Moms’ Day Out

Earlier she greeted me saying, “Now that I’m a mom, I’ve realized how both challenging and fulfilling it is to be one. Thank you for being a great example Mama . Thank you for helping me to become who I am today so I can also be a great mom to Nate. I love you! Happy Mother’s Day!”

My daughter is so thoughtful  when it comes to special occasions that we both treasure. Now that she is  a certified mom, it is more lovely to celebrate the beauty of  motherhood. Such endless stories  about the baby we both love. Nate is now almost six months old so everything that is new to Nissa’s eyes are all recorded in her cam.  They celebrated Mother’s Day by bringing Nate to the mall and had  dinner there, baby and all. It may not be a romantic way to celebrate with a baby in tow but he is precisely the reason why mother’s day exists.

Yesterday,  my daughter came over to cast her vote  and we later went to Burgoo for lunch, just the two of us. There was a time when we used to dine a lot in one of their branches when it was newly opened at Gateway Mall in Cubao. Though everything is a bit pricey, service is always good.  I remember spending a birthday there with the family and they gave me a small cake ( a larger version of a cupcake) with a matching candle to blow.  You can always draw or write anything on the large paper roll which they use as place mat while waiting for the food. Anyway, Nissa and I were both laughing when we were served what she ordered and that included some take-out for Josef.  Maybe the wait staff  was wondering  how we could finish all that food which I think would serve at least ten.   Hahaha, we were celebrating Mother’s Day, right?

This is their Supreme Sampler. They used to have spring rolls instead of those two large cheese sticks.  Those onion rings are old-time favorites.

I asked for their bestselling veggie salad and the staff recommended this. They call it Manhattan’s Best  with small slices of chicken, croutons, apples,  and pineapple slices on a bed of fresh lettuce leaves. I found it a little dry though.

This Shrimps and Ribs Platter was really pricey at P695.00 but I loved the spicy shrimps. It came with three kinds of dips and sauces and a small cup of corn and  diced carrots. One would think, these are more than enough for the two of us but Nissa said we’ll take  some of them home  so she ordered two more on the menu.

It’s a Seafood Jambalaya Supreme. Back in those days when  we used to frequent Burgoo, I loved ordering this since the mix of seafood,  sausage and chicken on a bed of rice was just an enticing meal. At P475.00, it would serve at least two , three if you are a picky eater. Their pasta would not compare of course to those they serve at Bellini’s  but we ordered a family sized one for take out.

The wait staff greeted me “Belated Happy Mother’s Day ma’am” and Nissa said, ” I am a mom too”. She smiled at us while she took our picture. It was really a great day spent with my daughter. And yes, being a mom and the joys of motherhood were the top topics on our list.

 

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Remembering My Grandmother (And Celebrating My 4th Year Of Blogging)

I came across this program early this morning on PTV4, a government-owned channel that featured  ASEAN member countries. It made me quite nostalgic seeing those features on handicrafts and hand-made products using materials which are locally grown.  I remember the early years of childhood when I was growing up in the province. Back then, my mom used to stay a lot with Dad here in Manila so my older brother and I were left to the care of our maternal grandma until both of us graduated from grade school and we transferred to UST to spend our high school years there. Growing up having a simple life made me appreciate simple things and embraced what I learned early on.

A friend posted a prayer in our group accompanied by this beautiful painting of a mother and child. Coincidence?  Maybe. I planned earlier to blog about mat weaving which I learned from Baing Cion  (Bai or Baing is the local equivalent of a grandmother in our Pangasinan dialect).

This is called Mag-ina sa Banig, a 1960 painting done by Nestor Leynes.  I thought this is a perfect capture  of  the simplicity of provincial  life forty or so years ago. No aircon to speak of, no TV disruption to idle your time away. That bamboo flooring was enough to enjoy an uninterrupted sleep. It was always cool to the touch and so easy to clean. Buffing it with semi-dried banana leaves was enough.

My grandma  taught me how to weave sleeping mats  ( like the one you see in the picture) made of buri palm which we had plenty of  back then. We would gather buri palms, dry them in the sun then remove the middle portion when they are dried, roll them one by one into as big as a plate then when it is time to weave a mat, we would cut them into long strips by using  wood-mounted razor blades for uniform width. More than learning the art of weaving, I enjoyed those endless stories which would usually start  during the 2nd World War and how they survived as a family and always ends with how she raised her kids with the emphasis on Mom being the brightest of the four girls.

Oh, I almost forgot, today I celebrate my 4th year at WordPress as a blogger. The first two years were mostly about my journey as a cancer patient/survivor and the next two were random entries about life, faith, gardening, photography and such. Life is good and I am well. Thank God for all the wonderful blessings.

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Our Baby Nate

My daughter tagged this picture on Facebook. Seeing it made me miss my grandson all the more. I haven’t seen him for almost two weeks now. I am excited to discover something new that he could do.  He is five months and two weeks young now.

