Everything is Awesome

I chanced upon this Lego display at the city.

That is a whole lot of Lego!!

Wishing everyone an awesome year to come.

Bucketful of Green (and Red)

This one is for Slash-M!  

Am not sure if he is finally convinced that green M&Ms 

taste exactly the same as the rest of the others.

Just in case he isn't,

we found this bucketful of M&Ms where he has about 50% chance of finding green ones.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, Everyone!!

Live Each Day, Love Each Day

We pause to remember the recent events at Martin Place.

As I walk past Martin Place, I stop to think that each day could really be your last.

Only God knows the place and the time when we are to leave this earth.

Let us always be prepared.

Live each day.

Love each day.

Not in Vain

I found these old photos the other weekend.  It might seem strange to have pictures of the kids holding up random letters, but in truth, it makes perfect sense.  

Back in 2001, I wanted to come up with something special for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. The kids had foam mats with letters,  I figured we could make a photo collage spelling out "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY" with the family members holding up the letters to form the words.  Letter assignments were by age (one letter for each sibling and one letter each for the next generation).  So GI, RD and MyGirl were the "NIV" for ANNIVERSARY.

Eldest Sis and I were still living in Manila at the time.  The US based siblings didn't have children yet.  Both London Eye and Sister Deer were scheduled to visit the country some time during the year. It seemed a doable project.   

We took some pictures when London Eye and Sister Deer came. I took pictures of my kids with their assigned letters (and a batch of random photos thus we have RD with an "A").  The siblings in the US took their respective photos when they got together during Thanksgiving.  Z helped put the whole thing together.  She even added the clouds in the background.  

We changed the wallpaper of Father's PC on the eve of their 40th anniversary.   

It's amazing how time flies.  These pictures were taken 13 years ago. GI's age was single digit back then, RD was only in nursery, and MyGirl... MyGirl was just a baby.  She was less than a year old we had to put the V on her tummy for the shot.

I'm really glad I found those old photos.   

Family Gathering

We still managed a family picture this year.

I tried to get this photo placed in the Christmas letter

but unfortunately it didn't make the final cut.

The original collage had a birthday greeting for Sister Deer 

who is celebrating a special round number birthday this year.

We had spelled out 

H A P P Y   xx  Sister Deer!! 

 We love you all over!

It was a surprise birthday gift we made for her.

We'd planned the gift early this year and 

gave her the finished product four months before her birthday

when she visited Manila in August.

.

We're quite fortunate to have a clever and innovative brother in J

who conceptualized the collage and prepared the PPT.

He also managed to get include Sister Deer in the shot with him

allowing the final product to have all the family members.

Can you see me? 

I'm not quite 4th in line here.

As a matter of fact, while the collage was still a work in progress, 

both London Eye and I felt that something was wrong with the pictures 

because we are so used to having Sister Deer

coming between the two of us when we have "by age" pictures.

It took some presence of mind and a lot of restraint

to keep this a secret from Sister Deer.

Happy Birthday, Sister Deer!

Tall And Getting Taller

I took this the other day as we were going home from the mall.

Let me zoom in on you, RD and MyGirl

because I could hardly see you in the first shot.

I had wanted to get the giant Christmas tree

but in hindsight, I'd rather see the two of you.

This was taken last night.

GI came around with his first cousin on his back like a koala.

 "One day," he said, "I won't be able to do this anymore."

So naturally, I took a picture of them.

Popping All Over Sydney

Last month, there were a lot of posters around the city.

They kept on reminding me ...

Pop!

Pop!

Pop! Pop!

Just gotta love art.

As Andy Warhol says, "Art is what you can get away with."

Pop to Popism : Read More About It

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Me!

It must have been a subliminal suggestion 

I picked up from passing by the

Christmas trees at the office lobby.

I found myself in blue and grey last Thursday

matching the Christmas tree decor.

