Christmas Day 2010 - Paypon Family

December 25, 2010

Our Christmas Day can best be described by what I wrote in my Facebook Status message:  "It has been a happy, chaotic, fatigue-inducing and adrenalin-burning day!"


The days before Christmas have been so hectic I have ended up being sick up to Christmas Eve and wasn't even able to prepare for the Midnight Feast.  The next morning, dawned bright and early, and I was really excited for the kids :)  I started busying myself in preparations for the Christmas dishes that we were serving our guests :) It's just actually my sister and her family hahaha  So while I was slaving away in the kitchen, the kids, Den and Erghie were busy taking pictures :)

It took a while to finish in the kitchen.  I was preparing two types of pasta dishes.  The first one was carbonara because it was what Dana wanted.  The other one was my choice because I wasn't too fond of carbonara, so I experimented a little and made tomato pesto with olives and mushrooms.  I really wanted basil pesto pasta but for some reason, all groceries we went to had no fresh basil in stock.  I guess I'm getting tired of the usual spaghetti and wanted something different and light.  Of course, the kids prepared the salads and cakes a day earlier so that was done.

When everyone had time to refresh (meaning get cleaned up), we started opening our Christmas gifts :)  The kids had a lot of gifts.  I think there were two sets - one educational and one for fun hahaha There were a lot of bargains and sales that Patrick and I went to even before the Christmas season started so there was a good variety of gifts :)  If I'm not mistaken, Dana's favorite gift was her billiard table set.  Den's favorite gift was her Resident Evil DVD Collection :)  Dylan loved his train set! And of course, I absolutely loved my coffeemaker! :D hahaha We took a lot of pictures but here's the best of them:

My sister Sharon and her family arrived just in time to open their presents.

Christmas is really all about spending time with family even though for the better part of the year you don't keep in touch and rarely even speak hahahaha

The gifts don't really matter, although they're very much appreciated hahahaha

The food doesn't matter, although special requests are accepted ahead of time.

The cost doesn't matter, although kids usually have more money than their parents during this season :)

We miss Lola Benggoy and Allan, Lolo Angel and Tita Flor, our other relatives on both Coasts in the United States, all our friends... but we do wish them the Best of the Season and the Years to Come! 

The Story of the Coffeemaker

December 24, 2010

The week before Christmas just passes so fast because everyone is hyper about buying gifts, wrapping gifts, thinking of menus, buying ingredients and actually preparing and cooking the Christmas dishes.  It's even harder to juggle everything when your kids are underfoot because their Christmas vacation has already started.  Still, you persevere and hope that you don't catch a cold to bog you down.

It's very much the same for me.  I hardly knew the day, much less the date, until I hear news anchors on TV announcing, "It's only X days away from Christmas!"  We've gone to different malls in search of groceries and ingredients for our Christmas meal.  Can you believe that fresh basil was nowhere to be found?!! It's like everyone decided to use fresh basil for Christmas! LOL  I have had to change the menu several times because I couldn't find the necessary ingredients.  I also had to experiment with some of my menu, like making sago and gulaman because I haven't tried that one yet :)  The first try was a failure because the gulaman got too mushy! LOL  Funny, but I never got to do it again hahaha Then we all helped make banana bread to test Ate Mel's practical knowledge with baking seeing as she took some classes in Dana's school for it :) It turned out okay :)

Patrick was also having a hectic time at work.  He had to deal with fixing the documents needed for his trip to China in addition to his actual writing.  It was funny because when he told me that he was invited to participate in an event there, I was writing China Visa articles for a website hahaha It was like serendipity hahaha Anyway, with all of the things that he needed to accomplish, he hasn't found the time to buy me a gift since we were always together when we went out.

Finally, on the 24th, we went to Cubao for some last minute shopping.  We went to Gateway and after having lunch at Teriyaki Boy, he casually strolled into the Rustan's store.  I was wondering why because we hardly went there.  But it gave Dana a chance to buy her Dad his Christmas gift (a Batman face towel to leave in Stanley so that when Patrick perspired, he would have something to wipe himself off with).  He did mention that he was looking for a gift for me then and he found it but he and Dana will just have to return to buy it hahaha So he took us, Dylan and I, to Shopwise so we can buy what we needed while he and Dana went back to Rustan's to buy the gift.  To cut a long story short, they ended up buying the gift but failed to have it gift wrapped due to time constraints.

