Flooding in Sampaloc

Never in my life did I think that the water would rise so fast. It was a Saturday morning and Dana had classes. So we brought her to school. It was raining a little so it was still okay, otherwise I wouldn't have thought to bring her to school at all. Anyway, around 10:30, we were heading out to get her from school and the rains were stronger, visibility was very poor but we managed and we even went to our favorite store so we can buy lunch but the water was high already and we were scared it might get into the car. We didn't think it was going to be bad at our place.

When we got near the house, we noticed that the garage was open and my cousins were bringing their cars out.. Look out! Water was in the garage and it was ankle deep in a span of 15 minutes!! we parked the car outside, brought the kids in and checked the status inside the house. Mel's room was flooded, there was a leak in the window.. got that fixed with sealant. Den's room was leaking, got that fixed too, the roofdeck was flooded, the drain was blocked. Our room was leaking.. the ceiling was flooding.. man, i can't fix that so our room had buckets of water LOL

You won't believe it, but the water in the garage rose to as high as chest-levels. On the streets, they were probably at thigh-levels. and the rain wasn't stopping ... At least, we didn't lose power.. Our neighbors houses were flooded. Our house itself wasn't flooded but we couldn't get out.. We just had to wait it out and keep vigil on the buckets of water inside the house LOL

Now we're waiting for the water to subside for the clean-up.. oh what a joy! LOL

Here are pictures, if you're so inclined:

On the streets:


Inside the compound:
If you look at the water level behind Tito Ernie, you'll see how high it reached.


Water in the car:

Trip to Subic

September 19 - With just a few days notice, Patrick told us that we were headed to Subic for the weekend. He was supposed to attend and cover the launch of a new energy drink and we were tagging along with him. It was also coincidental that he was assigned to test drive the new Honda City for a week.

Unfortunately, the day of the trip started out bad. When Patrick went out to get to the 6am opening ceremonies of the event in Ortigas, he found out that someone stole the Honda's side mirrors!! oh no!! It was our schedule to be parked outside of the garage for the weekend but never in my mind did I think that someone was going to steal side mirrors.. Man.. that was a shock.. It was a stress looking for replacement parts but Patrick found them over at Honda Otis Manila. What a relief!!

Then, we were headed out.. Dana was not feeling well but I thought it was just the regular "just woke up, bad mood" thing. I was hoping she will get better once we were on the road.. so we just monitored her..

Traffic was bad on the Expressway because it was a long weekend since Monday was a holiday. We had late lunch at the stopovers along the NLEX and we were worried that we won't make the check-in time. Fortunately, they allow late check-ins.. that's the 2nd relief! We arrived in Subic around 4pm already..


The Bayfront Hotel was pretty okay. Affordable rates, pleasant staff, good food. Dana still had a fever but it went away for a while so she was able to swim in the pool. The fever returned full blast maybe because of the aircon, it was so cold in the room. Dana's fever was still raging so we turned off the aircon and bathed her in cold water. I kept a cold compress on her forehead overnight, which meant I didn't sleep but that's okay.. it's a mother's duty.. The fever was kept at bay until morning. Luckily, there was a reclining couch in the room, that's where she slept, and we moved that couch away from the aircon so it wouldn't be so cold for her.

She was feeling better in the morning, we went outside after breakfast (buffet and really good food). There was a playground and we stopped at the beachside. We went riding around the area just to see what's new. Then went back just in time for checking out. We had lunch at Gerry's Grill - really yummy food! Dana was able to eat something at least..

Then it was time to go home. But Patrick had another stop in mind.. the Duty Free shops!! Man, did I go crazy there!!! Finally, clothes that fit me and for so cheap!!! I bought 2 pairs of shorts for me, a pair of Crocs on sale, shorts for Den, an Elmo doll for Dylan, toys for Dana.. it was crazy!! we also bought Combos (cheddar cheese snacks) and a 6-pack box of Pringles LOL

Car Emergency on the NLEX

September 12 - Today, we went to visit Uncle Dennis and his family in Pampanga. This time, we were joined by Stevie and his family as well. It was a good time spent catching up, mostly it was Stevie and Uncle Dennis because we were there recently. Around 5 PM, Stevie announced we were going home and so we packed up and left.

