Last September 8, we celebrated Caitlin's first birthday at home. We couldn't celebrate it with our extended family since Kristine was catching up with her in-service exam and I was also preparing for my boss's arrival the week after Caitlin's actual birthday party. This is aside from the fact that we couldn't make up our minds where to hold the birthday party. (I cancelled our reservation on the pool side in our place in the last minute, even without any alternative place in mind).
The first place that we checked was Bagoong Club, just around the corner of T. Morato branch of Starbucks. I liked the place since it reminded me of the houses in Sorsogon when I was still a kid. I would say the house was constructed around the 60s to early 70s, at least, the design was reflective of such period. It was homey as well. But after checking it, the place was a bit pricey for what we wanted (we planned for afternoon snacks, not dinner), worse, it wouldn't open earlier than 6pm. After the Bagoong Club, we still looked around and found Gerry's near the ABS-CBN area; the price and place are okay, but we still wanted to look for alternative place in Greenhills. We put Gerry's as the last alternative if we really can't find one.
Kristine wanted us to check Cravings; but got lost, instead, she saw Bellisimo (just around the corner, near RCBC branch). She immediately remembered a news article about the place and realized it's owned by Cesar Montano. Personally, I had no interest of having the place for a KT's birthday party. But I was hungry and decided maybe it's a good place to have afternoon snacks.
To make the story short, we liked Cesar's place due to the interior (reminds me of the restos I visited in Europe) and the food specifically. (I am writing another article for the review of the resto).
The birthday party was composed of family members, I obliged Tin to invite her friends from UDMC since 90% of the guests are related to me. Tin's family showed up through her sister in-law who came with her mom; Tin's niece was also with us. I invited Bing and Lalaw on the last minute since I thought Lea invited them. Sadly, Manay Titin and family couldn't join since Kuya Ariel was held up on a lunch meeting with his boss.
The Sun Valley group came in around 1.30pm, while we came in around 3pm. Guests started pouring in around 4pm. But the main event started around 3.45pm. There was no kiddie party, instead it was just a family gathering with few of Kristine's friends.
The place that we rented was enough for the number guests we were expecting. And enough space for some to go around and chat from one table to another.
Additional pictures can be seen here.