Once at the house, I was stuck in the 2nd Floor while Patrick went about his business of wrapping the gift.  When he was done, he presented it to me with a flourish, giftwrapped with a bow! :) It was wonderful!! Then it was my turn to finish wrapping the presents so I went back to our room where he left the Rustan's shopping bag.  It was calling out to me and I was really tempted to check it out hehehe So I did!! Curiosity killed the cat and all that!! My bad!!  I saw the receipt and I knew what was in the box !! hahaha  I went back down to tell him hehehe I told him I knew but I was already practicing my surprised look for the pictures the next day hahaha

The funny part was when we were all in the bedroom and I started tickling Dana to reveal to me what was in the box (even though I already knew).  She was laughing so hard but she was really trying hard not to say it.  I tried a different tactic - I asked her, "If I gave you P100, will you tell me what's in the box?"  I wasn't really expecting her to answer but then - she blurted out, "It's a coffeemaker, Mama!" LOL Patrick did that face-palm thingy LOLWhat's even funnier was that, later on, everyone was downstairs and Dylan was near the Christmas tree checking out his gifts, he was murmuring - "That's mine, That's Ate Dana's, That's Mama's coffeemaker!" LOL

Patrick said, "this is the last time I take you with me when I go shopping!" :)

Dylan's First Christmas Party

December 17, 2010


Today is going to be a hectic day.  I can feel it.  Today, my two kids are celebrating their respective Christmas parties and as much as I want to be at both, I can only choose one.  I wish I can do Naruto's Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Ninja Art Technique) so I can be in two places at the same time but alas, that's not to be :)

I had to attend Dylan's Christmas Party because he's also participating in their Christmas dance and I know that they've been practicing so I wanted to see how Dylan would do :)  Armed with gifts for his teachers, gifts for his exchange partner, a video cam and a digital camera, we went to Shakey's Espana where they held their Christmas party.


We were one of the first attendees to arrive so we took advantage of the time to take pictures with Dylan's teachers.  Teacher Karen (on the left) is Dylan's Teacher and Adviser.  Teacher Dory (on the right) is Dylan's Principal and was responsible for initiating Dylan into preschool.  I owe a lot to these two dedicated teachers for my son blossomed and learned a lot from them.  It takes skill and intelligence to teach kids.  But it takes love and patience and kindness to really build a rapport with them.


Dylan participated in the field demo.  As you can see on the right, he's trying his best to follow his teacher with the right steps and keeping the rhythm.  But, as you can see on the right, he certainly dances to his own beat :) and has resorted to following his own instincts with the dance steps :)






After the performances, naturally kids will be tired and hungry so they were served their food - a slice of pizza, mojos, spaghetti, garlic bread, fried chicken and a drink.  There was a bit of confusion when the food was being served because there were so many of us and only a few servers but eventually, everyone got straightened out :)  Dylan got quite a number of gifts and he was very pleased and excited :)

After his party, we went to Dana's school to pick her up as her own party was also finished.  Dylan then proceeded to his other school, Core Skills (note his shirt!).  There, he gave Teacher Amy his gift and continued with his speech therapy :)

Dana's Christmas Presentation in School

December 16, 2010

If you have kids, nieces and nephews, you know that Christmas in school will not be complete without a Christmas presentation.  This is the part where your kids participate in dances, choral singing, plays and sometimes, all of the above, albeit with a few grumblings on our part because of the expense, but in the end, you are filled with utmost pride to see your kids on stage and doing their thing :)

Well, Dana had her Christmas presentation in school last December 16 and their theme was International Christmas.  Each grade level, including that of the High School and College levels, was to perform or demonstrate how a particular country celebrates Christmas.  In Dana's case, they were assigned Spain and they had to memorize Noche de Paz (Silent Night).  They were going to sing it dressed in white skirts, red shirts, knee high red and white socks and Santa hats :)  Unfortunately, they were too crammed up on the stage and I couldn't take a decent picture of her because she was hidden behind all the other bigger girls! I wonder why they just didn't put the big girls at the back of the lineup??  




So anyway, you'll have to be content with these photos after the fact! LOL

We stayed and watched the other kids' presentations until the time when the kids were complaining of hunger pains LOL  After all, the activity started at around 5PM so it's only natural that they be hungry after about an hour, probably because of boredom too hahahhaa

So, we all went to a nearby Pizza Hut to celebrate Dana's participation.  :)

The Making of a Parol

December 10, 2010

Of all the things to make for a project, Dylan has to make a Christmas parol. For those who are unfamiliar with what it is, it is basically a Christmas lantern, usually in the shape of a star. It represents the Star of Bethlehem which the 3Magi saw on their way to Jesus as the story goes. Sometimes, it's made of capiz and with lights inside. People actually flock to Pampanga to buy these giant parols.

