Going Around Manila International Autoshow 2012

We trooped to the World Trade Center last Sunday to watch the exhibit of cars, the Manila International Autoshow. If you ask me, I was more interested in our family bonding time more than the cars I was going to see. :)

Anyway, this is the second year that we attended the car show. I remember back in college my boyfriend, now my husband, go to Transhow, another transport show, every year. He introduced me to this kind of event. Obviously he loves cars. :)

Disclaimer: I don't know much about cars but I do appreciate their beauty. This is one of the first cars that I saw and love. It's cute with its color green, stripes and all - a minicooper.


My dream car is a sleek Mercedez Benz. It's elegant, spells success but does not give an air of stiffness. Let me visualize: I'm going to have you, dear Mercedez Benz, sooner than later. Haha.


My daughter and I love vintage cars too especially their colors. The Beetle is such a classic and it's yellow color suits it so much. My husband took different photos of cars and their sound system and their machines. He also took the opportunity to have our picture taken with Rusell Swift. I undrestand he is a precision driver. My husband showed me a YouTube video of this guy driving his way...I mean parking his way in between two cars with very little space to move around.



We looked for a place to eat and found ourselves at Army Navy Burger in Harbor Square. That was our first time in the said restaurant. My feedback on the said dining place on a separate blog post.


It's been crazy busy for all of us especially with husband's schedule so I grab every opportunity I can grab so the three os us can go out together as a family. We spent around two hours there. It was exhausting but like my daughter said it was all fun. :)

Symphony of Lights and Sounds, Ayala Triangle

Finally it pushed through. We have been planning to go to Ayala Triangle to witness the play of lights and sounds but almost always there's a glitch in our plans. Either it rains or there is something that needs to be attended to, mostly husband's work. Since this is the last week of the symphony and husband has no work yesterday, we proceeded last night. Thank God the weather was good. It's a bit chilly in fact which we love.

There's traffic from Ayala Avenue going to Tower 1 of Makati Stock Exchange. This serves as the parking area for Ayala Triangle. I appreciate it that even if we lined up for a few minutes, it was organized. They don't let cars get in unless there are already vacant spaces for incoming cars. We were able to spot parking immediately and then off we went to see the lights and hear the sounds.

It was beautiful. My husband captured a few minutes of it in video. Of course we took a lot of pictures from the two cameras I bought and from our cell phones. Haha. Talk about not getting enough.

We arrived at a little past eight in the evening. The lights and sounds are already playing when we got there. We had to take out our food from CBD (Cheesesteaks, Burgers and Drinks) so we can watch the last full show at 9 PM.

We had fun! A park turned into a sea of lights for about 20 minutes. I guess it's longer for the last show. It's good to note that the park is clean. The people are not throwing wastes just anywhere. There's only one cleaner which I saw and didn't see much trash bins but just the same, the park was clean. Also, I didn't see much security guards going around. Just one Or two I guess but anyway, it was a peaceful, lovely night. :)

As expected there were a lot of people but towards the end of the show, the crowd gets thinner which is good for our picture taking.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2012, HERE WE COME! :)

A Pleasant Surprise

Thanks to my good friend, Cess, for handing over an invitation to attend the Ipanema event at Trinoma activity center two weeks ago. It's great that we can bring the kids along. My daughter went with me and she had a great time.

We were pleasantly surprised because my two cousins with our niece were there too. One of them works for a magazine that's why she is a frequent guest in events. I'm glad my friends understood that I spent most of my time in the event with my cousins. We don't see each other much and this one's a very good time to catch up.

There were a lot of activities kids and adults enjoyed. My daughter tried wall climbing, in her flats. Go, go, go, daughter!


My cousin and my daughter had fun with their nail art. I allowed my daughter to have her nails painted just for that event. She was ecstatic. :)


My niece and my daughter had their glitter tattoo also. My daughter had a blue seagull because "Justin Bieber has a seagull tattoo on his right hip bone". There, she said it.


My cousin and I took advantage of one of the services offered which is the foot massage. Relaxing. And what's best is that we were able to catch up what's the latest about each other.


