Long Time No Blog...

I've been visiting my blog everyday but still I cannot find the urge to write something. It has been a week now so I guess I have to force myself even to write some senseless but entertaining thoughts.

Search for the Ultimate Yaya

Our search for the Ultimate Yaya has finally ended (I sure hope). Just when we have decided to work the chores out ourselves, "Flor", not her real name, came knocking on our door last sunny sunday afternoon. She was referred by our aunt's helper, who also had a sister who worked for us before. We have had a total of four (4) household helps since our baby came out to the world. It's a good thing that babies still know who their parents are no matter who takes care of them most of the time. Anyway, just to give you an idea on how excruciating it is to look for a perfect household help, here are the summary of our experiences with regards to dealing with them.

Period: Mid Dec. 2003 - Jan. 2004
Name: Daisy
Description: Daisy is a 16 y/o girl from a small rivery town of Macabebe, Pampanga. She is actually my cousin and god child at the same time. It was a relief at first that we got a help that we could really trust. Someone who could take care of our child whole heartedly because of our blood relation.
Pro's: Expert in carrying babies because of her care giving experience for her 4 other siblings. Easy to be with and likes to talk about issues on TV (e.g. what's the buzz?, latest showbiz flicks, personalities who died and gave birth). Cares a lot about her looks, puts on make up, eyeliner, lipstick, hair dresses herself and diets by not eating at night.
Con's: Has this things propagating in her long hair that even we (including our baby) got it also. Leaves strands of hair everywhere in the bathroom. She's our lola's favorite that's why she always get DOH (Dept.of Help) from her chores which makes us cautious of what we're asking her. Not a self-driven professional, I mean, you have to tell her everything for her to do it.
Reasons for Leaving: Conflict between Lola and her.

Period: Feb. 2004 - August 2004
Name: Elvie
Description: A petite 17 y/o girl who is the sister of our Aunt's helper who hails from Leyte. Obviously has Visayan traces in communicating. She resides also within the city that is why she gets to have days off every Saturday and Sunday. Worked for a foreigner in Ayala Alabang before but resigned because she doesn't want to work for foreigners anymore.
Pro's: Self driven professional. Expert in cleaning the house. Waxes the floor almost every weekend. Able to entertain our baby early in the morning while we are still enjoying our sleep. Made our orchids bear flowers. Wears printed underwear, plunging neckline, and short shorts (no malice). Updates us with all of the teleseryes (television series) we miss sometimes.
Con's: Consumes a lot of electricity because she watches every show on TV. Teaches our baby to call her grand father - 'LULO' (argggh!). Does not come on time when she gets back from a day off on mondays. Let some guy in our house with out our consent. Into her boyfriend very much that she absents herself from her job. Let her arrogant and "feeling at home" sister sleep in our house without even asking us for permission.
Reason's for Leaving: Need I say more? Her lying became a habit that we do not trust her anymore. Got some amount from my wife's bag which made us decide to dismiss her immediately.

Period: Sep. 2004 - Nov. 2004
Name: Lisa
Description: Lisa is an 18 y/o girl who resides somewhere in the city also. Has a strong visayan accent and hails from Samar. She told us that she is scheduled to marry her boyfriend on Dec. 5, 2004. We agreed that she will be taking a leave sometime that period and got her assurance that she will be still coming back.
Pro's: Silent and shy type. Speaks softly. Conserve's energy by not watching TV at all. Say's yes to everything even the question or command is not finshed yet. Sleeps early and gets up early. Sometimes when she wakes up in the wee hours of the morning, does the laundry and finishes it by sunrise.
Con's: Rarely speaks to our baby, at times we hear her whispering something we do not understand. She did not fulfilled her promise of coming back after a 3-week wedding leave. The day she was scheduled to go back, we learned that we lost some things. Good thing, my wife had persistent instincts. We located her and redeemed all our things (even those that we did not expect that she got).
Reason's for Leaving: We did not let her come back. We even planned to put her to jail.

It has been almost three months now since we washed dishes, did the laundry, cleaned the house, took care of our growing baby, my wife's folks taking care of our baby during the day, went to and from binan to have my folks take care of our baby for a while and a whole lot of computations and comparisons between us couples of who did more or less chores. And now we got a new help again. A talkative one. Expect the unexpected. We'll always be ready and cautious this time.

