Wandergirl Speaks

Two weeks ago—July 25—my daughter Aiesha finally had her christening at the UST church. It was supposed to have had happened on July 18 in time for my birthday but some unfortunate event had befallen my family that forced me to move the baptismal rite the following week.

But regardless, the show must go on, so they say.

To be honest, the preparation was a mix of chaos and fun. First of all, I didn’t realize there were no giveaways ready the night before the event. Good thing my sister reminded me about it and offered to go to Divisoria on the morning of July 25 to buy some tokens.

Second, while my husband and I bought Aiesha her baptismal dress weeks ahead I didn’t realize that the color we have chosen (purple) was very much unfit for the occasion. And so I had to rush to SM Manila—also on the morning of July 25—to buy her another dress. Imagine I had to be at the mall by 10:00 AM and rush back home to make it to the 10:45 baptismal rite…lolz.

By the time I got home everyone’s frantic but we still made it on time. We even had some more time taking pictures with the baby as we waited our turn. We paid for a private baptismal ceremony because we wanted it to be very solemn and intimate. It was less stressful at the church, plus it lasted only for less than an hour.

Aiesha in her pink dress

After the rite followed everyone’s favorite part, the reception at Cabalen along West Avenue. Oh can I just say that our reservation at Cabalen was done only two weeks before the event. I’m glad they still had available spots when I phoned them in and requested for a lunch buffet.

Aiesha's welcome tarp...

The girl who accommodated us was very nice. In fact, when we made our down payment and decided to have dinner at the place she gave me and my husband sisig and bottomless iced tea as complimentary. Isn’t that nice?!

They also provided cake, balloons, and text banner for the event as freebies for the package we guaranteed. The freebies were ok. Nothing so special but atleast we didn’t have to bother ourselves with it and spend additional amount to get them.

cake courtesy of Cabalen

The food wasn’t too great. It was just ok. Actually, I didn’t get to eat much because I had to carry the baby while the guests lined at the buffet and hubby was doing the photography so he was busy, too.

the giveaways

I was expecting more in terms of the food. Like perhaps they’re going to have crispy lechon just like on their ordinary days, but they didn’t have one that day. Nonetheless, I did like the ginataang alimango, grilled catfish, my all-time favorite ensaladang mangga (though I wished they refilled more), relleno tilapia, and crablets.

Two things here, I hope they wouldn’t schedule too many events in a day. Because when we got there I realized there were like 4 of us holding a party, all for baptismal. So the place was really jampacked and the staff became all too busy that I really had to make an effort to ask for a softdrink refill. And finally, since they have expected hundreds of guests they should be extra timely in refilling the food trays.