Christmas Day

December 25, Tuesday, Christmas Day; we all woke up late that morning. At 10:00am, Claire together with my in laws went to Dasmariñas Bayan to catch up the last mass for that day. We were not able to go with them, because we are expecting our “inaanaks” to visit us anytime that day.

Before lunch time, they sent a text message that they decided to go to our relative in Amadeo, Cavite. When they arrived there, Ate Susan and Kuya Ruben were looking for us and our son, they just told them that their visit was not planned and we are expecting visitors.

Late that afternoon, we went to our co-employee, friend, and neighbor. my husband brought a wine to share with the boys and some chicken nuggets that I cooked (not the ready to fry, available at supermarkets) for the kids and us to enjoy. There we just have a small conversation while our kids were playing.

Christmas Eve

December 24, Monday, supposed to be I have to report for work today, but my in laws requested me not to go to work that day. The company has a full force work operation until 6 pm, but I guess if there will be issues, my technicians will just call me.

That morning I prepared all the ingredients for the Christmas Eve which includes: relyenong bangus, roasted chicken, spaghetti, and ham.

At around 10:00 pm, when I finished coking, I take a rest at our bedroom while watching TV. I was half asleep when my husband woke me up for the Noche Buena. He also woke up Adrian at the other room.

After eating; we opened our gifts and great each other, have a little conversation and we all go to sleep at around 1:00am.

Star City and MOA

December 23, Sunday, we picked up my in laws at the terminal. They will be celebrating the Christmas with us. We decided to wait for them at SM Dasmariñas, where there were still a lot of people taking up the last minute shopping for the holidays. At around 11:00am they arrived at the nearby terminal; Jelmar decided to pick them up alone and told us to wait in the SM Appliance Center. When they arrived, we looked for a fastfood chain where we can have our lunch, but unluckily all foot stalls were already occupied. We decided to go to Max’s restaurant at Dasmariñas, but still it was already occupied because there was a celebration going on. We then move to Makro Imus where a Jolibee is located. After having the lunch, Adrian asked if we can go to Star City where Dino Island is located. His in laws approved on it, and also Jelmar told them that we will also go to MOA.

This is the first time Adrian at Star City. But, he always saw it and knew it because we are passing through it when going to Malabon or Manila. The line at the entrance is very long, and the main entrance is full of people waiting for their tickets.

After seeing the Dino Island, we then decided to go to the MOA. We bought new pair of shoes for my husband, and my in laws. Then we ate at Yellow Cab pizza. Adrian already missed their pizza. The nearest Yellow Cab here in cavite is located at Tagaytay.

Then we decide to watch a movie at I-max. This is the second time we watch at I-max (first time for my in laws and Claire). We hope Adrian will appreciate it more today, last year he only wore the 3D glasses half of the movie. The movie currently now showing at I-max is the Polar Express. We already watched that movie at the cable TV but we still decided to watch it on 3D.

Christmas Party

Last December 14, Friday; we had our Company Christmas party. Although everybody is excited for the party we still have to work until 3:00 pm that afternoon. The party will be held at the parking area of the new building or what we call the World Wide Distribution Center. We have been using the parking space of that building for three consecutive years now. We previously used the Sports and recreation center for I think two years, but since the company population has grown big, the space cannot accommodate us. We also previously rented other reception hall as venue for our Christmas party in the late 90’s and early 2000, but there is no more venue hall that can accommodate a population close to 4000. That is not the only the main reason; we can also save money if we will not rent a venue. Instead of putting the budget to the venue the management decided to invite some artist and bands to entertain the employees. We used to have co-employees hosts and performs for us then (the company also have talented employees that can sing, dance and they also formed a band); but the management realizes that the employee should not the one on the stage performing, but instead they were the one to be entertained.

This years Christmas Party Theme is Retro. Same with the other Christmas Party we still have the dance contest and other raffle to give away to its employees. Well, Ate Maricel was lucky to won a colored TV that night. Me, I was not lucky in the raffle, last year my husband won a gift check.

The guest artist were, Janel Jamer who hosts the entire program; Katya Santos, Belinda Bright, and Jenny Miller performs a dance showdown. While the Sabado boys Paolo Santos, Luke Mejares, Tap Suzara, Mike Chan and DJ Mike serenade the employees with acoustic and RNB songs.

Night Swimming at Laguna

Yesterday December 12, was not only my husband’s birthday but also the Christmas party for Equipment Engineering. At the very moment the date of the party was set, I told my boss that I may not be able to come because it is my husband’s birthday. They suggested that I can invite my husband to the party and at the same time celebrate his birthday. I told my husband about it, but he is not in the idea of joining the party because he may felt out of place or maybe we may discuss something confidential on that party. He told me that he will let me attend the party, but I will have to leave early (the party is an overnight swimming). We decided to move the celebration of his birthday this weekend.

Being in charge with the food, I together with Alain, Alou and Sir Abet leave the company early at around 3pm. We buy fish (tilapia, we did not buy bangus because an engineer brought 10 bangus), Chicken, Liempo, vegetables and other supplies at SM Dasmariñas. After that we bought fruits (banana, pineapple and green mango) at a fruit stand along the way.

We arrived at the venue at around 6:30 pm; we are expecting the guests to arrive at 7:00pm, so we have to move fast. Sir Abet and Alain started to grill the liempo, Alou cooks the sinampalokang manok while I took care of cooking the rice. Past 7 pm when the guests started to come by batch. They also helped us to fasten the cooking of the food, even our managers helped in cooking.

We started the party with a prayer, and then we have our dinner. After that some decided to swim, others enjoyed playing cards (with no money involved – I guess the looser will have a shot of win instead), while others are enjoying the videoke (Filipinos loves to sing). I am texting with my husband, who is waiting for me to come home. He told me that he was with our common friend Francis in SM Dasmariñas. Francis broke up the news that he has just submitted his resignation that day - effectivity of the resignation will be on January 12.

At around 11pm we decided to leave. We (Aries, Alou and Jeff) are lucky because Alain also will leave the party that time; he has an everyday commitment to drive his mother every morning to work. It is very difficult to commute from Laguna to Cavite especially those times.

