31/365: Boys, Trains & Lego

If there's one thing that I feel sorry for my nephew, that's missing the joys of a childhood in the Philippines. Yes, he has his nifty toys -- his favorite choo choo train, the Lego blocks given by godparents, and countless other toys that he's adding to weekly. (His room is shaping up to be a mini Toys 'R' Us outlet.)

But he doesn't have the run of the neighborhood that we had as kids and which my other nephews and nieces in the Philippines are enjoying right now.

Back home, especially in subdivisions and barrios, a kid is literally raised by a community. There's the formal day care school where you bring your Pre-K...and then there's the informal day care center -- the neighbors. You can leave your kid with your neighbor -- who're usually your immediate relatives -- and be certain that they're well cared for.

It's not a perfect society but predators are rare. Everybody knows anybody who sneezes immediately. Your reputation will precede you so the adults know who to leave their kids to and who not to.

30/365: Men On Sale

That title's downright provocative...and is nowhere near what really happened, heh.

I've never really seen men go crazy over things on sale in a store so when I saw them crowding around 5-dollar shirts...I just had to point and shoot.

Believe me, there were several boys in that tiny space, with more of the other species behind awaiting their turn.

27/365 - Work-at-Home Mascots

Creatives have their eccentricities and I'm definitely not exempted from it. The work-at-home writer in me is a lonely character - I only have my laptop, books and work table as companions throughout a long churn of countless articles for this or that client.

That gives me, I think, an excuse to be odd once in a while.

I've got this set of home office mascots who, I'd like to imagine, are always cheering me on and chanting, "You can! You can! You can!" when my mind's fried and there are still stuff to write.

There's Dana, after her namesake, who gave her to me before leaving for the States; Dax, a tooth fairy; and Dollar, an honest-to-goodness piggy bank.

From L to R: Dana, Dax and Dollar...mascots all.

26/365: Pimp My Ride

Serving the unofficial troubleshooter of the GMA administration meant we were traveling to one place or another, often at a moment's notice. When we do, we travel by any and all means.

Those days when you're unlucky, you have to get to where you have to be by fast craft or with fast vans. Plenty terrifying and mighty uncomfortable. On the days that you have a budget, you travel in style.

Those are the days I like most, when I get to see the runway up close and personal. Like this, heh. The Lear's a bit cramped and small, but it's got only you and your party in it. And the comfort is unparalleled.

25/365: Paparazzi

My Cabinet Secretary was somewhat a controversial figure during his term...which shouldn't have been, given the portfolio that he handled. Or maybe because of it.

(Hmmm, makes you wonder...)

Despite the many gag orders that he received from his boss, he'd talk about stuff. Whenever he did, there's sure to be some feeding frenzy in the media for days.

But if there's one thing I know about my boss, he's the consummate strategist. There's nothing he said or did that he didn't calculate for days, weeks even, and he'd always achieve the effect that he was aiming for.

When I read the cables where he usually figured, I'd always laugh because definitely, the Americans read him wrong. Oh, I know they said he wasn't articulate and he always handled things badly, but they didn't know that was deliberate.

And if there's another thing I know about the strategist I served, he's a master of disguises. He's content for you to get him wrong because it's the only way he can carry out his plans. Oh yes, he was very good at it, too. Only one who's been with him day in and day out, knows when he's feinting.

24/365: The President's Men

So part of the work we did ages ago was to meet with the President's men, those we call the Little Presidents who governed the provinces.

If it was a battlefield, this was asymmetric warfare. Our way.

We were consolidating the president's political base and part of that were the governors, little lords who protected their fiefdoms at any cost including sleeping with the enemy. (The president being the enemy, heh.)

The older governors were old school - very territorial and defined reciprocity through the mutual scratching thing.

Manatee Festival Comes to Town!

The annual manatee festival’s happening this weekend, a few steps from our front door. Yipee! On the other hand, we’ll be sending off Z & S early morning Saturday—the first day of the celebrations. Awwww...

