But, as we are in the middle of a pandemic, I can’t spend it with friends or family. I took the day off and I’ll figure out what I’ll do later – but for now (it’s currently 3:19 AM), I thought of going down memory lane since I’m also archiving my photos to Google at the same time.

2007

This was right after graduation, in the middle of reviewing for the CPA Board Exams in October. I remember we had review classes on that day. Then, I invited my friends to dinner at home! I also bought a lotto ticket because this day was 07/07/07 but luck wasn’t on my side.

2008

I don’t have photos of the actual day. This was my first birthday away from home. It was my first year working in Manila. But, I flew back to Cebu on the 17th for my mom’s birthday – and during that visit, I had a late celebration with my friends over karaoke!

2009

It was a workday. I received a nice surprise greeting at work. Then, went to Rufo’s after work for (a lot of) beer.

2010

Spent another birthday at work, this time with my new team (I just recently moved roles back then). In the evening, I had dinner with my college friends at Max’s. I remember it was unlimited chicken night and I was so full! Then we went to karaoke before going home!

2011

Spent another birthday at work! I can’t find any other photo after this so I don’t remember if there was a celebration in the evening!

2012

So my photo archive is missing some months. 🙁

2013

Spent my birthday with my new FR team! We wore stripes that day for Fashion Friday.

2014

This was probably my biggest birthday celebration because I had 3 sets of friends (AP, TCO and BP&A) in one big karaoke room! I remember being so drunk that night.

2015

Another karaoke party (and I guess it’s all Karaoke birthdays from this point forward). This was followed by an after-party (or winding down drinks) at Whistlestop.

2016

Celebrated at home with LMN-ers. Then, went to La Union on the weekend to celebrate! Don’t worry, we also did karaoke by the beach after we got drunk.

2017

Another karaoke birthday with the Crazy Karaoke gang. I’m not sure if this was where this group was formed. Basically, we go all out when doing Karaoke – both in singing and drinking!

2018

You know where it is.

2019

My latest teammates (HRA) surprised me at work! It has been a while since I got a surprise so I was really touched by this gesture. Then, we went karaoke after.

The older you get, the lesser birthdays become exciting. So, I’ve always looked forward to the usual karaoke and drinks celebrations – but as that is impossible to do this year, I will have to settle for these memories!

I still have a full day ahead so I’m thinking about how to make the most out of today.

Anyway, happy birthday to me!