A Gorilla Blog: At Choco Kiss with Old Friends

I got a call from Rolly that one of our college friends was in town. Dang is here on vacation from Canada. She brought along Baby Emma. Dang suggested we have an early dinner at Chocolate Kiss at the UP Alumni Center this Sunday. UP has always been home base for us since we all went to school there.

Chocolate Kiss at UP Alumni Center

Dang and Baby Emma

Dang and Baby Emma

At the gathering were for Dang and Baby Emma were Rolly, me, Anj and Cerwin, Ate Elvie, Enteng and Luchi. Including Petite and Allan, we're the only ones left here. Everyone else is abroad. (Note: seems Chocolate Kiss is open at the upper floors on weekdays, but on weekends the ground floor is the only one open. Heck, I only knew that now.)

Anj and Cerwin

Luchi and Enteng

We used to have one very big barkada at the UP Institute of Library Science (now the UP Institute of Library and Information Science). Imagine 15 to 20 guys and girls going out to eat during lunch at Beach House, Green House or CASAA. Small college, big barkada. As we got older the group started to include girlfriends, boyfriends and, eventually, spouses. The peeps abroad are Dang and Allan, Bam and Veegee, Jeanette and Troy, John and Abie, Bebs and Arnold, Zyrel and Jho, Abet and Nigel.

Dang and Baby Emma with Rolly

Dang and Baby Emma

Ate Elvie

We started the meal, as per barkada tradition, with a prayer. Usually it's Anj or Bam, and sometimes Jeanette or Ate Elvie, who leads the prayer. Weird as it may seem, a barkada like ours with a wide variety (or absence) of religious beliefs can actually sit down and pray. This time it was Anj who took the reins. Hehehe, she's probably the only one who could actually make us drop forks and say grace. Jeez, you could just imagine the religious discussions we had in college. They weren't pretty. (Yes, we've been called pagans a couple of times.)

Dang and Baby Emma with Rolly

Anj and Cerwin

Dang and Baby Emma

We didn't really miss Allan, who was left in Canada, since Baby Emma looks so much like him. :D

Kuyukots

Kuyukots again

One sad note, though. Anj, Cerwin and the kids are bound for New Zealand within the year, further decimating the ranks of the kuyukots (yes, that's the name of our barkada mailing list... hey, everything else was taken...). :( I also hang out with the hardbound (another barkada mailing list) peeps and the pattern is also starting there as well... :(

Dang and Anj... What do they have in common? Answer: Caesarian births.
They probably scared the hell out of Luchi with their pregnancy stories.