I’ve been here close to four years already but I haven’t gone to one of these shindigs in honor of our resident manatees over yonder at Blue Springs State Park.

It’s a shame really because (1) it’s just next door—what’s so difficult about walking a few meters? (2) it looks like fun—music, food, arts & crafts, games, thingamabobs, local celebrities… and (3) it’s for a good cause.

Oh, and (4) my pet name at home is Doogs—short for “dugong” which is Filipino for manatee—so I should be showing some moral support for my namesake.

I kid you not about the moniker!

(My goddaughter who lived with me before I left for America is also called “butanding”, another Filipino word for manatee. It’s a long story but suffice it to say we have the, er, “healthy” body structure of the gentle manatee, heh.)

23/365: Salute of Colors

Still cheating at Project 365...in that this one's from a bygone era, heh.

(Still sounding maudlin, I see. Permit me. I've earned it, believe me.)

This one's of many salutes that my Cabinet Secretary received as he toured military commands throughout the archipelago - in line with his duty as a security adviser - eons ago.

Ironic really, because in the early 70s, these same soldiers would've given their eye-teeth to nab my Boss the Spymeister.

You see, during the infamous Martial Law era - when I was but a wee babe in my mother's lap - my Cabinet Secretary was an activist on the run. I think he had a reward on his head.

Funny how circumstances change, huh? Boss was tickled pink every single time he received this kind of honors. :)

22/365: The Silent

Day 2 of cheating at Project 365...only because the nostalgia bug's still got a firm hold on me. This one's the building where I went to work for close to seven years.

The oldtimers say this building has many terrible secrets - too terrible, and sometimes too fantastic, to see the light of day. It's very difficult breaching its defenses - it's far more secure than the president's official residence.

And the knowledge it holds! This edifice probably knows more than any sitting president in Manila. Yet it must remain a silent observer and participant to the goings-on of its milieu. It shares what it knows to a select few, but no more.

Silent building, do I miss you? Only because past your gates people I hold dear still walk your corridors.

21/365: Nostalgia

I'm going to cheat today and post an old photograph for this day's Project 365.

I was feeling maudlin while looking at old pictures of my previous work as special assistant to one of Manila's Cabinet Secretaries...that is, during Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's administration.

Reception Hall (aka the Hall of Presidents), Malacanang Palace, Manila.

I shot this picture while taking a picture of the Palace's guest reception area, off the Reception Hall. To the left (off-photo) is the hall where the Cabinet meetings take place and to the right (again, off photo) is the Music Room, where the four-eyes and the confidential cluster meetings happen.

Lots of memories of the good old days. Staying up all night just to monitor an attempted coup d'etat of young officers unfolding. Grassroots consultations in far flung towns. Highly hush hush Cabinet meetings at the Palace. Peace talks with the reds and the Muslim rebels. A ranking Secretary detained at the Heart Center for contempt of court, on orders of the Senate. (Yep, that was my Spymeister, heh.) And lots of papers and reports to read (information overload!).

I miss it, yet I don't. That possible? Unfortunately, in my overcrowded mind, it is. Heh.

Really Weird: US Naval Ship Gets Stuck At Tubbataha Reef

Now, this is weird news indeed. A vessel of the finest navy in the world got stuck in what happens to be one of the finest reefs in the world – the Tubbataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Image credit: Western Command, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)

The USS Guardian is a minesweeping ship. That is, it’s equipped to find mines at sea and destroy them. And it gets stuck on a reef. Not just any reef. One that’s off limits – by Philippine law – to navigation, let alone a 224-foot vessel. (Except if you’re a tourism or research boat.)

This kind of vessels are equipped to detect mines at sea, right? So anywhere they are at a given time, I’m assuming that they know what’s under the hull. And it’s basic for every seafaring vessel to have equipment that pinpoints their location and the possible topographical features of the seabed beneath them. So they can’t really hide behind the excuse that they didn’t know where they were…and, thankfully, they didn’t use that pathetic excuse.