I had a Fever

Yesterday, I had a schedule check-up on WellCare Clinic, and after having lunch at KFC, we went to Festival Mall Alabang. We are looking for a minus one CD for Claire. She will be joining a singing contest here in our subdivision. We already looked at SM dasma and bacoor, and also at Robinson Imus and Dasma but we are not able to found a minus one CD of the song that she wanted to sing. So our last option is to go to Alabang, and we were lucky to found that she was looking for. Adrian had a ride to his favorite mini-car race. We will also buy shoes for Adrian, but that I told my husband that I was not feeling well and we better go home.

At home, I checked my temperature and I had a slight fever, the reading on thermometer is 37.7, and I am chilling. My husband gave me paracetamol, and told me that if the fever will not go down until tomorrow, we will have to go to the hospital or clinic to have a check-up. Today I decided not to go to work, even though I am already well, my husband told me that I still have to rest.

Pre-Christmas Party

December 1, 2007, our group held our pre-Christmas party at Pansol, Laguna. Pansol is known for hot spring swimming pool/resort. We rented a private pool for the group. I, together with Fernan, was assigned with the seafoods. He lives near the poblacion at Rosario, Cavite; we decided to get our seafoods there to make sure that it is fresh and it is cheaper there. My husband and I went to Fernan’s house at around 3:00 am and we went to the poblacion. We bought tahong, talaba, maya-maya, alimasag, squid, bangus and tilapia.

At around 8:00 am we pick up Jonathan, Fernan and Ivan at Robinson Pala-pala, while Mike decided to wait for the others who will commute to the place. We arrived at the location at 9:00 am. We preparing for the food, when Edgar and his wife and children arrived. I did not bring Adrian to the occasion because, I was assigned to cook the food and my husband told me that I may not be able to do my duties if we will bring him. His wife helped in cooking the sinigang na maya-maya and the rice. It is almost 12:00nn when Raymond and MJ with his wife came from the nightshift duty; just in time for the lunch. Edgar led the prayer before meal. After eating lunch, the guys were busy swimming at the pool, while others were drinking some beer and singing in the videoke.

Maintenance Training

November 28-29, I conducted maintenance training for line maintenance technicians for Temptronic Precision Temperature Forcing System. It is one of our functions to trained newly hired technicians; we do have a training group which conducts mostly of the basic and overview training and maintenance, but in case they are fully loaded or the one assigned to that particular machine is not available, we have to serve as resource person.

The attendees were not new technicians, one of them came from manufacturing as operator and was promoted to technician after finishing a technician course, the other were in their 1 and a half year in the company, but are well experienced from other semicon companies. The other attendee is almost on her seventh year. The machine is not new to them; actually they have been using it for quite some time. They just have to be certified to use this machine, unless they will be audited from setting up machines which they are not certified.

The training mostly on the question and answer, they ask me questions and the parts, or areas that they are confused and I will give them the best answer according to my knowledge (in reference to what I know and the operations manual of the machine).

Overall, the training is good and I hope I delivered the knowledge that they needed in the setting up the machine.

Two major down and meeting an old friend

This morning, I told my supervisor that I will not attend the daily coordination meeting; this is because I read in the e-mails that I have two machines under major down and is currently unattended. We have only one technician on duty last night who is also attending to another equipment under PM and also been called by the manufacturing to attend to some line down. The daily meeting starts at 8:15 and ends at around 9:30, while our technician on duty for today will be reporting at 10:00, so I decided to start working with one of the two machines.

I still feel pressured while doing the repair like the way I used to feel when I was just starting in this kind of work. The only difference then is now is a little bit higher on their expectations. Being considered as an expert on that machine (I myself believe that I still have to learned a lot) or well experienced (I think this is the best term), they will expect that I can release it immediately.

I am already on the fine tuning on one machine when my technician arrived at past 10:00 am. He used to report on phase 2 building, while our major repair is at the phase 1 building. With his help we released one machine at around 1:30 pm. He was also called to attend line down, so I was left again working alone in the other machine. I was about to install a part of the machine when I saw that there were 4 broken screws on the base plate. Luckily we have a spare, but it is almost 3:00 pm, Kuya Aries arrived and reminded me of our TQM meeting (I am a co-leader of the calibration personnel). My technician is not yet around so I grab a pen and paper to write down my findings.

After the meeting I assisted my technician in the repair, again we found another defective part. This time we do not have a spare, so we decided to borrow from another machine. We went to the parking area of idle machine to get the part. In the other room, I saw our old friend Kuya Cesar. He was a service engineer of another type of machine, but now he is working in China – our subcontractor. We had some chat about his work abroad and his family. I had to cut the good conversation with him because; the shuttle bus is leaving at 4:45pm.

Additional tasks

After our daily coordination meeting, my supervisor told me to stay for a while. He told me that he is planning on giving me additional tasks, (tasks – which means not only one). Kuya Wowie will have a three months training on US, he told me that I will handle his job and do his functions while he is away. It was mixed emotions, I am happy because, my supervisor choose me because he believes that I can do it, and a little sad because, with my current load at work, I think I will be overloaded. Right after I learned about that plan, I told my co-engineers about it, they told me that they think it will not be temporarily, because Kuya Wowie will be transferred to a new department when his training is done. Well, I hope that will not happen, if that so I will have to bargain on my work loads. Previously I also given up some other tasks to co-employee. Kuya Wowie’s tasks were big and with a very wide range. He handles the whole Preventive Maintenance System of our Department, handles the equipment conversion kit, transfers, incoming equipment, scrapping, housekeeping, dummy units, tools and etc. I used to cover up to him when he is on-leave and the maximum of two weeks when he had his training in Germany. This maybe the reason why my boss trusts me with these, it is still not yet final. I am still wishing for the best – maybe a help from my other co-engineers will do.

Analog Bowling Tournament

November 19, this is the day of the invitational bowling tournament for Analog Employees. It was held at Metropolis Alabang at 6:45 pm. It was my husband’s off, while I still have to work until 4:45. After work I rode the shuttle bus that is bound to Imus and my husband will just pick me up.

