Saturday With Tropical Storm Ondoy

Some pics of Marikina River as seen from our window. Tropical storm Ondoy has wreaked havoc in Manila. They say that in the span of 6 hours, we had a month's worth of rain!

I hope the people on the roofs - you can see them if you zoom in - are safe now. From what I hear, the shanties are all gone. :(

On another note, I sent a couple of these pictures to BBC earlier and a guy named Steven called me to ask about them! Probably nothing, but I was so stoked!!!

For those who want to donate to disaster relief operations, you can do so with your mobile phone. Here's the info:

The Red Cross Rescue and Relief Operations. Text RED amount to 2899 (Globe) and 4483 (SMART). The service only accepts the following amounts: 10, 25, 50 and 100 (pesos).

I donated and was charged 1 peso. Shout out to Globe - DONATE that fee instead!!!

Why A Filipino-American CANNOT Be The U.S. President According To David Letterman

I saw this list on Facebook, thanks to a friend who posted it. It is so funny that I just had to post it on here. If you're Filipino, you'll definitely see the humor in this list. If you don't, then maybe you ought to lighten up a little! ;)

10. The White House is not big enough for in-laws and extended relatives.
Yep - certainly not for MY clan!

9. There are not enough parking spaces at the White House for 2 Honda Civics, 2 Toyota Land Cruisers, 3 Toyota Corollas, a Mercedes Benz, a BMW , and an MPV (My Pinoy Van).

8. Dignitaries generally are intimidated by eating with their fingers at State dinners.
Believe it or not, my mom still does this most of the time. Come to think of it, when I eat fish at home (the whole thing, not fillets), I like using my fingers!

7. There are too many dining rooms in the White House – where will they put the picture of the Last Supper?

6. The White House walls are not big enough to hold a pair of giant wooden spoon and fork.
Now these things we used to have. I don't know if my parents still have them, though.

5. Secret Service staff won’t respond to :psst… psst” or “hoy…hoy…hoy”
Or, as Jerry said, they wouldn't know how to interpret "mouth pointing gestures."

4. Secret Service staff will not be comfortable driving the presidential car with a Holy Rosary hanging on the rear view mirror, or the statue of the Santo Nino on the dashboard.

3. No budget allocation to purchase a Karaoke music-machine for every room in the White House.
This one's a classic!

2. State dinners do not allow ‘Take Home’.
Go to any gathering and you will probably go home with a doggie bag. That's how we roll!

AND THE NUMBER 1 REASON WHY THERE COULDN’T BE A FILIPINO-AMERICAN U.S. PRESIDENT IS……

1. Air Force One does not allow overweight Balikbayan Boxes.
And why not, may I ask??? I sure would take a couple of them if I had access to Air Force One!;)

I guess our kid's (if we ever have one) gonna have a tough time...

Shopwise In Eastwood

I remember when I first heard of Shopwise. I was working and living in Makati then, and a colleague kept talking about doing her groceries in Shopwise. I thought she was talking about a small store like 711 or Ministop. Then I found out that it was much nearer my place than SM Supermarket, and that it had a decent stock of goods. When I finally got my butt over there, I was surprised to see that it was an "actual" supermarket! Anyhow, I have been doing most of my grocery shopping at Shopwise since then. (Even now that we have moved, we still go to Shopwise, which is nearer than SM Hypermart.)

Anyhow, my friends and I have been talking about how there is one thing lacking in our neighborhood - a grocery store. Oh, we have 711s and Ministops at practically every corner, but you'd have to go out of the enclave (for lack of a better word) and walk along the main road (inhaling all that nice black smoke from the cars) for about 10 minutes. Then it's hell getting a cab back home (of course you can't carry all those bags with you!).

With all these residential buildings in here, it's almost inconceivable that there is no grocery store!

Then about a month ago, they started tearing down this huge building in front of my office building. The noise of the jackhammer was incessant - even my earphones wouldn't block the noise out. We were all ready to jump out of our window just to make the noise stop. The place looks like a war zone, and you need to wear safety products if you walk anywhere near the area.

And then we found out that they are building a Shopwise!!!

Now let's just hope that the news isn't a hoax...

Of Flies and Rackets

I got me a racket!!!

Nope, it's not for badminton. It's not for tennis either. Can you figure out what this cute little racket is for?

You see, for some reason, we get tons of flies up here in the condo. For the life of me, I can't figure out how they got here - they were here when we first moved in. Can flies fly up to the 27th floor?

