Neil Gaiman and New Year

Dearest Sir Neil Gaiman,

you wrote this in 2011

may i borrow it for my 2013

and forever?

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Saturday Sermon

this thought is just so beautiful.

via pure nourisment

Breakfast by Candlelight

Breakfast - my favorite meal of the day most especially on mornings when I wake up and realize - "oh, I do not have to go to office today!" and it is even gazillion times MORE special, when I spend it with my family. 

My most recent posts are usually about my family and Cagayan Valley blah-blah because:

a) I am on vacation leave since last Friday until January 1 - happy! happy!

b) I am in Cagayan Valley - obviously

c) I try to write down the wonderful moments I share with my family because I get to see and be with them only every Christmas - and I am the happiest when I am with them. :)

d) There's wi-fi at home. Haha! Back when I used to live here full time (that's 10 years ago, pre-UP Diliman days), we did not even have mobile network signal - no texting and calling my high school hot boys!! Buti nalang! haha!

Back to breakfast.

We woke up with no electricity this morning. No, this has nothing to do with our barrio's backwardness - CAGELCO (Meralco's alternate in Cagayan) personnel are doing something about bamboo trees which got caught up in electricity wirings so they have to turn off the electricity being transmitted to our sleepy barrio's households.

We had breakfast by candlelight. :)

What a great way to start the day (minus the hassle of brown/blackout - haha!)

good morning jess, tanya, patis, nanay and theo!

kuya CJ joins in the fun

ze breakfast: rice (regular ;p and sinangag, siarsadong egg, danggit

ze breakfast - plated

theo in tears and in payless. :p

Story behind the tear-some Theo:

It's already the 28th and nearing the end of the lovely holiday break. Most of the kids will be going back to school by the 7th of January, the office people, by January 2. Among the kids, however, Theo will have to go back to pre-school the earliest, January 3. I pointed this out to him complete with laughter and he shed tears. I feel you, love. Even I do not want for these holiday moments to end.

Good Morning Universe!

SPA-ntaneous

I opened my golden mini-wallet, saw one or two thousand of extra cash, looked at the weary and long faces of Ikay (my 13 year-old cousin), Patis and Jess (my sisters, 12 and 7 years old, respectively), realized they cannot stand a few extra hours of waiting for my nanay to get her haircut done and so, I treated the girls to a SPA date. :) You see, we've been spending our entire half day braving the rain to do some last minute shopping for too many celebrations that will be happening on December 29 - Zach's christening, a relative's wedding (my nanay is a secondary sponsor), a high school friend's wedding (Jacky!) and of course, my nanay's 48th birthday. Our feet were all muddy and wet from the puddles and the rain (this is shopping, Tuguegarao City-style) and we need to do a pretty move to bring back our girliness. Nanay is getting her haircut done already - and what is left for us to do? Foot Spa! We found this simple spa with very affordable services right across the salon called the K Lounge and used our waiting time as girly time. Unfortunately, my cash is good enough for three only so I gave way for the three girls to experience special treatment even just for an hour only. I pray that the Universe be kind and allow me to be in the position to treat my loved ones with the good things in life - I know, this is a little selfish - but don't we all hope and wish and pray for our loved ones to have and experience nothing but the best in the world?? :)

The girls having the time of their lives. :)

The pics were taken using my nanay's C3 camera, thus, the grainy pictures. :p

Foot Spa First Timers

the girls

the seven year old

Thank you Universe!:)

Pancake Afternoon

Thanks to the instructions found at the back of the packaging of Magnolia Pancake Plus, idiot-proof and oh-so simple, my cousins, sisters, all gazillion years younger than me, and me (all domestically-challenged  regardless of age, haha!) managed to satisfy our holiday-spoiled brat bellies who can't get enough of food one afternoon (or the afternoon after we just had our breakfast at the farm). 

