Call A Friend

Yesternight, our whole family was in our house (except for Leo’s brother, Lucky – who’s at the province already).  It was chaos in our house.  You see, we have a very small house and we were like 12 people inside haha – though we couldn’t ask for more blessing.  We have a very loving family.  It was sort of a despedida for ate Marlyn.  She will be taking a weeklong vacation at her province.  So we are yaya-less for the whole week though Papa will help us take care of Neo J

Early this morning, Leo was tasked to accompany ate Marlyn to the terminal at Alabang.  While driving along DaangHari, bumigay ang brake (that’s his term) ng sasakyan niya.  Good thing, he was still able to arrive at the terminal safely (Thank you, Lord) with the combination of handbrake and slow driving as well as there are minimal cars on road during that time.  When he arrived at Alabang, he called Daddy to inform him about the situation.  (My husband has been using this lifeline ever since: Call a friend.  His friend? My father. Hahaha)

Well, we just have to wait for updates from Leo’s “friend” about his car.

Happy Friday!

Ciao!

Tiring Weekend

Last weekend (well, all weekends for me) has been very tiring.  I have lots of activities lined up for that day.   For one, my college blockmate’s wedding, 2^nd, my cousin Johnjohn’s birthday, and 3^rd, Papa and both Leo’s brother will come over at our house.  So I crossed out plan #1 and 2.  We fetch Papa and LJ at SM Dasmarinas (they traveled from Tuguegarao to our home for 2 reasons: 1) vacation and 2) Ate Marlyn will take her vacation, so they will be Neo’s temporary yaya hehe).

So Saturday morning to afternoon was spent at SM Dasmarinas – afterwards, was unpacking and chatting at our house. 

Come Sunday, we went to church midmorning.  We took lunch at our house, then off to Star City with Papa, Tito Lucky, and Tito LJ.  Neo enjoyed some rides (those that are okay for his age and height). 

The funny thing was, Tito LJ rode only one ride: Surf Dance, because he is mahihiluhin (he must have been shocked when someone from riding the Star Frisbee vomited after the ride went to a complete stop :P hehe).

Oh, two Saturdays ago, when we were passing through Filinvest (Ayala Alabang Road), we happen to chance this Isuzu Crosswind which happens to be the Shuttle Service of Honda Cars Alabang.  The irony of life. Hehe

Ciao!

Baby Neo’s Mama

Gates of Hell

-that is what Dan Brown described Manila in his new novel Inferno. 

I love reading books.  My personal favorites are J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and all of Dan Brown’s books.  So when I heard that that quote from Dan Brown’s book earned violent reactions from a lot of Filipinos, I felt sad.  Honestly, it was just sensationalized since Dan Brown is famous.  But have we given the same reaction on other writers who also wrote something close to the truth about our beloved country or countrymen but were not that famous? 

Last month, I wrote about the book I recently read (but was not really recent in publication) “The Gatecrasher” by Madeliene Wickham.  At page 84 of the book, she wrote something like this:

“…‘You know,’ said Tricia, as though beginning on a new subject, ‘poor Graham Loosemore has got into an awful pickle.  You remember Graham?’  There was a murmur of assent.

‘Well, he went to the Philippines on holiday – and married a local girl!  All of eighteen.  They’re living together in Dorking!’  There was a general gasp.  ‘She’s after his money, of course.’  Tricia drew up her face as though gathering the neck of a shoe-bag.  ‘She’ll have a baby so she can claim support, and then she’ll be off.  She’ll probably get…half the house? That’s two hundred thousand pounds!  And all for a silly mistake.  The fool!’

‘Maybe he’s not a fool,’ said Fleur idly, and winked at Gillian.

‘What?’ snapped Tricia.

‘How much would you pay a strapping young Filipino to make love to you every night?’ Fleur grinned at Tricia.  ‘I’d pay quite a lot.’  Tricia goggled at Fleur….”

Close to the truth, huh? 

