Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Special Thanks

Tito Noel and Tita Judith, our hosts during our stay in Las Vegas. Thank you so much for taking us in and letting us enjoy your company. It was great meeting the two of you. And of course, Ralline, one of the Sistahuds, again... saying thank you will never be enough for all that you have shared with me and my family. You made this trip possible and just in case you don't know it, me and the kids enjoyed our mini-vacation very much. Hope to see you again before you return to the Philippines.

Las Vegas-Day 1

HOT! HOT! HOT! As in super duper hot. But I guess not hot enough to stop us from going shopping at the Las Vegas Premium Outlets.



The main reason why we braved the heat... Big Dog Sportswear. Got Axel two shirts and a pair of swim shorts... Ralline got something for herself and her Cheeblings :)



Buffet lunch at Circus Circus


Trying our luck at this giant slot machine. Man! That lever was sooooo heavy, it took the whole of me dangling from it to actually move down... wah ha ha!!!

108 Floors up... Stratosphere Hotel, at this height your perspective can certainly change :P




The rides Kyla wanted to try... she rode Insanity (will have more on another post)



Coca-cola's new models...


Hmmm... and I thought I was the one excited about going to M&M's World



Stratosphere-the Rides up close...

This is the same ride from other theme parks, the free-fall one, only it's 109 floors from the ground. I don't know about you, but isn't that like double daring fate?
I don't know about you, but even with seat belts, I would not want anybody trying to throw me off this thing from 108 floors up, would you?


The ride that Kyla chose... mind you, when I saw this ride, I felt that it was me about to fall off the roof. What can I say... would getting old be a good excuse for not riding this thing? Kyla was making fun of me for backing out... sorry dear, I had enough to worry about watching you do it ;p

Too high!!!! Ralline needed to get her bearings before braving walking around the outer viewing deck. I do think she lost at least 5lbs from breaking into a cold sweat for doing this... joke, ha ha ha!!!


Axel, Ralline and me shortly before Kyla went on the Insanity ride.

Monday, August 27, 2007

First photo-Photo Hunter


Just joined PhotoHunt and I wanted to start by posting on a "Happy" note... Kyla, Axel and me(my kids who always make me happy) on our first vacation made possible by Ralline.

U.P. Ako, Ikaw ba?

Nakita ko itong post na to... why not makunat?

Wala Lang Post… U.P. AKO. IKAW BA?10 08 2007
Nababato na ako sa kinauupuan ko. May isang kaibigan na nag-post sa Multiply, so piantulan ko na Ü Post ko na rin dito. Kung feel n’yo gawin n’yo na rin
1. ANO’NG STUDENT NUMBER MO?- 86-39003 wah ha ha... getting too old :p
2. ANO ANG FIRST CHOICE MO NA COURSE?- Dentistry (feeling matalino e, he he)
3. SECOND CHOICE?- BS Biology feeling pa rin yan, ended up in Veterinary Medicine at UPLB)
4. ANO COURSE MO NA NATAPOS?- Bachelor of Library and information Science (had to shift because I was getting sick from the formalin used with animal cadavers)
5. NAG-SHIFT KA BA?- Yep
6. CHINITO/CHINITA KA BA?- nope!
7. NAKAPAG-DORM KA BA?- Of course.
8. NAKA-4 KA BA?- Opo, sa Spanish... di kinaya ng powers ko e kasi bading yung teacher.
9. NAG-KA 3 KA NA BA?- Meron din, Math kasi yan ang subject na never ko na-gets ;p
10. LAGI KA BANG PUMAPASOK SA KLASE?- Oo naman, wag lang may sakit.
11. MAY SCHOLARSHIP KA BA?- Sa umpisa, yung STFAP.
12. ILANG UNITS NA ANG NAIPASA MO?- All of it plus some more electives na di ko nagamit when I shifted.
13. NANGARAP KA BA NA MAG-CUM LAUDE?- Nope, but my average made it, di na nga lang pwede kasi I did not finish on time.
14. FAVE PROF- Dr. Sison sa ILS.
15. WORST TEACHER- Meron but I won't say it na lang kasi last time naging mabait na sya sa kin
16. FAVE SUBJECT/S:- Lahat ng Philo subjects ko except yung logic, don't know why he he.
17. WORST SUBJECT:- Math, never could understand it.
18. FAVE BUILDING:- Nung nasa LB pa ko, Auditorium, nung nasa Diliman na, Main Library
19. PABORITONG KAINAN:- UPLB - Ellen's at Mother's Best; Diliman - Beach House at sa fishball and isaw stand(sa may Kalay)
20. MAGKANO BA ANG BINABAYAD MO SA JEEP?- 1.25 ang tanda ko, but I wouldn't bet on it... matanda na nga e he he he.
21. LAGI KA BA SA LIBRARY?- Nung sa LB? Not really, di nga ako marunong gumamit ng library noon e. Nung napunta na ko sa Diliman, biglang oo. Patunay? Graduated sa Library Science nga e, and am now working sa library.
22. NAGPUPUNTA KA BA SA CLINIC?- Infirmary ang tawag, kaso mo sa orientation pa lang sinabi na sa min na Infirmatay talaga yun... got first-hand experience pa nga a lot of times kasi medyo sakitin ako nun... hay maloloka ka sa kapalpakan ng staff at doctors... ewan ko lang ngayon...
23. MAY CRUSH KA BA SA CAMPUS?- Oo naman... he he.
24. ANU-ANO ANG MGA NAGING P.E. MO?- swimming, PE1, tennis at... at... hay nakalimutan ko will thinka bout it.
25. KAMUSTA NAMAN ANG BLOCK NYO?- Had one sa 1st year. The best!!! Got great friends from that block and we're still friends up to now, ninong at ninang pa nga ng mga anak namin ;)
26. MEMORIZE MO BA ANG HYMN NIYO?- Ah, yan ang hindi... di naman ako songer, este singer pala
27. MEMBER KA BA NG VARSITY TEAM?- di po, sakitin nga e, bawal
28. NAKA-PERFECT KA NA BA NG EXAM?- meron din naman
29. DITO KA BA NATUTONG UMINOM NG BEER?- Nope, my Dad taught me kasi ayaw nya magkaron ako ng excuse na nalasing ako ha ha ha!
30. DITO KA BA UNANG NA-IN LOVE?- Hindi, but I think this is where the memories actually started staying with me.
I miss those days, and problema lang ay gumawa ng assignments at pumasa sa exams. Now mas mahirap na at mas maraming taong involved.
Kayo naman!