We cooked pancakes! I know, I know, it is not really big deal, because hello, cooking pancakes is no-brainer but coming from somebody who does not even know how to light up the stove (haha, talagang light up, yes, yes, we are not YET using electric stove - we are very backwards still, lighter, fire, LPG and all) this is a big deal, THE big deal. I can cook!! Yes!! Puwede nakong mag-asawa - in the next TEN years, wohooo!! 

And because every milestone needs to get documented - here are the pics of my lovely cousins and sisters - and please just because you do not see me in the picture it does not mean that I did not have any participation. Just for the record, I initiated the cooking , I mixed the ingredients, I opened the stove (with the assistance of Ate Lucy :p), I placed the butter on the pan, poured the mix - basically everything!! My young assistants did a teensy bit of the chore but I - take note, I was the chief chef. Haha! Nope, seriously now, these young ladies did 60% of the job and cooking pancakes, I realized, is a good bonding activity. :)

by the stove (bottom picture L-R: tanya; jessie; patis; ikay; niña)

happy cooks

our pancakes - messy but yummy!!

Pancakes now (ready mix nga lang :p) - restaurant soon, nyahaha!!!

Baby steps. :)

Thursday Sermon

i love the word

and the color

via pinterest

Two Days After Christmas

My cousin Ikay and I were doing simple math this morning. Ten years from now, she'll be twenty-three years old (she cringed). Ten years from now, I'll be,  LIKE (yes, like), thirty-six years old (aarrrggghhh, this is not happening!! - I cringed and ran and shouted like a mad man). Can't I be LIKE (yes, dapat parating may like) - Forever 21?

And then I think about my parents, my tito's  and tita's, my grandparents - they will be much older then and the added years may have taken by then a toll on their physical strength - such a scary thought (at this time, I utter a silent prayer for the Lord to bless our family and all the people I love with good health and a life well-lived and well-shared). It has been two days after Christmas and the rain is magnifying all the heavy doses of nostalgia - and I must stop because, hello, why worry about that thirty-six-year-old-ness in the next ten years when the present is beautiful, so beautiful, just the way it is.

Hay.

Just how beautiful is today? 

Tanya (my 8-year old niece) and Jess (my 7-year old sister) and I woke up at around 5:30 this morning. We were to eat breakfast at Tito Boy's farm and our task was to be the family's alarm clock - we were so great at our job, we woke up four households (my mother's side of the family live near one another) , and hauled our sleepy sexy asses to our happy place in Cagayan Valley. 

Yes, I feel like the twelve-year old me all over again every Christmas season when I go home to be with family. My family is my Peter Pan. :)

Breakfast at the Farm Pictures!

good morning world!

lovely gumamela we passed by going to the farm

early morning stroll - the farm is right beside a public high school

tilapia hatchery

these kids woke up really early

bahay kubo

farmville tools

kuya george's green thumb keeps the nurseries in tip-top shape. he has been with the family for over thirty years.

my brother cj and me

breakfast

good morning

eat and exercise

with the biker

farm fantasy

baby zach (my cousin haggy's little boy) joined in the fun! cuteness overload.

Good Morning Universe!:)

Sampaguita Art Utopia

I grew up in a sleepy barrio called Sampaguita, named after the Philippine national flower. Once upon a time, it was called nangka (langka in other dialects, jackfruit in english). How the name changed from the musty and strong-scented jackfruit to the fragrant and sweet Sampaguita is some history detail my grandfather never had the chance to brief me about (haha!) but it is a place I will always call home - even if I get to see it only at least once a year. Far from the many provinces in the Philippines I have had the privilege of visiting, there's nothing touristy about the place - it is simply HOME. Let us wait and see how it will change in the next five years. :)

Inspired by street art utopia (albeit in its simplest and least grand form), we took photos of things which caught our fancy.

This wave painting of a closed hardware shop stands out from the row of mostly grey houses.

