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Ooops my kiddie themed party turned into gambling party :P June 4, 2008
Last weekend, May 31, 2008, I hosted a mini-party for my highschool friends. I invited them to our newly blessed condo unit (Me and my hubby’s first real estate investment). We were a group of six 25-30 year old yuppies who wanted to meet up and spend a relaxed and carefree weekend. I also wanted to bring us back to memory lane, to a time in our childhood when game days and parties where a treat.
We started off with two rounds of monopoly and filled our tummies with famous kiddie munchies like hotdog and marshmallows on sticks, spaghetti, tuna sandwich and pizza, then we drank mango juice with soda for that extra fizzle.
What I originally planned as a kiddie party turned out as a day to open our eyes to gambling. Small time gambling of course! 25 centavos per game to be exact. OOOH that was until we raised the stakes to 5 bucks.
It was a first for most of us to play cards with real money on the table. The competition was intense as people began to lose. The experience was both funny and awakening. Good thing we had small stakes and we were all friends. Don’t think we should do this again though. Don’t want anyone of us to be addicted to gambling.
Anyhow we had fun and we ended the day at 12 midnight. Yes we still had the same curfew as Cinderella. Hahaha! 
Daily summary (ala Bridget Jones):
Games won: Many
Money lost: none
Money earned: 22.25
Food calorie in take: TOO MUCH
People who attended the party who are still my friends: 4/4
Kids, kids, kids. June 2, 2008
Maybe it’s a sign for me to have kids? Maybe not.
This year has been an overflow of kiddie parties, new babies and baptisms. More than the usual number for me. Since my wedding until the end of May I’ve attended or been invited to at least 6 birthday parties. Varying themes and styles, all but a celebration of a child’s birthday or birth. It’s truly amazing how the moms prepared for each of these celebrations. The time, money and effort they invest to come up with just the perfect day for their children.
The children are so cute, here are some of the photos:
A princess themed party, for a one-year old
A debut inspired 7th birthday with a princess theme.
An indoor ranch party for a 7th birthday.
Anyway I love attending these parties because it provides me with a venue for my photography. Plus my husband and I enjoy feeling like a kid once more. Especially when you are provided with free access to bottomless ice cream, pop corn, hotdogs and cotton candy! Yummy!
Revisiting Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro Philippines April 28, 2008
I spent the summer weekend of April 11-13, 2008 in Puerto Galera with my friends and our hubbies. Our last visit was two years ago and we were thrilled to take this time off. After my recent visit to Boracay, I think my standards are way, way higher. Hmm I’ll wait until I see Palawan too, maybe it’s a lot better?
Anyway I don’t really enjoy crowds and the beach quality here but what I do enjoy is our trips to a little island we call “our secret island”. It’s heaven to be in an island all to yourself with your closest friends. I also got to practice my photography (hobby all taken via my Canon digital-point-and-shoot-camera). Can’t wait to buy my Digital-SLR though. Maybe next month. Yey that’s just a few days away!
Took me a long time to upload the photos, click on the links to view:
- part 1: the travel
- part 2: a cool restaurant
- part 3: our secret beach
- part 4: practicing macro-photography
A few tips to set expectations of would be travelers to Puerto Galera:
1. Forget Boracay and visit Puerto Galera with a different eye. It’s like comparing apples with oranges.
2. Current cost updates for travel as of April 2008:
Bus P153.50
Bancas P230.00
Accommodation P2000-3500/night (peak season)
3. Bests: When dining anything grilled with Ensalada is perfect! Ensalada contains tomatos, red egg (salted egg) and onions with either green mangoes or eggplant.
4. Warning: When in piers (boat docking area) or terminals (bus stations), never trust people who seem there to help you. At least be wary and cautious. Sometimes instead of helping you they just confuse you since they are out there to sell you something.
Global warming is real and threatening the way we live. April 22, 2008
I know that I’ve committed to blog about the positive things in life but this topic is much too important to ignore. I’d like to stay positive and see beautiful things but I also would like to remain genuine and truthful, facing the realities that face us today.
It’s time for us to wake up! I just watched a documentary in HBO that features Al Gore discussing “The Inconvenient Truth” about our climate and global warming.
This confirms the changes that most of us have observed in the last years and months. Our weather has been so unpredictable and the heat is growing more intense year after year. Summer in the Philippines is now extremely hot and rain is now almost year round. Growing up, I remember rainy season start June to at least October. Now it rains even on summer and December. Planning an event or wedding is even tougher. Garden set-ups are no longer advisable because you’ll never know if you’ll get a shower on your wedding day.
