water slide

Here in the Philippines, the weather is really hot during summer. Summer is something that a lot of us anticipate or escape from. My kids like summer. We get to swim and picnic a couple of times when me and my husband's work allows.

Reminder: You must not forget to protect yourself with sunscreens when in an outing. Frequent swimming or sun exposure may cause sunburn to eat up your precious epidermal layer in seconds! 

We also have a kiddie pool at home. The kids used it for 6 years. And last year the kiddie pool just isn't up to its purpose. Practical-wise swimming and picnic excursions are getting expensive, more so when school enrollment is just a few weeks away. So a nice kiddie pool is more practical. I also saw at coolgadgets an inflatable water slide to go with a kiddie pool.

Cool gadgets states: The slide comes with an electric air blower and it apparently only takes a few minutes to set it up in the back garden and inflate it. The overpressure from the blower is claimed to be enough to maintain rigidity, even if it gets damaged by small pinholes. Water is fed to the top via a garden hose. 

The inflatable slide can be rolled up and squeezed for safekeeping. It’s priced at $350, it comes with an air pump.

air sanitizer

I saw this gadget at cool gadgets which I think is worth buying.

Parents like me are always worried of their kids catching any health offending virus outside their homes. So when I saw this germ sanitizer I think it will be a good help in keeping kids well.

The cool gadgets post states: This will kill 99.9% of flu viruses.  The powerful fan circulates the sanitized air back into the room.  Giving you cleaner air to breathe.  You could either use this at home or even use it in your office if you’re worried about catching something.  The Germ Guardian claims to be the first to tackle airborne germs in the home or office.

Aside from vitamins and fresh food the germ guardian I think can give a help.

Aerospace Fasteners, Components, and Electronic Hardware

Are you looking for precisioned machine parts and products? Diamond Fasteners' products may be what you need.

Diamond fasteners sell erospace and aircraft fasteners, standard and special fasteners, self-locking nuts, nut plates, hex nuts, rivets, spacers, washers, panel fasteners, bolts, grommets, handles, retaining rings, o-rings, sem screws, vented screws, bearings, clamps, clips and bushings. Their products can be viewed and ordered at Diamond Fasteners online and are delivered on time. They also sell precision machined parts, threaded inserts and thread repair kits and tools. Diamond Fasteners is an ISO-9001:2000 and AS-9120 certified distributor of aerospace fasteners, components and electronic hardware.

You may also drop by at their address at 20B Commerce Drive in Hauppauge, New York or contact them at  631-694-2766 or check their website at http://diamondfasteners.com/ .

new gold wire with Swarovski crystals bangle

I know it's been a long time since I posted anything here.

This is why I'm sharing this photo of the last bangle I did. I used 5 small 10K gold tubes, 14 small 10K gold balls, 6 cubic Swarovski crystals, 10-14 clear bicone (Austrian) Swarovski crystals, 7mm gold filled 10K gold wire, and a 10K gold lock.

my latest gold wire bangle

I find this hobby relaxes me and inspires a little as in teeny tiny creative juice flowing!

There are some posts here in my blog on some of my other simple creations. I make them for my family and sell them to friends and officemates. You may contact me here if you are interested to order. :)

Blogs and Foodies

Hello!
Happy New Year to everyone!
Its been so long since I last posted. I've been meaning to post but I just can't find the time to do it. As it is photos I took for the posts I've been meaning to upload are indeed piling up.

This time I would like to share the blogs and the bloggers that I like to visit each time I'm online. Here are just some of them (the order the sites are listed does not in any way show their order of importance to me):

Market Manila by MM or marketman - It is according to MM himself, "A food blog that talks about food, produce, recipes, ingredients, restaurants, and markets here in the Philippines and around the globe."

David Lebovitz by himself - a pastry chef's blog about his favorite foods. (Pls. forgive me David, I f I wasn't able to describe your site the way you would like to. You are free to correct me here of course!)

In the Kitchen and on the Road with Dorie - like David, Dorie loves food and Paris! Both are very much respected and very famous in food circles. They are my favorite foreign bloggers = they love food like me (but I'm not a superb cook like them, sigh*)

Kusina ni Manang - and how can I not mention Manang Kusinera? According to Manang her blog is "A Filipina's unabashed chronicle of her adaptations in the American kitchen. Includes step-by-step photos on how to make pan de sal, ensaymada, pan de coco, siopao, hopia, pandelimon, pianono, atsara, crema de fruta, blah blah blah...."

Our Awesome Planet - by Anton Diaz, my interest for delicacies from other regions was ignited through Mr. Diaz' lens and posts of his taste for good food. You may read more of the OAP story at http://www.ourawesomeplanet.com/awesome/about.html

These sites are just some of my favorites online. Browsing these sites for at least 3 times a day gives me comfort. And of course I do learn from the posts of the site owners, (sometimes when I have the time to cook a bit) I will soon post the other sites.:)

Manny Pacquiao and Jinkee

What is it with some men that no marriage cord can keep them from straying?
There is no excuse for straying from marriage vows.
I find it foolish for Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao to even think of having a fling. Bringing his supposed other woman wherever he goes. I've seen the Jimmy Kimmel after show video and PDI's photos taken in Baguio and I feel that there is truth in the news currently circulating in all forms of media.
I don't know the couple personally but...
I feel sympathy for his wife, Jinkee.
Money or wealth can never be a reason to cheat on your spouse.
From what Jinkee divulged in a live interview on a TV show, she said she cannot be accused of being after Manny Pacquiao's money only. Jinkee said they were married when Manny was still a struggling boxer. That she would sometimes wake up early in the morning just to look for the much needed money to fund Manny Pacquiao's training expenses.
Jinkee was there when Manny was still a boxer with no name. She gave her support to her husband even if the odds were daunting.
She deserves more than the material wealth that her spouse can give her.
Respect and loyalty are easy to give and yet are very hard to retain, much more to return.
I hope they will talk about it, just the two of them. 'Coz sometimes some well-meant advice can do more damage.
After all, only the two of them will be there until the end.