Will any event that matters these days be complete without the photobooth? Maybe not. We had loads of pictures here since there were not much people lining up. We took advantage of the lull. Whoever thought of this photobooth for parties and events is a genius. It's really fun!

Seven Suites Hotel Observatory with Friends

I went to Seven Suites Hotel Observatory last Saturday, March 27, for its relaunch. I heard about it from my friends and thought of joining them. My friend can bring along one more guest so I decided to push through with it. It's a weekend after all.

We spent about four hours of being together while savoring what the place has to offer. We like best of all the observatory located at the roof deck. For one thing, this is the only hotel in this country where you can go star gazing. I saw the moon up close as well as Orion and my favorite, Saturn with its rings. Wonderful.


With my mommy blogger friends, Cookie, Chats, That's Me, Julie and her son.

The hotel's facade.

I saw Saturn! :)
We toured the Garden Hall where a sculpture exhibit was being held that night. These are copper sculptures made into chairs, an image and a table stand. Our guide also walked us through in the different rooms of the hotel. The suites are named after each day of the week.

Here's Friday room with its cream colored beddings and wall.



Antipolo's higher elevation from Mega Manila gives it a scenic view of the metropolis, sans the smog that is often times visible.


Overlooking Mega Manila. Twilight.

I happen to like this one.
Oh yes, another thing we enjoyed is having our pictures taken individually and as a group at the photo booths. It was crazy with all our afro wigs in vibrant colors. My friends even made it their profile picture in Facebook. I don't think they'd want me to post it here. Haha! But it was really fun!

After the loooong weekend, it's back to reality for us starting tomorrow. :) Have a great week everyone!

***Check out more weekend sharing at Pixel Bug Weekend.

Riding the LRT

I went to Manila yesterday for an appointment. I decided not to be picked up by hubby, go home alone instead and use the LRT (train) to avoid the heavy traffic on the road. It was a great decision. I had a smooth ride from Manila to EDSA (a major thoroughfare in Mega Manila). What could have been a two hour drive only took me about thirty minutes. Happiness. :)

The LRT is clean, and the air condition is working well. Great!

I was also pleasantly surprised by the actions of the guard inside the train. At first I thought he was observing someone who seemed suspicious but I did not see any. Well it turned out he assists people - women, children and senior citizens most especially. He tries to look for seats for those who need to be seated (older people for example). He is on guard whenever people alight from the train and assist them again while they go out. He is quick to inform people standing in the train whenever a seat is vacated. Just like what he did to me.

If this is LRT's customer service drive then it's good. I just don't know if this is still possible when the train is filled to the brim.

This guard should just be careful holding people's arms, women mostly. It might be misinterpreted as taking advantage. Some people do not want to be touched by people they do not know. Generally, the guard is very pleasant.

I was also entertained by the little girl beside me. She's around five or six years old I guess. She kept on singing this nursery song, the title escapes me now. She's so adorable.

She sings because she likes to. She sings to her heart's content. She sings to entertain herself. She sings because she's fond of the song. Oh to be a child and to be so unaffected. I can't help but smile at her.

Living Arrangements

There seems to be a steady rise in condominiums in Mega Manila. In our area alone, there is a continuous construction of both high-rise and medium-rise condominiums. Most young couples I know prefer to own a condominium unit no matter how small it is rather than own a townhouse or even a small house good enough for people who are starting a family.

One reason I always hear, other than owning a unit is way cheaper than purchasing a house and lot, is the proximity of the condominiums to work places. True, there are a lot of condominiums connected already to malls and offices. It is very convenient for people who have to attend to a lot of business outside the home.

Another thing people are looking at condominiums as investments. Some opt to rent it out for added income. More often than not also, a lot of parents from the provinces, whose children are studying in Manila, choose to provide a unit for their children instead of sending them to a dormitory. Mostly the reason is safety and security as well as accessibility.

Condo-living in the university belt is common nowadays. Both parents and students find the privacy of living in a condominium more conducive to studying. Most of the time, you are with your relatives or just a few people whom you know very well.

