Camera Critters #18

My Camera Critters is quite delayed. If you have time, hope you can come by and see a butterfly fluttering by. You can check out my entry here.

Hope everyone had a fun weekend.

Photo Hunt :: Beautiful

Come and join the hunt here

One of the most beautiful things that happened to my life is having my son, Yohan. This photo was taken when he was around eight months old. This is his first picture in a studio. Time flies and my son is now five years old.

Anonymous Comments

I'm always happy to receive comments. I'm grateful for every comment I get from my valued readers. I have been receiving a few anonymous comments lately. Some of you may have forgotten to sign your names. Please don't forget to sign your names so I can return your visits.

Take care and thank you for always taking time to come to my site. God bless.

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More About My Medical Check-Up

Thank you very much for all your kind words on my previous health post. I truly appreciate your concern.

I was supposed to see two doctors (pulmonologist and ENT) last Thursday but I missed the ENT doctor. I will see him next week. That makes my sinus problem hanging at the moment.

My appointment with the pulmonologist pushed through. He requested that I take another lab test, the Pulmonary Function Test (PFT). It was my first time to go through one. The test involved a lot of breathing into a mouthpiece which was hooked up to a computer. The test measures how much and how fast the air is moving in and out of the lungs. Got the results the same day and upon analysis I was diagnosed with mild asthma. :(

My mom has asthma but I've never had it when I was young. I didn't realize that I could still develop asthma as an adult. I guess that explains my shortness of breath in the past few weeks. The doctor prescribed this ...


I was also advised to start a regular exercise routine. Hubby is urging me to play badminton with him at least once a week.

Aloha Friday #39

Rules: Post any question on your blog on a Friday, share your answer and sign Kailani's Mr. Linky. Then have fun answering the questions of fellow participants by visiting their blogs.

What easy to prepare desserts do you like having at home?

We love having chocolate fondue. It's simple, fast and easy to prepare. Simply heat evaporated milk and sugar in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and stir in semisweet chocolate chips until they dissolve. Transfer it to your fondue pot and start putting in those dippers. Light the candle under the pot to keep it warm.

We love fruits as dippers. On our recent "chocolate fondue night", we used fruits that were available in the house like cherries, sliced oranges, apples and bananas. Next time, I would love to have some strawberries and kiwi. My little boy said he wants some marshmallows on our next fondue night.
If you want a detailed chocolate fondue recipe, you can find different variations here.

Yohanism #24

Yohan was anxious to see my x-ray. He first learned about x-ray from one of Barney's episodes but he has never seen an x-ray film yet. I had a recent x-ray and he was excited to see the x-ray films I brought home.

First I showed him my chest x-ray. He was amazed.

Yohan: "Wow, that's your skeleton mom."

Me: "Yes it is."

Yohan: "Can I have an x-ray too?"

Me: "You don't need one right now. I had an x-ray because my doctor told me to. "

He gave me a sad look but he didn't insist.



Me: "I have another x-ray to show you. It's an x-ray of my head."

Yohan: He looked at it for a while then said, "You look ugly without your skin and hair."


More about my x-ray: I had been experiencing shortness of breath and prolonged cough and colds that's why I went to the doctor for a check-up last week. He prescribed some medicines and requested for a chest x-ray and Water's View. It's the first time I had a Water's View. It's actually an x-ray of the facial structure to see if there's a problem with the sinuses. I got the results of my x-ray yesterday. My chest x-ray came out normal but it seems I have some problems with my sinuses. I'm scheduled for a follow up check-up this afternoon and I will bring the x-ray results for my doctor to see. I feel better because my cough and colds are completely gone and I can breathe normally now but I'm still a little worried. I've never been fond of going to the doctor.

