Amber’s Newest Ate

Friends, meet our new Ate (big sister)… :)

That’s Ate Mai-mai. She joined us last April, a week before we transferred to Parañaque.

We celebrated her 24^th birthday last night by having a simple dinner at home.

What I like about her is that she seems to be a doting big sister to Amber. You can tell that they get along really well. Because,... you know how a duckling trails its mommy duck wherever it goes? That’s how Amber is with Ate Mai-mai. And most of the time, I use my daughter’s reaction towards our house-angel to gauge if they are okay as a nanny.

The only thing I can say I’m not okay about her is that she has the tendency to spoil the little girl. :(

Overall, she’s great in taking care of Amber and she is doing me a big help in keeping the house in order while I’m at work.

I hope she stays with us for a longer time. *fingers crossed*

Really?! They’re Gay?!

What’s with me liking these hunks and finding out that they're gay?!?!

At least with my on-and-off love, Matt Bomer, I knew from the first time I saw him that he’s gay. 

Oh-la-la! ^_^

It was hard for me to accept it at first but… who cares! He’s still sizzling hot! But I had to draw the line of course. ;)

There was also this Blue member, Duncan James, who I really adored. 

I knew every song their group recorded by heart! His lopsided smile makes my knees tremble. Alam mo yun? Yung parang there is something wicked behind that smile? I even wanted to name my first boy Duncan! Then he broke my heart by coming out. *sniff*

And you, Wentworth Miller! 

How dare you look at me with those piercing eyes! You made me realize tattoos can scream sexy. Oh yeah! How I love to look at that tattooed bod of yours in Prison Break. If only I can get my hands on them as well. I wish! And then you came out?!?! *weep*

No, I’m sure Justin Hartley hasn’t joined the bandwagon yet but he did a great job portraying one in Revenge. 

He really broke my heart into pieces when I saw him kissing Nolan Ross passionately. Argh! I still feel my heart being crushed when I think of that scene! He did his role so good that nobody can ever convince me that that was just an act. I cried inside.

For the record, I don't have anything against our gay friends. In fact, I'd love to be friends with them, I do! Because their fun to be with. They're so full of bright ideas! But I will not and cannot fantasize about them. You see, that's where my frustration stems from. Sigh! Imagine all that burst bubbles. Plop-plop!

Buti na lang hindi ko minahal si Piolo!

O sha, tapos na ang ilusyon! Back to reality. :) 

First Periodical Exams Results

Here again is one proud beaming mommy! ^_^

Looking at Amber’s test papers do make me beam, as in aabot na from ear to ear ang ngiti ko. Ngawit na ang jaw, pero keri lang.

I haven’t seen the results of her tests in Religion and Filipino, where I am most concerned dahil sing-barok ng pagsasalita nya ang pagbabasa nya sa Filipino. Although I hear her speak more in Filipino lately, she is still more comfortable in English. Anyhoo, pasasaan ba, darating din kami dun!

Results: Perfect 50/50 in Science, 48/50 in Math and English.

Yeap, di naman po super perfect but I’m so proud kasi if you’ve seen her initial quizzes, susmaryosep, record breaking! Record breaking low! Na-culture shock ata ang Amber. New school eh, new style of teaching, new environment, etc., etc...

Ang hindi ko pa rin ma-get over, is their Science lessons. They really are discussing Matter in Kinder! Aliw! I remembered learning this in Grade IV na ata!

Hindi ba talaga binago na ang spelling ng GRAEPS? Hehehe!

So ayun, hapi-hapi ang mader that the kiddo was able to turn her grades around. ^_^

Keep it up, baby girl!

A Very Intimate Children’s Party

Felt great to be among the only few guests invited to a children’s party! Well, it wasn't really a party but a simple celebration. Basta, feeling ko, nasa 6-14 year old bracket lang ako. Haha!

We celebrated my boss’ children's birthday on Aug-8. Katuwa ano, pareho talagang August 8 ang birthday nila. My boss is very fond of numerology, astrology and stuff. So connect na lang what’s so important about 8/8. According to him, it wasn’t planned at all, purely coincidental!

Going back to the party. It was very cozy and intimate. As in 3 lang kaming guests, save 1 teenage classmate ng celebrator who came in late, and none of us can be considered a child. On a children’s party? Ang bongga di ba? But it was still fun. Namaos ako kakasigaw sa videoke! LOL!

