Lavender & Coffee Stains

Dear Me,

The idea of visiting my aunts and uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces from my father's side was conceived last November.

I have my little boy already and since my cousins have their own kids, too, I thought why not see them for the holidays and get re-acquainted.

Supposedly, meeting them would took place last December but my brother (together with wifey and less than year old baby Aira, whom we haven't met yet) then would be flying home from overseas and said to postpone it because he would love to join my game plan. LOL.



Last January 2, we headed to Pasig City and visited every family's home. We came bearing holiday presents for the kids and seeing old and new faces was sheer joy.

First stop was at Tita Lydia's house:


Tita Lydia (back, standing)
from left, seated: cousin Jean, moi, my little boy Miguel,
niece Jam, Bambi, SIL Ayin and Baby Aira

Right photo: my adorable little niece Aira with the Samboa family
Left photo: the young ones with the ladies in black

Right photo: cousin Jean, niece Jam, little Miguel, Bambi,
Ayin, Baby Aira, Jepoy
Left photo: younger generation of the
Manalansan, Samboa and Casagnap Family

Second stop was at my cousin Kuya Richard's house:


Kuya Richard (seated), nephew Apollo, little Miguel,
standing, back: Bambi, Apol, Jepoy

Right photo: little Miguel with his cousin Apollo
Left photo: another group shot

what got the little boys so preoccupied

Before we proceeded to our next destination, we decided to have our late lunch at three o'clock in the afternoon at Jollibee. While everybody had chicken, I ordered their crispy bangus (most of the time, it is unavailable and my craving made me order it) and oh boy, it was worth it. Truly crispy, crunchy and oh so satisfying! :)

With our stomachs full, we headed to our nearby destination.

Third stop was at Tita Grace's house:


Tita Grace (in green), cousin Stephen (kid in white),
Bambi, little Miguel, Ayin, Baby Aira, Jepoy

Right photo: little Miguel with Tito Stephen
Left photo: another group shot

Fourth stop was at Tita Linda's house:


Jepoy, little Miguel, niece Yeyet, Bambi, nephew JB, Tita Linda,
Tito Bernie, nephew JM (seated on the floor), cousin Stephen (seated on the floor)

moi with my siblings together with our kids and Tita Linda

Final stop was at my cousin Noel's beautiful home:


seated from right to left: Ofel, nephew EJ 2 (seated on mommy Ofel's lap), Bambi, moi with little Miguel, Jepoy

cousin Noel (standing) with kiddo EJ 1
Ayin carrying sleeping beauty Baby Aira

cousins getting to know each other

What I have in mind in bullet points:

• My little boy Miguel is only game to have his photo taken when it is a group shot or when it is with his cousin Jam (the two bonded during our Cebu trip).
  
  
• My niece Jam is always ready to project in front of the camera. :)
  
  
• Baby Aira became the true little darling of the family since it was everybody's first time to meet her and she wowed them with her infectious smile and little giggles.
  
  
• It felt great to see my cousin Richard. He's been sick for quite a while. But it was endearing to see him play with his kiddo Apollo.
  
  
• For the first time, I met Apol (cousin's wife) face to face. I first saw her during my dear departed Grandma's birthday celebration and the next was during last year's family reunion. We were never introduced back then.
  
  
• Nothing beats total enjoyment for two little kids of almost the same age than to play together with their toy race cars. Miguel cried when I said that it was time to go (I know, I'm such a killjoy). He and his cousin Apollo seemed to be having a great time. He would rather see me leave him there than to join us in our next home-hopping.
  
  
• Wished I could have seen Tito Joe but he was unavailable. It has been a long time.
  
  
• Every house we hopped in to had food served in front of us. We did not partake much because we were quite full then.
  
  
• Learned from Tita Grace that having an internet shop is not a wise choice for a business venture these days. With all the available and affordable options a house can have when it comes to computers and internet connections, there is no way for you to survive the competition or even get the venture stand on its feet.
  
  
• I was so surprised that the little bundles (Yeyet, JB) I used to know have grown past me (my height...hehehe). I'm sure Kuya Berlyn is happy from up there, seeing his kids growing up so well. They are lucky to have adoring grandparents Tita Linda and Tito Bernie to take care of them.
  
  
• I loved Noel's homey neighborhood. It look so perfect when it comes to raising kids. Wish I can have my own house in a place like that. :p
  
  
• It was another first...meeting Ofel (cousin's wife). I believed it was our very first meeting and she was nice and very accommodating.
  
  
• My little Miguel was overjoyed to meet another cousin(s) in EJ 1 & 2. They got lots of toys, too. Like Miguel, both kids owned a roomful of toys. :)
  
  
• I found it hard to get three little kids together in one photo but the little toy train and its train tracks gathered them together in one frame, even though they did not want to face the camera.
  
  
• Seven to eight hours of doing this was not enough. Period.
  
  
• It really pays to have a car handy in times like this. It would have been disastrous, time and energy-consuming if we were to commute.
  
  
• Engaging in this kind of activity with my siblings was a fun thing to do. After all, it is usually a once-in-a-blue-moon thing since the one live overseas while the other lives some cities away. Hehehe. It was made exciting all the more with my sister-in-law with her baby and my little boy.

