JUNK FOOD HEAVEN

Royce's Potato Chip Chocolate is too (two?) good -- I say it's the ultimate salt and sugar fix! I'm a salty chips addict. And I love chocolates (who doesn't?). Dito, pinagsama sila. Ah, junk food heaven! 

DEATH BY POTATO CHIP CHOCOLATE
The perfect saltiness. And the perfect sweetness.
KALOKA!
(Thank you, A.)

LOVING TITA TIME

I live for time spent with loved ones. 

My favorite moment from our Smurf Sunday --
the kids loved hamming it up for the camera.

SUNDAY WAS SMURFS DAY

My brother and I grew up watching Smurfs in the '80s. So it's exciting to see the cartoon making a come back in 2011 -- with a 3D movie pa! We now have a shared experience with the Facebook / iPad generation. Aliw!

My niece S: Who's your favorite Smurf, Tita A?

Me: Smurfette, of course.

S: Me too! We're the same!

LOL

With the Smurfs movie released last month, my niece wanted a Smurfs-themed birthday (Syempre, uso.). Nothing grand. Just a simple merienda with family and friends.  

To continue the tradition, Hubby and I gifted S with cake and cupcakes from KiddieParty.com. We're very happy with their creations and service. 

Sharing with you some of the moments from S' celebration...

Our bday gift to S.
The Smurfette cupcakes were the first to go, hehe.

Our suki: Eloisa Tan of KiddieParty.Com
Her number: 6330949
Her email: eloisatan@yahoo.com
Flat cake 9"x13": Php1,500
Cupcakes: Php45 each, minimum order of 24pcs
(More elaborate designs are available.)

My brother, the bday girl,
and my blooming preggy sis-in-law.

G with a balloon that says
"Happy Smurfs Day!"

Seriously thinking about her birthday wish? LOL
 Love the shot! Photo by J.

S #2 enjoying the slide.
Ganda rin nito! Another photo by J.

 S, A, X enjoying the cupcake toppings.
Kids have such simple joys. Love it!

E's so dalaga na!
S and E are celebrating back-to-back bdays.

Lovely Mom & Daughter

Cam Crazy Cousins at the Photo Booth
Photo by J

FOR RICHER, FOR POORER

We're currently on a career break to prepare for The Big Move. This means no pay days for awhile. So as not to drain The SG Dream Fund, we've adjusted our budget.

How we've been tightening out belts:

1. Switched from brown to white rice.  
2. Switched from alkaline to distilled drinking water. 
3. Switched from branded to the grocery's in-house eggs.
4. Switched from muscovado to ordinary brown sugar.
5. Switched from wheat to white bread. (The healthier items were the first to go!)
6. Less dining out, more eating in. (Good thing I'm having fun cooking na.)
7. Cut spa and salon trips to once or twice a month. More DIY mani-pedi for me.
8. No more 24-hour AC. These days, it's on only when we sleep. 
9. Less long hot showers. Cold shower muna, as much as possible.
10. More of the train, less of the taxi.
11. If walking distance lang, we'll gladly walk.
12. No long trips muna. (Except for SG, of course. And we're already booked.) Day trips via train or jeep or bus, pwede pa. 
13. Ukay the items we do not need.
14. I've been shopping less. Promise. LOL

I know the adjustments are not exactly drastic. Well, that's because we made sure life would still be...comfortable. We saved up for comfortable.  

How's it been so far? Well you can bet your bottom dollar we're making this work at all costs. *wink*

9-10-11

How special was 9.10.11 to you?

The day marked a milestone for us. For the first time, J and I proudly stood as Principal Sponsors to a dear couple's wedding. Yes, we're now Ninong and Ninang. Doesn't that sound old? LOL.

L and C's 9.10.11 wedding was lovely. You could see them in every detail. Very creative. Very personal. Very cheesy. And since I'm all about cheesy (proof: this blog) I really appreciated it. I loved the AVP short film they produced about their story. Talo pa ang ibang Asianovela!

As I shared with L and C before -- "There's no greater risk than matrimony. But there is nothing happier than a happy marriage." (from Benjamin Disraeli, read this from Elizabeth Gilbert's book 'Committed'.) As for working (operative word: WORK) on a happy marriage, here's what I have to share...

1. Making Marriage Work, read here
2. Is It Worth Fighting For?, read here
3. Life Partner, read here
4. Stay Silly, read here

Best wishes, L and C! 

