Blissful Moments of January

"Everything comes in its own perfect time."

I have always believed in this saying. And what better timing is NOW! In a recent post, I have told you of my/our desire to have a laptop.

This is not a luxury for us, but a need. Our small business is in need of this thing because we can always upload stuffs taken by our precious camera, given this. We have been into a lot of lay-out services for a lot of people lately, and while we are at it, we also do some stuffs for leisure, like playing online games along with the kids, and trying to add more knowledge to them through Encarta.

Just seven days after I have posted it here, Hubby's Kuya Allan came home from Iloilo, and gave my hubby this thing of beauty! Oh my, just after seven days! I was so happy that time and I still am because my prayer has been answered.

The thing is, Kuya Allan bought this beauty December 27, 2008, and he was given a new laptop days after he bought this. He got this for P34, 000 and we will only be paying him P20,000. How cool is that, eh? And pay it in installments for a year! Another coolness! Surely God knows your needs. Now, the kids and us no longer fight for schedule in using our desktop PC. They can always use the desktop anytime, while I do my busy stuffs over this loveliness!

our new HP Mini Note

And there's more! look what I've got!

my ipod shuffle

When Kuya Allan bought the laptop, this came as a freebie. An ipod shuffle. I got this for myself. This way, music can make my drained brain relax. Whew! Terrific, right! So now, I am enjoying the music generated by this cute little love of my life, while (still) grumbling over the gazillion articles I will have to read until June. Ack! This freebie came only last Wednesday! Thank God for blessings. What a way to start the year. Let me now get back to my old post, and cross one out from among the desired purchases. Tada! Happy weekend Everyone!

love,

sHenG

Meme Me For Honesty

It is a great honor to be tagged by blogger friends who continue to pay visits to my blog regularly. I know some of them know me already and some of this honest scraps I will share to you have been posted a long while back here, but here are some more of them I would like to share.

So for Jo of Wits and Nuts, Garando of Balut and Natto, and Blogusvox of The Sandbox, here's my piece of honest scraps. Teehee!

1. I hate Math. When I was in college, I almost failed my Calculus. My professor gave me an additional exam, for me to upgrade my grade status into one a little convincing to be given 3.0 as passing grade.

2. I can devour a 2-inches thick book in 2-3 hours, with nothing else to do but just that: Read!

3. I hate talong (eggplants) and sitaw (string beans). I dunno why, but this is really the foods that my stomach cannot accept.

4. I always eat before I take a bath especially in the mornings before I go to work.

5. I am a 2nd year law student, still. I studied law 3 years ago, until I got pregnant with my Tabebs. I cannot simultaneously do work, study and getting pregnant all in one hit. I will be back to law school when my kids are bigger.

6. I love chocolates, who doesn't? I always ask Hubby to buy me one especially if I badly need a chocolate fix. I just take my antihistamine before indulging, tsk, tsk. This is really one thing I hate, my allergy!

7. I feel comfy with jeans and a tee. Nothing more! Even in the office, I am never comfortable with office uniform. Believe me, I always wear tees and jeans, except during times when I feel like wearing the too formal skirt and long-sleeved polos.

8. I love balloons! If there's one thing I love receiving during Valentine's day and birthdays, it's a bunch of balloons and a box of chocolates.

9. I love to travel. Yes, my dream is to travel. One place I really want to reach: Paris and Hongkong!

10. I wake up at 5am everyday. And getting ready for the whole day to "read" in the office.

There guys, thanks so much for the tag! I will not tag anyone but if you want to grab this meme, go ahead, let us know more about you.

Thanks Garando! I grabbed the Honest icon from you.

That I was Born for You, It is Written in the Stars

A few days from now, ahhhhh, it is February again, the love month, my favorite month of the year. This month of the year has never failed to make me happy. For two reasons, first is that, seven days before Valentine's day is my birthday, and second, of course, the most awaited Valentine's Day!

Hubby and I have been consistently celebrating the Day of Hearts with just simple dinner dates and sometimes coupled with a nice movie afterwards. I smile when I remember him bringing me a basket of flowers, cards that truly touched my heart and made me cry, some cute jokes just to make my day light and bubbly. It is actually a matter of choice on being happy on this much awaited day of lovers, but this year, I would love to make this day of hearts, extra special for me, and the love of my life and king of my heart.