Immediately after exiting the tollway station, Stanley (for those who don't remember, Stanley is the name of our car) just started to shake and the steering wheel was really going crazy. We immediately stopped at the shoulder of the road. We tried driving slow to see if it was caused by the speed. It wasn't. Even if we were traveling at 20km/hour there was a minor "wiggle" to the car that can't be ignored. So we decided to stop at the nearest gas station to have a mechanic check the problem and if it's possible, to fix it. Surprisingly enough there wasn't a mechanic available at the Caltex Station. They gave us a number to a mechanic in San Simon whom we had to wait for. When he arrived 30 minutes later, he looked at the tires pronounced them unfit, released some of the pressure and sent us on our way. Oh and he told us that there was an accident on the Southbound lane of the NLEX. What a joy! right!

So on we went, it was now 6 PM. Oh and we let Stevie and his family go on ahead because the kids were getting fussy. And when you're traveling you don't want fussy kids in the car LOL

We were moving again but the wheels were still a problem. I asked Patrick to stop and call the emergency service of NLEX using their phone on the side of the road. That's what they're there for, right? So that in itself was an adventure for Patrick LOL Because he said, it wasn't technically a phone but a box - a talking box LOL He wanted to take a picture but it was getting dark and it was drizzling. Perfect timing and weather for your car to breakdown.

He talked to someone, they said they'll send the nearest Patrol Car (which happened to be a few minutes away at the scene of the accident we just passed LOL) They examined the car, said it was something else that was the trouble. Finally, we decided we can't go on like this forever and so we asked them the rates for towing. P1,200 up to the nearest exit which was Pulilan. P4,200 up to the end of the NLEX, further than that, they charge more of course. hmm.. so that kept us thinking LOL

And so we thought. And the solution at that time was to call Sharon (my sister) and have Jowell (her husband) tow us back to Manila by any means necessary LOL But that didn't pan out because as the Patrol guys said, only the accredited towing service of NLEX is allowed to tow vehicles there. The option was, we get towed to Pulilan have them pick us up there and then use the McArthur Highway to get back to Manila. So that was our option. Better, P1,200 than P4,200 LOL

When the towing service came, it was from AAP or the Automobile Association of the Philippines.. Woohoo!! We were members which meant we didn't have to pay the P1,200!! hahahah one less problem solved LOL

They towed us to Pulilan and they recommended a car shop who can probably fix Stanley. By that time, Sharon and her family arrived in Pulilan too and Jowell was there at the shop with a watchful eye.

They replaced the left wheel with the spare tire. They fiddled with something. Jowell test drove it. It seemed to work fine. So we were off, no towing necessary but we were running at 40km/hr on the shoulder of the road because it was still wiggling. The steering kept fighting with Patrick.

We arrived at the house around 12. The kids were tired. We were tired but we arrived safe though not so sound LOL In our stress, we even landed on the truck lane at the exit tollgate because we were concentrating on every sound and move that Stanley was making, we didn't notice that the lanes were widening LOL

Monday morning, we took Stanley to my aunt's vulcanizing shop and one look at Stanley's underside and we saw the problem. The CV joints were busted. Not the tie rod, not the wheels. The CV joints were blown out, bearings gone, it was a surprise they didn't break off too, the mechanic said. Got those parts replaced from Banawe (original parts for P3,000) each.. expensive but at least they're not surplus.

And Stanley was as good as new.. well sort of :) Here are the pictures, forgive them if they're dark LOL
The Towing Truck

Preparing to get Stanley on the truck

Stanley on the truck. As Dana said, Stanley has his own driver now :)

Dana's Card Grades

Well, the time is now to see Dana's card grades. To be honest, I wasn't really worried or anything because I've already seen the results of her exams. I was actually more worried about her Filipino (learning to speak and read Filipino class) because as you know, English is her first language.

