Torrado-Jose Nuptials, April 7th 2010

Believe it or not, we've been invited to another wedding!! hahaha Our frocks are really worth it now hahahha

This time my cousin Francis and his fiancee Macole are getting married at the Sto. Domingo Church and having their reception at the Fernwood Garden in QC.  Last Sunday, we were able to catch up with our relatives from the Paypon side because they're here to attend the wedding.  We also found out that Den will be a proxy bridesmaid to replace one who got a scheduling conflict.  To prepare for the event, Den had a dress fitting (fortunately,  the dress shop was near Dylan's school so it was easy to go to) on Monday.  We were worried that they wouldn't be able to repair the dress on time but they pulled through :)

We all went to Hot Nails Spa (our spa of choice!) for some foot pampering :)  We timed it well so that Den would know what color her dress will be to coordinate the color of her nail polish as well.  The next day, we all went to Torre Venezia where the kin were billeted.  Den needed to spend the night there in order to be bright and early the next day.  Preparations for the actual wedding will take a long time so it's better that she be there as soon as possible.  We had dinner together with Tita Letty, Josh, Mar and Alyssa at Gerry's Grill.

On the day of the wedding, we (minus Patrick who was coming from the office) went straight to Sto. Domingo.  It was a solemn but touching ceremony.  What is it about weddings that really brings people to tears?! :D The bride, Macole, looked beautiful and Francis looked excited ;)  These are the pictures taken immediately after the ceremony, outside the church.  Don't they all look n ice? :D

The drive to Fernwood Garden was short.  Patrick got caught in traffic on his way from the office so we were a little behind.

Upon arriving, we took pictures, of course! :D


We got to our seats and we waiting for the bridal entourage's entrance.  It was really cool and cheery :)  We just took the time to take pictures of most everyone we know :)

Family (L) and Philip and Den (R)

Ate Mel and Dylan (L), Daddy and Dana (R)






Tita Cora and Tito Angel (L), Tita Letty and Josh (R)

Tito Ping and Tita Beth (L) and Tita Ofel (R)










This time, we were able to take a picture of the huge swans and koi in the ponds.  Dylan kept calling out, "Farmville" hahahaha

After the ceremony, more pictures taken with the family.

Easter Sunday Celebration

Happy Easter everyone!

After a restful vacation in Subic and being cooped up in the house for the remaining Holy Days, it was time to get out of the house for Easter woohoo.. !!!  

The plan was to watch the movie, Clash of the Titans.  The kids have seen the original movie, with its clay animation and loved it and so they were as eager to watch the movie as we were.  However, when we got to the cinemas, the lines were so long and it seemed that it was everyone's idea to watch the same movie all at the same time LOL  It was even funnier that while waiting and pondering what to do, we often heard comments like, "What IS Clash of the Titans?" People were puzzled why it was such a big deal hahaha

So rather than subject ourselves to the long lines for the movie, we chose to watch instead the animated film, How to Train Your Dragon.  It was such a great movie! It was fast-paced and as usual the animation was superb! I really enjoyed Toothless hahahaha He's like a huge Pokemon! hahaha there's so much character in him :) Dylan of course liked the big dragon which they had to fight in the end because it looked like a dinosaur :)

After the movie, the kids took advantage of the free face painting being offered by the mall.  Dylan had a spider and web drawn onto him while Dana had the glittery fairy/butterfly face paint.

After, we went to the Paypon gathering in North Susana because our relatives from New Jersey and Calayan Island are here in Manila to celebrate Francis and Macole's wedding on the 7th.  Den it seemed was going to be a proxy bridesmaid at the wedding :)

Holy Week Vacation

March 30 - April 01

The busy and hectic lives of people have certainly changed the way the Holy Week is commemorated.  Take our family for instance, we hardly have any days for vacation because of Patrick's schedule which often includes weekends especially during the summer when there are a lot of car-related activities going on.  The Holy Week is the only holiday time when you can take longer with your vacation instead of just the usual weekend.  Of course, you have to file your leave applications beforehand and at the earliest possible time.

