Linggo ng Wika Revisited 2011

Linggo ng Wika Revisited 2011
Originally uploaded by kitakitts

My pretty could've bagged the best dancer award if any was given :D I can hear compliments coming from teachers and parents, though I'm not fishing for it. Unnie Keng's camera doesn't use rechargeable aa batteries, still I wish I was able to capture HD video of her dance.

When I asked Dani which song they will use for their performance, she said something with ice cream. My first guess was right, Mamang Sorbetero. I easily got a copy and some nights she'd gamely show me the steps.

Friday morning, I was among the first parents to come, 7:30am in fact. Program doesn't start until 9am. So I had to wait, chatting with whoever, ipodless and bookless that I am. Oh but it's all worth the wait.

Come performance time, I can barely hold the camera steady. I was so thrilled to cheer her on. Typical haha.

Off to Cebu

loboc river
Originally uploaded by kitakitts

I envy my parents, really. I was able to snag them last minute cheap tickets for tomorrow. Together with my auntie, Cebu as their jump of point, they will tour Bohol and Dumaguete for the next seven days. Uncle said they'd visit Antulang.. *sigh* Mom says we should've joined them as everything is almost taken care of. Still, I'd really prefer if we can pay for our expenses ;)

Anyways, I'm trying to stay awake till 3AM so I can call them just to make sure they are awake and won't miss their flight. I took the first flight to Cebu, I did say it's the cheapest right?!

Best served HOT!

Tagaytay Trip 082011
Originally uploaded by kitakitts

Whenever I think of sneaking a trip to Tagaytay, I bribe the husband with Bulalo from MerBen Canteen's Tapsilog sa Tagaytay.

Keds and Hubby split the bill from our last trip. Not that it's expensive, ganon lang talaga kami.


(L) Fried Tawilis; (R) Chopseuy

I forgot to take photo of the pancit canton. After our pigout session, my dad wanted Swisher Sweets, only if it were available.



Except for the Fried Tawilis, I wouldn't recommend the other dishes. I guess we'll just order takeout next time.



MerBen Canteen is near Bulalo Point, from Tagaytay Rotonda left side a couple of miles before hitting Mendez Crossing. Sorry, kinda bad in giving directions hehe

Linggo ng Wika Revisited

Linggo ng Wika Revisited
Originally uploaded by kitakitts

Since the start of the school year, many have noticed the little girl has slimmed. She doesn't even have "bilbil" anymore. I'm closely monitoring her food intake, I don't want her to lose too much, not that we're making her.

For two consecutive mondays, the little girl has been wearing the same baro't saya she had when she was Nursery. The other night, she asked me if she has no other costume for her performance on Friday (tomorrow). After consulting with the husband, who prefers to be practical, I went out and bought her a new one. Pasaway, I know. Hopefully, I can share photos tomorrow.

Dobby and Gillyweed

goblet of fire
Originally uploaded by hopesdreamseverything

Harry has just finished the second task for the Triwizard Tournament and tied up with Cedric. I forgot that Ron is the thing Harry will miss most. I deferred watching movie #3 so I can proceed with book 4. I'm itching to do so, just to revisit The Yule Ball episode. Curious how the movie makers were able to visualize the magical setting the book demands. Think they might've used acura legend custom floor mats or the likes?

I remembered Professor Woody suggest pursuing a career as an Auror to Harry. I've no idea how things'll turn out in book 7 aside from The Big Battle. Long way to go..

Eye-Shopping

Simple Shoes On High

Kenneth Cole Reaction
Be Mine 2 Lighted

Another konglish word I've learned from Hani of Playful Kiss which means window-shopping :D  So I've been looking around for some discount shoes and I've included this Grey Simple Shoes for me and Pink Kenneth Cole Reaction sneakers in my wish list.  Both will cost me roughly P1.5k each.
Meanwhile, hubby's shoes are waaayyy expensive.  However, if you'll take into account the number of times he wears out his current and the time when he buys a new one to replace it.. it comes out much sulit than ours.

Wii SoftMod, Success!

Happy Birthday Dad
Originally uploaded by kitakitts

I've been pretty busy today, the little girl settled with watching her old backyardigans cds. Recently, I have several wii games in my amazon cart waiting for that final click to checkout. The Rio cd prompted me to update my system thus we ended up with 4.3U and unable to load all the "special collection" we used to play. So the little has been spending less time playing wii due to limited game options.

