Photo Hunt: Candy
This week on tnchick.com, the photo hunt theme is candy.
…
I took this shot 3 years ago at a hotel lobby in Cebu City, Philippines. They look like yummy candy treats, but these are actually just colorful pebbles at the bottom of a fountain. 
But these are for real - Read the rest of this entry »
Ocean Sky Monastery Summer Camp 2008
A mommy-friend invited my children to join this year’s summer camp at a Buddhist monastery in San Juan. She told me it was going to be a 12-day activity that will teach our kids, among others, the basic techniques of Zen meditation and Chinese calligraphy. And - there is no fee.
Sure I will register my two girls, I was quick to reply. So from April 21st to May 3rd, my kids attended the summer camp (except for the days we we got sick).
The man in the picture above is the Grand Master Wei Chueh, founder of Chung Tai Chan Monastery.
The summer camp’s theme revolved around the Monastery’s four basic tenets:
- respect for the elders,
- compassion for children,
- harmony with all humanity, and
- truth in all endeavors.
And, that we can only do all four by transforming our thoughts. (yes, the it’s the real wisdom!)
Big words that deserve to be taught early on, whether Buddhist or not, don’t you agree? Read the rest of this entry »
Blogging for love and for money
After almost two years of blogging, I have come to love doing this - working on my blog, redesigning, tinkering with the widgets, sharing my family’s latest meal with the whole world . I’ve also come to love doing the blog rounds - visiting friends I’ve made in this virtual reality.
And now, after over a year, I’ve finally plunged into taking this blog’s monetization seriously. (Desperate times=desperate measures. ) I’ve signed up with Bloggerwave. It’s Europe’s leading blog advertising media which gives bloggers like you and me the opportunity to make money while blogging.
Why not make money while blogging? For stay-at-home moms like me and others who are on the look-out to earn some on the side, sites like Bloggerwave are welcome opportunities. Go check it out!
So, while many blog for love, and many more do it for money, I do it for both.
Kung Fu, Wuxia, and Learning Mandarin
My kids’ fascination with kung fu movies started early this year, when my husband bought The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber series on DVD (Pinyin: Yi Tian Tú Lóng Jì. Simplified Chinese: ????? ). It is one of the famous Chinese fantasy martial art (wuxia) epics that my husband and his siblings grew up on. Read the rest of this entry »
A Mother’s Love…
… is:
1. most evident during times of sickness.
2. most terribly missed when the sick person is a daughter-turned-mother.
I realized these two weeks ago as an insatiable germ ravaged through my household. When my two girls got sick at the same time, it was of course I who took care of them round-the-clock. Hubby tried his very best to help, especially when both ran high fevers simultaneously. But he was often so tired from work, he’d fall asleep even before he finished giving his patient a sponge bath.
And then, it was my turn to get sick- the most terrible part. For who takes care of mothers when they get sick? Don’t get me wrong. Husbands are wonderful; and I know mine did his best to be helpful and caring. But, well, I suppose they are he is not wired for gentle, motherly TLC-ing.
So, on those three nights that I was delirious with fortyish fever, I found myself softly crying:
*sniff, sniff* “Mama… huhuhu… Maaaa… huhuhu… Mamaaaa!”
I suddenly missed her.
A mother’s love one never outgrows. Even when I am 80, I will always look back to those days when my Mama showed extraordinary patience and selfless love.
To my dear Mama: Happy Mother’s Day! I miss you. I hope we will be able to come visit with the kids before summer vacation ends.
Mama and Nate (Christmas 2006)
And to all mothers in the world: thank you for making this world better, one child at a time.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Photo Hunt: ANYthing - Serene Serendra
This week on tnchick.com, the theme for the Photo Hunt is ANY PHOTO.
…
One cool morning in February, my husband, kids and I found ourselves at the Serendra Piazza, Fort Bonifacio. Husband’s work brought us there at such an early hour. All shops were still closed. The place looked lovely when deserted! It was almost serene. How apt - serene Serendra.
The open spaces and runway-looking fixtures were too tempting. So my kids decided to stage a fashion show/photo shoot. Read the rest of this entry »
Linky Tag
I got this tag from Cookie. Since I went into blogbernation (blog-hibernation), my Google Page Rank went down from an already-poor 3 to utterly-poor zer-0! So I hope this tag works.
~~Begin Copy~~
This is the easy way and the fastest way to :
1. Make your Authority Technorati explode.
2. Increase your Google Page Rank.
3. Get more traffic to your blog.
4. Makes more new friends.
Rules :
1. Start copy from “Begin Copy” until “End Copy” to your blog(for bloggers paste on the “compose” not the “edit html” part in posting blogs so it will be linked automatically).
2. Put your own blog name and link.
3. Tag your friends as much as you can, the more the better!
1. Picturing of Life2. Juliana’s Site3.Hazel-My Life, My Hope, My Future.4.Jeanne-The Callalily Space5.Starz in De Sky6. My Charmed Life7.Denz Techtronics8.Denz Recreational9.Life’s Simple Pleasures10. My Blog11. Because Life is Fun12. In This Game of Life13.Scribbles of my Life14.Changing Lanes 15. anna 16. joytoy 17.Surviving deployment18. The Deviant19. All I want is Everything20. Shadows of love, fate and destiny21.Tasteful Voyage22.A mom’s note23. Bittersweet Collide24.Jackie Simplypinay25.Jackie’s Everyday Life26. Parisukat27. Heart of Rachel 28. ScroochChronicles 29. iMoMonline
YOU’RE NEXT~~ END COPY~~
I’m tagging Annamanila, Leah, Salen and Lynn’s Mommy Zone.
