A Girl’s Notebook :)

Sunday is said to be Family Day. Well, it’s true for us, and I believe for most of the families. It is the day when everybody is present in the family. In our family, Sunday is the day when we get bond with each other through videoke. Oh, everybody in my family sings! I sing, my sisters sing, my mother does sing and even my little girl sing! We have one those midi players that you will find in Quiapo and in Greenhills. Last Sunday was another videoke day! I woke up at around 6AM. Well, that’s too early to have “videoke session”, so I let my mother listened to 60’s music which is being aired over Love Radio. I cooked and ate breakfast. At around 8:30AM, when my mother stepped out of the house to do an errand, I turned off the radio and setup videoke. My sisters and my daughter were having their breakfast then already.

While setting up the videoke, Patty mentioned that she is already planning to resign from her current work and look for any jobs in administration. She said that she wanted something different and she knows that she’ll succeed in it. I told her to apply and be sure to get hired first before resigning. It’s so hard to lose a job these days.

When I finished setting up the videoke, they are all done with their breakfast as well. Our youngest sister Pauline is already browsing through the song book and reserving the songs she will be singing. I selected couple of songs as well, then Patty had her own choices as well. Our family’s favorite singers are the Carpenters and Abba. Oh, who would not love those great performers!

One of Patty’s favorite song is Super Trouper by Abba. Since we have 2 microphones available, I joined her singing Super Trouper. It was really a lot of fun! We also started singing couple of songs together. :)  Like other siblings, we often have misunderstandings and “tampuhan“, but at the end of the day, we are still sisters who will be there for each other. We just need to end our videoke sessions due to church calls. Sunday does is a family day!

I looked around the web and found this video. I know that you guys will enjoy this. I know that Abba’s legacy will be passed on from generations to generations. Their songs will continue to linger and bind many families. Enjoy!

Ciao!

It has been 3 years now, since my father died of Lymphoma. I must admit that there are really times that I miss him. I miss his presence. I miss his singing. He is not a perfect father, though. But if I will be born again and be given a chance to choose a father, it would still my father. Of course, I would still choose Mama to be my mother again.

Yesterday, we offered mass intention for his soul. There are people though who believe that praying for a dead’s soul will not give the departed any good. Once you’re dead then you’re time is up. And, that includes your chance to be in heaven. Well, I still believe that God’s forgiving heart will hear our prayers for Papa.

My sister Patty and I are both on vacation leave today. While our youngest sister Pauline, has no class on Mondays. So we are complete when we visited Papa’s tomb today. We didn’t stay that long in the cemetery. I believe we only stayed for only 20 minutes then we left. We know that only Papa’s remains is in the cemetery. Yet, we still feel that visiting his remains would give us certain happiness. Just a few minutes being with him.

Papa may not be physically around us, but I believe that he is always looking after us from above. We are all girls in the family and I know that he would keep us safe.

I know and I believe that Papa is now with the good Father in heaven. He is happy. He is at peace. He will never be hungry. He will never be thirsty. Although I miss him, I am still glad that he is at peace now. He will never have a chance to commit sin again.

Papa we will always miss you. We love you much. Oh, how I miss you singing the song Delilah… Until the day that we will be together again.

Ciao!

Honey arrived to spend Christmas with us last December 26. Since, we have limited time to be together (because I need to go work), we didn’t waste any moment and went to different places as much as time permits.

Our original plan was to go to Star City but we thought that we might not be able to enjoy there as much as we wanted. It was a Saturday and a day after Christmas day, so we knew that there would be a lot of people in the theme park. We decided to go instead to Market! Market! As always, my youngest sister was with us :).

It’s just about 30 minutes away from we live. We took an FX first and got off at Buting, then took a jeep ride going to the mall. My daughter loves going in there. It has a large recreational area where she can run and enjoy the fountain. There was a huge Sponge Bob Square Pants balloon on display. Of course, we had our pictures taken with it using our videocam!

We had our lunch at KFC. We strolled around the mall and let Antoinette play at its Amusement area. I know she was having fun. Well, she missed her father so much. It has been 2 months since we last seen him. So, she was really excited.

We really had a lot of fun! Antoinette was so tired that she fell asleep on our way home.

Ciao!