Anyways, as I'm avoiding unnecessary expenses, tried searching the web for the perfect solution. After pages of forum scanning, verifying the steps and installers here and there, we now have a Disk Backup Launcher able to load our precious collection :D

With a little more patience, (and a faster connection) from this source, we will be able to add more to our collection :D

Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Originally uploaded by agreatandterriblebeauty

Yeah, explains my lack of posts. I've been trying to catch up and mostly used my daily six hours of free time reading the books and watching the movies. Not to mention scanning canon here and there avoiding spoilers haha. Though I have seen the past five movies, I barely remember the plot so it's like having a date with a chinggu I haven't seen in a long time.

Can I have a remembrall pretty please?

ARTime: Roadmap

ARTime: Roadmap
Originally uploaded by kitakitts

Sometimes I wish I'm more creative when it comes to arts and crafts. Usually, we have paints and brushes waiting to be used on clean sheet of papers. It can get messy but rather a better alternative than just watching artzooka in the tube.

Forty-five minutes has passed and the kids left with these:


Dani-Left, Kuya L-Right

Expected these masterpieces to be recycled as wrapping paper for future occasions ;)

Cars 2

Initially, I wasnt too thrilled when hubby took home a copy of Cars 2 for this weekend movie treat.  I've already forgotten the characters in the first film.  However, the animation got the better of me and before I know it I was hooked in the story.  I like their version of Tokyo and how high-tech the restrooms are: complete with automobile lift and wash.  The little girl liked the female protagonist but not enough to deserve a second screening.

Yellow Ginger Tea and Honey

Yellow Ginger Tea and Honey
Originally uploaded by kitakitts

Together with the leftover slice of Chocolate Cake from Dani's baon the other day, my breakfast for the day.

Oppsie, lunch time already!

Quick Trip to Tagaytay

I'm sure my SIL and kers didn't mind missing this trip as they have a date planned today. Still we missed the bobo brothers hehe.

Kirei

Afternoon snack for the little girl. Wish I brought along a banana. She got hungry after swimming for half an hour. Felt like summer all over again. Happy Friday!

Drive

Drive
Originally uploaded by kaysha

One of the signs that I slept longer than usual is when I had a dream. This morning, I remember I was driving a car. I've yet to apply for my Non-Pro License. I'm scared I might fail the practical test. Hopefully I can practice tomorrow.

My goal is to conquer my fear by the time I get my last pay ;) Syempre I need pamasahe to go to LTO :P Poor akish.

Ginisang Upo with Misua

Ginisang Upo Recipe
Originally uploaded by kitakitts

Got the recipe from Overseas Pinoy Cooking. Minus the pork, here's what I used:

4pcs garlic cloves
1pc onion medium
2pcs tomatoes medium
7pcs shrimps medium
1/2 of 16inches upo
1/2 pack misua small

Saute garlic, onion and tomatoes. Add shrimps. Add upo with water (just enough till the upo floats hehe). Add misua. If to When upo is almost translucent, turn off stove. I let it sit for a few minutes for the remaining heat to cook the upo before I serve :D

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Fire!
Originally uploaded by Dullface

"We did art today, mommy", the little girl announced as she zoomed to me in the kitchen. I just said, "Great!", as I intend to focus on making a decent lunch for us.

Later, I asked her the details of her artwork. She said, "We colored Daniel's friends and they were thrown in the fire.", all the while making exaggerated arm gestures. I asked her what happened to them, to which she answered, "They did not burn, God protected them."

Sometimes, I think Bible stories are too morbid :p

oDesk

oDesk_Philippines_Outsourcing_Map
Originally uploaded by oDesk

So I've jump the online freelancing bandwagon last July. Anticipating my, ahem, future career options. I spiced up my profile this month and took several exams. I've heard that getting that first break needs tons of patience. Competition is pretty stiff for newbies like me. Ten minutes of writing about garage floor coating is equivalent to 4 hours of Data Encoding task.

Maybe I should setup another blog while waiting for that ever elusive first job offer.

Sponge Cake for Sponge Mom

Breakfast
Originally uploaded by kitakitts

I haven't established my weekly routine yet much less my mornings.

