I was supposed to spend some time with some folks from work tonight.  We were supposed to go out and spend time together in a different environment and have fun.  Unfortunately, I fell asleep and woke up at 1AM.  They called me up at 8 PM and I missed it.  Sheesh! this is one of the great opportunities to know them better and yet, I missed it.  Too bad!

They said a friend is someone whom you can sit with without saying a word for hours and even if you leave without saying a word to each other, you know that everything is okay.  They also said that a friendship is strong when you meet up after a couple of years of not seeing one another you just pick up where you left off.  No awkward feeling as if you’re back to that day when you first met and became friends.  And a lot of other things like doing crazy things together, talk about anything under the sun and so on.  So I was thinking, if this is what a real friendship is, then do I have a real friend in my life?  Or does it mean to say that the friends I have right now are not real?  Or is it just that the relationship I have with them has not reached that level of friendship yet?  I was just thinking because there are days when I don’t get to talk or see my friends it makes me feel that we are drifting apart.  You know like things aren’t the same as it was when we last saw each other (even if it was just a couple of days).  Or is it just me? 

That’s why when I watch movies like my Bestfriend’s Wedding of Julia Roberts or 13 Going on 30 of Jennifer Gardner I ask myself if I have anybody in my life who remained a friend even if I haven’t seen or talked to for quite a while.  Over the years I was a bit sad when I come to think about what is being said about what a true friendship is for I couldn’t think of a name that will fit the description.  I don’t know if I am to blame on that for I am what other people call a ”reserved” person.  I tend to shut the door to people.  Well not until I saw my dear friend Henry again.  We used to work for an organization back home.  He was not from our place so he said he felt out of place first time he was there but felt at ease when time past by.  But he left a year before me to pursue a career as a microbiologist for one of the projects in Makati Med which was about four years ago.  I never saw him since although we got to talk once when I first tried applying for this company that I am working with and exchanged text messages every now and then over the years.  I realized when he walked me to the place where I was staying during my training in Makati early on this year (after four hours of talking in Starbucks, Greenbelt) that he remained my friend and confidante through those years when I was starting my life in Cebu.  He texted me to ask how I was doing even if two years had gone by that I haven’t seen him.  He replied to my chuk-chak chenes ( frustrations) text messages and consoled me when things got rough in the office and reminded me that if people from the work place, my friends or the people around me had let me down, there will always be a person who will be there to help (even if they’re not physically there).  He greets me on Christmas even if he doesn’t believe in it for his religion doesn’t believe in it.  So I am thankful for the friendship that we have.  It made me feel that I have a “George” in my life who is just a text away when I need somebody to talk to when things get rough again.  Although I haven’t really told him that yet but I planned to when the time comes (maybe when he buys me Starbucks coffe again).

January of this year when me and two of girlfriends who were single since birth decided to go out for dinner on February 14th.  Well, we know nobody’s going to ask us out so we decided to have dinner together.  And we also decided to play critic when we go out to eat.  So we filed for a leave in preparation for that day.

I suggested that we go to Orchidia near the Marco Polo hotel in Cebu since I’ve heard that they do have chefs there who prepare their dishes.  But since it wasn’t payday yet, we were worried that our money may not be enough so we decided to go to George Cafe in Banilad Cebu.  We had one of our male friend Ed go with us since he’s also single and he does not have a date.

We got there at around 10 PM so it was almost empty.  By 10:30 PM we had the place to ourselves.  The place is as beautiful as it was the year before when I first went there.  The lights were low and since it was Valentine’s Day, the waitress lighted some candles and placed it on our tables.  The food is really good and the serving size is big that made the price very reasonable.  But what really made an impression is their Persian Treasure.   It is a chocolate cake which is layered with a rose scented mouse cake and topped with pistachio nuts.  My friends didn’t like it but I did.  They said it tasted like perfume which is true so they stopped eating it after 2 bites.  But true to its name it really is a treasure for the taste changed after the fourth bite.  When you eat it, you have to make sure that you have the mouse, the chocolate cake and some pistachio nuts in a single bite for the flavor blends together when you chew it.  I really can’t say it words but it was delicious.  I guess my friends didn’t appreciate it because they only tried the pink part of the cake then they tried the chocolate cake which was a bit bitter to the taste.  But after watching a lot of culinary shows I have learned that to taste a dish you must have all the components in your spoon for you to fully appreciate it.  So I cut the cake from the top to the bottom and that’s when I discovered the true taste of the cake. Until now, when we get together and talk about George cafe, my friends and I still talk about the Persian Treasure.  So if you ever come to Cebu, try out Café George and their Persian Treasure.  It’s something that you’ll remember for a while.  Either because you really liked it or you really hated it.