Whatta Valentine's! (continued)

V-Day is Black Day

There was a sea of black students, faculty, and alumni that covered the open courts of Mapua Intramuros yesterday. Why? Well, the management announced that Mapua Institute of Technology will now just be a Department/School of Engineering and Architechture while it's wholeness will now be called Malayan University. Though this will not happen soon, this was the plan of the management as it strides for higher competency. There was no classes yesterday in both campuses (Makati/Intramuros) simply because there were no students. Though I wasn't able to unite with the happenings in Intramuros because of my valentine's day activities, I of course, as a proud alumni, wore black as a sign of protest to their decision. Our president will meet our department on thursday to discuss things out. We sure hope they retain the name and not use Malayan anymore or UP will no longer have the 'activists' repution themselves, Mapuans too. Below are important links to this event.

- President's Note on going for University Status
- Online Petition of Students and Alumni
- Philippine Star News
- Manila Standard News
- Philippine Daily Inquirer News
- Pictures

Valentine’s Tragedy

While waiting for my sister in law for our valentine’s dinner at our house, we were shocked at the news flash that there were buses exploding in EDSA. One thing that immediately came to mind was calling my brother who commutes riding a bus from his new job in Makati. Fortunately, he was already at home enjoying a family dinner (minus kuya-that’s me! who already got married). Anyway, this was really so disturbing and disappointing knowing that people do these inhumane things with innocent people at stake. More surprisingly, it is not only in Makati that this incident happened, but also in Davao and Gen. Santos, all in the same day. Here are the links to some news.

- Philippine Daily Inquirer News
- ABS CBN News

Whatta Valentine’s!

Whatta Valentine's!

Valentine's was not as memorable as yesterday. There was too much event to talk about and remember. I and my wife haven't went out on a date yet because of the tremendous traffic last weekend.

Mr. Lova Lova

It has been a year now since Lova Palooza (Love Festival) started out its guiness world record event on a valentine's day. According to the news, this years gimmick has far more kissing sweethearts as compared to last years'. My brother was serious in going to the raha sulayman park (a.k.a. fountain area in baywalk) last saturday in Manila to kiss her girlfriend and contribute to the record Mayor Atienza is establishing. Unfortunately, traffic was so bad, that they left Binan several hours after the gig started. They found themselves standing miles from the central venue where couples are supposed to smooch smooch. Too bad... On the other hand, I personally had plans to go somewhere else for my valentine's date. I have eagerly prepared for this that I kept on bragging my wife how wonderful my surprise is to her this year. Traffic discouraged us and kept us in Binan (my parent's house) that night taking care of our little brat-becoming princess. (huhuhu...)

Another Trip to Dangua

It was three years ago when I started going to dangua every valentines to buy less expensive flowers for my starfish (starfish was a term of endearment during our bf-gf days) and my mom. This year, of course, was not an exception. Everything was planned. After I drop my wife to the office, I will immediately go to dangua, together with other friends, to search for the loveliest bouquet i can give my wife. To my surprise, Dangua was not that all crowded this year. I dont know if its just the timing, but it made me concluded that they are 'matumal' (less profit?) this time around. Nevertheless, I still got a good buy of flowers (@ Php690 total) that made my 3 recipients (wife, mother, mother-in-law) touched.

(part 1 of 2)

The Nearness of You

Valentines is in the air. What could be more relaxing than a rainy day listening to love songs? haaaaaay... My friend, M.Hanger, seems to be so in love nowadays. I was inspired by his valentine preparations that I also intend in deafening our office with love songs on Valentine’s Day.

(WARNING: Sentimental thoughts in the next paragraph)

Occasions like this make me reminisce of my wedding day. The moment my wife came walking in the aisle while our song is being played made my face so indescribable. I was caught in the middle of trying to look good and crying because of happiness. That was really something priceless.