A total of fourteen lanes were occupied by the Analog employees, with 4 players per lane. The remaining lanes were occupied by a company which is also having their tournament.

There were awards given for the high scoring for men and women. My first game is not that good, I only scored 87, my second game, I was lucky to have two strikes on the second game but was not able to do all the spares (I am not good in spares) and I scored 114. My third game; has also two strikes and I scored 95, but again was not able to do the spares. After three games, they announced the top 5 for women and men. My husband was in a different lane that time, so I was not able to get his scores, but he is a lot better than me in bowling. Expectedly I was not in the top 5 for women, but my husband was able to grab the rank five for men.

The program ended almost 10:00 pm. With Aries and Gen we decided to have a quick snack Hot Shots were they served grilled burgers. It is already past 11:00 pm when we arrived at the Malagasang Imus and we saw that there were no more jeepneys, so my husband told Gen and Aries that we are going to drop them off to their boarding house.

My Husband’s Honesty Award

November 14, 2007, our company held the quarterly Honesty award in our cafeteria to acknowledge employees who have shown honesty in their own little way. My husband Jelmar is one of the awardees. Actually it is his second time receiving this kind of recognition. The first time was last year, when he returned a cellular phone owned by co-employee and this time he found a necklace while he is walking in the production aisle.

Performance Review

November is the month of performance review. I was on the office area and was looking for the in charge in mechanical fabrication, when my supervisor asked me if he can discuss to me the performance review. I told him that I was about to see mechanical group for I have some machine parts for fabrication, but it will not take long, because I already discussed it with them.

After giving the part to the mechanical group, I went to my supervisor’s table which is a few cubicles away. We then go to a vacant room to discuss my performance. He handed me the report and on the front page, I saw my rating. Well, to be honest I was a little surprise for the rating, it is a little bit high than what I am expecting. The report has a total of 6 pages, the next pages shows the detailed part of the rating, including comments regarding how he came up with the rating. The last page contains the next goal for me and my supervisor’s plan. Being an associate equipment engineer, I am currently paired with an equipment engineer, whom is giving me guidance in my new job function. He told me that in the coming months or years, I will be ready to stand on my own. I am having second thoughts about it; especially I was not used to handling people. I used to be a follower and a leader, but not an administrator type. He told me that he will give me training for both personal and technical development that might be helpful to me.

Overall, I was satisfied about my performance rating.

Search for new puzzle project

Saturday afternoon, as planned we went to Alabang town center to look for my new puzzle project. One of my puzzles was bought in the Hobbes and Landes (Alabang Town Center), the other four puzzles were bought at Puzzle Dazzle (Festival Mall Alabang). Well, I am looking for a puzzle of Van Gogh (Souvenir de Mauve), but unfortunately they do not have the puzzle that time. The store clerk handed me a business card so that I can call him to inquire if they already have the puzzle. My husband told me to buy other instead, so that I can do something while waiting for the puzzle that I want. So I took my tine to check on their puzzle display, I carefully look into each of the boxes (particularly for the size of the puzzle). There is one puzzle that caught my eyes; it is a panorama view of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. Well, it is not for me this time, I told my husband that I will give this puzzle for a friend as my gift. I hope that she will like it.

Afterwards we headed to the kids section of the mall to buy the Christmas Gifts for our “inaanaks”. I already had a checklist of the kids that we still have no gifts yet. I decided to do it on my own, while Adrian is busy playing at the small playground inside the mall, and Claire is closely watching him. My husband chose to sit on the bench nearby (he is not the type that will walk from stall to stall). When I found good buy items in their stall I will call my husband to have a second opinion.

Finally we are almost done with the gifts, only three of my nieces were left with no gift this time. We decided to have a snack at Hot Shots where they served delicious grilled burgers. No pizza this time for Adrian, he loves fries, but not crazy on burgers.

Monte Vista

October 28, 2007, a day after Papa’s birthday. We finally came up with a decision to celebrate it at Monte Vista Hot Spring Resort located at Calamba Laguna. At 8am, we picked-up Ate and Kyla and start to travel to Calamba. We do not know the exact location of the resort but we have an idea from the location map we had found in the internet site. When we got to the town proper of Calamba, my husband decided to stop and ask the police officer about the resort. Luckily we are still on the right way. From the directions given by the police man, we reach the location. At the parking area, we saw Adis and the rest of my family members (except Ate Litel and JR).

Adrian is excited to see his cousins (JC, Jeremy, Ellah, and Charlie). At the entrance, it is only Adrian who came up free (it is because he is only 3 feet tall) and Papa being a senior citizen has a discounted entrance fee.

The weather is a bit cloudy that day, but since it is a hot spring, the kids and the adults enjoyed the pool.

Car Show at Elizabeth Seaton

My husband is a big fan of cars, so whenever he got news of a car show taking place (especially when held in vicinity of Cavite), he will not it pass by without attending. The location is at Parking space of Elizabeth Seaton School here in Anabu Cavite, when we got there at around 4pm there are few car entries/displays in the area, maybe because it is still early. We decided to go first to Robinson Imus, Adrian is asking for a toy racing car for a week now. We also need to buy some things that we need for tomorrow’s swimming.

At 6pm, we decided to go to the car show. When we arrived in the location, the parking area is already full so we have to park the car few meters away (the main road in that area has four lanes, the two other lanes were used as parking). Adrian is excited to see cars (he loves cars too). My husband is looking for his friend Kuya Larry who also maintains his car, if they do have entry for that car show, when we got bumped with our former co-employee Erick. We have some chat, update on the current condition of the company he works for, he also told us that our co-employee/friend Denis was there few minutes ago with his wife Michelle. We also saw my husband’s friend Fritz, who also a former co-employee.

We have not seen an entry from Kuya Larry, last car show at island cove his car is the grand winner so we are thinking why he do not have an entry this time.