The good thing about being a guest in a party this size, with people you know very well, is that nobody will mind if you’re out of tune. Even if they do, they’ll just shrug about it. Wala talagang basagan ng trip! Kanya-kanyang panahon lang yan. When it’s their turn on the mic, you just busy yourself searching for your next repertoire para di mo rin sila mashado naririnig at walang temptation na mambasag ka ng trip! Ang saya lang talaga!

Anyways, happy birthday Kuya Jim King! 

The first time I stepped in your daddy’s office, you were barely a year old. Ngayon, abah! Binata ka na! Hmpft, makes me feel old again. Huhu! I’m happy that you are growing up a very respectful, polite and well-mannered young man. Keep it up!

Happy 6^th birthday naman to this cute and sweet girl! 

She’s my bestest friend na, ever! You know why? When I got there, she keeps on looking at me. Then after a while, she approached and tugged me on my arm and whispered, “maganda ka”. Oh di ba? C’mon, kids don’t lie! Haha!

After the pukpok-palayok game, she approached me again and with all smiles handed me 3 1-peso coins. Di ba ang sweet? Maybe she thought she should give me some coins because I didn’t get any from the palayok. Eh kasi, alangan naming makipag-agawan ako sa mga bagets di ba? Parang nahiya naman kasi ako. OR! She thought I looked like I don’t have pamasahe pauwi? Hahaha! Either ways, thank you, sweet Jexcel. Stay sweet and thoughtful!

Here are some pictures from that day:

At shempre... I'm so planning to make this an obligatory shot everytime I go out. Harhar!

Happy birthday, kids!

*Photos courtesy of their Tita Margie. 

So, Drinking Soft Drinks Is A Sin?

I have never liked nor find Atty. Adel Tamano cute until now. But of course I’m aware that his being against imposing sin tax on soft drinks and sweet beverages may not at all be for personal reasons as he represents the Beverage Industry Association of the Philippines. Still, it’s refreshing to see someone like Atty. Tamano talk against the potential increase in soft drinks prices due to the pending Soft Drinks Sin Tax Bill.

I admit, I was one among those who had violent reactions upon hearing this bill. It says, “House Bill 595 seeks to levy additional taxes on such drinks not only to get added revenue, but also to discourage the regular intake of such drinks that pose risks to health.”

While I don’t deny that regular drinking of soft drinks is not a healthy choice, drinking it is still a CHOICE!

Saka, let’s take this into consideration: Pag nag-increase ba ng presyo ang soft drinks dahil sa additional tax na yan, eh hindi ka na bibili nito?! I doubt it. Pag sobrang init gaya dito sa Pinas, at nakakita ka ng malamig na malamig na sopdrink, hindi ka ba bibili nito para uminom dahil iisipin mo na mahal? Dahil very tempting yan, kahit tumaas pa ang presyo nyan, bibili at bibili ka pa rin. Iinom at iinom ka pa rin. So, pa’nong ang pagpataw ng buwis dyan eh makakatulong sa pagbaba ng obesity case sa Pilipinas? Saka ilang beses na ba tumaas ang presyo ng soft drinks dahil sa increasing cost? Nabawasan ba ang obesity rate ng Pilipinas?!?!

Who will be more affected? Wouldn’t it be the employees of the company who can potentially lose their jobs if soft drinks manufacturer cease to produce or reduce their production volume? Or granted that consumers quit from buying soft drinks, wouldn’t small retailers and eateries face the potential loss of their livelihood?

I think Rep. Leni Robredo’s bill on banning soft drinks in schools is more acceptable because unlike adults, children cannot discern yet what is good or bad for them. They will drink soft drinks if you will make soft drinks available for them. Again, parents should have a conscious effort in educating their children.

If you offer my daughter soft drinks, she will strongly refuse it and will tell you, “Soft drinks are not for kids”, although she knows that her mother is a regular drinker of Mt. Dew! 

My point is, drinking soft drinks can be avoided by sheer will. It will not cause obesity if you don’t drink it! Don’t use health reasons to impose additional taxes on soft drinks! Do not impose additional taxes on it, period! Sasakit lang ang bulsa ko sa tumataas na presyo ng Mt. Dew pero hindi ako mapipigilan bumili at uminom nito, kaya please, if you really want to help the masa like me, don’t tax soft drinks! Hmp!

To our legislators, please, find other means to increase the government’s revenues like go after those corrupt officials, big-time tax evaders, and the likes instead of trying to deny us of our sweet refreshment pleasures. Wala naman pong basagan ng simpleng trip. 