And because we are Filipinos and it is embedded in our genetic make up to have OUR picture taken at any landmark - this is the sexy me pre-noche buena. :)

Mika, Isabelli and Bunny.

 And at the other side of the colorful hardware shop is this idyllic view of an abandoned house with the vast expanse of rice field as its background. This might not yet be prime real estate property but who know in the next ten years or so. :)

I will always keep on coming back.

No matter what. :)

Mommy Goes Morrocan

The first time I have entered an interior designed house or a house that went through the process of meticulous planning, a million versions of designing and execution, I kept on embarrassing myself with endless gushing. "Oh My God, ang ganda!" "Wow!" "You're so lucky you live here!" I thought I was in Disneyland but I wasn't - I had gone to a classmate's home in La Vista in 2003 to accomplish our group assignment and I was 50% helping out and 50% scanning every nook and cranny of their home. I was a college freshman then.

You see, for most of my college life up to now, I have lived in a dorm or in a "college house" where everything was purchased to fill out spaces for functionality. And for the many houses that I have been to, there were no dominant themes or carefully laid out spaces. Our house in Cagayan Valley, which I personally think is beautiful with its pink tiles and unpainted concrete walls, will not really pass for a cover in Real Living magazine. My nanay thinks a wooden sofa with red and beige stripes cushion is perfect for the living room - so she buys it. She thinks the fuchsia and dark blue sofa set is a nice complement to the wooden sofa set she recently bought, so she brings it in the house and places it at the end of the living room. Not that I question my nanay's taste, our house came out homey and liveable anyway, but I personally believe that more than it providing a roof at the end of the day, a house, a home deserves a character. Or something which will make it stand out among the gazillion houses in the world, so different that it can earn for itself a name. The Yellow House. The White Castle House on the top of the Hill. The Glass House. The Haunted House.

I got the kilig of a lifetime when I entered my tita Egie's (I call her Mommy) home in Cagayan (a province dominated by houses for their functionality purposes) and instantly I was transported to Morocco or Turkey or simply a fiery orange/red house which embraces color. I call it Mommy Morocco House. Just because I want to and I really suck at names. And this is the college freshman me gushing all over again - yes, the house has a lot to improve on (which I suggested to Mommy) but the house shouts "look at me, you want character, you say, LOOK AT ME!".

And so I looked and gushed and did impromptu picture taking. I could have advised her sooner that I am taking pictures of her lovely home so I can make a decent feature in my popular blog, haha!, but her house shared with Daddy (tito Jeng), their son, Haggy, and Haggy's young family, Gloria and their adorable baby Zach, is beautiful as it is.

Haba ng intro - ang daldal ko! This is me channeling Daphne Paez's Urban Zone only this time, I'm changing my show's name to Rural Zone (ngeh!) haha!

I promise to take better pictures soon. :)

This wheel is originally from a calesa used by a distant relative in her wedding. Mommy kept it (obviously), placed it in her garden and love-lified their home a million times over than how it was once.

Mommy owns a bakery just beside her house - and I think this is one of the chairs they are using for their guests. They took one out of the bakery, placed it in the garden and turned it into a nice cactus crib.


This wall inspired me so. I am more into subdued colors (hello pink and grey dreams!) but this reddish-orange wall adorned with a framed cross-stiched (so 90s!) project and complemented with wooden furnishings is simply divine.

The living room viewed at a different angle (or from across the wall I have fallen in love with). You've got to love the un-curtained Cathedral-like windows. The yellow rope tied from the leftmost window's grill is not a decorative - it is intended for baby Zach's duyan (you know how things work in the province :) ).

 Instead of the usual Christmas trinkets and ornaments, Mommy's Christmas tree is adorned with pictures of Zach - super proud lola!

 His and Hers Rocking Chair.

I call this museum pieces. Haha! This lovely table is blocked by the rocking chairs - which should not be!

 Pink Wall and Orange Door at the dining area. I did not even bother to fix the painting but the non-orderliness adds up to the charm.

