Welcome to the World, Olivia Tracy!

February 26, 2012

Now, if you read my previous blog posts (click here and here), you know that we've had a pretty busy day yesterday.  So, when we got home in the evening, everyone just wanted to rest and relax so it was pretty early when everyone had gone to sleep.

I got woken up at 5AM by Den who said that she was already having contractions and that they were becoming painful.  That shook the sleepiness and the groggy-feeling right out of my body! :D It was a good thing that she was packed and ready to go to the hospital so it was just a matter of finding a taxi to get to the hospital.  Patrick had to stay home for the kids who were still asleep.

So, by 530AM we were at the hospital, she was admitted to the Labor Room while I was outside arranging for her room and just basically texting my brother and sister (Den's mom) about the news.

By around 7PM, I was just bored to death because I forgot to bring a book with me so I just took photos of the room where she will be staying.  It's a ward for 4 people but it seemed like a private room since there was no one in it but her anyway.

I was surprised when they brought in this set of breakfast.  I thought it was for Den but when I checked, it was for me woohoo! The longganisa was really good.  It didn't matter that I had no utensils hahaha I used my hands and I was so messy because I'm not used to eating barehanded hahahaha

Around lunchtime, Den hasn't come back yet and the rest of the family had arrived.  Sofia was content playing under the bed.

At around 1230, we got the call that Oliva Tracy was born and that she was in the nursery.  Naturally, we all trooped downstairs like mad men earning evil stares from the nurses on the floor :D So, here she is, Olivia Tracy weighing 2.7 kilos and 51 cms long.

Congrats Den! You're now a mother.  It's time to grow, be mature and think a little less of yourself and more of your child. :)

Dropping by R & J Bulalohan, Tapsilogan atbp

One of the nicest things about having a car is that you can just take off at the drop of a hat.  Well, that's exactly what happened today.  After an exhilarating time eating at Dampa with Sharon and her family, Patrick and I decided to go out and have dinner at R & J Bulalohan in Mandaluyong after seeing its reviews on TV.

But first, we had to drop by Ford Club Philippines' 10th Anniversary at the Fort in Taguig, Metro Manila.  Naturally, it was a photo opportunity waiting to happen :)  After Patrick was done with his work and the kids had ample time to go around and check the cars out, we all went to R&J Bulalohan in Mandaluyong.

For some time, Patrick had heard of R & J Bulalohan from his friends at work and we recently saw it featured in a foodie TV show which really piqued our curiosity.  So, since there was an opportunity, we grabbed it.    R & J Bulalohan is located along Bonifacio Avenue, just around the City Hall roundabout, in Mandaluyong.  It's famous for its Bulalo (of course!) and people from everywhere really make it a point to drop by and enjoy the food here.  Parking may be a problem though as they don't have a huge parking lot.  Here's a map to guide you.

We ordered Bulalo Regular (special is the one with brains and we didn't really fancy that haha).  We also ordered lumpiang shanghai for the kids, some fried tofu and lots of rice.  The bulalo comes with unlimited refills of soup so that's a good thing.  They said that the bulalo we ordered was good for 2-3 people, but I think it can only fill one really hungry person.  The meat wasn't really filling because the bone was bigger hehehe but the soup was really excellent.  Add 4 bottles of soda and our bill was only under P500! :D

The place is nowhere near fine dining.  It is open-air and you share your environment with people drinking beer and singing videoke.  If you're not too fond of smoking, you need to find seats far from the crowd.  The service is fast though and the crew is pleasant enough.  The bathroom leaves a lot to be desired but if you're desperate, no questions asked, right? ;)

Celebrating Sharon's birthday

In our family, we hardly celebrate birthdays but we never forget to greet our family members on the day itself.  I guess it comes from having limited funds most of the time so the funds get earmarked for something else.  But sometimes, it happens when there's a windfall and we do get a chance to go out and have lunch somewhere.

Such is the case when my sister Sharon had her birthday this year.  When I greeted her on Facebook, I jokingly asked her if we can eat at Dampa along Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay.  It was a place we've always wanted to go to but never found the opportunity to do so.  Now, Sharon gives me a call and tells me that we were indeed going ahead with the plan.  Imagine my joy! hahaha Now, for those who aren't aware what Dampa is, it's actually a wet market where you can buy fresh seafoods at really low prices.  After you buy them, there are restaurants just a few steps away where you can go to and have them cook your food for you in whatever way you want.  For instance, if you buy prawns and go to the resto, you can have them cook part of it for sinigang and another part for chili garlic prawns.  There's a cooking charge for every dish that you have them cook.

We were running a little late because Bourne Legacy was shooting and they closed down some roads which led to all traffic right in front of our place.   As you can see, A.H. Lacson literally looked like a parking lot  for cargo trailers and trucks.  Normally, you wouldn't see trucks on the service road.  They usually took the flyover.  This is how bad it got.

