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

checkmate!

I've seen it before, at least four times. Like me, a lot of the visitors are drawn to it. Even my son was awed.

Maybe some of you have seen a chess board complete with all the game pieces but definitely not at their size. The school owner who also happens to own the company I work for had them sculpted from whole blocks of black and white marble. I heard that he really likes the game (of chess) so he and some of his companies holds contests in schools nationwide. In fact the current chess greats are often invited here in the Philippines through his initiative.

Some people (from one of the sister companies of the company I work for) were trying the chess pieces when I got there.

The chess "pieces" were really heavy (marble!), that they contented themselves in just looking at the huge chess set. There was a short drizzle earlier so the floor board was also a bit slippery. So, it was not really a good idea to play chess then.

rules for the players

The chess "set" is located beside the main theater/sports arena of what is now one of the best if not THE best private university in Batangas. The students there are being trained in robotics from grade school onwards. In fact they won in the 2006 World Robot Olympiad in China besting 30 other entries from 20 countries.

I am not pushing for the school here but I am only impressed.

That's me when something impresses me. I kept on blabbering about it until I get tired... :)
I really like the school. It is well equipped, in fact there are more computers than the students. Each student is assured of quality education that is at par with what the best schools in Metro Manila (and one can say even the world and there's no exaggeration in that!) can offer.

customs

I am a very practical person, more so now that I am married with kids. I try to limit my spending to basic needs and things that my family must have (new shoes to replace worn out shoes, etc.) . This way I can somehow stretch our budget until the next payday.

We all have our own ideas and opinions, that's why I can't comprehend grand celebrations, new clothes, new accessories, new everything spending!

Who doesn't want NEW things? Of course I do LOVE NEW things! But sometimes I just have to stop somewhere before spending on anything I consider superfluous.

I was surprised when I learned of grand birthday celebrations for 7 year old boys. The old people (Southern custom = Southern Tagalog to further south custom) say that when your son reaches his 7th year, the parents must celebrate it with a handaan because the 7th year is the luckiest year for the boy and will serve as his lucky amulet, that sort of thing...

I was surprised to learn that the 7th birthday celebration for boys thing is not limited to the southerners, in fact a lot of Filipinos worldwide observe it!

But I want my kids to learn early on being practical and still enjoy being kids. So on their birthdays we take them somewhere to celebrate. Of course they sometimes wish for a party complete with balloons, cakes, spaghetti, ice cream, giveaways, and the pabitin but reality sinks before I overspend (whew!). We always try to console them that,"'having a party doesn't always guarantee better education in better schools. That they will have the best party that they will ever want if they can have better education and finish it. That they can party now but what about tomorrow?'" I know we shouldn't be putting too much "pressure" or "heavy thoughts" on them but I want them to learn early, so one day they'll stand on their own with no hesitations.

We sometimes let them have their way though. In fact, hubby signed and paid for my son's field trip early, the same week that the school sent notices to parents informing them about the school's field trip. Hubby also paid for the yaya's slot 'coz we can't let our son join the field trip alone. We consider it as a prize to our son for keeping his class standing and for having higher grades than the last grading period.

Saturday at the mall

Last Saturday hubby gave the kids a simple treat. He took us to one of the nearest malls and let the kids play to their favorite play place. We found out that the inflated rubber slide was replaced with a huge inflated bunny head.

the bunny head

The kids were a bit disappointed, they were looking forward to playing again at the rubber slide. But they were more eager to try the bunny. They can hardly wait while I bought new socks for them to wear inside the play place.

They were a bit apprehensive at first, not knowing how to get inside the bunny's head and play inside.

An aide was on standby near the entrance (the mouth) and help the kids open the bunny's mouth.

joy tries to get in first with kuya's guidance

that's JB's feet!

inside the bunny's head at last!

playing inside the bunny's head

Meldy and Joy inside the mall near the department store entrance

Meldy watched Gerald Santos' mini concert, here the singer was signing the CD's bought by his fans

being true online

Whenever I say something whether online, in person, in whatever form of communication I always speak of what is true. I dislike lying, this is why I get disappointed easily with other people who lie about things that they take for granted.

Online bloggers, like me, like to do some pay per click (ppc). Who doesn't? It's extra cash for a few clicks.

So I do get disappointed when some bloggers tell you that they've given you $$$mile$$ when they did not really.

It's the same when other bloggers tell you that you did not really return the favor (how? they checked of course!).

I am encouraging real honest bloggers to please return favors honestly. We may be online but respect and honesty are basic communication rules from the crib.

We may be bloggers and are free to do what we wish but we are also building reputations with every action we do online.

Blog on!

Let's make blogging more enjoyable for everybody!

as free as a child

I envy the children...
They can do whatever they want.

They don't worry about the next hour, the next day, only older people worry.

When I was still small, I love to ride on a swing.

I love to kick the dust and let my swing fly, and fly, and fly...
I love the wind against my face, my hair, adrenaline pumping in my veins...

I never worried about other people, I worried more with what I want -- junk food to eat.

Why do people worry more as they age?
I don't even want to hear about the word "worry" sometimes. Let worry worry about itself...
We have our own lives to live and life is too short to worry.

candle light

In my hometown we light candles for departed souls at the cemetery and at church. And before All Soul's Day people gather at the cemetery to clean and paint the tombs. There is some kind of festive atmosphere (don't know why!), more so during All Sain't's Day (1 November) and All Soul's Day (2 November).

These days people observe/celebrate(?) All Soul's Day more than All Saint's Day. I sometimes think that people do not observe All Saint's Day anymore. They just troop to the cemetery with their merienda (refreshments -- cooked snacks, beverages, junk foods), or whole day meals on November 1! They light candles and offer flowers. People use this event to bond with relatives and friends aside from praying together for departed's souls.

one of the neighbors lighted more than the others

In the evening even when we were still residing in Quezon City, the neighbors light candles at their gates or by their main doors. I learned that the lighted candles were for the souls of departed relatives or acquaintances of those who were not able to visit those soul's graves! Inaaaang!

for a dear... dear... departed...

Anyway, it's been our practice to light some candles during Halloween/ All Sain'ts/Souls Day.

solemnly burning...