For Dylan's project, it was to be made from recyclable materials. To be honest, I have no idea how to make one. I've never been particularly brilliant at practical arts, I actually had someone else make my projects especially when it came to sewing, knitting and all those girly stuff LOL I've never had the misfortune of being tasked with building a parol - UNTIL NOW! hahahaha Therefore, much thanks to Ate Mel and Ate Den who helped me help Dylan with his project hahahaha

Fig. 1 - Getting all the materials ready.  We used thread, barbecue sticks (small ones, I didn't think we were capable of making really huge parols) You have to be realistic with your skills you know hehehehe

Fig, 2 - Creating the frame of the parol using barbecue sticks, thread and some tape

Fig. 3 - Choosing the materials from old magazines to cover the parol with

Fig. 4 - The Cutting begins.  You have to give the kids something to cut so they don't disturb you hahaha  It's a good exercise for Dylan which is why he has his own pair of scissors.

Fig. 5 - More cutting.  But this time, you also have to glue the pieces to the frame.  We also cut some graphics like Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh hoping to glue them as designs to the parol.

Fig. 6 - More cutting and pasting.  The actual kind.

Fig. 7 - 8 Finished product!! hahaha I understand that the parol we made was small compared to what other parents probably did.  But see, the point of the exercise is for the whole family to do a project together and have fun with it.  I think we achieved that goal successfully! :)

On a sidenote, Patrick's contribution was being the photographer during the shoot hahaha We needed to submit actual photos while doing the project as proof that we really did it and not just bought the parol from outside sources.

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Patrick's 1st degree burns

December 06, 2010

There are really some things that you have to experience so that you won't make the same mistake again.  That's exactly what happened to Patrick on December 5th when he got first degree burns because Stanley's radiator overheated.

We were supposed to go to Greenhills to buy Dana's costume for her Christmas presentation in school.  We were in a hurry because we only had a window of opportunity to get to Greenhills because of the color coding.  We have only traveled about 5 minutes from our house when Patrick said that Stanley was overheating.  I didn't know why it was happening but Patrick said we had to stop or the car will stall in the middle of the road.  So, we parked Stanley over at Savemore Nagtahan which was at least safe and near our house.

Patrick then opened the hood and triggered a release valve (or some thingy) on the radiator cap.  Supposedly this works to release the pent-up steam or vapor in the radiator (or that's my understanding of the contraption).  Well, guess what?  It was faulty and when Patrick opened the radiator cap, Whoosh!! a fountain of water of gigantic proportions shot up and out of Stanley, getting Patrick and the other bystanders wet (it's funny now that I'm writing about it) but not so funny then hehehe

At first, I wasn't worried but then I saw how red Patrick's face and arm had gotten.  He was also trembling and complaining of pain.  So, we got the kids and Mel on a pedicab so they'll get home first.  We then went straight to my aunt's vulcanizing shop to speak with Kuya Daniel, the mechanic, so he can take a look at Stanley.  We left Stanley with him so I could take Patrick to the hospital.

At the UST Emergency room, the doctors checked him out but he got ticked off when they kept saying it was just sunburn :)  Obviously, his burns shouldn't feel so bad if it was just sunburned.  The pain reliever they gave him was taking too long and he was already in tears.  We went home under instructions that if his burns got blisters, he was to proceed immediately back to the ER.  I was surprised that they didn't give him burn ointment at that time, huh..

It was after two days that the blisters appeared.  He didn't even notice them until they started leaking (eww, I know!)  He went back to the ER.  When he tried to remove the cotton the doctors placed over the blister, this was what happened.  The cotton took off a portion of the skin, exposing the flesh underneath it.. uggh.. He had to completely bandage his arm after that!

I guess know he knows better than to open the cap when the car is overheating.. What a painful lesson to learn..

Trip to Bon Chon Chicken in Makati

December 5, 2010

As most of you know, our family loves to eat out.  We love trying out new dishes and new restaurants because we feel that there's just too much good food in the world and so little time to try everything out.  It's also "educational" to eat international dishes.  It's also a great relief to be able to do this without having to fly across the continent for a taste of their different flavors.

One of the franchises that we've often heard about from friends and read from blogs is the Bon Chon Chicken franchise from Korea.  Admittedly, the concept of double-fried crispy chicken was first introduced to us through Chicken Charlie and their chicken was really great!  So, when we heard that another double-fried crispy chicken restaurant was opening, and this straight from a Korean franchise, we really wanted to try it out to compare.

