read a book session

I have been racking my brains for a way to make B follow what I say. Spanking him did not work, making him stand in a corner does not work, and scolding him till I have no voice left does not work either. I was ready to give up.

One night, he was being persnickety as we were about to do our book reading session before he went to sleep. I got upset and so I told him that I will not read his book anymore. It made him stop what he was doing and begged me to read. I realized I had something.

From now on, we talk everyday that if he will be a good boy, I will read a book to him if I am home when he goes to bed. If he isn't, then we don't read a book and he goes straight to sleep. It has been 3 days and so far, it has been fairly effective. He has been more behaved and he's also improving on his reading skills.

I feel proud of myself right now. Teehee.

books he is able to read on his own

Sidenote: Signs of love from my Mom. She got me these. MWAH!

Talent Extravaganza

I would let out a belly laugh whenever my sister would dance before. Yes, it was mean; however, she reminded me of how I was before I learned to dance and I finally realized I was such a pain to look at because she was painfully funny to look at.

Today, she was part of the students who will be performing for the program Talent Extravaganza. She told me she would be dancing and eventhough I would never admit it to her, I was worried she might look funny on stage. Still, we encouraged her to practice, practice, practice.

I am glad that today, I was proven wrong. She has improved a lot on her dancing skills and she had the audience hooting during the gyrating part of the Lambada which they performed. I was definitely proud of her improvement.

goodbye planner

... that is, good bye to the 2011 starbucks planner that I had. Amongst all the planners I previously owned, this one was the most used and loved. On this planner, everything that happened to me from December 2010 - November 2011 is written. Work, life, dates, falling in love, heartbreaks ... everything. I can flip through a page and know what happened on a certain day. It feels nice.

On this, I wrote down thoughts and ideas as well as plans.

poor wiccan ...

Our dog's ear started swelling o ver a week ago. At first we thought it was just an insect bite that would go away. A week later, it was still swelling and she was starting to walk with her head tilted because it was becoming too heavy for her.

One of my brothers brought her to the vet and much to our surprise, she apparently has hematoma. She was taken in for surgery and is now recovering. We do feel bad for her because she's having a hard time with the Elizabethan funnel but it's also been a source of laughter since last night.

Teehee. Sorry Wiccanrose.

# 1 library user

I remembered when I was in high school, my sanctuary was always the library. I would go there to get away from the stressful world of high school and from the gossips that abound. The library was my haven.

I would lose myself in the books that were ready to be borrowed. I finished the Nancy Drew series because of my high school library and it is also where I started reading novels.

However, I always get frustrated because they will only allow you to borrow 2 books at a time. Seriously, 2 books? I can finish that in half a day. So to you who decided that there should be a limit to the number of books that we bookworms can borrow, I say, "may the worms eat your books!'

Mom's Mug Collection

I was the one who collected mugs, Starbucks citymugs that is. It was only because Starbucks came out with the classic sets that my Mom inadvertently started collecting too.

2 years later, here is her growing collection.

As long as she is happy, I will continue to get her mugs.

SG ...

We met. You smiled at me I smiled at you but I didn't really feel any sparks. I thought you looked pretty okay. I was focused on the task at hand and felt conscious because I had to sing in front of a lot of people. You encouraged me.

We ended up hanging out that night. I honestly didn't think much of it. I was a bit busy mingling around and trying to be friendly but I remember us talking. We chatted about life and things. We performed and I got a bit wasted. When I was about to go home, you took me to where I needed to be to get my ride. You were a gentleman.

I still didn't think anything of it.

the mark ...

Almost everyday, when B gets home from school, he is marked. Yes, he is marked. B's hands are always showing off a stamp mark with a smiley face for a GOOD JOB or a STAR to show that he participated in school.

I am so proud of him. However, I just wish he learns to keep track of his school items. Sigh.

K's adventures ...

I have always played chaperone to my little sister K since she started having activities in school. You see, I had a lot of activities back in high school but none were documented because digicams were not that rampant back then and the parents were not allowed to watch. I wanted to document K's adventures so that when she grows up, she will have these photos to look back on.

Recently, she joined the Book Parade they had at school which opened the Book Month. I liked this activity because it encourages them to read. I think reading is one of life's little joys and should not be taken lightly. Readers have wide imagination and they learn a lot. I hope she becomes one.

We received a pleasant surprise when it was announced that she won the Best in Costume award.

A couple of weeks ago, she and I went on a field trip. I'm very happy that she's a lot braver than I am. She had her photos taken with exotic animals (read: dangerous) and smiled while holding a crocodile, snakes, and posing beside an eagle. She also went through the zipline, did wall climbing, and crossed a rope bridge that had me screaming.

I hope that more adventures of K will be documented and that she treasures these moments just as much as I do.

Ultimate Taste Test: Food that I Liked!

 This is almost a week overdue but since life happens, I know I will be forgiven. So here goes my attempt to be a food critic for a day at the Ultimate Taste Test event. In hindisight, I figured that if I can still remember the food after a week, then it definitely left an impression.

Here goes ...

dangle me danglers ....

