Tuesday, November 29, 2011

De-stressed

Not yet entirely. 

Activating my Unionbank Online Banking account and verifying my Paypal account is a pain the rear but otherwise, all is well. 

I now have more time for Wolf to prep him for school. 

Happy.


Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Time On My Hands

Last weekend was the first weekend that I've had in awhile wherein I didn't feel like a zombie.

I did the laundry, went school-scouting, and cooked my husband real breakfast before he went for work. 

It's not gonna be a permanent gig though because there are bills that are needed to be paid so I'm gonna hustle and start looking for work soon. 

But in the meantime, I have time on my hands and it feels like gold.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Boys Growing Up

Wolf will start school next year. It was our option not to enroll him early as most parents do these days. I was on the premise that my parents sent me to school at the right age and I had no trouble coping and that my son will be the same. It's pretty risky but we figured that we want him to optimize his childhood because he has his whole life ahead of him for socialization and learning. Learning would not stop when he graduates. it would go on and on as long as he meets other people and experience lots of things outside of school.

 Wolf is showing signs of independence lately. I'm a bit sad to see my punk growing up but that's life. 

Here is Wolfie with my brother's 6 month old punk, Jarrett.

Wolfie is definitely big brother material now. :)


Monday, October 10, 2011

Good Morning Sa Inyooooo!

Happy to be back blogging.

I am just happy that Wolfie is now recovered after his bout with Pneumonia last week.

I was shuttling back and forth the hospital and work because there were lots of work that needs to be done. My body felt the exhaustion and I got sick as well.

I realized that with my current work, I am unable to achieve that work-life balance. A drastic change is in order. I have been so unhappy and tired for so long that I'm throwing in the towel. My family is more important.

Below are the pictures that we took while confined at the Medical City Pasig.

Wolf said that he 'loves his room!'


Trying to have fun with his dada.


A boy who just can't wait to get home.


Eating his carrots.


Pure exhaustion.



Monday, September 26, 2011

Recovery

I spent my weekend literally spent. I was so exhausted from work last week that all I was able to manage is sleep.

As always, I am hoping and praying for a better week ahead. 

:)

Monday, September 19, 2011

To My Best Friend

“I know some good marriages - marriages where both people are just trying to get through their days by helping each other, being good to each other”
-Erica Jong




Happy Anniversary, El Boaman! 

Monday, September 12, 2011

Hardworkers

My nature-trip shots of the week:



Yummy Yam Cha...Not!

My blog has a guest! El Boaman! He is gonna share his review of Yam Cha restaurant for us today.


El Boaman's Review*:
If you are looking for a well spent 250 pesos for a buffet,  well this is completely the opposite of it. Nothing to like, everything is to hate. I started with a very thick soup (like "uhog".. so "uhog").

The buffet table comprised of some usual Chinese dishes (e.g. sweet and sour pork, dim-sum, fried rice, noodles and etc.).  Unusual was the inclusion of "Palabok" which I did ot attempt to taste, for my own sake.  There was an assortment of Japanese food (sushi, maki) which nobody touched. 

The food itself was really hard to swallow.  The Yang chow fried rice smelled weird.  Sweet and Sour pork tasted like it had some medicine included (like Cough Syrup, I think.  Boys you will definitely enjoy this).  

Pansit ... mmmm .. I would rather go with Lucky Me. 

Finally the dim sum.  One would  think that a chinese restaurant would not go wrong, but they did. .The dumpling and the siomai was so hard and was served in room temparature. The soy sauce and chilli sauce helped me scour down the meal. 

The roasted chicken and the steamed hammerhead fish was edible enough. The Iced Tea tasted good. My Son had his fair share of my Iced Tea.  I just thanked God that I didn't pay for the meal. This was a waste of hard earned money. 

Yam Cha, Bite me!

My Final Words: "Eat at your own risk!".

 Uhog Soup
 My family eating the uhog soup. Yum yum!
This is Chel's plate. She did not go back for seconds.

*Disclaimer: This review is the sole opinion of El Boaman, not mine.

