Cutty

When we held TATLO at the CCP, we thought it was the end of the cycle.  Apparently, our conductors wanted another round.  Japan's Gaia Philharmonic Choir took us to Sapporo, Japan's winter destination.   I can't believe that was two years ago.  Then on December 2014, it was Singapore's SYC Ensemble Singers' turn to host the event. This was my first time to join the Singapore leg of the choral festival.  I am glad I did.  It was my fourth visit to Singapore but there were still lots of firsts during this visit. 1.  I got to sing at the Esplanade.  Apparently, it rhymes with "made" not with "mad."  That's how the locals pronounce it.  Though old already, the facilities are quite impressive.   2.  Vic and I arrived two days early so we got to explore the Bugis area.  We used to be confined along Orchard Rd. 3.  Our previous visits were with family so went with what's familiar.  This time Vic and I go...

You may have heard about the   change of mall hours.   This was done to ease up traffic along EDSA during the Holiday Season. Did you feel any change in traffic?   Were you more inconvenienced?     I was willing to give it a try until I realized how it was NOT working for me. I am a hands-on mother.   I drive my kids home from school when I don’t need to go my workplace.   I squeeze in shopping for the home and Christmas presents during the 1 hour window before pick-up time.   Now that they’ve delayed opening mall doors by 1 hour, I’ve lost that window.    I must not be the only one affected by this. Last night, I was making my way home from Makati at 10:30PM.   I got home at midnight.   The heavy traffic was all because malls were open till 11PM.   After passing Robinsons Galleria, the drive was literally a breeze.   All 60 minutes was spent crawling the roads of EDSA from Estrella to Poveda. ...

Patience is what I prayed for today. It is what you'd ask for too, if you've been exposed to non-stop bickering, demanding kids, had inadequate sleep, experiencing PMS, and have encountered difficult individuals. It was a challenge.  I lost it a couple of times too.  It was so difficult to hold on to my temper.  I am glad I survived the day. I usually feel this way when I haven't had the chance to unwind.  I hope I find time to relax soon because next week is Sem Break. ================ When I need to de-stress, I resort to these cheap relaxation techniques: 1.  Bubble bath 2.  Uninterrupted sleep 3.  Reading romance novels 4.  Window shopping 5.  Breathing exercises 6.  Singing songs I grew up with 7.  Praying and Meditating How about you? How do you relax?

If you fly Philippine Airlines most of the time, you must have earned some mileage from your flights.  I have been flying PAL ever since I can remember, but I haven't redeemed any miles from those flights.  There was always some reason not to.  I never had enough for my desired destination or I found out too late that 7000 miles have expired. Now, it seems that PAL is making it easier for us to avail of these "rewards."  Just recently, the came out with Great Miles Getaway where you can redeem flights for less mileage requirements. Case in point:  Domestic flights may be redeemed for 3200 miles or less.  Regional flights (Asia) may be availed for 10,000 Mabuhay Miles, down from the usual 20,000 miles for a round-trip ticket. Here is screen capture of their email blast Don't expect to get everything for free.  The passenger still has to cover taxes and other fees which are still quite substantial.  Expect to wait long when making reservat...

Preparing for a trip as big as what we had a couple of months ago, entailed putting our lives on hold.  What little time I had left was spent with family, sleep and errands.  So, when I got back from our month-long trip, I immersed myself on things that I put on hold:  housework, spa business, school involvement and pampering myself. It seemed that the time away from everything brought me back the focus I needed.  It was quite a refresher.   At home,  I was left with one househelp to deal with 3 kids and 1 infant, chores and cooking.  At work, I was bombarded with personnel and financial issues.  I had to deal with theft, firing an employee and hiring a replacement.  In between all those, I had to juggle chauffering the kids to school, nursing asthmatic kids and training the kids to be self-reliant individuals.  They had to help with chores, keeping the house clean, preparing their clothes and stuff for school.  We were all mult...

