Anime Lovers

New Year’s Eve

2011-12-31T23:23:00.000-05:00

Have a wonderful 2012 everybody!

Black Belt 2nd Stripe Test

2011-12-19T21:13:00.000-05:00

Tonight is part 2 of Finn’s Black Belt Test towards 2nd Dan. He did pretty well (^_^)

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He was even able to do speed breaking on his first try. They don’t get to practice breaking techniques before the test.

Good job Finn!

Early Birthday Gifts

2011-12-18T18:46:00.000-05:00

We were at Walmart and this 19” TV was on sale. When Finn saw it, he said “This will be perfect in my room!” Coz what he currently has in his room is a 13” tube TV. So we said it was gonna be his early birthday gift.

Little did he know that we have another gift for him that we were supposed to give on the day of, but couldn’t wait anymore so we gave it to him already. Look at his face when he realized what it was (^_^)

We already installed some of the games that he’s been playing on our phones. And daddy gets a big kiss. He’s been asking for a phone for a while now. Although this means that he won’t have gifts to open on his actual birthday =P

Holiday Program

2011-12-12T15:59:00.000-05:00

This is Finn’s 4th Grade class singing Christmas Island and 12 Days of Christmas at the school’s Holiday Program this morning.

Lenape Indians

2011-12-01T16:26:00.001-05:00

Finn’s first diorama project is about the Lenape Indians, the original New Jerseyans. This was due today and Finn said that he got an A for it (^_^) Good job mommy! Well, I did all the cutting and printed the background, plus the little plot of farm. Finn planned out the space, then went shopping with me for some of the materials. The trees and plants for the farm we got from our yard. The longhouse interior is a butter container that we wrapped with felt and flexible stems. The sparkly water is made from foil and blue cellophane gift wrap. The grass is made from scrub sponges then we put deer moss on top of floral foam to stick the branches for trees. Finn did all the taping and gluing. Cool huh!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T22:18:00.000-05:00

There were no plans with friends this year so it was a quiet Thanksgiving for us. The only thing I made was the mashed potatoes =P Everything was prepared by Jojo. We ate while watching animes. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

New Toy

2011-11-09T15:15:00.000-05:00

Hello Siri! We’ve never paid for our phones, well, except for the very first one we had here back in 2001. After that, we always get the free phones. So Jojo thought it was ok to splurge on this one (^_^)

Fall colors

2011-11-09T09:52:00.000-05:00

We weren’t able to take a drive to see the fall foliage this year because of the wonky weather. But I took these as Raven and I were walking home from school this morning, after we dropped Finn off.

And here’s Raven with the cone off!

Gotham Police

2011-11-04T21:32:00.000-04:00

This morning, my managing director called me and she was really excited, saying that they’re filming Batman in Newark and that she and her daughter are going there, did I want to come along … of course! Good thing I had showered already and was dressed for the day =P So they came to pick me up and we went to Newark. First thing we saw were all these squad cars and swat trucks and armored cars …. OMG!!! It was sooooo coooollll!

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Then as we were walking around looking for the set, my MD spoke with Jerry the sound guy who pointed us towards to the park where Batman and Catwoman were. So we went, it was freezing, and we had to stand there waiting for a glimpse of them. We only saw Anne Hathaway … or rather her long black hooded coat and her hands =P We were probably out in the cold for about 3 hrs, then had lunch and I had to go home after lunch to pick-up Finn from school.

Seeing those squad cars were really awesome and I wanted to sneak inside, hehehe. What would have made the day even better was if we saw the Batmobile.

Where is …. ?

2011-11-03T22:44:00.000-04:00

We didn’t really teach her this. We just asked Raven to look for Finn and she did! Then we asked her to look for Jojo, and then me and she just understood (^_^) So smart!

October Snow?!

2011-10-29T14:40:00.000-04:00

A pre-winter snowfall (-_-*) And they said it wouldn’t accumulate! We weren’t prepared for this. I don’t think anybody was. Our lawnmowers are still out, our snow blower’s still in storage. Good thing we still have some salt leftover.

And here is Raven when she just learned how to fetch (^_^)

Meet Raven

2011-10-25T23:25:00.000-04:00

The newest member of our family! She’s 4 months old, and was just spayed yesterday, hence the cone. A Labradoodle, so that we won’t have an allergic reaction to her. This is Finn’s first dog (^_^)

Bye Mom …

2011-10-20T14:23:00.000-04:00

Great Falls

2011-10-10T19:40:00.001-04:00

For Columbus Day, we thought we’d check out the Great Falls of Paterson. Well, the information center was closed =P But we were still able to go to the falls. It’s weird and cool at the same time since it’s just 15 mins away from the house, and across the street from the falls are historic buildings and houses. Kinda like it doesn’t belong here. Anyway, I hope they get to take care of the place though coz it looks abandoned, and there’s grafitti on the railings and there’s a hint of sewer in the air.

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After this we went to Lambert Castle, which was also closed … hehehe. Apparently, they’ll be closed for another 3 weeks. But we still took pictures outside. Can’t wait to see the inside of this castle.

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We went to the mall afterwards, had lunch there, walked around, played in the Apple store, looked at phones in the AT&T store then went home after 5pm.

9/11 Memorial

2011-09-17T21:42:00.000-04:00

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4th Grade

2011-09-07T09:52:00.000-04:00

Oh wow, I have a 4th grader! Have a wonderful school year Finn (^_^)

Apple Picking

2011-09-05T21:40:00.000-04:00

For this year’s apple picking, we went back to Barton Orchards, the very first farm we went to for apple picking years ago. Aside from picking your own fruits or veggies or even flowers, they have a corn maze, what they call a “theme park”, farm animals, gem mining, a market, food stalls and even live music.

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For years, our favorite apple has been the Jona Mac. This year we discovered Ginger Gold. WOW! From now on, we’ll be going apple picking early September so that we can pick these beauties. They ripen early in the season.

We went to the corn maze, our 3rd maze. The first maze we went to was in Hawaii at the Dole plantation. The second was in Luray, VA. This maze was HUGE! It took us about an hour before we found the exit and that’s only because we didn’t bother looking for the stations in the challenge anymore =P If we wanted to finish the challenge, it would have taken us much longer. But the ground was muddy coz of the rains, and we were tired from walking and going around in circles … hehehe. But even if we did kinda rush towards the end, we only missed 3 stations in the challenge. Not bad at all.

After the maze we had lunch there, then went home. It started raining again as soon as we got in the car. Good thing our rain repellent is still working (~_^)

Six Flags

2011-09-03T22:17:00.000-04:00

Going to Six Flags is one of the highlights of summer. This year, since Jojo’s parents are with us, I didn’t have to ride alone since we can leave Finn with them and Jojo can ride with me (^_^)

We went to the Wild Safari first.

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Then to Great Adventure.

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Hurricane Irene

2011-08-28T19:53:00.001-04:00

After the 5.9 earthquake on Aug. 23 in VA that we felt here in NJ, hurricane Irene arrived yesterday. As I kept telling everybody on the days leading up to yesterday, I wasn’t worried at all. Coming from the Philippines where we always experience typhoons, this was nothing new to me. But East Coasters aren’t familiar with hurricanes … or earthquakes. Panic buying of food stuffs and water and batteries and generators happened. People were boarding up their windows and evacuating low lying and coastal areas. I’m not saying it’s not good to be prepared. Of course the evacuation of coastal areas were a precaution so that if Irene did become destructive, casualties will be lessened. Public transportation were halted from buses and subways, to planes. NY basically became a ghost town. A friend of mine and I were bummed that we didn’t live in NY coz this would have been a great opportunity to take pictures and videos of an empty NY =P

Anyway, so we didn’t prepare anything for Irene. I really felt that she wasn’t a threat where we live. So Saturday came and the rain began in the afternoon. Not even heavy rain, just normal rain. No winds either. That continued till this morning. Our garage had some water just coz the drain right outside was kinda clogged. Jojo had to snake the drain and vacuum all the water out of the garage.