For months, we suffered. Then I saw this maintenance guy at the Eastwood Mall while eating lunch at Cyma. He was waving this cute little racket around and every now and then, I would hear a ZAP!

You know those rectangular bug zappers they have at some restaurants? Apparently, some smart Chinese guy created a handy version - the very racket you see on the right. It took us a while to find one. The guy said they bought it at a supermarket so we tried Shopwise and Hypermart - to no avail. We finally found one last weekend at ACE Hardware - and I have been swinging away happily ever since!

You'd think the flies would learn, but no, they are as stubborn as they always are. They keep coming in and flying around, only to meet their maker when they fly right into my nifty little zapper. Mwahahaha...

Marriage and Money

Lately, I have come to realize that finances indeed do have an impact on the relationship between husband and wife. I guess I took these things for granted, and never really thought about such matters. Wake up calls have been coming along quite often in the past few months, though, and I think it's time that we took a look at our finances.

I don't know if it's just me, but on paper, we seem to be earning enough. Still, we always find ourselves short on money. It could be a classic case of living beyond one's means. It could also be that we simply don't pay attention.

I read this useful article on how a couple can "fix" money matters. Some of the most important points:

• Eliminate power struggles over who makes more money. As the family income increases, everyone benefits.
• Eliminate arguments over personal spending. If she has to have a $400 blouse, as long as it doesn’t come out of the household account, that’s fine. If he wants the latest tech gadget, it’s no questions asked.
• Provide built in incentives for both parties to control household spending and communicate over major household purchases.
• Create a true sense of partnership by leveling the playing field.

How to do this?

1. Create a household account from which all shared expenses will be taken out: rent, utilities, dining out, vacations, etc.

2. Take what's left, divide it in half, and use that as spending money for wife and husband. Whatever they wish to do with that money is up to them - no questions asked.

This method will indeed do away with the issue of who is earning more. I wonder if this will work for us? I think we should give it a try.

Photo courtesy of Christofyew

Sam's Exercise Routine

Sam visited us sometime in August and as usual, we goofed around. I don't know how he learned it, but every time someone starts counting, he does this sit-ups/crunches routine. Watch.



Isn't he just cute? Sometimes he will just stare at you at shake his head, as if to say "No, you're not going to make me do it again!"

Here's one more, with his Papa bugging him.

Gallstones Found

After five days of being on a fat-free diet, I am finally allowed to eat "normal" food! In fact, I am getting ready to feast on some English muffins slathered with butter (the light kind, though).

I haven't had the official reading from the doctor but what the ultrasound person told me is that I have a huge gallstone. She even said that I have to have it taken out. Then again, I looked it up, and found out that most people who have gallstones have "silent" ones, meaning they don't really bother you. I think I am one of those - I don't feel any pain whatsoever or any of the symptoms:

* Attacks may occur every few days, weeks, or months; they may even be separated by years.

* The pain usually starts within 30 minutes after a fatty or greasy meal.

* The pain is usually severe, dull, and constant, and can last from one to five hours.

* It may radiate to the right shoulder or back.

* It occurs frequently at night and may awaken the person from sleep.

* The pain may make the person want to move around to seek relief, but many patients prefer to lay still and wait for the attack to subside.

So what might have caused this condition? I am glad that it really is NOT diet - the link between these two has not been established, but take a look at this:

# female gender,

# being overweight,

# losing a lot of weight quickly on a "crash" or starvation diet, or

# taking certain medications such as birth control pills or cholesterol-lowering drugs

Four out of four...although the third one occurred 5 or 6 years ago...

So now I have two things to "worry" about - that hepatic mass thingy on my liver and the gallstone. I will not think about it until I get to talk to the doctor tomorrow. Tonight, I am going to enjoy a nice bulalo (beef shank soup) dinner with friends after work.

To be honest, though, I kinda enjoy this low fat diet thing. We went to the supermarket yesterday and you might find it hard to believe but I bought only a handful of meat and went home with tons of fish and fruits! Maybe I'll keep it up.

Silas's 9th Birthday

Another belated post...We celebrated Silas's 9th birthday on the weekend after August 14 (the actual birthday). He requested Pizza Hut, so that's where we went. I think he had fun, and he got a scooter for his birthday. I'm just glad he got all that he wanted for his special day. Belated Happy Birthday, bunso!

Daddy, Sam, and Silas
Mommy, Silas, and Hannah
Silas showing off his doughnuts
Yep, that's his name.
Ice cream courtesy of Pizza Hut. He seemed happily embarrassed because of the attention.