I went out to breakfast yesterday with my best friend at the office Janina. I was short on cash and did not want to withdraw so we settled for McDonalds since I had some GC's that I could use there. Upon entering, the first thing I saw were the Danglers.

They could be cellphone danglers but I thought that they might be a tad bit too big and so I decided to make them this.

They are now decorating my bag and makes for a great anti-dukot instrument because they make hella lot of noise.

Why don't you go grab one now? It's only Php39 for every food purchase. Example: One burger mcdo, one spaghetti, one McNugget and you can get all 3. :)

underneath your clothes

or blanket is where I want to be right now. Rain is falling heavily and there is nothing that I want more than to snuggle under the covers and read a good book.

What do you like to do when its raining cats and dogs?

I just want a baby ...

This is something that I often hear from my single lady friends. They would casually throw out that they just want to have a baby and that they don't need a father because they are sure they are quite capable of raising the kid on their own.

To this I say, and pardon me, "Screw you!"

You don't know shit about having a baby. If you think that having enough money and maternal instinct is enough, I tell you IT IS NOT! Any parent would agree with me on this.

munimuni # 72

This entire week passed by in a blur. I spent time with B, with friends, and with family. I also slept soon as I get home because the lappy tappy died and the desktop monitor was also laid to rest.

I took it as an opportunity to sleep earlier and wake up a tad bit earlier.

So for this post, I would like to say that I am grateful for the following:

♥ my family who is simply awesome 
♥ my work which enables me to send B to school and enjoy life
♥ B being 1st honor in school 
♥ my sister who tutors my son 
♥ my mom who takes care of my son when I'm not home 
♥ good food and great friends 
♥ the fact that though I am not the sexiest creature and could be healthier, I am loved.
♥ most of all, GOD for never leaving my side. 

For all these and more, I am grateful.       

Cerveseria

I first saw Cerveseria at our food group's facebook page. A co-member posted about it and I vowed to try this place out. You're probably gonna ask why I wanted to eat at this place right?

Yep, the place had bookshelves as decor. A bookworm like me could not resist and the blogger and foodie  in me just had to visit it.

31 Things Project: Date # 2

I went to get B's report card yesterday. Last quarter, the teacher told me he was ranked 4th in class. I was impressed but I knew that my son could do better. I know this because I know his potential. I pushed him even more and got him his activity books. You may think that its a bit too much but really, this is my son and I want him to maximize his fullest potentials.

To my dismay, the teacher told me that his grades dipped. I racked my brain thinking where I could have gone wrong. I made learning fun for him, pushed him when needed, and encouraged him to be better. We even have a tagline that goes like this.

Me: Practice .... 
B: makes perfect.

We'd repeat this whenever he feels lazy and it rejuvenates him or energizes him to do better. The teacher then asked me to sign the paper and lo and behold, I saw NAME and RANKING. Beside B's name was the number 1.

He got first honors this quarter. The teacher was just trippin' on me. Ggrrrr.

I am such a proud Momma. I am proud not because he got first honors but because he pushed himself and used his full potentials. I believe that is what being a parent is. We need to push them to be better, to always be the best of what they can be, and help them hone thier skills. We should never allow them to be mediocre.

Of course, with any good work, they deserve to be rewarded. Here is B with his choice of reward. We also had dinner at Cerveseria with some of my blogger friends.

It was fun being with my son and going around looking for books for him. This also serves as Date # 2 for B and I.

Random Acts of Kindness # 2

Last night, I passed by a Starbucks place to get some Strawberries and Cream frap for my Mom as a thank you for watching over my B while I go had fun at Mercato. Now, all of you know that I already got my Starbucks planner and I gave my chef brother the Seattles planner. This means that the stickers were totally worthless for me.

Before I even entered the place, I have already decided that I would be doing my random act of kindness by returning the favor. I have asked from random strangers their stickers and I planned to volunteer my stickers to a random stranger as well.

Soon as I got to the counter, there was a guy who just got his first 2 stickers. I thought to myself, here it is. I spoke to the guy and offered him the stickers I will be getting. I was pretty stoked and then he answered, "no thanks."

I was flabbergasted. Seriously, did he just say no to 2 free stickers?

Luckily, another man came up to me and asked if he could have it instead. I happily said yes and informed the barista to give the 2 free stickers to the guy.

And that is how my 2nd random act of kindness happened. :)

Ultimate Taste Test

I went to my first Ultimate Taste Test at Mercato Central last night with my friends, Allan and Mai. Allan and I were late because of the horrible traffic but we got there about 30 minutes into the event.

It was a madhouse. There were a LOT of people and luckily, almost everyone was in a good mood.

engulfed ...

hands touching
lips kissing
warmth on warmth
our passion engulfs us

step away
I hide
you'll destroy me.

Gong Cha

I had a try of Gong Cha the other day while I was waiting for a friend of mine to arrive. I saw a little kiosk at Glorietta and decided to give it a try. Some friends have recommended the place so I figured, they were either lying and had no taste or it really was worth a try.

This is what I had. The Gong Cha Milk Tea.

