Who's the Boss?

At mommy's office, on the last working day of 2010.

Fun at High Street

Okay, so High Street must have been about 3 years old already?
And last December was our first time there.

Me and Jared's dad (who is also my husband--haha) think Makati, or Taguig, is too far from where we live.

But it is pretty and kid friendly and that visit isn't going to be the last.

It's refreshing to have that greenery, and to actually be able to step on it and run around until you get tired makes it a double treat.jared happily runs in zig zag fashion while his tired dad looks defeated in the background

Jared had us running after him probably the whole 3 hours we were there. He wanted to:

throw his train in the fountain

to play with the cute dogs

to make friends with another kid (Heyo, wha chor name? I Jayed-translation: Hello, what's your name? I'm Jared)

to people watch

I think he wants to do everything he can think of--and is capable of doing--at the same time.

He was jumping for joy really.

We'll be back here, during the morning, to take a peek at Mercato Centrale.

I’d Take the Sun Anytime

December in the Philippines in 2010 was welcomingly cool. The type where you can put on a light jacket and still feel comfortable, where the air conditioner isn’t necessary to get a good night’s sleep.

That’s the weather I like. Cool but the sun’s rays still leave a tingling feeling on your skin.

Given a choice between extremely hot and extremely cold, I’d take the former.

I have not seen snow and maybe after the novelty of playing with it for some time, I’m sure it will wear off and I’ll be yearning for the heat and warmth again.

During a recent trip to China, it was winter time and even if the weather forecast said it's 4 degrees, the wind factor made it so much colder.

So, I wrapped myself in 4 layers of clothes... and I still did not feel warm enough.

Arrrggghhh, I'm really a girl of the tropics.

p.s. next time I should probably invest on those fur lines boots. My feet were freezing.

What was on the Table?

This is a belated New Year post.

Blame it on age. =) My reason for the delay in posts.

But better late than never, here’s what we prepared to welcome the new year.



On the table:
- Beef Steak : it’s the blackish looking dish on the picture. Doesn’t look appetizing but tastes divine. Sarap, exactly how beef steak should taste like
- Seafood curry: the first time I made this imbento dish, I used fish, squid and shrimp. This time, I omitted the fish because it became too soft the first time. This was also delicious and quite colorful, too.
- Mixed Vegetables with quail eggs c/o mama
- Lumpiang Shanghai: the few times I will eat lumpia, it should be like this. Small and in bite size pieces so the meat inside will be fully cooked.

We only had 4 dishes, yet preparation took the whole morning, I’m not kidding.

I was too sleepy to take pictures when the clock struck 12, and besides our little one is sleeping. He woke up 15 minutes after 12 and got scared of all the noise. Mommy’s main preoccupation then was to make him feel secure and put him back to sleep.

I hope next year, he’ll be able to enjoy the festivities more. This time, he's more excited to play with Thomas and friends.

Off to a Great Start

During a recent team building activity at Camp Allen in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, I braved the heights and successfully ziplined from 40 ft up.
I was one of the first to volunteer, not because I was brave, but because putting it off will give me more time to get scared.

But I did it, with all the yelling and gulping.

2011 is really off to a great start and I hope it ends the same way it started: in a great way, in all aspects of my life.

Picnic at Luneta After the New Year

I just mentioned here that our big family used to celebrate birthdays at Luneta. Sadly, we have not visited the place as a family in years (I sometimes jog around the area), not because we are unwilling to, but the place is looking more and more like a dump, and there is a proliferation of very "colorful" characters.

But word is Luneta is being spruced up again and last Dec 31, a lot of people gathered there to watch the dancing fountain, fireworks and to welcome the new year.

It was full of trash when we got there, its a sea of trash. But I won't post photos in case you get turned off. I'm thinking it's an isolated case, given the number of people there and the lack of trash cans... but it is a bit icky. We had to ask a sweeper to clean a bit of green/grass area so we can spread our blankets.

people watching

kite watching. too bad i don't have pics of the kites

playing ball with second cousin Daphne


amazed at the signs and sounds of Luneta

back to the base after running with Daddy

just lazing around

We'll try to ride the Thomas train going around the park next time.

Resolutions and this time, I hope I keep them

my new year resolutions are ultimately for this boy--yes even the make up part so he'll have a beautiful mommy =)

I’m not one to write resolutions—because I don’t like the burden at the end of the year thinking what I have not done yet.

But now that I’m the ripe, old age of 33, maybe now is the time to start writing down the stuff I want and been meaning to do. Maybe writing it down is the push that I need to start, maintain and achieve them.

I pray I’ll be able to accomplish at least half of what’s on my list come year-end. These range from the trivial to some important life goals (in no particular order).

Write – as in write more in this blog, write more for work, and write as in practice my penmanship. My handwriting is getting less and less legible as the years go by. I used to have really nice handwriting.

A brand new gray Toyota Innova- we’re happy with Ate Vi (our Vios) and it has served as well the past years but we almost can’t fit here anymore and we’d like to take road trips in the future. This is very specific because I read somewhere that when you pray, you have to really state what you want.

Wear make up- I want to learn how to apply make up and look polished at the office everyday. I can’t get away with the unmade up face already—my fine lines are beginning to show.

Be healthier- I’ve blogged about this goal and even bought outfits, rubber shoes and a gym bag to boot but we have not sustained this. I want to be more physically active, maybe even try Frisbee, start jogging again, and really, really plan healthy, home cooked meals.

Save, save , save- the past 2 years were spend, spend , spend. Not on ourselves but for the delivery, the vaccines, then house mortgage etc and other loans. This year, we can breathe a little, we’ve adjusted to our expenses, and now we’re projecting we can save properly again.

Take vacations- this year, I vow to take at least 2 3 or 4-day vacations. To where, I do not know yet…

So there, now that its finally out, I need to start working on them.

Happy New Year!!!

What I thought was a Healthy Dish

I have yet to finish my posts on some of our holiday season activities but I hate not posting, it being the new year and all so here's a short one to tide me over until I get the energy to write longer.

As a respite to all the cream-based, rich and often times cholesterol laden food over Christmas and New Year and all the days in between, I concocted a simple pasta recipe. This looked healthy to us and we wiped it off in one sitting, but just today, I found out shrimps are high in cholesterol, too. Sigh.

Shrimps with garlic and spices in olive oil
1/2 kg shrimps
a few parsley leaves, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of dried basil
1/2 tablespoon of italian seasoning
around 4 tablespoons olive oil

1. heat olive oil
2. saute the shrimp (i only did this before the garlic because my shrimps were frozen)
3. add the basil leaves, parsley and italian seasoning
4. add the garlic
5. stir until cooked, careful on burning the garlic though
6. cook pasta according to package directions
7. place this on top of the pasta or mix the pasta with the sauce

Yummy!

Happy New Year.

p.s. the picture shows the last part of 3 servings of this heavenly topping, not the entire recipe