A Random Tea Post

Checking out the shelves and canisters.  Found out there's lots of tea in the house: we haven't really consumed even half of what my sister and cousin gave us.  

If my grandmother is still alive, these would be gone in days because she drinks tea instead of coffee.  At least once a day.

Maybe it's time to bring out mom's tea set to induce people at home to drink tea?

Okay, maybe I'll just take the teapot and return the others to the cabinet.
 
Should also put my cheap French press pot and Japanese side-handled kyusu to good use for the loose leaf tea.  They're good for one serving only though, but... I realized yesterday I could use the coffee maker if I want more cups of tea. Ha ha ha!  Good thing the coffee maker was easy to clean and the tea didn't taste like coffee.

Mainit, may yelo, o mainit na lumamig na, mukhang magpapakasawa muna kami sa tsa-a hanggang maubos.  He he he!

It's also a good way to use the honey my other sister gave us.

December 1, 2012

Bee arrived from Cebu a little past eight this morning. Met her at the NAIA airport.  I wasn't sure at first if we're going to rent a car, take a taxi, if Bee will drive her own car, if Bee will drive a rented car, or one of their family drivers will pick us up.  Turns out a family driver did pick us up.  We first passed through the PAL cargo to pick up Bee's diving gear, then we headed to Calamba.

Bee got a job as a chef in a Tagaytay hotel, and she needed to find a reasonably priced apartment.   We looked in the Calamba area because although it is a bit far from Tagaytay, the rent is cheaper compared to rates in Tagaytay or nearby Sta. Rosa.

Of the three places Bee got from the internet, one was still in construction, and another was way too far from any main road. The last one was decent and we couldn't find it at first because we didn't realize it was on the other side of the highway. Ha ha ha.

Amazingly, all that happened in the morning. We had lunch at Cafe France in the Shell station at Binan before Bee dropped me off at Festival mall on their way back to their house in  Bulacan.

I planned to watch a movie but ended up window shopping at gadget stores and looking for a gift for the office "kris kringle".  Near the mall exit where the terminal for vans going to Pacita are parked, I discovered that Bon Chon had an outlet.  Decided to buy a box of soy chicken for dinner.

Headed home after that then had a brief rest before Mom and I went to the church to attend the anticipated Mass.

By the way, December 2 is the first Sunday of Advent.

ACI Christmas Party

Got dragged to attend the ACI party by Vikki who actually waited for me to finish downloading data for the ALCO report before heading to the ground floor where the bank car is waiting.  Lean joined us in the car.

The venue is 7th High, and hearing that there is heavy traffic at the Makati, the driver took a short cut to Global City via Newport Mall/Airport road, and we ended up on the other side of Bonifacio High.  We got a bit lost walking around B3 and found it funny that we were already near the place when we got down from the car.

Saw Rey come in with his friends a bit later than you would expect from someone who left the office earlier than we did.  He he he.

The good thing about attending this year:  I got on of the minor raffle prizes which is PHP1k worth of Sodexo/SM GCs.

Left with Menchie as the bus station to Pacita is near her apartment.  She won a minor prize too, although bigger than the one I won.  While we were looking for a cab, I saw that it was a phone with a tablet similar to the ones PLDT is offering.  Menchie said she initially had no plans to attend the party too. Ha ha ha!

Flores de Mayo

Flores de Mayo has started. It's also the Feast Day of St. Dominic Savio.

All the sacristans (altar boys) were in attendance in church today. During the offering, they lined up to lay down a rose each in front of the image of Mary. My brother and two of our friends used to be sacristans when we were kids. They were called Knights of the Altar back then, but I'm not sure if they still use it now. Since the church was just built and the Pacita community new, the sacristans didn't even wear the robes they do now, but wore barong instead.

Today's homily: Ego sum vitis, vox palmites

"I am the vine, you are the branches." - John 15:5. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches.

With Fr. Kurt being Fr. Kurt (he seems to watch a lot of soap operas and Pinoy drama/romantic movies), he starts off with "kabit ka ba of hiwalay"?

The gist of the homily is: A Christian without Christ is IAN = "I am nobody". Do you cling (kabit) to the vine or separate (hiwalay) from it?

Flores de Mayo is also Flores de Maria. Posters like this were on the church posts today:

I was 9 yrs old when our parish started this, and that means I am older than the Sto. Rosario church. He he he.

I remember when my brother, friends and I would go to church everyday in May for the Flores de Mayo, bringing flowers we plucked from the road, our gardens, and neighbors' flower boxes (being kids, we didn't think we were stealing since the flowers were outside the house. Ha ha ha!). People used to have lots of potted flowering plants or flower boxes outside their gates in the 80s.

Ketchup

Was at Friday's Glorietta with Jon. Decided to use my birthday voucher before the month ends. While waiting for one of our orders, I randomly took a picture of the ketchup bottle.

1. I know someone in PNB Treasury who'd love this bottle of ketchup.
2. This packaging is an improvement from the glass bottle where the opening was on top. A few years ago, I had to tell a Friday's waiter to help another customer at another table who was getting frustrated at getting the ketchup from the bottle.

Pasalubong from Thailand

Crisel handed this to me. Something from Thailand. Didn't even know she went there.

Pasalubong from Sagada

Jon and his friends went to Sagada last Holy Wednesday and they came back Black Saturday, passing through Baguio City on the way home.

He got me a wallet and bag tag souvenirs. He also bought 3 bottles of Sagada wine, which is 5% alcohol and tastes like Mompo.

In Baguio, he bought some fresh strawberries and blueberries. Since strawberries and blueberries are included in fruits Ma should avoid eating, and Tess doesn't like them fresh (she prefers them mixed with sugar in jam form), it's only Jon and I eating them today. My breakfast was actually strawberries, blueberries and milk.