Pet Peeve: Feeling Rapunzel

Sorry Rapunzel, this has nothing to do with you. I do like you in fact. Meron lang mga tao na nagfi-feeling Rapunzel. Them, I despise! 

It’s beginning to be a major annoyance for me. If I only have a choice and not use public transportation, I would! But I can’t because the price of gasoline will strangle me, if the hubby hasn’t yet. Imagine if I’d ask him to drive me to the office every day before he goes to his work, which is so totally out of way! Well, I can try and drive myself if only I’d learn to drive an MT car, but that’s a completely different story.

So another option is to bring scissors and cut those very annoying hair that swings to your face during a jeepney ride. That would be fun! I can get away with that legally, right? Like, I can accuse the hair of trespassing on my personal space and what I did was self-defense, right? 

Photo Credits: @IlongoP

Seriously, I might do that. But I will not enjoy the public attention in case I get engaged in a cat-fight. So for the meanwhile, I’ll try to muster all the patience I can get and be content by politely reminding these girls to mind their hair in a public transport as I do. I mean, I also wear my hair long but at least I try not to make my hair become a nuisance to others by keeping it tucked whenever I'm in a moving public vehicle. A little consideration goes a long way. Try that!

Conversations With Amber

Amber Palusot

Daddy: Amber, can you massage my back?

Amber: uhmm, tired hands ko, daddy.

Pero she can't stop playing with the LPS Apps on Daddy's iPhone. EXCUSES!

Amber Echosera

On eating vegetable...

Mommy: Amber, try this o...

Amber: What’s that?

Mommy: vegetable. It’s called sayote... di ba vegetables make you glow?

Amber: ok.

She eats the sayote with gusto.

Amber: hmmm... delicious!

Mommy: You want some more? Wait, kukuha pa ko.

Amber: No! No! No! Enough na, Mommy.

KALA KO BA MASARAP!?!? Echosera!

Amber Coniotic 

Amber: I don’t like it when it rains kasi when it rains, it baha saka it makes people sick.
Oh really?! They get sakit? ;/

Amber Chuchal 
Amber: Ate Mai, where’s my lipstick?!?

Hanu daw??!!!?

Amber: Ate Mai, did you see my lipstick?... And blusher?

OH EM GEE!! Meron sha nun?? Daig pa ang nanay!

Amber Usisera

I was in the CR relieving myself when I heard Amber from the door.

Amber: Mommy!!! What are you doing inside the bathroom?

She always does that when I’m in the CR, as if I can do something else in there which she doesn’t know yet. So, I decided to make fun of her.

Mommy: Sleeping!

Amber: What?!? You are not supposed to sleep in the bathroom. Sleeping is in the bedroom! That’s crazy!

Ansabeh?!? Crazy daw?! Nakaka-shock ha! When I recovered from the shock brought about by her response...

Mommy: So what am I supposed to do in the bathroom?

Amber: You can take a bath, wash your hands, wash your feet! But not sleep!

Mommy: I’m not doing those things either. What else do you think I’m doing here?

Pause....

Amber: Urgh! Okay, okay! Just continue sleeping in there.

I still heard her babbling as she walked away. Kaloka!

A Day With My GPI Friends

My tenure with the Malaysian-owned company (GPI) where I worked in Cavite may be the shortest I had in my employment record but the friendship that I forged with some of the people there are long-lasting!

Last Sunday, I bonded once again with my ex-GPI friends: Alma, who I fondly call Bok, Gricelda and Ivy, Ibyang to me.

I last saw Alma and Gricelda on my wedding. I was so glad they were able to be there on my special day.

With Ivy, the last time I saw her was on my last day in the company, which was 13 years ago! HAS IT REALLY BEEN THAT LONG?!?!

A lot changed... (well, obviously our sizes and shapes, LOL) but not our friendship. They are among the friends I dearly treasure.

We agreed to meet at lunch time in Shabu-shabu in Alabang. We spent more than 5 hours there, chatting more than eating. We realized that we have overstayed when a crew approached us and asked us if we still have additional orders despite the ample leftover in our table. Well, in all fairness to them, it’s not that they attempted or even hinted to throw us out. They told us that we can stay as long as we want, I think they just needed to close their register or something.

What I realized was that I will never be a shabu-shabu fan. As mouth-watering the tiger prawns (which I got a bit intimidated because of their size) are, I wasn’t able to eat much of it because I don’t know how to season them! BUMMER! I indulged with the tuna, scallops and thinly-sliced Angus beef instead. Though unseasoned, they still made me feel full. :)

It was obvious we still didn’t want to end the day so when Bok’s husband, who is a PAF officer, invited us to dinner, we all scurried to McKinley to meet up with him.

