Great Expectations

Huuwhaaaapaak!!! (an adoption)

2005-07-26T10:18:00.000+08:00

Just like to share my wife's blog about something funny.

http://justmythoughtsat.blogspot.com/

Spot the Difference

2005-06-09T17:31:00.000+08:00

Ashley & Puss in Boots

Ya better not pout Im tellin you why

2005-05-19T13:50:00.000+08:00

On Trainings, Death, Bdays and Mother's Day...

2005-05-16T12:41:00.000+08:00

It will be a cliche if I'll still be computing how long since I haven't been updating my blog. I was either busy or just not in the mood for writing. What has transpired? Here are they:

1. I've been literally out of work for three weeks because of a "personal training" (as my boss would say) with Sun Microsystems. I took System Administration courses for Solaris 10, which is the latest version of this operating system that I am hopeful of creating a new career with. It was a good training that is very much worth our money.
2. My wife's grandmother just died. Though we did not became that close because she was too old to appreciate some things, she was always dragged by my wife's aunts in all of our memorable occasions. Lola wore this nice violet dress twice during our wedding and my daughter's baptism. She also danced pretty well when my daughter celebrated her first birthday that made everybody happy. I always make it a point to get her hand and have her bless me everytime I see her around. The family would surely miss the old woman. Have a great journey Lola!

3. We spent Mother's day in a private pool resort in Los Banos. It was actually more of a reunion on my father side which gathered quite a lot from the clan. The nice thing when it comes to gatherings with my father's family is that they always have plenty of crabs and large shrimps on the table. I never got to taste this shelled creatures since I got married because my wife is allergic to them. Though its not really my favorite, I enjoyed feasting on them together with my cousins that I ate one large fat crab and a couple of giant shrimps for myself. Harharhar! Delicioso!

4. I have two high school friends who celebrated their birthdays this month. I was fortunate enough to spend lunch with one of them. We got a lot of cathcing up but it was sad to hear how bad things are going with her right now. This girl has a fair share of ups and downs that why I'm always the happiest for all her success, may it be love or career. Happy birthday to the both of you!

5. Our household help got fired again on one rainy week day. For more juicy details, click this. The search is on again!

6. We celebrated post-Mother's Day in Island Cove, Cavite. Though my initial plan was a trip to tagaytay and the zoo that they have there, it was still fun to have quality and enjoyable time spent with my wife and daughter. They have quite large swimming pools and also a 2-feet pool that is just right for my daughters height. We spent the whole afternoon cooling by the pool and went home happy with little tan on our shoulders and back. This is the LIFE!

Back Track (part 5 of 5)

2005-04-18T17:17:00.000+08:00

The New Look (APRIL 6, 2005)

Ashley actually had curls when she was born. Though we always wonder where this gene came from, it was really cute especially partnered off with her big round eyes. When the time came that it was safe for us to put kikay accesories on her hair, we decided on placing tiny cute clamps 'maipilit lang talaga'. As her hair grew, tiny clamps became medium hello kitty clamps, then clips and finally ribbons! It was a bangs year last year so with a riboned hair came bangs. Bangs was always a must-have to hide a little bit of forehead bestowed upon by beloved grandad-tatay.

We had her first haircut after her birthday. It was a trim just to cut off the elongating bangs meddling with her eyes. It was not long after this that her hair grew dry and scaly, we even noticed split-end-like appearance among her curls. I prefer not to really cut her hair because I would want it long (ala princess talaga!) but thank goodness that my wife insisted. Now, I would like to commend the Reyes Hair Cutters (La Huerta, Paranaque Branch) for the nice boy cut they did for my daughter. Take a look.

Back Track (part 4 of 5)

2005-04-11T18:03:00.000+08:00

The Asian Hospital Experience (APRIL 4-6, 2005)

My brother texted me one hot and lazy Monday morning and told me that Papa, Mi Papa, got confined at Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang. I rushed immediately to the sought after hospital in the metro and inquired what happened with my father as I drive on my way there. He suffered lower back pains and could not stand up that morning. Upon arriving at the hospital, besides being worried, I was not disappointed with my expectations on how cozy the place looked (heheheh!). With a spacious driveway separating the medical center from the hospital, the free basement and public parking, the hotel-ambiance lobby, the classic sound of a grand piano playing, a clean cafeteria, a number of shiny elevators, glass walls overlooking filinvest corporate city and most of all a hospital without the hospital scent, this hospital really tops it all.

Going back to worrying, I learned that my Dad initially had an x-ray before he was admitted. I volunteered to accompany him during his stay since it was vacation time in our work and being the really good son that I am (yeba!). I was there in almost all the doctor's visits and nurse's rounds so I am likely in a good position to evaluate their service. And...tada! I give them a FAILING grade of 60%. Why is that? To begin with, we were not even sure of who's my dad's doctor. There were a total of 5 doctors who visited and only one knew what she was doing - in my opinion. Most of them (the ortho's) just asked the same questions and came to our room not knowing of my father's x-ray result. Three days expired and nobody updated us of the damn initial x-ray result. Though he was suggested to undergo theraphy by a certain doctor and the orthos said that he would not undergo operation, I think they still left some data unevaluated. We even requested and approved of an executive check up but the funny things was, we were discharged without knowing the result. It's ridiculous!!! To add up to their ugly-system, upon leaving the hospital, nobody even told us of what to do and what medicine to take if the pain goes back. Arghhhh! The only part that made the remark 60% is their rehab room (where my dad had his theraphy), their courteous nurses even under pressuring circumtances (which my mom showed off) and the exemplary ambiance. I do not hate doctors in general (I'm even a wannabe), but what I just want them to fulfill is to make the patient understand of what are they really going thru and not make them overstay and prolong the results which are evaluated based on their availability!!! Goodness gracious talaga oh!