Anyway, Patrick and I have decided we're going to go to Subic during the Holy Week and spend 3D/2Ns there in celebration of the kids' birthdays and Dana's excellent performance in school.  Unfortunately, we left it too late for scheduling and we ended up reserving for Holy Tuesday up to Holy Thursday.  It was still fine and it was actually better because Subic wasn't going to be so cluttered with people and by the time that we're going home, that was the time when people will be arriving so we'll be against the traffic.

Our first stop during the trip was having brunch at Delifrance along the North Luzon Expressway.  We haven't really tried any of their dishes but we're a fan of their baked products.  The store was airy and cozy and the food was great!

It was smooth sailing going to Subic via the fast and smooth Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).  We made it in such a short time.  You can however observe that there were many people heading to Subic because of the number of vehicles that were traveling at the same speed as us hahhaha After checking in at our favorite Subic Bayfront Hotel, we all changed into our swim attire and headed for the pool.  In our excitement, we forgot the cameras so we don't have any pictures hahahaha

We timed it well though because we finished swimming with just enough time to spare to head to Meat Plus Cafe so that Den will have a chance to try their great steaks (it's Den's first time to be with us in Subic).  We were all famished and ended up eating so fast we didn't have time to take pictures (gluttons!) hahahaha

With a huge dinner in our stomachs, we needed to walk all of it off so we headed to the beach.  The kids were running around and building sandcastles even though they can't make the sand stick LOL

 The next morning after our buffet breakfast at the hotel's Japanese/Korean Restaurant, we climbed into Stanley in search of a beach to swim in.  We kinda new where to go because we've already scouted some of them in our previous trips.

We didn't go to Camayan because we knew they're fully booked so naturally there'd be a lot of people on the beach.  We headed to All Hands and true enough the beach was packed.  Dungaree beach was relatively peaceful so that's where we stayed.  The beach was clean, the huts were comfortable.

We had lunch there and we all had a blast.  The water was warm, the beach wasn't rocky.  With the kids' floaties, they were able to swim freely  which they loved.  The sand got too hot though and Dylan got a little scared when we tried walking across it the first time to get to the beach from our hut.  We had to run and when our feet touched the water he was all smiles again! :P

We spent the whole afternoon there and we had so much fun.  We're going back for sure!

 We came back dinner time and we had hotpot at the hotel's restaurant.  We just love eating there hahaha We just spent the rest of the night in our room watching cable TV hahaha (a luxury we can't afford!)

The next day, going home, we stopped at the duty free shops where I was able to buy 2 pairs of Land's End jeans that fit me so well and they were so cheap - only P250 each!! Den was able to buy for herself a pair of jeans too :)

It was a great and relaxing vacation :)

Patrick's Trip to Bangkok, Thailand

March 24-27, 2010

Patrick and I have often argued that his job, though he loves it, has a lot of downsides.  For one, the pay sucks and if you have a family it really can't sustain you.  Sometimes, the work also spills over during family time when on the weekends we have to troop to car events and such because he has to cover them for the magazine or for the website.

However, he loves it and I mean really loves it so what are we to do?  With it's downsides, it does have a lot of perks.  He gets a lot of freebies from the events that he attends, like free gasoline, free motor oil, lots of T-shirts, discounts on car services and he gets to test drive cars that normally he wouldn't able to drive let alone, touch LOL  Also, we can't deny he gets free out of town trips like his stay in Cebu (which we would've loved to be with him) and this time, his trip to Bangkok, Thailand.

At first, we thought he wouldn't be able to make it because he only just applied for his passport and it was taking a long time to process.  It turned out that the DFA (Dept. of Foreign Affairs) was moving it's passport processing department to a new and more modern building.  But in the end, he was able to go :)

When he told me what his first impression of Bangkok was, I laughed, because he said it's very much like Manila except that it has more fly-overs hahaha  Oh and before I forget, the reason why he's in Bangkok was because of the 2010 Bangkok International Motor Show which he had to cover.  He really was astounded by the sheer number of cars and people at the event.  It was like nothing he has ever seen before and he was just amazed at the effort the organizers put in.