These are Not the Watermelons You are Looking For

MyGirl and I wanted to test this recipe from Yoyomax12.

To half of the dough, we added some red food colour and raisins,

to one-fourth, we mixed up blue+red+yellow to get nice dark green, 

and then we left one-fourth as is.

Here is the "main watermelon" complete with "seeds."

The pith will be the plain dough.

And the rind will be the green dough.

Here are the loaves of raisin bread

waiting to become watermelons.

  !

And voila!

This is the best disguise a raisin bread could have.

Raisin Bread Disguised as a Watermelon  

1 c milk
1 1/2 T butter
2 1/2 T sugar
3/4 t  salt
2 1/4 t yeast
1 egg yolk
3 to 3 1/2 cups flour
3/4 c raisins 

Combine milk and butter in microwave safe bowl
Microwave for about a minute to heat the milk and melt the butter
Add sugar, salt, yeast and eggyolk
Stir to combine
Add about 2 cups of the flour and mix together until you get a sticky dough
(Dough is not yet firm enough to knead but firm enough to handle) 

Divide dough so you have two fourth pieces and one half piece.
Transfer the two quarters into two smaller bowls 

To the half piece, add red food colour and raisins
Add enough flour to make dough ready for kneading.
Knead for about 8 to 10 mins
Set aside. Cover and let rise for about 2 hours or until double in size 

The one of the quarter pieces, add green food colour
Add enough flour to make dough ready for kneading.
Knead for about 8 to 10 mins
Set aside. Cover and let rise for about 2 hours or until double in size 

To the last quarter piece, add enough flour to make dough ready for kneading.
Knead for about 8 to 10 mins
Set aside. Cover and let rise for about 2 hours or until double in size 

Punch down the red piece of dough
Roll into a log shape 

Punch down the white piece of dough
Roll into a rectangle that will be big enough to wrap and cover the red log
Brush surface of white dough with milk then place red piece on top
Cover the red piece completely, crimping the edges of the white piece together along the length and edges of the log. 

Punch down the green piece of dough
Roll into a rectangle that will be big enough to wrap and cover the white log
Brush surface of green dough with milk then place white piece on top
Cover the white piece completely, crimping the edges of the green piece together along the length and edges of the log. 

Place loaf into a greased loaf pan (9"x5")
Cover and let rise for about an hour or until double in size 

Bake in preheated oven at 350 deg for 15 to 20 minutes until done.

When You Send a Man to the Grocery

Eldest Sis shared this on FB.   Her husband thought she was choking because she was laughing so hard.

This is so funny!   It reminded me of the day I opened the grocery bag to find five big containers of various spices.  I thought my grocery list was quite specific when I had written "five spice powder." Obviously, it wasn't,

Frozen in Name

All just trivia

but I did enjoy the movie, the music and the company when I watched it.

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen,  

people are saying that the characters of the movie Frozen are all named after him. 

Hans Christian Andersen

Hans - Kristoff - Anna - Sven

If you say the names fast enough, you will hear it.

Sand and Song

This is so impressive.  I think the artist is Korean and the singer a Filipina.

Philippines Singer & Korea Sand artist  
Grace Eve - Let It Go
SANDARTIST Mi Lee Sin

Morning, Noon and Nighttime

These were taken over a few days.

It was morning in the Netherlands.  

They were having breakfast when we caught them.

It was noontime in Hong Kong.

Although HK is in the same time zone as Manila

I don't get to catch Sister Deer as often.

Am always happy to find Eldest Sis and Mindy online.

It was nighttime in Taiwan and Manila (and Sydney).

A particularly warm spring day for us and GI was shirtless.

Young Taiwanese lass was NOT pleased at seeing my topless boys.

(RD had likewise come around during the conversation without a shirt on.)

GI tried to appease her by recreating his "fabulous" look as a 5-year old.

Catching Up

I caught more family members last Sunday.

Mother logged in using her MacBook so that we could have video.