I thought what I was ordering was the Pearl Milk Tea but it seems I was confused. I was apprehensive when I got the drink and it looked like this.

I was thinking to myself, why does it have that green thing on top of it? i had a sip and I was surprised that though it tasted different, it was actually quite good.

The question would then be is if I was able to finish it off.

only the pearls are left

And now, I leave you with my resident photo. :)

want a sip?

Side thought: It would be nice if I had someone with me during these moments. Hmm.

Zuni

I've passed by this place about 3-4x already and have always wondered if the food being served is good. It looks fancy enough and the staff were friendly enough. I finally got the chance to try it thanks to A for Effort guy who would not take no for an answer.

The interior was indeed cozy and the crowd composed of the elite if I may say so. They were mostly class A and B. Looking back, my date and I were the simplest looking creatures inside.

Doesn't it look fancy? I like the elegant look and feel of it. It was very cozy and I felt at home.

Date and I ordered tuna and baked pasta. It was actually named something else but then again, I've always sucked in  remembering names of the dishes we ordered. 

tuna

baked pasta

What I can say is that both were really good and filling. It may look small but it was very heavy, heavy enough that as much as we wanted to finish it off, we just couldn't. It was too  much, but in a good way.

Thanks for the effort once more. :)

Cha Time

I finally got to try Cha Time pearl milk tea. I've been hearing about this place for quite some time now after I started my addiction with milk tea.

If I don't try to stop myself, I can actually down at least 4 venti cups. I did that before and it made me fat. Milk + all that sugar counteracts whatever tea does to make you thin. Sigh.

Still, the call of the smooth taste, the sweetness of the milk combined with the zest of tea and the pearls are a tad bit too much for me. I just can't say no. I've actually turned my back on Starbucks and other coffee shops to give way to milk tea.

I strongly believe (ala beauty queen) that my love affair with milk tea is not going to end anytime soon. This means I really need to get my butt up and start doing more dances and jogging.

Sigh. I hate you milk tea simply because I like you too much.

Okinuri

I was feeling a bit down the past two days so a good friend of mine decided that he would treat me out. We went around BF Aguirre scouring for a decent place to eat at when he saw Okinuri. He decided that we will eat there because the place was colorful and he thought it would make for good  photos and a nice blog entry.

I was delighted. My friend O, rocks. He knew exactly what would perk me up.

Upon entering, this is what greeted me. I loved it. This is where my friend and I stayed of course.

This is what we had.

chicken yakitori

bibibam don

seafood rice

The bibmiba don wasn't impressive, however, the yakitori was really easy to much on and they used real sticky rice for my seafood rice. Service wasn't that good because we had to call the attention of the staff several times and the server gave me the bill instead of giving it to my guy friend. Big no-no if you ask me.

Overall, I'd most likely not go back here since there are a lot of other Japanese places we could try. What I loved most about the place though was the interior. It rocked!

date a girl who writes

Recently, someone posted a link on my wall entitled Date a Girl who Writes. A few months ago, someone posted on my wall a link entitled Date a Girl Who Reads.

I am both. I write and I read. A lot. Maybe even too much at times. Then again, when is too much too much when it comes to writing and reading? I chanced upon this other article and yet this other article who share the same sentiments and I am awed that it is not just me.

I am not the only girl who feels this way and who thinks this way. I wish I could meet them, these writers. I wish I could meet girls like them who could help me understand why upon meeting a guy and becoming remotely interested, I come up with scenarios in my head. I have conversations running in my head, thinking of what he would say to me, what I would say to him. I have these inane bubble thoughts of possible moments and I go over it in my head

I am not the only girl who has music in my head all the time. I am not the only one who plays background music in my head while a situation unfolds. I am not the only girl who takes a bad situation and spins it into a blog article .. to lessen the pain, to learn the lesson, to take away the good and remember it.

I am not the only girl who does this. I am not the only girl who reads and who writes.

a Kitchen meet up with Mike

I was dying to try a new place that I haven't eaten at partly because I had no new entry for my food blog, The Gluttons Society and partly because I was just excited to try another one. Petra and Pilar felt so long ago and I was ready for a new resto.

My friend and I went around looking at new places to try. I had 4 choices and it was Cerveseria, Zuni, Felix and Kitchen. In the end, Kitchen won simply because their food looked pretty inviting, not intimidating.

Mike finally got to Kitchen just as L and I were sitting down. We hugged tightly because it has been years since we last saw each other. We'd always talk whenever I feel down but it has been years since we last saw each other.

No, we are not together. He is just a really dear friend of mine for over a decade now. 

Mike and I

We decided to order amidst chatter and greetings volleying back and forth. He met L and though I wouldn't say they hit it off instantly, I know that they are not bound to be at each others throats.

This is what we had.

on barbie's cue

egg on

caps and rolls

swirl on

beef it up

 This is our little group.

 And this is where we ate.

Overall, the servings were large, the food tasted good, and the staff attentive. However, for me, it is just another fancy place to eat at Greenbelt. There was nothing outstanding about the food we ordered.

It was a good thing I was with friends or else I'd be really disappointed with the place.