Chel's note:

  • Everything was so thickly gelatinous. Too much cornstarch. 
  • I do not even want to get started on the Oyster Cake. Ugh.
  • This is the first time that I did not go back for seconds at a buffet. Everything was just so unappetizing.
  • Service is a fail. They are in a habit of getting your plate even if you're not yet done eating.
  • We are so not going back. :(


Yam Cha Seafoods & Dimsum Restaurant

Address:
Contact Details:
  • 373-1359 / 372-8136



Monday, August 29, 2011

Growing Critters and Real Critters

Despite the heavy rains and howling winds yesterday, we went to Antipolo (coming from Valenzuela) to celebrate the 9th birthday of my beloved nephew Louis.

I was like a surrogate parent to him. My brother and his wife used to work abroad, and they left him to us when he was about 4 months old and just went home every 6 months. They finally stayed here for good when Louis or Motti (as we fondly call him) was 6 years old. So for the most part of his infancy until his pre-school years, I was mostly taking care of him.

Admittedly, since I was in college during that time, I hated the responsibility. I wanted to party on the weekends but I can't because I'm taking care of a baby. He was actually such a joy to take care of, it's just frustrating for me that my gimik times were affected but I have learned so much from taking care of him. 

That experience taught me how to take care of my own when I first had Wolf. I wasn't a fumbling first-time mom because I already know how to take care of a baby. What's also nice is that now that Motti is all grown up, he helps me now in taking care of Wolf. :)

My wish for him is that he grows up to be an accomplished individual. He is such a calm and well-mannered kid and I hope he stays that way. 

Below are some pics from yesterday's celebration:






And speaking of critters. Another reason why I love going to my brother's house in Antipolo is the abundance of little critters that are not usually seen here in the metro. I get to test my Super Macro lens:





I am hoping to be more creatively productive. I needed this.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Sticky Trap

Nature is harsh.

While having merienda with Boa (pasta cooked by yours truly), I saw my brother intently staring at something just outside the screen door that leads to our kennel. 

Boa and I were looking at him curiously for a full 5 minutes before he explained what he was doing outside. 

He was apparently watching a very intense fight between a small house spider and an ant that was caught in its web. 

It's a Nat-Geo Photo Op!!!!

Grabbed my cam, set it on super-macro and handed the camera to him. 

It was a vicious battle with the ant putting up a fight: 



But it was a home-court advantage for Spidey. It's kinda like watching Shelob and Frodo go at it, only in miniature. Spidey wrapped the ant inside the web and paralyzed it with a bite or two before consuming it. Yeech:




Poor ant. I wondered out loud how did the ant got there and he gleefully answered, 'I placed it there!'

Nature is harsh, but people can be really blood-thirsty. Tsk.

Banzai!

Jumping back into the fray. 

Tomorrow night. 

It's such a shame that I see my current work place as a battlefield. I thought love was the only battlefield that mattered. 



Thursday, August 18, 2011

Enjoying My Downtime

My week-long downtime gave me the pleasure of taking care of my son full-time. I haven't had this opportunity in a while because I do not have any leave credits yet.

With 5 days of unpaid sick leave, I can just imagine my paycheck on the 30th but c'est la vie. You win some, you lose some. 

Since I'm contagious, I was advised to isolate myself from people but Wolfie hasn't left my side since Sunday. It's a bit of a risk but he just had his MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine less than a year ago so I figured, he'd be safe.

If he catches the virus, at least he'll be immunized for life but more than anything else I think he's also enjoying having his mama for himself. 

All we do all day is watch TV, alternately Disney Channel or Disney Junior and if he lets me, I get to watch TLC. I admit that I am very lenient when it comes to television but I'm very selective when choosing the shows that he can watch. I'm not against local shows but I find most of them lacking in educational values so I try to steer Wolf away from those types of shows. The only time that I can't control it is when I have to go to work and leave him with my parents. For the life of me, I just can't figure out why mom likes watching Willy Revillame. 

I felt better enough to do the laundry today but the detergent aggravated the itch. :(
My eyes are still a bit sensitive to light but I hope that the headache that have been plaguing me will go away. 

We will be productive today. :)

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Ruminations

So contracting measles is nature's way of slowing me down. 

