Christmas Celebration

December has been my busiest month so I only had a few post. Probably because of the "Simbang Gabi," christmas preparation,  and my christmas bazaar which I had posted the last time. I will share the highlights of what I had been up to during this season.

I attended 2 more christmas parties; Last December 5 with the whole LCM main parish which was held in the house of our fellow Member. We had games, exchange gifts and eat lots of foods. Too bad I lost the pictures for the LCM party. The other was last December 22 with my longtime "barkada", a lunch out in one of the american restaurant in Trinoma. We ordered so many that we hadn't eaten it all. We had to take out our left-overs. We also had our exchange gifts. Since we were only 4, we strolled the mall afterwards. I also don't have a picture of it because it has not been posted by the one who has the camera.

During Christmas eve, we had tacos, barbecue and wine. My Sister and I were the one who were able to wait until the midnight. My Uncle and niece fell asleep early. lol. When the Christmas day arrived, we prepared lunch and invited our cousins. My Sister cooked Pasta in oil and hungarian sausage, sauted vegetables and roasted chicken. I took picture of it:

During that day, we have been invited to a dinner with the godmother of our cousin. We brought pasta and roasted chicken over to add to our menu.

Last December 27, we attended the marvelous wedding of my Sister's friend. My Niece was one of the flower girl so I was able to join them. The wedding took place at the Manila Cathedral then the reception was in Manila Peninsula. This are a few of the pictures I have taken during the said event:

 

 

These are the few of our pics. I took a video of the entourage and the wedding vows but I decided not to post it here.

The next day, December 28, me, my two cousins and my niece went to our Uncle in Pasig to celebrate my late Grandfather's birthday and at the same time have a family reunion. Afterwards, we went to The Fort in high street for a quick window shopping.

That's pretty much all the highlights I have done. I should have posted them separately but when because of too much stress I wasn't able to do so. I had to post this all before the year ends. Later we will say goodbye to 2010 and say hello to a new year full of hope and prosperity.

I hope you enjoyed your Christmas as much as I did. Advance Happy New Year to all! Cheers! Till my next post! See yah!

Show off our Christmas Tree

Our Christmas Tree

Since it is already December, we all know that Christmas is around the corner. Most of us already decorated our house with christmas decors and of course Christmas Trees! I thought of making a list of the bloggers who want to join. I did almost all the decors here with the help of my niece. Then my uncle put the lights on it.

If you want to join me, all you have to do is take a picture of your Christmas Tree and make a post about it. Grab the link code at RiA's wOrLd and then add the URL of your actual blog post containing a picture of your christmas tree. Links that do not contain the related post about the topic will be deleted. Come and join us for a Christmas fun. Let us see who has the best decor at our place.

If you know others who would like to join, please tell them about this post. It will close at the end of December so you still have time to join in. The more the merrier! Till my next post! See yah!

Christmas is in the air

Tomorrow will be December 1 and during this time of the year we will soon be celebrating Christmas day. Here in the Philippines, Christmas starts during the ber month but not all of us don't decorate that too early.

Yesterday, my churchmates and I celebrated our Christmas party. Why is it so early? Because we will all be busy in the following days especially during the "Simbang Gabi." We were supposed to be celebrating our party in Tagaytay but our van went crazy and started to have problems last Sunday. So we had to cancel the travel.

So we celebrated it in the house of our fellow member. We were assigned with different foods and drinks. We had a great lunch!

All were happy and chitchatting. We also had our exchange gifts.

During our snack we had ice cream

 Then we went to another house of one of our member. We went there to have a videoke. We had a great time too, we sang, danced and had red wine :))

I think it was a blessing that we did not went to Tagaytay after all. My cousin said that the rainfall was hard during that day. We will not have much fun as we did here so it is good. But we will visit and plan again our trip to Tagaytay.

Next week, we will have another Christmas party but with a bigger group. This time all other areas in our main church will be there. I will post it here soon. Till my next post! See yah!

