When women need a break

a candid shot of my Mom

My sister with our long time helper

Served them turkey courtesy of Chef Wenger



Another dinner I traditionally host after Christmas is that for the women in our family
That includes my Mom, sister, and 2 sisters-in-law
It's a nice and intimate time to catch up as Christmas eve the boys rule (for them anyway, haha) and it's nice to give the women a break

Served them turkey with vegetables, yummy cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes and made the dessert of fruit salad (my Mom's recipe)

Enjoy the photos and have a good week ahead!

Reminiscing

A street in Marbella, Spain

outside a tapas bar

w/ C as a toddler

the boys enjoying the simplicity of life

koala sweater given by my in-laws, souvenir from a trip to Australia

kangaroo sweater

our young family vacationing in Spain


While talking to my Mom on the phone this morning

I told her how different the world was when I was growing up
I wanted to blog about growing up in the 70's

but while trying to search for an appropriate photo

I chanced upon these old photos from our vacation in Marbella, Spain

How young our family was then

It is still young but the children then were simpler (note: you can dictate what you want, haha)

Enjoying the environment

Not knowing anything about technology

I can still make them wear sweaters which resemble costumes

Simple

Now, a trip to the barbershop is even an issue

Especially with my eldest, I cannot tell him anymore if what he's wearing is off

Yeah, the style gene of mine seems to have escaped him, haha

I remember this Marbella trip where T & I wanted to have a nice dinner

We had to take turns eating since C had to be fed

And J was sleepy

They can't even finish their food

Now when we go out and travel

This doesn't happen

They even eat more than us

And mind you, order the better ones too
Part of the enjoyment of traveling for them is culinary

How things change

One of the things why I love pictures

They just make you remember how things were

Appreciating what you have gone through

Remembering wonderful times

But also, it makes you appreciate what you have now

Making new memories, making a new wonderful

To which when I look back in 10 years time

Will be the new remiscing.

Happy Thursday!

When Lola comes over to visit

Joking around with Lola

My Mom counting money to give my children while the boys eagerly await

Fair and equal

Hosted a dinner last week with only the women in our family

My Mom, sister, and 2 sisters-in-law

Was nice, bonding time

and the women appreciated it to have some time off

In the meanwhile

My kids went out with their 15-year-old cousin

to High Street til 11 p.m.!

It was an enjoyable season

What a wonderful gift we really got

Jesus was born

and the tradidtions and love live on

Enjoy your weekend!

Serenity

While working on the computer yesterday
This was my view
Just one of those moments
When you just look up and say thank you.

Beautiful, clear day
I can see the mountains and the river
And the 2 people I love most

May you all have a good Friday!

Antonio's, please

my dessert

my duck with truffle & foie gras

my mother-in-law visiting from Switzerland

foyer at Antonio's

We trekked to Tagaytay for lunch at Antonio's

It's been 5 years since I last ate there

As always, it did not disappoint

Too bad my mom was not able to join as she's under the weather

When you want good food, lovely ambiance , where else but Antonio's.

Always a pleasure.

More of Angkor Wat

After hearing Mass

We headed back to the hotel to have breakfast at Meric

Then went back to Angkor to explore the ancient temples

Best to wear really comfy shoes and clothes as it can get very hot and humid

Important to bring water as well as the heat can dehydrate

Thank you to the generous strangers

for taking time out to photograph us

Amidst the scorching heat

Here's to seeing more Wonders of the World!

Reminiscing

We only did one day of the tour of the temples in Angkor

Other days were spent relaxing, eating and for me, my fave- a spa visit

It's Sunday and though we just got back

I'm already missing the carefree lifestyle when you're on vacation

Ahh, counting the days til the next!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

A-ha

Notice the fancy tuk-tuk of dela Paix, it's slipcovered!

on the way to A-ha, sister restaurant of Meric (Hotel dela Paix's restaurant)

birthday girl at 41

apples of my eye

Alright so I skipped several things we did but this is the easier blog, haha

Just sharing with you my birthday dinner at A-ha

A sister restaurant of the dela Paix's Meric

Khmer food, not really for me, but part of traveling is absorbing the culture

More importantly the Cambodian people are really pleasant and nice

It's like I felt we're royalty the way they treated us

In my family, my 3 boys really treat my birthday special

Well, I demand that from them, haha

Not frankly but in so many quiet ways, hahaha

They call June my birthday month

Oh well, I guess I've trained them well.

