First things first: My uncle got married last Sunday! We were all in Tacloban over the weekend - it was the first time all my mother's siblings, their spouses and all their children were all present in an event that's *not* a wake/funeral. Hurray for family togetherness!
Here have a photo of a family camwhoring in an airport:
(Mandatory Cut. Do not proceed if you're allergic to: weddings, gold, my face, THE SIGHT OF MY HUGE ARMS OMFG.)
So you're still here! *hugs* Either: 1) You really want to be here! or 2) You're from the Twitter reefer (hee-hee sneaky) So I repeat my disclosure here: This post contains WEDDINGS, a shit-ton of GOLD DRESSES, my face and my huge arms.
OK, game.
My uncle got married on July 18 in in the Sacred Heart church somewhere in Tacloban. Their family - him, his wife Auntie Oda and their 16yo daughter Kriz - flew in from Qatar just to get married in their hometown. Their flight to Tacloban was on Friday while ours was on Saturday.
So there's me, my siblings Krista and Wy and our parents Dad and Auntie; there's auntie's sister Auntie Benda, her husband Uncle Matt (also a Waray) and their (huge) children Mark (23), Brent (16) and Bea (10); and auntie's brother, Uncle Bemboy, his wife Auntie Mimie and their daughter Ashley (16), a.k.a. the artist formerly known as Jake. We went out on two separate Cebu Pacific flights on Saturday afternoon and arrived in Tacloban two hours apart.
We were billeted in three separate rooms (one for each family) at Hotel d'Angelo on Rizal Ave in Tacloban City (053 325.2341 to 44, room rates range from Php750 to 1,875 as of writing -- LOL yeah I took a flyer, might as well be helpful hehe -- summary assessment: The hotel is simple, it's nothing fancy but it has hot water, aircon and TV.)
That night we had dinner at Ocho. It was a festival of seafood, grilled food, a lot of rice and a lot of fruit.
An illustration of a hungry pack:
We tried to sleep early because while the wedding was at 2 p.m., it was still a *wedding* and we had to *gasp* get made up in the morning. Yes, you are dying to see photographs of that -- LATER.
So yeah, Sunday morning! The oldies got up early to make the compulsory rounds of the relatives in the area -- my mother and her siblings were born and raised here, and they were really close to their cousins. I remember spending summer vacations when I was younger in various houses of aunts and uncles here; they're older now, and time may have gotten the better of some of them, while some have already joined my mother and both my grandparents in the Grand Reunion Beyond, but still -- life goes on, yeah? And now, we even have a WEDDING!
When the oldies got back the girls went out to the salon - Krista and I were sent off to Uncle Ed's hotel (Hotel Alejandro, very charming, but I don't have a flyer. LOL.) where Auntie Oda and Kriz were getting ready. So yeah -- in effect, we had our makeup done by the same people who did the bride and her maid of honor. YES WE CHEATED SO WHAT. haha.
Here have a before pic:
Here have a photo of KRISTA'S (DOCTOR) CURLS
-- haha niloloko naming mukhang pang-doktor yung kulot niya. PWEDE.
Now take a good look at this guy because this guy SHAVED MY EYEBROWS. not even kidding.
But since he seemed to be the head of the beautification contingent, I let him.
Ooh wedding-related things on the bed!
We went around Tacloban in a van. As expected: VAN-STUFFING!
L-R: Jake Ashley, Auntie Mimie, Uncle Bemboy, Me in a sort-of sequined dress
At the church entrance with Brent and Mark (bald goons at the back), Krista, Auntie Mimie, and uh, my arms.
Me with auntie while not hearing Mass. Auntie read the Second Reading while I read the Prayers of the Faithful. Yes, we are wearing matching sequined gold dresses, SHUT UP LOL.
The original wedding photo! Me, Krista, Mark. In Auntie Benda and Uncle Matt's wedding in 1991, Krista and I were flower girls (oh man, I remember walking down the aisle with my little basket full of PETALS OMG) while Mark was the ringbearer. This year, Krista was a bridesmaid while Mark was a groomsman. (I was uh a church reader and the most misguided emcee ever) Time flies!
(Also, they are huge no? Everybody in this family is huge! Except me. I am the shortest thing this pool of genes has actually come up with -- and it came up with me FIRST. What up, Beta Version! Haha)
Also -- aha! I have a couple of nice wedding photos:
(The red carpet)
(The kiss - WOOT I HAVE IT ON FILM OR SORT OF!)
Also: LOL me in this dress inside a church. If we could ever marry in ceremonies like this, love, can we have it in a different color? Please? :)
The reception was in a function room in Hotel Alejandro. (I swear the Lady Gaga song has been in my head since FOREVER) There was ceremonial toasting and cake slicing and DANCING. Apparently, it's an Eastern Visayas thing? It's called the Curacha, and I actually have videos of uncles and aunts dancing around a small square piece of cloth to very loud addictive folk music WHILE PEOPLE THREW MONEY AT THEIR FEET.
Here, twenty peso bills in the air for your guidance:
AMAZING RITUALS HUH. Speaking of rituals: Krista got the bouquet! LOL. As a reward, she was blindfolded and played with.
(photo of Krista blindfolded LOL *SMILE*)
And then we partied! In our gold dresses! Yes, it looked exactly like you had imagined:
With Uncle Ed, some bottles of San Mig beer hence.
ETO O GOONS. Haha group slow dancing daw yan
Under the influence; under supervision. Hehehe.
Yes there was dancing. Sort of. Well, we tried, you know.
The party ended early -- I think it was around 10ish? We had to sleep early because 1) the oldies were drunk and 2) krista, wy and dad had a 6 a.m. flight the following morning because my siblings HAD TO GO TO SCHOOL. (They succeeded, btw.)
But the rest of us had a whole day ahead, which we spent driving to Jaro -- the town where my grandparents' old house stood; also, the town where they were buried. But that's another entry altogether.
BRB.
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