A Year after the Tragedy

Today marks the year after a devastating Maguindanao Massacre. Until now, the case is unresolved because the suspects were powerful and almost all the witnesses were gone. They were also good friends with the past administration, but now that we have the new government, this is the time to make them pay for what they have done. The hearing should be publicly seen so that everyone may know that the judgment is fair. They have done a very heinous and animalistic crime, they should be punished with death penalty. Let us whisper a little prayer for the victims. May True justice prevail. Till my next post! See yah!

Gift ideas for the christmas season

Christmas is near again and as we all know it is another time of the year where we celebrate a feast for our Lord. Christmas is not complete without gift giving. I will give tips and ideas on what to give to your loved ones:

• You should know what the person really wants. If he/she is fond of let's say accessories, give him/her a great kind of accessory.
• Shop ahead of time. If you happen to go to a mall as early as today, find a gift now. You don't want to be rushing to the mall near the christmas day.
• Clothing are pretty much hard to gift if you really don't know the size of the person you are giving it to. If you are really not sure of it, try to buy things that he can use.
• If you don't have time to shop or doesn't want to go to the mall. Try buying in online stores. There are a lot of great products in the internet now like the Limoges which offers great Limoges Figurines.
• List the names of the persons you are going to give a gift. By doing this, you can budget your money and never miss someone on your list.
• Personalize your gift. Add a touch of note or you can do the gift wrapping by yourself. In that way, the gift is unique and special to the one who receive it.

It is not about how expensive your gift is,  it is how you remember the person you are giving it to. We should be thankful for all the things we receive. As for me, I really can't wait for that day. So till my next post! See yah!

8th Time World Championship Victory for Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao

Our fellow Filipino pride Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao got his 8th World Championship Title for defeating Antonio Margarito on the 12th round by a unanimous decision. As I was watching it through the streaming video, I was amazed by the fight. Although Pacman throws great big punches to Margarito's face, Margarito managed to fight back Manny and cornered him a few times. During Pacman's interview, he said he was also hurt in the body and in his face. During the 5th round Margarito's right cheek was so bloody that his right eye got affected. There were a few times that the referee would check up on him if he could still see. The final score was 108 - 120 of course in favor of Pacquiao! Congrats Manny! You brought again another victory for our country! I'm proud to be "Pinoy!"

Image Source: http://fightfan.com

Got my GCash Card!

This morning I finally got my Globe GCASH Card! I'm very excited about getting this because I was the one who designed my own card! Yes you can create your own card design if you are a photoshop addict like me. haha. If not, you can choose from their default designs which are also great and cute.

If you also want to apply, here is what you have to do: *Your GCASH should have at least P100 (processing fee of your card)

• Go to the GCASH Cash Application Form website of Globe.
• Upload your own personalized background or choose from their default designs.
• Fill up the personal details and upload your 1x1 I.D. picture.
• Once you have checked and filled up the necessary information needed, click Get your GCASH Card. Wait for a few minutes and you will get a reference number.

That's it! All you have to do is wait for at least 2 weeks. I got mine for about 3 weeks I think because of the Holidays. But it's worth the wait. The design is not so perfect because I chose a dark one the color went purple instead of Dark Blue. But it looks good though for an ATM. So till my next post! See yah!

Banana and Peanut Butter Pancakes

I forgot to post this yesterday because I am busy with my new site. Once again we had another yummy snack yesterday.

I don't really know how to call it so I ended up calling it banana and peanut butter pancakes. You might not see the banana and the peanut butter because it is inside the pancake. There is a cream on top and a drizzle of chocolate syrup. It really tastes great and nutritious too because of the banana.

It took picture of my Niece again during her first bite of this. She enjoyed it!

Till my next post! See yah!

Fishcake with cheese dip

Here I am with another yummy post! My sister made a fishcake while I made the cheese dip.