Monday Madness


1. Where you live, what kind of weather (or weather-related tragedy) do you fear the most?
In California it's either cool, hot or sunny, nothing extreme. But I think the thing to fear most is dry weather conditions coupled with strong winds... this can cause wildfires to erupt which are hard to contain and very dangerous to put out.
2. What kind of weather do you MOST enjoy?
Cold weather... this and a cup of coffee simply makes my day ;-)
3. What kind of weather do you LEAST like to drive in?
Hot, humid.
4. What is the scariest weather-related experience you've had in your lifetime?
A really nasty storm in the Philippines. Strong winds blew out a lot of rooftops, lots of trees falling and tree branches flying everywhere, not to mention torrential rains that brought floods reaching waist high in certain areas.
5. Share a "weather picture" with us!


Bicol, Philippines (picture taken by my daughter, Kyla)

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Sistahud just wanna have fun...

Ahem!!! This deserves it's very own spot on my blog. Less than an hour after we reached Las Vegas and only minutes after reaching our dinner destination (Il Fornaio, New York New York), Ralline (youngest of the Sistahud's) has already snagged "Papa Joaquin Hagedorn". Hmmm... I must really be getting old. Or maybe I should start introducing my kids as my siblings :p

Il Fornaio

Kyla and Axel at Il Fornaio, New York New York
Ralline and me (where art thou Mary Ann and Ella?)
Two of the Sistahuds and kids with our dinner host Tito Noel.

The lights of Las Vegas

Driving along The Strip before going to our final stop for the day









Our final stop, New York New York. Dinner will be at Il Fornaio.


We have arrived... Viva Las Vegas!!!




Arriving in Las Vegas around 9:24pm.

Las Vegas, here we come...

Stopping at Burger King for snacks and coffee


Monday, August 20, 2007

Posting for Ralline



Halu! (from the nananabang tropa)

Nagkita na kami ni Maria Rachelle kasama ang dalawang kids na si Axel at si Kyla kasama si Nanay Charing. They went to our Hotel at Torrance for the Kapatiran 2007 Reunion of my Mom. Dinala na namin lahat ng mga pasalubong at ang padala ni Atty. Amador.

I'll see them again on August 25. Hayan muna ang pictures namin.

Ingat!
Addendum:
Left early to meet up with Ralline. I have no idea how to get to Torrance and some receptionist at the Double Tree Hotel apparently gave me the wrong directions... or maybe she's right, she just wanted me to go the roundabout way (hay!). I would have given her a hard time, but I was in a good mood because I'm meeting up with a friend. Good thing my nephew looked it up for me at mapquest. We got there ahead of Ralline. They were coming from Riverside and there was a lot of traffic.

Ralline finally arrived and we went up to their room. The kids excitedly opened up their package, while Ralline gave me my share... coffee, choc-nut, ube, and relyenong bangus... YUM!!! Kyla finally got to look at her picture and write-up in the yearbook. We joined Ralline's other relatives in another room and ate some food. We left not too long after that. Mami has a reunion to attend ahd they have to get ready. Took some pictures before we left...