About 2 Saturdays ago, Metro Manila was hit by another storm again. In fact, Manila was under typhoon signal number 3. I wasn’t able to go early because of the danger brought about of the storm. I and my officemates decided to stay in the office. When the strong wind subsides, we decided to stroll around first in one of the malls inside Eastwood City. When I go to the mall, I always drop by a bookstore. I love books so much!

We went inside Fully Booked and National Bookstore. I was lucky enough to find A Nancy Drew collector’s item from Fully Booked. When I am finish collecting all the Hardy Boys hardcover books, Nancy Drew series is my next project.

My sisters and I love playing board games. Playing board games is one way of our bonding hours. When I was in National Bookstore, I thought of getting another Hardy Boys series to add up to my collection, or get a board game instead. Well, it has been a while since I buy that we can enjoy playing together. So, I decided to buy Visionary.

When I got home, I showed my sisters the new game I bought for us. No one knows how to play it! I asked my younger sister to read the instructions. She said that she’s having difficulty understanding the rules and the game procedures. I read the instructions, rules and game procedures, and found out Visionary is like charades!

I explained to them the procedure and how to play the game. We started playing the game at around 10PM that Saturday and ended the game at around 3AM of Sunday already! :) Our mother was so mad at us then because were laughing so hard every time one of us, act out or draw a certain category from the game.

Well, it was really a night of laughter and bonding!

Ciao!

I am doing a clean up in my “files” and I found this pictures which were taken about couple of months ago. That was one of the few moments, which my sisters and I went out to bond and spend time together. We went to Rainforest in Pasig City. There you would find a mini zoo, butterfly sanctuary and a huge cage for different kinds of birds. There are also two big swimming pools. There is a pavilion for different gatherings and functions. There is a tennis court. There is also a railroad constructed around the park that allows the mini-train to tour the guests around the vicinity. There is a playground for kids, too. But, what I love most is the cozy park where you can play badminton, have some picnics with friends and family, or simply lay down on its green grass to relax.

Well, Mayor Bobby and the rest of the Sangguninang Bayan did a wonderful job in re-constructing Rain Forest!

I, my cousin Joy and my sister Patty carrying my daughter.

I took this picture! Pau, Joy, Patty and Tonet.

She’s wearing a Baguio shirt but she’s in  Rainforest.

Taking a rest after strolling around the park.

Patty waiting for her turn to play badminton.

Taking a rest with Nonet after playing badminton.

Oh you will also love the place! I hope we could do this again!

Ciao!

US is celebrating their Independence Day today so there were only few calls to cater. Ney and I are talking through text and he’s at their motor poll to practice some of their heavy equipment. He said that his father will be hosting a despedida party for him. I already told my team lead that sometime this July I will be filing a leave so Nonet and I can spend sometime with Ney before he leave.

I feel sadness of course. Even though, we often fight and there are a lot of unresolved issues in our relationship, I will really miss ney when he left for work. Though we don’t see each other everyday for he stays in Quezon (due to work reasons, too), it would be a big difference when he’s in Angola.

When he is in Quezon, I can always visit or go there whenever I miss him. Same thing with him when he misses me. His contract is only 1 year. It may sound a short-contract, but it isn’t. Well, I already told my daughter that we will not be seeing her father for quite sometime. I noticed that she’s been very sweet and affectionate to ney that last time he was here.

Ney said that maybe our daughter is spending much time with him because she will miss him, too. Of course, she will miss him!

Well, I am really preparing myself when he left. I just pray that ney will be okay in Angola. He is so excited to work there already because he has lots of dreams, that he wanted to turn into reality. He has a lot of plans to give our family a comfortable life. Well, may God bless him all the time.

Ciao!

When we learned that our paternal grandmother passed away, we were saddened but we’re happier. We’re not happy because she’s gone but we’re happy because her sufferings have ended. She was 92 years old. She has poor eyesight and poor sense of hearing. But, she has a very sharp memory. She knew all her grandchildren’s birthdays!

I remember 2 years ago (she’s 90 years old then), I told her that I am thinking of doing a family tree. Would you believe that at her age, she still remembered her own grandparents!?! We’re able to finish our family tree and it was a great feeling to know your roots. She also mentioned that we have some Spanish blood (wow!).

My grandmother’s favorite son was my father. So, during her younger days, everytime my sisters and I spend summer vacation in Quezon, she takes care of us very much. She cook for us and make sure that we’ll have a comfortable bed to sleep on.

When I was 3 years old, she brought me with her in Quezon. Well, she was only 64 then!