Passing along the streets of General Santos would make you stop and stare at the big signage displayed at street corners:

{Click image for a larger view}

WOW! David Pomeranz! This incredible singer has captured my heart way back in college and I have always been an avid fan of his love songs. For a lot of reasons, his melodies and the lines of the songs never fail to bring a hum to my day whenever I feel very loved.

I could not count the times when my tears fell from the realization that surely, we got to believe in magic. That hubby and I have found each other in a world that's full of strangers. The lines of his songs are just so US, that I was born for him and he was born for me, it is written in the stars.

A date with David Pomeranz will surely make this Day of Hearts extra special for us, and this year's Valentine's Day, romantically unforgettable.

Of course, to make a good start, I have planned on giving my man a fine, elegant and sumptuous dinner at Grab a Crab Restaurant/Coffee Club 101. Feasting on hubby's favorite kare-kare, delectable kinilaw and the mouth-watering calamares, who would think that this ain't gonna be the best for the two of us? I'm drooling at the thought of my strawberry frussia, and my ever favorite carbonara. Ahhhhh, what a splendid day it will be!

my dinner date is gonna happen here!

This is gonna be a real Valentine's getaway, just the two of us. How cool do you think this will be? I am so excited! Just the thought of hearing and seeing David Pomeranz sing for us our very own love songs, makes me sigh. Call me a hopeless romantic, but surely by the time I hear him sing, I surely would not keep myself from whispering "I love you's" and renewed vows to the love of my life.

Ahhhhh, LOVE!

What's your plan for the day of hearts? I know, I know. But well, who knows, David might visit your place soon too, not for a Valentine's Concert though, but well, as long as there is love, it's always Valentine's Day!

Hmmm, this reminds me, I just have to get those tickets. I know of one cool person who's giving away a VIP Pass, aha! Yes, you will surely make my Valentine's Day the happiest, with the David Pomeranz Ticket giveaway, Bariles Republic!

Advance Happy Day of Hearts Everyone! Share the LOVE!

The Photographer's Wife (2)

Crazy as we are with the beach in Gumasa, Glan, Sarangani Province, here are some more pics I would like to share with you in continuation with the first part of this post.

sunset (if 3pm is already sunset), and vines in the area

happy couple indulged in the serenity of the place

my ever dependable pair of Adidas slippers

starfishes, they are plenty in the beach, especially during low tide

and teens doing beach activities

starfishes, up close

and a floating log tossed back and forth by the waves

the lifeguard

rockscapes are nice in Gumasa

and there's some logs, a dead mangrove tree to be exact

We saw some men spear-fishing, but this one's holding the bait.

the nearby mountainous area, umm, taken by me, and using my point-and-shoot camera.

Nice place, Gumasa really is, so visit this place and be enchanted!

The Photographer's Wife (1)

It was last Sunday. He woke me up at 2.30 am. And so I stretched and yawned and readied myself for the day. The friend gave us a wake-up call. Time to get ready. They will pick us up before 3 am. And so we walked to the national highway. It was so early that no sign of transportation was available yet. And when we reached the highway, night people were many, getting ready for the new day, stores and bakeries were open at 3am, and we grabbed a pack of pandesal.

Soon, the friend was there, with his wife, and the family driver. They, with us tagging along, will drive our way to Gumasa, Glan, Sarangani Province to catch the sunrise. What? To catch the sunrise?

Yes, this is the first time I joined hubby in his quest for taking shots at landscapes. He has been doing some photo-shoots at some places, festivals, and some macro shots too, but this was the first time I was disturbed in my sleep to just accompany him there. Of course, the kids could not be disturbed at 3am so we decided to let them sleep and leave them with the lola.

It was very cold, and my jeans were still feeling the entire coldness and dampness of the wee mornings. It was fogging as we drove our way there.

Another friend texted the friend, he was coming along, and behind us is another car approaching. It was him. So there, we were six.

We reached Rosal Beach Resort at 4.30. It was very cold and the guards were so surprised of our coming at that very early morning.

We prepared the cottage and the table for a coffee session, before everything starts. While there, the boys, the photographers I mean, were already setting up their gadgets, and all things needed for the most awaited sunrise.

Drats! It was too cloudy, that explained the mist we were enveloped in. And so, no good sunrise shots.

But of course, Gumasa is well known for the fine white sand beach, and said to be the second Boracay if it will be developed in due time.