But lo and behold, her Filipino is higher than her Math grade!! LOL It's not that she's not brilliant in Math. I saw her exams and I asked her why she didn't answer the test questions correctly because I know she knew the right answers. She told me, she was getting bored from having to answer all of the questions and she didn't read any of the instructions anymore LOL That is quite understandable seeing as this is her first time doing tests like this in school. I did tell her that the first time is the only "excusable" time.. the next time, I won't be so forgiving (hmm.. that sounded ominous) LOL

Anyway, the red numbers are the actual grades that she got.

Trip to Tagaytay and Enchanted Kingdom

August 29-30, 2009

First of all, let me greet Den, my niece a Happy 18th Birthday!!! It is on her account that we're going out of town because we want to celebrate her 18th Birthday in style :)

So we chose Tagaytay as our destination for three reasons. First, we've never been there as a family and staying overnight. Second, it was on the way to Enchanted Kingdom where we'll be spending the next day at. Patrick got free tickets again as part of Enchanted Kingdom's media blitz. And, Third, we reserved a room at the Days Hotel Tagaytay because we wanted to test the discount card that I was a member of. For P3K annual membership, we get 30%-40% discounted rates at Days Hotel rooms nationwide and the same goes for their affiliate hotels.



Our first stop during our trip, believe it or not, was for lunch at the Rose and Grace Restaurant along the Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Highway. For P1K+ we got our fill of Bulalo, Beef Steak, Lechon Kawali, a Tower of Nestea Iced Tea and 2 orders of Fresh Lumpia and bowls of rice! :D Not bad!! and Great Tasting too!!

It was just in time for checking in when we were done so we headed to the Days Hotel Tagaytay where we were booked at their Deluxe Room. There was 1 King Sized Bed, a couch that turns into an extra bed and our very own jacuzzi in the bathroom!! All for P4650 (inclusive of 10% surcharge). Oh and there was a balcony/terrace where you get to hang out and enjoy the scenic view of the mountain.


We then headed to Tagaytay Picnic Grove because we heard that there was horseback riding there and we wanted the kids to experience that. So off we went!! And sure enough, there were horses there, you can tell by the stench! LOL My allergies started acting up LOL But all for the kids so I soldiered on LOL For P200, 2 people can ride one horse for an hour. It's a boring one hour because they only get to go around in circles in a paddock type of field. For an additional P150, you supposedly get an adventure tour (but we didn't try that out). The kids enjoyed it though :)


After that, we went looking for the Zipline and Cable area. Arfie recommended this bit so thanks to her :) That was an awesome adventure!! Den and I decided to try the zipline. You are suspended from these zipline cables. You choose to lie flat or to sit (we chose to lie flat it was more exciting that way!) and you're zipping across the mountain. It was a rush, a scary, but exhilarating rush!! So we went both ways because it was tiring to go back up the trail on foot hahahaha The kids, Ate Mel and Patrick went on the cable car which will take the same route only on a much sedate pace. Dylan was pretending there was a dinosaur hiding in the trees LOL So that was a worthwhile experience :)




After all that excitement, we all trooped to the swimming pool at the hotel even though it was pretty cold so we didn't stay long. We then spent a long time in the jacuzzi LOL that was something :)


Time for bed!! We have an early day because we still have to go to Enchanted Kingdom :) But we still managed to sneak in a dip in the pool hahaha


And that was our trip to Tagaytay:


Our trip to Enchanted Kingdom is pretty much a rehash of what went on the last time.. Full of rides but since there were more people at the park, there were long lines and it wasn't really that much fun. I did have a chance to get a foot reflexology and whole body massage at Enchanted.. and it was heaven!! LOL You just don't know how long I've wanted to experience that ! LOL



For more pictures (and there are many!) just click here:

It's a good thing it was a 3-day weekend. We needed one day to rest before school and office started again LOL