First off, my mom and I spent 9 days in the hospital because she had to have an emergency surgery to untangle/cut and staple back her intestines. More of that later.

We got discharged in the afternoon of December 31, just in time for New Year’s Eve celebration. My mother was still weak — well at 76 years old who had a major bowel surgery, what do you expect? — but was in better spirits.

We checked in at Seda Makati Residences as planned several months ago. We were joined by ny sisters, my nephew, and my girls. However, it was only Twin I and I who braved the long walk to the Make It Makati New Year’s countdown, which was near the intersection of Ayala Ave and Makati Ave.

Even though it’s not SB19, Twin I still wanted to watch live music.

I enjoyed the Cup of Joe segment.

The encore was Eli Buendia. I was disappointed with his set because the songs were from the old Eraserheads hits. I’m not probably aware of his new music but he didn’t play anything fresh that night.

While Eli was singing, Twin I was livestreaming SB19’s performance in BGC. 🤦🏻‍♀️

The fireworks lasted 15 mins and it was so pretty.

And as usual, the rest of Metro Manila looked and sounded like a war zone at midnight, as captured by several Pinoys that night.

After all the noise and spectacle was the long walk back to our hotel along the stretch of the very empty Ayala Ave.

My mom and sisters just stayed in the hotel on New Year’s Day while the girls and I shopped for unnecessary things. 😬 I just bought a scented candle from Anko to treat myself, for surviving 9 days in the hospital to take care of my mom.