Wherever we are in the world, be it in Manila, Hongkong, or anywhere in the U.S., it is important that living arrangements give the owner or the tenant the benefits that equals the money spent on buying or renting the place. University of Arizona apartments and the like for example should be a good investment, it should meet one's needs like proximity to the work place, school, convenience shops, malls and the like.

Living comfortably in a place you love gives you peace of mind which is priceless.

Disclaimer: This post does not in any way recommend any product or service nor has this post been compensated in anyway.

Fort Santiago

One of the activities included in my daughter's HEKASI subject (Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika - Geography, History and Civics...whew!) is to visit Fort Santiago with the family. It aims for a vicarious experience for the students of a great part of the last days of Dr. Jose Rizal before his execution at Bagumbayan (Rizal Park or more popularly knows as Luneta).

I see this as a wonderful idea by most schools. A light discussion on a historical event among the family members proved to be very engaging for us. The last time we visited The Walled City was maybe seven years ago when my daughter was still a toddler. This trip to Fort Santiago was very much appreciated.


Our visit coincided with the Marian Convention. Different floats of the Virgin Mary were on exhibit inside the fort. I had a good time taking pictures even if it was so crowded and the temperature very humid.


One of the many interesting exhibits inside the Rizal Shrine was the enshrined vertebra of the national hero with a bullet wound. My daughter was in awe when she read what was embossed on the glass partition of the cabinet. We were all in awe.


The last steps of Jose Rizal were immortalized by embedding brass plates from his detention cell to the gates of Fort Santiago. You can see a lot of children following his steps just like what my daughter did. "He's got small feet", she said. Small he may be in height and built but big in courage, goals and vision for the Philippines.


We went around Fort Santiago for almost two hours. My daughter finally had to sit on the pavement and rest before leaving the area. We were all tired and exhausted but definitely, we had a great time visiting Fort Santiago. It was a different experience reliving a part of our history.


Next stop is looking for a place to eat. Changed top as it was really hot in Fort Santiago and bought my daughter's monthly dose of Total Girl magazine. While waiting for our orders, my daughter went back in her present time and browsed her magazine, read about one her favorites, Justin Bieber, her present-day hero so-to-speak. :)

This is my first entry for Pixel Bug Weekend. I love joining photo meme and I hope to do this consistently. :)

Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

We have been experiencing erratic weather patterns for several years now. We find ourselves in the middle of strong rains during summer months. In other cases the day is unevenly divided to wet or damp and scorching hot. Oftentimes we travel on the road experiencing two different weathers in areas just adjacent to each other. We are saying the weather sequences were not like they used to be.

"The weather is so weird!" Like most people, that's my favorite expression for this crazy weather pattern. I blurt out, almost nonchalantly, this is the effect of global warming or climate change. That's it and then I go about the normal daily business as if nothing else matters.

Until recent events made me realize the impact of climate change. Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) submerged 80% of Metro Manila underwater as well some parts of neighboring provinces. A week after, Typhoon Pepeng (Parma) ravaged Northern Luzon. Huge amount of money, unwavering faith and courage, continuous moral support are necessary in the rebuilding of lives and properties.

Nowadays, the slightest rain and cloudiness alarm people. Facebook statuses are about the latest weather update as well as the latest weather related worries. People are afraid. I know some people who cannot have a good sleep when it rains incessantly during the night.

A tragedy made us realize how nasty the effects of climate change is. Manifestations such as strong rains which we have not experienced ever in our lives surprised us with devastating flood waters. Water world. What is next?

True, both the people and the government have their own major shortcomings before, during and after Ondoy and Pepeng. Climate change was not a priority in the government's agenda so it seems. Disaster preparedness was zero. Nobody had seen it coming. Did we, us people, take time to think and actually do our part to protect Mother Earth from global warming?

Now you can hear about climate change discussions from almost every group of people. The government is passing the Climate Change Act of 2009 and will create a Climate Change Commission.

As a citizen of Planet Earth, what can I do?

I will understand the platforms of all the presidential candidates and they must include concrete action plans on climate change and environment protection. Urban planning for one needs to get the government's serious study, recommendation and implementation. This includes strict laws and protocols on waste management system.