I said I wanted to take some group shots.

(Yes, this is what group shots look like if you are in three different countries.)

Mother goes, "Wait.  Here is your father."
Calls father first. Then she calls Z.
"Ok, here is your sister."

I take these two screenshots.

"Wait, wait.  Here is your brother."

I fumble between Skype and Paint but manage to get this one.

Right after I took the shot, 

Mother says, "We have to go now.  Bye!"

... and disappears!

Oh well, we still have each other, right?

For the ones not in photo...

... we missed you!!!

Bridging the Time Zone

Sunday morning in Australia.  Saturday night in Virginia.  

Different place.  Different time.

No problem!

Thank God for Skype!

(with our bunso [youngest])

with our son

with our daughter

Ten Years

Today is the 10th year death anniversary of MacGyver's dad.

MacGyver shared these pictures today in FB.

He wrote, "One of Daddy's greatest legacy is his passionate love for kids."

That is the truth.  Nobody can deny that.

We miss you, Daddy.

08 November 2004 was a Monday.  Daddy had been hospitalized since the Saturday prior. We had been able to visit him that Saturday evening.  He seemed to be improving and we were happy and hopeful.

Daddy was scheduled for a test on Monday and I don't remember if there was a call to advise that something was amiss but I do recall that MacGyver left to go to the hospital early that morning. MacGyver said I didn't have to go with him, knowing that I had something scheduled at the office at 9AM.

Don't ask me why, but after mass I decided to take a bus to the hospital, instead of taking a jeepney to work.

I will always be thankful that I listened to the voice inside me telling me to go for the longer trip to the hospital instead of a shorter one to the office.  It was the single, most significant bus ride decision I have made in my life.  It is the one ride I will never regret taking.  

I arrived at the hospital and joined other family members at Daddy's bedside.

We prayed the rosary together as we listened to his heart monitor beep.

Daddy was with us until the last mystery.  

At least that is what I thought on that fateful Monday ten years ago.  

I know better now.  Now I know that Daddy is with us everyday.

Going Home

(This is from 11 November 2004.)

"I want to go home on Monday."

This was Daddy's request on Saturday, 6 November 2004, as he lay on his hospital bed at Medical City General Hospital. He had been there since early that morning, when he was rushed to the Emergency Room. He was scheduled for an upper GI examination on Monday morning, which we'd hoped would shed some light on the cause of the deterioration of his health.

He had not been well. We knew he was sick. In 2001, he experienced a swelling in his tongue, which affected his speech and caused difficulty in swallowing. He was diagnosed in April 2002 to have amyloidosis**, which is a very rare disease. Although the disease is not called 'cancer,' the treatment and prognosis are the same. Over the next two years, Daddy underwent chemotherapy which seemed to slow down the progress of the disease.

Daddy increasingly had difficulty in swallowing, so Mommy would lovingly prepare osterized meals. A few months ago, he complained that even if he hadn't finished his food, there was a sensation of being full. He was diagnosed to have liver cancer. There was a 10 cm liver mass exerting pressure on his stomach. He was experiencing a lot of pain. Standing up and lying down required a lot of effort on his part, and careful assistance on the part of his companion.

Over the past few weeks, his health deteriorated rapidly. A peg (a feeding tube straight to the stomach) was inserted to supplement his food intake, which was low, and was worsened by frequent vomiting. When traces of blood were noted as he vomited last Saturday morning, they immediately set for the hospital.

Daddy was able to rest on Saturday and Sunday. Medical City was like a second home to Daddy. His spirits were lifted when Dr. Alran Bengzon visited him on Sunday afternoon. He and Dr. Bengzon were friends from way back.

However, Daddy turned for the worse on Monday morning. He requested for his last rites, and received the Sacrament of Extreme Unction at about 5 a.m. 

Daddy died peacefully at 11:00 a.m., 08 November 2004, in the presence of his family. (God granted him his request.)