Asian Hospital and Medical Center

Back Track (part 2 of 5)

2005-04-08T17:00:00.000+08:00

Wonder Woman (MARCH 13, 2005)

Being the ever excited parents as we are, we attended this costume birthday party at Jollibee East Ave. prepared by no other than our 'ma-gimik na kumare'. It was Ashley's first costume party besides her own birthday party before that we had three wardrobe-ala-costume changes just for that event. Anyway, we bought her a stunning wonder woman costume and were excited to win an inflatable swimming pool as a prize for that. Of course, numerous costume rehearsals, picture takings and video coverages again happened even before the event took place. I was skeptical of winning the costume contest because we only bought ready-made off the racks of SM. But then, we have the support of her numerous Ninongs and Ninangs, who will be judges and will also attend the party, so I felt little confidence on that.

Come costume-birthday party, we were one of the guests who attended early. Of course she was the cutest again with her super hero costume versus 4 spidermans, superman, batman, lilo, ballerina/fairy, and an undefined creature costume. It was until this girl dressed as jasmine arrived that we felt walking out of the room already. She had dangling precious stones all over her dress plus a really nice elf/genie shoes. HMP! HMP! HMP! And the winner is...JASMINE!!! (Booo! Booo!) And yes, we lost. I even verified the judges votes and it came out that it was a close fight though (6 votes Jasmine, 4 votes Wonder Woman). We left the party so devastated (O.A. db?) that we rushed to SM Manila to buy our own bigger and better inflatable swimming pool complete with pump. Hahaha! I think the prize is really not for us because we would not have the bigger and better one if we won (hehehe, loosers weepers!).

Back Track (part 1 of 5)

2005-04-06T18:00:00.000+08:00

Haaaaay nako....its been a month now since this blog went to hiatus and I think its about time to update it. I made a deal with my friend dowa before to make our blogs blogged at least once a year, yada yada yada, and I'm surprise that she even had more blogs that i have, huwhaaaat!? Well, cant blame her, she's more talkative than I am (proven and tested na yan!) harharhar!

Ashley's First Swimming (SATURDAY, MARCH 05, 2005)

This is history already you know but of course, I would not want to forget this thing so I must put it to blog. The location was only in a certain resort in Cavite that had two swimming pools, not that nice but ok na rin. We were excited doing our swimming-shopping and bought a two-piece bathing suit, cute salbabida (lifesaver?), and a girlie hat. We tried the complete outfit many times at home just to brag her daring outfit to her lolo's and lola's. Of course she was undeniably cute (besides having a big tummy)! During the swimming, we plunge into the pool only twice but she enjoyed it very well. It was funny when she got chilly after a while. Well, blame it on the skimpy attire! P.S. Forgot to bring our camera so I'll just post a picture next time she goes swimming.

To be continued:
Wonder Woman (MARCH 13, 2005)
Galera Year 3 (MARCH 19-20, 2005)
An Asian Hospital Experience (APRIL 4-6, 2005)
The New Look (APRIL 6, 2005)

Baby Talk

2005-03-07T12:28:00.000+08:00

This is my first time to write a blog about my daughter. She's about 1 year and three months now and in the stage of baby talking. This blog would not be possible if I was not elated with the way she says 'dah-deeee' over and over again yesterday. Though this was not the first time I heard it, its so overwhelming when she says it together with her other baby talkies. Here's a run down of the words she already knows.

1. 'bee' - said with much excitement. This, of course, is short for the infamous Jollibee. Even the Mcdo, Shell, Petron or any establishment with almost the same colors are Jollibee for her.
2. 'mhing' - said in a very high tone whenever she see cats. She likes pulling their fluffy tails whenever they purr around. Short for muning.
3. 'doh' - short for dog with out the letter g. She screams sometimes when dogs are running; she thought they are playing with her.
4. ‘burrr’ – means birds. Because she usually sees birds perching over electric posts, that is why, its automatic for her to look up when posts are around.
5. ‘fish’ – her perfect word, of course, meaning fish. Anything that swims in an aquarium.
6. ‘hos’ – coined when she watched Spirit (a Disney movie with horses as lead). Short for horse.
7. 'peer!' - short for appear!/up here!/high five!
8. 'mum,mum!' - said abruptly, means give me water even she' not thirsty. Usually said when there’s a glass around.
9. 'dorrrrrrra' - said with her tongue playing around her lips. Comes from the Spanish series explora Dora whom she loves watching very much.
10. 'ba-pa' - short for backpack. Has its own jingle in Dora the Explorer series that is why she recalls and says it easily.
11. ‘meee’ – short for mommy.
12. ‘dah-dee’ – short for daddy. Sometimes becomes ‘ba-bee’.

Jollibee, Dora and the other animals should be proud because our daughter uttered their names first before the names mommy and daddy. Hmp!

Long Time No Blog...

2005-02-23T03:50:00.000+08:00

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)

2005-02-16T15:53:00.000+08:00

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!

2005-02-16T03:29:00.000+08:00

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

2005-02-12T07:10:00.000+08:00

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

2005-02-11T03:45:00.000+08:00

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

2005-02-08T02:30:00.000+08:00

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

2005-02-06T09:05:00.000+08:00

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!