Save electricity. I have a habit of turning the television on even if I am doing another thing. Let me break that habit. Continue using energy saving lights.

Reduce, reuse, recycle. Also, I will regularly use cloth bags whenever we do our groceries.

Make the shortest route possible, schedule logistics of errands to save on gas. Take the train whenever possible.

Little things like what I have mentioned can make a big difference if religiously implemented. Sharing during home owners' association meetings and office meetings are ways to encourage others to do the same thing. There are a lot we can learn through sharing.

My daughter is already aware of global warming and climate change as they are being discussed in school. What better way to reinforce her awareness but let her be involved in the things we do to protect our Mother Earth. This is her future after all.

***Read more about climate change from bloggers from all over the world at Blog Action Day 2009.

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Realizations After "Ondoy" (Typhoon Ketsana)

It's quite hard to focus on the daily grind. Everything seems trivial thinking that the metropolis is still in shambles but this too shall pass. I have my own pressing concerns but it seems my world stopped. What are my concerns compared to the tragedy that befell my kababayans (fellow Filipinos)? Kaya ko 'to! Kaya natin 'to, mga Pinoy! (I can do it! We can rise above this, fellow Filipinos!)

Contributing in our own little way to help relieves anxieties. It should, right? But still whatever help we did feels so little and are not enough when we see on television what happened to our brothers and sisters just an hour or two hours drive away from our residence. Even the first floor of my father-in-law's house in Bulacan was submerged in water. They are safe now. My husband and my sister-in-law helped clean the house yesterday.

In the midst of all these, realization sets in that we are not in any way prepared. We do not even have contingencies at home. Nobody is taking note. We do not want another disaster like Ondoy, no. But we do not want to be caught unaware. We would like to take some measures which could come in handy, which could help us, if not us, the people in our community or elsewhere, or our relatives who might be needing them. (By 'we' and 'our' I keep on mentioning in the above paragraphs, I am referring to me and my family.)

1. Important documents are in a storage place easily accessible for us. This has always been the case but I became more conscious about it now.

2. Extra batteries for emergency lamps and flashlights. These we do not have so they are added in our grocery list.

3. Food, we do the groceries weekly but we need to buy more food that are ready to eat - bread, crackers, cup noodles (oh yes, we can eat the raw noodles).

4. We always have stock of 2 five gallons of distilled water good for four days but maybe I will add 2 more.

5. Put some clothes and towels for each of us inside a bag kept in a closet in an area easy to grab.

6. Charge, charge, charge cell phones. Have extra batteries. Take note where we keep our candles and matches. I have forgotten where until the brownout last Saturday.

7. Do I put in a plastic bag every night the school things of my daughter? Just a thought. Maybe only if it's raining too hard.

8. Secure laptop and pictures (put the pictures in one box instead of all of them on top of our cabinets). These aren't priorities but it won't hurt if they are safe when emergency calls for us to evacuate.

9. First aid kit or health kit including sanitary napkins. Oh yes, I just have to say that lest we are forgetting.

10. Reduce, reuse, recycle. I don't know any project in our community about trash segregation. I can start at home.

New media rocks. I'm trying my best going about my usual business but my social networking accounts are open for real time updates. It's like looking after one another reposting in Facebook, retweeting relevant messages about relief and rescue operations for the victims of "Ondoy". I sincerely hope those posts helped a soul or two.

The importance of communication cannot be discounted in normal situations much more during calamities. This made me realize that it has been 15 years since our PLDT landline goes dead whenever there are power outages. I remember I emailed about this concern four or five years ago and the reply I got was that the batteries on their main box(?) will be replaced. I did not follow up but this morning we did. Yes, we followed up after 4 or 5 years. It seems the batteries were not replaced as we continue to have dead phone lines during brownouts. "Ondoy" has to happen to make us remember this concern.

We emailed the customer care of PLDT this morning about this fifteen year old issue. We hope to have a working phone line even during brownouts. We cannot contact 173 or 171 so the next option was to email. A generic answer won't do. I hope they act on the matter quickly.

