Having missed Jhoanna's 21st Birthday , due to COV 19 and not being able to enter the Philippines, I really wanted to do something special for her 22nd Birthday on 21.6.22. Having moved into the Blue House on 28 April, the day after Grecil's 22nd Birthday, I wanted to say a big thank you to all the people who helped me find the house ( Agnes), Move in and unpack ( Jhoanna, Sarah, TJ, Kit, Chalsee, Grecil, John) and to my wonderful landlords Mick and Maggie and their kids who keep the courtyard clean and tidy. It was a long wait to move here and many people helped and advised along the way to make the final move smoother like Beth and Paul and Gracie and Tony. Others have helped since I arrived with advice on where to buy steaks, Avocados, Jackfruit, Strawberries and so on ( Chef Arnell and Gracie) and arranged my Car Hire ( Beth). Then there were all the people I met on my vacations here from 2013 to 2020 who made me so welcome and helped me make the decision to spend the rest of my life here ( Ran, Geralyn, Drew, Adam, Rayner and so many more good friends. So the idea for a joint secret 22nd Birthday party and Housewarming party at the Blue house on 21 June formed in my mind.
The Menu , devised by Gracie and I
First we devised the menu- I wanted to make Manok and Baboy Adobo but Gracie advised that Pinoys ate this daily and liked something different for a party. We agreed on Beef Caldaretta and Pork Menudo. I asked the birthday girl what she would like and Jhoanna asked for Sweet Spaghetti. No Pinoy party in the summer would be complete without Halo Halo and this should be topped with Leche Flan. I also wanted a regional specialty and selected Empanada from Vigan .
We started cooking the day before the party
Pinoys have a sweet tooth so I asked Gracie to make her wonderful 10 inch Ube Cheesecake and as I am a lazy chef , and hate fiddly dishes, I asked Gracie to prepare a tray of Shanghai Lumpia and two Cream Cheese flan.
Then we needed a theme - "Hello Kitty" was an obvious choice as Jhoanna's bedroom in Barutaan is decorated with "Hello Kitty" banners and pictures. Then by chance Agnes posted about a company called "The Little Things" on Facebook ( run by her sister) who make Birthday cakes to order. I enquired and booked an 8 x 3 Hello Kitty cake to be delivered at 11 am on 21.6.22. Gracie kindly offered to drop off her contributions on the way to their farm and Beth sent her apologies and best wishes for Jhoanna's Birthday.
One of the four Banners Chester designed for the party
In my preparation for becoming Filipino I learnt that all parties must have banners! As Chester had already designed Jhoanna's Birthday card, and the party invite at the top of the Blog I asked him to convert these to the graphics for 8 x 4 banners. By chance I was chatting with another Cuyunon friend here, Jayvee, and asked what was his job. When I learnt he worked for a company that made banners I placed my order and dropped off the art work on a USB and then collected the banners the next day. TJ and I checked them, rolled them up and hid them at the top of the bookshelf where Jhoanna could not reach or see them.
Some of the 98 invited guests watch a tearful Jhoanna cut her cake
Another thing I learnt the hard way is that it is VERY HARD to keep a secret from Jhoanna. She reads other peoples phone messages ( Julimar's and mine) . Her on off friend , Danica, messaged me to alert me to the fact that the party was no longer a secret. After a tearful night ( Jhoanna , not me) when I threatened to cancel the party, I decided I had already invested too much effort and money and decided to go ahead. By then I had sent the invite to 98 people who were friends of Jhoanna or me here in Palawan, Manila , Vigan and Cebu. I asked them to RSVP by 20 June so we knew how many to cook for. As in Bahrain where people do not reply in case something better comes along I had to spend a morning chasing the non responders on 19th June before finalising the food orders for the 44 people who confirmed their attendance. Jhoanna thought the only people attending were TJ, Bebe, Danica, her , me and Julios!
Reyner and Chad spent the night before setting up the decorations
Another must for a truly Pinoy Party is a theme and balloons ! This starts from the 1st Monsary of a babies life, through birthdays, weddings, and finally the funeral! Since the outbreak of COV 19 I have followed a guy who was a waiter in Port Barton at Dam Dams called Reyner . He set up his own business as a party / event planner and I have seen thousands of photos of the weddings, birthday parties and corporate events that he has organised. I realised immediately that I needed his services for our special day. I am happy to say he (and Chad) exceeded everyone of my expectations. Anyone who can make Jhe cry for hours is a better man than me! Special thanks to Reyner and Chad for coming all the way from Roxas. They had the balloons delivered to the house and while they were waiting helping make the food. After our planning meeting they worked late into the night through thunder and lightening and torrential rain to get everything ready. On 21st they were up early to complete their work and luckily the rain stopped and the sun came out! Chad had to leave for another event but Reyner was staying in Puerto for a few days and after helping me clear up after the last guests left at 4 am on 22nd he crashed out on the sofa!
An exhausted Reyner, the afternoon after the night before
In my earlier blogs you will have read about the long distances I have travelled to attend weddings here! Sadly, as my second Inaanak is due in September Sheila and Jeffrey could not travel here but Kit and his brother Chalsee made the 7 hour journey by van and arrived after I had fallen into an exhausted sleep on 20th. As I had already arranged for Reyner to stay in the spare room , Kit declined sleeping in my bed and slept on the floor whilst little Chalsee got the sofa again ( which he fits perfectly!) . Kit asked if I could leave him some cardboard to lie on so I collected pillows, spare sheets and a duvet cover and flattened our last two removal boxes to make beds for them after their long journey.