The fishcake consists of wheat crackers we have in our fridge, tuna flakes, pepper and salt to taste, baking powder and paprika. I was the one who deep fried it. The cheese dip is made out of butter, garlic, mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste and lots of cheese!

At first I nearly burnt the garlic haha. So the color is like that but it tastes so good that we bought chips to dip it on! Here is our taste tester, my Niece! haha

Yum yum! Till my next post! See yah!

Medical Fashion

Yesterday, we went to the hospital for a check up for my niece. She had an injury on her left foot. There I noticed that most of the medical staff are not wearing complete medical scrubs. They have the nursing uniform scrubs but they don't have hats to cover their hair. I have seen a doctor who is not wearing any uniform at all. I thought he was a patient at first but he was a surgeon at the E.R. I think one must wear proper and fashionable uniform being in a profession like that.

Although they have stressful times at the hospital with all the patients coming in and out, they also have to look attractive to others. They should consider buying scrubs online for their medical practice. Even if they have a busy schedule it is just with the touch of their hands. Till my next post! See yah!

Yummy experimental snack

My sister loves inventing food. If you are reading my blog, I posted some of her inventions in the past. She makes what is in our fridge and invents some delicious treat once in a while.

Today, she invented another yummy food for our snack today. It is a homemade crepe (made from pancake) with tuna, cheese, basil leaves and tarragon leaves inside. We just garnished cheese and basil leaves on top. I helped a bit with picking up leaves on the plant of herbs that we have in our garden and I grated the cheese. haha.

It tasted so great! I even took a picture of my Niece while she is eating it.
Pancakes are good and if you are inventive or looking for some treats around your house, you can make different food with it. Till my next post! See yah!

Stay in Line

Have you attended concerts or events that are not fully organized? One way of organizing a big event is having a crowd control. Most of us wants to be first on the line so if there are ways to get to the top we will do it but it will only bring chaos to the place.

One way of doing this is adding stanchions, velvet ropes or barricades to the place. Once it has all of these  and with proper security, we will all have the time of our life and would all be accommodated and the event will turn great.

If you are planning on organizing an event consider this because you will never know what will happen to the place is there are no security.So till my next post! See yah!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's 60th birthday! Gosh he is now a senior lol. I really hope that God would continue to bless and protect him from harm. I wish that he is here with us now to celebrate his special day. I emailed him already to greet him because he is working abroad. He called last week to check up on us, he said he would probably have a work during his birthday. We bought "pansit palabok","puto" and a cake for his birthday.

He is a very kind Father to us. Eventhough he is not here most of the time he makes sure that during his vacation here he spends a lot of quality time with us. He loves to cook different dishes for us. He loves to buy electronic gadgets and different things around the house. He is a movie fanatic (but sometimes he sleeps during a movie haha) he already watched tons of movies in different genre. He loves to read and research about something in the net. He loves watching national geographic and discovery channel. He walks so fast, so if you are walking with him, you will be left behind (LOL).

Happy Birthday Daddy! I wish you good health and happiness in your life. Please remember that we are here when you need us. Even if you are far away with us, we truly love you. I'm just a phone call / email away :) I love you! Thank you for being a great DAD!

Till my next post! See yah!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month - Take the Pink Ribbon Challenge

October is breast cancer awareness month. This month I would like to join the pink ribbon challenge. Just click the pink ribbon to help one woman save life by getting free mammogram. If you may join with me and pass the pink ribbon challenge. These links are ONLY for "Pink Ribbon Challenge" participants, any links not related to the Pink Ribbon Challenge will be deleted. Grab the code at Things We Share and post it in your blog entry. Please post only the Pink Ribbon Challenge actual post link here and help The Breast Cancer Site and National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc. by spreading the Pink Ribbon Challenge.