My First Time Using IM

October 25, Thursday – I was trying to connect with our internal messenger (it is same as yahoo messenger). It was Ate Leng-leng who asked me to sign in, it was there for about a year, but I will be using IM for the first time. After trying my best and failed to connect, I ask assistance from my co-employee, well they can’t believe that it is my first time to use that communicator. When I successfully signed-in, I saw Ate Leng-leng is already on-line. I ask her about her birthday yesterday, she said that she only brought spaghetti for her co-employees. When we were younger, I can still remember that we do not actually celebrate a birthday alone, in case that there were birthdays that will fall in the same month, it will be celebrated only once. Ate Leng-leng’s birthday is October 24, while Lala’s is October 19, and Papa’s is on October 27. We usually have it celebrated once to save money.

Ate Leng-leng is the one in-charge with Papa’s 60^th birthday. Our topic then is, where, when and who are coming. I had a meeting to attend at 830am and we did not yet come up with the final decision on the place. We agreed that she will go to Mama’s house after her work (which is until 2pm only) and she will advise me with the final decision tomorrow.

October 24, Wednesday – It is already 6:30 pm when I got home due to slow traffic at Aguinaldo Hi-way (near SM and Robinsons). When I arrived, my son asks about his father, because this morning my husband decided to drive me to the company due to heavy rains. He works until 9pm so I rode the shuttle bus going home.

After the dinner, I ask Adrian and Claire if they were able to continue the puzzle this afternoon. Claire replied that they tried but they stopped when it is down to the difficult part of the puzzle. This is the part when the color of the puzzle pieces seems to look the same. They spare it to me this time, I went upstairs to continue the puzzle while Adrian is busy playing his favorite computer game, while Claire is watching TV.

The remaining puzzle pieces were down to less than 100 this time. The puzzle pieces were really confusing this time so, I have to really take a closer look to each puzzle piece, I am lucky to have a 20/20 vision. There are times that you think that a puzzle piece will fit on that other piece, but when you put it together, it will not. After less than an hour, and a lot of patience, the puzzle is now finished. I brought down the puzzle, so that Claire and Adrian will saw the finished puzzled. They were both happy to see that it is already completed.

October 22, 2007 - Puzzle in the Making

October 22, Monday – When I got home from work around 6pm, Claire is already cooking the meal for the dinner – fried chicken as requested by Adrian. I decided to go upstairs to continue the puzzle which we have started to assemble yesterday afternoon. Adrian also joined me in the room while waiting for the chicken to be cooked. Claire is also helping this time on the puzzle. After eating our dinner, we decided to continue doing the puzzle while waiting for my husband to arrive. At around 10pm, the three of us were busy doing the puzzle that we have not heard the arrival of my husband. He told us to stop and go to bed and continue it tomorrow.

October 21, 2007 - Christmas Tree

October 21, Sunday – Early in the morning, I opened the box that was sitting in the Living are for a week now. It is the Christmas Tree, my husband took it from our room (under our bed-which is also serves as our storage for other things that we use occasionally). It was Adrian who is very excited to assemble the tree, usually we have it assembled after the “Undas”. I soaked it with soap and water and left to dry. When Adrian

went down, he saw that the box was already opened and he was happy to learn that we are going to assemble the tree after attending the mass.

Actually the Christmas Tree was here for about 5 years now, but it is the first time that we allow Adrian to help in putting it together.

October 20, 2007 - Festival Mall

October 20, Saturday as promised to Claire and Adrian, we went to Festival Mall. At first we were hesitant to go to the mall that day because of the bombing incident happened on Friday. This is because I experienced it myself on year 2000, I was in the mall with JC (my inaanak and first born of Ate Maricel). We are going to buy a baptismal dress for Ellah Mae (first born of Lala) but we decided to have a snack first. We are already done and about to go to the Kids section of the department store when we heard the loud explosion and followed by screams. We are lucky that the personnel of the food chain was alert that time that he managed to close the door of the store and he told the customers to go to the kitchen. We stayed there for an hour, until we heard an announcement that it is all clear.

Finally we decided to go, at least this time the security will be tight. Adrian is so thrilled to ride again the mini-car racing ride. My husband is still at the ticket counter but Adrian is already in the entrance of the ride; that is how much he is excited to try the ride again. He also rode in the train and the carousel. Afterwards we went to the kids section of the mall to look for the Christmas gift for our “inaanaks”. There we saw a nice dress, we bought two pieces and off we go (I usually start my shopping for Christmas gifts early October to November to avoid the rush). Our next stop was in the Puzzle Dazzle stall, I was not able to see the JigBoxx 1500-pc jigsaw puzzle - Souvenir de Mauve by Vincent van Gogh. We will try to look next time on other malls for my new project but for this time but bought a 500 pieces puzzle.

Today is Claire’s 17th birthday

Today is Claire’s 17^th birthday. I will cook pancit bihon that she will bring to school today for her friends. It is the first time she will be celebrating her birthday with us, however we have a work for this day. We promised her that we will go out this Saturday or Sunday to celebrate her birthday.

Our gift for her is a pink teddy bear and a birthday card. We choose to give her a teddy bear because she borrowed the teddy bear of Adrian and put it in her room. She loves to hug it when sleeping so we decided to give her one.

She was adopted sister of my husband. She was one of the children of the son of Tatay (my husband’s grandfather) to his second family. She was adopted since she was three years old, when my mother in law wanted to have another child. She knew it all from the start, because every year or whenever there is occasion, her true family visits her.

October 7, 2007- Feast of Sto. Rosario

October 7, 2007- This day is special, not only because of the awaited boxing match but most important it is the feast of Sto. Rosario. We attended the 7am mass at Sto Rosario Parish. My father in law was not able to come with us because we are expecting relatives to come on that day. He already attended the 6am mass at St. Claire so he decided to stay at the house and wait for the visitors.

After the mass we watched the band of PNU-Lopez performs outside the church.

Right after the presentation, we eat breakfast at Rospan (a small restaurant nearby). We ordered pansit bihon, lumpiang shanghai, rice, and fried chicken.

We then go to Monastery of St. Claire. Claire was a choir there; she wanted to see the "Monghas", (especially Sister Jovan) before we return to Cavite. It is the first Sunday of the month, so it is allowed to visit and talk with them.