Back to Work

This is something from my drafts 2 days before I started working again…

“…In 2 days time, I will go back to the workforce.  It is very hard for me to leave the daily routine I have with Neo that I am now accustomed to.  I am now having mixed emotions.

*I will miss getting up early in the morning receiving kisses from my baby to wake me up.

*I will miss gardening with him in the morning.

*I will miss brushing his teeth and giving him a bath after.

*I will miss rocking him for his first nap of the day.

*I will miss playing with him.

*I will miss feeding him (even though most of the foods just go waste since he’s a picky eater)

*I will miss washing his pwet whenever he makes pupu.

*I will miss going on a stroll with him to wait for papa to arrive from work.

Oh, I will just miss being with him all the time. That’s all….”

And yes, I’m missing my baby more and more whenever I’m at work.  Wish I could bring him at work na lang with me hehe

Ciao!

Baby Neo’s Mama

Time Flies So Fast - Just A Reminder For Me

Ilonggo Neo

I’m not sure if you were able to watch Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo movie of Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo.  They have a son named Rafa who has a Bisaya Yaya.  In the course of the movie, Ryan’s mom (played by Gloria Diaz) told the couple that they should be speaking English only to their son.  Judy Ann quickly cuts down the suggestion.  To add humor to the discussion, Rafa’s yaya called her ward to come inside the house.

Yaya: Rafa, pasok na sa loob.

Rafa: Kadyot lang yaya, nagduwa pa ko (saglit lang yaya, naglalaro pa ako).

Imagine the grandchild Gloria Diaz wanted to speak English instead of Tagalog is now conversing in Bisaya. 

That’s Neo’s case.  Our son loves to play Bulaga.  How did he learn this? Ate Marlyn.  But Neo doesn’t say bulaga!  What our baby says is “Ti-ka!”, which is the ilonggo term of bulaga.

Ate Marlyn is an Ilongga and loves to converse to Neo in her dialect.  There are times when she changes Neo’s diaper and would tell our son: “Bebe, alsa ang tiil” (baby, itaas ang paa).

Are we okay with that?  Yes we are.  Our son will learn a lot of Tagalog and English vocabulary at school (or from us, his parents).  He will also learn Ybanag from his papa, Bisaya from his mama – and to add Ilonggo from his ate Marlyn. J  Talk about a multi-lingual baby hahaha :D

Ciao!

Baby Neo’s Mama

What Happened Last Mother’s Day

It’s long overdue to post something about mother’s day today.  But with all the busyness surrounding me lately, this is the only time I can post. 

Work was so busy due to the election coverage that we had.  Saturday before mother’s day, I was at work doing last minute preparations.  I also received the news that I booked the wrong date for Ate Marlyn’s vacation.  I was so stressed out Saturday that the only thing we can do that afternoon was grocery shopping.  I didn’t even prepare a surprise for my mom L  (aside from the single stem rose Neo bought for his Lola Net and Mamita)

Come mother’s day Sunday, I received the sweetest gift ever: a good morning, happy mother’s day kiss from my baby Neo. 

We then went to church and I received a rose for mother’s day.  Leo told me he didn’t prepared any gift for me (well, I am not his mom naman LOL), but instead will treat me to shopping na lang.  I agreed.  We met with my parents and had lunch.  I told my mom we will go to SM Dasmarinas for her to have a pampering (mani-pedi, massage, facial, hair spa or whatever she wants).  She told me to drop by Robinsons Imus first, because there’s a free treat for moms.  We don’t want to but since its mother’s day, she’s the boss. 

When we arrived at Robinsons Imus, the registration for the free treats was already finished.  So off we went to SM Dasma.  We roam around all the salon, facial clinics, massage center – but my mom won’t avail of any treatment.  Why? She told me it costs a lot.  My mom is super kuripot.  Even if it’s a treat for her.  She always value hard earned money. 

Mommy: Ayaw ko dyan. Ang mahal. (in all the places we went to)

Me: Mommy, ako magbabayad.