So, being the photographer's wife, I instantly became a model and at the same time "tripod-carrier" of my hubby's camera paraphernalias.

Here's some shots of the beautiful Gumasa Beach I would like to share with you.

a taste of Gumasa sunrise

and sunset

the long fine white sand beach, Gumasa

black or white?

Here's the other photographer

and the other photographer's wife.

rockscapes in Gumasa

a sleepy shot

We found a cute hermit crab. They are actually abundant in the beach,

and some fast crawling small white crabs too!

F-R-I-E-N-D-S

I carried the tripod, prepared the food, suggested some nice views to shoot, and supported the hubby. Doing that is an adventure, a bonding that I could never forget. It is always good that partners support each other especially in their hobbies. Hubby supports me too, in everything I do, provided it is for a good cause.

The friend's wife was very supportive too, she prepared all the food they brought to the beach, slept so little before the trip, and was carrying the long tripod as well.

Feels good to be a photographer's wife, very time-consuming but very interesting. As he clicks his cam, I get to learn doing photography as well.

It was a beautiful adventure in Gumasa, we have more cool shots, but I have reserved it for another post. Meanwhile, please enjoy this post.

A Doggy Post

Dogs are man's best friends.

And we have three of them in our house.

And even if these three dogs annoy me at times because of their whining, and the food budget they add up to our list, still we cannot do away without them.

They give us protection, especially at night. They guard our small house from evil doers, and we have been treating these dogs like family. We feed them twice, or even thrice each day, and we take the time to look for bones in the grocery to cook for them. Yes, we cook them their food.

This is Hagrid. He is named as such because of my favorite character, aside from Harry, in the Harry Potter series. Cool right, he has whiskers too, and this all the more adds up in his name.


Alice, as this stout doggy is called, she is a favorite, she is the naughtiest among the pack. We sometimes have broken slippers because of her gnashing teeth. She is not really tied all day long, but we try to educate them in their toilet activities that's why she is tied up in the picture. You see, it's only me and hubby working and earning for the household and we don't have the time to walk these dogs, so the elderlies (we have three in the house), take time to take care of these doggies.

This is the fiercest of our dogs. Why? She is a pitbull. And boy, she is a wild pitbull. Her name is Bells, the Bella Swan of the Twilight Saga, yes, we named her that together with Alice, because they both arrived at the same time. Alice and Bells are just puppies. Bells barks and barks when strangers come, and even my kids are afraid of Bells, she is a very strong pup, very! She has just destroyed three huge chains and dog locks. Ugh. Much to the dismay of the hubby who kept buying expensive chains so Bells cannot destroy it. So many have said that pitbulls and their relatives are the hardest dogs to deal with, the y lock their jaws when they get to bite one. And to deal with that is already such a pain.

We keep these dogs in order to accompany us, and they protect the house we are sheltered in. Thanks so much because they too, are doing their job. Our pets are valuable to us, they are clean dogs, and are yearly injected with anti-rabies meds.

They are that loved, in short, kasama sila sa aming pangungutang. Teehee.

You too, share your pets!

Choose Now...for a Better Philippines

The Philippines will have to choose another ruler this coming 2010. Yes, and we better choose very well, or all hell breaks loose, ugh! Sad... but true.

Did you receive any calendar from our hopeful presidentiables?

As early as now, there are already a lot of intentions echoing in our political scenery. These presidentiables have already been into the scenario once, or has been in the political arena for a number of years. Many of them has been longing to take the seat from Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

And what have they shared to us, have they done anything to make this country a better Philippines?

This post I am making today is a query as to who your choice is. Of course, whoever wins as the ruler of the country will have a lot to sacrifice for. The Philippine politics is a dirty game, and whoever wins this, I hope plays clean in order to achieve the goal our country has been longing for: PEACE.

Not world peace yet, although that is an impossibility as of the moment, just Philippine PEACE.

Judging from the number of presidents who has run this country, who amongst our presidentiables do you think is deserving of the term: President?

Manny Villar

Noli de Castro

Mar Roxas

Loren Legarda

Ping Lacson

Kiko Pangilinan

Richard Gordon

Joseph Estrada

The list includes those who have been lurking the bloody waters of presidentiables for 2010 elections. Rant or rave, you can do it here, whatever you want to say regarding this people.

Let me know what you think of them.

Just a reminder: Choose Well For a Better Philippines!

