holidays with friends

This year in London was all about partying with friends! Having family a Skype or Facebook call away eases some of the loneliness of living overseas, but having friends living in the same city means that the holidays don't have to be lonely at all.

Over the holiday season we attended some very different events! We were very lucky to get invited to the Don Papa's Christmas celebration at Romulo Café, which was our ultimate definition of a party: amazing food, great venue, karaoke and, of course, very good drinks.

Half of the party were Europeans who were astonished at the sheer volume of food we Filipinos could consume: crispy pata, lechon kawali, chicken relleno, crispy tilapia, laing, kare-kare, sotanghon, and of course buckets of rice. (Pictures a little blurred - from overexcitement, or hunger?)

I didn't even remember to take a picture of my own plate until I had dug into it most voraciously. So here's a pretty stock photo from their website instead.

We had a brief break between courses to talk up a storm and take some selfies of our glamorous selves...

...and then it was time for dessert! Two time-honoured Bacolod favourites: halo-halo and sans rival, presented á la mode.

After dessert we relaxed with more drinks plus some raucous gift-giving and that favourite Pinoy pastime, karaoke!

Very pleased with my Don Papa t-shirt (and my 92% score after singing We Built This City).

The wild parties over, our Christmas Day celebrations were much cosier and quieter. Dinner for two with fine foodie friend Jamie was all home-made, but restaurant quality.

Cold cider, roast pork, potatoes and gravy, stuffed roast apples, balsamic-honey-glazed carrots, kale and cabbage and Brussels sprouts...and Yorkshire puddings made from scratch!

In British fashion, we pulled Christmas crackers, putting on the paper crowns inside and reading the silly jokes to each other.

My return gift to Jamie for her wonderful dinner was...maybe not totally selfless. But she loved it!

Simple, by Diana Henry

An awesome few hours of crazy partying...a restful three days at home with good food, comfort viewing and heart-to-heart chats. It feels so good to spend time with wonderful friends who are good at both!

Happy Holidays!