Truthfully, I initiated this uber-mini reunion because I want to rebuild ties with the family. I simply want to detach myself from the family conflict that has been brewing for years. All I know is that my generation has nothing to do with it; more so, my son's generation. It was ultra short notice but I cared about seeing them. For me, it was a great way to start my 2011. :)

By the way, we also dropped by my sister-in-law's house nearby to refresh. Hehehe. Afterwards, we hit SM Megamall to wander and shop.

Dear Me,

Suddenly, I find myself browsing through some old photos in my archive. And when I say old, the digital images goes way back year 2000. It would have been fun to see the ones before that year. Unfortunately, I still have to hunt from wherever those photos from long ago and have them scanned.


Year 2000
(moi at the left corner)
looking so awkward & scrawny

Year 2001
beating a deadline

Year 2002
lounging at somebody's work station

Year 2003
(moi at the far right corner)
with the CEO & the rest of the office angels

Year 2004
casually busy

Year 2005
(moi wearing a maroon top)
with office buddy Jill at a company exhibition

Year 2006
(moi holding a birthday cake)
celebrating my birthday

Year 2007
(moi in pink, standing second from the left side)
with my office buddies during my farewell party

Year 2007
preggy & enjoying this delightful craving at Burger King

Year 2008
(moi carrying my little buddy)
shopping with the sister

Year 2008
attending a clear black night party with hubby & little buddy

Year 2008
(moi in the middle)
lunching out with office buddies

Year 2009
whiling time with my little buddy during a blogger event

Year 2010
with little buddy during his very first "semi-kalbo" haircut

Year 2010 (July)
@ the hotel in Cebu with little buddy

Year 2010 (June)
with my mom, en route to Hongkong

Year 2010 (September)
I love Egyptian-related books!
@ the Universal Studios Singapore

Year 2010 (September)
with my Egyptian boyfriend
@ the Universal Studios Singapore

I will be posting more photos during our recent family travels. :)

Dear Me,

After my little boy's pedia check-up at the Chinese General Hospital last week, I thought it would be a nice change for him to have some form of entertainment afterward. We hopped in the nearby mall, at SM San Lazaro.

Well, I first did my bank errands to eliminate them from my to-do list for the following week. It was shooting two birdies with one stone, so to speak.

I was not really familiar with the mall's entertainment scene but as we meandered around, we caught up with LG's Cookie Mascot. A friendly-looking mascot wandering around the mall surely got my little boy's attention.


very game with the shoot
Heading on, we bumped into Johan's Motortown. This kiddie place rents out motorized cars for the little boys and girls to enjoy. Instead of the usual car that Miguel rides in, I chose the bulky motor bike for a new kind of experience for him. I was a little shilly-shally at first because the thought of my little boy falling off the bike scared me. I asked the guy in-charge if I could follow him around while he drove. I got an affirmative.



Usually, hubby is the one engaging the little tyke to do this thing. Since he's now out of the country, I have to take his place. When Miguel was firmly settled in the seat, I was waiting for the guy to give me a go-sign. When it did not happen, I checked out the bike on how to make it move. There it was, Miguel was stepping on the switch, which acted like a pedal. If you stepped on it, the bike would move forward and if you rested your foot off the switch, it would simply stand still. Yeah, embarrassing moment for me!



After a few trials, Miguel got the hang of it. He could drive straight within the allocated space. The next thing he needed to learn was how to turn left and right and so I thought him how. I told him to swerve the handle bars to the right if he's going to the right and to the left to turn to the left side.





He seemed to enjoyed it so much that I had a hard time telling him to look at me so I could take nice shots of him facing the camera.



When I knew that he would be safe and not afraid, I walked in front of him instead of beside him. Later on, I playfully ran and he was giggling so hard of the idea of him chasing me around.

After a few turns, I was catching my breath from the running and laughing. I told him to take it slow so I could catch up. Hehehe.

A few more minutes and he was off the bike. He still wanted to go on but I told him that we could do that again soon. Fortunately, he believed me. :)

Dear Me,

This is the first time that Miguel & I will be celebrating Father's Day without hubby. He is now based overseas for work. I guess we will just celebrate the occasion with my folks.

I miss him and I'm certain that my little boy does, too.



Being frequent SM mall shopper, we never fail to visit Toy Kingdom. Most often than not, the little boy takes home a new toy courtesy of his father.

The photo above was taken during one of our toy-shopping visits at the store. I am not just sure if that mascot was that of Toy Kingdom. He was more like a mascot from Eveready battery. LOL.



Taken last holiday when both of my boys opened their gifts from me. Hehehe. See the smile of glee from Miguel when he saw that he had new shoes? :)



And for the big guy? Few sets of long sleeve polo shirts. Well, he was with me when we bought it in the mall. I just had it wrapped. Hehehe.





These last two photos were actually the last shots they had together before hubby flew abroad the following day.

It is just less than five months since he 'went away' and yet, I can see how fast the little boy has grown (basing on the photos).

To you honey, happy Father's Day! We will always be here loving and waiting for you! :)