Friday, February 20, 2009

Manalo Christmas Party

I always look forward to our annual Christmas party because of the great food, fun prizes, exchange gift, the videoke singing, bingo, all-afternoon munching, great food...did I say great food? Yes, the great food!
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Party rules:
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1) It's potluck. Mommy always brings roast turkey, lolo Erning provides the lechon, there's also kare-kare, barbecue, roast beef, etc.
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2) Each family should also prepare at least one game and provide the prizes.
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3) Every year, one family is assigned to organize the party. Last year was tito Toto's family's turn and the theme was Sportsfest so we all came in our best trying-to-be-athletic (at least for me!) attire.
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Best in costume na sana...kaya lang wala namang prize. Heehee!
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The Manalo boys.
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The Manalo boys again with tita Vicky and tita Lori.
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Yey! Angel is here! Fresh from hospital duty at wala pang tulog.
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Jof and Gel.
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My favorite girls: Angel, Aly and Gabbi.
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Mommy the muse, Angel, daddy the team manager and Jof.
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We always start the program with a short prayer. Then we proceed to the games. First, let's meet the different teams, shall we? Teams are named after my dad and his siblings.
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Team Vicky. Tito Eric, Erwin, my favorite ninang Vicky, Ervic and Jeric.
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Team Bernie. Mommy, Mick, Angel, Daddy, Jof, Richard, Alyannah, Krisan.
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Team Bobby. Tito Bob, Moses, Joanne. Gabbi, Chig. Not in photo: Kokoy. Late kasi.
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Team Alice. Nica, Alfred, tito Danny, tita Alice. Not in photo: Nanie. Absent.
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Team Toto. Joshua, tita Turibs, Jeff, Jay, tito Toto.
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The hosts.
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Our first game...tug-of-war. Wow! Talagang sportsfest and dating! Here's Team Toto preparing for the first game.
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Mga apo sa tuhod ni Ernesto Manalo.
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My favorite shot. We all moved to the lawn area para daw mas safe in case may mga matumba, madapa, etc.
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The referee. First round was Team Bernie vs. Team Vicky.
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This was the last shot I took before...
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...
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...the rope broke. Sayang, I wasn't able to take a photo of the two teams lying flat on the grass. Buti na lang nasa damo sila. Hehe!
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What to do now? Nagpabili muna sila ng bagong lubid.
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The Committee de Pakialamero (that was practically every one present) stepped in to offer their suggestions/solutions/pang-gulo/pang-asar to the situation.
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Si daddy may nakitang lubid na nakasabit...
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..and asked Ervic to try and reach for it...
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...but they decided that they can't use it.
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My anak and my inaanak Rachel and Gab.
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Big Moe mukhang siga...
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...talaga naman! Super cute!
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Okay, the new rope has arrived! Let's get ready to rumble!
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Team Bernie stats: Mick - 100% effort, Richard - 100% effort, Jof - 100% effort (based on how their arm muscles are flexed and their facial reaction)...
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...Angel - 20% effort, 80% acting. Tignan mo, sya lang ang nakatawa sa picture na to. Hahaha!
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Go, Ervic! You can do it!
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And the winner is...Team Bernie! Woohoo!
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Yeah, baby!
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Round 2: Team Bobby (look at Big Moe's smile!)...
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...ang cute talaga ni Moe! Look at his game face!...
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...Team Bobby vs. Team Lori - that's tita Lori, Kuya Onald, Rap-rap, with the help of Joshua.
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The audience.
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Ready, set...PRRRRTT!!
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Isang hila lang ni Kokoy. Effortless!
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May isang round pa daw, pero sakit na ng mga kamay namin! Huhu...
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Championship round: Team Bernie...
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...vs. Team Bobby. Team Bobby wins!
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Aly, lolo Bernie and Annie.
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During the short break, nagpa-agaw si tita Lori ng coins and chocolates...
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...Alyannah was in front so she got a lot and she was ecstatic!
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She kept jumping for joy!
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It was my little girl's happiest moment. Para syang nanalo ng lotto!
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Next game: The Boat is Sinking...
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It was a simple game, but as you can see from the photos, it was loads of fun!
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I don't remember what this next game is called, but this was how they played it: there are two teams with around four members. Each team member should come up with a name (cartoon character, super hero, et. al). At the start of the game, all the team members will say their names and the other team should memorize the names of their opponent. Then, each team will go to their spot behind the curtain/divider and choose a member who will sit on the chair and guess the name of their opponent. At the count of three, the game master will put down the divider and the first one to make the correct guess wins. Was that clear enough? Take a look at the photos na lang to get a clearer picture.
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My family, including my relatives, are very competitive. So they came up with all sorts of gimmicks, tricks and pandaraya just to win the game. For example, some used very long and hard to remember names. Others tried to confuse their opponents by using a girl's name (for boys) and a boy's name (for girls). But the best tactic of all was my twin cousins'...they used a name that sounded the same and different by only one letter (I forget what the names were). It was really confusing! Too bad, in spite of their best effort, they still lost to Team Bernie. Woot woot!
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Team Bernie wins again!
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R + A
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Picture break muna!
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The next game was the one that we prepared. I got the idea from the fear factor-ish game that Fides prepared for our Christmas party. We needed five teams with three members each. This time we upped the ante my choosing items that were more difficult to eat: six pieces of puto seko (major choke factor!), a bag of spicy Oishi crackers, and chocolate cupcake. Bawal ang mga mahihina kumain sa game na to!
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Another game: Hep, Hep, Hooray!
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We also had a Family Feud-inspired game prepared by tita Lori and bingo. After the games, we ate again -- as if we haven't been eating during and in-between the games!
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With the mother of my favorite pamangkins in the world.
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Exchange gift is usually done towards the end of the night. We usually start with the youngest.
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Great grandchildren. Alyannah, Gabbi, Rachel, Big Moe and Ron-ron.
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Grand children. I got two new MAC and Clinique lipsticks! Woohoo!
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Lolo Erning and his children.
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Sadly, this was the last photo that I took with camera before my camera died. Anyhoo, we still had videoke singing (which was more like a mini concert by my sister Angel with her guest star Joanne because they practically hogged the mic all night!), and more eating before we called it a night. Till our next Christmas party!

3 comments:

Fides said...

Kris, parang ang daming versions ng Christmas party niyo!ang saya talga pag big family :)

teacherpat said...

Promise tawang tawa ako reading this blog! At hindi ko kinaya ang pag dangle ng earrings TEam Bernie Muse!

At saan ka talaga nakakita ng sports event na naka tsinelas ang player, winner talaga si Jof!

Cheer leader ba si alyannah? Bakit naka head band hehehehe....

ANd you were...not in any of the sports event! official photographer ka?

Hahahahaha.

Domestic Goddess said...

Fides -- oo, masaya talaga! So ra we had hawaiian, 80's punk and sportsfest for our theme. Makukulit din kasi ang mga tito and tita ko.

Pat -- hindi ko napansin naka-tsinelas pala si Jof! Haha! At least ako naka-sneakers. Hehe!

Cheerleader nga si Yan at namili pa sya ng color ng headband. Ayaw daw nya ng gray kaya naghanap pa si Lolo Bernie ng red! Stariray!

I didn't join the games kasi sabi ko siguradong matatalo kami if I joined. Haha! Tanggap naman nila...kasi ayaw nila matalo. Haha!