After lunch, we decided to go home. We chose not to finish watching the boxing match because we know that there will be heavy traffic afterwards.

Quezon (October 6, 2007)

Jelmar and I woke up early to go to market. It was on the news two months ago that the public market of Lopez Quezon was destroyed by fire. Jelmar was curious to see the new market, so he suggested to his mother that we will be the one to buy the food for that day.

Well, the market is now organized compared to last time we saw it (last year). We went home with one kilo of tilapia, one kilo of bangus, and some vegetables.

At around 2pm, her cousin Angel (a teacher) came and we had some chat and around 3pm, Jelmar ask if we can go to the lot that she had just bought. Jelmar took some photos of the place. We also learned from Ate Vangie (mother of Angel) that the nearby lot was bought by her second child Ayi (who is also a teacher-in Don Bosco Makati). I played Chinese checkers with Alham (younger brother of Angel), whom I beat in that game.

After having a snack (maruya), we decided to visit the school nearby where Jelmar spent his elementary days. We took some photos and off we go to the nearby school few blocks away where Jelmar, Clare, Angel spent high school (Alham is 1^st year in that same school). We also took some photos of the place.

Our last spot is the oval, where we saw some students playing. The children seeing the oval, got excited and decided to run. We are too busy to notice that Adrian was carried away and run with his cousins. It caught my attention only when they are already in the half of the oval. We were worried if he can make it, it is good that Alham did not left him, he guided Adrian until they finished circling the oval.

On the way to Quezon (October 5, 2007)

Hearing the alarm at around 4am, we woke up and started to get ready for the trip to Quezon. We double check the bags that we had prepared last night if we do not have anymore things left unpacked. Adrian who is still feeling sleepy asked for some toys to be brought. He is looking for his yoyo, but we cannot find where he last put it. He also bargains about bringing the ball but his father would not agree. At the end his Daddy asked him to just bring the helicopter/robot and we will buy yoyo at Quezon.

At around 4:30am I already finished cooking the breakfast. It was just an easy meal, scrambled eggs, hotdogs, and the left over adobo last night.

At 5am, we are all set. Jelmar started the car, but before he stepped on the accelerator, we asked Adrian to lead the prayer.

We have our first stop on Petron station at Dasmariñas town proper to fill-up the gas tank of the car.

At 6am, we already at the south super highway, we are surprised to see that there is already a slow traffic. As we go along, we saw that the cause of the slow traffic is the rehabilitation of the one of the 3 lanes.

We encountered another slow down as we enter Sto Tomas Batangas. Vehicles were only using one lane, because the other lane has many pot holes.

Again, we chose to use the Eme road to cut the travel time.

Our next stop is at Gumaca, we usually stopped there because of the nice view of the bay. Jelmar had to wake up Adrian to see the beautiful of view. We took some pictures and off we go to Petron Gumaca for refill of the gas tank and to use the comfort room.

Exactly 10am, when we arrived at Magsaysay, Lopez. We stopped over at Nanay Edeng’s house (Jelmar’s Grandmother). Luckily there is also Tita Lotlot who is a teacher, she said that they had no classes that day because of the meeting early this morning. We had some chat and snacks. They insist that we eat our lunch there, but we told them that the father of Jelmar already cooked and is expecting us for the lunch.

Around 12nn, we arrived at Sambat, Lopez. Jelmar’s father, a public school teacher has filed a vacation leave for that day while his mother, also teaching in the same school ask her principal to allow her to leave the school early. Inihaw na tilapia and amplaya were served for the lunch.

Another Day at WellCare Clinic (October 4, 2007)

It is my schedule for the ultrasound, we were there at around 9:30 am but unfortunately the doctor for the 10 am is not yet around. It is already 11 am, Jelmar decided to pick-up Adrian and her sister Claire at school. Around 11:30 am when the doctor arrived.

The process lasted for few minutes, but we have to wait for another 5 minutes for the results. When I handed the envelope which contains the result, Jelmar insisted to read it, although we expected that we may not understand the terminology written there.

We saw three remarks there the other two is normal while the one comment says that they found tiny cyst. It made me silent for a while, cyst runs in our family. Mama and Lala previously had a cyst on breast, while Adis had a cyst on her left ovary (which was removed last 2007).

My OB was not around that time so we decide to go home and schedule the visit next week since we will be at Quezon for the next three days.

Almost lunch time, we decided to go to SM Dasmariñas, we ate at Chowking. The next few hours were spent on buying the things we will need on our vacation.

On our way to home, we stopped at Ate’s house, I informed her about the result and she told me not to worry about it because it is still tiny and can be cured through medication.

We also gave the Barbie bag for Kyla that Adis bought from her visit to Hongkong last week. Kyla is very happy with the gift. She is a big fan of Barbie.

John Rossdale

Michelle is one of my childhood friends. She was my classmate since first year high school at Malabon Municipal High School (currently Malabon National High School). We also spent a year together at MCC (Malabon Community College, now City of Malabon University), I taking up Bachelor of Arts, while she is taking up BS Accountancy.

Now we still have something in common; that is a son.

The last time we saw each other was during our class reunion (November 2006), and since then we communicate through e-mail and text messages. She forwarded these photos of her and son John Rossdale.

My Birthday

September 30, well it is not just an ordinary day it is special, because it’s my birthday. Last night, I heard my cellphone alarms. I though it is already 4:30am, but I when I looked at the wall clock, I saw that it was only 12:00 midnight. I decided to return to sleep, when my husband, turned on the light and get something from the back of our cabinet. With the gift on his hands, he greeted me Happy Birthday. His gift to me is a bag, I remember him asking me if I want to replace my bag, because he saw that one of the zippers is already malfunctioning. Inside the bag is a birthday card.

Few minutes later, Ate litel send a birthday text message. After exchanging few text messages; Ate litel said that I should sleep, while she will return to her duty.

Around 5:30 in the morning, I was cooking for our breakfast, when I heard Adrian going down and calling me. He approached me and greeted me Happy Birthday and gave me a kiss.

This morning we went to Tagaytay to attend a mass at Pink Sister.