Happy World Teacher's Day

Today we celebrate the world teacher's day. Our Teachers are very important to us because through the years they acted as our second parents. Our school is our second home and we spent many hours studying lessons. Most of the teachers dedicate most of their time to their students so we should understand them if they are in bad mood. They are often misunderstood especially if they are strict or not so strict. It depends on their style of teaching. All they want is to inculcate their students the lessons that they will need because knowledge is the gift our parents can give to us.

To all my past teachers thank you for all those times you shared with us. Although not all of them now are still teaching I'm very grateful that I've met someone like them. I have learned many things from them and if not because of them, I will not graduate and be able to face the world with so many questions in my mind.

Nicole's Site Revealed

At last my Niece's site is finally done. This is a cute site that I made for my favorite Niece Nicole. This site is all about her, her photos and videos. It has a blog and you can leave a message in the chat corner. I designed its header and gave a cute background of her which looks like there are two borders. The colors are girly colors with shades of pink and violet. The text color is a bit dark to match the white background.

However, there are things that needed to be improved like the videos. I haven't categorize it yet. I will be doing it for the next few days of my spare time.

Since this site is new, I am looking for exchange link partners or sponsors for this site. If anyone is interested, you can leave your message on the contact form.

Don't forget to visit the credits section where you can find the list of my blogs and sites. I hope that you can leave comments and suggestions so I can improve the site more. If you like what you see, please don't hesitate to subscribe to the Blog's RSS Feed so you won't miss out the updates.

Before I forget, this is the site to visit Nicole Angela Rigby's Site. So till my next post! See yah!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

It was September 6, 1979, when this very sweet couple tied the knot. They are my Dad and my Mom. They were the envy of all because they were inseparable. After a year, my Mom gave birth to my Sister, she managed to still work and take care of her together with her sister. After 3 years, I came in the world, My Mom decided to quit her job so she can take care of us two.

My Dad decided to work abroad by the time I was 2. It was a very hard decision for them because they are far away with each other. It was through snail mail that they communicate. Every year he has a vacation here in the Philippines and during that 1 month long, they make the most out of it because it wasn't long enough before they will be far away again from each other. But even amidst of all these, I remember them still in love with each other. My Dad is still so sweet with my Mom that he treats her like a Queen. I don't remember a time when they had quarrel. Maybe they did but I sure didn't noticed it.

Years has passed when my Mom was diagnosed with a cervical cancer. At first she did not uttered a single word about it with us but my relatives finally said it to us. It was a very sad year for us that my Dad's brother made a phone call and told Mom's situation. Dad immediately came home here and he took care of my Mom in the hospital. Mom didn't liked it at first because she said that he should be working there. Then came the time when the doctors said there was nothing more that they can do. We took her to our house and we all took care of her. During the last night with her we hardly did not sleep because her situation got worst. But my Sister and I went to the school that morning. It was 12 noon that she died, my Dad went outside to buy a medicine and it was my Aunt who noticed her last breath. But still, my Dad went all the way home when my cousin told him about it. It was minutes when he cried and finally said his last goodbye; It was the year 2003, 24 years of great marriage. Years had passed and we still reminisce our dear Mother and My Dad still misses her. Even if he was going abroad every year, we are still waiting for the time he will be here together with us stable in the Philippines and spend our times together as a family.

Vanilla Twilight by Owl City

Sorry if I wasn't able to update this as often as I could because I have been very busy with my new business but I'm back again for another post and as promised, I will post every week my favorite song.

The song that I picked is "Vanilla Twilight by Owl City". It is a hopeless romantic song. This song expresses about missing a person you love most who is far away from you. This song actually doesn't have a chorus. The stanzas are not repeated as most songs does. Here is the lyrics of this song:

If it's love by Train

I'm a music lover ever since I was a little kid and I love to sing. I will share every week (probably every wednesday) the songs that I love and grab lyrics of the song. I have shared songs that I like in my previous posts and now I will do it on a weekly basis so it would be more fun. :D I am also thinking of doing a music video when my cough goes away lol. Because my voice is so terrible now. haha.