Red-Letter Day

Clockwise:
It was great seeing our team mates again! Miss you, Guys. (Do not cry.)
All smiles si Ninang.
That's us down the aisle.
The lovely newlyweds (Photo taken by J).
With my beloved Kumares N and L.
More of our dear friends, D, M and N.
With lovely ladies N and H.
The reception venue.

P.S. ON OUR OFW ERRANDS

Post Script on my OFW Errands blog entry...

Tatlong oras din yun ha!

Was telling J -- We must be in a really happy disposition to consider the three-hour-wait at the Pag-Ibig Office "fast and efficient." Ganyan kami kasaya. LOL.

This career break seems to be bringing out the best in us.

OFW ERRANDS

We're in the thick of our OFW errands.

So happy to share that yesterday's first string of "To Dos" has been a breeze. I'm impressed with the efficient, fast and friendly service of SSS Diliman and Pag-Ibig Kamias. Mabuhay ang mga government employees na aming nakasalamuha!


First stop: Social Security System Diliman 

How to get there: It's along East Avenue. From EDSA Northbound, turn right at East Avenue. The SSS Membership Assistance Center (MAC) is located after V.Luna Road, before the East Avenue Hospital.

Errand: We need to change our membership from employee to voluntary.

We got there 10am. Proceeded to the SSS MAC Booth 1 for forms. We lined up for less than thirty seconds (Yes, that quick!). The lady gave us Form RS-5, the SSS Voluntary Contribution Table (see sample here), the SSS Voluntary Contribution Schedule. Your voluntary contribution will be based on your monthly income. And your deadline is based on the last digit of your SSS number.

We plan to advance our contributions until end of 2012, para wala ng aberya. The lines in SSS for payments are too long so hindi na doon, sa mall na lang. The SM Business Center in Megamall (5F), a 10-minute walk from our condo, is often empty so dun na lang. The banks are always puno so ayaw ko rin. Representatives may pay on your behalf, they should know lang your SSS number (Yey!).

The SSS MAC Booth 1 lady patiently answered our questions. We were out of there in less than twenty minutes! Wow.

We had all the time for early lunch. Yahoo!


Next stop: Pag-Ibig Kamias 

Address: 795 EDSA. Very near GMA Network. It's right beside the condo (Victoria Condo?) adjacent to the GMA-Kamuning MRT station.

We arrived 11am. Got a number for the change of membership -- again, from employee to OCW (That's Pag-Ibig's term. SSS uses OFW.).

Our number was called one hour and twenty minutes later. But we didn't mind the waiting. We were prepared for the worst. (We thought nga sa SSS lang kami makakapunta that day.) There were enough seats for every one, the office is air-conditioned and there were TVs tuned in to Eat Bulaga. There's also a Mini-Stop nearby in case you need a quick bite. I had my magazine and iPad. Hubby had his iPod games. It was a pretty comfortable wait.

When our number was finally called, they made us fill-up forms, asked for photocopies of our passports, and made us pay for our contributions. Yung pila sa cashier mahaba, we waited for another hour. Marami kasing tao. We decided to pay up to December 2011. For the next contributions, there's a Pag-Ibig Office at the Lucky Plaza, along Orchard Road, in SG. Yey!

We decided to get our Pag-Ibig IDs na rin, andun na kami eh. The guards led us to a lady officer at the 2nd Floor. She just asked for valid I.D.s and ang bilis, nahanap na niya ang files namin. The entire thing took less than five minutes.

We were out of there before 2pm. No one was masungit. No one was mabagal. Every one was very accommodating. At maayos ang pila sa lahat ng counters. There are a lot of people lang talaga. So just patiently wait for your turn.


Errand in between errands: Coop

While waiting for our turn at the Pag-Ibig cashier, we decided to drop by the Coop (a mere 5-minute walk from Pag-Ibig) to sign some documents. O diba? We were able to squeeze in errand #3 pa! Bongga!

WAITING GAME
Brought a mag and my iPad.
Devoured my Preview September issue
at the Pag-Ibig office.

Today, we tried to get our NBI Clearances at the Mandaluyong City Hall Satellite Office. We were there 9am. But we were informed the Application Forms for the day are ubos na. Nauubos pala yun?! Arg. We'll just go back next week. We'll make sure we're there 6am (6am!), that's when they start distributing forms daw kasi.

What else do we have to work on? Ah, our PhilHealth memberships. Good thing their office is located along Shaw Boulevard. Same street as our condo. Yey!