She loved watching movies even when she’s alone. She used to tell us stories when she would go to the movies alone and watch movies which star her favorite actress of all time, Nora Aunor. Oh she loved her so much!

Another thing, that I remember about her and would definitely miss in her was that, I learned a lot of gossips from her! We often asked her about a certain person she knew and she will really tell us something about him/her. My cousins and I loved asking her about different gossips. Though we knew it already, we just loved the way she told it.

One thing that my cousins and I will never forget about her was that she loved playing 41! I know most of you are familiar with this. I learned to play this card game when I was in grade 3!

My mother was a pretty woman. She would always tell us stories about her childhood and her teenage life. She said that she loved going to sayawan during barrio fiestas. In fact, she always received invitation from different barangays to participate in their sayawan during the fiesta. I had my own experiences with sayawan, too!

She also told us how she and my grandfather met and eventually got married. We often tease her on how young she dated! She said that my grandfather courted her when she was only 12. She and my grandfather had 9 children. But I only met 7. Her two other children died when they were very young. She always bragged about her second child (who happened to be her first daughter) whose name was Stella. My grandmother said that she was a red-haired girl and she was very beautiful. She laugh everytime we asked her if one of us (her grandchildren) got Stella’s beauty. Well, she didn’t answer directly, but through her laugh we can tell that no one got her daughter Stella’s beauty.

When one of us is being intrigue (you know in our barangay in Quezon province, gossiping is one of the people’s hobby) or talk of the town, she was the first one in our defense.

Well, I would truly miss my grandmother. I am glad that she was able to meet my daughter and was fond of her.

Ciao!

It was around 1AM of June 13 when my youngest sister received a call from my aunt in Quezon. We knew that our paternal grandmother is gone, it was long before she answered the call. They would not call that early if nothing serious had happened. We were saddened about her death but then, we were happy, too. She’s 92 years old and she’s bed ridden already. My aunts who live in Quezon looked after her.

My sisters, our aunt (who lives with us) and me didn’t get back to sleep to plan what we need to do. Our family is the only one who lives in Manila. So we need to plan thouroughly what needs to be done. I went back to sleep at around 3:30AM and need to get up by 5AM to report for work at 6AM.

Anyway, my aunt decided to go to Quezon on that same day. My family (my mom, my 2 younger sisters and nonet and me) and my two other cousins decided to leave Manila the following day (Sunday) to give way for my work schedule.

Sunday Afternoon (June 14)

They just wait for me to arrive from work that day. My mom packed my clothes and other things that we need. I arrived at around 3:30 PM but we left the house at 5PM already. God had sent an angel through my friend Julius then. You see, I don’t have enough money for our fare and expenses in Quezon. My sister had her own share of money, too.

Before we leave,  my sister brought our 2 cats to their foster home for a while (thanks to ate Heide and ate Gwen). My mother brought our gold fishes to our neighbor (ate May) for temporary custody.  Off we go to JAC Liner station and we took the Lucena trip. We decided to have a cutting trip for my daughter’s convenience. Well, there are only few bus companies which offer air-conditioned buses that will take us to our little town, Plaridel.

We arrived at around 11:30 PM to Quezon that night. We went first to my aunt Lyn’s house to keep our things then we headed to our grandmother’s house. I never seen my grandmother so peaceful and at ease. I didn’t cry when I looked at her. I know that she is now with God and that she is very happy. I know that she and my grandfather are together one more time. And that she is with her 3 sons (including my father) in heaven.

Ciao!

I have been away for quite a while. I’ve got a  lot of stories to tell.  Please give me sometime to finish my articles and to collate all the pictures and video files that I would love to share with you.

But today I would like to greet all the fathers in the world a Happy Father’s Day.

My own father died about 2 years ago. He may not been a perfect father but he had been a loving and sweet father to us, his daughters and to my little girl. I know that Papa is happy and he’s enjoying his afterlife with God, and all the angels and faithful departed.

I would like to greet the loving father of my daughter a Happy Dad’s Day . There are still a lot of complications in our relationship and in our own family, but I know that sooner or later, everything will fall into proper places. We love you, ney.

Of course, I will not forget to greet our one great Father in heaven! Happy Father’s Day! I love you.

Ciao!