Mommy: Basta ayaw ko dyan.  Meron naman akong massager sa bahay.  Maglalaba din ako bukas, masisira din ung manicure. Etc etc etc.

Me: Mommy, gawin na natin ito habang bata ka pa at kaya pa ng katawan mo.  Pag may edad ka na, hindi ka na pwede magpamassage, magpafacial, etc.

Mommy: ah basta, ayaw ko.

Ending? Sumakit lang ang paa ko kakaikot sa buong SM Dasma habang kinoconvince sya. Whew.  I just gave her the money I was planning to spend for her and told her to treat herself.  (A week after, she told me she had a hair spa, mani-pedi session at her local salon.  She also had my dad on pedi session hahaha)

As for my mom-in-law, we were able to plan ahead of time (a week before).  We asked Leo’s younger sister, Lei, to look for a pampering place for Mama and just sent her the money to reserve it.  (We should have done this to my mom para hindi na ako napagod kakaikot).

Belated Happy Mother’s Day to all Moms!

Desisyon 2013

Desisyon 2013 is MBC-DZRH’s coverage for the Election 2013, and I was part of the team that handles the result of our exit polls.  We have been preparing this for more than a month and yesterday was the big day of all our efforts.  I started the day early and was not able to exercise my right to vote L (the first time since I became a registered voter).  It was a whole day of operation nationwide, processing of data, and generating results (and yes, our Exit Polls generated Grace Poe-Llamanzares as #1 senator).

I left the office at almost 10PM.  Roxas Blvd is still busy.  Thanks to Leo who still managed to fetch me at Tejero even though he needs to be awake at 5AM  (wala kasing sakayan pauwi sa aming liblib na lugar).

It was a very tiring day but a very fruitful experience. 

Ciao!

Baby Neo’s Mama

Positive Vibes – I need you

Have you experienced a day (or days) when you feel like everything is not falling properly into place?  I have that since yesterday.  For one, a candidate for the mayorial race in our municipality had a motorcade yesterday causing traffic all over, even jeeps and tricycle didn’t even want to travel.  I decided to walk, and I haven’t even gone more than 5meters away, and boom, it started raining. I went home soaking wet and tired.

Today, I had another bad news. The plane ticket I booked for ate Marlyn had a wrong date (and there were three people travelling for the ticket) and the airline is asking to me pay php5k for all rebooking expenses. Darn. I’ll think a solution about that later.

I also came in the office today for some last minute preparations for the upcoming elections on Monday, I was here at 930AM and the meeting will start at 2PM.

Wow. Talk about being malas – all the way.

I need positive vibes… 

Disciplining My Child

Last Sunday’s preaching to us was about parenting.  The key verse was Proverbs 22:6:

“Train up a child in the way he should go, that when he is old, he will not depart from it”

Then, the pastor tackles about how to discipline our children.  And yes, the bible agrees with spanking/hitting them as told in Proverbs 13:24 and Proverbs 29:15.

Proverbs 13:24

“Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them”

Proverbs 29:15

“A rod and a reprimand impart wisdom, but a child left undisciplined disgraces his mother.”

So why am I telling you this? Because early this morning I hit my baby.  Neo had been playing with our aircon from the moment he was able reach it (he already broke the OFF button, so our aircon won’t switch off until we plug it out of the socket.)  Now, for quite some time, he’s focusing on turning the cooler high and low – and for quite some time too, I have been telling him not to.  Earlier, when I was getting ready for work, dressing up, Neo again played with the cooler button of the aircon.  I told him not to – but he won’t listen.  Then I grabbed the closest thing to me – a pencil – and hit the back of his wrist 3 times.  I know for sure it was painful. He cried a whole lot and won’t go near me for a good 15secs.  Though after that, he hugged me and I told him that he should not play with the aircon (well, I’ve been telling him that for more than a month already, but I think I still should reiterate). 