Hope we're not missing anything.

Would you know of more Bagong Bayani must-dos?

THE PHILIPPINES DESERVES A VISIT FROM THE WORLD

I'm supporting Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez's call to promote the country any which way we can. Because, yes, I agree, "we deserve a visit from the world."


I'm re-posting an entry from November 2010, My Top Picks for the Philippines...

...I know there are more than three must-sees in our country. But for now, allow me to talk about my Top Three.

#1 Palawan

I've been to Palawan thrice. First with college friends right after graduation, then with J to celebrate our First Wedding Anniversary, then with my family months ago. I've only seen parts of Puerto Princesa, Sabang and Port Barton. I know there's so much more to explore. My impression: If you love the beach, minus the parties, this is where you should go. One of my life dreams is to have a family vacation home in Palawan. But the more immediate goal is to see Coron soon.

Above, Clockwise:

Fallen tree by the beach;

Off to the Monkey Trail

(Most people go to the Underground River via a 20-minute boat ride.

We chose to take the 2-hour trek);

Me, floating on water (haha);

Us on a duyan (a cradle);

rock formation in Port Barton;

baby crocs at the Crocodile Farm;

hard hats as anti-bat pee/poo gear;

exiting the Underground River;

Bulol swimming at the Star Fish Island.

A bit from our date: I remember us taking a 2-hour jeepney ride from our overnight stay in Port Barton back to Puerto Princesa. I was seated inside the jeep, together with most of the commuters while J was on the vehicle's roof (yes, top ride!), together with three squealing pigs and a couple of other locals. My husband's fearless. Sometimes, his adventurous spirit could give me a heart attack! Needless to say, I was frantic the entire trip (couldn't sit still, was worried sick about him, especially on the zigzag roads!). Why did I allow him to take the top ride? He's a pro. As a mountaineer, he's done it a gazillion times. And I didn't want to be a kill-joy so I agreed. Thank God we got to our destination safe and sound.

LONELY PLANET: "Palawan is one of the real treasures of the Philippines...Due in equal parts to its rugged topography, its small population and its distance from other islands in the archipelago, Palawan has managed to stay largely pristine.

Palawan's world-class diving, snorkelling and jungle trekking make it a must-see destination for nature lovers and adventure-sports fans. The fantastic seascapes of the Bacuit Archipelago, the wrecks around Coron Town and the magical lakes of Coron Island should rank high on any visitor's list. You could spend a lifetimediscovering new islands, beaches and reefs, particularly around northern Palawanand Busuanga Island.

With convenient and quick plane and ferry connections from Luzon, Palawan is easy to get to. With few paved roads, however, it can be time consuming to travel overland around Palawan. But the views along the way are usually worth the time and effort. Of course, in the wet season, which usually runs here from June to September, road travel can be difficult in the days following a heavy rain. But, it is possible to travel in Palawan during the wet season, and many people enjoy the brilliant sunsets that come with the clouds.

All told, we consider Palawan to be one of the most rewarding outdoor-sports destinations not just in the Philippines, but in all of Southeast Asia."

#2 Sagada

I'm proud to have survived the adventures of Sagada! It was J's nth visit, my first. We were there to celebrate our Second Wedding Anniversary. Considering my limited outdoors experience and skills, it was my roughest but most rewarding travel experience so far! As for J, walang-wala sa kanya (it was peanuts), haha.

Above, Clockwise:

The rickety mini bus we rode from Baguio to Sagada

(Glad the hell ride was worth it!);

Bulol by the Sagada Bell;

Echo Mountain;

Take a peek inside the Sagada Church;

Bulol by the Pine Trees;

J hanging off the cliff! (Told you he's fearless.);

Locals dancing in the dap-ayan;

gorgeous rock formations;

hanging coffins;

Bulol by the lamp, inside the Sumaging Cave;

we went trekking;

a cow guarding one of the tomb stones at the local cemetery;

Center: That's us inside the adventure-filled Sumaging Cave

(expect to trek, rapel, walk through ice-cold, neck-deep water,

crawl through holes)

I'm a Sagada Survivor!

A bit from our date: My favorite moment was napping one afternoon in the Sagada park (near the Church), engulfed by the scent of pine trees, with the locals singing and dancing one-hundred feet away, while J watched over me. It remains to be one of the most relaxing moments of my life.

