COVID-19 Chronicles: My Birthday at home

2021 October

It's that time of the year once again and I'm lucky to be having it with the kids.

It's my Birthday!! Woohoo!!!

Happy birthday to me!! :)

COVID-19 Chronicles: Kids' Online Classes Begin Again

 2021 August and September

It's weird but it's the start of the classes again. Weird because we're used to classes starting in June, but because of the pandemic, the kids started their online classes in August (Dana) and September (Dylan). 

By now, we've had one year of this "new" mode of teaching and the kids have grown accustomed to it.  

For these two, they actually prefer it! :)

COVID-19 Chronicles: My 2nd Dose Vaccination Day

03 August 2021

August 2nd was supposed to be the day I am vaccinated with my 2nd Dose of Sinovac. But when I got to the Health Center, I was told that all vaccinations scheduled on that day were postponed. I had to come back the next day.  Weird. 

They did mention that postponing it for a day isn't a big deal. 

Since there was nothing else to do, I just came back the next day. 

COVID-19 Chronicles: My Vaccination Day

 05 July 2021

What's it like on Vaccination Day in our local district?

Read More to find out!

Cuatro - A Well-Loved and Cherished Pet

02 July 2021

Cuatro our beloved pet cat has died today.  It was such a surprise because he was visually getting better and then suddenly his health deteriorated and in a blink of an eye, he was gone.

Super Blood Moon 2021

26 May 2021

On this night, two special events happened. First, a total lunar eclipse and second, a super blood moon phenomenon. 

While I wish I had a decent camera to take pictures of this surreal phenomenon, I could only do with my smartphone camera hahaha

You could easily see the red hue in the sky and it's awesome and somewhat eerie to witness. 

A milestone: Dana's Grade 10 Moving Up Day

 18 May 2021

Congratulations Dana on finishing your Junior High School!!!

We are so proud of you!!

We love you!!!

Onward to Senior High School!

Celebrating the Kids' Birthdays with Sofia's Custom Cakes

2021 March

Though we do celebrate birthdays, we don't always go overboard. We just eat good food or maybe at the most, go out of town. With this pandemic, we have been on lockdown for a year and the kids are basically prisoners at home, it's imperative that we have some sort of birthday celebration just to keep their spirits up. So, here we have Dylan's Jurassic Park cake from Sofia's Custom Cakes. 

Patrick's Inurnment at La Loma Columbarium

2021 February 15

It is now 2 months since Patrick died. At first, we thought that we'd be more comfortable having his ashes in his urn at home. 

In fact, every morning, Dylan would greet him as soon as he walked into the room. I would often find him talking to him as if he was there. 

But, all things have their place so we decided that Patrick will also have his final resting place.

His is at La Loma Columbarium. 

Food Review: ErMeataño Meats

13 February 2021

Today would have been Patrick's birthday. It's been 2 months since he died. 

We had already planned a small birthday memorial among us but we were surprised when Marco, one of his friends from Top Gear Philippines, reached out to us and sent us this HUGE Smoked Meat dish in Patrick's honor. 

He said that he had always meant to send one to Patrick but after his stroke, he knew that this kind of luxurious slab of meat doesn't exactly meet Patrick's health and nutrition conditions. :)

So, on Patrick's birthday, we received this aromatic, hefty, juicy, flavorful and filling chunk of smoked meat from Marco. He had it delivered for us. It was his new business called ErMeataño and they offer these flavorful meats that have been smoked for as much as 10 hours! Can you believe that?!

I don't do the meats justice with my poor photographs, to be honest. What's funny is that we didn't really know what to make of it at first. HAHAHA I was thinking, "Should I still cook it in the oven? "Can we eat this as is?"

But the aroma really made our mouths water so we immediately put the slab on a plate and started cutting into it. The meat was really tender so even with a normal knife, the meat easily separates. The order also comes with their special barbecue sauce that's a perfect foil for the meat. It's a little sweet but tangy. 

You can't finish this in one sitting! We tried hahaha but it was really filling especially with rice! Patrick would have loved it!

We actually barely touched the other servings on the table, like that Pancit Bihon haha We all went for the meat! :D

While we did receive the meat as a gift, you won't go wrong if you try it yourself. We'll probably order during someone's birthday too :) 

Thanks Marco! Good luck to ErMeataño!

Happy birthday, Patrick!

COVID-19 Chronicles: Celebrating New Year after a death in the family

 01 January 2021

Last year, last month, Patrick died from a stroke, to put it simply. Naturally, our hearts are heavy with sorrow, particularly since this is the season when everyone should be celebrating and being happy. 

