It’s difficult to pretend that life is okay when others are having a hard time coping with their sorrow, their loss and their harrowing experience. The calamity brought about by Typhoon Sendong that hit the Northern Mindanao death toll is said to have reached 1,000 and probably will still rise as many bodies are found and yet many more are missing. Dead bodies are dumped in landfill because the funeral parlors have too many corpses already.


As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, let us not forget our unfortunate brothers who terribly need our help.

It will take some time to clean up the debris caused by the flash floods and put everything into order; they might need trash pump for that. For now, coffins are badly needed for the rotting corpses. For those who lost their loved ones, the healing process might take long. For some, the scars might never heal at all. Let’s pray for the victims that they might find comfort and be able to surpass their tragic ordeal.

Pictures taken from the internet. If you’re the owner, please message me so I can give proper credit. Thanks!

Aftermath of Typhoon Sendong. Photo taken from inquirer.net.

A tragic news from home greeted me when I opened the internet on Sunday morning. Iligan and Cagayan de Oro were hit by Typhoon Sendong last weekend leaving hundreds of people dead and missing and without homes as flash floods wreaked havoc on lives and properties. Most of my mom’s siblings live in these two places. I’ve got many cousins and relatives there, fortunately they are safe though for some, their homes were badly battered by floods. It’s too sad to think that this had to happen a week before Christmas.

If you want to help the victims, please do so. You can find ways how to send your donation of cash or kind in this link:
http://www.smartparenting.com.ph/community/news/help-the-victims-of-typhoon-sendong
or thru Iligan Bloggers Society – One for Iligan.

Share your blessings and you will be blessed in return!

I’d often get asked when coming home from vacation in the Philippines, how the weather was. As always, it is hot there! Fortunately though, when we went there the last time, it was rainy season. Most days were cool, but when the sun is out, the temperature rises too!

It’s nice to hide in an air conditioned room all day or escape to a nearby mall. Our living room in Talisay only relies on electric fan which already needed to be changed coz it was almost dying. We thought of buying a ceiling fan, just like the Hunter fans sold online, so it covers and cools a bigger area and also is space saving. But the one we chose was no good. After a long and hard time installing it in the ceiling, we found out that it wasn’t sufficient enough to cool the whole room. It has to be taken down, disassembled and returned to the store.

In the end, we replaced the ceiling fan with an air cooler. It cools better, more like an aircon, enough to drive the heat away. It might be scorching hot outside, but inside, its better. The heat can’t stop us from going back to the Philippines!

Mom and sis are in Manila again for some condo business.  Makes me wish we’re back there too.

I miss living in our condo. We had our chance to stay there for a short time when we were on our way back to Prague last month. Our flight route was Manila-Prague, so we decided its best if we checked in our Paranaque condo for few days before we leave Philippines.

Caity had a blast staying there coz there were plenty of amusements for her. There was a playground where she enjoyed playing with the slides, climbing up and down the stairs and, crawling inside the colorful tunnel.

At the playground…

We also took the kids swimming, and since my other siblings have units in the same compound, we were almost every day hopping from one condo to another. She also liked watching cartoons in the flat screen HDTV in unit 608. She got so engrossed watching that she even forgot to sit down. Proof below…hehe

While watching TV…

I hope next time we get to stay there longer, with M.

If you noticed our group picture in my previous post taken in the Ruins, you would probably ask, “where’s the building there?” We got there almost 6 in the evening, and the night came so fast, leaving us with darkness. We consoled ourselves that the ambiance during the night is different with the day, and it was okay for us to experience it. The silence, the cool breeze and the impressive structure standing in the darkness with ample lightning to highlight the building was good enough for us (it was actually a romantic setting for couples), but we all agreed that going there during day time would give us better pictures, showing off the beauty of the Ruins. We never get to go back there anymore though coz I only had a week left in Negros that time and every day we had different agenda to do.

Well, it will have to wait till my next visit.

It looks haunted at night…
Caity girl poses still at the main entrance…

Not a metal building but it definitely has a strong structural frame.

Riding in a kalesa without a horse!

My last two weeks in the Philippines were hectic! Only one friend came from Cebu instead of the planned three, but we filled up the days since she arrived with activities which included visiting The Ruins (finally!), swimming in Pacific Shores (hehe don’t be confused, it’s just the name of the subdivision resort in our home city), and an outing in Mambukal Falls.

At The Ruins with Mai and Michelle from Cebu…

When we got to Manila, we also met some more family friends whom we haven’t seen for a decade or maybe less. Our time was very limited, and theirs too, so we really didn’t get to talk much about their lives. Fortunately I still have some souvenirs left which I was able to give them. No more chocolates though!Not that they really care, coz I know they would appreciate even personalized gifts. What matters is the thought anyway. I was just happy to see them even for such a short time.

The kids with Tita Hazel at the Mall of Asia…

The kids and I with my pretty cousin…

Caity gets excited whenever we prepare to go out. While her Papa is driving, she’d say over and over “Go to Robinson’s. Go to Robinson’s” Like earlier, we had to go to the bank to pay for my orders from FB. She thinks we’re going to Robinson’s again. Fortunately for her though, I really had to stop there coz she and Adie were running out of milk. I wonder why she likes going to the malls. SM is another of her favorites.

Maybe because she likes running in the air-conditioned mall without sweating?
Running after Caity is a way how to lose belly fat fast.

Is this why you like to go shopping Caity? So you can ride the cart, or is it because you’re fascinated with the many things you see?

Or is it because you can ride the choo-choo train?

All of the above eh?

While there are many modern steel buildings built in my home province, Negros Occidental, but nothing beats visiting historic buildings such as the ancestral homes in Silay and the most popular one in Talisay City, The Ruins.

This mansion was built around 1900s by the sugar baron Don Mariano Ledesma for his first wife, Maria Braga. It opened its doors to the public last January 2008, and we were fortunate to visit it in December of the same year. It was an unplanned visit though, and we were in a hurry so we really didn’t get to see the structure from inside.

What remains of the house in just the skeletal frame after American forces burned it to prevent the Japanese forces from making it as their headquarters but even so, its beauty still stands out.

A comeback to this enchanting place is mandatory. Have to plan it soon!

*Thanks to Aileen Tee-Gee for the pic.

All pictures are taken in the Philippines, my beloved country.
Awesome!!!

I’ll be seeing you soon.

Thanks to Miss Jeanette Pactolin for allowing me to use her pictures.

Now “restricted” to the confines of home, what with two babies (an almost-three-year-old and a newly-born more-than-a-month-old), I dream of vacation sometimes. If only I could go home, my family – mom, dad and sis – would be more-than-willing to help in taking care of their much-missed cutie Caite and not-yet-seen baby Adie. Not that I’m complaining, as my thoughtful, helpful and able hubby gives me no reason for such (in fact I should say I’m very thankful to God for the gift of his person!) Yet, I can’t help dream of Outer Banks beach rentals – just reminiscing of the days when, together with my family, our own family bunch of three (yet!) were in a beautiful beach back home in our beloved Philippines.