I guess the idea of staycation is really not for me. My theory is that some people who love to stay and spend on hotels are those whose homes/rooms are not as nice and comfortable as those luxury suites. I have a relatively big and pretty bedroom in Pinas (oh how I miss it!) and I wouldn't trade it for any hotel room in the world. In the first place, nandun na lahat ng kailangan ko. Hindi ko na kailangang mag-pack at ma-stress kasi may nakalimutan akong bitbitin. Familiar na rin ako with everything, like the bathroom, so hindi na ako mangangapa. Kaya plano ko talagang pagandahin ang upcoming bedroom namin ni Ford, para hindi na naming gustuhin pang matulog sa iba lol!
Going back, since we were no longer staying in a hotel room and dining out on Christmas eve, we had to come up with a noche buena. I just recently imigrated and wala pa nga kaming bahay so kaunti lang talaga ang kitchen and dining things namin. I had to make do with the few stuff that we have (almost all of which I bought nang paunti-unti sa Dollarama at Walmart haha!).
I am glad our simple table setting came up nice in picture! Kunwari sosyal hahaha! I made a promise to myself that next year, our Christmas eve dinner will be so bongga na talaga.
We didn't wait for 12midnight anymore. I think we ate at 10pm, we were hungry na kasi.
Here's our main handa:
STEAK. Pod and I are steak lovers. This is a perfect handa kasi easy-to-cook na, sossy pa!
BAKED SALMON. Another favorite of ours.
BUTTERED GARLIC SHRIMP. It was the first time I cooked shrimp in my life and I was happy! Ford doesn't eat shrimp though so ako lang ang umubos niyan.
And for desserts, we had chocolates, Selecta ice cream, and leche flan (that we bought at Panciteria de Manila).
We were so full! I hate wasting food so I insisted that we finish everything. Pero di talaga namin kinaya. In fact, my tummy ached so bad that Pod was the only one who cleaned our after-meal mess! Now isn't that the greatest Christmas gift ever? A very good and understanding husband haha!
We spent the rest of Christmas eve talking to our BFF Raxie (who's based in Kuala Lumpur) via Hangouts. I honestly missed her all the more this Christmas. Palagi kasi kaming magkasama tuwing Christmas season, madalas din kahit sa mismong araw ng Pasko. We've been doing that for more than a decade. This year, hindi siya umuwi sa Pinas because 'I am not there.' Hay! I love you, Friend!
Anyway, we woke up really late that following morning. We dressed up and drove to St. Albert to pick Ate June (Ford's distant cousin and our only family here) so we can do Christmas lunch.
Edmonton is really "Deadmonton" pala on Christmas day. As in parang walang katao-tao and most of the establishments (even malls and restaurants) were closed. Malungkot, really.
We ended up eating at Taipan Cafe, one of the many Chinese restaurants here in the "China town area" of Downtown. Bilib din talaga ako sa mga Tsino, walang holi-holiday basta negosyo!
We were so hungry so lapang na naman kami. Chinese restaurants here in Edmonton are generally good (by our standards) and we wondered why Filipino restaurants can't shape up. Oops, that's for another post na lang.
One souvenir shot of our Christmas lunch. By the way, Kuya Rodel joined us nga pala. He is Ate June's trusted friend and helper (mechanic/driver/errand person/etc). He's here on a work visa and we learned that since Canada has this new policy of limited stay for foreign workers, he's going "home" na in 2015. Tsk, we are hoping though na maayos ang papers niya and maging PR (Permanent Resident) siya.
We drove Ate June and Kuya Rodel back to St. Albert after lunch. Ate June was invited by a choir mate to a Chrismas dinner naman so she bought a cake.
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| I will forever be grateful to Ate June for being such a good 'insan' and companion to Ford here in Edmonton... |
I was so touched when Ate June handed us a gift. Haha, ito lang ang kaisa-isang regalong natanggap ko/namin this Christmas! Except syempre sa gifts ni Santa Ford sa akin.
Again, we have no other family and friends here YET kaya walang gift-giving activities. Someday sana magkaroon, I enjoy wrapping gifts kasi. Plus it's always a joy to give (and receive)!
Too bad wala kaming gift for Ate June. I really wanted to get something for her kaso di ko talaga alam kung ano. Next year na lang talaga, when we are more settled na in our own home para mas organized na ang thoughts ko. I also promised her that we'll be having Christmas meals na at home next year.
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| Thanks so muchie for the lunch and gifts, Ate June! Highly appreciated talaga! |
And because we were so full, we immediately went into sleep upon reaching our humble suite. We woke up at around 8pm and Pod was craving for some pancakes. We knew that the nearby Humpty's was open (nadaaanan kasi namin) so we dressed up (again!) and went there.
Di ako papayag na wala kaming maayos na couple pic this Christmas so mega picture uli. This was the most decent one.
We regret spending our Christmas dinner at Humpty's. Sana sa Denny's na lang. Their food doesn't look nice at all and their store was somewhat untidy. Oh well, lesson learned. No more Humpty's from now on.
If there's any consolation, maganda ang color registration nila sa Iphone ko. Haha, I was able to take my official Christmas 2013 selfie! And thanks to iPiccy, naging flawless ako haha!
Christmas may not be as fun here in Edmonton as in the Philippines and Ford and I may not have done something really really special for the holidays but at least we were together and that's all that matters. It was the very first time we've spent Christmas with each other's physical presence (would you believe) and we were grateful.
Cheers to the many more Christmases we'll be celebrating together!
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The only regret I had was that we weren't able to attend mass on Christmas. Promise, sa new year talaga!
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