The rains stopped sometime before noon and then the winds picked up. It’s still very windy right now, but no more rain. See? What did I tell ya? My hunch was correct (^_^) There was no cause for worry.

Natsu Matsuri

2011-08-14T17:05:00.001-04:00

The Japanese Summer Festival was held at Mitsuwa Marketplace yesterday. It’s my first Natsu Matsuri so I was excited, especially because there were Taiko performers (^_^) Food and game stalls were set up plus a stage area. We didn’t get to see the dance performance though coz that was at night and we were there before noon. But it was still fun!

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L&EI

2011-08-08T23:03:00.000-04:00

Liberty and Ellis Islands (^_^) We got the 8am ferry and first stop is Ellis Island.

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Then on to Liberty Island.

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Niagara Falls Day 2

2011-08-06T23:41:00.000-04:00

After breakfast at the hotel, Finn wanted to go to the Aquarium first, then the Discovery Center.

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Next stop is the Three Sisters Islands, my favorite place in the park.

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We had lunch at the Visitor’s Center before heading home.

Niagara Falls Day 1

2011-08-05T23:16:00.000-04:00

It’s been 6 years from our first visit to Niagara that Finn doesn’t remember it at all =P We only stayed overnight but that’s enough to do the important stuff.

We left before 6am on Friday, had breakfast on the way, and arrived past noon. Our room wasn’t ready yet so we decided to go to the park and have lunch at the Top of the Falls Restaurant by the Horseshoe Falls. After lunch we took pictures at Terrapin Point before heading back to the hotel to check-in.

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Our first stop is the Maid of the Mist.

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Then on to the Cave of the Winds.

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We were so drenched after that we had to go back to the hotel to dry off or change. For dinner we ate at Hard Rock Cafe and got 2 bag tags as free gifts. Then straight to the Observation Deck to wait for the Light Show at 9pm.

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At 10pm there was supposed to be a fireworks display, but apparently they cancelled it … without notification. We waited until 10.15 and when nothing was happening, we went back to the hotel.

Opossum

2011-07-25T07:58:00.001-04:00

Look what our trap caught this morning!

NYC 07-08

2011-07-08T21:20:00.000-04:00

Decided to go to NYC today even if the weather forecast said scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. Took the 9am bus and when we got there, we walked along 42nd St., Times Square, and on to Rockefeller Center to go to the Top of the Rock Observation Deck. It was foggy so the view wasn’t that great.

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We had lunch there, then stopped by the Lego store.

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Central Park was our next destination.

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It started drizzling as we were leaving the park so instead of walking back, we took the subway instead. We were able to catch the 5pm bus home.

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Splish Splash

2011-07-05T22:29:00.000-04:00

For this year’s 4th of July, we went to Splish Splash in Long Island, NY. We didn’t think there would be too many people but there were =P The lines to the rides got too long during the afternoon so we weren’t able to ride everything. But it was still fun.

We rented a VIP Cabana for the day. It had a table with 4 chairs, 2 lounge chairs, a ceiling fan, personal locker, and a fridge. We’ve never been here before so we weren’t sure if there were ample chairs or lounges all over. There were, so next time we can skip the cabana and just maybe rent a locker for the valuables.

I don’t have too many pictures since our waterproof camera already died. Have to buy a new one soon. Would have been great if I took pictures of us in the rides. Anyway, here’s the album. Enjoy!

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July 04 Fireworks

2011-07-04T22:23:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July! Here are the fireworks we saw tonight from our window. I didn’t see the whole thing and so these pics aren’t even half of the show, I think. Enjoy!

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July 03 Fireworks

2011-07-03T21:38:00.000-04:00

This is from a town closer but then the trees were kinda blocking the view. Also, it was very foggy that the really high fireworks were lost in the clouds =P

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July 02 Fireworks

2011-07-02T21:21:00.000-04:00

There were 3 towns that had fireworks tonight. They were pretty far away that’s why they look so low on these pictures, but we could still get a decent view of them from our bedroom window.

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In-Laws

2011-06-28T09:45:00.001-04:00

My in-laws arrived last night at EWR. It’s my FIL’s 1st time, MIL’s 2nd time here in the US. I think they’ll be staying until November. We don’t have concrete plans yet while they’re here, but even if we do go out of town, most likely it’ll be a weekend trip only. Unless Jojo can take leave for a whole week.

Welcome Nanay and Tatay!

Happy Father’s Day!

2011-06-19T18:51:00.001-04:00

Dear Daddy Jojo,

I hope you like your gifts and may they serve you well (^_^) Love you so much! Don’t forget to redeem your free car wash by June 25 … hehehe.

Love,

Bambi and Finn

One More …

2011-06-12T18:49:00.000-04:00

… groundhog trapped.

Black Belt Stripe Test

2011-06-10T22:02:00.000-04:00

Today was Finn’s Black Belt Stripe Test. They did some warm-ups, then individual forms, group bo-staff form, individual kicking techniques, and one breaking technique.

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Koryo Form.

Bo-Staff Form.

Afterwards we stopped by a small fair for Finn to ride some, before having dinner at Applebees.

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UPDATE:

06-11-11: Master Kim mentioned that the judge last night said Finn did great at the test (^_^)

Random Stuff

2011-06-09T21:46:00.000-04:00

Tiny grapes in the backyard

Lily from the front lawn

Got in the mail today

Birthday Dinner

2011-06-04T10:52:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, we went to Del Frisco’s in NYC for my Birthday Dinner. After school, Finn and I went straight to NYC. Traffic was so bad that it took us an hour to get there. Jojo was already waiting for us. It was still early, so we stopped by Bryant Park, hoping to play ping pong. But there were already a lot of people waiting in line so we just sat and watched. At 6pm, we started walking towards Del Frisco’s. Finn enjoyed the bread and he ordered calamari for his dinner. I tried one of their specials for the day, a trio of 4oz filet each with a different sauce – foie gras, wine and crab. Jojo had the 22oz prime rib and then we had the mushrooms for the side and tuna tartare for appetizer. When Finn had a taste of Jojo’s steak, he shared that with him instead of eating his calamari =P So we just took the calamari home. Everything was sooooo gooooood!

When we went there for our 10th anniversary, we said that we’d eat here once a year, since it’s expensive. I didn’t ask for him to take me here for my birthday so since this is our 2nd time in a year, we won’t go back til 2013 …. hehehe.

After dinner we dropped by Nintendo World, then walked back to Times Square and sat by TKTS and people watched. Took some pictures of Finn since it’s his first time here at night. Then we took the 9.30 bus home.

Thank you Jojo for a wonderful birthday dinner! Love you!