Anyway, first of my list is If It's love by Train. I've been addicted to this song this past days. The message is about love and how one person express it to his/her partner. I personally like the song because of it's very sweet message.

Here is the lyrics of the song:

Happy Father's Day!

Today, we celebrate a special person in our Family, our Dad. Although my Dad is not here today because of his work abroad, I would like to dedicate this post for him. He is a good provider and everytime he has vacation here in the Philippines (mostly just a month) he makes sure that we bond together as a family. He truly was a good husband to my mother but because she already passed away because of illness, I know that he really miss her so much. I wanted to make him feel that he is truly love, that's why when he is here, I make sure that I serve his breakfast and talk to him and tell stories. I wanted to be more closer to him because I honestly am not close to him before because he started to work abroad when I was just 2 years old. I would only see him for just a month during summer. He always give advices and is strict on me regarding the social networking sites. He is not in favor of it because he said other people might get information of me and he is afraid that I might be in trouble. But then I rest assured him that I will be very careful on posting information about me on the net. It is not late for us to have our bonding together, eventually, he will retire from work and I will be the one who would take care of him. I wish him good health and guidance from up above. Eventhough he is miles away, I can feel and see that he loves me and my sister so much. He wouldn't sacrifice himself to give us a great life and education and since we both finished our studies already, it is time that we now take care of him. I love you and I miss you Daddy! Happy Father's Day!

How A tiny apartment can transform into 24 rooms

My sister was browsing through her facebook wall, when she saw this video about Gary Chang, an amazing architect in Hong Kong who managed to turn his 344 sq. ft. apartment into 24 different designs which he called "Domestic Transformer." How did he do it? Watch the video and you'll see how he did it:

Pretty amazing huh? Wish I can also invent something like that LOL! Well, that's all I have to share now. Till my next post! See yah! :)

Reconnecting the Family through Facebook

Sorry if I wasn't able to post lately, I have been busy with the group for our Family Clan that I created on Facebook. I just thought of making an exclusive group for our Family (Mother's side) who mostly have facebook account to share photos and events that happened through the years. I also made a Family Tree from a site that I found, it is called Family Echo a very good and free site where you can easily edit and make your Family Tree. You can also add up photos, contact information and additional information about your family members. Others can edit by signing up on their service so if they think there is something wrong with the info, it can be easily edited.

I also edited the video from my Aunt's cremation and thought that I would share it to those who were not able to witness it. Some of my cousins are living abroad now and I thought of sharing it with them. We have quite a bit large family. My Mother has 9 siblings (supposed to be 11 but the 2 died) I miss those times when every year we have family reunions. We even held games for the kids and for adults also. Now that the family are not complete (4 of the 9 siblings died including my Mother) it is a good thing to reconnect to the rest of the family. I am thankful for giving me a great family. Till my next post. See yah!

Goodbye Tita Cor

It was barely a month since my Grandfather died and now it is very saddening that an important person in our family has also passed away. She is Our Dear "Tita Cor" she is the sister of my mother and my Godmother who used to take care of us and our cousins when we were young. When my mother was working then, my sister was left with her and her husband until I was born that my Mother quit her job. She is very kind, sweet and generous, she was born with polio and complications on her heart and asthma. She earned a living with tailoring and had a son. But when my cousin's mother died she took care of one of my cousin and accepted her as one of her daughter. She also has taken good care of her grandsons and grand daughter that they call her "Mama".

We know that she is in good hands right now and would continue to watch over us. We thank God for giving us an Aunt who doesn't stop touching people's lives. We love her and will miss her.