MagNate Update
The MagNate, who turns two in July, has been growing in leaps and bounds these past months. As of our last visit with the pediatrician, he weighed 14 kilos ( 30.8 pounds). His appetite is unbelievable. Whenever I offer him food - any food - he takes it without even checking what it is, hehe.
He now sleeps through the night, but his morning waking time is like clockwork - so ungodly at 4 AM! At around this time, he rouses and goes to turn on the TV to watch Playhouse Disney. Then he wakes me up for milk formula. Approximately 1 hour later, he will poop. By this time, he would have made enough noises to wake up the whole family (we all sleep in one room).
By request of my sister PetCat, here are some of Nate’s latest photos. Read the rest of this entry »
VGood Quips Again
It’s been a while since I shared some of VGood’s funny quips. Now that she is turning 7 and going to 1st grade by June, you bet her quips are wittier than ever.
~~~
The Ticket
We were driving to San Juan, where she and Patch were attending a Buddhist summer camp. Patch was interviewing me (as she always does), this time on the subject of traffic violations.
Patch: So have you ever done a traffic violation?
iMom: Ummmm… Yes of course. I beat the red light once.. Maybe twice.
Patch: So the police gave you a ticket?
VGood: Ticket? He gave you a ticket to the Dora the Explorer show??
Apparently, her mind was off somewhere. LOL. Or maybe it’s her way of telling me she wanted so badly to see the Dora show. No we did not go see it. Hindi ko gusto yung person who played Dora (isn’t she a bit too old for her character?).
~~~
VGood: Mom, can you please give me that mighty finding glass?
iMom: The whaaat??
VGood: (Getting impatient) *big sigh* That one, the mighty finding glass.
I follow the direction of her index finger. Oh, the magnifying glass! But, yes, it is a mighty finding glass in many ways too.
~~~
It was kung fu and pizza night. We were watching a Chinese movie and pigging out on pizza, when, out of nowhere, she blurted out:
“Transforming our thoughts is the real wisdom.”
-as she assumed the lotus position.
iMom: Huh??
Patch: Transforming our bad thoughts into good thoughts is the real wisdom.
VGood: For example, you’re angry. You need to sit down and be quiet. And then your angry face will turn into a smiley face! *draws a smile ala-KC Concepcion in her Enervon TV ad*
iMom and technohub are stunned. Our kids are lecturing us on wisdom and stress management! Of course, they have just finished the summer camp at a Buddhist monastery. That should explain it.
Two Movies in a Week
That’s right! It seems this movie-loving mom has been deprived of cinema trips for too long.
Movie No. 1 - I am not particularly proud to announce I that I went to see it. It was the fault of my gym buddies. They were bored. They wanted to see a movie instead of working out. They wanted to relax and unwind. They, however, did not find Iron Man (which is the only other movie showing last week at Greenhills) appropriate for 3 moms wishing for some relaxed moments. So, the only other option really was, ulk, When Love Begins. *Altogether now: “Eeeeewwww!”*
The story is okay - nothing spectacular to rave about (except Aga, who remains such a cutie!). It is still the girl-meets-boy-they-fall-in-love-but kind of thing, given a few twists. At least the three of us left the cinema laughing and joking. One of my friends is happily separated, and we were joking her to go to Boracay. She just might find her Aga there!
Movie No. 2 - my family has been looking forward to watching it. But we have been too busy getting sick, husband too busy working, that we almost missed it.
The Forbidden Kingdom stars two of my family’s favorite actors - Jacky Chan (because, in the eyes of my kids, he looks like their dad, LOLOLOLZ) and Jet Li. That it was a kung fu movie also excited my kids and my not-so-little kid (a.k.a. technohub). The moves and stunts were finely executed, as can be expected from these two great stars. VGood was so engrossed with the movie. It was fun too see her wide-eyed amazement and hear her gleeful wheeee! The kids came home doing flying kicks and conjuring fire balls. :0
We watched at SM North Edsa The Block. I wanted to watch at Trinoma because of Tater’s cheese popcorn. My husband wanted to watch at The Block because there’s no crowd there on weekend nights anymore and parking is wide open. Everyone’s at Trinoma these days. Okay, fine, I concede. We bought the movie tickets and proceeded to buy some munch. At the popcorn counter, we found out there’s no cheese popcorn.
iMom: Whhaaa? No cheese?? You ran out?
Popcorn girl: No ma’am, we really don’t offer it.
Das crazy! So we went all over SM looking for cheese popcorn. We found the last 4 bags of cheese popcorn at the Holy Kettle Corn kiosk down at the food court of the main building. It wasn’t the cheesy cheese popcorn we all craved for, but it was better than nothing. Oh, for the love of cheese popcorn!