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Atomic Number of Krypton

2011-06-02T21:31:00.000-04:00

There are so many interesting things about the number 36. But it’s significant today coz I’m officially 36 years old! Does it sound like I’m proud of it? Maybe I am. I don’t think age is something you should be ashamed of. I’m glad I’ve lived this long relatively healthy, that I was given a chance to be back in theater at my age, that even without a “real” job I am of help to some people, and that I’m able to stay at home and be with my big boy.

Nothing special happened today, same old routine. But Jojo cooked dinner tonight (^_^) Tomorrow evening is when we’ll have my birthday dinner at …. can you guess? No not Minado. We’re kinda boycotting that place right now. That’s another story. Instead we’re going to Del Frisco’s!!! So after school, Finn and I are heading straight to NYC. We’ll just hang out at Bryant Park … and maybe Kinokuniya to wait for Jojo since our reservation is at 6.30. Can’t wait!

I found out that Wayne Brady shares my birthday! I think he’s brilliant. And Dontae’ Jones, retired NBA player who was born in 1975 as well. Looked it up here. If you checked that out, you’ll see that although there are some known for sports, most are in the arts – composers, poets, musicians, actors, singers, designers, writers. There are a few in politics also. This is another site of people who share my birthday. I’ve only met 2 others with the same birthday and Jojo knows 2 from work who celebrated their birthdays today too. I bet they’re good looking and smart, like me! hehehe. Hey it’s my birthday! Indulge me (~_^)

Trapped

2011-05-31T19:30:00.001-04:00

We’re on a roll! We trapped 2 babies, one yesterday afternoon …

and another today …

So we got Wilma the mom and 3 babies so far. I hope that’s all of the babies. We really want to catch Wally though. Cross your fingers.

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-30T19:26:00.000-04:00

We just had a few friends over on Sunday for barbecue. On the menu was some ribs, pork chop, pork barbecue, corn, and hotdogs. Only remembered to take a picture of the barbecue and corn =P The kids went swimming of course.

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Monday was spent watching Kung Fu Panda 2 in the morning, more pork chops and ribs for lunch at home, then we watched The Chamber of Secrets. We already watched The Sorcerer’s Stone Saturday afternoon. Since The Deathly Hallows 2 is coming in July, we wanted to re-watch all the other movies before then (^_^).

Meet Wilma

2011-05-27T13:15:00.001-04:00

We caught Wilma today! But upon seeing her, we realized there really is a Wally coz she’s not as big as the one we usually see. So, we have more to catch. We released her at the same place and we thought we saw the baby there earlier. Maybe they’ll be reunited.

Woodchuck

2011-05-26T20:23:00.001-04:00

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much as a woodchuck would, if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

But our woodchuck problem ain’t about wood, it’s about our vegetable garden … or what’s left of it. Wally … which turned out to be a Wilma, which turned out to be a mom of 3 … have been eating our veggies even if it’s fenced in. Jojo ordered this trap online and caught one of the babies. Yes, this is just a baby. Wilma would fill this whole trap. That’s how large she is. Gotta catch them all (wow, Pokemon) or else we won’t get to harvest anything.

We released this one at a park by the river in the next town. Not the one near here or it just might walk back home. I’m guessing their burrow is under our deck but we can’t get to that. Let’s hope we catch the other 3, Wilma especially.

I wonder if they’re related to Punxsutawney Phil?

Swamp …. Not!

2011-05-24T20:42:00.001-04:00

Yes! Our pool didn’t turn out to be a swamp! Good job in closing it last season Jojo (^_^) Now he’s filling it with water. I still have to buy something tomorrow before we can fully treat the pool but it will be ready this weekend, just in time for Memorial Day!

Deck Repair

2011-05-22T18:32:00.001-04:00

Parts of our deck have warped and Jojo repaired it today so we can open the pool sometime this week and hopefully be able to use it next Monday for Memorial Day.

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Looking good right? It’s wonderful that he’s a handyman (^_^) Good job daddy!

More fishie-fishie-fishies

2011-05-15T18:02:00.001-04:00

6 Black Skirt Tetras and 2 Hi-Fin White Skirt Tetras.

05/16/11 – P.S.

I counted them this morning and there were 7 BSTs … guess she gave us an extra one ... or maybe I didn’t count right. Oh well.

Balloon Molly – Mango.

Balloon Molly – Cheese.

2 Mollies – Black and Yellow (are you singing?)

05/16/11-P.S.

I’m thinking of renaming the 2 mollies Tem Eeh and Lao Dee … hehehe

Maki Sushi

2011-05-14T20:52:00.001-04:00

My first attempt at making maki sushi.

The rest is sashimi.

Accompanied with miso soup.

New Fishies

2011-05-13T20:48:00.000-04:00

One of two Kissing Gourami and one of 8 Zebra Danio

Albino Rainbow Shark with 2 of 5 Neon Swordtail Platy females

Neon Swordtail Platy male

Minnie-me (Mickey and Minnie’s baby) in the 28gal tank. Probably close to 2cm. There are 6 more babies in here too.

We’re gonna add more fish next week.

Aquarium … again?

2011-05-10T08:51:00.001-04:00

Yes. On May 1st, our neighbor put out on the curb this huge tank with the stand. Jojo was out watering the plants and they got talking and they asked if we wanted it instead of it ending up in the trash. Well yeah! So we brought it over and washed it and set it up in the basement. Our neighbor said it was a 55 gallon tank but when we measured and converted it, it turned out to be 46. It was still big! Remember when we started out with a tiny 1gallon years ago, then 5 (now serving as a nursery), then our current which is 28 that we bought in December. Now we’re up to 46 (^_^)

I resealed it on the 6th and then we bought gravel and decor and started setting it up the next day. Filled it with water Saturday night and let it start cycling. Then yesterday, Jojo thought that it would be better if the tank was in the living room since more people will see it there instead of the basement. So I had to vacuum the water out during the day, more vacuuming after dinner, and then we carried it to the living room, filled it again and re-start the cycling.

Here’s what it looks like. This spot is where our bench used to be. We moved that across the sofa. I think we have to move the picture frame a little higher too … next time.

I can’t wait to buy bigger fishies for this!

Happy Mother’s Day!

2011-05-08T20:38:00.000-04:00

My present (^_^)

My extra large cards:

My dinner c/o Jojo: SISIG!

Thank you so much (^_^) Love you both!!!

Garden

2011-04-30T21:58:00.000-04:00

It’s spring and our flowers are blooming (^_^)

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It’s also time to plant our veggie garden. This year, Jojo decided on tomato, red lettuce, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, cabbage, yellow bell pepper, and habanero. Would you believe that later today we found all the leaves were eaten? It’s either Wally the groundhog or Bugs the bunny. Jojo put a fence around the plot and hopefully no more damage will be done. I also hope that they will still grow.

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We also bought an arch trellis for our grapes.

We also laid weed mats around our trees and bushes and flowers and then spread red mulch on top. They look so much better and will definitely keep weeds and stray grass from growing (^_^)

Spring is a pretty season, if only I didn’t have allergies, I’d be able to enjoy it more.

Pastoral Visit

2011-04-17T08:43:00.000-04:00

Today we went to Forest Hills, NY to attend the special worship service that was officiated by our Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo. We left our locale a little after 10am. We had a total of 6 buses.

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When we got there, no cameras were allowed so I had to leave them, that’s why I have no pictures inside. Too bad coz we even got to shake his hand! These pictures were all taken after the service, while waiting for our bus to go back.

I hope our locale will have a nice house of worship like this one soon.