Though he didn't really have a chance to go around the city, he did see some interesting sites :) Like, this Porsche "service" station by the side of the road.  And, the great monuments that are easily seen from the many highways in the city.  I was a bit scared for him though when I heard that people were rallying on the street.  Having lived near the Malacanang Palace here in Manila, I was exposed to a lot of coup d'etats and I know how dangerous things like rallies and protests can be.  Oh and he said these pink taxis would do MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando proud! LOL

Anyway, nothing bad happened and he really liked where he was billeted during his stay there.  He was given accommodations at the Jasmine Executive Suites Hotel and he marveled at how big the room was :) He also enjoyed the buffet breakfasts every morning  :)

Though we really missed him during the time he was working, I'm really happy that he got to go on his first out of the country trip.  :)

Here are his pictures at The Bangkok Motor Show.

 

Dylan's 4th Birthday

Happy Birthday to Dylan !!!

He's 4 years old and we're excited because good things are happening to him.  His speech therapy classes are going well.  He's improved a lot considering he has been in therapy for the past 3 months.  He is now able to speak more words although he still needs to be prompted for some stuff.  At least, we've noticed that he's singing more and is more receptive to learning than before.

However, like all birthday celebrants (at least in my family) we always end up in the hospital in some way or another during our birthdays.. In Dylan's case, we ended up at the emergency room on the night of March 23rd because he slipped on the stairs and he got a nasty bump on the head.  Den's friends who were here at that time were almost passing out because of all the blood on Dylan's head but I kept my cool because I knew that head wounds tend to really bleed a lot.

We went to the nearest hospital and Dylan needed to have 4 stitches.  I couldn't bear to watch him because it was obvious he was in pain.  I was thinking that if Patrick was the one who had to go with him, he probably would pass out too.  Injections and blood don't hold too well with him :)  I was also reminded of my brother experiencing the same fate.  But with Allan, he was jumping on the bed, lost his balance and he hit his head on the corner or our Betamax.  He was taken to the same hospital and he also had stitches to the head.  It's funny, because now, Dylan, Dana and Rhys (their cousin) have the same scar on their heads LOL kinda like Harry Potter look alikes LOL

I don't have pictures of him while at the emergency room because it seemed wrong to be taking pictures while he's in pain but I did take a picture of him with his head bandaged and it seemed like nothing happened after the stitching hahaha  In fact, while he was being fixed, he was crying so hard and it was like he took a bath with perspiration.  The nurses had to keep him bound with the blankets so he wouldn't be squirming and moving, it was really hard to watch.  But immediately after the bandages were on, it was like nothing happened.  He was back to his cute and charming self :)

I took about a week for the sutures to come off.  It was hard cleaning the wound and protecting it from germs because of the gauze tape that keep getting attached to his hair LOL that was what was painful to him. :D

Anyway, his wound and scar is a story that he likes hearing about all the time :)

Dana's Graduation from Kindergarten

Here's another milestone in Dana's life - her graduation from Kindergarten.  I can't believe that time has flown so quickly and she's finished with one year of school.  To top that, she's graduating as the Third Honor in her class! I couldn't believe it.  I knew she was consistently the 4th in ranking but she must have really done well during the last quarter of the year which is why she got promoted to Top 3.  You know what she said, "Mama, now that I'm Top 3, you should take me to Subic as a reward." hahahha That's my girl! hahaha

She was so proud to have earned a medal and it was also funny that I also got one, as recognition for parents of those in the honor roll.  So, Dana also got to put a medal on me and both of us went on stage a number of times :) That's what I call bonding moments! :D

This is Dana with her teacher, Ms. Del Rose Fantone.  Dana really learned a lot from her.  Dana even kisses her before leaving the classroom   during dismissal time.

I think it's really important that kids have a good rapport with their teachers especially during this stage in their life because it will define how well they will like school.  Parents can only do so much before kids go to school and then these fine teachers will take over the parents' job.  But that doesn't mean parents won't do anything else.  They still need to support their kids and continue with education at home.  I'm glad that my Mom was a teacher and I learned so much from her.

After the ceremony, we all went back home to rest for a while and change.  We took this opportunity to take some pictures with Dana's certificate and picture :)  Of course, she can't resist making funny faces even though we asked her not to haha