home pics - those cabinets with mumus

these cabinets are older than me. kuya said they are haunted. i
don't know where he got the idea, but i think it would be wise to believe and respect whatever is inside them... like uhm... old clothes. my lolo and lola knew how to take care of their belongings. i wish i have that trait.

home pics - that lush garden

wow kung maka-title! :) parang may hardin talaga! my lola loved plants. we had lots of plants in front of the house and at the sides too. we even grew a bataw vine and we would just harvest (naks), steam, and instant side dish for dinner na! there were flowering plants (santans, bougainvilleas), leafy plants, plants that make you itch, and plants that bred catterpillars! lush talaga! but that was before :(

i love plants too. they just don't love me back. hehehe. here is what is left of lola's garden. i wonder if wawin takes care of them...

home pics - that sunny window

our tv used to be located on this area. love the generous shower of sunlight! :) positive vibes! we used to put sheer curtains here, ganda rin ng effect! our house is old! see the cracks beside the window frame?

home pics - that other painting

if there's that cheerful painting, there's this other painting that's much older than the cheerful one. i remember that as a child, i would look at this painting and imagine myself walking by that lake. creepy lang ang trip hahaha. weh bakit? ilang house paint change na rin siguro ang sinurvive ng painting na ito. obvious ba with the dripping white paint on its frame? hahaha! sinomang nagpinta ng pader ay hindi marunong! walang pakundangang dinaanan lang ang painting! hahaha!

home pics - that bangko (bench)

lola's bangko (impit on the o) was once a lovely bench that belonged to my lola. it's made of wood, shiny, presko mahiga! i say it's lola's because this was her refuge. she would lie down here for afternoon naps and whenever she's not feeling well. aba, masarap nga namang mahiga dun sa bangkong yun. pero ngayon, nakatambak na lang syang tulad nito dun sa may bodega :(

home pics - those super speaker(s)

i may have mentioned at some point in time that my papa was a lover of music and blasting speakers. here is one of his (then) beloved speakers. ehm, nevermind the fountain-ish display on top. whenever he would watch movies or listen to music, the neighbors would know it because iskandaloso ang speakers nya! :)))

they were once matikas. now, dilapidated na ang drama. thanks to rats and mice and flood and puppies, heto na sya ngayon. sayang.

home pics - that old staircase

i love this flight of stairs!!! it was there before i was even born! it was just relocated to this position, but it's the same set of steps. the steps had their glorious days. they were shiny and spotless wooden stairs then. i love the perfect height of every step you take (i never thought someone could get overly emotional this way over a flight of stairs. yes, that's me alright!)

home pics - that mirror

i can't remember when we got this mirror. it sure found its perfect spot at the top of the stairs, just outside kuya's room. this is where everybody gets a dose of confidence! not that we think that we are gwapos/gwapas
hahaha, but just that your face doesn't look too espasolish... or your hair isn't in a disarray (mine's always chaotic anyway hehehe). at night, when the lights are off, and you want to go to the bathroom, just pray you won't see anything strange around here hehehe.

home pics - that dining table

i could still remember when this dining table (and matching sala set) was delivered to us. it was the very first day when mt. pinatubo started coughing out ashes. i know so because we had to wipe off the sand from the furnitures when they arrived at our doorstep. memorable :)

we shared good meals here with the whole family. mami and i shared good conversations (aka chismis) here over a bag of chichirya & coke. mami would even take her afternoon weekend naps here. how? she'll arrange 3 chairs to form a mini bed. life is simple and sweet.

home pics - that utensils cabinet and that orange food cover

the old cabinet holds all the utensils and pans. if you want to save anything from the mighty cockroaches, keep em all here :)

and the orange food covers (not the red one)! these have been with us for as long as i can remember! it kept the food safe from flies, lizards, and isama mo na rin ang daga :) hahaha! akalain mong buhay pa rin sila ngayon!

home pics - that watchamacallit

it's a shoe cabinet... make that a drawer... or an altar... hmmm it's anything you want it to be! you can find everything you need in this thing! it's amazing how all our shoes fit in the shoe cabinet (maybe we just didn't have too many pairs of shoes hehe).  and you'll be amazed at what you can find inside the drawer - or on it! you will survive!

home pics - that (non) traditional last supper

mami painstakingly made this cross-stitch last supper! :) maybe at some point i made a few stitches, but it was her pure labor of love. while most families would hang the traditional wooden or painted last supper portrait, ours is this unique masterpiece made by mum! i remember mami ranting that she bought the wrong cross-stitch cloth... that it was too small... i could never imagine any other perfect size. :)

home pics - that cheerful painting

this painting proudly hangs itself :p on our living room wall. it's not ashamed to be a "wall flower"gets? hahahaha corny mais. whenever i see it, i feel it emits cheerful waves. must be the vibrant colors.

i asked mami where and when she bought this. she said we were still babies then. may nagbenta sa office nila nang hulugan. gibs gibs ba. hahaha! yan ang classic!