I'm chatting right now with a friend who's halfway across the world. I just told her that it is scary to gamble. 

I am thinking that I've been trying to move forward but what if the right way is to move a step backwards? Or maybe even to take on a different direction altogether.
A few days past, I've undergone a terrible breakdown. Or maybe it was a breakthrough. I don't know. I haven't sat and wrote like this for a long, long time. 

Day to day practical necessities rendered me mute. I still haven't forgotten Virginia's advise to get a room of one's own.

Despite the emotional turmoils that I have been battling these past few months, one thing is clear. A change is definitely in order. 

Everything else will be collateral damage.



Sunday, August 07, 2011

Jumping Ship

The sudden shift of career plans made me so busy that I haven't had time to update this blog. 

This is it for now.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Thursday Mayhem

Thursday afternoon, Wolf and I were playing when we heard Maya's frantic barking just outside the window. We looked out and found my brother restraining Maya but thought nothing of it and even waved 'Hi!' to him.

We resumed playing and after a minute I heard my brother yelling my name and asked me to get the cat.

Holy...

So I raced out back and found my heavily-perspired brother restraining Maya while a thin and bedraggled cat lay a few feet away.  Kuya was grasping Maya by the scruff of her neck while poking the cat away from Maya.

The cat, unfortunately, chose to wander into our house this one afternoon that Maya was freely roaming around. According to my brother, he found Maya clamped on the poor cat's hind legs and was swinging it around. Which is probably the reason why the cat was lying around helplessly because her legs were injured. The cat is a fighter though because she was still hissing and clawing at us for all she was worth. 

The problem was how to move her without getting scratched at the process because she was really going at us with her uninjured paws.

I managed to find a shovel and carefully slipped it under the cat to avoid further injury. I was still scared to move her because she may jump and scratch my eyes out so Dad had to do it for me. Hehe.

Anyway, we put the cat outside were we had a small patch of land that has a fence on it so that she can recuperate undisturbed. 

By nighttime, she was gone though. Hope she survived.

What would've happened to her if we hadn't intervene? Imagine the mayhem.

 Maya, the aftermath

Poor kitty.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Looking Forward To The Holy Week

Haven't been blogging much, have I?

There have been many instances and happenings that I would have wanted to write about but for some reason, I find myself running dry on words.

I blame it on my lack of space. We're still nomads without a place of our own. A recent event triggered yet another reason to temporarily move someplace else and my muse must have been fed up by the constant disruption and has left. Temoporarily, I hope.

I am not particularly religious but I find myself looking forward to the weeklong vacation that I am going to have. I am hoping that the downtime will restore my words.

It has been too long.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Big Bad Blogging Brouhaha

I knew this issue is just gonna be B-I-G in the blogosphere. As in Big and Bad.

I was checking out my favorite blogs while my brother was rampaging, Dante's Inferno-style, when I came across Marketman's latest post  and then Chuvaness  and then Margaux Salcedo's Inquirer article all in the span of 10 minutes.

All I can say is that if BBB is who I think s/he is, then I'm not surprised. Never liked that blog anyway. For some reason, I find his/her reviews lacking in depth. Like, s/he has-been-paid-to write-positive-reviews-depth. Hehe. The scanned menus are of a big help though.

I'm not sure if s/he also pays for the meals that he reviews, but I would say that if you were given the meal for free and you have to review it, it is going to be an effort to keep an open mind. I'm just saying.

But. 

Margaux did not name names so we can only assume. It was good that she wrote about the 'dark' side of food blogging but guessing the characters on the blind item is what netizens are clamoring to find out. Doesn't the yet un-named PR firm who resorts to restau-extortion has accountability as well?

Love Carlos Celdran1 He actually asked a blogger directly if he was BBB. No matter what the Church says about the whole Damaso issue, this guy definiely has more balls than the entire PBA league put together. =)

So, what say you?

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Winners All

 Meet the winners of my contest, Free T-shirt for my 500th post:





Don't they look fab!

I'm sorry because I have been busy due to the recent holidays but I'll post again soon and watch out for my new contest!