Superstition: Don't Open An Umbrella Inside the House

There are so many superstitions in the Philippines. One of them is the belief that opening an umbrella inside the house brings bad luck. I have heard this superstition many times. When I was young, my grandmother, uncles, aunts and even my mom told me never to open an umbrella inside the house because it brings bad luck. When I asked them why, they couldn't give me a good answer. They said that it's an old superstition and there's no harm in following it. As a child I accepted it in blind faith. Years have passed and I have forgotten this superstition ... or so I thought.

My son's favorite fast food restaurant, Jollibee recently featured umbrellas as promotional products. Customers can present proof of purchase in order to buy any of the promotional umbrellas. I got Yohan a blue Jollibee kiddie umbrella. When I gave it to him in the house, he wanted to open it to see the design. The memory of the old superstition came rushing back into my mind. I couldn't believe that after so many years, I'm still bound to that superstitious belief that for me doesn't have any logical explanation. I asked myself, if that was the case, then why did I stop Yohan from opening the umbrella inside the house? Perhaps, deep inside, I just wanted to avoid any form of bad luck.

You might be curious as to what happened next. I asked Yohan if he wanted to buy some Choc-nut (local chocolates) at the nearby store. The sky was heavy with dark clouds so I told him to bring his umbrella just in case it rains. In the street, Yohan had the liberty to open the umbrella as much as he wanted.

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Wordless Wednesday #33

I heard that Tropical Storm Lawin is in the country. Philippine Storm Signal #1 is now in effect in CAMARINES SUR, CAMARINES NORTE, CATANDUANES, ALBAY, BURIAS ISLAND, TICAO ISLAND, SORSOGON, QUEZON, POLILLO ISLAND, MARINDUQUE, LAGUNA, RIZAL, & AURORA. - source

I'm very grateful for the good weather last weekend. It was perfect for our trip to the beach. Please check out my Wordless Wednesday #33 to see a happy moment at the beach.

Hunting For Hearts

Last Thursday, I read Yohan's assignment notebook. There was a note from the teacher requesting the children to bring "mga pagkain na hugis puso na ipamamahagi sa mga kaklase" (food that are heart-shaped to be shared with classmates) for the last day of the Buwan ng Wika (celebration of the Filipino language). I was surprised that it was due the following day (Friday). Imagine we only had one day to look for heart-shaped food to bring for Yohan's classroom activity.

I even shared this with my Plurk buddies. Hubby was in Makati that day and I sent him an SMS right away to look for something that Yohan could bring to school. After a few hours he sadly told me he couldn't find any. When he got home he told me that he will try to look again tomorrow morning. Good thing Yohan's schedule for Friday was set in the afternoon so my hubby still had time to hunt for the elusive heart-shaped food of any kind. If Jules had more time, he would have baked some heart shaped cookies but he was quite busy.

I was about to give up and write to Yohan's teacher that we couldn't find any heart-shaped food for the activity when Jules came home with these...

heart-shaped marshmallows

heart-shaped lollipops

I'm thankful for my husband's successful heart hunting efforts. I wish the school would give parents more time to buy future things for classroom projects and activities. On that day, Yohan gave me and my husband this cute pot which he made in school. I saw how excited he was to show it to us when he got out of class. I must say they learned a lot about the "hugis puso" (heart shape) that day.

I was curious about what the other moms brought that day so I asked around. My friend ordered heart-shaped donuts from Hot Loops. Another mom brought pretzels. Apparently many parents couldn't find any heart-shaped food so they just brought different kinds of food for the sake of sharing.

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Finding Babysitters Online

I received an email from one of my close friends back in college. She has been living in the States for several years now. She settled there right after getting married. My friend has two lovely daughters and her first child is my godchild. Time really flies. I remember carrying my godchild in my arms when she was still a baby. Now, she's already eleven years old. Sometimes it's hard to imagine where all the time has gone. Time simply flies so fast. My friend sent me my godchild's recent picture and she has grown up looking more like her mom. She and younger sister are beautiful young girls and I long to see them. They haven't met my son yet and perhaps on their next vacation we can have a lovely get together.