It took us so long to even get out of the garage because the trucks wouldn't give way.  After a harrowing exit from the garage gate, we were finally on our way.






Sharon and the family were ahead of us at the resto so they were already able to buy from the market and have it cooked while waiting for us.  We stayed at the Sharmila restaurant.  They ordered chili garlic prawns, adobong pusit, crabs, sweet and sour lapu-lapu, baked clams and lots of rice and Coke :)  Can you say I'm in heaven hahaha

Even with all the food in front of me, I only actually ate the prawns and had a little taste of the steamed lapu-lapu :) I really love prawns so I literally feasted on them hahahaha

Dana loved the adobong pusit and Patrick loved the mussels :)  Den also ate a lot of the prawns hahaha

Like mother, like daughter :)

Loanzon kids

Jowell and Sharon

Mother and daughter

Sisters and cousins

Bulalohan at N. Ramirez

It's always a pleasure when members of the family simply drop by the house for now particular reason.  It was that way today when Sharon, Jowell and Sofia came to the house just to check up on Den and how she was doing with her pregnancy.  Their short visit ultimately led to us waiting for Dana to finish with school so we can fetch her and proceed directly to the Bulalohan sa N. Ramirez.  We were all excited because it's always nice to discover new places to eat and this time we're eating for free hahahaha

As I write this, I googled a bit about the resto.  It's actually located at 55 N. Ramirez Street, Galas, Quezon City.  If I remember correctly, it's very near UDMC if you're coming from Espana.  I didn't really have any expectations about the food and it was Jowell who took care of the ordering.  We ordered the special bulalo (loved the soup!), chicken barbeque for the kiddies, laing (very spicy), and kalderetang baka.  I wasn't able to take too many pictures because handling the kids took much of my time hahaha Here they are having their pictures taken near the aquarium with an alligator fish (or something like that).  They were actually more interested in the aquarium than with the food hahahha

After downing extra servings of rice and our tummies full to perfection, we headed to the hospital for Den's check-up.  :)

Family Day Out

February 15, 2012

Today is Dana's Field Demo.  They were supposed to perform in school.  Unfortunately, we didn't arrive on time because we still had to bring some potluck for the school's lunch-together.  However, we managed to take pictures of Dana after the program.  The shirt was yellow for their Grade Level and the skirt was supposed to be custom-made to be part of their costume.  I don't know why but it's a bit expensive.  I remember when I used to go to school, we only used our PE uniform for Field Demos to avoid costly costumes.  

After the program, we rode in the Chevrolet Orlando which Patrick was test driving for Top Gear Magazine and went to Glorietta.  Patrick had some errands to run and we were just along for the ride! :) sort of like a Family Day Out hehehe

After Glorietta, we also went to Bonifacio High Street.  We spent some time browsing through the goodies at ROX because Patrick had some GC's to spare.  We ended up buying a Jansport backpack because our old one was getting frayed :)  The kids had fun too!

With a burst of creativity and imagination, Dana combined her skirt with this "buff" which Patrick got from ROX.  :) "Spiderman sunflower" according to Dana.  Of course, Dylan was scared of it LOL

Dreaming of an International Vacation

When you have kids, you are always on the lookout for places that they would want to visit when you have the time and when you have the money.  In our case, we’ve mostly been able to visit local places in the Philippines, but it’s nice to dream about South Africa tours or going to Disneyland Hongkong which is nearby.

Thanks to the Internet, you can really find out a lot of educational information about travel places that can help you decide on where you want to go.  It’s also a good source of information for things that you can do and events that you can expect when you travel, from the moment you step on a plane and all the way until you get to your travel destination. 

One of the best ways that you can ease up on your stress is to connect with a good international travel agency that can create a customized package for your trip.  For our local trips, we have had the luck to establish a good rapport with local agencies that can be reached anytime via the Internet.  So far, we haven’t been disappointed and we’ve always managed to enjoy our trips.  For international destinations, it doesn’t have to be too tricky but you do need to ask around, read up on reviews of people who have tried a particular agency’s services and be specific about what you want. 

For sure, when we get a bit of a windfall, we may just use an international travel agency to book our trip.

Dylan's fever scare

February 08, 2012

Often when the kids get a fever, I don't panic and immediately go to the doctor.  I know that it takes 2 days for a fever to break so as much as possible, I just give the kids paracetamol to keep the fever down and observe.

It was initially that way with Dylan.  His fever started last Sunday and we attributed it to his mild cold.  It went on till Monday which made him miss his classes.  Tuesday, he was feeling a little better, the fever has broken, or so I thought.

Wednesday morning, his fever was back and that was the time I became concerned.  I remembered that when Den had dengue, her fever was on and off and she didn't show any of the usual signs of dengue, like the rashes.  When we took her to the hospital, it was only a suspicion of dengue but it turned out, she was lucky we brought her that day because her BP was already crashing.  She stayed in the ICU for about 5 days that time.