How to stay cool on a warm weather

As we all know, mother earth is getting angry and so we experience global warming especially in the Philippines. Here are some of the tips that I would like to share with you to keep you oh so cool during this hot summer days:

• Always drink water

 Water is very important in our body as it consists 70% of it. Getting at least 8 glasses is recommended, however, during these hot summer we can take more than what is needed. Plus, getting a water in a freezer makes it a lot more easy to freshen ourselves from the warm breeze. I happen to do it during this past few weeks. I always leave a bottle of water in the freezer and drink it from time to time. It surely takes away the heat from my body. I know it is not always good to those who have voice/throat problems but it is my way to fight away the heat. :) When you are away from your home, don't forget to take a bottle of water with you.

• Go to the beach / swimming pool

Since it is summer and it is vacation time, going to beach is what we enjoy the most especially with this kind of whether. But be careful on going to the heat of the sun during 10am to 4pm. It is likely the time of the day where you have a tendency to get sun burn. If you are a beach / pool crazy don't forget to bring your sunscreen lotions with you as you will definitely need it or have yourself a super tan skin. lol.

• Bring your umbrella with you

When you are going out of your house, be sure to bring your trustful umbrella with you. You will need it to protect yourself from the sun. Buy an umbrella that can be folded so you can tuck it in to your bag so it wouldn't bother you about carrying it at all.

• Bring a fan with you

Bring it when you go out. The weather nowadays is so extremely hot and we need a thing that would keep us cooler. If you are not in a room with no electric fan or aircon at all, it is a remedy for it.

• Take a bath from time to time

If you are in the comfort of your home, then it is very refreshing way to lessen the heat. Take a bath at least twice or thrice a day and you'll surely have a nice feeling about it.

• Get your summer clothes on the go

It is time to wear clothes that are flowy, light colored, sleeveless shirt or shorts. Avoid wearing jackets, long sleeves or dark colored shirts because it will only add heat to your body. Be as creative as you can look and this is the time that you can wear your sexy outfits hahaha.

Well, that's all the tips I can share right now. If you want to add more of your tips for this summer, feel free to comment here and let us share our ideas.

Election 2010

I exercised my right to vote today. I woke up late this morning and decided to vote during lunch time, which I did the last time. But my uncle said I should vote earlier because of the merging of precincts that's why I went there around 10:30. I have already my precinct number and I immediately went to look at what room it should be. I looked at the list of the names and found my name. I then went to the election officer on the door to ask what to do. She gave me a piece of paper that I would have to fill up a few details including my precinct number and my number on the master list and then I would have to fall in line. I did what she said I listed up the paper and then I looked for the line for that precinct number. OMG! I walked and walked to look for the line and it was so long. I thought I saw the end of the line and waited for a few mins. when I realized that it was not the end of the line. The people who are distant to me said it was ok but I never meant to do it lol. It was like everyone wanted to be on the top of the line and many are very angry because of the long lines.

After 4 hours of waiting with no lunch I finally casted my vote! It was the first time that the Philippines had an automated election that is why it is like this but I believe that on the next election it would be better.

I voted for Gordon for president because I believe he has the capability of running the country and Binay for my vice President because he also has shown a lot of work in his territory. For other positions I just picked who I recognized and think that they have done something from the past. I just hope that all will be well and just and whoever wins will give good governance in our suffering country. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

We celebrate today a special day for a special person dear to us, Our Mother. Although I can't see my Mom because she is in heaven now I could still remember how she took care of me and my sister. She is a very good mother, she decided to quit her job after she gave birth to me. She lived her life taking good care of us as a housewife. She is very patient and even if she is angry, do wouldn't recognize it. She is a silent type of person who is very loving. I remember I am always lying on the bed with her except when my Father is here on vacation. But then almost 7 years ago, she had a cervical cancer. She had chemo and other treatment that caused complications and later on lead to death. We were in so much pain to see her go because we truly love her. But later on we realized that God has plans for all of us and we have to face all the obstacles in life. We know that she is in heaven right now and is always watching and guiding us from above. Later this afternoon we visited her grave and prayed the rosary for her. We love her so much because she is the most wonderful Mom in the whole wide world! :)

Happy Mother's Day Mommy! and to all Mothers out there. :D