21/365: Boys Will Be Boys

We went to New Smyrna Beach today though the weather was in the high 60s and low 70s. Brrrr! We Manila tropicals were shivering in our light hoodies but wth, the beach is always a fun place to be. For a picnic, that is.

Then we accompanied Z & S to the mall in Sanford where the ever intrepid father and daughter duo hunted for bargains. Our wallets had fun at the Cotton On store, where we made a beeline for the $5 and under (plus a 30% discount).

And obviously, one li'l boy had fun playing hide and seek and catch me if you can in the store. (His Mamu Doogs - that's me - also went to town with the point-and-shoot.)

One thing you know by now when taking care of the Terrible Twos: though there's never a dull moment, you also lose all the energy you've stored immediately after storing them.

19/365: Bella Cucina

So, we're now on our second week playing host to BIL and S and this time, our cousin A hosted us to a pizza lunch. She brought us to an entirely new place in DeLand. (Not Tony's, as we were expecting.)

Turns out our lunch was at Bella Cucina, a new pasta & pizza place at the corner of Orance Camp Road and Victoria Commons in DeLand. Except for King A (our eldest brother who was hard at work at John Knox) and Tita R (A's mom), every one in the family was all present and accounted for.

Although it's a relatively new place, it's had some mixed reviews already - anywhere from awesome to awful, delicious to disgusting. This charming little place tucked a few hundred yards off the golf courses didn't disappoint us today though.

I loved the food, and that's not saying it lightly. I may be a gourmand but with my hotel and restaurant baccalaureate, I know good food when I taste it, heh.

I recommend  the Bella Cucina Special - a 16" pizza with a thin crust and bell pepper, sausage, pepperoni, and onions - it's as close to gourmet pizza as can be. Since I'm not a fan of cheese pizza, I wouldn't vote for it though the dough was tasty, better than what I've had at Tony's in downtown DeLand or at 2 Guys Pizza here in Orange City.

Garlic bread, no cheese.

Still another garlic bread, this time with cheese and salsa

Cheese pizza, 16".

Bella Cucina Special pizza, 16"

I can't say the service was extraordinary, but it was acceptable for a full service restaurant: not too fast, not too slow. A happy middle, I'd say.

Then again, we ordered pizza. When you want your pizza to get to you awesomely yummy, you'll have to be willing to wait at least 15 minutes because it's prepared fresh for every order. (I should know, I worked at a Pizza Hut joint in Manila for a few months, and you can't hurry an oven.)

The one image that stuck to my mind from our family lunch date is this one - where Li'l Prince was trying to hurry his Mum along. She was changing for work in the woman's bathroom and our lovable tyke wasn't having any of it, heh.

About 
Name: Bella Cucina Italian Ristorante
Cuisine: Italian, pizza, pasta
Address: 1431 Orange Camp Rd, Deland, FL 32724
Tel: (386) 738-1930
Seating: 76

Florida Weather and Climate Data for October to December 2012

When you're a gardening nut like I am, there comes a time when you enjoy reading about the weather.

Yep, the weather. It's no longer just fodder for small talk...it becomes a serious preoccupation. One of your daily, anticipatory delights. And I say that seriously, without the tongue-in-cheek 'tude, heh.

Since it's a new month, I went on to the National Climatic Data Center website and I looked at what they had to say about 2012...and of course, of the last 3 months when it seemed Florida was way hotter than it used to be.

So, climate-wise, here's what was happening in the US last year:

18/365: Pinoy Bistek Recipe

I swear, a housewife's work is never done! And since I've always maintained that I'm clueless when it comes to the mysteries of domesticity, today was a very looooong day. Felt like chores was on a continuous loop, sometimes overlapping each other.

Our guests, together with Li'l Prince, Queenie and Charming, trooped to Sea World this morning. Hubby and I were left alone and we had some much needed quiet time together, doing some light housework and some errands.

