Cousins.

My aunt Lety and cousins Liezl and Sergio arrived from Washington last Tuesday night. My parents and I picked them up at the airport. I was so excited to see them because I literally haven't seen them in years. The last time I saw Tita Lety was about 11 years ago, during her last visit here in Manila. Same with Ate Liezl, as she was also with Tita Lety during that visit. Kuya Serge was the one that I hadn't seen since I was 8 years old, back when I visited them in the US with my mom and brother.

It was easy to spot Ate Liezl and Tita Lety the moment they appeared at the arrival area. Kuya Serge was the one I hardly recognized, because I haven't even seen pictures of him after our visit. He was quiet, but wore a thin smile the whole time we were standing there, waiting for the van to pick us up. He knew my mom, and of course my dad because they introduced themselves while I was still talking to Ate Liezl. The moment we were all seated in the van, he sat next to me and whispered, "Who are you?" Hahahaha, so of course I had to tell him which cousin I was. No one could really blame him, as he hasn't set foot in the Philippines since they left the country in 1978 (or was it 1979?). Yep, I have a cousin who's 13 years old than I am, but still acts like about 10 years younger sometimes, hahaha. Ate Liezl is 2 years younger than Kuya Serge, but she still looks like she's in her twenties.

We had a lot of relatives come over at our house last Wednesday, as a sort of reunion for Tita Lety, Kuya Serge and Ate Liezl. I woke up at 7 in the morning to the sound of my phone ringing, and it was my nephew Artem calling to say that he was on his way to our house that very moment. By noon, there were lots of people in our house. At one point during the morning while Kuya Serge was sitting next to me, he always kept asking me in a whisper who was this and who was that, so that he won't mix up people's names. It was so fun, because some of our cousins that we haven't seen in a while (like Artem, but he's really a nephew) were there, we were all eating, drinking, talking and laughing the whole time.

Yesterday, Tita Beng and I went with Tita Lety, Kuya Serge and Ate Liezl to Cavite City to visit our grandparents' graves at Himlayang Caviteno. Tita Zenia even joined us for a while with some goodies to snack on. We headed to SM Bacoor for lunch, and it was hilarious how Tita Lety and Tita Beng zoomed in on this place at the food court that sold fish dishes, while my cousins and I settled at Tokyo Tokyo. We were talking about how they feel as if I would love it in Seattle, and I know I would too. Eventually we came to an agreement about my next visit to Seattle. I can't wait.

This morning, the 3 of us woke up early to walk to the Philamlife park to jog. Tita Lety and Tita Beng walked with us to the next village, and then we all set off on our different paces. I haven't jogged in ages, so I was pretty out of shape, but I managed to keep up with Ate Liezl even though I slowed down a bit. When we were done going around the path a few times, Kuya Serge then taught me some exercises that I could do to target certain areas of my body. Huwaw, it was like I had 2 trainers with me at the park, hahaha. I was sweating like a pig, but it felt great. When we were done, Dad drove my aunts back home, but my cousins and I opted to walk the whole way back. While we were walking, it was so flattering how they said that they could take me anywhere, as I'm pretty easy to please. Hey, I'm a simple girl with simple pleasures, hahaha.

I joined them again when they went to SM Mall of Asia during late afternoon today until early evening. I had an intimate cast "party" for Para hindi mo ito maintindihan with Jenny, Betty and Opa at Jenny's house during the early afternoon, but I managed to catch up with my aunts and cousins. Walked around the mall, shopped a little, and walked around some more until my aunts got tired and decided to just stay put on a bench while we kept on going around. Kuya Serge was like such a little kid, just walking around on his own and kept curiously staring (not looking, but staring) at things, hahaha.

We decided to grab dinner at Highlands Steakhouse. They food was a little pricey, but they didn't mind, because the servings were really huge. Hehe, Ate Liezl and I even had Mai Tais with our steaks, and I can't believe I finished the whole thing, including the side dishes. Huwaw, now that's what I call a good dinner.

One funny thing. Ever since Kuya Serge found out what our birth names were, he insisted on calling me and Ate Shang as Christine and Kathrina. Hahaha, it still takes a little bit of getting used to. And he even told us not to call him Kuya, and just Serge, but I still insist on calling him Kuya Serge.

Time to hit the sack. Need to wake up early for second day of jogging tomorrow.