Kearny Fair

2011-04-16T08:07:00.000-04:00

We went to the annual spring Kearny fair last night and got Finn a ride-all-you-can bracelet. He mostly rode the RipTide (^_^)

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In these fairs, there’s usually an Oriental BBQ stand which is really Filipino BBQ =P The ones manning that station were, of course, Filipino and since we bought 8 sticks total, they gave us one free stick (^_^) Yeah, that was our dinner.

I also tried the fried twinkie and fried oreos. Both were surprisingly good! But very sweet. And the oreos come in 6s that we weren’t able to finish them.

We also won 3 goldfish! I’ll take a picture of them once we transfer them to the 5G tank.

See you next year Kearny Fair!

Spring Break

2011-04-15T14:31:00.000-04:00

It’s Finn’s spring break this week and we surprised him with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge in PA (^_^) He didn’t know we were going to stay there until we got there and checked-in and brought the bags up to the room =P

As soon as we put our stuff in room, the boys got ready to swim while I thought of taking pictures that afternoon so that the next couple of days, I can enjoy the place without having to carry the camera with me. We also visited the arcade but didn’t play yet.

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The next day, Finn and I bought our wands for the MagiQuest. It’s an interactive adventure game within the hotel where you go on quests to gain runes and go up in rank to become a Master Magi. There are also 3 adventures where you can fight the red dragon in one of them. Pretty cool! It’s also very tiring coz you need to go up and down the stairs to find what you need for the quests. Finn and I did 3 quests in the morning, went to the water park and then continued our quests in the afternoon, finally becoming Master Magi in just one day! Boy were our feet tired! We also went to the arcade and started collecting tickets but didn’t redeem it yet.

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Wednesday was spent mostly in the water park. We got to go on all the “rides”, even Finn! There’s a total of 7 major rides plus twin slides that are 3 stories tall, the wave pool, the swimming pool, the obstacle pool and the lazy river. Then for the little kids, they have 4 of their own little slides and a pool. There’s also a hot tub that we weren’t able to go to coz it’s only for 21 and older and we couldn’t leave Finn. After dinner, we went to the arcade to play some more, then Finn and I started on the adventure part of MagiQuest with the Pixie and the Bear.

Thursday was our last day. After breakfast, we finished doing our adventures and beat the Red Dragon, yay! Then we went to the arcade, collected more tickets from the games and had a total of 2,750 tickets! Finn chose a light show thingie worth 2,500 tickets, a light-up yoyo for 150 and a GWL rubber wrist band worth 100 tickets.

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Then we did our souvenir shopping, checked-out and went on our way. We stopped by at this scenic overlook somewhere on the way home.

Had lunch at a Sonic Drive-In where I ate a footlong chili cheese dog … mmmmmm. There was even instructions on how to eat it:

It was a very tiring vacation, but so much fun that I didn’t mind (^_^) Finn can’t wait to go back there.

NYC Birthday

2011-04-02T19:07:00.001-04:00

We weren’t able to celebrate Jojo’s birthday on the day of, so today we went to have lunch in the city. Jojo decided to go to Blue Fin. They only had the brunch menu so not a lot to choose from. Finn got a grilled cheese sandwich and Jojo and I shared a lobster bisque and 3 different maki. Verdict? So so, I guess we should’ve just gotten the sandwiches or the breakfast-y meals.

After lunch, we stopped by Book Off, looked at mangas and books and dvds and ended up buying 2 books for myself at $1 and $5 (^_^) We then headed to Bryant Park, hoping that we could play ping pong but the attendant wasn’t there. There were 2 pairs playing but they brought their own paddles and ball.

Then we went to Kinokuniya coz Jojo’s looking for an anime key holder but we couldn’t fine one. Our next stop was Nintendo World so we could try out other 3DS games. Street Fighter was good so we’re gonna buy that next time we’re at Game Stop. It will be cheaper there because NY sales tax is so high. While we were there, we saw this cute Bowser backpack. But we didn’t buy it.

Now comes the highlight of the day for me. On the way to Junior’s, I finally saw the Naked Cowboy!

So next we walked to Junior’s which is known for their cheesecake. They say it’s the best cheesecake in NY. Jojo got the original, I had their hot fudge sundae instead. Good thing too, coz even if the cheesecake was good, the one we get here at the Arlington Diner is better, hehehe. And guess who we saw as we went out?

Before going home, we stopped by the Disney Store, just because we’ve never gone in there. Bought myself a Cheshire Cat key chain and took a picture with my Disney self.

Then we took the 5.30 bus home. It was a nice day in the city, even if it was a bit windy.

Maligayang Kaarawan

2011-03-30T22:29:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Jojo!

May you have many more blessed years to come, good health and happy days. Finn and I are lucky we have you coz you’re an awesome dad, and a wonderful hubby. I don’t know how you put up with me (~_^) But I’m glad that you do. We love you so very much!

Always, Bambi and Finn

Holy Supper

2011-03-13T20:05:00.001-04:00

Jojo’s first time as a deacon for the Holy Supper. Finn took that picture of us (^_^)

The Ensemble Project

2011-03-07T11:17:00.001-05:00

Kindle

2011-03-03T20:48:00.001-05:00

Look at what Jojo surprised me with – my very own Kindle!!! He knows I’ve run out of books to read (^_^) Isn’t he sweet? I’ve read about half of the user guide and just now set up the wi-fi connection. Know what my first download was? Bram Stoker’s Dracula! OMG, I have so many free books I want to download, classics I’ve been wanting to read but haven’t been able to, fairy tales and folk tales … if you know of a good site for free ebooks aside from Amazon, let me know ok? I’m still thinking if I want to get Mangle so I can read manga too. Maybe later on … I’m so excited! Ok gotta go and play with my new toy now.

Deacon

2011-02-24T08:14:00.001-05:00

Jojo took his oath as a deacon last Sunday and he performed as one for the first time yesterday.

My Own Manga

2011-02-20T20:05:00.001-05:00

This is a little freaky. As I was looking for a manga to read online, I came upon Bambi and Her Pink Gun. It’s not freaky because it has my name on it … what’s freaky is the way she looked.

In 2009, I played Murgatroid in the play “Imagine That”. You want to see how I looked like then compared to Bambi of the manga?

What are the odds?!?!

Jump Rope for Heart

2011-02-16T10:56:00.001-05:00

Jump Rope for Heart is a nationwide fund raising program to help students learn about the benefits of regular physical activity and heart health while raising funds to support vital research and educational programs. I watched Finn’s 3rd class this morning (there’s only one 3rd grade class). They’ve been practicing their routines every gym class and what they do is they formed into groups of 3 or 4 and then they made up their own routine with the music. There were really good!

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I’m proud to say that Finn’s group did unique tricks in their routine and he was the one doing it (^_^) Check out this video.

They do this event every year and grades 3-5 participate. In Middle and High School, they do Hoops for Heart instead. They all did a great job and it shows that they had fun creating their routines and showing them off.

Meet our fishies

2011-02-12T10:58:00.000-05:00

One is missing though, Stripes. Didn’t see him earlier. He’s like Marty.

10 Years and Counting

2011-02-05T18:50:00.000-05:00

On Monday, the 5th of February 2001, Jojo and I exchanged vows in front of family and a handful of friends. Today we celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Doesn’t seem like 10 years have passed. If you think that’s an achievement, imagine we’ve been together a total of 18 years already! Yup, he became my boyfriend 18 years ago (^_^)

So since this is a milestone, we thought of making it an extra special celebration. Yesterday, Jojo took off from work so we can have lunch together. We went to Ichiban and had a wonderful meal of traditional Japanese dishes. He had a katsudon while I ordered from the dinner menu – a chicken negimaki bento. Soooo goood and so filling coz we had 3 different appetizers too.