Then it got really intense in the afternoon. I realized our sightseers won't have any dinner tonight. There weren't enough leftovers to tide them over - and us - so I guess it fell on me to make it.

Oh, woe is me!

17/365: Secret Stash of Forbidden Delights

I had acid reflux disease when I worked as Special Assistant to a Cabinet Secretary eons ago. In the Philippines, that is. That was a stressful time, magnified to the n-to-the-thousandth degree.

It was a high pressure, high profile job that required me walking the wire between efficient public service and effective secrecy. Everything that I did required diplomacy and tact - be it dealing with internal constituencies or external ones. An imprudent word here, an unguarded letter there, and someone somewhere has to do damage control quickly, literally. I must've been so high strung my tummy developed all sorts of problems.

One of my secret pleasures at that time was Lipton's milk tea. In the midst of a panic situation, you'd catch me taking a break, drinking my sweet milk tea in my Boss's rarely used private room. Never mind that my impatient heart doctor - one of Manila's finest - had emphasized staying off the brew for a very long while.

Milk tea calmed me, if not my stomach, so to hell with dire medical warnings. I was willing to pay the price...and pay it I did, frequently, with hyperacidity and mild anxiety attacks, heh.

In America though, there's no ready-to-drink milk tea. So I make it from scratch. With Z's visit to Florida, he brought with him a stash of milk tea, courtesy of his ever thoughtful wifey P. Praise God for sweet sisters-in-law!

I reckon I have about a month before I return to making my milk tea from scratch again.

16/365: Dinky Dock Park

So C, his niece S and I picked up my BIL at Disney's Yacht Club Resort at noon today. Since we were already in the area  Z said might as well see some sights so the trip - and the gas! - wasn't a waste, we moseyed over to Rollins College.

On I-4, we took the Fairbanks exit and drove towards 17/92. You could say we were driving blind - all we knew was that somewhere past this busy avenue was Rollins College. We were ready to make a U-turn when we saw the gate to the school. Eureka!

We drove in and oohed and aahed over the cobblestone streets, the quaint Spanish-Mediterranean beauty of the buildings, the pretty little cottages on the peripheries of the campus...then we got a glimpse of Lake Virginia between the trees and the houses. We wanted to see it!

So we drove around until we got to the end of the road we were on, heading towards the Sutton Place Apartments - student housing I think - and we came upon Dinky Dock Park.

Dinky Dock. Had a nice, kooky ring to the name...which appealed to me. And yes, the park was postage-stamp-sized but in keeping with the quaint character of the College, it was pretty, charming and restful.

A cute little sign post for a cute little dock. That building on the background is
Sutton Place Apartments. I think that's the student housing for upperclassmen.

15/365: Look, 'Ma, Really Short Hair!

Some maggoty bit of dissatisfaction and restlessness got me diving under the shower right after breakfast. It was so uncharacteristic of me (I usually shower late in the evening) that my hubby, who was on sick leave for the flu, was taken aback.

After the refreshing body wash, hubby said my hair was growing bushy again. So I decided to snip off an inch of overgrown tail. One thing led to another and my shoulder length hair was shorn off some substantial inches and now, I'm sporting a short 'do. With my riot of curly hair, you'd never know there were layers to it, heh.

By the by, I've never had a chance to grow my hair long since 2002, when I discovered that extended locks = migraine.

Of course, maybe because Manila was so hoooooot! Or, Spymeister just loved running us, his minions, rugged when he wanted things done that the tension headaches have become part and parcel of working with him.

Whatever it was, 'til this day, short hair = freedom from Tylenol...and ease of movement.

14/365: Doctor, Doctor, I Am Sick!

There was this rhyme I learned before pre-school:

Mother, Mother, I am sick!
Call the Doctor very quick!
Doctor, Doctor, will I die?
No, my darling, do not cry!

It was Mum's favorite whenever the absentisitis bug - the compulsion to play hooky for the day when I was finally of school age - hit me. It was fun and a gentle way to remind me that I'm not sick, that I have no excuse to be away from class for the day.