After the mass, Adrian is asking if we will go to SM, but when I told him the Andrei (cousin of Jelmar) is coming, he did not insist to go to the mall. He already missed Andrei, she usuakky spent her summer vacation in our house. She is now working at San Felipe Neri School at Mandaluyong.

I was not expecting visitors; (my family at malabon cannot make it, but the whole family is planning to this october to celebrate birthdays of Papa, Ate Maricel and Lala) I just cooked pansit canton, chopsuey, and relyenong bangus for the lunch.

Later in the afternoon, Andrei arrived and she brought a box of pizza and donut.

KIAN

I am excited when I saw an e-mail from Sharon in my inbox, this is because she usually attached new photos of Kian and her family (her son is also my inaanak). They already moved to Singapore to be with her husband Alfred who is working there for about two years now. The last time I saw Kian was on his Christening; few days later they went to Singapore.

I saw this photo mosaic trick on diynetwork.com and tried on this photo. The font is a from twopeasinabucket.

"Puti" got new sets of tires

We are planning to go the Quezon province this coming October, so we have to replace the car with new sets of tires. Anyway, the tires were already two years old. The process took about 2 hours, so it is almost lunch time when it is done.

Adrian requested for a pizza, but since it is lunch time already we told him that we have to eat rice. He agreed to eat at Max’s, we ordered kare-kare, pancit canton, and a box of caramel bar (his favorite). We also got my newly framed puzzle at the framing stall inside the mall.

Another day at WellCare Clinic

September 24, we went to WellCare Clinic. Adrian was given his MMR booster on his right arm by Dra. Yambot. Afterwards, it’s my turn; I decided to consult an OB for I have not having my monthly period since May. I wish I was pregnant but I am not. I was given a medication for three days and was advised to undergo ultrasound. I will return to my OB within 3 to 5 days of the “red days” for the follow up and interpretation of the result. I am hoping for the best. My husband wanted to have a second child, while Adrian has started calling himself "Kuya" for a year now.

baywalk 2006 photos

Last year on our way to Manila, we decided to have a stop on baywalk (Manila Bay). It is because Adrain saw these Dinosaurs' statue display. He was amazed on these seemed real life statues of dinosaurs. At first he was afraid, until he learned that these were not alive. We took some photos and decided to stroll along the baywalk.

But now, Baywalk has a new look. We had heard and watched it from the TV that the stalls (café, resto, bars) will be removed. We just saw it last week as we pass by on our way to Manila.

A day at Festival Mall

September 16, Adis treats the kids (Adrian, Charlie, Kyla and JC) at Festival Mall. AT first they wanted to ride the train which is circling the basement area of the mall, however seeing that the line to the ride is too long, they decided not to. They saw a mini “car racing” in the area and decided to go for this ride. I doubt if Adrian will be allowed to this ride, I saw the height requirement, but still they had bought 4 tickets. As they fall in line, we can see the excitement on their face. When Adrian reaches the entrance, the teller double checked the height of Adrian (JC also told the teller that he will be in charge of Adrian); luckily she allowed him to go for the ride. I was the first time Adrian will go racing, he only tried carousel and some other rides similar to this. I saw him nodding while the man in charge gives instructions on how to operate the car. I was nervous, especially when he reaches the u-turn slot. He surprised us without even making the car bumped with the gutter or hitting the walls.

Our next station was the Tom’s World. They played basketball shooting. Jelmar and Clair accompanied JC and Klya to ride in the extreme mini roller coaster. The final ride for the kids is the carousel.

Ate, Fabella and Malabon

September 15, I received a text message from Ate if I can accompany her to a nearby clinic or hospital for a check-up. I ask whether she will go to our house or I will be the one to go to their house. With a message that she cannot make it to our house because she is feeling dizzy, (she is alone in their house, sine Kuya Rod is in Qatar and Kyla is in school) I decide to check her but Adrian seeing me going out will not allow me so I let him to go with me.

When I arrived at Ate’s house, she seemed ok but her color is pale. So I advised her that we have to go to the hospital asap. She picks up Kyla at the school (the school of Kyla is located only a few meters away from their house). We went to UMC hospital here in Dasma and with her initial check-up she needs to de confined and had a blood transfusion. Hearing this, I suggested to Ate that we better go to Fabella Hospital in Manila, because he already has an OB there (Ate Liezel had worked in that Hospital).

We decided to go Fabella because it is near to Malabon, where our mother can take care of her. When we arrive in the hospital, we saw Caloy (boyfriend of Ate Liezel at the entrance). Ate Liezel sent a message to him to assist us. Lala also arrived after few minutes.

We were at the waiting area when I saw Ate waving at me. Her OB has instructed us that she can go home and provided her with medicines that she will take and return to the hospital on Monday for follow up. She was also required to submit CBC, urinalysis and ultrasound. Then on Monday, upon submission of the result of the lab, he will check if Ate still needs to undergo blood transfusion.

What a relief, at least we knew that Ate will be better soon. We arrived at Malabon around 4pm, there is Papa waiting, while Mama is still at our eatery. JR is watching basketball upstairs. Matet is still at school while Adis is out with his boyfriend. Lala went to her house to pick up her kids. Ate Maricel also arrived with sons JC and Charlie.

I also checked on the computer of JR, he sent a message to me that there is a missing application on the PC that they cannot open some programs. I had it checked and I found that there is a virus in the PC. I instructed him what to do.

Matet and Adis arrived, (we are almost complete, Ate Liezel was the only one not present that day, she is still at KSA).

Adid together with Ate Maricel and her kids go with us to Cavite because Adis had a promise to Adrian that she will treat him this weekend.

We arrive at home at around 12midnight, it is very tiring but the kids seemed not that tired, Adrian and Kyla hearing us arrived (they were already sleeping) woke up. They played with their cousins JC and Charlie, I think it is already 2am when they fall asleep.

High School Photos

I have not checked my yahoo group accounts (high school and college yahoo group) for some time, so I decided to check whether there were new messages. It is what the new technology can do; we can still update each other through that account.

