An Engagement Party and My Blouse

Just a post back, I wrote of the champagne-colored blouse I bought at Marks and Spencer for the engagement party. Lo and behold, when I got to the party, a classmate who was there ahead of me pointed to her blouse -- it was the exact same one, but some ten sizes smaller. We laughed about the coincidence which might have made us cry if we were teens. And we had parallel stories to tell re their purchase.

When our classmate invited us to the engagement party of her daughter who's marrying a Chinese, she stipulated that black and white get-ups were verboten. Coincidentally, the classmate with the same blouse as I also bought the blouse for the occasion, except that she first went to Greenbelt and had to go to Glorietta because the size available in Greenbelt was all right except for the sleeves (puff with a cuff) that were a tad too tight. Remember, I also had to request for a bigger size which was taken from megamall while I waited in Shangrila because the sleeves of the blouse available in Shang were too tight? And by the way, with her blouse she also wear brown pants, I guess because black was forbidden. Funny... (our host and another classmate liked our blouse and said they'd get the same. funny again.)

Re the lunch. As with most five-star hotel buffets, the buffet in Spiral of Sofitel Hotel (formerly Philippine Plaza) was overwhelming in terms of quantity. My husband was the one who got the food so except for those he put on my plate and his, I have no idea what else were available, though on our way out, I noticed some pretty desserts and chided him a bit for not getting them. He said I might not like them, but they looked so pretty. I'd have wanted to try them at least. Anyway...

The Japanese sushis and sashimis were good, as was the Japanese fried rice. I also liked the hakao and the asado covered with a sweetish crust. I wanted to have more of the latter except that it ran out. There was roast beef and lechon served not with the liver sauce but with hoisin. Yummy. My companions during the lunch were very careful about what they ate and it was a bit tiring listening to them. Why not enjoy the buffet, I thought? One was perpetually asking for warm water to "down" the food. How finicky. Other entrees I saw on their plate were skewered stuff like those in Japanese restaurants. these were fried and yet they got them. So much for the crap on healthy food. oops.

The desserts were what particularly excited me. I especially liked the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies which were warm and chewy. I think I ate 3 pieces of those. They were tiny. The oatmeal cookies were quite a treat as well. The ice cream excited my classmate with the same blouse, so I thought I'd try it too. She had ube and pistachio and was swooning about them. As husband left to get the ice cream one of our companions suggested drizzling it with pistachio nuts. Good suggestion. The pistachio ice cream was nice, but the ube -- I couldn't taste. It could have been anything.

There were lots of fruits but I didn't take any. There was one fruit (they were peeled and cubed, so I am not aware how it looks on the outside) that was white and had black specks that looked like sesame seeds. I can't remember now who asked the waiter what it was, to be told it was "dragon fruit." Husband said it had no taste.

Initially, to save our hosts from having to pay soft drinks for me, I decided to simply have water. But the waiters/waitresses took so long to refill our glasses with tepid water at that, that I was convinced to order Coke which I shared with same-blouse friend.

As most everyone spoke of Rolex watches, menopause, hysterectomies, I silently listened, my mind occasionally wandering off to thoughts other than those being discussed. The desserts were very good.