Trekking at Mt. Malarayat, Batangas

Some piktyuran before the trek at the foot of Mt. Malarayat, some steps away from the NAPOCOR post

The trekkers converged there

The company I worked for organized a tree planting activity in Batangas. Here are some photos I took during the strenous event.

Our trek started here at this warning post by NAPOCOR

I was a bit surprised 'coz a lot of employees turned up for the said event, even if the location is on top of a mountain somewhere in Batangas

The trail looked like this

At some places the trail traverses boulders

Hope I will post another soon! :)

chocolates

I love chocolates.

I developed my taste for it when I was still in my pre-Kinder year. My memories of that period is a bit vague but I keenly remember my mom giving me a dark ball of something sweet and bitter. It melted in my mouth. The sweet and bitter taste swirled in my mouth, giving me my first taste of food bliss.

It was a homemade chocolate candy. I am not sure now if my lola Saria made it from cacao or if our neighbor lola Loring shared some of her own home made confections. Some cacao trees in our backyard at the province yield fruits that lola Saria and lola Pacing make into coffee or home made chocolate balls.

The cacao beans were arranged in flat bamboo baskets or bilaos and were left on our galvanized roof to dry under the sun's UV rays. After drying the cacao beans were roasted slowly in a banga. The roasted beans afterward were then pounded and ground between two stone slabs that are turned by hand. The ground cacao beans can then be made into chocolate candies and other cooking needs.

I wrote the cacao bean preparations from memory, if you want a more accurate/authentic procedure the only person I know who (is still alive) can churn cacao chocolates is lola Loring. Lola Loring lives in Solsona, Ilocos Norte, she is well known at the poblacion or town center.

Whenever I pop in a Meiji dark chocolate, the thought of those home made cacao chocolate balls in my younger years pop out. I love Meiji chocolates. I like their Melty Kiss, Horn, and of course the Meiji dark chocolate bars (my family lists this as an all time favorite chocolate). My kids (9 and 4 years old) are of course not encouraged to eat chocolates often. Even if I am a chocaholic , I don’t want my kids to lose their teeth and cry in discomfort due to toothaches courtesy of much loved chocolates.

Mmmmmelty kisssssss!

Meiji’s Melty Kiss is a melty sensation. It practically melts in your mouth! It’s the first

chocolate product I that “seduces” me to consume more than a box! The box are in a “cute size,” and with my husband and kids competing with me for the individually wrapped chocolate cubes, one box is JUST not enough!

a melty kiss chocolate cube, yummy!

Well, I’m just an average earner and for me the Melty Kiss is a bit prohibitive. BUT! You will understand why even my husband didn’t say a word against y buying more than one box of Melty Kiss along with a box of Horn and a Meiji dark chocolate bar in one evening. The hoard didn’t last before noon of the following day! AND all of us were left wanting more!

a box of Meiji's horn chocolates

here's a piece of horn chocolate, i don't know how to describe it but it certainly is crunchy and chocolatey, the crunch i attribute to its wafery "coat"

graduation day

Finally… it’s our daughter’s turn to graduate from nursery.

Joy with Alexa

She’s so cute! My little makulit girl has finally reached one of her turning points. She will graduate not only from nursery but also from being the “baby.” She and her kuya will always be my babies. But she will also be leaving behind her real baby character…

I don’t know how to explain it but, she’s quiet and accepting when she was only a toddler and before we enrolled her in nursery. So innocent looking, none of her I-know-it-already nursery look and attitude. So trusting and always looks for Mom and Dad or Kuya or Yaya/Ate when she wants to feel the familiar sense of security that family can afford. Her baby cry when she wakes up early and finds out that I’m again going to work, I will miss and not miss. Not miss ‘coz I hurt more thinking of her crying for me not to go to work each time she wakes up and sees me hurrying off to work. I will miss ‘coz being a working mom, I missed taking care of her 6 days a week (the company I work for required the employees, before, to work half-day on Saturdays) when she was still months old. I regret that deeply. I envy moms who are able to take care of their babies, their children.

She’s my baby. I feel so protective of her. My bunso.

I included here some of her graduation pictures.

Joy showing off her diploma and picture in toga

Kids her age are normally playful. So in some of the photos she was caught playing with her classmate and friend, Alexa.

Joy plays with Alexa while the graduation mass was ongoing

pool day

My son had his final exams in third grade early, he was almost always left at home alone. His younger sister goes to her nursery class from 10AM to 12:40 at noon. Sometimes he fetches her just to cut off his boring daily routine. Then yaya takes her sister to her house so she can finish her home chores while she takes care of our bunso. Yaya lives with her family and their house is only 2 houses behind our house.

My son opts to spend his time playing almost all of his and her sister’s DVD discs, or plays games on the family computer, or with his MP4.

He also enlisted his sister in his “swimming/picnic day at the pool” campaign! Of course who wouldn’t want a day at one of the pools. But there’s a lot of bills to pay lately so I did not give them sure answers whenever they asked if we can go.

Then one day my temper (due to my hubby) is almost at its boiling point, to ease things up, I announced that the following Saturday is Pool Day for us.

Here are some of my kid’s pics. And no, they’re just using old swimsuits the pictures were taken last March before my daughter’s graduation.

so chubby and sunburned!

my chubby son is the one with the neon green lifesaver, while his sister is the one using the orange lifesaver