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We dropped of Finn at a friend’s around 6pm so he can sleepover. Jojo and I went to the city for dinner at Del Frisco’s. He made reservations long before and when we got to our table, there were flowers too! As our wait person said “He did very well.” She congratulated us and offered us some champagne while we decided on what to offer. We got the tuna tartare for appetizer, a filet mignon 8oz for me with asparagus and a prime ribeye 16oz for him with sauteed mushrooms. O M G … it was divine! This is how you cook steak. No need for special sauces, just plain salt and pepper. I can’t tell you enough that the steak was absolutely perfect! The sides were also delish! Everything was just heavenly! No wonder Zagat rated it a 26 out of 30. Service was great too, no complaints there. Of course this all comes with a price but I highly recommend this for a special occasion. Definitely not someplace we’ll go to whenever we want steak … too expensive but for a very special treat, a must!

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After dinner, we walked to Times Square since we still had an hour to kill before the last bus home. We sat at TKTS and made fun of the tourists (hehehe) and tried to get in their shots =P I think one of them noticed us smiling at her camera coz the next shot she took was certainly pointed low and close-up, hahaha. I actually thought of offering to take their pictures for a fee (~_^) Yeah, we didn’t have anything better to do but people watch and fashion police them and think of ways to rip them off. But we didn’t do that … rip them off I mean, hehe.

We got home after midnight and exchanged gifts then. Got me a lot of Godiva!!! Oh and the ring was an added bonus, hehehe. I got him the necklace.

This morning, we picked up Finn before 11 and then went to Mitsuwa for lunch. Stocked up on my goodies too. Then we watched some anime at home. We would have wanted to have some more alone time today, maybe watch a movie or something but well, maybe next time.

9

2011-01-29T18:40:00.001-05:00

9 years ago today, I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy. He has grown up to become a loving, smart, young man (^_^) I can’t believe he’s 9 already! As usual, he asked to eat at Minado. Then we went to Pole Position Raceway, a newly opened electric go-kart racetrack here in NJ that has races for kids 48” and taller. He had fun and now wants to have his 10th birthday party there. Afterwards we went to Target so he can buy something with his gift cards. See our day in photos in the album below. Enjoy!

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Artwork

2011-01-21T18:45:00.001-05:00

Finn is pretty good at drawing and this is his most recent artwork. He just made it this afternoon. Sora from Kingdom Hearts.

This is Abraham Lincoln, a caricature he made for his report on him.

It shaw is a purdy tank!

2011-01-16T17:23:00.001-05:00

Petco had a sale on fish tanks for $1/gallon and since our fishies are multiplying, we thought we’d take a look and maybe upgrade our 5 gallon. The ones on sale were rectangular, like ours, at 10g and 20g. But it was only the tank, no overhead cover/light. We looked at the regular 10g kit and it comes to about the same price (-$50+) as the ones on sale where you need to buy the additional cover for. So we decided to get the kit instead. There was also a nice 16g bow type tank kit for $100. It was so pretty! We started having second thoughts. Then there was a 28g bow that was for the same price as it was on sale, with better quality glass and filter. Hmmm …. a much better deal. So we ended up buying that =P We set it up yesterday, put some of our old decor and here is how it looked.

Sad, no? Our decor suddenly looked so tiny here whereas in the 5g, they were crowded. We went to shop for bigger accessories this afternoon and look at it now.

Nicer to look at right? I need to move some stuff around when I add the bubbler and one more decor that’s still in the 5g tank. I’m so excited for the fishies! I’m sure they’ll be happier in this bigger tank (^_^)

Awarding

2011-01-11T16:32:00.001-05:00

Last night’s awarding at school.

With Ms. Jaume, the principal.

Fry!!!

2011-01-10T10:37:00.001-05:00

This isn’t the first time Mickey and Minnie (our Mickey Mouse Platys) had babies but none have survived coz they always get eaten. This morning, I saw 3 and decided to transfer them to our old 1 gallon tank. As I was catching them, and eventually disturbing the gravel, I notice more fry coming out. I tried to catch them before the other fish see them and eat them. I don’t think there were any casualties while I was moving them. I fished out the decor coz I’m sure there’s more hiding underneath and that’ll make it easier for me to catch them. In this picture alone, there are 19 fry, more hiding in between the marbles and on the other side of the tank. Who knows how many more were eaten before I even noticed there were fry! Now if they manage to live and grow, I’ll probably have to give some to Master Kim coz he has a large tank in the dojang. Our 5 gallon tank won’t be able to accommodate them all. As it is, it’s already crowded with 6 fish. Well, we’ll see.

Another Snow Storm

2011-01-07T10:28:00.001-05:00

This morning as I was going back home from dropping Finn off at school, the car spun. It was snowing already, and I didn't turn on the 4WD. I wasn't going fast coz it's downhill, and it's slippery, but the break didn't catch so I spun. Good thing there wasn’t any oncoming car and the car behind me was a ways off so I didn’t hit anything … except the snow drift where I stopped. I pulled in the driveway in front of me and waited for the other cars – which were also slipping and sliding and shaking their butts – to pass before I backed out and every so slowly went on my way. The other cars going uphill gave up and turned around. No accidents thank goodness. Later I’ll just be walking to school (a good 7 blocks away) since I don't know when the roads will be plowed. There was also a call from the borough saying to use off-street parking so the plows can do their jobs and clear a wider path on the road. If I bring the car later, I’ll have to park on the street and I don’t want to get hit by a plow. So walk I shall, in the storm.

Citizenship Award

2011-01-06T15:55:00.001-05:00

Got this letter today from the principal. So proud of you Finn!!! Love you (^_^)

Home Gym

2011-01-03T20:03:00.001-05:00

We quit our neighborhood gym beginning of December because they no longer offered daycare. Jojo can only go at night, and I attend some classes at night too so we have to bring Finn with us. Without the daycare, we can’t go together. So we quit and started looking for home gym equipment online.

The one on the left is a dual trainer – you can use it as a bike or elliptical (^_^) The right is for weight training. This area used to be my office but we had to rearrange the basement so that the equipment is somewhat enclosed and away from the game area. More of a safety issue especially if we have kids playing down here. My office is still here in the basement in one corner, to the left of this picture. And there’s still space for the sofa bed and game chairs. I was also able to reorganize my bookshelf (woohoo!)

Now we just have to get back in the groove of working out everyday.

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-01T17:09:00.001-05:00

We spent yesterday morning cleaning up around the house, then went to Church in the afternoon. Finn performed for the first time as a children’s choir member today (^_^)

Receiving instructions.He’s in front.Doing the drills.

Then we went home to prepare for our dinner.

Jojo cooked the ham.

We watched anime after dinner, then tuned in for the countdown.

Called friends and relatives and just after 1am, we had a power outage (-_-) What a way to start the new year. But it was resolved about an hour later. Slept before 3am, woke up at around 8 and started rearranging the basement. So tired right now as I write this.

Wow, it’s a new year. I hope that you had a great celebration and may this new year bring you ENOUGH (^_^)

Blizzard of 2010

2010-12-30T12:26:00.001-05:00

This is the worst one we’ve had so far and I hope it doesn’t happen again. Thank goodness we have a snowblower.

