. . . . . birthday celebration that is. The weekend kicked off with another birthday celebration. I think this will be the last one. Crazy how many there have been in the time I have been here. Yesterday’s birthday girl was Ping. Ping is one of the staff here at Deep Gold, and Ping is AWESOME!! She cooks most of the meals we have here (her banana pancakes are masarap – delicious in Tagalog) and goes out of her way to really take care of us. She’s super friendly and just a lot of fun.
Jack LOVES Ping and asked his mom to make one of her famous Mama Spice birthday cakes for her. So birthday cake time was set for 7:00. We got back from dinner to find that Ping had made a birthday meal, so onto supper round 2. Then, just before the birthday cake, vodka (which had earlier that day been infused with calamansi – like a little lemon) was brought out with shot glasses. Good thing I had had 2 dinners!
This was the first time in 18 years Ping has celebrated her birthday. She was pretty emotional when she told us that at age 6, her mother died 2 weeks after her birthday. Since then her birthday and Christmas have been associated with this, so she never wanted to celebrate. That changed this year, and she really wanted to have fun. I’m pretty sure she did and I’m glad we were able to share in giving this gift to her.
So, it was the usual Mama Spice cake, followed by a dance party and topped off this time by some night swimming. There’s a list of things I’m going to miss when I leave and our dance parties are definitely on that list.
The rest of the week went along as usual. It’s settled into a new routine and it’s actually kind of nice having just the three of us. I’ve been spending many of my evenings in the restaurant and the girls have started to teach me Tagalog. I don’t tend to pick up languages very quickly yet, so I can be seen carrying around a couple sheets of paper of phrases that they have written down for me. I’m pretty good at ordering my coconut shake in the mornings!
Speaking of coconut shakes, if we can ever find someone to climb a tree and get us some coconuts, we are going to do a coconut cleanse next week. All coconuts (and only coconuts) all the time. That one should be a lot more enjoyable than brown rice.
Party with the Deep Gold Girls.
This is Sara – the third student in our group at the moment.
Ping made a feast for her own birthday!
Our birthday feast (and my round 2 of supper).
Another delicious Mama Spice cake.
There was a bit of crying at the party as Ping shared her story.
Ping’s ready for a celebration!
CHEERS : )
Even though the resort isn’t empty, no one really comes up during our dance parties.
Goofing around “Gangnam” style.
Happy Birthday Ping!!!