 Knick-knacks or Mommy's anik-anik close up shot.

 

 The Dining Table. This dining table has been in the house for as long as I can remember - they no longer make sturdy furniture made out of wood these days. I forgot what type of wood was used here.

Love is in Door Details!

Tanya and Theo and friend by the balcony.

Lovely Home. <3>

This is Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Monday Sermon

One: Just do.

via Junk Studio

Two: Christmas Wish

via Nancy's wall

Midnight Sermon

self-helpy two sleeps before Christmas day
via MindBodyGreen

6 Tips to Follow Your Heart & Make Your Dreams a Reality

By Chloe Park

Are you seeking meaning, purpose or significance in your life, career, or both? Or maybe looking to make a change and find something that brings you closer to your true self? Here are six tips to get you started:

1. Ask yourself, what do you LOVE? What do you love doing? What comes naturally and easy for you? What traits do people compliment you on? What did you love doing when you were a child? When are you the happiest?

2. Get ready to say good bye to a lot of people and a lot of things. When you start living in alignment with your heart, in the beginning there will be an initial “falling away” of all those that are not in harmony with your heart’s resonance. It’s like this -- if for 21 years you lived without an epicenter and one day you realized your heart is now that -- imagine what that (at)tracts and (de)tracts.

3. Make space for yourself. Make space to explore what it is you truly love and want to do. Whether that be in relationships, a profession, any aspect of life -- start with YOU and everything else will fall into place.

4. Nurture your heart’s desires. Make time throughout your day to do something nice for yourself, to feel good, do something pleasurable, eat something nurturing, take a bath. Do something at least once a day that makes your heart feel happy. The more you tend to your heart, the louder and more vibrant it will be.

5. Know the difference between your heart and your mind. These are two completely different centers within the body that with practice -- will become one as a harmonious voice. In Sanskrit, heart and mind are one in the same -- the word for it is manas. With the evolution of Western culture, we have now formed it into two separate words. Get to know yourself in the mind and in the heart. You’ll be surprised at what each is saying with each other and against each other.

6. And most importantly, throughout this process -- DON’T JUDGE YOURSELF! That’s the #1 rule underlying all of this. Be honest with yourself of where you are at, without judgment, without criticism, without ignorance and without arrogance. Good for you for acknowledging the existence of your heart -- now it’s time to listen to it. Don’t be sad that you’ve been setting your heart to the side, be happy that you’ve remembered and awoken to this pulse! Have fun exploring your heart -- it’s an infinite abyss, I’ll tell you that much.

Oh My Sipaway

My Top Ten Sipaway Memories

Photo by Alan David

One: The Early Morning Sun

One thing that I have the strongest will to do only when on vacation and never on regular working days is waking up early in the morning. It is my way of making the most out of the time doing the things that I love with the people I love.

On my first morning in Sipaway, I watched the sunrise while on what I call the “runway” from the resort to the cottages which sit on stilts (a few meters from the main part of the resort). It was low tide then and starfish (es) (hundreds of them), molluscs, sand dollars, sea grasses/weeds, corals were freed from their blanket that is the ocean and naked and welcoming of the early morning sun. I relished the moment. I was IN the moment.

I remembered Gina Lopez’s column in the Philippine Star that there is an existing belief that the early morning glare is good for the eye sight. So I stood still and stared at the sun and watched the clouds pass me by. Whenever I feel like it, I close my eyes to push me deeper into the moment. I uttered a short prayer of gratitude and welcomed the gentle warmth of the sun against my skin.

Life is beautiful.
Life is good.

Two: Low Tide and Under the Sea patterns

I was praying to catch even just a short glimpse of the water level rising because I thought, it will make the cottages which sit on stilts with the ocean beneath them more picturesque. But for the most time that we were on the island, it was low tide. The oceans’ exposed treasures did not disappoint, though. There were hundreds of starfishes in different sizes and colors, sand dollars, molluscs, and other living organisms which names I do not know and which only God can imagine and will to create.