The chance came when Patrick had to cover an event, another car show, in Fort Bonifacio.  We rarely drop by Makati because of the traffic but we thought since we were in the area, we might as well make the most of it and drop by Bon Chon Chicken at the Ayala Triangle.  So we did!  A bonus attraction was the Christmas at the Gardens featuring Parol! which the kids loved.

It was nice to be walking around what used to be my place of work now transformed into a luscious garden with a row of restaurants.  We reached the Ayala Triangle, parked beside the Heritage Library and walked our way to the row of restaurants.  It was around 9pm by the time we were there and the place was jam-packed.  You see a lot of people waiting to be seated at the restaurants, a lot more milling around the gardens.  We were rather fortunate to have found seats at Bon Chon Chicken after only a short moment of waiting.

We ordered the 12-pc drumstick package (P720), rice (P15 each) and side dishes of pickled radish (P45).  They do have a combination of wings and drumsticks with your choice of soy garlic or hot and spicy sauces.

The toothpick indicates which group is hot and spicy. But I think if you look closely, the hot and spicy chicken has a general reddish glaze compared to the regular soy garlic sauce.  Also, you can go by smell because the chicken smells really spicy.  Flavor-wise, it can be very hot if you're only used to mild spicy sauces.  Patrick liked it just fine :)

Take note that my frame of reference is Chicken Charlie.  In comparing the size of the chicken, Bon Chon's are bigger than Chicken Charlie's and the pricing is indicative of that.  However, I find that Chicken Charlie is much tastier (the sauce, I mean).  But that may be due to the minimal sauce coating of the chicken skin of Bon Chon's.  Or maybe, since Bon Chon's chicken is bigger, the taste of the sauce doesn't penetrate deep enough into the chicken as it should (hmm..)

All in all, the food was okay, but I guess I'm not the type to wait in line too long for food hehehe But since the kids loved it, we may just be going back for more, if we end up in the Makati area.  :)

After the AAP Caravan - Overnight stay at the MC Mountain Home Apartelle

November 27-28, 2010

If you've read the previous posts, you'll know that we have had a busy and tiring day because of the 2nd AAP Caravan.  Starting at 4am wake-up time to around 8PM when the tour ended, that's roughly 16 hours of activity hahaha The thing was, I didn't want to risk going home when we're that tired, especially for Patrick who was doing most of the the driving so we decided to stay overnight in Tagaytay.  I thought at first it was a great idea seeing that we're in the Cavite-Batangas area.  What I didn't know was that we were coming from the other side of Batangas! LOL  

When I made the reservations I assumed we were touring the Tagaytay-Batangas area which meant our reservations at the MC Mountain Home Apartelle made sense.  But coming from the Provincial Capitol, it was taking the long way round to get to MC so we were even more tired upon arriving.  I think it was around 10PM already when we arrived and it was so chilly it was crazy!! 

It was also a good thing that the owners of MC were very accommodating and they held our reservation even though we were arriving late and we even got discounted rates! So thank you! :D  We were all too tired that after washing up, we fell asleep immediately LOL

The next day, we woke up to such a great view - Farmville! LOL

Since we really didn't have plans for going around town, we just savored the lovely and cool fresh air of the mountains :)  We had breakfast at the Main building - yummy!  After, we just went around the place taking lots of pictures along the way as you can see from the slideshow I embedded here. :)

We did have a bit of excitement while at the Apartelle.  While Dylan and I were out taking pictures, Patrick and Dana remained in the room.  When Dylan and I went back so we can take Dana with us outside, we found that the lock in the room was broken, with us not being able to get in and Dana and Patrick not being able to get out.  LOL  Dylan and I then went to the Main Building to report it and it was Danny, the owner himself who went out to help us.  He tested the lock and indeed it was broken!  He had to remove all those bamboo posts behind Dana to gain access to our room from the balcony.  

After being refreshed and relaxed, it was time to go.  On the way back to Manila, we stopped at the ROse and Grace Restaurant along the Sta. Rosa Highway.  You can't imagine the traffic going to Tagaytay that weekend.   I think it was because of a long weekend that vehicles going to Tagaytay were taking over the other lane rather indiscriminately causing massive traffic jams.  Oh where are those traffic enforcers when you need them??  Why can't drivers be disciplined enough to wait their turn??

Anyway, once we left several bottlenecks along the highway and we reached the SLEX, everything was a breeze :)