Cool Cousin

Unprompted, this feature suddenly popped up on my FB reel.

What makes this reel special is that it features my cousin and their family restaurant in BCN.

Cristy is part of the 3rd generation of Bofarruls who are running Los Caracoles. And it's great to see how much they've embraced on-line marketing and advertising, but in a very authentic and organic way.

Proud cousin here.

Just Be-cous

Another perk of celebrating Mom's 80th birthday in Bicol?

Getting together with the Regalado cousins!

No exaggeration, it's been decades since some of us saw each other. When I last saw Mary Jane, we were just teeners!

What's amazing is the fact that the cousins in the photo is just a fraction of the Regalados. This is just 1/4th, or even less.

Looking forward to a bigger reunion with the cousins soon!

Familia es Amor!

Spending more time with family - especially those who live afar - is one of the biggest realisations from the past 3 years.

It's something that our family from Spain is really taking to heart. Thus, they made a pact to come and visit us in MNL as often as they could.

They started March 2022, and this March, they came back! It was lovely to see them all again, and even nicer because we got to see other cousins who we haven't seen in a while. (Like Harold & Jun Jun.)

Que bueno verte y volver a verte pronto!

Personali-Tees

Last Sunday, the Spanish crew asked me to accompany them to the big Uniqlo store in Greenbelt 5. They said that the Uniqlo store in BCN isn't that big, and is expensive. And having experienced how big and more affordable Uniqlo is in MNL, they wanted to buy a "few" things.

Of course, "few" wasn't an accurate term.

We spent almost 4 hours in Uniqlo! They were browsing, then fitting, then buying, then browsing, then fitting, then buying...

In the span of time they were in the store, I had enough time to design and have these personalised shirts printed!

And, by the time these shirts were printed, they still weren't done! Harhar!

While I left the store with these 2 cool shirts, they walked out with 6 big bags of clothes.

How's that for "few"?

Cousins x Cousins

Our family is blessed to have cousins who are very close to us. We're so close that even if we haven't seen each other in decades, we catch up as if we just met last week. We pick up where we left off, and it feels like we were never apart.

Yesterday, we had lunch that represented 2 generations of cousins. 

First, Dad & Mom with their cousin, Tita Sally.

Second, Kuya & me with our cousin, Victor.

Victor and I were constant playmates when we were kids. I'd spend weekends at their house in Merville and we'd often bike from Merville to Moonwalk and back. After college, they moved to Canada, and didn't see each other for decades. Actually, last year was the 1st time I saw Victor in more than 30 years.

But as the conversations flowed, it didn't feel like that at all. Again, it felt like picking up where we left off. Both for us and for our parents.

That's the great thing about close cousins.

Family size

When my cousins from BCN visited last March, one of the things that amazed them is how our Coca-Cola products come in a wide range of sizes.

The 1.5l bottles is something common place in Spain. But what they really found cool are the Swakto bottles. They found it so cute, they had to bring some home!

Whether it's for a fam of five, or just one person, there's definitely a Coke product for each member of the family.

Shoe-biz

Interesting piece of trivia from mi prima, Esther. My nephew, Marcos, is an aspiring cobbler.

She showed me his shoe creations, and the boy has talent.

Because of that, I gave him a book on different iconic shoes and the shoe designs that changed the way they're made.

Then, my cousin asked me if I could find shoe tools that he can use. And because of the proximity of Marikina, I was able to.

Hopefully, these will inspire him to make more beautiful shoes soon.

Spain is Plain

Plains & Prints, that is.

It's no secret that my sisters are huge Plains & Prints fans. But now, they have a new set of international admirers.

My cousins from Spain!

I gave them Plains & Prints dresses as a going away present, and they loved, loved, LOVED them!

The Plain is now in Spain!

Two weeks noticed

For some people, 2 weeks seem like a long time.

But what I've noticed - and something Mark would always say - "Time flies when you're having fun."

And for the past 2 weeks, we really had a lot of fun with my Tita and cousins from Spain.

We had so much fun that we didn't notice that 2 weeks had passed and it was time for them to fly back to Spain. Today.

Fue genial pasar tiempo contigo. Te veo de nuevo pronto!

Feliz Cumpleanos adelantado!

When I was booking Raffles for my Spanish relatives, the reservations person asked me: "Is there a special occasion that any of the guests are celebrating while they're here?"

That's when I remembered that my cousin - Yoly - celebrates her birthday in March. In particular, March 27!

That's a few days shy of their flight back to Spain. But that didn't stop us from celebrating early and greeting her in advance.

Feliz Cumpleanos adelantado, Prima! Glad that you were able to spend part of your birthday here with us!

La familia es amor

The last time we got together with all my cousins from Barcelona was in 2013.

And tonight, fresh from their flight from BCN, we finally got together with Tita Evelyn, Eve, Cristy, Esther and Yoly again!

Es bueno verlos a todos! 

Double 8, Double celebration

It's a rarity in our family that 2 cousins share the same birthday. 

But it happened for the Morales clan.

I've mentioned this before but it's worth mentioning again. Today is the birthday of 2 of the Morales cousins.

First is Cristy who's all the way in BCN.

Then, there's Harold who's currently in the US.

Have a doubly happy birthday Prima y Primo!

I can rel8!

Today is August 8 or 8-8, which is an auspicious date for the Chinese.

But 88 has a lot of other meanings for me.

The house number of our first house was 88.

I have 2 cousins - Cristina and Harold - who are celebrating their birthday on 8-8.

So yes, it’s a good date. A very good date.

Double Double

Today is an auspicious day for the Chinese.

August 8, or 8/8, is doubly lucky. The number 8 is the luckiest number for the Chinese, and having two of it doubles everyone's luck today.

But that's not the only double today. There's also a double birthday!

Two of my cousins - Cristy and Harold - both celebrate their birthdays on 8/8.

Happy Birthday Prima y Primo! Here's to double luck and happiness to both of you!

Spanish Saturday

One of the best ways to spend Saturday is with the company of family, especially when some of the family members are people you only see once in a long time.

Tonight was one of those Saturdays. Our almost-whole family (Biboy is in the U.S.) had dinner with Tita Evelyn, Esther and Yoly, and Ricky and Jake arrived, too. Needless to stay, it was a story-filled and nostalgia-laden evening.

Next time, our family should go to Barcelona to have another get together like this.

FMM: Yo quiero!

My cousins and Tita from Barcelona are in town! We had dinner the other day, and I had a chance to practice a bit of my Spanish again.

In once conversation, we were talking about the Spanish songs we still remember, and that led me to today's Friday Magic Madness song, which is a very, very old song from Carmen Miranda.



But of course, people remember the T. Rio version, which is quite a throwback, too.



Either way, I still can't get enough of this song. Especially now.

Mighty Bond

Since the two Morales kids from the US - Kai-kai and Noah - arrived almost 2 weeks ago, they've spent most of their time bonding with their Manila based cousins. Whether it's watching a chick-flick, riding a zip-line, swimming or simply sleeping over, they've become virtually inseparable.

Seeing them together reminds me of times when our US based cousins - Nene and Lee - would visit Manila and we'd spend as much time together as well.

It's cool how 2 generations get to experience the same thing.

Cannibalism

My cousins from Barcelona brought along with them a big stash of our favorite Spanish treats. Among them were Turones de Jijona, Jamon Serrano, anchovy stuffed olives, and this:

Yes, my cousins have a sense of humor.

I wonder if eating these Filipinos constitute cannibalism?