2012-02-26 Surprise Brunch at Bizu Greenbelt 2

I'm turning 50 on March 5, but will be in the US from March 2 to June 2. Last year, I went home home to Ozamiz to celebrate my birthday with my Dad and Mom. This year, much as I wanted to go home again, I couldn't because of my trip. So I arranged a brunch at Bizu with my family here in Manila, my Kuya Pepo and Ate Terry and their brood, plus my nephew Paolo and his wife Candy (plus future gigil victim Bam-Bam) and Ditto. Both my Kuya Pepo and I are notorious pranksters. When he turned 50, he blocked any attempts at having people pull a fast one on him with a surprise party by planning an elaborate birthday celebration himself.

I chose Bizu because of its good brunch selection. Try their grilled sandwiches.

What Kuya did after I invited my family to brunch was to deviously culling all of my friends' lists: my childhood friends from Ozamiz, my law school and UP friends, and my Manila Jaycees group. He pulled all stops to close the main dining area of Bizu.

No, my name is not Jonel.

The day before the brunch, my UP Law classmate Jackie slipped and apologized for not making the brunch because her husband Kuya Tony had to be rushed to hospital. That evening, my good friend Angkong Gerard and I were texting each other, then I said, "Join me and my family for brunch tomorrow." Inexplicably, he didn't text back. Hmmm...


Sunday, Bizu at Greenbelt 2: my family was assembled, along with Tito Gerry and Tita Bing Bacarro! Hmmm...Kuya said that he bumped into them, about to have brunch at Italianni's so he just invited them over to join us. Yeah, right. They live all the way in Ayala Heights and it's likely they would schlepp themselves all the way to Makati just for Italianni's. Plus, there were no other guests in Bizu except us, with its garden dining area packed with families, and smokers. And there was a buffet setup, which Bizu never does for brunch. Something was cooking, and it wasn't just the tinapa, tapa and longganisa later served.

The Main Co-conspirators, my Kuya Pepo and Ate Terry

Then other friends and family arrived. So yeah, I was surprised, despite what my nieces kept on saying, that I'm not the type to be surprised.