However, life must go on. We must soldier on. So while we have him constantly in our minds and in our hearts, we continue to celebrate the holidays and just wish that he were still with us. 

Happy New Year, everyone!

Covid-19 Chronicles: A grief-stricken Christmas for us as Patrick suddenly passes away

2020 December

We didn't think this year couldn't get any worse, but it did.  Patrick died after 2 days in the hospital, not from Covid-19 which was what we were protecting him against but from cerebrovascular disease pontine infarct, an ischemic stroke that affected his pons region of the brain stem.

It was devastating to say the least and my kids and I are still reeling from it even as I type now.

I will only touch on it with just a few details because to write about everything is still too painful.

I will write about the rest of December too, just to cap off the year. 

Covid-19 Chronicles: Start of 2020-2021 classes for Dylan & Other happenings

2020 October to November

Highlights of this post include:

- Start of Dylan's Online Classes

- My Birthday

- Dana's 1Q Online Exams

These may seem trivial but in this new world where Covid-19 rules, these are all milestones of the New Normal.  This is how we cope with being indoors and managing to stay sane despite it

COVID-19 Chronicles: September is Dylan's preparation time for his Online Classes

2020 September

One of the highlights during this month was Dylan getting this Cherry Mobile Magnum 10 tablet from the City of Manila, thru Mayor Isko Moreno.  

All currently enrolled students in public schools in Manila will get one, including a SIM with 10GB of Data.  We received a Globe SIM Card but I don't know if everyone did.

Anyway, more of that in the post so just read on :)

COVID-19 Chronicles: Highlights of July and August (Still on GCQ)

2020 July-August

Now that we're under General Community Quarantine (GCQ), we can now visit supermarkets together, as seen in the photo, taken when we went to our neighborhood supermarket, Savemore.  Let me tell you, it's easier to shop when there's someone to carry the groceries home with you.

But does that mean we take longer, not necessarily.  We're both aware that we just need to get our stuff done and go straight home.  The longer we are outside, the higher our chances of getting infected, so NO,  we don't loiter.

Anyway, here are the highlights between July and August of our time during lockdown :)

Hope you're all staying safe! :)

Covid-19 Chronicles: Metro Manila is now under General Community Quarantine (GCQ)

 01 -30 June 2020

It is now June.  We're into our 3rd month of Quarantine/Lockdown in Metro Manila.  The GCQ downgrading meant that restrictions were eased up even though there were still plenty of confirmed cases in the region.  People have to work.  Businesses have to open.  Everyone has to find a working balance to survive. 

However, despite all these difficulties, we had to stay happy.  We had to stay calm and collected for our peace of mind :)

COVID-19 Chronicles: 2 weeks of Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) in Manila

16 - 31 May 2020

From May 16 to May 31, Metro  Manila has been downgraded to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine or MECQ.

Downgrading mostly meant the re-opening of more businesses although they're only allowed to operate at 50% capacity.  Work-from-home setups were encouraged.  Bikes and e-scooters were encouraged as an alternative means of transportation.   Tricycles were the only public transportation that were "allowed" depending on the city or municipal government's discretion.  

Two months in with this previous lockdowns and we still manage to maintain a cheerful disposition.  How are you doing amidst this pandemic?

COVID-19 Chronicles: ECQ/Lockdown Part 2

15 April  - May 15 2020

April 15 - We are still on ECQ/Lockdown until May 15, 2020.

For about a month, everyone is just trying to survive and getting used to being grounded at home.  Kids and Senior Citizens aren't allowed to leave the house because they're the most susceptible.  Bills are put on hold because field agents aren't allowed to visit homes to check meters and such.

But life goes on.  What did we all do during this time???

COVID-19 Chronicles: ECQ/Lockdown Part 1

07 March 2020

It was January 2020 when the world was rocked to its core by the announcement that there was a new virus named COVID-19, claiming lives first in Wuhan, China and then spreading to the rest of the world.  

In the Philippines, it was March 5 when the first local transmission was confirmed, prompting the government to take action to prevent the spread of the disease.  Here are some of the events that happened, from a local point of view. 

I wrote this to record how it was when it happened.  How it affected our lives.  How it seemed surreal at first like we're all in the middle of a movie, unraveling at such a fast pace.

Note:  I wrote about these events not as they happened but on hindsight because I was just too shell-shocked to even comprehend what was going on at that time.  

Dana's simple birthday celebration

16 March 2020

Happy birthday Dana!! 

We didn't really have the finances to give you a proper birthday feast but thank God for your Lolo Ben and Lynne who dropped by with a few treats :)

Thank you for your understanding and we will make it up to you when circumstances are better :)  You know that!

We love you!!