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Max’s of Manila

2010-12-29T10:48:00.000-05:00

It’s our first time at Max’s in Jersey City. They just opened a few months back, a few stores away from Red Ribbon. It’s a bit pricey, and it’s not exactly like Max’s in the Philippines, but it’s good enough. We bought a whole chicken and crispy pata to go. The crispy pata is soooo expensive! $10 more than the one we buy at a different pinoy restaurant. Oh well, we just wanted to try it out. After lunch, we went to Red Ribbon. Bought ensaymada, mamon, taisan (my fave), mango roll and brazo de mercedes … mmmmmm.

Eclipse

2010-12-21T07:34:00.001-05:00

This year’s total lunar eclipse is extra special because it fell on the winter solstice (^_^). I woke up a quarter to 3, got my camera and then woke Finn up since he said he wanted to see it. I don’t know when he’ll be able to see another one so I figured it’s ok even if it’s really early.

Crappy I know but these were the better ones. Finn said it kinda looked like a dragon ball, especially the 1st one … hehehe. A one-star dragon ball.

My Little Man

2010-12-18T19:18:00.001-05:00

He looks so grown up in his suit! All spiffy for the Year-End Thanksgiving Worship Service at Church. This was taken at the multi-purpose room downstairs, before the Children’s Worship Service. This is the spill-over room in case it gets full in the sanctuary, which you can see in the projector behind Finn.

Spiciest Ever!

2010-12-16T21:07:00.001-05:00

I read about Peaches Hothouse and how they say they have the spiciest fried chicken in town. I forwarded it to Jojo and he asked around his office if anyone lives in Brooklyn where this restaurant is. He asked his coworker to buy the extra hot fried chicken for us. His coworker picked it up last night and gave it to Jojo today so that’s what we had for dinner.

Do you know about the ghost chili? It used to be the hottest pepper in the world but is now in 2nd place. That’s what they used on the chicken. It doesn’t look very intimidating here, but i guess that’s why they call it ghost chili. You can’t really smell the spiciness and it’s not lava red in color but boy does it burn! I don’t really sweat much so this didn’t make me sweat unlike Jojo. It didn’t bring me to tears either, close but didn’t happen. It did get me sniffly but what surprised me was that my face was flushed! Like how you get when you’re out in the winter cold. The good thing about this pepper is that you don’t feel it in your nose like horseradish does, and it goes away more quickly than other kinds of peppery heat. No burning aftertaste.

It is a bit pricey, for 3 pieces of chicken, 2 slices of bread and one side. But I guess since I wasn’t able to finish everything, I get 2 meals for the price of one. Not bad.

UPDATE – Dec. 18:

I just had the rest of the chicken for dinner tonight and I must say, I didn’t feel the burn this time. I guess my taste buds just got a shock the first time? Hmmm …

Holiday Concert

2010-12-13T20:49:00.000-05:00

This morning was the holiday concert at school. Every class sings 2 songs and Finn’s class sang Oh Christmas Tree and a Kwanzaa song.

Gift

2010-12-08T20:46:00.000-05:00

Finn bought me this crystal angel from the holiday sale at school yesterday (^_^) It’s just shy of 2 inches.

Rice Cooker

2010-12-07T20:42:00.000-05:00

We have a brand new rice cooker! Ours is still working, but it’s only a 4-cup. This is a 10-cup, with options for different kinds of rice plus, it can work as a slow cooker too (^_^) I’m loving it coz it’s non-stick so it’s really easy to clean. The digital display counts down a few minutes before the rice is done and if you choose the delay setting, that will show up on the display too. Best of all, it was really affordable!

Five Kinds of Christmas

2010-12-06T20:32:00.000-05:00

There were 2 shows on Saturday, one on Sunday which was booked for special needs kids. It felt really great doing that show for them coz they don’t get to enjoy live theatre with their families. They say they usually get turned away because the kids would disturb other patrons. Sad but true. Surprisingly, all the kids sat through the whole show without any tantrums (^_^) That means we can do more of this kind of show for them in the future.

There are Five Kinds of Christmas I’m Telling You …..

Put ‘em up!

There are Five Happy Kinds of Christmas Cheer …

The cobbler and “his” wife

What would you do with your prize money?

There are Five Happy Kinds of Hannukah Week …

Five days, six days, seven days, eight days!

Thank you rich person!

Yeah lots of food!

It’s no good if they can’t see me.

Why not? We’re not fussy.

What’s he saying?

Lit Up

2010-11-30T18:30:00.000-05:00

A house in our neighborhood. It’s a tad much don’t you think?

A Christmas Carol

2010-11-28T20:15:00.000-05:00

We had 2 shows yesterday, 2 & 7pm. It was great! My first time doing a radio show and it’s cool to see how they did it in the old days, doing sound effects and going live on the “radio”. Wonderful mix of cast from pros to newbies. There will be more radio shows in the future, I think.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T20:21:00.000-05:00

A small gathering of friends

Come and Watch!

2010-11-16T10:40:00.001-05:00

I have two shows coming up (^_^)

An old fashioned radio show …

A play for kids …

Wii Night

2010-11-08T10:19:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, the CWS (Children’s Worship Service) group held a Virtual Sports Night aka Wii Night from 4-8pm. The kids started with registration where they were grouped into 4 teams: red, blue, green and yellow, and they were given a badge. Finn was in the green team. There are 4 sports that they can participate in: Mario Kart, Tennis (singles and doubles), Baseball and Bowling. Finn joined Mario Kart and baseball. The badges were stamped once they’ve finished their game.

They did some physical stretching first before going into the 4 different stations for their games. The racing and baseball stations were upstairs, the tennis and bowling were downstairs. The individual scores were then tallied into the team scores. After the 4 events, the kids were gathered downstairs for the finale, which will then determine the champion. All of them lined up according to their team and the final game was bowling where each frame was played by a different kid on their team, that way everyone gets a chance to bowl. Everyone was so excited during this last game but the good thing is, everybody was cheering for everyone! It was really all in the spirit of brotherhood (^_^) In the end, the blue team won. Prizes were given away for the winning team, and the best individual scores.

You’ll see in the slide show below the bricks hanging from the ceiling. They contained coins and the kids would “punch” the bricks (much like how Mario does it) and if they’re lucky, a coin would drop. Prizes were also given away depending on the number of coins you get. Finn got 6 coins and he exchanged it for a coloring book.

Next week, the married couples will be having our own gathering. Although I hope they hold a Wii night for adults next time =P

Cozi

2010-11-02T22:14:00.001-04:00

I’ve been meaning to have a photo journal where I can post a photo a day. Never was able to do it … until now. I found out about Cozi while looking for an online calendar. I liked this site for a number of reasons: it’s free; you can color code your appointments so you’ll know at a glance who that’s for; you can set reminders to be sent to your email or phone about said appointments; you can put your calendar on your desktop; it has a journal that you can choose to share or keep private; it has a to-do list; it has a grocery list that you can also choose to be sent to your phone if you forgot your written list; there’s a message board that can send your messages to either email or as sms; and you can sync your outlook with your cozi calendar so that whatever you put on your outlook calendar will be reflected in your cozi calendar.

So far, I have the desktop calendar, I’ve set up reminders for some of our appointments (we’ll see how that goes through email), I’m using the journal and have decided to make that as my photo journal, I’ve made a grocery list and I’ve used the message board to send an email to Jojo.

