More Than Just a Meal: A Buffet of Memories with My Childhood Besties

Hello dear Hivers! 💖 Hope you’re having a wonderful day! ☺️ I'm going to share a truly special moment from a recent weekend: a reunion with my best friends since elementary school. You know how life gets busy with work and being an adult, but some friendships just last forever, right? It's really special to still have those friends from when you were little kids in school.

This past weekend, my amazing friends Coleen, Jason, and I met up for dinner at The Alley by Vikings at Ayala Malls Cloverleaf in Quezon City, Philippines. We got there right when they opened at 5 PM, ready for some serious catching up and, of course, a fantastic buffet! Walking into The Alley, you immediately feel excited with all the delicious smells. It's like a food adventure with so many choices from all over the world.

The Alley is truly great because it has everything: from vibrant Asian dishes to comfy Western foods. We quickly got our favorites: creamy baked mac, tasty baked scallops, various sushi, yummy dumplings, and pizza. We also saved room for cakes, ice cream, and other sweet treats. We even had some drinks to start the evening. Honestly, there were so many kinds of food that we wanted to try them all, but we got full so fast. It's a nice problem to have when everything looks and smells so good!

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Our talk just flowed easily, like the food. It felt amazing to just pick up right where we left off, like no time had passed. We talked about everything from catching up on our lives now and work, to laughing about lots of funny moments from the past. We remembered silly things we did in elementary school, and even talked about our old teachers. It was so comforting, sharing those stories that only we, as a group, really understand.

What made this get-together even more special was that we managed to include our good friend Jade, who's working all the way in Qatar. We have our group chat where we update each other. We knew we couldn't have this dinner without him, so we video-called him right there from our table. It felt so normal to see his face on the phone, even though he was many miles away.

We made sure to show him the food and turned the phone around so he could see Coleen, Jason, and me laughing and having a good time. His smile on the screen made our night even happier. It was really important for us to make him feel like he was right there with us, sharing the laughter and good feelings. Seeing his familiar face, even with the big distance between us, just showed how strong our bond truly is.

We even enjoyed some cocktails to kick off the evening! ✨

The whole feeling of the night was really comforting, nostalgic, and joyful. It's special how our friendship has lasted since Grade 1. We went through elementary and high school, and now, even though college and our jobs have taken us to different places, we still make sure to find time to catch up and meet up. It just proves that distance really can't break our friendship.

We're already thinking about our next get-together. When Jade comes back to the Philippines, we're planning a bigger trip. Maybe we'll visit places that are usually a bit far from our area. And who knows? We even hope to go travel internationally together someday! That would be a dream trip with my favorite people, making even more great memories together.