Drawing no more

We would usually plan something, but in the end, it'll all end up just a plan. We call it drawing cause it never happens. Many could relate to that for sure. Planning a trip with your friends usually ends in vain, so we call it drawing.

It's been weeks since my college friends and I were talking and planning about going on a trip. We planned to go to a local tourist spot in our province. We deliberated but were still undecided where to go. Someone suggested going to Kawa-kawa, the local tourist spot that is most accessible and the nearest too. But some didn't like the idea, especially me. I didn't like the idea of going to Kawa-kawa because I've been there a lot of times, and I want to go somewhere where I haven't been to. So we changed the plan and someone suggested going to the beach located near one of our friend's houses. But I was hesitant because we don't know how to drive and we do not have a private vehicle. If we go there, it will be hard to go to our friend's house where we plan to spend the night.

Another one wants to go to a Christmas village nearby, but it will be boring too. And finally, one suggested going to our classmate's house. We call her Nanay, a Filipino word that means mom or mother. When we were in college, she's already 50 years old and she's the oldest among us. So we call her Nanay and she treats us like her own children. She doesn't have any child of her own and her husband is working abroad, so we would usually spend our free time at her house. But after we graduated, we had different schedules and priorities and seldom visits her as a group. So we decided to pay her a visit and we would just bring food. That night, our group chat on messenger was too loud, but out of the seven members of the group, only three are determined to go. And the next day, it was indeed was just the three of us who went. We planned to meet each other at the mall at 8:30 am because we shave to shop for the stuff we will bring to Nanay's house. But Filipino time as always, we met there past 9 am. I was the first to arrive at the mall and waited for them. @JulyAnn finally arrived and we decided to go and shop for food while waiting for the other friend.

We went downstairs and entered the supermarket. We initially planned to buy fresh chicken and make it into fried chicken. And we will just purchase another dish from a local restaurant. But when we were already inside the supermarket, we changed our minds. We decided to cook fried chicken and french fries. And for dessert, we will just go with ice cream. We didn't purchase a lot of stuff because we were certain that Nanay will prepare as well like she always does.

We didn't wait for the other friend because he still have some errands to take care of. We proceeded to the jeepney stop and not long after, we reached our Nanay's house. It was only a 10-minute ride away from our town. She's too happy to see us and like we had predicted, she really prepared.

Since my friends are not that good in the kitchen, I was in charge of helping Nanay to prepare the food, while talking about random stuff nonstop and with background music playing.

After the long talks, we were finally done with the first two dishes.

Sinigang was prepared by Nanay. While I cooked the fried chicken. It's my first time to try this dish but it ended up so good (according to them). Every time I cook fried chicken, I would just marinate it in breading mix. But I learned from another friend, the night before to marinate it in a mixture of sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce before coating it with the breading mix. It turned out well for a first-timer.

Nanay also prepared fried mackerel, which I forgot to take a photo of before we ate, stir-fried shrimps and fried banana with cheese. It was a feast I must say. All we did yesterday is eat while telling lots of stories.

After lunch, I cooked the french fries we bought from the market. We decided to move out of the dining area and proceeded to the living room to continue chatting and eating.

This time, we chatted over a bottle of soju. It's actually an alcohol mix I made. If you're curious, it is a mixture of soda (Sprite), Soju, and Delight probiotic drink.

We also had some ice cream which I was craving that day. It was almost 7 pm when we decided to go home.

It was such a great day. We were able to have some fun. Yes, just sitting there, eating, and chatting is my definition of fun. It's exactly what I want because I'm not as exhausted as I would be if we went somewhere strenuous. Most importantly, we were able to pay a visit to a dear friend.

The trip/drawing that had been planned was finally accomplished.