Before Meeting with Mitzie & Steph

Mitzie, Steph and I had a long lunch at Seven Corners before Mitzie boarded her plane in the evening.  The previous night, while Nards was at the UPM anniv party, I was on the phone with her most of the evening.  We agreed to do some last minute shopping with Steph in Galleria, then lunch, then a hotel car will drive her to the airport.

I picked up Nards from the party past 2AM.  When I got there, he was buzzed, as was most of his org mates to whom he introduced me.  It was funny, I even saw one of his older org mates, sitting out front, clearly in a drunken stupor, with a wreath of leaves on his head.  I drove home, and the two of us had soup at 3AM.  We were supposed to get up at 7AM and have breakfast with Mitzie.  Clearly, that wasn't going to happen, but I was still hoping.

I set my alarm at 7AM and a second alarm at 7:15AM.  Of course, I slept through it.  Even turned it off in my sleep.  I woke up at 11AM, rolled over to check my watch.  It took me a minute to remember everything.  I was terribly late!  I quickly scrambled out of bed, took the fastest shower in history, made a quick decision to leave Nards to recover from last night, tossed some stuff in my bag, and grabbed the nearest camera bag.  (Thank heavens, it contained a camera with a battery and a card.  Last time I did that, I forgot the card and spare battery.)

To my amazement, I found a good parking spot, very near the mall entrance, despite the day being a holiday (presidential inauguration) and the time (lunch <-- lahat ng tao nasa mall na).

Then I realized I forgot my cellphone, and I had no way to get in touch with either of the girls.  So I went back to the basement parking, to the bank of payphones and called home, hoping that Nards would get up to answer it.  I learned a new thing: local phone calls via payphones are Php1.00 per minute. I still remember when it costs 75 centavos for 3 minutes (cue Dingdong Avanzado).  To make a long story short, Nards called Steph and Mitzie using my cellphone and he told them where I was.

Finally, I met with them.  I was slightly frazzled but recovered when we got to Mitzie's hotel room and I nibbled on the cheesecake she ordered for me from room service.

Then I took portraits.

Okay, first of all, Mitzie is not the easiest subject to photograph.  I took a total of 135 pictures, and only got less than 30 usable photos.  Steph and I had a great time with the impromptu shoot.  Mitzie broke out in cold sweat.  And I think there was a near panic attack hidden there somewhere.

My lunch: roast beef sandwich.  I didn't feel like taking on the buffet. 

A couple of hours later, Mitzie left for the airport and Steph and I went home.  I was utterly exhausted. 

Can't wait for her next visit :D  Let's go to Ilog Maria na.