Can't wait for Saturday ;p

Happy 14th Birthday, Axel



14 years ago, my son, Axel was born. To this day, I still cannot believe that the baby I held in my arms not so long ago is now a young man.

People would sometimes say that Axel is my favorite. In a way, I guess that might be true. But it is more because of the fact that having him was against all odds at that time. I wasn't supposed to have any more children, at least not so soon after the first. I had a herniated disc 4 months after giving birth to Kyla, that even after 3 years, my doctors didn't think it's safe to have another one.

Pregnancy was hard, I had to take medications to make sure I don't lose him during the first trimester. Then after that, I almost lost him at 6 months because I had UTI and that started my contractions. Same thing happened at 8 months, and by that time I was scared. My doctors were great and I kept thanking my friends sister and sister-in-law for recommending her. The situation was made worse because I did not tell my parents that I got pregnant. They had to come here to the United States to see my sister, and I knew that had I told them, my Dad would never have left. Thank God for friends!

Giving birth was a breeze. None of the difficulties I had while pregnant. Axel made sure I know he wants out at 2:30am of August 20th. Called my cousin (a surgeon) to make sure it's not a false alarm (wouldn't want to go all the way to PGH from Biñan, Laguna for nothing), called my Aunt, who in turn woke up a policeman friend of theirs to drive us. Turned out to be a good thing, he had all the lights flashing and the horn blowing all the way to the hospital. Made it possible for me to make it ;p Once there, it took a right hook to a nurse (making her nose bleed, yes, I punched the nurse because she yelled at me to stop pushing when all the while I was turning blue from not breathing trying to stop the baby from coming out... so I'm a bitch!), a mad dash for the delivery room, an argument because I refused to let another doctor deliver the baby, and a joke about getting what I want and Axel is crying his lungs out. All this, in less than 15 minutes. Have I mentioned that everything about Axel is a mad dash all the time? My Aunt and my now ex-husband were still waiting for doctor's orders so they can get a room when the nurse came out saying that I have given birth and was ready to be taken to my room. Whew!

The first year of Axel's life was touch and go. Although he doesn't have any serious illness we ended up going to the hospital almost every month. All the nurses, doctors and interns knew us by then. It's always one thing or another, and it's hard to divide time with a 3 year old and a sick baby.

Axel's always been an easy baby to take care of. He lies quietly and was sleeping almost through the night after a week. He plays on his own and only cried out when he's hungry or needed diaper change. He started late walking, but once he did, we had a tough time trying to catch up with him. It was hard when I had to leave him with my parents to come to the US. It was harder still, when I asked him to take care of his Grandma when his Grandad passed away. All these he took in without complaining.

And now, he's finally here with me. I am discovering what I missed while he was growing up. And he's grown up to be a fine young man. My baby... who's now bigger than me and is looking after me and his sister more than I am. You have such a long way to go still. Life is just beginning, enjoy it like only teenagers can. Believe and it shall be.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Draw a Pig


Saw this "Draw a Pig" in Rachel's blog and gave it a try...

You drew the pig...

Toward the middle, you are a realist.

Facing front, you are direct, enjoy playing devil's advocate and neither fear nor avoid discussions.

With many details, you are analytical, cautious, and distrustful.

With 4 legs showing, they are secure, stubborn, and stick to their ideals.

The size of the ears indicates how good a listener you are.The bigger the better. You drew large ears, you are a great listener!

The length of the tail indicates the quality of your sex life.And again more is better! You drew large tail, WOW!

Ha ha ha!!!! Very funny. I should have drawn a bigger tail... hmmm....
Thanks Rachel!

Sunday, August 05, 2007

My Two Things

I was tagged by Ralline.

Two names you go by: Rachelle and Maria
Two things you are wearing right now: Jogging pants and body shirt
Two things you want in a relationship: Respect and Honesty
Two of your favorite things to do: Reading and Relaxing with a cup of coffee
Two things you want very badly at this moment: A vacation and more vacations :)
Two pets you have had: Kisses and Apple
Two people who will fill this out: Nobody in particular
Two things you did last night: Watched Pops Fernandez at US-Phil Expo and took Kyla's friends home
Two people who live at your house: My kids
Two things you ate today: Tapsilog and Chocolate Croissant
Two people you talked to last: Robert and Theresa
Two things you are going to do tomorrow: Go to work and cook dinner
Two longest car rides: LA-San Francisco and LA-Las Vegas
Two favorite holidays: Christmas and Haloween
Two favorite drink: Coffee and Thai Iced Tea

Not tagging anyone, but if anybody wants to do it, then consider yourself tagged.