Day starts at 5am, when hubby's alarm sound off. I'm still in bed, sleepy hehe. Quarter before 6, he kisses and bids us goodbye. I get up and see to the little girl's breakfast and baon. I wake her up at 6am and prepare her for school. Usually the school service picks up the little girl quarter before seven and won't be back until lunch time.

The four hours in between, I would've:
eaten breakfast
blogged an entry
tackled a house chore or two
cooked lunch
freshen up

Then, she comes home, gives me a tight hug and couple of little kisses, already sleepy. I try to quickly feed her (yup spoon fed still). Afterwards, maybe let her watch one episode before she takes her nap. That gives me another two hours before playtime and snack time.

At 6pm, sometimes, I still cook dinner or add another dish to whatever is left of lunch.

The little girl eats dinner ahead of us around 7pm. By the time her dad arrives from work, usually at 8:30pm, she's still eating :p Vitamins and warm quick bath by 9pm and off to bed we go. One to three books will take about 30mins. A glass of milk later after saying her prayers, we kiss her goodnight and call it a day.

I stated in oDesk that I can work 4hours/week. Goodluck to me.

Piano Pieces for Beginners

I've read in one site that it's easier to teach kids the keys by labeling them with numbers. However, stubborn teacher that I am, I still used letters.
TLG now knows how to play Mary Had a Little Lamb. She had just learned Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star last week and we are moving on to new pieces.

Baby Handlebars

DSC01998
Originally uploaded by delightful disarray

Cute, no?! Bro, try mo kay Lionne hehe

Tanigue with Beans Rice Toppings

Recycled leftover turned yummy lunch turned 400+ calories turned to added unwanted belly fat. Sigh.
Orange, anyone?

Review: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



While I was reading this book to my 5 year old little girl, I sensed she was curious about the story. From the cover itself, she knows that the character is not in a good mood.

Later, I asked her if she ever had a bad day like Alexander. She said to me: "I never had a bad day. I have good luck."

I thought about her best friend in school, Alex, and what would my daughter feel if she's not Alex's first best friend anymore. She said, "It's ok, I'm still her friend naman."

I guess that's my Little Miss Sunshine right there.

Though she wasn't able to empathize with the character, I liked the message of the book to the readers. Sometimes, and only sometimes, it's normal to be grumpy and cranky when things don't go the way you want to. Because some days are like that. After acknowledging such, one should focus more on staying positive and look forward to a better day tomorrow.



View all my reviews

Prep 1st Quarter Exam

Results are in:
50/50 - Math
50/50 - Filipino
49/50 - Science
47/50 - CLE
47/50 - Language
44/50 - Reading
She got confused with cap, cop and cup. I think she hurriedly answered some of the He/She questions and didn't review her answers anymore.
Yup I'm the kind if parent who looks at each one if her mistakes and tries to figure out why hehe Not to worry I try not to pressure her and makes sure I give her lots of praise, hugs and kisses for encouragement.

Kangkong Fritters and Shrimp Rebosado

I was able to convince the little girl to try the fritters. Para lang yang chichiria, I said.
With the shrimps, no prodding necessary. It's one of her favorites. We had sweet ripe mangoes for dessert.
Love, sorry sinigang pa rin dinner natin mya hehe

French Toast for Breakfast

I felt kind of guilty as I indulge myself with this plate. Hubby had the Century Tuna Hotdog with Rice. I was only able to whip this after the little girl went to school. She on the other hand stuffed herself with munchkins.

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2011

Photo from FDE

The little girl and I decided to be couch potatoes for the day.  However, most of her favorite cartoon shows are on re-runs.  We checked other channels: discovery, animal planet, nat geo. Still nothing interesting.  Up next are lifestyle and fashion networks.  Flashed before our eyes are these gorgeous ladies gliding though the catwalk in their undies.
For a while there, I wanted to switch channels.  I remind myself that my child is innocent and she's merely appreciating what appears to be costumes on the screen.  So there we sat through the show, exchanging ideas whichever we find pretty.
Silently, I made a mental note to grab myself a similar cheap sexy lingerie ;)

School ID Preparatory

The little girl went home with her school ID today. I didn't know their photo session schedule and turns out it was the day I sent her to school donning a headband. Normally I take considerable pains in twisting her hair into all sorts much like O Hani's. Oh well, not much I can do about it now.