So you can imagine my fear when Dylan was showing the same signs.  Patrick missed work for this on the off-chance that Dylan had dengue, someone had to go home and arrange for his stuff to be brought to the hospital.    His doctor, Dra. Violeta Mendoza of the World City Medical Center, advised that he have blood tests and a dengue test done just to be sure.   It was a good thing that Dylan was covered under Patrick's health plan at work and we didn't have to pay for anything.

If you look at this picture of Dylan and his daddy, he doesn't look like he's sick. :)










Here's a scanned picture of the laboratory tests done on him.  It was for a complete blood count, Platelet count and NS 1 Antigen.  It only took one needle prick to get the results for all the tests.  I admit I was nervous when we went to the laboratory because I wasn't sure how Dylan will react when he sees the needle.  But he was a very good boy and he didn't even cry when the interns proceeded to find the vein in his arm.  They had to do it three times because they couldn't find the vein on either arm.  When they decided that they will use his right arm, they immediately went to work.  It was also good training on their part not to show the needle to Dylan until the last minute when they were actually going to prick him.  Imagine if other kids immediately saw the needle waiting there on the table, I bet they'd be thinking too many horror stories :)  Dylan flinched a little when he felt the prick but he didn't jerk and he didn't scream or cry either.  Good Boy!! :)  When it was done and they put cotton and tape on the prick, he moved like an old man, like his arm had the whole weight of his body hahaha

Since we had to wait for 3 hours for the results,  we first went to Cubao to pass the time. We ate at McDonald's.  It was funny to watch him eat because he refused to use his bandaged arm :)  Eating was a chore to him at that point :)  We just went around Ali Mall to see what's new, and there were a lot of new developments, like new shops that weren't there before.  It was good to see Cubao getting revived.  Patrick felt like he was running full circle because his dad used to bring him there when he was a kid and now, he's a dad and he's bringing his kid to Cubao :)  I felt the same way.  Cubao was the destination for families during Sundays after church when I was a kid too.  :)

Anyway, we got the good news after we got the results.  Dylan didn't have dengue.  His fever was mostly probably viral, according to his doctor, which apparently can last for 5 days.  His blood work didn't show any signs of infection so he wasn't prescribed antibiotics either.  He was just advised to rest and take it easy and stay away from other sick people LOL  So that was a huge relief!!

At home, Dylan and Patrick just stayed in bed reading Top Gear! :D

For more information on dengue, here's what Dr. Eric Tayag of the DOH, said about the symptoms of dengue:

• High Fever
• Rashes
• Vomiting
• Stomach pains
• Nose bleeding
• Low Platelet count
• Difficulty in breathing

Mom's 4th Death Anniversary

Today is my mom's 4th death anniversary.  I can't believe it's already been 4 years...I still miss her so bad and yes, the pain is still the same as it was when I found out she was dead.  But, I figured she wouldn't like it if we remembered her with sadness so I thought I'd post 4 things that my mom loved when she was alive.  :) 4 things because it's her 4th death anniversary.. silly, I know, but it's fun for me to think about these things :) So, bear with me :D

1.  Speed - yep, I remember when we watched that movie, she almost had a heart attack because she was holding on to her breath and being all tense!!  She would be gripping the armrests of the chair and just be so taken in with the movie.  After that, she was smiling like crazy and laughing like she was high on something.. :D  It doesn't matter if she sees it the 2nd time, it'll be the same all over again :)

2.  Cinnzeo cinnamons - I remember when I first brought home a box of Cinnzeo cinnamons for my mom.  I bought it at Greenbelt on my home from work.  I was so enamored of the flavor and I knew she would be too so I bought a box for her.  Imagine her surprise when she first took a bite out of the original flavored one.  She said it was to die for!! She didn't really like that it was so expensive but I told her, that's the reason why we work so we can enjoy good food like this :)  It was such a guilty pleasure for her that I would still buy her a box every time I could :D

3.  Tom Clancy books - Yep, this is no surprise but she loved Tom Clancy books.  She first started with Patriot Games and I guess she fell in love with Jack Ryan.  Whenever we'd go to Booksale she'll scour the shelves for the rest of his books until she was able to complete majority of the collection.  Her favorite one was "Without Remorse" because it was more personal and so aptly titled.

My brother and I got our love of books from our mom and we'd always share the books that we read.  Even when she was in the States she'd send books that she'd finished to me and my brother would complain that he hasn't read them yet hahahaha





4.   Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet - Oh my God! I just suddenly remembered how giggly like a teenager my mom was when Spandau Ballet first came out hahaha Granted we all loved their songs but it was Tony Hadley that really made my mom's heart race LOL  I remembered that I bought her a full-size poster of Tony for her birthday hahahaha It was right in the middle of her bedroom! hahahaha I'm really laughing here because it's such a good memory and I'm glad that I did this...