Q-bits

A bunch of my siblings – particularly those born in the month of August – are heading off to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) tomorrow for a joint b-day vacation to the city of 4 million motorcycles.

First on the list of the celebrants in Cecile (shown in picture) whose birthday is actually today, 14 August, and who was also there with us last month. Cecile, I surmise, would be expected to play the role of tourist guide. The second celebrant is Cynthia, eldest of the family, whose natal day is on the 19th. The venerable T. Rene, her better half, would be keeping her company.

Then there’s Suzette (23 August), who will be accompanied by three other sisters – Babette, Donna and Aimee – all not born in August. But who’s paying attention, anyway? Jesth, who has relocated temporarily to HCM City, will be the gracious host.

Then there’s me (25 August). But I’ve just returned from a long vacation and I’m all the way here in Europe. This means I’ll have to be content with just watching by the sidelines.

Have a fun trip – and a great, collective birthday bash, everyone!

Today, we leave for a 4-week vacation to the home country, the Philippines. This is the very first time in years that we are going during the summer time (European calendar) and for a much longer duration. We’ve always gone during Christmas and those times were always hectic and at the most for three weeks. With all the Christmas-related family and social gatherings, there was always very little time to do anything else.

It’s just the beginning of the school calendar year in the Philippines so there’s probably a lot less going on. So this time, we hope to be able to see a bit more of the country. The only thing that may hold that back is the weather – hopefully no typhoon, like the one that devastated the country a week ago, is brewing up in the Pacific.

Watch this space for photos and updates.