Please pray for the eternal repose of the soul of my father-in-law, Antonio. He was 73 years old. He was a simple man, a very kind and caring man. I will miss him a lot.

=================

**Amyloidosis is "a generic term for a collection of diseases that results in the abnormal deposition of amyloid protein throughout the body." In layman terms, the bone marrow produces proteins in the blood that the body is unable to break down and excrete. These proteins get deposited between cells of organs, causing it to swell until it fails. Common organs affected are the tongue, heart, liver and kidneys, although virtually any organ of the body may be affected.

Car Trouble

Good Hair Day

Hope this plays.

Smile and Wave

I have to bring the camera out more often

so I can take more shots of these precious angels.

After I added these pictures in FB,

the system automatically asked

 if I wanted to tag the people in the photos.

On MyGirl's box, the question was,
"Want to tag yourself?"

Art at the Doctor's Office

Simple yet charming!

Shapes at the Night Noodle Market

They put up this structure at Hyde Park 

for the Night Noodle Market.

I hope it doesn't rain.

Breath of Fresh Air

MyGirl wasn't particularly excited about joining the plants

in the photo but I wanted to take a picture of her

more than I wanted a picture of the plants.

Early Bird

Look who I saw outside someone's house the other day.

Once Upon a Dream

We watched Maleficent the other night.

(Warning : Spoiler Alert!)

If you must know, Prince Charming and I had this thing when I was young.

Or more accurately, I must confess, I had this thing for Prince Charming when I was young.

(more in a previous post)  Well, in this movie, Prince Charming played a minor role.  

Yes, I do realise now that Prince Charming was just a cartoon character.
And after watching the movie Maleficent, I came up with several thoughts which had never really crossed my mind in the past.

I don't know about you but I think my points are quite valid. 

The King and the Queen missed out on the best years of their daughter's life by letting her live out in the woods with the three good fairies for sixteen years. 

The first fairy (Flora) gave the Princess Aurora the gift of beauty.  Really?  What does that say about her parents? So much for genetics.  

Prince Charming had only just met the young princess.  In fact, I think he only met her once.  The movie was right.  How could  he give her true love's kiss?

Oh no.  Is this a sign that I am growing up?  

Interestingly enough, the first family members I know that got to watch this movie was none other than Mother.and Z.  Am sure Mother smiled knowingly when the Princess Aurora was awoken by the kiss. And I would not be surprised if Z gave Mother a kiss soon after the scene.

I love you, Mother!!!!

Miss Saigon Lives On

Am sure Mother would love this.

Lea Salonga herself shared this video in FB.  She's still got it.

Stop, Watch and Listen

I found this so cool.

GI is particularly strict about waiting for the pedestrian lights to turn green.  I grew up in a country where there were no pedestrian lights (or even if there were any, they may not have been taken seriously), I am thankful that people are trying to make safe roads even safer.

A Time for Everything

We all know that Solomon was a wise king.

What I did not realise was that he was also a wonderful poet.

These verses want me to go back to the bible and check out what other things King Solomon wrote.  

    Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

    1 There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven:

    2 A time for giving birth, a time for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting what has been planted.

    3 A time for killing, a time for healing; a time for knocking down, a time for building.

    4 A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time for dancing.

    5 A time for throwing stones away, a time for gathering them; a time for embracing, a time to refrain from embracing.

    6 A time for searching, a time for losing; a time for keeping, a time for discarding.

    7 A time for tearing, a time for sewing; a time for keeping silent, a time for speaking.

    8 A time for loving, a time for hating; a time for war, a time for peace.

Everything that happens in this world, happens in God's time.

Even these little flowers on the road know that there is time for everything.

It is still early when I walk to mass.  

The sun is not quite as bright and the weather is still cool.  

The flowers hide inside their petals.

By the time I head back home, 

the sun is shining and it is much warmer.  

This is what the flowers look like.