LONELY PLANET: "The absence of noise and pollution are probably the first things you'll appreciate about Sagada, a tranquil mountaintop town where you can walk down the middle of the road and only occasionally be disturbed by a passing vehicle. Backpackers have been flocking here for years to enjoy the incredible mountain scenery, cheap dope and companionship of like-minded travellers.

Sagada fills up quickly in the March-to-May high season. But despite its popularity it manages to stave off changes that would detract from its appeal as an 'ecotourism' destination - there are no massive hotels or blaring discos, and videoke is conspicuously absent. For many Sagadans, the traditional way of life remains intact. During harvest celebrations, women wear tapis while older men don G-strings and gather in the dap-ay; chickens are sacrificed, gongs are played and general merriment ensues.

Sagadans are of Applai (Northern Kankanay) ancestry and their native language is Kankanay although, as in the rest of the Cordilleras, Ilocano and English are widely spoken.

It can get chilly at night, especially from December to February, when temperatures can drop as low as 4°C. From March to May, temperatures rise as high as 30°C during the day. The rest of the year is the wet season, when the normal pattern is a sunny, pleasant morning followed by a heavy, long afternoon shower."

#3 Batanes (though we've never been here)

"Taming the wind and the waters in the northernmost Philippine frontier, the relatively isolated islands of the Batanes, the home of the resilient and welcoming Ivatans, with its rolling hills, subtropical climate, ancient cultures, windswept traditional stone houses and breathtaking landscapes and seascapes which perhaps make it one of the prettiest corners of the world." -- http://tourism-philippines.com/batanes/

Photo: philecotourism.wordpress.com

If J and I could see only one more Pinas Spot, we'd both choose Batanes. I always hear about travelers being taken back in time, as if they're transported to a totally different world.

Just how untouched is Batanes? Read about the Honesty Cafe. I wonder if there's something like it anywhere else in the world. Only in the Philippines!

POSSESSED?

What's with me? It's almost midnight (Manila time) and I'm cooking. Cooking!

As I've shared before, I'm no kitchen diva. But I've been trying to learn. Proud to say I've improved (Hubby last week: "Sarap na ng lahat ng luto mo!") but I know I still have a long way to go.

After tonight's dinner date (I had sinigang na salmon, J had chicken inasal at the Shangrila Mall's food court), we did the grocery. The game plan: more home-cooked meals = savings. Our daily dates are not confined to eating anyway.

But the cooking was supposed to be done tomorrow. I'm not sure what possessed me to practice my kitchen skills tonight (Excited?).

I'm doing ginisang monggo. It's my third try. I didn't like how the first two attempts (done months ago) turned out. They were edible but kulang. I plan to pair it with fried bangus and/or pork liempo tomorrow. Maybe I should add chicharon laman for more flavor?

I'm also doing buffalo wings (no, not to be paired with the monggo, hehe). Found McCormick's "Screamer" buffalo wings flavor mix at the grocery, got me very curious. I hope it really is hot.

Could this be the effect of freedom from work stress? It's our First Freedom Monday, you see. Hindi ko ba kinaya na walang deadline today? Kaya eto, ako mismo ang nag-p-pressure sa sarili ko -- Magluto ka na! Now na! LOL.

Who is this (crazy) woman?
Now, she actually enjoys cooking at midnight!
And is seriously considering taking cooking classes.

FIRST FREEDOM WEEKEND

The first item on my freedom list (see my previous blog entry) -- freedom from alarm clocks. But guess what? On our first freedom weekend we had to wake up early on both Saturday and Sunday! LOL. But this time, nauna ako sa alarms. Wow. There lies the difference. *big smile*

Saturday alarm: 7am

I went to fashion school to attend a morning talk. Read about it here. Hatid-sundo ako ni Hubby. After school, it was Chinese food, Cars and Church for us.

Sunday alarm: 7am

We agreed to take part in someone's "para sa pag-ibig" project. Can't talk much about it yet, don't want to ruin somebody's surprise. We were so blessed to work with three of the most talented Art Directors we know -- G, E, J. Thanks, Guys! They all said yes to this "para sa pag-ibig." I'll blog about this labor of love next month. We were dead tired after the project. But we're happy to have helped so mabilis maka-recover from the pagod.

Tomorrow's the First Freedom Monday. I. Will. Not. Set. The. Alarm. Clock. For. Anything. I want to savor this First Freedom Monday by sleeping all I want. Haha. Sa Tuesday na lang uli ang alarm, for the first set of our OFW errands.