Astoria's Call for "Free Food"

Free food is always nice… it is probably the best tasting food on Earth no matter where it is bought. It would even be better if you find out that the food you will be eating will come from a five star restaurant.

Literally just a couple of minutes ago, Jackie received a call from a particular representative of Café Astoria, telling her that she won a buffet dinner for two in one of their hotels in Ortigas, Pasig. Being the food lover that she is, Jackie immediately contacted me through my Yahoo Messenger and we began to chat about it.

The “promo” sounded nice and they even threw in free hotel lodging in Bohol for 3 days and 2 nights, provided we decide to buy tickets to fly all the way to the location. According to her, the Astoria representative was really nice and the call lasted around 7 minutes.

We're Not Crazy, Our Kid is Just a Little Unwell

It is always a heartbreaker when your kid is suffering from an illness, even if that particular illness is as simple as common cold and cough.

It is even harder when seemingly, every time your kid gets sick, one of the parents get the similar sickness that the kid is having.

This has been our case in the house. A couple of weeks ago, our son had an issue with the milk he was drinking that gave him a bad case of diarrhea. He got it probably due to the milk container not being sterilized properly. It took 10 days before we finally figured out what was causing the problem, after trying several stuff to find a cure for his ailment.

People I Wouldn’t Want To Meet On the Street

I basically walk eight blocks every day. That’s around 15 minutes or 10 if you walk fast enough. Our office is located along Amorsolo St. and I get off in front of PBCom Tower to start my treading work out. Walking is just fine though it can be terrible sometimes especially when it’s raining heavily.

It’s during this time when I become observant of everything around me, the people that I meet along the way and their outfit, the buildings, the shops, the cars, the traffic enforcers, the vendors, the homeless, the trees etc. And it’s also the best time to ponder so many things.

Weekend Getaway In My Hometown

Since it was a long weekend, we went to visit our family in Nueva Ecija. We really love it when we're home. The air's fresh, the food's great and everything seems all desirable.

Here are some of the pictures we took during that time.

Hush, hush... baby's asleep.

REM's First Photo Shoot

This is actually his third costume and he's no longer in a good mood. It's not supposed to be a family picture but we had to accompany the crying baby. We really wanted him to have a solo penguin picture but we're left with no choice.

Jitters Before Father's Day

Today, our son went home to the province together with his grandmother to have a little vacation of their own. Honestly, it is a bit heartbreaking to see him leave, especially this morning when we accompanied them out and called for a cab.

It is quite different when you are already used to seeing a little tyke inside the house. Our son REM simply makes our day easier the moment we get home from a long day’s work. It is like having to remove all our worries and stress literally when we see him. He does not even have to do anything… all we need is the sight of him and everything is fine. Since he will not be around, the house will surely be a lot quieter.

Reality Bites

Yesterday I forgot to bring my wallet so our day became like a chapter in the series of unfortunate events. Even though my husband and I go to work together he also couldn’t do something about it because I’m the treasurer at home.

We were in Guadalupe market when we realized that we couldn’t afford to buy dinner (because I left my wallet) and since it’s already close to payday so it's also the time when people become really tight to their budget, whew!

Now here comes the first reality. Why do most of the salary men receive their compensation on the 15th and 30th of the month? Why can’t those capitalists give their money at least a day before the date so these meager salary men don’t have to wait for a very long queue in the supermarket? Anyway, the payroll has been made ahead of time and each company is also following the same cliché of cut off dates.

REM

Our kid is already six months old today and we just couldn't be happier!

-TENSAI_13-

Have you had your coffee today?

In the office whenever someone would tell me, “Coffee tayo,” I would simply smile and say, “I just had one this morning”. Coffee has become a vital part of our breakfast table ever since my husband and I decided to move to a daytime job. It is actually his duty to make the coffee because he can do it really well (everyone in the family loves it). In the morning, I would wake up early to cook breakfast then I’ll wake him up to take out the trash and then brew coffee after. So, literally and figuratively, I am the reason why he wakes up in the morning to start his day.

RH Bill... Raising Hope?

There have been lots of talks, debates, and quarrels regarding the very infamous Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill). It is in some way distressing that the government and the Catholic Church seem to have equal power when it comes to governing the country, similar to how the Spanish government ruled the Philippines some hundred years ago.

I am in no way pro or anti on this debate; however, the bill, for all purpose of fairness, has a lot of good points when it comes to the way they want things to carry on.

Family From My Perspective

How do you define family?

Different people give different answers for this question; however, according to my former pastor, “A family is not what you have now like your father and mother, or brother and sister, but the members that you are going to build in the future.” Maybe it was one of his ways to encourage the members of the church, particularly those who came from broken families, to be inspired and not to lose hope that someday they will also have a perfect family to call their own.

Rolly Ethelbert

Rolly Ethelbert...