occupation: SAHM

Many thanks to Noemi, because I won 5 tickets  to Dinosaurs 3D, Giants of Patagonia in IMAX, Mall of Asia.

We’ve never been to IMAX prior to my winning the raffle. Hubby and I made plans but they never pushed thru, so this was the perfect opportunity.

The screen alone was amazing. A speaker said MOA has the biggest 3D screen in the IMAX circuit - that info is also in Wikipedia.

So we got to wear these 3D glasses. Aren’t they neat? Unfortunately, we had to return them after the show. Sigh, the glasses would have been a lovely souvenir.

Continue reading ‘Dinosaurs 3D in IMAX’ »

My blog post on sterilizing toilets was chosen by Raqgold, Home and Garden Editor of Pinoy Moms Network, to be featured in the said section. Oh wow,  I feel so honored. Thanks a lot, Raq!

Click HERE  to read the article.

I’ve also purchased “Mom’s a Stewardess,” a book by Angelica Viloria, wife of fellow blogger Manuel Viloria. I have just finished reading its intro and preface and I find it a very encouraging read. Motherhood, as we all know, is not an easy journey and this book provides us with a breath of fresh air when days get a little bit more stressful than usual.

It costs P175 and is available in National Bookstores. I think it’s sad though, that such a great parenting book, and by a fellow Filipina at that, is located at the bottom shelf, underneath other titles. I had to ask for a saleslady to locate the book for me, who had to search the computer files, and then fish the book under a stack of other titles. I think it’s because the author’s surname starts with a V - I noticed National stacks its book inventory alphabetically.

I may not be able to do something about her being on the bottom shelf, but I did get the rest of her books and put them on top of the stack.

Another reason why I love going back to California Pizza Kitchen in Trinoma, other than the yummy food, is the great service.

You will be greeted at the door like your presence just made their day. You will be welcomed at your table and introduced to your server. Your server greets you and talks to you in a posture like he is your butler.

The way they talk seems a learned art, the smile, sincere. The waiter makes simple but elegant gestures when he puts the plate of food, like he is telling you, here is your order and we’re certain you’ll love it.

He asks if you want anything else and makes discrete glances at your table in anticipation of your needs, perhaps a refill of your raspberry iced tea, or another look at the menu. You are spared from waving your hands in the air and shouting “Waiter!”.

The customer is treated like royalty here. Go there, sit back, and enjoy with family and  friends. And they’re not even paying me for this. That’s how appreciative I am.

 ***

Continue reading ‘Don’t You Just Love Great Service?’ »

I love the combined scent of apples and oranges. Red Delicious apples and Valencia oranges in particular.

Try it. I hold one Red delicious apple and one Valencia orange to my nose. Instant mood lifter. Smells like Christmas.

That is also the smell that greets you when you open a balikbayan box that just arrived from our loved ones abroad. It has that mmm… delightful smell even if there are no fruits inside.

* Image taken from PMP Today.

The pan de sal has shrunk. The KFC chicken and the Jollibee burger don’t have the same yummy taste they had ten years ago. The portions in Pancake House are getting smaller. The toppings on Pizza Hut’s Super Supreme aren’t super anymore.

So I find it comforting that the quality of one of my favorite foods remains unchanged even after many years.
Continue reading ‘unchanged’ »

Yup, that’s me!

Continue reading ‘rock baby rock!’ »

What would’ve happened if I did not go to the Mommy Lunch?

Thanks Noemi, for this photo.

1. I would not have been stuck in traffic in UP. 

2. I would have watched Shrek 3 and Pirates.

3. I would not have found out that Swiss Deli’s servings are too much for one person. Next time I’m ordering a salad. O kaya sinigang na ulo ng maya-maya.

4. I would not have learned that this was not just any EB, that there is a bigger, higher endeavor. Feels great to be among the first on the latest, I tell you.

