A Year in the Life: 2009

Here it is again.  A Year in the Life : 2009 , a look at our year's high and lows.. joys and sorrows.. This has been a very hectic year, filled with a lot of changes and activities.  Read on !

January - A new month, a new year.. and what a way to start the year than with meeting your father's mistress and their family!! Technically, she's no longer his mistress since my mom is dead, but still, never in a million years, right?! This is also our first time hiring a nanny which meant a major house redo to accommodate her.  Broken windows were replaced and major furniture shifting was undertaken.  Tiring, tiring, tiring!

February - A tough time because it's Mom's first death anniversary.. the first time I'm even (is it right to say) "celebrating" it.  Our nanny left the household, enough said.  We did have a Tadeo Triple Birthday celebration in honor of Patrick, Dimples and their mom who shared February as their birth month.  Oh and another milestone - my ten-year old bookcase gave way!! Needless to say, I had to replace it and I did!

March - This was a big month full of red-letter dates!! Dana's 5th and Dylan's 3rd birthdays!!!  Tita Flor comes home with Ferdie and Barb!! They came with Patrick's Dad cremated ashes to be buried with their mom in Loyola.  We bought Stanley, our first family car, a green 1996 Subaru Legacy!!!

April - Our room renovations were finally done.  My cousin, Ramil, undertook for us the renovating of our bedroom turning it from a storage room to a bedroom with an en suite bathroom.  We had fun buying the materials and watching the room change before our very eyes! :D We also spent time looking at preschools and we ended up enrolling Dana at Sta. Catalina College, our alma mater LOL  She did so well in her entrance exam, better than the kids who actually spent a year in school already.

May - the perfect time to go on our first family summer outing!! We went to Island Cove in Cavite and it was the first time we've ever gone on a trip in our very own car wahahaha  We had a great time there because there was so much to see and do.  Well worth the trip!  Stanley also took a longer drive to Dau, Pampanga where we met with Patrick's Uncle Dennis and his family after so many years of being apart.  While we were in Pampanga, we also stayed at the Lohas New Well-Being Spa and Hotel as our last trip for the summer.  quite an experience to stay in an authentic Korean sauna and eat authentic Korean food!

June - Dana is going to school already! That mad me so teary-eyed but she was well-prepared and didn't make a fuss when she started her first day.  It's hard though for her to wake up but I'm sure she'll adjust soon.  We also received our handmade quilts that my best friend Kat made!! they're really beautiful and we can't wait to use them :)


July - the only milestone during the month was we got to buy a new PC and printer to replace our old ones.  We got a good deal at PC Gilmore whose staff were so helpful and pleasant ( I highly recommend them).  We also got to change Stanley's tires in preparation for our upcoming trip to Enchanted Kingdom.

August - a fun-filled month starting with a free trip to Enchanted Kingdom courtesy of Patrick's job! :D  It was the first time for the kids to visit Enchanted Kingdom so you can understand how excited and enchanted they were hahaha It was also Den's 18th birthday for which she got a new laptop and we celebrated with a trip to Tagaytay and on to a trip to Enchanted Kingdom again. 

September - this was the fist time that Stanley broke down and in the NLEX of all places.  We went to visit Uncle Dennis in Pampanga and this time with Stevie and his family.  On our way home, we all felt something weird with Stanley, the steering wheel was very hard to control and there was a very strong 'wiggle'.  We had to be towed to a service station and had to take the trip home at 40km/hr.  very slowly but surely we got home after a staggering 6 hours on a normal 2 hour trip LOL  September was also the month when Patrick test drove a Honda City and took it with us to Subic to cover a media event.  The side mirrors were stolen the night before (what a nightmare!) and we ended up having to replace them the morning after.  It was also during this month that we were beset by Typhoon Ondoy, the worst storm ever to hit the Philippines, flooding most of Metro Manila, with a month's worth of rain being dumped in 6 hours.  Stevie and Dimples were in a worse condition having the muddy waters rising to 12 feet where they lived.

October - Yehey! Happy birthday to me and I treated myself to a new sound system for Stanley and a foot spa at my favorite salon hahaha When Ondoy hit, Stevie and Toni had to resked their kids' birthday celebration because the venue where the party was to be held was also flooded.  In the end, the party was delayed for about 2 weeks and was held at Jollibee. 

November - Patrick was excited to be test driving the new Subaru Legacy Station Wagon and for good reason.. it was a super duper really great car.. and I'm not saying that because I'm a fan of Subaru but really, honestly.. you are putting your money where it's worth!! test drive one today to find out why! Oh and Patrick and I celebrated 15 years of togertherness by having dinner at Bellini's in Cubao.  It's a great authentic Italian restaurant whose pasta is to die for!! Honestly!! ;)

December - jam-packed month!! Lola and Uncle Jimmy arrived for a 3-week vacation.  Dana performs at her school's Christmas presentation.  Our family and my sister's family spent a weekend in Clark.  Christmas gift giving!!! Oh and I almost forgot, Dylan needed to undergo speech therapy (I forgot to write about it)..

