward to meeting them in person when I finally get my Visa and move to Palawan to rejoin my Tarp, My Bike ( hands off Making) and my 57 boxes of belongings, and of course all my friends!
Until then stay safe everyone, photos over, masks back on
Ingat Palagi, Kita Kits and Mahal Kita!
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Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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