I've been singing almost all my life.  I've been part of the Glee Club ever since I can remember.  The only times I spent away from singing were times when work didn't allow me to attend rehearsals and when I was pregnant with my first-born, Johann. Though I didn't make a career out of singing, it consumed most of my time.  It was my 2nd highest priority, right next to my family.  I belong to a group of friends who would give up our jobs for singing.  That's how important this craft is to us.  We plan our lives around our singing engagements.  Yes, minsan sagabal ang pag-aaral at trabaho sa pagkanta. Being a chorister gave me an exposure to the world that I couldn't get anywhere else.  I've been lucky to be part of a singing group that had good conductors.  It helped me hone my craft. Just recently, singing took me away from my loved ones. It whisked me to Europe once again, to see how our musicality fared against the greatest from all ...

                                  This big baby is now 7 months old.  He is still a happy baby with the usual tantrums.  We've started giving him solids several weeks ago.  He enjoys eating rice cereal with mashed banana.  The more he fills up, the more he resembles his first Kuya.  He can now do pull-ups and stand on his own.  He loves playing in his tub during bath time, having his hair brushed and hearing people sneeze. Joaquin can also imitate some sounds.  He calls everyone but Mama.  He used to call me “Dede” when he wants to nurse.  But now that I’ve had that one month hiatus from breastfeeding, he won’t latch anymore.  He just screams "dede" when he is sleepy and hungry. Being the youngest, we've given in to most of his whims.  He likes to be carried a lot.  Unlike his older siblings who can b...

Meet the youngest member of the family, Joaquin Lorenzo. He will be 8 weeks old in a couple of days.  Time flies.  He is no longer the fussy, always-hungry baby we met a few weeks ago.  It is a good thing that he has adjusted to his siblings' noise.  Thankfully, he still sleeps most of the time.  His waking hours are longer this time.  He spends it talking to Mama or staring at the ceiling fan. He also enjoys listening to his sibling's singing.  He smiles a lot and can hold his head up during tummy time. Since he is our fourth child, it seemed that I've already run out of names.  It took Vic and me several months to decide on a name.  Then I remembered I've always like the names Joaquin and Lorenzo. Joaquin means the Lord exalts Lorenzo means from the place of laurels I had no idea that those names are quite popular these days, due to a telenovela, no doubt. Now that you've met the newest addition to our family, help us welcome...

Why do I love summer? ... seeing the sun shining bright on a lazy morning ... we can lounge in bed longer ... no early morning "waking up" drama and sermons ... Vic doesn't need to leave early for work ... we don't rush around as much ... we don't have to deal with homework ... children get to play outdoors more ... traffic is not as heavy ... scheduled trips ... more time to do other things, like focus on the business, prepare for trips, rehearse with the choir, etc. ... more baking time  ... children get to learn about chores ... less (domestic) stress for me  What do you love about summer?

The power of a kid's prayer is really strong. An hour after the kids' bedtime prayer, I felt consistent contractions, 5 minutes apart lasting 1 minute each. To think that 6 hours prior, my OB said I haven't started dilating.  It was a quick delivery. When we arrived at the hospital, I was already 4cms dilated. An hour or so later, I am 7cms dilated. I was afraid that the epidural might not take effect.  At 1:19 am, I gave birth to our fourth child, Joaquin Lorenzo. Vic jokingly calls him JLo. Pwede ding JLaw. I think I'll call him Wax. Bahala na.  Here is our latest family picture 

I know I am a couple of weeks behind.  But, please allow me to do my annual round-up. It was all about new beginnings, new experiences and new opportunities. I didn't realize it but 2013 was still filled with trips with family and friends.  It didn't feel like it towards the latter half. In the first quarter, there was Hokkaido, the center of the Japanese Winter Festival.  I was happy to experience snow once again.  After 10 years, I remembered how pretty but inconvenient it could be.  It was en route to Hokkaido that I experienced being disembarked at the snowy tarmac of Busan, with no warning.  Walking in the snow was fun.  Slipping on ice wasn't.  Dressing up in layers, donning snow boots, drying skin, being driven in a taxi slipping on ice weren't my ideas of fun.  I was glad to see that the THREE in Hokkaido trip reflect things we've started in TATLO.  It just affirmed that we did something right. Then there was our US trip....