5. The bloggers’ faces would remain a mystery to me. But thanks to this gathering, not only did I meet them, na-beso-beso ko pa. A little more time and we would be baring our souls. Actually, we were getting there.

With Chat and Salen

6. I would not have met the bloggers’ kids whom they often feature. I want my kids to be smart and as cool and as pretty as your kids when my kids grow up. Pero di ako nagmamadaling lumaki sila ha.

7. I would not have learned that to be a true-blue blogger you should always bring a camera. How can you chronicle an EB for one?

8. I would not have learned that kids of today are way better at cameras, than us grown ups. The pictures I took are very amateurish compared to the picture taken by Salen’s 11-year old daughter, who used my camera just this one time. The picture is so pretty. My camera was heavy but her hands were steady. I don’t have the heart to resize the picture. 

An so I totally abhor the traffic in UP because it made me late for this get-together. And Shrek and Jack Sparrow are nothing compared to the company I had.

 So.. kelan uli? We have a mission to accomplish. Not to mention we must all be dying for more girl talk.

My son was one of the 3 Kings in the school’s Christmas program.

My son is in the far left with a blue suit. That costume was borrowed so it didn’t fit. But it doesn’t look big on him, don’t you agree?

*****
Got ya!

Now i’ve solved the mystery of my missing lipsticks!

*****

Let’s eat!

That’s our dinner! yum!

Our ol’ Canon Powershot got damaged. That was about a year ago.

We had no idea what happened. Hubby was on his way to Tagaytay for this annual company planning thingy, he turned on the camera, and the LCD monitor was just black. Months before that happened, i dropped the camrea in the pool. You see I was pregnant, I got dizzy and so I dropped it. The camera was fine after that, but now this happened, so we’re guessing it’s payback time.

I feel sad because that was the camera we used to record our kids’ lives. Now it’s gone.

We have a digital video cam and that is what we’ve been using right now to take pictures of our kids. But I find it cumbersome, because it’s too big for just taking pictures. It also looks quite OA to brandish a digicam to take pictures of our kids in the mall, in the park or in the restaurant. Looks like a thief-magnet too.

And the picture quality is not too great. We have to do a lot of editing and enhancement via Photo Impression to make the pictures look good.

Anyway, thank you Lord for giving us this.

Ok, so it’s just a humble Panasonic Lumix, a far cry from Nikon, Pentax and Minolta, but I’m not a professional photographer, so I’m already happy with that. 8 megapixels! 420 total zoom range!

Thank goodness SM Supermarket has evolved to being totally super. Its chain of supermarkets, of which I am a faithful and loyal shopper, now offers sago and gulaman, chopped veggies (e.g. ubod, sayote, pakbet and chopsuey ingredients, puso ng saging etc) and even grates coconut meat.

I am already thankful that it chops and cleans chicken and fish. This is the main reason why fish and chicken are regularly served on my dining table: SM chops and cleans it for me. I admit that in 6 1/2 years that I have cooked meals for my family, I have never chopped chicken. You can count with one hand the number of times I have cleaned and gutted fish, and these times happened only during my first year as a wife. These experiences I truly detest (cleaning fish, not being a wife).

Another reason why I have never served sago-gulaman beverage (eventhough I know how to concoct it) nor cooked gata-based viands is because these things I have to get in the heart of a wet market. Ugh! Another thing I don’t have the heart for.

I already knew this when I was a child, when my mom had to force me to accompany her during market day. Only the palengke has that kind of mush my mom calls mud, but it isn’t really mud, because mud I can stomach. That black goo that is perpetually on the market floor and flies on the back of my shirt because I just don’t know how to walk right, that I hate so much. Plus, that rotten smell that clings on to skin and clothes the second you step inside the market.

My aversion to the palengke may be caused by the fact that I have never stepped foot on a clean one. So far I have never heard of any wet market anywhere in Metro Manila, particularly close to where I live, that features sanitized surroundings. Until then, I remain a regular patron of SM supermarkets.