I saw these pictures posted on our high school yahoo group (section one ngayon thanks to Roldan who took the initiative of doing the yahoo group). Jen had these photos posted and upon seeing I immediately copied and save it on my computer; my copies were long time destroyed by floods.

Seeing this pictures make me reminisce on our high school days. High school days really a special part of our lives.

BER month is here

For us Filipinos, Christmas starts at the first BER month, which is September. Christmas songs were already being played in the radio and sometimes used as background or introduction on TV shows.

A countdown to Christmas is also being done by some of us, in their homes or in the offices.

Malls also start to display Christmas decorations, while customers expect early Christmas sale.

We can also feel the cool breeze especially at night.

A gray hair

Yesterday morning, I’m combing my hair when I saw a gray hair. Well, this does not bothered me at all, I am going 30 this coming September 30 so I think it is normal to anyone at my age to have a gray hair.

Time has flown so fast, I can still recall my childhood days and now I'm going 30.

My husband asks me once what is my wish. Perhaps he might just want to know what else I am looking forward to have on my birthday.

Having a loving and supportive husband, a lovable son, what can I ask for?

Adrian got his hair cut

Daddy noticed that Adrian needs his hair to be cut. I remember three months ago, a week before the school opening, Adrian got his hair cut from a barber shop for the first time, (was made possible because he was seated next to his father). While his other hair cuts were done on a special barber shop for kids only, wherein they are seated on a car toy and given a lollipop.

We waited for a while for Adrian’s turn, until the lady in the front desk called his name. My husband accompanied him in the area and waited for him to be seated. After that he immediately returned to the waiting area.

I asked him, “’Di mo sasamahan si Adrian, baka umiyak ‘yon?” He answered, “’Di na kaya na nya ‘yon.”.

As I watched Adrian from the mirror, he was very anxious and looking at us. I signaled him to behave so that it will not be difficult for the barber to do his job. After that I saw him smiling and enjoying the moment.

Because he was a good boy, his Daddy allowed him to play on a play house for 30 minutes and then we went to the supermarket and there we saw Sir Ohnie (co-employee) with his wife and daughter.

Jigsaw Puzzle

My interest on jigsaw puzzle started when I saw a sample on a stall display in one mall we used to hang-out when I was still pregnant with Adrian. At first, I want to have the puzzle for me to have a past time as I wait for my due date, but instead I have been hooked since then. As of now I have done four puzzles and framed the three, well my last one will be framed hopefully this week. Actually we planned of having it framed since last month, but we always forgot to put it in the car whenever we go out.

My puzzle collections are THE LAST SUPPER PUZZLE 1000 pieces, PEACEFUL AUTUMN PUZZLE 4000 pieces (the biggest puzzle I have and took me almost 8 months to complete), ACROSS THE SEA PUZZLE 1500 pieces and THE SUNFLOWER PUZZLE 500 pieces.

I can’t wait for my next puzzle project especially now that Adrian can help in putting it together (he loves puzzles too).

It's not too late

My husband Jelmar, one day told me that he wants to learn how to play the guitar. As he can remember, he tried playing the guitar by himself on his teen years, but he soon gave up.

During weekend we usually spent a day to a mall nearby. There he saw a new stall for music instruments. He was hesitant at first, because he was thinking that maybe it was too late for him to learn to play the guitar. He was not sure at that moment, so we decided not to buy.

We enter National Bookstore, he is looking for a handbook on how to play the guitar. Luckily he had found a book with a CD on it. We go back to the stall where the guitar is and bought one.

Well, I think it is never too late.

Tornado, our dog

We met this little puppy at Fiesta Homes, Dasmariñas one Saturday morning of March (actually we saw his photo in the dog tracker a day later). We fell in love with him instantly. His name is Tornado, a rottweiler, a month old then.

Jelmar and I (mostly him) really want to have a dog someday and our favorite breed to have is the rottweiler. I remember the day that we went to a dog show (Robinson’s Manila). This is when we started to dream of having a rottweiler someday.

We still love Tornado, although he is less desirable now, because he has grown so big. Jelmar loves to walk Tornado early in the morning, when there is less people and children in the club house.

A Busy Saturday

September 1, Claire set her cellphone to alarm at four am. We have to woke up early because we will attend a birthday party at Jolibee Dasmariñas. The party will start at 8am, the parents decided to go for it because that is the only remaining time slot. The birthday celebrant is my godson MJ (lives at the house next to us). Although alarm was set at four am, we woke up late that morning. Jelmar is on night shift duty, so it is my turn to feed his dog. I was feeding Tornado when Ileen (mother of MJ) arrived and ask if we are ready to go (the plan is that they will give us a ride). I ask for apology, because we are not ready that time (Adrian is not taken a bath, and so do I). I told her that we will just commute to the place (it is only a one jeepney ride).

When we arrived there, Adrian is very happy seeing his friends. There were games for the kids and for the parents too. Adrian felt sad when he heard the host that their next game will be a game for father and son, he was eager to join. He asks, “Mommy, where is Daddy”. I answered, “He’s at work, but he will be here soon”.

Before the party ended Jelmar arrived, Adrian is happy to see his Daddy, even though the games were over. Right after the party, we headed for Vel Maris School, this is the day of distributions of class cards. Before the card is given, we had a short talk with Teacher Richelle, regarding the performance of Adrian.

It’s almost 12:00 noon, so we decided to go to the nearby mall to have our lunch. Jelmar also bought a new speaker for the computer and we decided to go home.

Summer 2007 at Island Cove

Jelmar loves going to car show, so when he got the news that there will be one to be held at Island Cove Cavite, he told me about it (not as if he was asking a permission to go, but with a final decision that we will all go to the affair). Well, I’m not sure if my son will appreciate the car show, but Island Cove being a leisure park will not be a boring to all ages. We also bring swimming attire in case Adrian would ask to go for a swim.