My Bayantel DSL (dis)connection issue seemed trivial with the latest problem the nation is now facing but I just have to say we are still having intermittent connection, running on its third week now. I will refrain from discussing it here further since we already emailed their customer support again as we cannot get through their landline.

For now, let me focus on the more important things I need to do. Help in whatever way we can. Clothes for donation are sorted. Will do groceries later. Attend church activity tonight. Count our blessings and pray for a quick recovery and for a safer, more prepared Philippines. God bless this country!

A Deluge Called "Ondoy" (Typhoon Ketsana)

I woke up at half past eight thirty in the morning yesterday. It was cloudy, the pavement was damp looking outside our house. It seemed it had just rained. I thought it was a good thing. We all want some cool air.

It rained hard after a while. I thought nothing about it. My husband went out and told me when he came back the street was ankle deep with flood water. Again, I thought nothing of it but was surprised our street was flooded. We have not experienced any real flood no matter how strong the rains were. There were drainage problems years ago which caused our street to have ankle deep flood water but it stopped as soon as the drainage issues were addressed.

My husband went out for the second time and came back telling me the water was higher than ankle already and the street a little farther was waist-deep. I couldn't believe it. How could it be waist deep? That area was very near ours. I went out to check myself. Oh yes, there was flood water on our street. Not really high but two or three houses' driveways were already with water.

I was praying please spare our house. I don't want to be lifting sofas and other appliances. I don't want to be removing water from the house. That's a mess. We were on guard on the rise of the water level.

It was a pretty normal Saturday morning in spite of being on guard on the water level. I talked to my sister over the phone, talked to my sister in law and my brother over YM, and watched my niece through the webcam. I heard of flood in other areas but it did not alarm me. My brother who was tuned in to ANC said "parang ilog na pala d'yan" ("seems like a river out there"). They live in the U.S. I thought nothing of it. I thought it was the usual flood that will go away in a matter of minutes, at least less than an hour.

I was logged on to Twitter and Facebook as well as Plurk and updates from friends, celebrities and news networks kept coming in. Oh no! The flood waters in Pasig, Cainta, Marikina and Fairview were rising quickly and steadily. My cousins were stuck along the road because of the grid lock and flood. My father in law's first floor was already under water. Streets in almost all areas of the metro were submerged in water. I was alarmed!

I love the rain, it always soothes me but for the first time in my life I prayed for the rain to stop. People were getting stranded everywhere. Electricity in some parts were cut off for safety reasons. We experienced two brown outs and for the first time too this did not annoy me.

My daughter said she was so bored. I just have to make her realize we should be thankful we are safe in our house. A lot of people were wet, hungry and scared on top of their roofs.

I texted and tried to call my relatives and friends to check how they were doing. I was relieved to read every reply saying they were okay. One has experienced waist-deep flood but generally fine and water subsided easily.

I mentally accounted what we should be bringing in case we needed to get out of the house. I told myself I won't be able to sleep if it will still rain during the night. I wanted to be updated what is happening outside especially the flooded areas. I was thankful the rain stopped, drizzling maybe but it was really quiet last night. No rain. I was able to go to sleep. On my mind and in our prayers was the safety of all the people still stranded outside.

I woke up dreading to watch and hear the morning after "Ondoy". Watching the news yesterday was heartbreaking. Watching and reading about the aftermath was devastating. The news, the pictures were enough to traumatize me. As of this posting, 11:16 PM, there are still people yet to be rescued in some villages. I pray for their safety.

Pangs of guilt, worry and fear are eating me up to the point of almost getting a headache with all these emotions going inside me. I have never felt this way before.

I am worried because anytime this can happen again.

I am scared because we are not prepared for any calamity. Nobody is.

I am guilty because I am sitting in front of my computer in the comforts of our house instead of out there helping in whatever way I can. I am relaying informative updates as a way of doing my part. As what has been said, if you really cannot help outside and might just add to the chaos that is going on, just stay put. Pray and stay calm.

We did contribute through our church this morning. A lot of our churchmates in Rizal were affected by the flood. It was nothing big but I hope it will help even a small number of people. We will sort out clothes tomorrow to drop off to donation centers. My husband will go to his father's place to help clean the house.

