It would simply not do to have their company for one measly night.

My time with the Wonders, my college barkada, may be few and far between but we try to make up for it every time. Always, always they are cherished.

Ya, a chef cooked for us delicious vongole pasta. Carbo-conscious Paul took an entire plate for himself. We all had our stories to share: Ya regaled us with her tales of gold plates and her experience cooking for the King of Kuwait at Bayan Palace; Paul about his goal to become a trainer for the stars; Mumai about her fam and career plans; and Nissa on her sorta lovelife.

Too bad Paul could not come with us at our spur-of-the-moment Tagaytay food trip. We were lucky to have The Culinary Couple (Jj, Ya’s bf who is also a chef followed us) supervising our meals. Balinsasayaw turned out to be a disappointment when they didn’t have their barbecued chicken ready. So off we went to Mano’s Greek Taverna for shawarmas, lamb chops, and pasta. It was a better choice as carnivore that I am, miss having lamb. So they watched petite ol’ me, devour my meat. Had French-pressed coffee after at Sanctuario. Lovely. Everyone gleefully said yes to Tonton’s Thai massage. I almost fell asleep where it not for the incessant ringing of some plebian dumb@$$’ phone somewhere. Anyway, we soon went to Taj, an Indian restaurant, where we had samosas, pistachio lassi, and shawarma. Huggz and laughter all around as Jj gave me his absolution over two bottles of wine during our dinner at Bawai, where Vietnamese cuisine could not be more divine. Tucked somewhere in Tagaytay, Bawai offers the ultimate intimate (hihi) dining experience. Ya is friends with the son of the owner so we were able to make reservations. He was very attentive and totally funny with his hapless holdup tale. I can understand why he vowed not to go to Manila till the Fashion Week. We had a simple fare really - Gui Con (shrimp spring rolls), Pho Bo (beef rice noodles) and Banh da Lon (sorta like pandan & mongo beans sapin sapin). I like how the paper-thin wrapping of the roll shows off the shrimp.  With the peanut dip, it’s a very healthy and light dinner treat. The star of the night was the Pho, which was mouth-watering with its broth that must have been brewed for hours. We were quite full already when the Banh da Lon came out but we all managed to have a bite or two (or three and four…) It wasn’t very sweet and pandan flavor was a good complement to such a refreshing meal. Some more talks on potential projects later, we headed for our inn for the night, Eufel. We got a clean room with two beds for only Php 500 for three hours and additional 100 for the next hour. Pretty cheap for Tagaytay eh? The other decent inns usually charge 2500 to 4k a night.

Coming down from Tagaytay, we had to pass by Ya’s house and see her fam again. Cindy, Ya’s younger sister has grown into a lady. To think that I used to borrow Cindy’s shirts. Haha.  I remember the times when we use to stay several nights for our class projects and her mom would welcome us with her yummy pochero (yeah Tita I’ll forever be a fan of your pochero!). We were the class nerds then and I think we still are now. Being nerds has its advantage as we are now each a success in our chosen fields. And how awesome isn’t it to think that I have these wonderful, beautiful, loving nerds at my side still, after all these years?

To cap off everybody’s weekend, Ya baked us her chewy, fragrant chocolate chip cookies to take home to our families. How perfect.

^_^