Whew!! writing about all these happenings in our life is tiring but fun as I look back and reminisce about all the places we've been to and all the things that we've done.  I hope the New Year brings us a lot more to remember :)

2009 Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!!  Itr's that time of year again when friends and family come together to celebrate a joyous occasion.  For this year, we made a lot of Christmas preparations because the kids are now able to undertake the decorating of the Christmas tree so we bought a new one including all the decorations.  We just made it very simple as you can see and we got a bargain with the tree when we bought it at the Dapitan arcade.  Imagine a 5ft tree for only P1,600.. other trees cost as much as P6K.  Even the balls were a steal! I was going crazy buying those things hahahaha  The Christmas lights we bought at SM because I don't want the fake ones that easily blow up and cause fires.

We were also able to buy a new bed for my Lola to use (which Den or Dylan will use later on) as well as a new sofa set as you can see here.  We went to Caloocan to buy these furniture because it's cheaper there and there are more options and more products to choose from.  We custom-made this sofa set based on dimensions of the doors hahaha

My father also paid a visit when he found out that Lola and Uncle Jimmy were here.  Here are some pictures of that "momentous" occasion hehehe

Christmas day was an exciting one for the kids.  They had a lot of gifts to open, courtesy of a lot of sales at the malls, factory outlets and flea markets :)

We prepared some pasta, fried chicken and ham for the "feast" but everyone was busy with their gifts (receiving and giving) to care about food hahaha

Lola and Uncle Jimmy left for the States on December 28.  We wanted to take them to the airport but there were a lot of the family going with them so we stayed behind.  I think it was a good idea to stay behind because I didn't want to get too emotional and you know when you see someone hurting, you feel hurt too and I didn't want my Lola to feel even more sad. 

Here are the pictures before they left :)

Another Trip to Clark

December 19 - Last December 5th, my Lola (grandmother) and Uncle Jimmy came to the Philippines for a 3-week Christmas vacation.  My Lola hasn't been to the PI since 1993 so this is a big deal for her.  She wanted to come back so she can see her great-grandkids Dana, Dylan, Den, Jianne, Justin and Sofia.  I believe that what also initiated her coming back was because my Mom couldn't make it and I guess it was in her honor that my grandma came back.

While they were here, the whole family was in a tizzy :) There was the bingo/family reunion during the fiesta.  She was able to visit her siblings in Cavite, was able to go to Baguio, and visit some of the sites here in the city.  She even got to see Avatar in IMAX hahaha good for her!

So, my sister Sharon and I planned to have a weekend get-away with her to catch up on stuff and to spend time with her too.  We planned it during the Christmas break so the kids will have no school.  So, we booked our rooms at the Lohas New Well-being Spa in Clark for the 19th and 20th.  We were all so excited!

Unfortunately, all the visits that Lola made plus the pollution and the climate took their toll on her and she ended up getting sick - almost pneumonia and some tummy ache too.  She wasn't able to go with us to Clark.. such a bummer.. We still ended up going because we didn't want to forfeit the deposit we made.  It was still fun though because we had my sister's family with us too.  Here is a slideshow of our swimming escapades :)  At that time, Sharon and Jowell were experiencing first hand the Korean Sauna, the Jimjilbang, so they weren't in the pictures.

For Dinner, we all went out and ate at the very popular A.C. Rumpa restaurant (short for Angeles City, Retired US Military Personnel Association) and had a blast eating their steak. But, unfortunately, we failed to take pictures because as soon as they served it, we dug in! LOL

As a Christmas treat, Den and I booked ourselves for a full body massage at the Hotel Spa too although I have to admit that the communication mix-up with the scheduling left me feeling frustrated and irritated.  The massage made up for it though :) All I can say is WOW! :D   

The next day, the kids all went back for a swim, naturally.  While they swam, we arranged to have a late check-out to really make the most of the trip.  I thought everything was okay until I received a call from the front desk that we were supposed to check out ASAP from the room.  It was my sister's room that was arranged to have a late check-out.  That was freaking terrible!! They were basically telling me to hurry up and get out of the room and I had kids to take care of and you can imagine cleaning up after them!! I was so mad I was like a bull charging at everyone!!  In the end, we had no choice but to hurry up but believe me, I was not taking this sitting down.. 