Here are my answers to the chain/tag M.Hanger sent me…

Random 10:

All I Ask of You – Christine and Raoul's Version (Phantom Movie)
Name Game – Laura Branigan
You’ll be Safe Here – Rivermaya
Get Right – Jennifer Lopez
Wonderwall – Oasis
True – Ryan Cabrera
Wherever You Are - South Border
Wag na Wag mong Sasabihin – Kitchie Nadal
This Kiss – Faith Hill
Confessions - Usher

1. What is the total amount of music files on your computer?
418 MB (Sys Ad’s here does not allow downloading of music files – how pathetic!)

2. The last CD you bought is:
Pirated: Usher’s Confession & Alicia Keys’ The Diary of Alicia Keys
Original: Mariah Carey’s Charmed Bracelet (just a gift)

3. What is the last song you listened to before this message?
Nearness of You – Nora Jones

4. Write down five songs you listen to a lot or mean a lot to you:
Nearness of You – Nora Jones (Isip-Marquez Wedding Song)
Because of You – Keith Martin (song for my wife)
Forever – Mariah Carey (I fell in love with Mariah with this song)
True Colors – Phil Collins (First and last song I sang and recorded)
The Way you Look Tonight – Michael Buble (Loved it first with My Bestfriends Wedding, Buble did better version)

5. Who are you gonna pass this stick to? (3 persons and why)
Akira Posh (She’s the only one I know that would buy this tag)
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That’s it. Happy Valentines!

Weirdest Dreams

People dream about everything. These past few weeks have been the weirdest among all of my dreaming experiences.

Dream Title: Tsunami in Macabebe, Pampanga
Characters: Myself
Plot:
There was this big tsunami formation in the mountains of Pampanga that i can see several miles away from my lola's house. Someone is watching TV inside while i unbelievably wait for the tsunami to hit our town. And then it happened. Water flowed violently towards my lola’s house and I was caught unguarded. I was submerged and pushed inside the house by the raging water. I was such a quick thinker that I even thought of turning the TV off and swimming to the main electrical switch of the house to pull it down also. Then, I swam toward the roof and hold on to the wall of the house which by now was collapsing because it was surprisingly made of cardboard (?!!).
The next scene showed what was left by tsunami in our town, which by now appeared like a dilapidated forest. Then came a bulldozer pouring dead bodies in a big ‘hukay’ (What’s this word in English???). It was so creepy. Suddenly, a big amphibian-like vehicle appeared which helped the town’s people in evacuating. I was so unfortunate that when it was my turn to ride the big vehicle, it was full already. I was left in the town waiting for another evacuation trip when a group of people wearing beach attire came in walking and told me: “Punta tayo sa Pagsanhan, tara!” (In my mind I said: “DUHHHHHH?!”).
-the end-
Facts:
1. Macabebe, Pampanga is surrounded by river.
2. I cannot swim.
3. My Lola’s house is made of wood.
4. Pagsanhan is in the south, Pampanga is in the north.
5. Amphibians rarely exist in our country.

Weekends in Binan

My weekend was great, I got to spend it again with my parents in Laguna, of course, together with my wife and daughter. It has always been like that when we go there.

Top Ten Things I Love When We Visit My Parents House:

1. I get to surf the web unlimited with no firewalls
2. I get to eat a lot from my parents fridge without spending a single centavo
3. I get to watch cable channels all night long in my old room
4. I get to have a chance to sing in their big videoke
5. I make them happy because their granddaughter is with them
6. I get to spend more time for sleep, recreation and procreation (hehehe)
7. I get the chance to visit some of my old friends back in highschool
8. I get to update myself with the latest happenings in my family
9. I get to show all the new tricks that my baby acquired
10. I get free stuffs/services from my mom and dad (e.g. dishwashing detergent, chocolates, laundry services, ironing services, potted plants, wallet, umbrella, auto repair, nail services and a lot more)

My First Blog

Thrilled is an understatement to describe how i feel right now. I just found out about this thing called blog from my high school friend when i visited my friendster (which btw has only less than 20 friends). I found it interesting reading his blogs so i thought that it would be great to create one of my own also. I'm not that good as a writer nor owned a secret diary but this thing really fulfilled my desire to write. I have to confess that i even searched for the meaning of blog before getting in to this. It meant A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links. I thought it was cool. So here it is!