Happy Easter 2012

Happy Easter!

Bubble wrap popping

Finished the wafer cones earlier, which leaves the bubble wrap it came in free for popping :-)

3D videos in Youtube

Realized some Youtube videos can now be viewed in 3D mode. Good thing I didn't throw away the 3D glasses that came with the MBLAQ CD, Blaqstyle 3D version.

Speaking of MBLAQ, JTuneCamp has turned on the 3D option for their "Cry" music video.

Bianca and Snow

Princess II's daughters, Bianca and Snow. Snow has retained her blue eyes, Bianca's eyes have turned "yellow"/amber as she grew older. They have two other sisters. One is orange like their mom, while the other is white with orange spots. Their father is a white cat.

Day out with Sam, Li-ling and Raffy

Since I need a gown for Sam and Raffy's wedding, Sam brought me to the same shop where she had her gown made. It was a stall in 168 Mall in Divisoria. We were to meet in the Alabang train station, take the 10AM train to Tutuban station where we could walk towards 168 Mall.

Problem is, I didn't know a jeepney ride from Pacita to StarMall Alabang would take an hour. I thought it would be 30 minutes, based on the time a bus would be in Alabang upon leaving Pacita. I didn't take into consideration that the jeepney would stop at many places in order to load passengers. Aargh. I was still in the jeepney when I heard the 10AM train pull away.

Sam texted me to say the next train leaves at 10:30AM. I got to the station before 10:30AM, didn't see Sam, thought she took the 10AM trip, so I just bought a ticket and got on the train. Right before the train was to pull away, Sam called and I realized she was still in Alabang station.

This is why I ended up waiting for about an hour at Tutuban Station for Sam to arrive, onboard the train that left Alabang at 11AM.

Tutuban station has free wifi, but I couldn't connect to it for some reason. Even after using the password given by the customer service person. After I got tired sitting in front of the TV at the waiting area, I passed by the canteen to buy something to drink. Found this cat, lounging and sleeping like a log. Cute.

Walking around the ground floor, I realized the station has a small chapel at one end.

Sam finally arrived, and with her was Li-ling, a Taiwanese co-teacher in the Korean school where Sam teaches Music and conversational English.

After I was finished with the gown fitting, Raffy arrived and the four of us walked around 168 mall where Li-Ling bought some watches and kid's shoes (for her nephew or niece). In between 168 Mall and the train station is the Tutuban Centermall.

Tutuban Centermall's facade is reminiscent of buildings in old Manila, probably of the era around the time the railway was built. We just passed through this mall as we went back to the station and took the train to go to Nichols Station, where we took a taxi going to Market Market.

Li-Ling liked Market Market better than 168 Mall. When she was through shopping, we walked towards Bonifacio High Street, taking pictures along the way. We were there til evening and I treated everyone to dinner at Friday's. We parted ways after dinner.

Back at RITM

Anti-rabies post exposure treatment entails several shots over a 30-day period. Had to wake up early to get to RITM early so that there won't be a long line when we get there.

Bacchi's Valentine Gift

Bacchi II the cat, had a back foot stuck at the top of the aviary while he was climbing down. He eventually ended up dangling upside down and howling, which brought his plight to our attention (Ma and me). I held him and tried to nudge his foot free, one manouver must have hurt badly so he bit me. I didn't even feel the pain, concentrating on the foot, until Mama told me to let go because his tooth was in my hand. Funny thing was, my mom tried to continue what I had started... so, ofcourse, she got bitten too. My wounds didn't really bleed, but blood really flowed out from Ma's wound.

Since holding Bacchi is turning out to be a no-no, but he couldn't be left dangling upside down, I took out a wooden plank and placed it on the ladder which I moved near Bacchi so he could rest. After some minutes, having gained some breath, Bacchi dug his foreclaws into the wooden board and pulled his hind foot free.

With Bacchi free, Ma called the vet, who said Bacchi's antirabies vaccine is still active, but also said mom and I should still consult a doctor and have shots if our wounds bled.

Ma called Jon next who suggested going to San Lazaro or RITM because those two places are sure to have antirabies. Other hospitals may not have vaccines readily available. Decided to go to RITM.

I expected to be injected with anti-tetanus, but thought only mom needed antirabies. WRONG. I got more shots than mom, because I had more wounds - she only had one. My left hand was puffy from the vaccine being injected in 3 places. Dang.

It guess the antirabies Bacchi got is for the cat's safety, but humans should also be injected with antirabies for their own safety.

Side note: I want this industrial fan RITM got in the waiting area.

When we got back to Pacita, we bought a cage where Bacchi could be isolated. Bacchi hates the cage. He would go in if the door is kept open, but he gets panicky/noisy if the door is closed.

hello? :-)

Just had to take a picture... cause I find this scene amusing.

Church stuff: 22Jan2012

For this year, our parish organized a Visita Iglesia to Panay and Boracay Islands.

This image of Our Lady of Sto. Rosario at the church entrance is actually a mosaic of faces of parishioners who submitted/emailed their pictures.

Cool, huh?

Gas Station

The taxi passed by a gas station to refuel. Beside us was a big truck. Not able to take a good wide shot picture of it... but it makes you want to ask: "Optimus Prime, is that you?" :-)

Happy Chinese New Year: 2012

Tullett Prebon sent these cupcakes yesterday to their clients to celebrate the Chinese New Year:

Sto. Nino Exhibit 2012

It's the opening day of the Sto. Nino exhibit. They even got a lyre band playing. Weirdest thing was there were grapes scattered on the floor - I only realized it when I stepped on some.

Santana Grove

Waiting for K.O. and Rey at Santana Grove. Gonna be heading to the annual planning exercise.

Chocolates!

Someone gave out chocolates yesterday :-)