I remember when my friend had her second daughter. She told me that it was a challenge for her to take care of two children at that time because of her work. She had to find a babysitter to help her take care of the kids while she and her husband were at work. She was thankful when her mom flew to the States to stay with her family for a while. It was a nice family reunion and at the same time she felt at ease knowing that her mom was home to help take care of the kids.

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Weekend Snapshot #39

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Trip to the Beach

We took advantage of the long weekend by spending it at the beach. We went to Sigayan Beach Resort at Laiya, Batangas. Jules and I were a bit hesitant to go to the beach at first because of the weather. We asked our son to pray for good weather. Our little boy's prayer was answered and we were blessed with sunny skies.

Yohan had a great time building different kinds of sand castles while Jules and I went snorkeling. We fed the fish with bread. I got scared at first because so many fish came rushing to get a bite of the bread I was holding. I let go of the bread because I was scared the fish might bite me. Ha ha!

Jules and I saw a lot of beautiful fish. We saw blue fish, blue ones with yellow markings, silver fish with red stripes, elongated fish and a pucker fish. We even saw a small eel hiding among the corals. Jules was lucky because he saw two sea horses.

Here are some photos taken during our weekend getaway.

Happy little boy at the beach.

Yohan building a sandcastle.

He built a fortress.

Yohan in full swimming gear.


Hubby and son enjoying themselves in the water.


The three of us had so much fun.

Photo Hunt :: Wrinkled

Come and join the hunt here

Hi everyone. I'm posting my entry early because we're off to the beach tomorrow. Monday is a holiday so we're taking advantage of the long weekend. I'll return all your visits when I get home.

These photos are courtesy of my friend's hubby who happens to be a chef. He remarkably sculpted an old, wrinkled man out of a carrot. You can see that the old man caught a fish. :)


Here's the bigger perspective. Sushi anyone?

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Aloha Friday #38

Rules: Post any question on your blog on a Friday, share your answer and sign Kailani's Mr. Linky. Then have fun answering the questions of fellow participants by visiting their blogs.

Which food do you like which is an acquired taste?

I like eating alugbati. I did some research and found out that the scientific name of alugbati is Basella rubra Linn and in english it's called Malabar Night Shade. For those who are not familiar with alugbati, it's a leafy vegetable with heart-shaped leaves. It's often used as a substitute for spinach.

We usually prepare alugbati with squash and small portions of pork. It is an excellent source of calcium and iron. It is also a good source of vitamins A, B, and C. Not many people like to eat alugbati because some say it's slimy. I guess it's an acquired taste.


My son has learned to eat it. I just mash the squash, cut the alugbati in small pieces the add it to his rice. My hubby, however, doesn't eat alugbati. The other night we had alugbati for dinner so he made something esle for himself. He had steak and mashed potatoes instead.

Online Diva Award

I got this cute award from Hailey . Makes me really feel like a diva!

The button is a Flair created by Litzie!

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Rules:

1. Post the button in your blog.
2. Please link back the person that gave the button to you.
3. If you have more than one blog, please post this to all of your blogs so your other blogs can be listed to the master list too.
4. You need to pass the button to at least 4 people that you think are also divas in any way.
5. Come back here and leave your post url so you can be added to the master list and help increase our rankings.
6. Please add to the list below a reason why you love being online all the time.

Online Divas:
1. All Merging in the Path of My Life

2. My Big Picture

3. Walk on Red with Me

4. Supah MaMa Wannabe

5. The Stories of a Now SAHM

6. When Mom Speaks

7. Kathycot Cooking With a Twist

8. Me and Mine

9. Little Peanut

10. Pea in a Pod

11. Joys in Life

12. Dancing in Midlife Tune

13. Hailey’s Domain

14. Hailey’s Beats and Bits

15. Heart of Rachel

16. Add your blog here

Reasons why I am an Online Diva:

1. Litzie - It helps me pass time when I’m at work and don’t have any patient to attend to.
2. Yen- It helps me do what I like and love after a long day.
3. Arlene - It relieves me of my stresses especially the petty ones.
4. Hailey - I am me! when I am online, space is immaterial, and time is limitless!
5. Rachel - It makes me happy to share my thoughts and feelings through my blog. It's rewarding to connect with friends online.