3-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Dessert for you, breakfast for me. I remember this microwave-friendly chocolate cake recipe in flickr. Tried to search for it and found this recipe. Here's what I did:Ingredients

4 TBsp all-purpose flour
3 TBsp muscovado sugar
1 egg medium
3 TBsp marhsmallow flavored chocolate powder
1 TBsp Nusica Choco-Hazelnut Spread
1 TBsp Bestfoods Peanut Butter Spread
3 TBsp freash milk
1 TBsp soft butter

Directions
I just mixed the first ingredient I find. Flour, sugar, choco powder, spreads, milk, butter. Mix. Mix. Mix. Microwaved high for 3 minutes.

Results-- I think I'm being hard on myself as I'm not so pleased haha. I find it too sweet. Maybe I should've just used 1 tablespoon of sugar (or non at all) because the spreads added sweetness already. I spot some white eggs here and there meaning I should've mixed the eggs, milk, flour and butter more until consistent and then added the spreads last (for the swirly effect).


Chocolate Mug Cake by Nicole Zeigler via Flickr

Favorite Subject

Math. Apparently, she likes to count. We have just finished reviewing for her exams tomorrow. Now if only I can find worksheet for Filipino..

Chicken and Potato Salad

Side dish for you, Main Entree for me. We bought a pack of baby potatoes for TLG's Nutrition Day. She's supposed to bring the smallest potato, biggest tomato, longest eggplant and biggest watermelon. The latter we didn't bother to buy anymore. On my way home, I was able to scout candidates from The Landmark grocery. So, here we are with these potatoes. What to do, what to do?

I usually toss them in the pan with butter, cheese spread and bacon. I'm trying to minimize meat from our menu so no bacon around. Yesterday, I've boiled and pureed some together with pumpkin to make a hearty soup. For today, I mixed it up with the leftover chicken spread I made this morning. Instant lunch for me! Meanwhile, TLG settled for deep-fried-half-burned tilapia with crab and corn soup (instant). All these while searching for single premium immediate annuity quotes.

Smores Improvised

Oh my sugar.
I thought my mindless eating days are over.

Summer

Dani borrowed her tita's chihuahua last week. We dont have a bed for her but she usually sleeps on the throw pillow we placed near the piano. Just got a text from tekeng and she's missing her bunkmate already. Hopefully if the weather cooperates, will bring her with me on Friday.
Apart from poop and pee, we can hardly tell there's a dog in the house. She's more malambing to me. Most of the time she still run away from the little girl.

Return to Umma

While waiting for our order, I was contemplating on whether we should've gone to Toastbox and have a taste if their Laksa.
My japchae arrived and all second thoughts went kapoof. Like smoke from our mild spicy pot of ramyun.
I can tell Lil Sis was trying hard not to be dramatic about our Last Lunch together. She told me she insisted on working at TPC Fort so she can be with her siblings, even if it'll mean years of document management for her. I feel a bit sad, not having free lunch with them. I don't know how my schedule will be for the coming weeks. I'll just take it like I always do.. one day at a time.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America: The First Avenger
Originally uploaded by Premium-Format

My bad. I got the titles mixed up. Anyways, I'm loving Cap's WW2 costume, super sharp!

I was able to score free movie tickets with hubby last Thursday night, that's a great freebie considering the whooping P200 per head price tag at Greenbelt 3 cinemas. It was an effective diversion from all the drama of my last day at work. Yup, you heard me right. I am officially a bum starting Friday.

Anyways, the action scenes were fast paced and I can't help but get tired on behalf of Cap, he does run a lot ;) We didn't know we should've stuck around until the credits ended. It has been sometime since hubby and I saw a movie together but we're both eager to go home to the little girl and didn't linger long. Ahh to be a parent..

So, I am now anticipating the Avengers, having read some tidbits here and there. I doubt though if I'll see it in the big screen. No work, no pay.

The First Avenger

THOR
Originally uploaded by Tastes Like Comics

I must be blind but I'm not seeing artcarved wedding bands with the chemistry between these characters. Having said that, I liked the film and the moral story revolving family ties.

It was only after reading the FAQ at imdb did I realize that the scenes after the credit was supposed to be a prelude to Red Skull's search for the cube in Captain America. I don't follow Marvel Comics and wasn't aware of the upcoming Avengers movie on 2012. Hubby resisted watching my copy with me. Knowing him, he'd prefer to watch once we have the HD copy already :D