Good day everyone! I am still feeling so overwhelmed because I was able to spend precious time with people who are so dear to me.
At exactly midnight of March 16, my parents knocked on my room's door. It has always been our style to wait for 12MN to greet a family member who's celebrating his/her birthday. So when I opened the door, I was surprised to see a birthday cake on the table. You can check my post HERE.
In the morning of my special day, I and my parents went to church to pray and thank God for all the blessings and for granting me another year in this world. Santo Niño church is usually the church we go to during my birthday. I have a special attachment to the child Jesus because he was done wonders in my and my family's life.
Above is a picture of the most important people in my life, my parents. Having them by my side through the years made my life extra special. I am so blessed to have such cool and loving parents as them. I love how they brought me up and I love how they're not only my parents, but my best friends as well. They're understanding and accepting and I love them so much.
After going to the church, we went home directly because instead of eating out, we decided to have a small gathering together with some really close friends.
The FOOD
My mama's spaghetti is the best in the world! <3 I remember one of my student's in the English Academy back then told her that it's his first time to eat spaghetti as delicious as this! I don't know why, but my birthday is incomplete without my mama's spaghetti. It is also a custom in the Philippines to have something like pasta during birthdays because it'll provide the celebrant a long life.
Mama and papa bought me this chocolate rainbow cake, aside from the carrot cake my guy best friend bought for me. I have been using the name "Tegoshei" for almost 10 years now. Although it's not my real name, it has created another character of me... a character which isn't very far from the real me, only more sociable and crazier... perhaps?
Here's papa's fried chicken! This is a perfect pair for mama's spaghetti. I also really love fried chicken, especially if it's papa's friend chicken! <3 Most of my Japanese and Korean friends love it, too. My friend's kids also love papa's fried chicken. I am really lazy when it comes to cooking, so I am very happy to have awesome parents who can cook really well and enjoys cooking as much as I enjoy eating. lol
Here's another birthday cake for me. This was the one my guy best friend and his wifey bought for me. I am really surprised with this because Carrot Cake from Leona's is actually my favorite. I haven't told him about it and he didn't know either. It must be instinct and fate between best friends? lol
Some fruits to add up to our vitamins? hihi~ aside from these, there was another dish which I fail to take a picture of and another friend of mine bought some ice cream as well. Happy tummy, indeed.
My Gifts
Here's a cute foxy for my coffee. Thanks a bunch ate Jayz (
). Some Steemian friends came over with ate Jayz, too. 
and 
... Thanks for coming. :) I hope these three ladies come back to Steemit, soon. hahahaI don't really like accessories, but I always wear rosary bracelets. Last year, I bought some rosary bracelets for me to wear and this time, I wanted to buy it again. However, my mama paid this for me. It has March birthstone for the beads. To be honest, I don't pray the rosary... but I really feel protected every time I wear this. It's not in the religion nor in the religion's practices, but it's in the belief someone has in his/her heart. I might not be very religious, but I believe in my God.
Among the special people who came yesterday was Sister Rose. Unfortunately, we couldn't take a picture yesterday because we were just enjoying talking with each other and catching up. Sister Rose gave me these gifts. She was the guidance counselor in our high school before and I and my high school friends enjoy hanging out in her office. We don't know why, but we really feel at ease talking with her. She's like a mother and a friend to us, so we really enjoyed spending time with her last night, too.
She gave me this rosary bracelet, a purse and key chain from her hometown and chocolates. I am so happy to receive these gifts from her. Thanks a lot Sister Rose and her niece, Jessa, for spending time with us. We'll visit you soon, sister. We love you! <3
School supplies!!! Yes, I got some of these from my friends and others from mama, papa and myself. Instead of accepting presents from them, we asked my friends to buy some school supplies instead. One of my family friends is hosting a charity event to give school supplies for 60 children on the 23rd, so we took this chance to help. Thank you family and friends for the donation. A lot of children will be happy with this. <3
The Celebration
My visitors came by batch because of their different schedules. Among the earliest were my guy best friend, his wifey and another brother from another parents, Kuya Joseph. We talked and ate first... then around 6:30, my guy best friend had to fetch Sister Rose from school because she didn't know where our house is.
At around seven, guy best friend and wifey went home because it's wifey's mom's birthday, too. I am just so loved because they still celebrated my special day together. Around that time, my bff from high school came together with my godchild. <3 Sister Rose and her niece were at home that time, too. They ate while we were chatting and catching up. It was so fun... as if we just left high school and nothing happened in between. hihihi
After a while, my steemian friends came... so Sister Rose and others went to the terrace to talk while I entertained my steemian friends. I was walking back and forth. lol how did I become this busy??? I didn't hate it, though
Another high school friend arrived later. My high school friends that came were more of sisters to me than friends. They often come over and everyone feels so at home already. It was such a nice atmosphere.
At around 9PM, Sister Rose and Jessa had to go back to the convent because they weren't allowed to stay out later than that. I'm just so pleased to have these wonderful people around me. I feel so loved. Ate Jayz, Nina and Rona also went home around that time, so only my high school friends were left at home. So the whole place was ours!!!
During this time, we were able to take a bunch of pictures. We were simply talking about life and other things. And as you may have noticed,
my bestie who lives in the US is also in the picture. We were having a video chat by then, and of course, distance will never break our friendship and our chance to celebrate important events together.My bestie and my high school friends are also friends because we all once volunteered in helping some typhoon victims years ago. And even if my high school friends cannot relate to my and my bestie's anime addiction, there are still a lot of things that we all can talk about. And ohh, I'm friends with my bestie's high school friends, too. <3
All in all, I had a blast. Aside from all these lovely people who gave their time to celebrate my special day with me, there were also a lot of people dear to my heart who sent me a message and greeted me on my special day. I received some LINE messages from special people and friends who wished me a happy birthday. It really means a lot to me. I feel so loved and blessed to have awesome friends who I can call my family.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. :) I hope to spend time with them again. Well, we don't need a special occasion to gather and catch up... right? I love you guys!!! I am truly glad I was born and got the chance to meet you, awesome people! <3
Thanks for reading and yeah~ have to catch up with my anime review... :) Hopefully, I can do the part two of my MUSHISHI REVIEW part 1. じゃあね～