First Day of School Photos

Adrian's visit to his Pedia

August 25, Adrian has a scheduled visit to her pediatrician. His polio and DTP vaccines (booster) were due to be given on this day. His last vaccine was a year, so we have to talk to him about it. The day before, his father said to him that he will be getting vaccination for his own good. He said, “Kuya punta tayo kay doktora tomorrow, may vaccine ka, pero ‘wag kang iiyak, parang kagat lang ng langgam”. Well, my son just answered, “Opo, Daddy”.

Before we go to the clinic, we attended the Sunday mass, inside the subdivision. My husband’s sister is a member of the choir there. When we arrived to the clinic, Adrian is patient number 12. She has been Adrian’s pediatrician since three months old, she advised us that we can text or call her to confirm our visit so she can reserved a number for Adrian. But instead we choose not too, because we think it is not good for those who come early to get a good number.

Since the clinic is located to a small department store/supermarket, we usually do the groceries first, as we wait for his number.

When we get back, the number is 11, so we sit on the bench beside the door, as the patient no. 11 goes out, Adrian immediately enters the room and said “Good afternoon Dra.”. He seated himself to a small bed, by climbing to a chair beside it. He pulled the sleeve of his shirt and said’ “ Dra. dito po, no sakit ha.”

Before having the vaccine, Dra weighted him and he gained two kilograms, as the record shows during our last month’s visit.

During the actual vaccination, my husband put Adrian on his lap and holding him, so that he will not be afraid. Adrian is looking on the injection, so Dra Wendy said, “Adrian, look at mommy”. When the needle has penetrated to his arm, he shouted “Aray”. After that he has teary eyes but as promised to his daddy he did not cry.

BIDA of the Year

August 23, 2007, we attended a company festival which recognizes people and group of people who have contributed projects and ideas for the company. Ate Maricel is also there as a member of a team.

My husband is nominated on the top ten bright ideas for the year. The program is open to all rank and file employees. The top ten winners were called to come up the stage and then the host revealed one by one from the 10th place up to the 4the place. I was nervous then because my husband is still in the remaining 3. I had my camera ready to take the picture, I heard a name called for the third place and it isn’t yet my husband’s. My hand is shaking but still holding the camera focused at the center of the stage. The name of the second place winner was announced, it is not my husband’s, so the 1st place winner is him. I was so happy and excited that I forgot to capture the actual awarding. When the awarding was done, my husband asks if I had gotten a picture, I said no, I was too excited let’s just get a copy from HR. At least I have taken a picture of him with the rest of the nine other awardees.

Our parents

Our parents Ismael and Marilyn having eight children definitely had a hard time finding enough money to support our studies and necessities. As we grow we witnessed their hardships and trials of having a big family. I can still remember a time when we do not have enough food and money, this teaches how to share to each other and use the money wisely. We used to walk when going to school and usually eat heavy breakfast so that we will not feel hungry on recess time.

But our parents did not given up on us. Others will let their children stop going to school or even worst to ask them to work to help the family. They wanted us to finish school up to college degree. They say that this is the only thing that they can give to us. They maybe not the best parents, but we are happy with the way they raised us. They instill to us the value of education and we are proud of them.

To Mama and Papa; thanks for everything and we all love you.

Maristel

She is the fifth child, also known as Lala. He is married to Ronnie and has 2 children namely; Ellah Mae the eldest and Jeremy the youngest. She is a full time mother and housewife. During her spare time, when Ellah Mae and Jeremey already at school, she helps our mother and father in their small eatery.

Mona-Liza

She is the second child and still single. Mona-Liza also known to others as Liezel, Mona, but we are comfortable to call her Ate Litel. She graduated Midwifery with honors at the Fabella Memorial College and if I am not mistaken she also took a bachelor degree on Public Health at University of Manila formerly Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM). She is now working at KSA for 10 months now.

JR

Ismael Jr a.k.a JR is the 6th child and only son. Being the only son obviously my father wants to name our brother after him. He is currently a 5th year Electronics and Communications Engineering Student at Technological Institute of the Philippines (Manila) or TIP. He also took his Technology course at Technological University of the Philippnes (Manila) or TUP, but after completing his 3-year course he decided to continue to earn a bachelor degree at TIP.

Maritess

Maritess or Matet for short is our youngest sister. Her nickname was derived from a child actress who is popular at time of her birth. She is currently a 4th year Electronics and Communication Engineering student at Technoligical University of the Philippines (Manila).

Wedding Photographer

Sharon and Alfred are very dear to me, that is why when they ask if I can be their wedding photographer, I cannot say no to them. I am nervous not only because I am just starting to learn photography (from Johnel, actually my supervisor/friend), but also about the camera I had that time. I will be using a digital camera (Canon S2IS), which is far compared to quality of digital SLR or even the conventional SLR. To cut the story short I think, as a beginner I did a great job. They were very happy with the pictures and layout that I did for them.

Adrian's Baby Photos

EME (Bitukang Manok)

December 2006, it was our third time to visit Lopez Quezon to spend Christmas Holiday. It was also our first time to take the old road a.k.a EME or bitukang manok back to Cavite. The road is now considered a national park and is closed to heavy vehicles. Only light and private vehicles are allowed to use this road. At first I was hesitant when Jelmar told me that we are going to try the old road. There are baranggay officials who are manually controlling the traffic. In this curve, a one way traffic is being observed. I felt my heart stopped pumping, but instead I got my camera and took pictures.

Adis

Second to the youngest, she is also known as ninang adis to my son. Just graduated Business Administration at UE Caloocan last March. I took this photo of her summer of 2007 when she took care of Adrian for a week. Every summer, JR, Matet, and Adis always spent a week or two for Adrian.

Deasis Family

She is Ate Maricel a.k.a Leng-Leng. She is the third child. She is married to Kuya Jimmy and has two sons namely: Jerome Christian (eldest) and Charlie (youngest). The photo was taken last June 2007 during a family day conducted by the employer of Kuya Jimmy in Subic. I have found no pictures of them four altogether, with the help of photo editing software and skills learned from a friend (johnel thanks for teaching me the tricks), I just merged two pictures into one.

Cruz Family

This is my ate Maricris. She is the eldest of eight siblings. She is married to Kuya Rod and has one daughter named Kyla Clair. Photo was taken last November 2007 at Manila Bay.