I felt guilty afterwards.  I know I should hit him and tell him what he did wrong.  But I know I’m wrong too.  He is too young (17 months) to understand what is wrong.  And I used pencil, not my hand as I should use this in caressing him.  Well, I think I’ll have to exercise more and more and more patience (I know I did, but I think it should me more pa). 

My Daily Bus Journey

I work at Pasay and live in Cavite.  There are only 2 modes of public transportation I can utilize going to work.  1) aircon bus going to Lawton, and 2) Mini Bus (non-aircon) going to Baclaran, then I ride an FX going to Pasay.  And obviously, I’ll be choosing mode of transpo #1. 

But honestly, the daily commute is draining my energy.  Why?

1 – the aircon bus fills in every inch of the vehicle.  When I say every inch, literal yon. We don’t look like sardinas sa de lata sa sobrang siksikan, we are comparable sa dried tuyo na vinacuume pa sa  plastic.  The sad part of travelling is that, we course the Cavitex (express way) overloaded.

2 – since, it’s siksikan, and I ride middle of the bus route, I end up most of the time standing (so to ease the pain, no no for high heels.).  I feel lucky when I chance a bus which still has an available seat.

3 – most of the buses are colorum, so chances are mahuhuli kami ng enforcer (and this takes up time, because 1 – they try to bribe the enforcer, and 2 – they argue a lot).

I wish I know how to drive and just go to work on my own vehicle.  Kaso there are also lots of cons din (for one, I have 2 tollgates to pass through.  Sabi ng bulsa ko: ouch!).  But seriously, I need to learn how to drive for emergency din.

Ciao!

Baby Neo’s Mama

Weekend Kwento

Our weekend was spent with family.  Family bonding galore with my Lola, Mom and Dad, and cousins.  It was uber fun and tiring haha :D  It was ate Mae’s, my cousin, birthday last Thursday so she treated us for lunch at Alabang Town Center last Saturday (the only time everyone is available since most of us are working).  

 After lunch, we roam around the Metro.  Neo was super active.  Buti na lang we have my cousins who stand as his yayas for the day.  They super love him (kissing and hugging him all the time).

So, to show them he appreciates it all, he insisted on carrying ate Mae’s shopping bag hehe (masipag na bebe).

It was almost 6pm when we decided to go home.  We passed by Petron at Daang Hari to load some gasoline.  But the gasoline boy accidentally loaded our car with Diesel (aw!).  We had the tank drained so the Diesel wont go to the car's makina.  (the other option given to us was load it with Blaze Octane to burn the Diesel, and have it charged at the gasoline boy - it was a no no for us.  Kawawa naman c kuya.  We know that hindi naman kalakihan ang salary nya).  It was a good thing, only 1 liter was just loaded to the tank (Leo saw it agad).  So after draining the tank, they load back the gasoline that the tank initially had plus the gas we were supposed to be buying (we asked to deduct the amount of the diesel na lang sa amin, so they wont deduct it sa salary ni kuya).

We were so tired last Saturday, that all of us woke up late last Sunday (we were late at church as well L).  After going to church, Leo and I run some errands by paying bills.  Then I had my haircut (it’s super init this summer).

 Neo and his big sister haha :D

It was a very happy weekend J

Happy Monday!

Baby Neo’s Mama

The Apple of Neo’s Eyes

That’s right - Jollibee!  Every time Neo sees him (even on a small print), our baby goes “woooo!” (with matching ngusong mahaba, point finger at the direction of Jollibee, and jump up and down).  He loves Jollibee right at this moment of his life.  I would even keep brown paper of Jollibee with print to show him, paper cups, and whatever basta with Jollibee picture in it.

And only Jollibee alone can stop Neo from his tantrums. Like, when he is at his crib and he wants to be carried or makawala sa hawla nya, he would cry na para syang binubugbog… but thanks to Jollibee commercials, he would instantly stop (or if there’s no commercial, we have a Jollibee print in brown paper bag to make him stop) hehe.

Neo at 6months

Ciao!

Baby Neo’s Mama