They're probably thinking

Thank goodness it only happens once a year!

after dinner, kids slept and hubby & I strolled through the hotel

My photographer in tow

inside the grand Angkor Wat

photo credit: my husband

walking to Ta Prohm where Tomb Raider was shot

by Bayon temple

I don't know any other person (okay, fine, my youngest is another budding photographer)

who takes my photos best than my hubby

He loves and I mean loves taking photographs

and lucky me, he likes me as his subject, at times

So, on my birthday

he was trigger happy with his camera

and asks me from time to time

amidst the wonder of the world

to shoot his own "wonder", hahaha

Really great sites we saw today

You'll be amazed at the work and talent that was put in

Such intricacy & detail

All the more you appreciate how God gives everyone talents

for all of us to enjoy

Happy birthday to me!

How I'm spending my birthday

41 today!

This is me at 5:30 a.m. today, waiting for the sunrise at amazing Angkor Wat

It's probably my first birthday that the only people

who greeted me

Aside from the most important ones, my family

are strangers from another land

I have no cellphone

and have not checked my e-mail, yet

Just really enjoying being away and admiring another wonder of the world
I was planning this post to be another way

But just to load one photo takes half an hour!

Will have to ask my hubby first to lower the resolution.

Til then, will be enjoying this amazing wonder of the world

Happy birthday to me!

Champetre

After the Nuvali game

Freshened up

Heard Mass

then family dinner at Marc Aubry's new resto

The old Gourmand is now Champetre

Rustic, French

Whole family enjoyed the food

Always happy to support friends

And seeing how they come up with new ideas

Congratulations!!!

Our hot day in Nuvali

photo taken by Rica de Jesus

Spent most of the day in Nuvali for the culminating tournament

of my son's football team

It was so hurtingly hot that I was just so glad I was in good company

Whole family went out to support

Fun and good friends of mine there too

My son scored an "Epic" goal, as per one kid

Just when I left for a break!

Oh man!

I didn't hear the end of where was I from everyone and how I missed it

Hey, doesn't it count that I was there for 6 hours not ncluding the trip of an hour and a half???

Haha, kidding aside, I wish I was there to see it

But then again, better yet that I wasn't

Or they would've seen a cheerleader gone wild

Ahh, the joys and pains of motherhood...

Happy weekend!

Who stole the cookie jar?

Everytime I go to my Mom's
I take something with me
She has so many nice stuff that remind me of my childhood
that I usually ask her if I can have them in my home

So the victim today was this cookie jar
Eversince I can remember, I find this jar amusing
and cute! Kinda makes me smile just looking at it

Til my next trip there
She didn't let me have that nice candleholder though

One of these days, she'll give in.

Enjoy the rest of Mother's Day!

The Pioneer

My mom on the phone with my brother

Quickly visited her today, I had no make up on

Happy Mother's Day to all you great Moms!

We visited my Mom quickly this morning

My eldest wasn't feeling so well

So we couldn't possibly stay longer

What's nice about my Mom is she never pressures us to be there

If you can make it, come

If not, then no worries

I was tempted not to visit

Since I have a valid reason

My son not feeling well

She lives quite far

so she understands

But then I got to thinking of all those times

That she sacrificed for me

Raising us to the best she could

Gave her all for us, even sacrificing her own career

She's a dentist by education but didn't work

So she can focus on raising us

I know it was so worth it

Fortunately, we all turned out the way she would have wanted

Even my own husband asked

How my mom raised me

He salutes the way she has (his opinion)

So to the woman

who is the most unselfish person I know

Who has an enormous heart and is my No. 1 fan

Always there to support me and believe in me

The reason why I have so much faith and confidence in myself

The reason why when my own children ask me why I'm such a good mom

I always answer them the same thing

"Lola was such a good mom too, that's where I got it from"

Thank you, Mom

For the guidance and inspiration

For knowing when to compliment us

and knowing when to tell us the brutal truth

You continue to be a voice in my decisions

You are the best and you're one of a kind

And as I get older

Your value just gets higher and higher

May I be half as good a mother

as you have been and continue to be

Happy Mother's Day to a real hero!
I love you!

