Friday, March 20, 2009

A Friendship Award

There is a saying that no man is an island. I believe so too... I also believe that friends are angels, who come in different shapes, colors and sizes to help us see things through. And it feels so good to know that someone remembers and considers you a friend too. And before I go on, let me share this short poem with you:

I believe in angels,
The kind that heaven sends,
I am surrounded by angels,
But I call them friends.
- Aizabel Parinas -

Here's a very precious award from online pal Niko of Niko's Blog. Thanks a lot dear for the friendship and the thoughtfulness each time you give out tags and awards. I really appreciate this and your friendship more. You are one of those people worth keeping. Here's hoping to see you one of these days. Take care always.

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I am passing this on to my online friends Beth, Enchie, Kikit, Shals, Tetchie, Shydub, Cookie, Hannie.


Mommy Moments: Bonding With Cousins

mommy moments

Our vacation in the Philippines was very worthwhile because our little one finally got to meet her cousins. She has five cousins on my side of the family and five on my hubby's side of the family. I guess it meant a lot more to me than to Sam to see her play with her cousins. I have always wanted to give her a baby brother or sister whom she can play with, but then again, it is still too early to have another one. So I just contented myself with the happy sight of Sam playing with her little Kuyas and little Ates. I know she won't be able to remember all of them so that I have these photos to show her when she is able to understand.


Playing with Kuya Cheekoi and Kuya Miggy the night we arrived.


Showing her toy phone and teaching her Ate Bha-Bha,
my cousin's little girl, how to operate it.


Going for a drive with her Kuya Miggy.


They are on top of the world! At SM-Davao with the Daddies and kids.


With her Kuya Josh and Kuya Nathan during her birthday celebration.


Playing a game with her cousins and kid-friends with
Piglet and Tigger during her birthday celebration.


With Hanhan's cousin Prete and her little Nash
who turned a year old last March 3rd.

How about you? Do you have a Mommy Moment too? Share it with us here.


Music and More

Music is a part of man's life. One can never live without music... when we were babies, our mommies would sing us a lullaby to get us to sleep. We learn the alphabet and the numbers more easily by singing it. We have music in school and in church. We listen to music in our bedrooms, in the house, while exercising, while commuting to work, in our office. We even sing in our bathrooms! Yes, no matter what genre of music that we like, it has been an integral part of our being. And I am thankful for the music. My, I am even hooked to American Idol 2009! Been watching it since day one.


Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The Godparents

Baby Sam is now officially a member of God's family. She was baptized last March 1st in the Philippines in our church, Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish. Her godparents were personally hand-picked by me and hubby. Overall, she has a total of 23 God-parents, 7 from Japan and 16 from the Philippines. These are relatives and close friends that we have come to know for many years and have become a part of who we are. We hope that as our baby Samantha grows up, they will continue to be there to for her, not just on Christmases and Birthdays...


With close college friends Tita-Ninang Judy, Tita-Ninang Maricar and Emerald.


Tit0-Ninong Red and me with our little angels:
Baby Ashley Rianne and Baby Samantha Ysabelle.


Me, the tired birthday celebrant and best buddies Judai and Maricar.


Candid Moments: Mine sister, Ate Rose and nephew Miggy & Ate Rose and Sam.


Our dearest friend, Tita-Ninang Sham. She flew all the way from Bicol
to be there for Sam's Christening.


Sam and Mommytita Ebbz... Thanks for the Gingersnaps gift cuz!



Sam and her Mita Joan, my cousin.


Friday, March 13, 2009

Mommy Moments: Sleeping Time

mommy moments

I just love it when my baby Samantha sleeps. She just looks so peaceful and innocent and tranquil. I love the sound of her soft snoring. I love how she sleeps on her stomach and how she could get into different odd positions while she is in deep slumber.



Shush! My sweet little sleeping child.


I love how she can easily sleep in anything mobile: the taxi, the car, even her stroller.




Odd positions are her favorite. Front, side, and back. She can do them all!

I also love-hate how she fights off her sleepiness and how she would get out of our bed on one side and then climb up again on the other side for many times on end until sleep finally takes over and she would doze off on her rubber mats. I love how she would sing herself off to sleep each time I don't sing to her. I even love the duets that we have on most nights. And I love it when she would suddenly sit upright in bed while she's sleeping, looks around in a manner a drunk person would, and then lie back down again to continue sleeping. She is just so cute!

I love it that she co-beds with us. And I will cherish these days until she is old enough to sleep on her own.

Join us every Friday at Mommy Moments here.


Thursday, March 12, 2009

Bugs, Fruits, Eating Strange Things & More

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Berleen, the color puke green and the number 12345.

1. You are walking down the road and you look down. There is a bug. Do you step on it?
Of course not! Bugs, even those loathsome raoches, are creatures too. They are a part of the circle of life.

2. What is one fantasy that you want to come true more than any other?
Aside from being debt-free, it would be to travel around the Philippines' 1,107 islands in thirty days.

3. Someone knocks on your door. Do you look out the window to see who it is before you open it? Do you open it regardless of who it is?
I always take precautions and look out the peephole each time someone knocks or rings. These days, you never know who to trust... As the line from the movie Italian Job goes: I trust everybody. It's the devil in them I don't trust.