The rhyme ran through my head while I was waiting in the doctor's lounge at high noon with hubby dearest. He was in to ask why he was being lightheaded and why he was having sudden bouts of exhaustion. I said he was just a hypochondriac, but he said something was really wrong.

Argh!

Then I noticed something amazing while we were waiting for our turn.

Sleep or Die [Infographic]

Ever since I could remember, I've had trouble sleeping. Perhaps, it had something to do with my nightly woes as a kid:

a. I had an alcoholic of an uncle growing up. Hmmm, that sounds wrong - most of my uncles on both parental divide were alcoholics. In fact, I had five uncles who died under the influence…plus a first cousin and my paternal grandfather.

But I digress… This uncle is Dad's second cousin. He was always drunk and when he's blotto, he's disturbing the peace to say it mildly. You know when he's smashed - he's daring anyone to come out of their and fight him. That is, him and his bolo - a large, sharply pointed, single-edged knife that was the Filipino warrior's (and revolutionary's) favorite weapon. When he's on a bender, he gets really scary.

A Filipino bolo. Image by Lorenzo Lasco

I slept with my grandparents and every single night that he's wrecked and hollering for a fight, I can remember my wee 6-year-old body quaking in extreme terror. Not the fact that we're safe home, that our bedroom door is locked and all the lights in our room - including all lamps and candles, I kid you not - are blazing, could take away the terror. It was like my mind was locked into a continued state of fright, that it was the end of the world, and I knew that if he yelled all night long I'll be dead by morning. I never felt safe…and it'd be morning by the time I could get to sleep.

I started sleeping well at night only when he died - he got run over by a bus during one of his nightly rages. (The agony I went through lasted for a year, I think.) My grandparents, I knew, sighed heaps of relief. In my kiddie mind, I can only thank God. I know, bad of me, but I was young and he was the terrorist of my life. His passing stopped the waking nightmare that I always had every day.

12/365: Hallmarks of a Clueless Housewife

Hubby's brother Z and his daughter S are in town for a visit - actually, Z's here for a company conference and S's tagging along for a mini vacation. Today, I decided to leave the bat cave to take in some fresh Central Florida air.

We went to TJ-Maxx, where he drooled over some Calphalon cooking tools, and I saw these funny apron nuggets that fit to a T who I am, hee.

But of course, no girl worth her female DNAs can't get enough shoes...which is why I work and I always find ways on how to charm hubby to part with his hard earned cash. Including braving the kitchen and cooking his favorite dishes, HA.

Blessed be!

11/365: Time for a Cool Change

One great advice that I picked up from a project management article talking about the Lean Startup: "Work smarter, not harder!"

So, today, I'm shifting my mindset: no more Ms. Goody Two Shoes...at least, about slogging things out and plodding along...and getting loose change for my efforts. :(

I'm working smarter - at least smarter than my clients without short-changing them - starting today. (Not tomorrow, mind!)

10/365: To Catch a Whirlwind

My two-year-old nephew is a constantly moving mass of energy. Very difficult to pin him down when you're a-wanting a hug. Hubby tried, but he just got a 2-second embrace after he caught him, heh.

Blessed be!

9/365: Flowers From Our Backyard

Procrastinating again. I couldn't sit down to write. The words are proving elusive. So I went out onto our patio at the back to get some fresh air...and saw these colorful kalanchoes. Click, click, click!

Blessed be!

8/365: Indulging My Obsession

I'm a night owl. I write best when everyone's peacefully having their Zs. I suspect I have a sleeping disorder, but I don't wanna know.

After I've done my writing stuff I reward myself, of course. The best reward? A nice couple of hours watching Korean drama, particularly a lovely romcom. Very early this morning, I decided to re-watch "Delightful Girl Choon Hyang". I didn't notice the time passing so it was nigh morning when I decided to call it a night, er, day. If I were younger, I'd have done a marathon like I used to, heh.