I was wrong to think that this flood only concerns my aversion to a messy house caused by muddy water. Metro Manila and nearby provinces were inundated. It was horrible. Watching the devastation was enough to traumatize me. I could only pray for strength of those directly affected by the flood.

I heard from updates that another storm is expected on Wednesday. Preparing for contingencies won't hurt. It's necessary coming from what just happened, massive flash flood surprised us all. I hate to say this but a tragedy like "Ondoy" need to happen as a wake up call for all of us. Noah built the arc when it was not raining. Let us bear that in mind.

In all these I thank God for taking care of us as well as my relatives and friends. I pray to God to ease the pain and fear of all the people affected by the storm and the flood. I pray for a quick recovery for the people, for the country. I pray for better crisis management by the government and by the people.

Prayers work wonders. I am a believer. That eased my troubled mind. Now we work hard as one to prevent another crisis. Let there be light.

*****
I'm glad Julie was fine after the night their house was surrounded by flood water. I pray Feng is doing okay. The first floor of their house in Pasig was submerged in water when Chats forwarded her text on Saturday night. We have not contacted her since then.

I Saw the Sign

We extended our stay in Palawan, coming from a three-day stay at Dos Palmas, for a day and a half more because we wanted to visit the famous St. Paul Underground River, now known as Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. Two hours to three hours of bone-jarring road trip from Puerto Princesa City going to Sabang Beach and then a boat ride going to the undergrond river for about an hour if I remember it right. It was all worth it.

(Nag-extend kami ng stay sa Palawan ng isa at kalahati pang araw para makabisita kami sa St. Paul Underground River. Dalawang hanggang tatlong oras na napakatagtag na lakbayin at mula Puerto Princesa hanggang Sabang Beach at isang oras na boat ride papuntang underground river.)



One of the cave's opening
I was really excited upon seeing the sign board welcoming us to this nature's wonder. It took us 25 minutes to go around the cave. Our tour guide has lots of stories to tell about the shapes of the stalactites and stalagmites. It was fun! Whatever fears I had were gone even if it was really cold, dark and for sure the water was very deep.

(Na-excite talaga ako ng makita ko na ang karatulang nagsasaad na andito na kami sa aming adventure. Dalawamput limang minuto para ikutin ang loob ng kweba at maraming kwento si manong tungkol sa iba't-ibang hugis ng bato. Nakakaaliw kaya mawawala ang kaba mo kahit na malamig at madilim sa loob at siguradong malalim ang tubig.)

***Read more signs at Litratong Pinoy.

Cory Aquino, the Mother

I have not posted anything about the late ex-president of the Philippines, Mrs. Cory Aquino. It's not that I am obligated to do it but I really want to. I just couldn't find the time. All I post these days are short entries in my two blogs since I need to be quick in front of the computer. I can't really seem to create a post that will be longer than fifty words. Should I blame it on Twitter which reduces my thoughts into 140 characters?

I am so late about giving due respect to a great person. So late that what was in the news this morning was already about Tita Cory's nomination to sainthood. Hmmm.....

I belong to a different faith and I am not a fan like 90% of the people I read online. But I do acknowledge and admire Cory Aquino's beauty as a person. Her sincerity, courage and passion were clearly felt and understood by the Filipinos.

What I admire most about Cory is her being a mother. I want to believe her leadership stems from her being a great mother. This is what endeared her the most to the Filipino people. The Philippines is a matriarchal society in the sense that the woman generally holds (or is expected to hold) responsibility in the sustenance and protection of the clan or the family. Cory Aquino proved to be one - a mother who loved her children unconditionally.

Cory is like my mother. My mother is God's wonderful gift to us, her children (with my loving father of course) - rejoicing with her children during good times, ably supporting her children during challenging times. There never was a bad seed. My mother, just like Cory, always nurtures us, her children and grandchildren, is never demanding and values integrity above everything.

And that is how I will remember Cory. A mother who always trusts, cares and serves as the family's tower of strength.

