Philippine Trip - Mommy's Birthday

Birthday cupcakes and cake I made for Mommy

The main reason of my trip to Philippines last Christmas was to attend Mom's birthday celebrations. Her birthday is the day before Christmas and it is an opportune time to share her blessings to others. Every year, she gives away 5 kilograms of rice to widows and widowers in the church and her community.

Originally, we planned to have her gathering at a park on a hill.  We changed it the last minute because most of her guests were older and were too weak to hike. Mom's favorite color is purple so my sister decorated the venue with purple and white balloons. I made cupcakes and cake frosted with purple butter cream.  Here are the highlights of her birthday gathering.

Chocolate Overload - A bribe to see more of the Azkals

Two weeks ago, I had this chance to see a qualifying match between Thailand and Philippines for Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2012.  I'm not a crazy sports fanatic but when I found out that the AZKALS were playing, I bought a ticket. The team's soaring popularity got me intrigued. Is their good physique the reason for them being famous? Well, they're in Bangkok to play. I would not miss it for the world.

Fast forward to the night I watched the game.When the AZKALS came out for the first time to do some warm up, I was standing one hop away from them.Yeah boys! I got starstruck  but I made sure I click my camera as they walk past me. I was not able to take good pictures of some and I didn't want to go home without getting a better shot. I made a promise to  the girls  (sister, cousin and friends) that  if they  let me stay a bit longer to meet the AZKALS "backstage" I  would make them a nice dinner. Well, they did but imagine how I felt when I found out that the "backstage" was off-limits to fans. Bummer!

Anyway, a promise is a promise. I cooked an awesome dinner on Friday. I baked brownies loaded with dark chocolate chips. I served it with double dutch ice cream and drizzled them with chocolate syrup. Yum Yum!