4. Have you ever eaten Play Doh?
Never... but they do have a funny, fruity sweet smell. It makes me wonder how they taste like. :D

5. What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon as a child and why?
I've always watched out for Cedie... the little Prince who is so innocent and kind that he was able to melt the heart of the hardest and coldest person: his grandpa. I even cry my heart out for some of the scenes! Lol!

6. Are you a "people watcher"?
I guess so... My hubby would always scold me that I am "at it" again. I have the tendency to not only watch people but "stare" at them.

7. I have a bowl of fruit. There are apples, oranges & pears. You help yourself to one - which one do you choose?
Apples. No need to peel or slice. Just take a bite and you're good to go.

8. What is your biggest pet peeve in the blogging world?
Spammers and rude anonymous commentators. Haven't they got anything else to do?

9. What is one religion that you could just never see yourself joining?
That would be Satanism. I am against anti-Christs. Period.

10. What word do you use far too often?
"Sorry." It slips out of my tongue way too many times. And I do mean it!

11. How long do you spend in the shower?
These days, 15 minutes tops. I sometimes treat myself to a long shower and a soak in the tub from time to time though.

12. If you were to write a personal ad about yourself, what would it say?
"A mass of wild contradictions. Proceed with caution."

13. Your favorite flavor of soup is....?
Corn soup. Plain and simple.

14. You are sitting on a bench in the park and a bug walks in front of your feet.... do you squash him?
No. I don't like squashing bugs. Either I look at it or I run away.

For more interesting answers and to join this Thursday meme, click here.


Ich Lerne Deutsch


This is my German book. Das ist mein Deutsch buch.

Last Monday, I started studying the German language. I have daily weekday classes in the afternoons here at home. Each class is three hours long and I am now on my fourth day. I have to complete 50 hours of German language lessons so that I still have a long way to go. I hope I can speak some German by the time my class ends.

The German language is similar in some ways to the English language. The alphabet is similar except in the way you pronounce them. I can say that it is kind of interesting and challenging. The pronunciation is quite a challenge... my tongue always gets twisted each time I time I read some new words. There are many grammar rules to understand, articles and new words to memorize, and of course, the pronunciation. And would you believe that German nouns have gender? They classify the nouns into feminine, masculine or neutral. Like tables and chairs are masculine, bags and bottles are feminine, and photos and pianos are neutral. There are no definite rules so that I had to second guess most of them. Hehe! Even the verbs change in form depending on who is the subject: I, you, he/she/it, we, you (plural) and they. Whew!

On top of all that, I have a very limited German vocabulary so that my ability to engage in a conversation with my teacher is also limited. But I am thankful because she is such a nice German lady. She even understands each time our lesson is interrupted with Sam's wails and fussiness. And the best thing is, she speaks very good English so that she can explain the grammar rules very well. I consider myself lucky.

Well, wish me luck everyone! I hope that at the end of my course, I will have learned how to speak and write correct German.


Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Home Is Where The Heart Is

I have always believed that home is where the heart is. And for me, my heart will always be where my family is. Being an expat here in Japan with my little family makes everything worthwhile. But there will always be a part of me that longs for my family back in my first home, the Philippines. Me and hubby felt the need to come home to our families in the Philippines and so we scheduled it in time for our little one's baptism and first birthday.

The family was away for a two-week vacation to the Philippines. It was quite a memorable one... owing to the fact that it was to be our daughter's baptism and first birthday celebration and of course, seeing our families and friends once again after quite a while.

I for one, am excited to come home. But I crammed during my preparations (I did the packing the day before our departure) and I didn't hear the 4:00AM alarm and we woke up at almost 6:00AM! All of us were in a frenzy indeed! We had no more time to spare to buy some pasalubong and only managed to grab a few boxes of Meiji chocolates.


The family at Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan.

We flew China AIrlines and had to make a stopover in Taipei, where we had to make a transfer and board another plane for Manila. After arriving Manila, we had to make yet another transfer from NAIA 1 to NAIA 3 to fly to Davao. It was a very tiring yet worthwhile trip altogether.


Home at last! I didn't realize how much I've missed them until I saw them.
L-R: Me, Miggy, Mama,

We left Narita Airport at around 9:40AM and arrived Davao International Airport at 8:20PM. We were met by Tatee, Kuya Jun, Kuya (our youngest), Miggy, Mama, Nanay, Tatay, Auntie Sandra, Cheekoi and Dom. It was such a nice feeling to finally come home again and see our family again. It was especially memorable to see Samantha being held for the first time by her grandparents.

Oh yes, we were home at last!


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

And The Winnder Is...

Hello everyone! Just a quick update on my Jelly Bears guessing game. My apologies if it took me a while to post the winner. Actually, nobody guessed the correct answer so I picked the nearest guess. The correct answer is sixty (60) jelly bears and the nearest guess is 33 from Mommy Ice of Chicken Heart. So, to Mommy Ice, congratulations!! You just won a pack of Jelly Bears from me! Hehehe!

Please contact me ASAP so I can send you the Jelly Bears. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

And to everyone who commented and guessed, thank you so much! Better luck next time! :D

I will update my blog when we get back next week! I have so much to share and I can't wait to see you all by then! Hugs!


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