A short blogging hiatus

This afternoon, my parents and I will be at the airport to fetch my everdearest sister.

She will be in town to attend some business conference.

This would entail loads of sister bonding time, however brief it may be.

I'm really excitedly happy to see her again.

Ergo I have a valid excuse for not updating this blog.

But I shall return ... promise! =)

RIP, Michael Jackson

I watched the Michael Jackson memorial live from the Staples Center this morning. I stayed up till 4 am to see his friends and family pay homage to his music, his charitable works and his humanitarian spirit. They shared poignant moments as well as anecdotes of his playful mischief. I started crying when Brooke Shields narrated her special friendship with the King of Pop. And I was sobbing like crazy when his daughter praised him for being the best father you could imagine. So sad.

Michael, you will be truly missed but never ever forgotten.

Thank you for your electrifying concert performances. I will forever cherish the fact that I was able to watch you perform live in concert in Singapore in 1993.

Thank you for inspiring us with your meaningful songs.

Thank you for your great spirit.

May you rest in peace!

Ang sarap ng weekends!

Weekends are pretty much welcomed in this household. Well particularly for me! It is the time when D is home and he completely takes over the household chores.

Yes I'm mighty spoiled that way. Bless him!

As most of my friends can attest, I'm not really the domesticated diva type. But since I got married and with D at work till evenings, I've more or less lived up to the task. The task of experimenting with recipes, dusting, washing dishes, doing light laundry (the rest we simply call our friendly laundry shop to take care of our dirty linens). At the same time trying to stay online for a number of Internet activities.

Multitasking is the key!

A task I'm slowly learning. I say slowly because there were instances where I was so engrossed in front of the computer, I forgot I was heating the mushroom soup. When I finally rushed down there was soup all over the 2 burner stove and hardly any left for my lunch. Geez.

I like to think that this running up and down the stairs keeps me fit. Although every time I see my dear mother (I see her like once a week and she keeps saying the same thing!) she would always amusingly comment that I'm turning into a cute lil ball of fat in all the wrong places. Then she will say that married life suits me as though that would console my "chubby" feelings.

So perhaps I am in denial? :D

Steak, anyone?

Yesterday after I was done with my errands, I found myself at one of my fave malls, The Edsa Shangri-la Plaza.

I'm not a food court person.

But I make exception for this mall's clean, less noisy, less 'smoky' basement location of popular eateries. I have a few usual food hangouts at this particular food court. Reyes BBQ for their Pork BBQ and/or Bangus belly fare complete with java rice and their peanut sauce.
For Korean fast food, I go to Kimchi for their chicken BBQ and/or their Beef Stew which comes complete with beansprouts, plain rice and clear soup.
For snack I like the special goto (with chicharon and egg) at Goto King.

Yesterday though I was in the mood for some juicy steak. It has been ages because I've been watching my diet, kuno. I naturally headed for the House of Minis. Their complete steak meals include plain rice, few pieces of veggies and corn soup. The mini steaks are served on a hot plate which sizzles when you pour yummy gravy. The more gravy, the better! You choose whether you want them rare, medium rare or well done. The best thing though is they are quite affordable. I was really devouring my Fillet Mignon (served with bacon) with gusto while desperately trying not to think about my so called diet. =)

Children parties

On the rare occasion that D and I socialize, we usually end up going to the birthday parties of kids. His friends/co faculty's children in various ages, sizes and shapes. I am constantly amazed by how the whole party is turned into this grand production number. Complete with an emcee, a game show host, clowns, magicians - all of them trying their darnest best to entertain the guests. It is all very festive with loud music blaring in colorful balloons infested venues with buffet style dining. It is fun and entertaining. It brings out my inner child and I am totally amused by the tricks of the entertainers.

I also get a kick observing the other parents. Their minds wondering if attending these sort of parties would encourage their children to demand their own bongga birthday party. You know a sort of 'keeping up with the Joneses' attitude. Anyways I'm sure every parent just wants to provide the best for their children.

Speaking of parties, I laughed out loud yesterday because of something D said. The emcee interrupted his spiel during a game to announce "Mommies and Daddies you can now line up at the buffet table for your snack". My funny hubby turned to me and said "Papaano yan hindi tayo puwedeng kumain, hindi pa tayo mommy at daddy". Ha ha ha

Let's play Pool

D likes to play billiards. In fact, I'm proud to admit he is pretty adept in the game. So I'm sure he will find this website multiplayer games,8c1.net.http://www.8c1.net quite interesting.

It is a multi player billiards game, online. You simply register on their website. This gives you the chance to invite your friends to join as well. You either play with players worldwide or create your own room where you can play exclusively with your friends. They also have a forum section for friendly interaction with other players.

The best thing is that it is entirely free.

So join now and let's play pool.

Jose Rizal

Today marks the 148th birth day of our national hero, Dr Jose Rizal. I'm sure he will not be happy (wherever he is!) to find out that the facade of his ancestral home in Calamba, Laguna has been turned into a 'buko pandan cake'.

Click here to read about it. Such a pity, really. Instead of preserving the remnants of our rich historical past, we turn them into monuments of ridicule. So sad.

It has been ages since I visited "Ang bahay ni Rizal". It was sometime in the mid 1980s. So I'm posting a picture of D. It was taken a few years back (I think it was in 2005). It was taken in Calamba where they attended some conference/seminar and our paths had not crossed yet. Heh!

Back to School

Along with the millions of college/university students trooping back to school today to hopefully enrich their idle minds with knowledge are the teachers/faculty members. This naturally includes D, my hubby. The extra week vacation due to the postponement of the official opening of classes due to the A(H1N1) scare and the torrential rains was a welcomed surprise. It gave us more bonding moments especially during those chilly bed weather days.

So after almost 3 months of spending it being spoiled rotten by my dearest homebody hubby, I am now home alone yet again.

To try to drone out boredom by being online most of the time.

To think of meals to prepare so I don't end up starving.

To have more time to catch up on the novels I've stopped reading midway.

To turn to the DVD Player for amusement as the pile of films I've yet to watch is gathering dust on the shelf.

For more alone time to quietly reflect on our future.

Now if only our noisy neighbors would stop being such a pesky nuisance, I might just enjoy this home alone time without missing my hubby too much!