As we came to the front desk, I asked to speak with the manager but supposedly he was out.  I asked to speak with the Korean gal who appeared to be a higher-up but she supposedly did not speak English.  I ended up talking with the Filipino manager on the phone and I really complained about the lousy miscommunication mistakes that their staff keeps on repeating.  It was really horrible.  I really don't intend to go back there even if Patrick feels that they're still the best value in terms of accommodation in Clark.  I don't believe that sucky service should be patronized.   The manager tried to appease me but really, what else can you offer??

Anyway, after leaving the hotel, I asked Patrick to take us to the park so I can relax a little, all that massage for nought.  The kids and I had a great time running around hahaha My sister and her family, left ahead of us LOL probably scared of my tantrum hahaha Here are some pictures (slideshow)

We also found great picture moments there:

 

Finally, rounding out the trip with a dinner at Yellow Cab along the expressway.  It was a great meal to end an over-all great Christmas out-of-town trip.

Dana's First Christmas in School

December 2009 - This is Dana's first Christmas in her school.  It's a milestone that we as a family celebrated.  She was very excited because her class will be participating in the school's annual Christmas presentation and they have spent many hours rehearsing for it.  In fact, it's probably the first Tagalog song that Dana has ever sung! LOL

We printed a copy of the lyrics so she can practice at home.  We found a copy of the song, Kumukutikutitap and kept playing it at home and even in the car too.  While Dana was dancing and singing to it, Dylan will also jump in and sing and dance with her.. it was so funny and entertaining to watch LOL

Now, of course, as parents you know that you want to record your child's first dance on stage.  So, Patrick and I ended up borrowing my friend Idy's videocam for the event and we are ever so thankful to him for it (Thanks Idy!) This has actually led to a discussion about whether we should get one of our own (but that's a different story altogether hahaha)

In preparation, we also needed to buy Dana's costume consisting of a red shirt, a pair of white shorts, a Christmas hat that lights up and white gloves.  We ended up going to Divisoria, the source of all your goodies hehehe  On the day of the presentation, imagine my surprise when we couldn't find Dana's PE shoes that she was to wear for the dance.  We looked and looked and we couldn't find it anywhere!! We finally figured that since we performed a major clean-up at the house the last week, Dylan may have put the shoes in the trash bag that we filled with old shoes that were to be given away.  Man, those shoes were new and hardly been used!!   Dana ended up wearing a different pair of shoes..

Anyway... So armed with our videocam, our digicam and another digicam (in case of failure or batteries ending up dead for no reason) we headed to school...The video I have yet to rip from the DVD so here are some pictures instead..

 

The next day was their Christmas Party.  I was only planning to take a picture of her with her friends but their teacher played the Kumukutikutitap music and they all started lining up and dancing and I couldn't resist recording a video, so here it is:

 

Test driving the new 2010 Subaru Legacy Station Wagon

November 21, 2009 - One of the perks of Patrick's job at Top Gear Philippines is having the chance to test drive new cars and review them for the magazine.  His first test drive run was with a Honda City and he took that to Subic (on assignment too).  This November, he was able to bring home the new 2010 Subaru Legacy Station Wagon.  This car is like Stanley's junior sister, by almost 15 years. She's blue, she's big, she's wide (almost too wide to fit in the garage which wasn't exactly built for her girth) and she's so powerful just the hum of the engine is going to drive you nuts.

Naturally, the kids were excited to ride it in and we took it for a spin going to Greenhills where Patrick had to cover another event.  Here you can see just how long Sally (that's the name the kids gave the car) is relative to a Kia.

You can see how spacious it is inside, from the backseat and even in the cargo hold:

But, see, I don't know any of the specs of this awesome car and even if Patrick tells me, I still wouldn't understand.  All I know it's still AWD with its boxer engine (this I know because we have a Subaru Legacy too), the front seats have some sort of mechanized thingy that you can custom-fit to your body in 16 different ways and it's ultra-super fast given it's size.  It's size is deceptive, very much like you'd think it's heavy and slow but you'd probably end up with your mouth wide open when you challenge it to a race hahahaha At 100, the engine is barely whispering.  At 140, you sort of hear it speak.  At 200, there's a growl.. imagine it at its top speed! woohoo!! but of course, you can't drive it that fast here hehehe

IF we had the money, we'd buy it right here, right now.  It's such a great car and even tops at safety standards and what-have-yous.. Look at their smiling faces :

SALLY, we love you! :D

Lance and Hannah's Birthday Celebration

October 18 - This was the day that Toni and Stevie rescheduled the kids' birthday celebration. It was originally meant for October 4, Sunday but the venue was also flooded and needed weeks to get things back in order. So they decided to hold the celebration at Jollibee in Green Meadows.