Blessed be!

2012 In 4 Minutes [Video]

I was updating my free Real Player desktop app when I saw this video of the newsmakers and YouTube's top hits of the past year.

It's an interesting mashup by Ryan James Yezak (though I don't know who he is, heh). It's got everything:

• Online piracy
• Celebrity births & deaths
• US Presidential elections
• Planned parenthood brouhaha
• Death of a Florida teen
• Felix Baumgartner's historic space jump
• Facebook-Instagram deal
• Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know (hubby's current fave)
• Facebook going public
• Senseless shootings in the US
• Celebrity hookups & breakups
• Obamacare
• Floods in the Philippines
• The London Olympics
• Prince Harry partying naked (heh!)
• Lance Armstrong stripped of cycling titles
• iPhone 5
• The death of a US ambassador in Libya
• Obama's successful second-term bid
• PSY's Oppa Gangnam Style (my fave!)
• A royal pregnancy

7/365: My Favorite Jam

Bought a homemade blackberry jam from the sweetest lady at the farmer's market. I really don't go for sandwiches for snack time but when I tasted this one...

Yummmm!

Blackberry jam sandwich is now one of my favorite(est) merienda ever.

Blessed be!

6/365: Lining 'Em Up

Li'l Prince has this habit of lining up anything that he thinks are of similar make. Hot Wheels toy cars. Alphabets. Numbers. Blocks. Lego. Puzzle pieces. Books from my shelves.

Today, he found my ponytail bands and proceeded to arrange them in rows. I think he got it from his Mum, who I often tease as an obsessive compulsive. Isn't he cute? I lurv this little guy!

Blessed be!

5/365 Shooting Work

Just a random shot of my work station when I'm in the kitchen. Our cooking area is a clean, well-lighted place, eh?

That bulky, heats-up-so-quick laptop is about five years old, but I lurv it. Why? Because it has earned me dollars already, from my online gigs.

And that digital camera? It's a Sony, which reminds me of my Spymeister. ;)

Blessed be!

4/365: This is Central Florida?

Woke up very early this morning - 8:00 is dawn for this night owl - shivering. Turns out the weather dropped to the low 40s during the night and the morning brought in the rains. I woke up to this:

 Blessed be!

Stuff to be Grateful for in 2012

I'll have to confess right off the bat that 2012 was a very difficult year for both my husband and me. There were many things that we prayed for that went unanswered and hopes that got dashed summarily.

Be that as it may, it was still a blessed year…mainly because our faith in God kept buoying us up. And truth be told, the alternative - thinking that God is deaf and blind to our trials - is unthinkable and unacceptable. God is. The problem is in our lack of trust sometimes, heh.

Despite the many trials and frustrations and disappointments, there were many to be grateful for:

1. My father's successful bypass operation.

If there's one thing I constantly, constantly worry about, it's my 60something parents in the Philippines. I'm the eldest and like most Pinoy panganays,  set apart at birth to take care and provide for the elders in their old age. Until I left Manila to be with Hubby C in the US, I fulfilled that role nicely and satisfactorily.

Coming to America…I had to relinquish that role temporarily to my younger brother who's also in Dubai. But I never forget to pray for Dad and Mum's health every single day. My prayers always focused on me seeing them again hale & hearty.

Well, in late February last year, Mom called to tell me Dad was at the Heart Center all grayish and gasping for breath. To say that I was sobbing, gasping for breath and battling a full on panic attack is saying it lightly. I was terrified I'd lose my father.

Both Mum and Dad had hypertension and heart problems. Hearing the infinitely-less-than-stellar news got me panicking, mumbling prayers and calling on all the saints to intercede every now and then throughout the days that followed.

American Christmas Spending Trends to Look Forward to in 2013 (Infographic)

It's a little late in the day to feature the holiday shopping and spending habits of our friends over on the other side of the Pacific Ocean...but this infographic on American Christmas spending is something I'm sure you'll find right handy when you start planning this month for 2013's holiday offerings.