Visual Merchandising

Visual merchandising is vital in the retail industry. As we know competition is stiff especially inside a huge department store where all sorts of marketing buzz are implemented by each tenant or concessionaire. Products (and services) of a company is best advertised inside a mall or the store itself on how they position items that will catch the public's attention. A plan-o-gram represents an ideal way to display but sometimes even this is a source of debate between the head office people and the front liners.

Am I encouraged to go inside, look and buy just because of an attractive display? I have to say yes if I am not in a hurry. Each of us is a potential customer. We might not buy right away but if a product gives a good impression after checking it, it just might find its way in our next purchase list (whether as a need or as a want).

An interesting article, The Way the Brain Buys, tells us the science and psychology of shopping.

People tell market researchers and “focus groups” that they make rational decisions about what to buy, considering things like price, selection or convenience. But subconscious forces, involving emotion and memories, are clearly also at work.

Here's the facade of our favorite apparel store for pre-teen girls, Orange Juice. It has an eye-catching display of the latest styles of clothes for little ladies - a feast to the eyes of mommies and their tweenies. A lot of my daughter's clothes from OJ still look good after a year or so. I call that value for money. Now I just posted a free advertising. :)

My daughter paired the top and bottom and asked the associate to display it. I like the white bottom actually.

One of my daughter's activities last May was to be a part of Club OJ's summer project. I'll be sharing more about this fun and fruitful summer activity of my daughter in my weekend post.

***More about "advertisement" at Photohunt.

iBlog

I have been blogging for more than two years already but last Saturday, May 9, was the first time I attended the Philippine Blogging Summit. They are on their 5th year this 2009. I want to experience how they conduct sessions, see how it will be helpful in my various blogging pursuits. I am all the more encouraged to attend because I will be with my mommy blogger friends.

I want to discuss lengthily my take on what I have seen and heard from the speakers on my succeeding posts. I attended mid-way of the afternoon session. The sharing on problogging and evolution of bloggers were quite interesting. The whole concept is not really new to some of the attendees including me but the insights of the last two speakers were noteworthy.

My two cents, there is no hard and fast rule in blogging in terms of how you want to brand your blog or how you want to evolve as a blogger (if you want that at all). The owner is the brand if I may say that. It's hard work, yes, especially if you intend to maximize your blog's earning potential.

Will a blogging summit be complete without picture taking? Of course not. Thanks to Jane for letting me use our group picture.

Chats, Noemi, Dine, Jane, Julie, Me, Cookie, Salen
This picture of my fellow mommy bloggers is a nice segue to greet all the wonderful moms out there a belated Happy Mother's Day! And yes, my mother's day post will also follow and a gazillion more posts waiting to be keyed in. Not that millions of readers are waiting. I am actually talking to myself. Online activities take a back seat when schedule gets really hectic.

In the mean time, let me also share my contribution for the maiden issue of wmn.ph, Cool Party Ideas for Kids. The interactive e-zine, an affiliate of GMA 7, one of the leading media broadcasting company in the Philippines, is still in beta but help yourself, browse, read, and have fun exploring the site.


wmn.ph give you various topics day to day: fashion and style on Fashionable Mondays, all about relationships on Love a Lot Tuesdays, health and fitness tips on Wellness Wednesdays, money matters on Treat Yourself Thursdays, celebrations on Live it Up Fridays, home and leisure on Chill Out Weekends.

Enjoy the week ahead!

***More snapshots at WS.

Getting More Interesting

It has been really interesting. The campaign, the day the votes were cast, the historic night John McCain delivered a beautiful concession speech and the defining moment of Barack Obama, the US and perhaps the world. And it's getting more exciting (and hopefully, better).

The moment Michelle Obama walked up the stage, I sensed there is going to be a lot of talk about her dress. Hours after that momentous night, blogs all over the world gave their two cents on her red and black attire. I did not find it fabulous and I did not mind it at all. I was focused on her gait, her confident stance and her wonderful smile.

I love it that she is one accomplished woman who is an advocate of work-life balance and mentions that her number one role will still be mom-in-chief who is never going to miss a daughter's ballet recital. Hurray for that! Behind every success of a man is a quintessential woman. And vice versa (so as not to be accused of being a sexist).