Mother’s day is fast approaching.  My daughter is big on celebrations like this. I remember the past years when she would plan where we would spend lunch or dinner on Mother’s day. She makes her own greeting cards and not an event would pass by without a lovely message from her. She’s now a mother too and I am excited to return the favor and greet her  Happy Mother’s Day on May 12.

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Random Side Of Things

It was one long weekend which means my son and I were quite busy with small household jobs that need attention.  Good thing yesterday was a holiday too. Gardening is such a rewarding but somewhat tedious job.  Re-potting, trimming the carabao grass, removing weeds from our peanut grass, you name it, we’ve done them all through the weekend.

Anyway, I guess it is time to reward myself  by relaxing a bit, finishing another book by Anita Shreve and checking our cupboards for grocery items that we have missed buying on our quick trip to the supermarket a few days ago.  And it is time to reward the senses and satisfy the palate so to speak. I haven’t baked anything for more than  a month I guess.  I was so lazy to prepare elaborate meals and desserts because of the heat. Several days here still register a hot 35°C. So I made three batches of Raising Oatmeal Cookies (all of 24 large pieces), good enough for several days for my son to munch on

Yeay, even without cinnamon and nuts, this came out so yummy and chewy. How I wish my daughter lives near enough so I can share with her some of these cookies.

For years, I used to blog about month endings and beginnings but I’ve missed blogging on this one. The month of May aside from December is one of my favorite months . It’s that month between the vapid heat of the summer and the  rainy season. May is the month of flowers, hence, I am documenting all the blooms in my garden now. And May is the month of Mama Mary. Yesterday was our village fiesta too. Although we don’t celebrate it as festive as those we have in the province, it is still  lovely to see and listen to the sound of a band playing so early in the morning.  And aside from the morning mass in honor of St. Joseph the Worker, there was a short procession around the village.

Hopefully in the next few days, I could start reading books which were put in the back shelves.  I miss reading Mary Oliver, Marianne Williamson and Rod McKuen’s poetry. They are my night read before retiring. Sometimes, I dream of the lines which are etched in my soul and I wish I were a poet too who could express the words beautifully like a song that rhymes. I’ve followed  a friend’s suggestion that I have a notebook anywhere I go but then the words sometimes come at those inopportune moments – while loading the washing machine, feeding the dogs or drenching our parched carabao grass. Why is it that one’s mind becomes pregnant with all these imaginings when it is so inconvenient to hold a pen and write?

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Of Dreams And Music

I haven’t blogged for more than a week. Has it been that long?  My mom’s 84th birthday celebration last Saturday  was a mini-reunion for my two brothers, their families and Nissa’s family sans of course our youngest  brother and his family whom I haven’t seen for more than five years but we get in touch often through phone calls and e-mails. He’s been in the United States since 1991 and he has embraced the American way of life.

Josef and I embarked on a bold project of painting our grills and two front gates over the weekend.  It’s fun to undergo something like this but the heat hinders us from working the whole day. Anyway, our gates are sporting a new look – in bold reddish maroon color. We were able to finish painting the two spans of metal grills fronting the house and there is a lot more to do in the coming weekends. It’s good, paints nowadays no longer have that strong smell that makes you cough. Davies paints are odorless and easy to apply. You need to have a good brush and roller though to make everything smooth. It is an accomplishment that I am proud of.

Last night, I dreamed I was teacher. Yes, I was teaching high school kids to appreciate music. It’s not the kind though where you need to recognize wind instruments and chimes or guitars. I was teaching them how to listen to David Cassidy singing Cherish and The Associations belting out their more popular Never My Love. Ancient you might say but I remember in my dream telling them about the British Invasion in the music world and what baby boomer means .  Earlier on, a friend posted some old, old songs from YouTube and it made me remember being a child of the sixties. Then I suddenly thought of  teen idol David Cassidy. I was in high school during the early seventies and one such program that I never failed to watch was The Partridge Family. Never mind that we didn’t have our own TV set and just viewed the series on a small black and white unit of our neighbor whose children loved the same program.  It was such a poignant reminiscing of the good old days. I also remember another figure that I loved, Mark Lester. I used to scrimp on my allowance just to be able to buy the monthly issues of Jingle Chordbook magazines where most of the time, they had colored posters of popular singers back then.  I never learned  how to play the guitar though because my eldest brother who taught me was left-handed and even if I could read the chords it was hard to interpret it when you were  holding it the other way. My dad used to play the guitar and even composed some songs in the vernacular and one of my uncles played the violin. I guess I was the only one who never learned, but I am proud to say I could carry a tune. So much for dreams and music.  Hearing your favorite tunes from childhood makes you smile.

 

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After A Day’s Work

….the calm and quiet

after a day’s work

loving the smell of newly trimmed

carabao grass

and seeing the repotted plants

lining up the wall

a hot cup of peppermint tea

and chocolate cookies.

another perfect day

despite the hard work.

being a gardener has its rewards…..

