Guys, I had a date! With my… friends. Yes, my childhood besties and my sister, who we practically adopted into our friend group. It was initiated by my male bestie of 15 years, who knows the single ladies also deserve a romantic dinner.
So, on the night of Feb 15th, we went to Kaiju, a Japanese restaurant at San Pablo Road, Brgy. Dagatan, Lipa City.
But!
Before I reveal what happened at the restaurant, let me just tell you a funny story about my first Valentine’s Day gift.
Throwback to Grade 5
Did you know my first Valentine’s Day gift came from my best friend? He had a “crush” on me before, but apparently, girls aren’t his cup of tea anymore. Or they never were.
I was just the first person who probably made him laugh out loud in school and the heteronormative society probably made him think that it meant he liked me.
The moment happened when my cousin, who was in the same grade as we were, called my attention. He said my best friend had something to give to me. I blushed, seeing him shy with a rose and cupcake in each hand. It was adorable how he acted like it was nothing.
He handed it to me and left. I looked at the gifts and found them really thoughtful. Although I had no romantic feelings for him, I appreciated his brave gesture as a ten-year-old. Today, it’s clear now that he deeply appreciated me as his friend.
Back to the present
Fast forward to 2023, he still treats me and my bestie like we are his Valentine’s date. The difference now is he could drive a car and afford us bouquets. Naturally, he offered us a ride to Kaiju and surprised us with flowers in the back seat.
One thing is sure memorable that night – it was super windy. The kind of breeze where you have to hold on to your head so your hat won’t fall off. Your nose should be prepared for the dust it will inhale. Good thing we came prepared with sweaters and jackets.
However, we didn’t anticipate the change in weather. Kaiju has an alfresco design and the indoors have limited seating capacity. When we arrived at 7 pm, it was already packed and we needed to wait for a few minutes.
Our only choice was to sit outside under the night sky, which would not have been a problem if it didn’t rain. Unfortunately, the staff was as perplexed as we were, so we huddled under a tent and waited until the light rain to pass.
They could’ve come up with a different accommodation than transferring the food bowls to the tent and serving others their drinks despite the rain.
Maybe it would’ve been nice if they had ready umbrellas in case of this kind of situation. Honestly, I felt like moving to a different restaurant and my companion echoed my thoughts.
Before we could even go to the car, the skies cleared and so we went back to our seats, but the cold breeze became too much. We really needed to be inside.
Finally, we felt warm and cozy, enough to have fun and joke around. My final thoughts for this is simple: Look up the weather forecast before planning to go to an alfresco restaurant.
Thank you for reading 💜
All the photos are taken by me unless stated otherwise.
Thank you Pinmapple community for letting me post and looking forward to more travel blogs soon!