home pics - that little window

this window adjoins the dining room to the, now literally, dirty kitchen. i love how you could see sunlight through this window. the light is coming from another window at the sink area in the dirty kitchen. mami added these candle holders as an accent.

home pics

when i went home to manila last december, i stayed in our sto. nino home for a couple of hours. i tooks pics of the nooks and spots. when i look at them now, i smile and look back at wonderful years spent at our home. i showed the same pics to kuya and they had the same effect on him. :)

surprise!

december is an eventful month for the family. i know of at least 6 relatives celebrating their birthdays on this month. the 2 most important ones are mami and mikey - 12th and 10th. it's also our wedding anniversary on the 11th. bongga bonanza diba? :)

i wanted to surprise mami for her birthday, so i filed for leave for a week and purchased my cheap-o plane ticket. the unexpected happened. i suddenly found myself in a new job. week-long vacation is scrapped along with surprise plans of carolling, party galore with the relatives, and other surprise gimmicks.

then the idea came - i could still go home over the weekend and surprise mike and mami! wawin was the ultimate accomplice! supportive! he told mami that she needs to go to paranaque on the 8th for "something". mami was clueless!

i told mike that jan was going home, and i sent gifts for them, and that he should meet jan at the airport at 6am... or else jan will be late for her trip to tarlac. jan, ikaw na ang berdugo ng pamilya ko hahaha.

dec 8, 6:15 am - i was waiting for mike under the letter "c" waiting area (onlyindapilipins) at naia airport. target spotted. i saw him rushing. he was late for the 6am call time with "jan". i saw that he saw me. he made a double glance. i waved. "si cat nga!" he later on told me what he was thinking when he thought he saw me :) surprise number 1 a success!

reaction on mike's face: priceless!

we stayed in our sto. nino home for a few hours to rest. i love our humble home! it's really in a disarray now. thanks to messy boarders and a maid who didn't care.

then it was mami's turn to be surprised. we told her we'll fetch her at ayala mrt. she knew wawin will be there, but she didn't know that mike and i will be there too. i hid at the back of the vehicle. yes, the part where you put the bagahes. no sweat.

mami and wawin got in the car. conversation started about the birthday lunch. i got on my knees and tapped mami's head. she turned around and just said, "ano ka ba?" repeatedly - in disbelief. at one point i even heard, "bruha ka!" hahahaha! then there were tears...

reaction on mami's face: priceless!

for the convenience of everybody involved, we just checked in at an inn in makati. i brought clothes for mike (the ones he left here in sg), and i assumed mami will bring clothes from tarlac. wawin had his clothes packed too. everybody was ready for the overnight stay :)

pics taken at the lobby and dining area of the inn

 after check-in, we had late lunch at sentro.

tamarind slush and wawin the photo bomber, rated gg, tokwa't baboy, ginataang bulaklak ng kalabasa, and the famous sinigang na corned beef

then we heard the anticipated mass at greenbelt. there was something about that tamarind slush that made us groggy as hell. i swear, it wasn't the normal antok... we were dozing off like crazy!

after mass, we headed to landmark and glorietta for a quick (window) shopping.

bonus! up darma down was playing in glorietta! i was so thrilled and i wanted to stay and watch the mini concert, but we didn't have all the sweet time in the world then :(

up dharma down - love them

as we headed back to our temporary home, we saw the lights show at the ayala triangle. we wanted to watch but we knew that parking is a torture so we thought it was wiser to just retire for the night. nevertheless, the christmas lights display along ayala was a showcase :)

picturan at greenbelt

christmas lights at ayala

the moon was unusually big that night. big as in scary big.  well, it doesn't look too big in this picture hehe.

a sreet lamp, the moon, and the red traffic light

we had late dinner at the inn. special credit goes to the restaurant staff who was overly corteous and polite. you wouldn't mind the delay in food. i assure you. food was pwe-na-sa-gu.  pwede na sa gutom hehehe.

some burger, some pancit, some sandwich. all so-so.

we rested with happy hearts and tummies that night. :)

the next day, breakfast was the traditional mc donald's delivery. i remember the operator was a bit rude. he said he needed the exact address of the delivery place. i understand 100%, but i was a tourist (naks) and was just staying at an inn, naturalmente i don't know the complete address. i gave him the name of the inn, the street name, along with landmarks. ay ayaw pa rin pumayag ni kuya! walang adjust adjust, he just dismissed me. customer service at its finest! woohoo!

after check-out, we headed to moa for a quick shopping and lunch.

last stop was the airport where i cried like a little girl. when will i ever get used to leaving the loved ones? the flight back to reality wasn't easy as it got delayed by 4 hours! 4 hours! it's a good thing i'm a firm believer of "everything happens for a reason" and "it's not what happens, it's how you take it". bumongga pa rin naman ang gabi ko even if i know i'll be a zombie the next day for my first day in my new work! akalain mo yun!

perfect pre-birthday celebration! i love it! short and sweet :)

and that, folks, sums up one of the sweetest weekends in my life :)