Because this year, both my brother Kuya Toto and my cousin Kuya Ritchie had come home from abroad (California and Qatar, respectively), we decided to all hang out together at Kuya Ritchie's house in Cavite City along with Kuya Butch and Ate Shang.

Hehehe, ever since we were born, the three guys have been inseperable, and the same goes for me with Ate Shang.

Anyway, per usual, the guys wanted a drinking session, and then I realized that I was the one that has always been clean and sober (heck, not even carbonated drinks, hello?). Ate Shang was a social drinker, so of course she'd join in. Hahaha, I've been using this worn out excuse that I was allergic to alcohol due to skin asthma, and heck, even I don't buy it.

Tito Edel and Nanay Beth had prepared a huge spread just for us, along with the help of Tito Erning. I then thought, well, why not just sit with everyone while they drink, and just pig out on the food?

So after lunch, the guys took their places on the front yard, at the sunshaded table under the tree. Ate Shang and I joined in because we wanted to watch the tequila drinking. The last time the 3 guys got together for a drinking session, Kuya Ritchie had noticed that Kuya Toto was the only one left who could still stand up. Hehehe, yeah, go bro! So this time, Kuya Ritchie decided on revenge. He wanted my brother really drunk. He can't force Kuya Butch because he's our designated driver. We watched them go shot after shot of tequila, while I munched on pistacchio nuts and fishballs and kikiam.

Then Tito Erning went over to us bringing a couple of bottle of Smirnoff. Ate Shang immediately got one of the bottles for herself, while I completely ignored it. Heck, there was water and Sprite anyway, hahaha.

But when I finally got thirsty, the Sprite only had a quarter left, and it was out of reach. So I asked Ate Shang if I could take a little sip from her glass of Smirnoff. Oh well, it tasted OK, so we shared the 2nd bottle. Kuya Ritchie then returned with more, along with some other vodka mix. The blueberry flavored one tasted like cough syrup, but I liked it, and the orange and passion fruit flavored one tasted a bit like Ponkana, hahaha.

I didn't realize how many I was drinking until Nanay Beth's nephew tried to clear the table of empty bottles. 5? 7?

"Ano, isa pa?"
"Sige lang, parang wala lang rin naman eh."

The last bottle of orange and passion fruit vodka mix tasted totally different from the last one. Ew, so that's the only time I stopped and went for the food again. Gak, I ate too much.

Hahaha, success, Kuya Ritchie got Kuya Toto drunk, and himself as well. Kuya Butch spent quite a while taking a nap or talking on his cell phone. They had actually finished the entire bottle of tequila and half a bottle of Fundador. My golly, if we went out to a bar, imagine how much they had spent by now. And Kuya Ritchie was hilarious. He kept singing "Enteng Kabisote" over and over, and whenever they talked, his words wouldn't register with Kuya Toto. The best part was when they popped in the Spandau Ballet CD. WOOOHOOO!

5... 4... 3... Open sesame! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's gonna be a happy new year...

Here's to 2006, y'all!