 

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A Perfect Ordinary Day

It’s been a while. A week of not writing my thoughts seems like a month of empty imaginings. I got so used to blogging everyday that a few day’s lapse loosely translate to not knowing what to share here.

Gosh, yesterday was a scorcher. Metro Manila is really, really hot. Imagine registering a 35.4°C, the hottest in Metro Manila so far this summer. I went out though and spent my morning at MetroEast Mall. I need to have some documents photocopied and our printer is out of ink , a perfect excuse to go out and visit Booksale despite the heat. I decided to have some pictures of our baby Nate printed. I have hundreds of photos since he was born and he does not even have a framed photograph. At least Picture City still charges a reasonable fee for photo enlargement, although cropping the picture is not much to my liking. One of their staff explained that it is kind of different when you’re using a  printed copy, you can’t edit it in their computer the way you want so you have to be content with raw shots directly from the flash memory card.

It has now a pride of place atop one of our side tables in the living area. I have to source an 8 x 10″ inch frame for his picture. I smiled like crazy when some of the salesladies at Robinson’s exclaimed, “what a good-looking baby”. And I answered, “he is my grandson”. Fancy a proud Nonna in their midst. His other pictures are also my wallpaper displays on my two cellphones.

A bookworm can’t miss out on checking new titles at Booksale. Every time I get the chance to visit, I enjoy looking at the titles and find  one within my budget. Although they sell second-hand books, they’re still a  bit pricey. If you’re lucky though, you can find nice titles below P50.00. I have a growing stash of summer reads, light novels from some favorite authors that I collect. Of course, between these are my inspirational books that give me a lift when I am hungry for lovely words  – they inspire, they make you love life all the more, they make you long to write too. Didn’t we, at some moments in our busy life,  dream of writing our own stories?

The Hot Zone was a nice find. It’s a true story about terrifying virus found in monkeys. Just looking at the picture on the book cover reminds me of another book I’ve read so long ago written by Robin Cook. Outbreak  was made into a movie and it’s about Ebola virus. Of course, Maeve Binchy is the Maeve Binchy and her books are nice family sagas of redemption, love, struggles and relationships.  I am collecting books by Anita Shreve and finding another one although it’s just a paperback copy made me smile.  Yeay to An Amish Christmas,  a handy hardbound copy that I also found yesterday at P95.00. It contains four Christmas stories. Fancy reading a book about Christmas when it is only the start of summer. I love Christmas stories that really tickle the heart.

I was looking for a nice essence for this lovely tea light candle holder but found them too strong for my liking. I love a clean scent, not too overpowering but would give that sense of peace and tranquility in a room. Can you suggest some?

And to cap it all, a close friend sent me a picture of a portable hard drive which she bought for me and she said, it’s for all the pictures of Nate I’ll be taking in the future and as back-up for my blogs. You see, she is an honorary grandma of Nate. How lucky can one get?

I am truly blessed and it was a perfect ordinary day

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Tilapia Fillet In Lemon Butter Sauce

I asked  Josef what he wanted for our main meal yesterday  and he said anything would be okay. We’ve been on fish and vegetable diet since the start of the Holy Week, and I mean everyday and every meal. This was one of those recipes featured in the recent PinoyMasterchef  episode. Since I didn’t have pestle and mortar to grind the nuts big enough for topping, I just sprinkled them on top before frying. The nutty taste of peanuts and the creamy flavor of  butter mixed with the tartness(I substituted kalamansi) of lime made it more flavorful. Try it, it’s yummy.

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And They Call This Maruya

I told you, I am now enjoying myself  taking  a trip to  the wet market to buy fruits and veggies. The other day, I bought saging na saba (plantain). It cost P2.00 each and I bought 20 pieces. I thought of cooking it for merienda.

My son love the crunchy maruya  which I made from  four pieces of  banana.  I put half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder and half a teaspoon of baking powder on the batter before frying.  Son said it is better than a burger The cinnamon gave it that extra twist. It was so yummy.

I boiled  some and used  a  few pieces for our nilaga, the P40 is really worth it. I also made ginatang saging, kamote and gabi.  You can also boil it and add sugar and tapioca pearls. Where could you find something this cheap and enjoy several ways of preparing it? It’s a comfort food and it is nutritious too. According to studies made, eating raw plantain reduces weight.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Forward

Are you the adventurous type? Do you look forward to new challenges in life, be it simple things or some unknown fear of heights  that you want to conquer? Challenges are part of daily living and it’s up to us to meet them with a smile hoping that  everything would be okay in the end. Three years ago, the whole family went to enchanted Kingdom as part of the family day  celebration of  Bank of the Philippine Islands where I used to work and where my daughter and son-in-law are presently working as bank officers. I am  afraid of heights (until now). My knees always wobble at the thought of  all those head-spinning rides but my kids  enjoy them. They’ve been to Enchanted Kingdom more than I can count.

And they always say, the thrill is in the ride. Yeay…way to go….forward!

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