Times have truly changed and our way of life is being threatened, our ability to even survive is being endangered.
Let’s act now and arm ourselves with the information that will help us save our planet and our way of living.
For Filipinos, please watch the movie/documentary in HBO. It contains a lot of scientific data and compelling images that will show you what is happening to our planet. It’s available for viewing from April 22-April 27, 2008. It also advises us to visit the website http://www.climatecrisis.net for more information.
Fort Santiago, a must-see for all Filipinos April 16, 2008
My husband and I visited Fort Santiago in Intramuros recently. It was a very beautiful place and a great tourist attraction. We visited a nice and old chapel even had lunch in a small and simple restaurant called Patio de Conchita.
We took lots of photos and I found myself in awe of the stories enveloped in each building and memoir. As I passed through the ruin and walked through the same path Rizal took, his last walk, I think to myself was his sacrifice worth it? Years after his death we still see suffering and poverty.
My feeling during my visit was a combination of sadness and pride. Pride because seeing Rizal’s writing reminded me of the potentials of a Filipino. Rizal was very intelligent and talented and I was enveloped with patriotic pride and amazement.
That was until I saw the shanties that surrounded the river. Filipinos are surrounded with so much talent, blessings and natural riches. How come we continue to lag behind our Asian neighbors? After several EDSA revolutions and disputes, where are we now? Left with a struggling economy and a beautiful but unopened airport.
I pray for a miracle and for real change. May we all awaken with much needed love for country and fellowmen.
I love dogs! April 16, 2008
April 1, 2008, we welcome 3 new puppies in our home. Our dogs, Brandy (girl) and Miki (boy) gave us 3 healthy and cute puppies.
I’m a dog lover and it’s amazing to see how cute they are and how fast they grow. Can’t wait to see them running around in our garden.
Honeymoon in Paradise: Boracay, Philippines April 10, 2008
A very delayed entry.
Last February 19, I finally got to see Boracay! My next stops will be Palawan, Bohol and Batanes. I’ve been to a few of our best destinations like Puerto Galera, Batangas, Tagaytay, Cebu, Ilocos Norte, Baguio and Dumaguete, but there’s still so much to see.
Back to Boracay. Thanks to my hubby who arranged everything, I had a great time in Boracay. Everything was perfect! The Boracay Regency service was impeccable. Here are some of the things I’ve learned about escapades in this island:
1. It’s great to go during off-peak seasons (meaning don’t go in summer). Sounds crazy, I know but the best part about going during off-peak is you gate off-peak rates, same service and less crowd. With less crowd this means that you have more attention for you and less need for queuing. Best period is a few weeks before the peak season, Like the first few weeks of February.
2. I love station 1. Best part ever. Very quiet and secluded. If you are in this island to relax and unwind this is the station for you. If you are in Boracay to party, I recommend you stay in Station 2. Never got to see Station 3 though.
3. It’s true Jonas shakes rock! Try their banana choco peanut shake, mocha rhum and melon banana. Yummy!
4. Be prepared to have lots of extra money (small denominations are suggested). Very handy for extra fees like terminal and environmental fees.
Click here for Boracay photos.
EXTRA: In our trip to Boracay, we met a local hunting for food. They call it “Kawing-Kawing” a wormlike animal that burrows itself in Boracay’s white sand.
I asked him how they cook it and he said “Adobo”. For people not familiar with Adobo it’s a popular cooking style in the Philippines. Just saute pork or chicken (well kawing-kawing this instance) in garlic, pepper and onion then add soy sauce wait for it to boil. Looks very interesting and exotic!
Friendships are priceless April 9, 2008
It gets harder to meet when one matures (i dare not say grow old hahaha). Work and responsibilities take more of our time. We grow families, have children and work at least 8-10 hours a day.
I also notice that conversations change yearly. Like software upgrades, there are added features and more complex functionalities.
- In grade school, toys and games filled our days.
- In highschool, we talk mostly about boys and fashion.
- In college, we still talk about boys but we also talk about careers and dreams.
- As working girls, we still talk about boys, careers and dreams. But we have deeper sense of relationships and priorities. By this time some of us begin getting married.
- Recently our conversations are more about our relationships, kids and family. We also talk about our entrepreneurial dreams.
It’s harder to meet now but when we do, it’s priceless. We talk about memories and we inspire each other. Life is meant to be shared because when we do, we get a richer and fuller life. We find strength in each other.