Oh and I forgot to mention something about the journal, you can choose to protect key words and replace them with something else like if you don’t want the names of your family members to be known – like how you would replace your child’s name with DS or DD for example. So when you write down your entry with their names, DS or DD will be posted instead when it gets published. This is great if you’re in a hurry writing your post and you forget to replace the names yourself.

I think Cozi is pretty handy especially if you have a busy family. This way your appointments don’t overlap and everybody can see where they have to be when and be reminded as well. The journal is a great way to jot down what’s happening and the message board is great too for sending quick notes without having to go to your email. I’m liking it so far (^_^) And if you get the chance, visit my Cozi page. You can also just click on the link above on the navbar labeled Cozi.

Fall Foliage

2010-11-01T20:59:00.000-04:00

Last year we weren’t able to take a drive to see the foliage. This year, we were a bit late =P Most of the leaves have fallen already, but at least we were able to take a walk in the woods some, and take pictures.

Keeping Warm

2010-10-16T20:38:00.001-04:00

Fall is definitely here. It’s been chilly and for a few days now, very windy! Jojo bought us an electric fireplace for the living room (^_^) It gets cold there, even with the heat on, so this will definitely help when we’re there. It’s a nice additional focal point to the room, even in the summer. We just turn off the heat and still have that nice, warm glow from the “fire”.

At the Park

2010-10-10T20:29:00.000-04:00

We try to go biking every weekend, if the weather is fine. Today is the first time all 3 of us went since Finn can ride by himself now. He still needs to practice getting on and off (^_^)

Crazy Hair Day

2010-10-01T08:56:00.001-04:00

Today is crazy hair day in school! Since Finn’s is short, I can’t really do something really crazy. We just TRIED (his hair is so stubbornly flat, doesn’t want to stick up AT ALL) to make his hair spiky and then spray painted it with gold and cheetos orange (coz it really looks like you ate a bag of cheetos and wiped the orange stuff on your hair =P).

UPDATE: I took more photos in natural light so you can see the colors better.

Photos taken this morning.

Oh, and his other front tooth fell out the other day too (^_^)

Bikes

2010-09-25T19:36:00.000-04:00

Jojo ordered our bikes online since it was cheaper and we got them on Thursday. This afternoon we thought of riding together, but since Finn doesn’t know how yet, we just brought his bike and walked to the park so we can teach him first.

Getting the feel of it.

Trying to steer.

He didn’t realize he was doing it by himself =P

While Finn was resting, Jojo took a turn on his bike.

He knows how to ride now!

Confident (^_^)

All he needs to learn now is how to get on and off without falling =P

3rd Grade & a Tooth

2010-09-08T21:32:00.000-04:00

Oh my, Finn is in 3rd grade already!

During dinner, his upper tooth bled a little. It’s been very wiggly but showed no signs of coming out. Tonight we told him to pull it out already.

In the bathroom trying to pull it out.

Why won’t it come out!!!

Yay finally!

Labor Day

2010-09-06T18:56:00.000-04:00

It’s Labor Day and we didn’t have anything planned so we just went to the park.

Secret bridge.

Playing beach volleyball.

He couldn’t resist =P

The ice cream truck is always here in the summer.

Eating his ice cream by the river.

My 2 boys on the swing.

NYC Day

2010-08-31T20:49:00.000-04:00

Finn and I went to NY today since I don’t have work and school will be starting next week. Had lunch at McDonald’s, Finn’s favorite branch in NY.

Then we went to Ripley’s Believe or Not! since we weren’t able to go when his cousins were here a few weeks ago.

On the way to Bryant Park, we saw Pop Tarts World and went in to have a snack.

We waited to play ping pong at Bryant Park. This old guy was not too shabby.

Ready to play?

Having a refreshing lemonade after our game.

Finn’s Cantaloupe

2010-08-30T16:36:00.000-04:00

Finn planted cantaloupe seeds in school, in a plastic cup. They took care of it there until they sprouted, then they brought them home. We kept it in the cup until the sprouts were bigger, then his dad transplanted them in the back. That was in early July and look! We were able to harvest one already (^_^)

Haircut!

2010-08-28T16:33:00.000-04:00

Finn got a haircut! After much coaxing =P

Late Summer Carnival

2010-08-27T20:23:00.000-04:00

We went to a carnival in Kearny that was hosted by a local church, not by the city, so there weren’t as many rides and booths. Finn rode the swing 5 times!

Doing Mario Kart.

Put your hands up!

Just enjoying it (^_^)

Tongue out =P

Peace!

And here’s how you stop the ride.

Brother's Vaca

2010-08-26T16:06:00.000-04:00

My brother suddenly came over to visit for a week. And when I say suddenly, it's him texting me at 2am of Sunday, saying that they're arriving at 6am of Sunday =P. But it was all good (^_^) We were in the city for 3 days, stayed home for one day, shopping for a day, and 6 Flags for another day. Here are a few pictures.

With the mounted NYPD.

Lunch at Times Square.

The boys after taking a peek under her skirt =P.

Resting atop TKTS.

At the American Museum of Natural History.

Top of the Rock with Finn.

Top of the Rock with my brother.

At Six Flags.

M.C.P.

2010-08-12T10:09:00.002-04:00

Manila, Coron, Pundaquit. Our major destinations for our vacation this year (^_^) 3 weeks have gone by and it was filled with food, fun, friends, more food, sights, sunburn, even more food ... and now we're back 5 lbs heavier, 2 additional suitcases and a ton of pictures in tow. You'll have to wait for the pictures tho, there's a lot to sort and edit (i took around 4,000 photos).

07-17-10, Saturday: Left NY after midnight and arrived in Incheon, Korea after 3am on the 18th. The AC at the airport was off, no shops were open, and we had to wait there for around 5 hours for our connecting flight (0_o) Arrived in Manila before noon and went straight to Duty Free. Had lunch at Jollibee, went home to unpack and then Finn slept over at his cousin's.

07-19-10, Monday: Finn and his cousin went to the basketball court nearby early in the morning. At noon we left for Galleria and had lunch at Max's. The kids played in the arcade afterwards.

07-20-10, Tuesday: We planned on going to Greenhills, but ended up in SM City North (>_<). All these U-turns and dedicated lanes are confusing. Anyway, we had an appointment with Aggie at 2pm in UP. On our way there, traffic was horrible! It wasn't normal, and we soon found out there was a fire and they closed all the lanes.

We had to take another route so we arrived late for our appointment. Aggie and Nards kindly took our photos in different locations in UP. So fun! Can't wait to see the pictures. After the shoot, Jojo and I had our isaw fix, while Finn had his sorbetes.

07-21-10, Wednesday: Last time we were here, SM City Marikina wasn't open yet. We went there and Finn had a blast with the Bungee Jump. He's always liked doing the same thing here when we go to theme parks and so he was so happy they had it there, in the mall even! He went 3 times (^_^)

07-22-10, Thursday: Jojo and I went to Sta. Lucia, had lunch at Mushroom Burger in Katipunan, then went to Makati to visit his Headstrong friends.

We then headed for Greenbelt to meet with Rona, ate dinner at Krokodile Grill, then took her home.

07-23-10, Friday: The 3 of us went to Sta. Lucia, ate at Shakey's (Finn loved their thin crust pepperoni), went to Riverbanks and then home. For dinner, Jojo and I met with Issa and Dexter in Eastwood.