Last time, I shared something on the online shopping habits of our friends in America. This time, the Christmas gift giving opportunity for businesses focuses on overall spending.

Some things to think about when designing your holiday offers for the coming Christmas 2013:

3 / 365 - Stir Crazy

I love vegetables, thanks to Dad who force fed us bitter gourd (ampalaya) when we were growing up. Nobody left the dining table until every last scrap of the green little things were in our tummies.

Now, I can't live without my veggie fibers. Turns out, too, I cook a mean stir fry.

 
Blessed be!

2/365: A Self Portrait

If ever there's a clueless housewife, that's me. I learned sometime ago though that I can cook...or at least, follow a recipe.

The rare times you see me in my kitchen, I'm usually cooking to survive - no one has seen fit to make lunch or dinner so I'm forced to rack up a meal, heh.

And yeah, excuse the nest-like bedhead. I assure you, I clean up good. And the front perspective is much more respectable than the back. Take my word for it, heh.

Blessed be!

Happy Holidays Hangover

Whew, the second day of the New Year and everything's beginning to settle down here, at home. Everyone's back to work, and I'm home alone again--relatively speaking--with my laptop, trying to make money on the Internet. (I'm a work-at-home warrior, if you must know.)

I still have some holidays hangover though so I'm posting some of the images from the family's Christmas and New Year celebrations. For when remembering gets difficult. I'm right handy at forgetting stuff, even ones I just did or had a few minutes ago. (Sheesh!)

My personal Christmas tree ornament. L for my first name. ;)

The reason for the season--Christ the King of kings!

Christmas welcome mat out front.

Christmas booties which Hubby C insisted on hanging
on the porch rails.

Hubby C cooking the arroz caldo, the best partner to the chill,  for
the Christmas noche buena--the traditional midnight dinner for
every Filipino table. It's rice gruel with chicken meat and broth,
ginger, garlic and saffron. Hits the chilled spot every single time!
(Also one of my comfort foods.)

The arroz caldo. I think I had 4 servings of it!

Tokwa't baboy (fried tofu and boiled pork in a sweet-and-sour,
soy-sauce-and-vinegar mix). The ubiquitous partner of the
Pinoy arroz caldo.

Two kids who don't know the word "Wait.", gaily wrapped
Christmas gifts, and you have Mommy trying her darnedest to keep
them from opening their presents before the noche buena.

The opening of the Christmas presents. It isn't any wonder that the
kids got all the presents, and the adults were relegated to
just watching. Nephew VM here totally enjoyed this gift.

But of course, his favorite, dream-come-true Christmas present
is this number puzzle that his Dada A (an uncle) gave him. A week
after receiving his gift, he's still nuts over it. Definitely his
favest toy ever!

Christmas bokeh!

Pork barbecue for the media noche--this time, the New Year's
midnight dinner that's another Pinoy tradition.

Sister-in-law C's yummy, sumptuous, creamy, and absolutely
sinful lasagna...but who cares? This is one mighty delicious dish that
I'll never say no to, ever! Had 3 servings of it, heh.

Our concession to a healthy media noche, the garden fresh salad
I prepped to wash off the excesses of the other dinner fare.
You'll rarely find this on any noche buena or media noche
table back home!

The holidays weren't as chaotic as the ones I'm used to back home. For one, there's none of the deafening, colorful, and crazy fireworks display that always accompanies Christmas and New Year's eves. Back in Manila, at the strike of 12--and even hours before that--the streets turn into a bedlam of exploding (and dangerous) firecrackers, suffocating smoke, and noisy revelers. You walk the streets at your own risk.

My first Christmas and New Year's celebrations here were, well, quite ho-hum having been used to the loud  holiday parties back home. Oh well, one of these days, I'll be visiting and I'll be enjoying the exuberance once again. One of these days...

And for 2013, here's my prayer for you:

May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

Blessed be!