Kit and Chalsee's makeshift bed on 20 June
Kuya Ran, who I am Ninong to, also made the long journey from Nacpan and bought his lovely wife , Geralyn and their son, my Inaanak , Cyrus. He soon became the star of the party and the girls lines up and took it in turns to hold and play with him.
TJ and her Babes!
It was an honour that TJ's boarding house mates, who made up the parcels for the victims of Typhoon Odette last December were able to attend as well- all 13 of them! It seems that a TBK party is too good to miss and Agnes bought her two boys, and her Pamakin and Maggie, my lovely landlady came with 7 of her kids.
Seven of Maggie's kids were the first to try the amazing food
Special thanks to the kids for delivering the tables and chairs the day before and to Maggie for getting my long awaited water bill) . There were many other old friends from Palawan like Alvin who this time bought his cousin's brother as Nimrod had to work. When it was all over Alvin took most of the food home for his family ( the biggest balot ( take away) ever, even beating Corleen and Joshua's record haul in Bahrain many years ago)
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TBK gives a shocked and surprised Jhoanna her Hello Kitty came on her Hello Kitty stage set
Jhoanna had to go to college on 21st in the morning and Jullymar, a security guard and Jhoanna's boyfriend, had to work. I decided Julimar's brother Julius needed some help to get the house ready for all the guests so I engaged the services of a delightful young man from Palawan National School called Frythy. He spent 8 hours washing up, peeing vegetables and making and tasting food, got the ice ready for the Halo Halo and helped me with the shopping on 20th June.
The Blue House's newest Chef's, Chad and Frythy
On the 21st June Frythy worked non stop from 10 am until 6 pm cleaning the house and clearing up after the party. Great job Frythy. Sadly Julios , who has been cleaning the house with his big brother Jullymar has to go back to Barutaan soon to complete his education. I am pleased to announce that Frythy will be taking over keeping my house clean. My thanks to Julios ( and Bebe, Jhoanna and Jullymar) for doing such a great job this last month.
The Blue house welcomes Frythy ( not Feisty as I keep calling him!)
Gracie suggested I hire caterers but one of my great joys is cooking! Following Gracie's Phillipino cookery lessons for Jhoanna and I when we stayed at LVF in Santa Lourdes a few years back, I have been honing my skills in Bahrain and Puerto! On 20th we made a massive Manok and Baboy Adobo and then Beef Caldaretta , leaving the Pork Menudo for the 21st .
The final preparations before we set up the Buffet tables
Special thanks to everyone who donated photos to the Blog and to Luis who filmed the event and created the Vlog overnight. Great work Luis. When my Cannon camera is back from intensive care in Manila Luis is running a workshop for Arjen and I on how to use our cameras to the full. We are also buying a drone, a Go Pro and some more lenses and then we have a "Making Vlogs" workshop . Once Luis declares me a competent Vlogger he will train me to edit my own Vlogs in September and I will take over from Chester as Vlog editor.
Chad and Reyner helping prepare the Potatoes for the Beef Caldaretta
You can see the whole event unfold on our You Tube channel- where I have uploaded the Vlog that Luis made for us. Do not forget to like and Subscribe! You could also click on the picture below:
Luis's vlog of the Party , now available on You Tube
We now have 144 subscribers ( thanks to Frythy and TJ's babes) and the Blog now has 23,555 readers, with 2000 readers in the first 22 days of this month! Amazing, I am honoured as the new boy in Palawan to have so many followers- thanks to each and every one of you!
The "Welcome Home" Banner that Chester designed and Jayvee printed
So to end may I think everyone who helped welcome me home and surprise my first anak, Jhoanna. Events as big as this take a lot of organising and I am so grateful for everyone for their help , and to those who traveled such a long way to see my new house and celebrate Jhoanna's birthday.
As usual I have to give the last word to our Chief Executive, Miss Campos. When I invited Elay I was told she was rehearing her graduation ( which I should have realised was a lie as her graduation pictures were already on Facebook- Makulit Elay.) So I had a huge surprise when she walked in with Danica. So I guess , in the surprise, League table - its 1.1. But as I am always saying " Mine was a lot bigger than yours and made you cry!" - Charizz.
I had the last surprise, of course, when the legendary " Lost girl of Brooke's Point", Grecil, turned up with John having travelled for 4 hours on a motorbike to get here after teaching Elementary kids. That's when I shed a tear, having Jhoanna, Kit, Grecil and TJ all together for the first time since we took over the Blue House on 28 April, the day after Grecil's 21 st Birthday celebrations.
I will end with my favourite photo from the party...
Chalsee with his smart new haircut, Julius, The Birthday girl and Kit
I am writing this 24 hours after the party ended and we have just finished clearing up , changing the beds, washing towels etc. from all our overnight guests who left at 4 am! I hope you all got home safely Kit, Chalsee, Grecil, John, Ran, Geralyn and Cyrus!
Jhoanna also wrote to say:
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Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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