The low tide exposes life’s beautiful patterns which the ocean protectively conceals most of the time.

Understandably so.

Three: Runway to the Sea

The runway connects the resort to the cottages built by the shore.
Charming.

 Four: Green and Silky Hammock

Adam Levine’s sexy high-pitched voice. 500 days of Summer OST. Travel Magazines.
The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac. Calm waves. Coconut trees dancing with the wind. Glistening green grass. Gentle heat of the siesta hour. Distant sound of laughter from a group of friends. Or maybe families.

Me wrapped and bundled up on my green and soft hammock.

Thank you Universe!

Five: Volleyball with CEO

Do they even get tired of this kind of life? On our way to the bar to order some afternoon snacks, we passed by a group of resort employees playing volleyball with their boss. You’ll never get that from the corporate scene in the city. Most companies push their employees over and beyond what they pay them for and squeeze them dry with results – islands make excellent places to work for. Board meetings are held on the sand with a half- naked and fit German boss with that sexy accent which rolls hard on the tongue.

Ooohh la la!

Six: Flowers and Letters

Flowers are pretty.
And they are most beautiful with love letters.

Photo by Alan David

Seven: Time stands still.

And you get the freedom to breathe.
Time to completely recognize and soak in the” present”.

Eight: Breakfast with Foreigners

The resort we stayed in is owned by a German national and the place is peppered with reminders, notices and signages in Deutsche. Good thing I took up Deutsche 10 in UP, I adjusted easily with my surroundings, hahaha!! Most of the guests are also foreigners and though we don’t get to see them in most part of the day, we usually huddle in breakfast given that the resort serves food only in a small bar overlooking the pool area and the ocean.

I always order Philipino (Filipino) breakfast – rice, corned beef, egg, tea and fruit juice with an extra serving of bacon. They find it amusing that I can take in that much.

I subconsciously sang a Christmas song while finishing up my meal. One of the foreign guests said, “That’s beautiful, can you sing more for us?”. I smiled shyly.

Photo by Alan David

Nine: Pump Boat Commute

Instead of jeepneys, people commute using pump boats.  Instead of EDSA, they traverse the ocean. They do not realize how lucky they are.

Or maybe I do not realize how lucky I am.

Ten: Sunsets and Sunrises

The most photographed part of the resort is the row of cottages perched on stilts on the shallow part of the sea. The cottages are beautiful both in sunrise and in sunset.

Photos by Alan David

 
*****

Travel Notes
 
Sipaway Island or Refugio Island 
San Carlos City, Negros Occidental
  
Accommodation:  Whispering Palms Resort

Short Review: We did not go around Sipaway Island and stayed at the resort. It was more than enough and beautiful for us. Resort food is a little expensive (around Php 300 to Php 350 ++ per plate) but very satisfying. The resort staff is very congenial and helpful and sweet. The resort has wi-fi access  in common areas and bungalow-accommodation. We availed of the standard (fan) room and fell in love with the hammock I spend my lazy afternoons in reading travel magazines, Jack Kerouac and listening to Adam Levine.

How-to-get to the Island:

I nearly gave up on the long commute but I assure you, the island is worth all the inconveniences from endless transfers and long bus and boat rides.

The island can be accessed from both Cebu and Bacolod, in our case, we came from Cebu.

1. From the Mactan airport proceed to Cebu South terminal
2. Take the Toledo Bus to Toledo port. It costs around Php 70 and the ride is around two hours long
3. Take the roro from Toledo port going to San Carlos City port. The ride is around Php 120.
4. From San Carlos City port, take a pump boat going to Dapdap port in Sipaway island. Pump boat ride costs around Php 10, one way.
5. From Dapdap, we took a tricycle going to Whispering Palms resort.

Steps 1 to 5 take around four to five hours.