Its the year of the dog

Happy New Year!

A book found me

The sky was overcast and light rain drizzled. After my appointment with the pulmonologist a week ago, we passed by a nearby second hand book store Books for Less along Roces Ave. While we came just to look for paperback and some good read, a book found its way to me. I am amazed how things manifest itself when you need them.

There is an old saying "when the student is ready, the teacher arrives".

Dinner with Mayang

It has been years since I spent some time with my really good friend Mayang. Since she migrated to the States in '99. She went home a couple of years ago with Isabella and this year we got to meet the latest addition to the family Dylan.

Thanks Dylan for all the gifts. Mayang said that being a parent to a child is one of the most selfless thing a person can do.

Mayang is one of my most cherished friends. We climbed mountains together, trained together as we are batchmates in a school mountaineering club before in the mid-90's. Even though now that our home are literally oceans apart and family and work has kept us busy, we kept in touch. It doesn't matter that there were time of long absence of emails and letters but when we get together, it feels as if it was just yesterday that we were spending an afternoon sharing tea and updating each other of our latest adventures.

Good friends are really for keeps, no matter where they are.

“Thank you, Lord, for the friends you have given to me. Help me to cultivate these relationships, and to set you as their foundation. May we all discover your presence and your blessings through one another.” from Word Among Us

the blessing of friends

Last Jan 5, just the day before Mayang and family flew back to the US, we had dinner at Cafe Bola at GB3 with El, Earnest, Buddy and Veda, and of course Amats. Mayang brought 2 month old baby Dylan.





Amats playing around with Veda and Buddy taking pictures.


Isabella Mayang's eldest(who looks like a mini vogue model in her pink dress)first thing Veda said upon meeting her "can you skip?" and went about skipping around GB3 showing us her new skill.

Our most jolly meal!

Early this January just before we went back to Manila, we treated the kids to a trip to Jollibee to the nearest city. This is one of my most enjoyable time. This is the first time ever that I had my picture taken with Jollibee. You could see Genuine's eyes sparkle and I guess it rubbed on all of us as she plays around. One of the happiest moment a grown up can experience is to re-connect again with our inner-child. These children that we are with are not worry-free they been through real hard times and pain that some of us adults haven't experienced in our lives. But spending time with them and playing with them, as they let go of these concerns and believing they are cared-for. A degree of abandonment of worries knowing that the divine is at work in their lives. I could only guess that these are one of the reasons that God loves His children.

Spending time with old friends

The recent holiday gave us all a chance to spend time with family and friends. I just love the simple life. Simple things makes me really happy like gardening with friends, swapping plants for our own yards. Spending time talking and catching up on one anothers lives-- I love the laid back life and spend a lazy afternoon with friends at home (not in the aircon mall--I am not a mall animal) I love cooking for friends and eating home made mini pizza on pita bread.

Last December I caught bad cold that complicated my breathing that I had to be brought to the ER of East Ave Medical and missed baby Jane's party at Jollibee. But when I spent some time in Laguna, my colds slowly cleared up with the fresh air. I miss the trees around the old house. We spent time just swinging on the hammock and playing with the new puppy Brownie (don't ask me I didn't name the dog hehehhe).

Bakasyon sa Probinsya

Media Noche 2006!

Welcoming the New Year with a potluck of sorts Media Noche includes grilled liempo, chicken, cocktail hotdogs and vienna sausages with marshmallows for the kids, ham, carbonara which the kids did not recognize hehehe, buko salad and a donated crumbly cake we dressed with mallows.

Even if were ourselves were dressed up in pajamas, and the kids still are dazed because they just woke up almost at midnight, the cooks smelled of charcoal and kitchen scent all were very happy to welcome the new year!

I guess every family hopes to be gathered around good food sharing it with loved ones and friends. Hoping and praying that this joy can be tucked in our pockets to share the morsel each day of the year.

Araw ng Pasko sa Alaminos

On Christmas Day after morning mass, we traveled to Alaminos, Laguna. As far back as I can remember I always spend Christmas Day at the ancestral house in Alaminos. In the past, my main reason to spend Christmas Day there is to be with Inay and Lola Abeng. Inay and Lola have gone but even now, I make the traditional visit together with Amats to the old house now transformed into a foster home for children waiting for adoption. It is managed by a family we trust Aling Nimfa and family who has been with our family for more than 12 years. The kids are Ricric a special child, then John Eudes aka Dagul and the little lady Genuine is from Bantay Bata who recently replaced Giselle and Maricris who are both now in the US. This year we brought toys and gifts and foodies to celebrate Christmas with them

Pasko sa Santiago

We spent Christmas Eve at the Santiago household with Jinky, Julius, Baby Jane, Vico, Dad, Tito Philip, Rhea, RJ and the whole family of the Jaboli's Nanay Bacion, leah, Niknik and other guest.

It was happiest for the kids specially during the gift giving and gift opening they were happily surprised with all the toys. Julius with the rc and the light sparkled in rj's eyes opening the mini toy billiards. We had great food with crabs, grilled bangus, roasted chicken, crispy pata that took the whole day to prepare (Julius hoarded the crispy skin), biko and more biko, ham, sausages, for dessert Jinky's buko salad and a huge sans rival cake to top it all (if there is still room in one's belly that night).