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Am passing this Diva award to:

Alice, Sasha, Louann, Tammy, Girlie, Kailani and Tisha.

Storytelling in Filipino Part 2

Thank you for your encouraging remarks on my earlier post, Storytelling in Filipino. The school activity went well. The parents were asked to read their respective story books to their children. After reading the story, each family were given paper, pencil, colored pens and crayons. Parents were requested to help their children draw the lessons that they have learned from the stories.

The story that I read to Yohan was entitiled, "Ang Mabait Na Kalabaw." It's about a carabo blessed with a kind heart. He is good to his fellow carabaos, other animals, children and caretaker. He is helpful and has a happy disposition in life.

I read the Tagalog words and translated them in English to help Yohan understand the story. Yohan enjoyed the short story. I'm happy because he learned a lot of Filipino words during the activity like kalabaw (carabao), mabait (good), kaibigan (friend) and masaya (happy), matulungin (helpful) and mapagmahal (loving).

Yohan coloring the images.

Here is drawing that Yohan and I did for the activity.
The words written below: "Gusto ko maging mabait tulad ng kalabaw."
(Translation: I want to be good like the carabao.)

The drawings of the children were posted on the wall inside the school. The drawings will be displayed during the celebration of the Philippine language or "Buwan ng Wika".

Wordless Wednesday #32

Red Ribbon describes it as ...

"Heavenly layers of white chiffon cake with custard cream filling, enrobed in luscious sweetened milk and caramel icing. Wrapped in fine toasted chiffon crumbs and laden with a frosted caramel crystal layer: Gloriously crowned with white cream rosettes and chocolate spirals."

Check out my Wordless Wednesday #32 to see this delicious cake.

Storytelling in Filipino

This week is the start of "Buwan ng Wika" (month long celebration of the Filipino language). On Aug. 19 (Tuesday), there will be a "Kwentuhan Mo Po Ako" activity where the parents are invited to join their children in school for story telling. Parents are asked to bring a new story book (in Tagalog).

Yohan is already five years old and sadly he hasn't learned how to speak the Filipino language yet. I confess that I have taken it for granted. I realized that it's time for him to learn the language because when he turns Prep next year, he will have Filipino subject as part of the curriculum.

Ever since Yohan was a baby, we have always spoken to him in English. All the programs he watches on TV are in English. Even in school, the primary language is English. I'm glad that this year Yohan has begun to understand Filipino. He hears my hubby and I conversing in Filipino and somehow he has learned to deduce the meaning of some of the words. So far he already knows the meaning of the words "oo" (yes), "hindi" (no), "kain" (eat), "tulog" (sleep), "nood" (watch) and "galit" (mad). There are still so many Filipino words that he doesn't understand. The storytelling activity tomorrow will be a good way to teach him some basic Filipino words.

For the "Kwentuhan Mo Po Ako" activity (story telling in Filipino), I chose the book entitled Ang Mabait na Kalabaw by Rosario Calma. The book has a simple story which is easy to understand. It's about a good carabao who does a lot of good things for the people around him.


I like the beautiful illustrations by Liza Flores. I chose this book because of the simple one-liner per page. I hope that Yohan will enjoy this story. Here are a few of my favorite pages in the book:

Ang mabait na kalabaw ay mapagbigay.
(The very good carabao is generous.)

Ang mabait na kalabaw ay masipag.
(The very good carabao works hard.)

Ang mabait na kalabaw ay matulungin.
(The very good carabao is helpful.)

I believe that kids are natural fast learners. Many children can learn several languages simultaneously. I'm sure Yohan will learn the Filipino language quickly.