Needless to say, the kids all had a good time. It was rather unlucky that Rhys and Dimples and Jericho couldn't make it because Rhys was sick. Some of the guests were also trapped and troubled by the closing of the Quezon Circle route due to a marathon run so they ended up being late for the celebration.

Dana and Dylan participated in the games and even won a few prizes.














Of course, the highlight of the party was when Jollibee himself made an appearance!! Even the adults wanted to have their picture taken with Jollibee hahahaha
















All in all, kids and adults had a good time and there was plenty of food left over. After this, we took the kids back home because their car was still in the shop adn then we went straight to SM North Edsa to have Den's laptop looked at. I fear it's a virus and the system needs to be recovered. It's a good thing that the after-sales service at Gigahertz is great. They fixed the laptop with no charge :)

Took advantage of the 50% sale at the department store to buy the kids' their Christmas clothes :D

Tiring but Fun Day!!

The sun is out!

After Ondoy it was Typhoon Pepeng but he didn't pass Metro Manila. Instead he made landfall in the North, not once but three times (yes, he came back twice!). Relief and cleaning up operations are still ongoing this time in the northern provinces. The northern provinces, especially Pangasinan, Tarlac, Bulacan were left flooded. Baguio had one too many landslides and for a while the roads leading to and coming from Baguio were impassable. Rains continued for 3 days straight there. 5,000 cubic meters per second of water was released from the San Roque Dam, which may have added to the flooding of 90% of the towns in Pangasinan. Prices of vegetables doubled because most of these were coming from Baguio. Many people were left homeless, their crops a riverbed of water, and their towns once clean and green are now either flooded or muddy.

Metro Manila, this time, was spared with only a few rains here and there. Thus, we decided to get out of the house, breathe "fresh" air and maybe enjoy the sun when it comes out. We all went to Mall of Asia where Dylan got his hair cut at his regular salon. Den also went for a hair cut while I treated myself (sort of a pre-birthday gift) to a foot spa with pedicure! (oh it was heaven!!) at the David's Salon. I love this salon, they really make you feel pampered and special. That's why I keep going back there :)

The weekend after that, after Dana's Saturday class, as another pre-birthday gift, we also had Stanley's stereo replaced. We bought a Pioneer system that's equipped with a USB port for more music woohoo. Stanley's old radio had a 6 CD changer but you can only play 2 CD's and that's at the whim of Stanley LOL Next on the agenda will be to replace his speakers because one of them is broken. ;)

The aftermath of the storms

You've all probably heard by now the destruction that the Philippines experienced in the wake of Typhoons Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma). Ondoy hit Metro Manila last September 26, rained for 6 hours and delivered a month's worth of rain. The result: Metro Manila was totally flooded, especially in the areas of Marikina, Rizal and Pasig, all of which were along the path of the Marikina and Pasig Rivers which both overflowed during the height of the storm. Many people were stranded, my niece included and she spent the night at the University. It's funny because though the school was only a 15-minute walk home I told her not to risk the floods because the water was thigh to chest deep in some areas. You'll see a lot of videos and pictures of cars one on top of the other, filled with mud and cascading down streets. Most houses in Provident Village were submerged in mud and flood waters. Patrick's brother Stevie and his family had to evacuate from their house in Marikina because the water rose up to about 12 feet. We went to help them with the cleanup last Sunday and we hardly recognized the subdivision because it looked like a battleground of sorts. As you can see, it's not just debris from their own house that they have to clear up. There are lots of debris brought by the floods that end up in their home and mud is so hard to clean.


We also heard from friends about other friends that lost most of their belongings and we pitched in to help by donating clothes and food. Den also volunteered in their school drive to pack relief goods.

Patrick's sister, Dimples also felt the brunt of the storm. Their house in Quezon City was totally flooded up to the 2nd floor. They thought that they will be safe because the water level has never risen past the ground floor and they were caught unaware by the deluge. They had to evacuate for their own safety. When they came back, their house was a wreck. Furniture overturned, the ref floating in the water and even their cellphones and gadgets were waterlogged.

This was certainly a trying time for everyone. More so for those who lost everything but their lives. Seeing all that they've worked so hard to build reduced to a pile of debris is heartbreaking. Losing their loved ones to the raging waters, cascading mud is even more traumatic. Having to spend the night on your roof without water, without food and without any hope of rescue is mind-shattering.

Thank goodness for the kind-hearted souls who have generously donated their extras to help their brothers in need. Thank goodness for the many organizations who work nonstop to get the relief goods to people still unreachable by regular means. Thank goodness for the indomitable spirit of the search and rescue workers who have continuously been working to get people to safety.

You can look at this tragedy and be hopeless and wallow in self-pity. Or you can take the higher path and feel emboldened by the generosity of others and move forward, value the life of your loved ones and strive to learn from this experience.

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