We had dinner at Uncle Cheffy’s, where I had the best cheesecake ever! I was so stuffed I wasn’t able to eat anything but a few bites of the Lovely Jenny Salad (which is really flavorful!), and a slice of Uncle Cheffy Cheesecake, which I fell in love with at first bite! I made a mental note to drag the Hubby to a nearest Uncle Cheffy this weekend. I have to have another slice of that cheesecake!!!

We said our farewells at past 9PM. I bet if it wasn’t a workday the next day, we might have stayed longer!

I missed you, girls! Until our next date. :)

Soft and Comfy!

Amber while watching TV. Who needs a costly mattress?

Mama's Post Birthday Celebration!

We celebrated Mama’s birthday last Saturday. And what better way to do it? Malling and eating! Both our favorite pastimes!

We went to Fairview Terraces. That’s the newly opened Ayala mall in Fairview. Amber didn’t like it there that much because she prefers to go to the lumang mall. That’s SM Fairview just across Fairview Terraces. Eh dahil berdey ni Mama, her choice prevailed! The little girl didn’t get a chance. ;)

We had a hearty lunch at Gerry’s Grill. Ako ang may pakana nyan, because I craved for their inihaw na pusit!

Clockwise from Top: Inihaw na Pusit, Crispy Fish Fillet, Pancit Bihon, 
Seafood Rice, Bulalo and Shrimp Gambas. 
Crispy Pata, Mama's special request, is not in the picture. :)

And so, we pigged out. :D

After eating, we had enough food left to takeout for dinner. We even had an extra Pork Binagoongan, which we had for free! Or we only paid for a hundred bucks because we bought their Circle of Friends card for P100. 

This is like a loyalty card that enables you to avail of a free dish every time you reach a food purchase of P1,500. Since we can already make use of it that time, we bought one and had ourselves an extra Pork Binagoongan for dinner! Sad thing I don’t eat anything with bagoong. But the rest of the gang was delighted!

Mama doesn’t want us to buy her a cake anymore because it has been already more than a week since her birthday. Instead, we just had dessert at Banapple, located inside the Wellworth Department Store.

White Chocolate Truffle Berry Cheesecake, Dark Choco Tiramisu Cheesecake,
Blueberry Chessecake and Old-fashioned Chocolate Cake.

Happy birthday, Mama! Wishing you more and more healthy years!  

Daddy's Baby Brother

To: Baby brother of Daddy
From: Amber Mommy Daddy

Nope, Daddy doesn’t really have a baby brother. It just seems that all babies are either baby brothers or baby sisters to Amber. :)

So, what’s the story behind this little gift card?

At the mall, I asked Amber to help me find a gift for Daddy’s friend’s baby who will be baptized the next day.

Amber: Sure Mommy. Is the baby boy or girl?

Mommy: Boy.

Amber: Oh, a baby brother!

When we got home, Amber approached me holding the gift box and pointing to the card attached to it.

Amber: Mommy, you have to write the name of Daddy’s little brother sa “TO:”, then write our names sa “FROM:”.

Mommy: Later na Amber, kasi Daddy doesn’t know the name of the baby yet.

Amber: It’s okay, just write “Baby brother”.

Mommy: Let Daddy write the name na lang when he gets there tomorrow.

Later, I found her intently writing on the gift card and tadaah! Job's done! 

Libang na libang ako. It just proved how persistent and determined she is. And I’m glad she’s learning to spell words without any help from us. Good job, Amber!

Although I think I have to include PATIENCE and THE VALUE OF LISTENING TO PARENTS in our next lessons. ;/

Bitter

An officemate and I chatted about a very popular foreign retail store that has been, and is still creating a buzz in the metro since it opened years ago. The ekonomista in me, who I would have preferred to have kept her thoughts to herself, just had to comment that I’d rather go to local department stores like Landmark for my clothes because it offers nicer designs at very affordable prices than go to that popular retail store whose price is still more expensive even if it is on sale.

Seriously! I would.

Just then, my konsensha butted in...

Konsensha: Wag kang bitter, wala ka lang budget pang-******!!!

Hahaha! I found myself laughing out loud at the thought! Sarap sakalin ng intregerang konsensha na ‘to! Tawag kaya dun -- PRAKTIKAL! Hmpft!