I almost forget that today was my father birthday. He passed away 2 years ago because of cancer. One of my neighbors told us that a when a person dies, only his death anniversary should be celebrated. Well, it’s not wrong either to remember Papa’s birthday. Though, I am on a tight budget (because of my resignation plan in July), I still bought a cake and a grilled chicken from Baliwag.

I know, that even though Papa is no longer physically with us, he’s up there with God watching and loving us always.

Happy birthday Papa, I truly miss you..

I met ney at SM Megamall last Friday. It was almost 2 months since we see each other. He works in their own construction company and they have a lot of projects recently. The summer rain had been such a blessing in disguise for Nonet and me for we’re able to spend some quality time with his father. Because of the rain, they have to take a break from the road widening project he’s engaged with.

Anyway, since last May 1 was Labor Day and it was a national holiday, too, there was a mall wide sale in Megamall. Actually, I don’t have plans of buying stuff at the moment. But then, “SALE” is really something that I always look forward to. I and my bestfriend Daisy, used to do bargain shopping before. We often go to shopping malls that are on their mall wide sale. I really miss her during these days. She lives in Cavite with her family and she’s pregnant with her second baby so we really seldom see each other nowadays.

I met ney at around 8PM at Jolibee but we ate dinner at Chowking :). Since, the store will close at 12 midnight, ney and I decided to stroll around the mall and check out the items on sale. Well, since he and nonet have not seen each other for a long time, he decided to surprise her with gifts. We headed to SM Toy Kingdom and almost all toys are marked down! Ney got her a pillow and I got a piglet plush stuff toy. Piglet used to be Php500 but it has been marked down to Php150!

Piglet

Ney isn’t satisfied with what he got for her daughter so we continue to look around the store and find something very special for her. Then I remember, Nonet is fond of playing computer games and so I thought of a “toy like” laptop but educational. I asked one of the store staffs if there’s any laptop on sale and what’s the cheapest price. Luckily, they have a Baby Bratz Play on TV laptop on sale at Php1200, which is actually Php2599 on regular retail price. It’s a laptop with educational materials on it and you can actually connect it to tv set for games!

Baby Bratz Play on TV Laptop

We continued our bargain hunting and I was lucky enough to find a 14-inch Eeyore Stuff toy which is only Php250 on its marked down price from original Php999.99 retail price. Well, it was actually the only one left of its kind. It is the one showing in the picture below, minus the fancy box the stuff toy is sitting on.

Eeyore

We even had our presents gift wrapped (anyway its free! ) before we went home. Nonet was very delighted with his daddy’s gifts for her. But she was happier at the sight of his father. She really missed her father a lot! And so I was.

Ciao!

I was on the phone with ney last night and we’re talking about his new assignments. He’s operating a backhoe loader and at the same time he’s in charge of their other operators in their new project. He said that he will be responsible in his work and hopefully, he will not be tempted to drink liquor in a while. Hopefully!

Backhoe Loader

Anyway, I told him that I trust him and that there are moments that I almost lose my patience on him, I can still keep up with him for I do love him. Their new project is located in Catanauan, Quezon. It is more on road-widening I guess. I forgot to ask him what’s this new project is about. But more likely, it is something like that.

Catanauan is about  an hour and a half drive from our little town in Plaridel, Quezon. From Manila it would be around 7-8 hour-bus drive. Well, I have been there. In fact, the farthest part of Quezon I was able to visit is Gumaca, Quezon.

Ney said that Catanauan offers a wide range of white sand beaches. But then, those aren’t fully developed yet for tourist attractions for the town of Catanauan is not as wealthy like the towns of Sariaya and Lucban. But he said that if only, the local government of Catanauan will initiate in developing those said beaches, then the town will be one kind of a tourist spot! Hopefully one day. He said that the place is peaceful and very relaxing.

Ney had been in Boracay already and he said that Catanauan beach sand can be compared to those in Boracay already. Hmmm.. I told him that someday I would love to have a house by the sea. He said that there are a lot of land by the sea which are for sale in Catananuan. That if I wanted to own one, I can acquire one today. Well, I really didn’t buy that idea. Aside from the fact that Catanauan is quite far from Manila, I don’t have money to a buy a resort! Haller!

Well ney said that who knows, we can have one. I think I should start joining in some lottery games.

 Anyway, because of his new assignments, it would take again a month or 2 for ney and I to see each other again. Well, I see to it that we talk on the phone everyday and make sure that my love will be felt even though we’re miles away from each other.

Ciao!