Field Trip to Villa Escudero and EK

Yesterday was Renz's school's yearly field trip. This year it's at Villa Escudero and Enchanted Kingdom.

Tita Gay went with Renz. Most, if not all of the kids had their guardians tagging along. Boarding time at the aircon buses was 6:00am.

First stop of the field trip was at Villa Escudero. Here's the old-style bus the kids boarded to go around the Hacienda.

Sandra's Birthday 2009

It's Sandra's 13th Birthday today. Yup another teenager in the house (now three). She chose Rocky Road for her cake. We also had macaroni and sinfully yummy (read: cholesterol-packed) barbecues.

This year, Sandra gave herself a really nice present. She improved more on her grades (she moved to the pilot section this period) by moving to rank 7 in the pilot section. Congrats, Sandra!


Renz is in his usual "making faces" mood for the photo below.


We may not give you expensive birthday gifts, but we certainly sing the loudest birthday cheers! =) Happy Birthday!

I'm a 5-Year Donor for World Vision

Last week I received via snail mail a squarish-sized letter that looked like a card. "Ah", I said, another one of those birthday cards sent by either the bank or credit card companies. Sometimes, I wish they'd just credit the cost of sending a birthday card to my account.

But this one I thought was really bad coz it was sent almost a month AFTER my birthday. Well, it wasn't a birthday card. An early Christmas card, maybe? Nope.

It's an invitation from World Vision Philippines.

Too Many Cats

Our neighbor has too many cats. There are at least 5 cats in their backyard at any one time. They just keep multiplying and even "invaded" the renthouse we occupied. That renthouse is directly behind our neighbor's.

I don't know how these cats started. My feeling is the leftover food the neighbors leave outside just attracted more and more stray cats.

And they can be so noisy at night. Here's one of them I caught sleeping in a wash basin.

Che's Birthday 2009

The Pacman fever is on (again). Yesterday, a local barangay kagawad stopped his car in the middle of the street to hand out free tickets. This is for the Manny Pacquio - Miguel Cotto fight. The viewing will be at the local multi-purpose covered court of the subdivision.

For a while I thought he was campaigning and was handing out pocket sized calendars.

Here's that ticket.


While folks are preparing the multi-purpose covered court for the Pacquio-Cotto fight viewing tomorrow, we're celebrating Che's birthday today.

More desserts to follow with Che's Cookies and Cream cake with Oreos from Red Ribbon.


Do excuse Renz's impression of a hungry alien. He isn't usually like this. =)


Happy Birthday Che!

My Neti Pot Solution to Prevent H1N1

Ever since I've watched the Neti pot episode in the Oprah Winfrey show, I knew the device's purpose for nasal irrigation made sense.

A brief look around on the internet revealed how such a simple device can be so overpriced! And so I quickly thought of improvising one. There are actually plenty of improvisations you can find around the internet ranging from real ceramic teapots to stainless steel kettles even!

Firewood from Ondoy and Pepeng

After lugging all that cut branches from Pampanga last All Saints Day, it was time to go to work and cut, split and dry them for firewood. The wood came from mango and chico trees that were felled by the recent typhoons.

I simply used a hacksaw to cut wood. I don't use a machete ("itak") to chop them to firewood size. I think it's a bit faster using a hacksaw and there's lesser wastage (wood chips). Ever since I learned how to use the hacksaw with either arm, I'm able to saw more firewood. When one arm gets tired, the other one takes over. I don't even need to stop. I'm right-handed but with this newfound skill, I'm even able to use more of my left than my right arm by a ratio of 10 to 1!

Here's a pic of the firewood in the garage with some of them already cut.

All Souls Day 2009

Hearing over the radio that there was shooting incident at the Garden of Memories memorial park wasn't exactly the way to start the All Souls Day right - coz that's where we we were headed.

I had imagined the usual knee-jerk reaction of authorities: get strict on entry, cordon off areas and ask folks with vehicles to park outside. Amazingly, none of that happened. In fact, we didn't have to take the long circuitous route to get in. The one-way traffic rule they impose on Nov. 1 has been lifted immediately.

Here's the gang at the spot with Karen helping out with the umbrellas. Renz looks really bored. After around 15 minutes of yawning, he munched on the snacks we brought - buttered toast and marshmallows.

All Saints Day 2009

This year, it was dry and hot at the Sto. Domingo cemetery. At least that's way better than wet and flooded! There was overcast skies the previous day and good thing typhoon Santi just breezed through this area. Our place in Muntinlupa though was hit hard by the winds.

We left at around 8:30 am and bought breakfast at Mcdo Munti. Luckily we found a parking spot right in front. Ugh, too many people at the queues and buying so much. I was thinking of the traffic going to Sucat approaching the memorail parks and so we took the East service road instead. Amazingly, there was no traffic at SLEX.

Mom wasn't up to walking and so we dropped by the Sto. Domingo cemetery before going to mom's house. We parked the van at the kubo and proceeded to the cemetery. Here, the gang lit a couple of small candles and offered prayers. Renz was feeling hot and so Karen covered his head with a towel. =)