Watching over at CNN, the appointed Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, caught my interest when he was described as the exact opposite of the charismatic, genteel Barack Obama. I just have to do some research about the man. He impressed me as someone like a character straight from a political drama aired on cable - like everyone's "frenemy".

I was not disappointed reading about Rahmbo...The Five Most Infamous Rahm Emanuel Moments. Read on. My favorite? Knifing the dinner table. Robert De Niro as Al Capone in Untouchables crossed my mind. The world will be getting to know more about this man I believe.

**Picture of the Obama Family lifted here, Pres. Obama and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, here.

Dignity in Defeat

I have watched John McCain's speech after conceding with Barack Obama as the 44th US President. I am moved and almost in tears and I am not even an American. I am actually speechless watching him encourage the people who supported him to be as one and support their new president. This is nothing new perhaps but it's his delivery, his sincerity which was so moving.


It's amazing how swift the election process is. Real time. Maybe what's really on my mind is when will the politicians in my country achieve that kind of maturity? Dignity in defeat. Political maturity. Humility. Integrity.

The full transcript of John McCain's speech can be read over at CNN Politics. The whole speech is very inspiring. The parts I love the most:

"It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again."

"I don't know -- I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been."

This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Sen. Obama and my old friend Sen. Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.

I would not -- I would not be an American worthy of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century."

Well, God bless the world!

State of the Buns

It's been quite a while since I had buns for breakfast. Buns...let me just call them rolls, round rolls. It's usually oatmeal or wheat bread or garlic rice with fried fish (tuyo) and egg. Daughter and hubby still had their oatmeal. Hubby's firm with his diet regimen. I craved for some peanut butter this morning so I asked hubby to buy a pack of rolls for me from the neighborhood bakery. A pack usually contains six pieces. Three would be enough for me. I can eat the rest in the afternoon.....Or so I thought.

I was surprised to see at how small these rolls have become. The normal size usually takes four to five bites. They come in the same size. But these rolls you see come in different sizes. The smallest is like an inch only. And the rest? Two bites max. But the price did not change. No price roll back dear.


Latest news flash says basic commodities will be in abundance in the market to avoid unnecessary panic. But the price of flour (along with noodles and canned goods) have increased by as much as 17% too. Looking at the rolls in front of me, they have decreased by as much as 50%. Is the shrinking size of a roll a good reference of the state of a nation? Tell me.

Merry Lights

I was out of town and got back a few hours ago. I've to run to another activity after arriving home. Would I miss photo hunt? No, especially I like the theme for this week - Lights. So many lights wherever I go. It's the holidays. I took light here as brightness or illumination. Oh so many of them. :)

Oh, it's a humungous tree! I'm not sure how tall it is but it seems like as high as a five story building.


Even the road leading to the tree is well-lit. The trees are screaming with beautiful lights.



You may visit other photo hunters if you want to see more light.

Flexible

I was thinking of what to share for this week's Photo Hunt. It has to be flexible. I thought of rubber bands, my daughter's ballet shoes...I thought of posting spaghetti noodles. My husband recommended his map light in his car, it has a flexible body. Hmm, it doesn't sound interesting to me, haha.

I settled to our hot air balloon pictures no matter how much my hubby talked me out of it. He said these balloons expand but they are not flexible. :D It used to be that it's only me and my daughter decide what pictures to share. Now it has become a family affair. :D





These pictures were taken at the 11th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta early this year, held at Clark, Pampanga. Suddenly a song enters my mind as I post about this..."up, up and away, in my beautiful, beautiful balloon...". Was this from the Bridgette Jones's Diary soundtrack? Anyway, there's another balloon song when I was in college, 99 Luftballoons by Nena. I love this song back then.

One has to get out of his comfort zone and be flexible and try more adventurous undertakings like riding a hot air balloon. Now that strengthens these hot air balloons' connection with Flexible. :)

Check out other Photo Hunt Flexible participants here. I'll be going around PH participants later, Mommy duties beckon at this time. :)