Oh My Gulay!

When I was a kid, I hated veggies. For me, it felt so yucky and I just couldn't muster up the strength to swallow it. Until I went to college, the room I had was full of canned goodies my Mom scoops up in my bag to bring to our boarding house, in case I'd be too lazy to go to the cafeteria to eat. My friends eat at the nearby kiosk and they get to eat ampalaya with egg and pinakbet, but I always order adobong chicken or afritada. I really don't like vegetables.

I HATE Veggies!

NOT!

Not until I realized I could die not having it. When I got married, I learned to whip things up in the kitchen and that includes those green leafy vegetables that once felt ultimately yucky in my tongue. I have learned to make my own version of pinakbet (though not as good as my Dad's, my Mom does not cook so well, *grin*). I have forced myself to eat green leafy veggies especially malunggay, saluyot, pechay, cabbage and root crops like carrots and potatoes.

Today, my day is incomplete without having a dose of them in one of my meals. It fully satisfies me too knowing that my children, after seconds of encouraging, would eat them. Aside from some veggies I have really never loved, like the sitaw (string beans) and the talong (eggplant), I have learned to be responsible for my health, I eat veggies now and I encourage people to do the same. What with the Big C and other diseases you can get from today's generation of foods, it is best to take precaution. I don't need to enumerate what vegetables can do to our health because I trust that those reading this post already know the reason why we should eat GULAY.

I also thank my Dad because of his small farm here in our province (South Cotabato), we can always get fresh organic veggies available in his garden.

Here are some pics of what is in my Dad's garden.

bell peppers... ding dong

my father's ampalaya garden, look at all those ampalaya hanging...

me, picking pipino from Dad's garden

bell pepper over tomatoes

tomatoes!

Dad's garden also includes squash, eggplants, and okra.

Okay, so that made me busy last Christmas, also, Dad decided to have his mango orchard harvested, so we were busy preparing for the food the harvesters will eat. The people helping us harvest the mangoes gathered roughly ten thousand kiloes of the green mango.

Here's some pics of the Christmas harvest.

I'm drooling, makes me wanna go peel a green mango, get some bagoong (shrimp paste) and toyo (soy sauce) as sawsawan. Go ahead, help yourself for some.

Oops. But promise me you'll eat your veggies! Haha!

Hmmm, I see, you're salivating there, wipe it off please, teehee!

JUSTICE in a long hiatus

At a Rape Case Trial

Judge: This court requests the accused to stand up. Defendant is hereby requested to stand up.

The accused stood up, a senior citizen, using a cane to support his fragile body.

(People whispering behind backs, looking for the defendant.)

After a few minutes, a young woman stood up.

Judge: Are you the accused?

Accused: Yes, your Honor.

Judge: Are you the defendant?

Young Woman: No, your Honor, it was my grandmother who was raped by the accused. My mother is the fruit of that unfortunate event, and soon after, Mother bore a child and it was me.

****

Three generations, and it was only then that JUSTICE was given. This is how the Justice System here in our country operates. It is sad to know that the Department of (In)Justice functions at a turtle pace, one which can be fully condemned by the people involved in such a case. Considering my little knowledge of the Philippine Law, it is those trying times that we can fully nag and curse our Justice System, the Supreme Court and other agencies involved in granting us justice for the long delay.

Now, there's this Drug Bribery Case being tried by the Sandiganbayan, I don't know how long they will end this noise, the defendants and the PDEA are into this, and God only knows who among them is telling the truth. Trial by Publicity, as many people call it now because those involved are those in the upperclass society, those who are socialites in Alabang are involved. Even prosecutors and lawyers were said to be bribed to give freedom to the Alabang Boys. Whatever is true, how long will this last?

Remember the Bobby Dacer case, Nida Blanca Murder Case, the Fertilizer Scam, the ZTE Deals, these are but cases that are not yet resolved, even if years and years have passed. I pity those innocent lives in jail who cry out for JUSTICE.

I guess, that's just it. When will justice be served? How long will the intelligent people dwell on their cases, sleep on them like pillows.

Being a low-class law student, I cannot let this matter be, decide now or perish. It is hard I know, but the mind must always win over the heart. You ask for JUSTICE? It's in the gut feel, and the evidences always speak.

So where is JUSTICE now, you may ask.

She is in love, and is in a long hiatus. You are expected to wait, no matter how long.