07-24-10, Saturday: Finn went with his cousin to his soccer class early in the morning. They let him play with them (^_^) Jojo and I went to Trinoma to see Karen and Lorie. Met them at Starbucks, had lunch at Kimpura and coffee at Seattle's Best.

07-25-10, Sunday: Went to Church, and then to SM Megamall. Finn is so amazed by all the SM malls =P "How many SM malls are there?! Is there an SM in New Jersey?" hehehe. We bought a lot of our pasalubongs in Kultura Filipino. For snack we tried Stick House, gelato on a stick. Finn got 2 sticks - mango with chocolate drizzle and plain milk. I had this pistachio ... mmmmmmmm.

On the way home we got stuck in really heavy traffic ... as in not moving at all! Turns out there were some protesters who closed off all the lanes and we had to merge into one lane going through the driveway of the police headquarters to go around these protesters (-_-*) Who's going to sympathize with whatever their cause is when they're inconveniencing so many people?! Uuuurrrggghhh.

07-26-10, Monday: Jojo and I went to Sta. Lucia again (it's nearby and they have a tiangge too, no need to go to Greenhills) and we watched The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Had my nails done too (^_^). We went to Glorietta before dinner to meet with our barkada at Fely J's.

07-27-10, Tuesday: As a continuation of our dinner date, the 6 of us plus the 2 kids had lunch at Seryna in Little Tokyo. We then went to Megamall for dessert.

The 3 of us went straight to the 96th Anniversary Celebration of the Church of Christ that was held in Marikina.

07-28-10, Wednesday: Our barkada, without the kids (sorry Finn and Arianna), met at the airport to go to Coron, Palawan. Our flight only took 30 mins, shorter than the Pascual's travel time from their house to the airport =P.

We arrived in Busuanga at 8.15 and we were picked up by the hotel's driver. Once at the Coron Village Lodge, we had enough time to freshen up and relax a bit before having lunch at 11.30, then straight to the pier for our island hopping tour. Our tour guide was Lala, with boatman Ariel and his assistant Junemay (have no idea how it's spelled). All of them were great and was able to put up with all our kakulitan ... hehehe.

Our first stop, Siete Pecados.

We got to snorkel and feed fish here.

Then on to Cayangan Lake to see what I think is the most photographed landscape in Coron.

We went down to the lake and along the way got bit by tons of mosquitos which have no idea what Off is for (O_o). But the lake is gorgeous.

Next stop is Atuwayan Beach.

Then to Twin Lagoon.

Where we had to pass through this, on a bamboo raft, to get to the other side.

Our last stop for the day is Maquinit Hot Spring.

Back to the hotel after this, had dinner at 7.30 and we all turned in early coz we needed to wake up very early the next day.

07-29-10, Thursday: 5 of us (Liza is pregnant and chose not to join us) left at 5.30am to walk up 786 steps to the top of Mt. Tapyas for sunrise. Well, we took more than 786 steps coz we walked quite a distance from the hotel to the base of Mt. Tapyas so it was more like 1,500 or so ... hehehehehe. It was a cloudy morning and was drizzling for a bit and when we got to the top, the sun had risen already =P But the view is still wonderful up there and well worth the very tiring walk up.

The Sleeping Giant, boyfriend of Maria Makiling.

When we got back to the hotel, we had breakfast and then it was off to the pier again for day 2 of our tour. First we stopped off a WWII Gunboat. It was very shallow and is said that the tip can sometimes be seen during low tide.

See? Even I can stand on it's edge (^_^) We stayed here for a bit of snorkeling, then we went to Calomboyan Island where we had lunch. It is breathtaking here and there are so many butterflies!

After lunch we went snorkeling and the corals and fish are just stunning! There are even areas where it is so shallow that you should just float and not move so much so that you don't accidentally touch them.

Then we went to the Coral Garden for even more snorkeling. This area is a bit scarier coz at the edge of the reef, it was so dark and deep ... you can't see anything at all.

Our tour is now over, so we headed back for the hotel. After dropping off our stuff, we left again to buy souvenirs, then had dinner at the hotel. I forgot to mention that the food here is just great - like having buffet everytime because of the quantity of food! And it tastes really good too! I highly recommend Coron Village Lodge if you ever find yourself here. Great value for your money, I guarantee it (^_^)

07-30-10, Friday: Had breakfast at the hotel, and then we had some time to finish packing before leaving for the airport. We arrived around 12.30pm - another 30 minute plane ride, then headed for the Pigao's residence. Rested a bit then went to Dampa sa Libis for a late lunch. After lunch we went our separate ways. When we got home, I freshened up and left again. This time to Trinoma to see my schoolmates from elementary and high school (^_^)

07-31-10, Saturday: The 3 of us went Kart Racing with Karen and Eugene. Fun! Even if the karts didn't have seatbelts (O_o)

Teriyaki Boy was our lunch stop and then we had to go home. We went to church today so that we didn't have to wake up too early the next day.

08-01-10, Sunday: We left for Pundaquit, Zambales with some of Jojo's relatives. Arrived at Nora's Beach Resort past noon, had lunch and then prepared ourselves for the beach.

08-02-10, Monday: We hired 3 boats to take us to Capones Island. We were the only people there (^_^)

Then we walked to the other end of the beach and crossed over a mountain to get to the other side of the island.

After having breakfast here and enjoying both sides of the island and getting sunburned, we went to Anawangin Cove, where the river meets the ocean.

Finn waterbending in the river (^_^)

The red tint in the water is from the dried leaves of the trees that fell in there.

We went back to the resort for lunch and then packed our stuff for our trip home. We had dinner along the way.

08-03-10, Tuesday: We had lunch at Cabalen with Jojo's family. Their buffet is really affordable! Then Jojo and I met with a few of his high school friends for dinner at Woodfire Grill in Metrowalk. Can't believe I forgot to take a picture here =P I only have this of Finn eating his calamari with his sprite in a fish bowl.

08-04-10, Wednesday: I have started packing and then we went to The Block to buy more pasalubongs. For dinner, we went over to Jojo's cousin's house with some other family members.

08-05-10, Thursday: Rona and Menands gave us gift certificates for an Executive Massage at The Spa so we went to their Trinoma branch to claim it. Aaaaahhhhh .... In the evening, the 3 of us went to Eastwood to go bowling with the Pigaos and Karen.

08-06-10, Friday: Our last day, we went to SM Marikina coz Finn requested to go bungee jumping again.

We also bought extra suitcases since we have a lot of shoes to bring back =P Jojo's dad made them for us (^_^)

08-07-10, Saturday: We got to the airport before 9 and our flight was before 1pm. After the long flight back, we were home before midnight.

I started unpacking on Sunday and then it was back to work on Monday. I still sometimes get sleepy in the afternoon but I don't sleep it off. And now I'm finally finished with this entry! I wonder when I'll be able to edit the photos and post it to an album? Hmmm....

Black Belt!!!

2010-07-13T22:28:00.007-04:00

Finn got his black belt! We're so proud of you (^_^)

4th of July

2010-07-08T14:47:00.000-04:00

It's our first 4th of July here in the house. Last year we were in Vancouver and missed the celebrations here. This year, we had friends stay overnight since we all didn't have work the next day. We had a great view of the fireworks for 3 days. There was a display on the 3rd from somewhere, and then 4 stations on the other side of the river on the 4th, plus our town's fireworks display on the 5th. These photos are from the 5th.

And here's a few more from the weekend.