My brother's wedding

photo taken by my 9-year-old

w/ their cousins

my hubby was godfather

The last of my siblings to get married

Everyone's now settled

Since we have the groom

All preparations were done by the other team

We basically just showed up

My husband was one of the godfathers, I was commentator in Church

and our youngest was Bible bearer

Weddings are always a merry time

Seeing relatives and family friends

Relatives came home from the States

just to witness this special occasion

As I was watching my brother walk down the aisle with my mom and older brother

I can't help but remember my dad

He must be smiling to know that finally his youngest found a partner

Can't help to think about our wedding too

We had a beautiful wedding

We even had a horse and a carriage as our bridal car

To this day, people talk about it

My mom even said a friend of my brother's who just visited from the States

and was one of our groomsmen at that time

Said our wedding was his dream wedding

And that was 14 years ago!

But you know what

more than the beautiful, well-planned wedding

the Forever part is what couples signed up for

Weddings are just a prelude to the work one needs to make it work I had my dream wedding, yeah, I got the one which I dreamed about

when I was still a little girl

But come to think of it, didn't get to enjoy that much

all we did was take photos with people

Beautiful and yes, perfect as it was

I didn't have so much fun

It was really for other people

I am just glad

That I am having fun in my marriage.

And that's where it really counts.

Stay in love!

Sunday mess

Relaxing on a Sunday Watching Friends DVD Kids played with Wii Lazing around in the comfort of home Have a relaxing Sunday! Everyone knows how obsessive compulsive I am when it comes to neatness (Fine, fine, in just about anything)

So, Sunday is my day off from being that

I let myself go and relax

Watching "Friends" on DVD

Kids playing with Wii

while organizing still on the side

Don't you just love Sundays?

Enjoy...

Earthquake alert!

We had an earthquake tonight
We were about to have dinner and I suddenly felt dizzy
Kinda like you're being rocked
Kids and I stayed together
And honestly, my reaction was not to hide anywhere
I'm kinda confused anyway what with all the info regarding earthquakes
In the olden days, they tell you to hide underneath a table
or door jambs
Such is not the case nowadays

All we did was, we prayed
Beats anything
Kids and I, after the Japan calamity happened
have been trying to discuss the proper logistics
where to go for cover
what to do
how to prepare
but at that moment
I was quite calm and all I could think of was pray
to guide us, to protect
After several seconds, it stopped

I think my kids were scared
though I must admit, my youngest has admirable faith

At the end of the day, we can prepare as much as we want
But things happen when you least expect it
People in Japan were doing their everyday thing
maybe at work, at home, sleeping, in the train, whatever
when it hits, it hits
though we should prepare for eventualities
what matters most is we should everyday be prepared
Live life to the fullest
For us to try to always be a blessing to this world in little and not- so- little ways
Be at peace
And try to always have a clean soul
Because whether it's tomorrow or 50 years from now
It pays to be ready
Sometimes, we need to be reminded
We're in this journey
to reach a final destination anyway

Life's good, live it well.
When lived well, what's waiting is even better.

Stay safe!

Those candid shots

This afternoon when I was outside the roofdeck feeling the nice breeze

Tagaytay

Tagaytay, Feb 25

My husband loves taking photographs

He dislikes being in them though

This afternoon, I was having my own taste of Sunday

Kids were doing their own thing

Playing Wii

Thought my husband was in the computer

and I wanted to spend quiet time alone by the roofdeck

While enjoying the breeze and reading on interiors

I heard someone laugh

When I looked inside , it was my hubby stealing another shot of me

He does that all the time!

Especially when am in the house

in my houseclothes such as the first pic above

He was teasing, it's for everydayflair

Wonder why people have this interest on photographing me in my houseclothes

I remember Reg Yuson, my artist friend, last time he came here

As soon as I opened the door, he had his camera ready and tried to shoot me

I was faster than him

I go, what's up with that?

Reg said, want to take a shot of you in a duster!!!

I DO NOT OWN A DUSTER, REG!!!!

Don't know with that guy, he thinks every woman wears that at home

Anyhow, back to my story

It's actually romantic that when I was thinking of blogging that candid shot of my hubby

I also found these recent ones from our trip to Tagaytay last week

Though I am in my vulnerable state

Am sharing this because I am thrilled

that after 16 years

He still watches me.

Keep clicking!