Yesterday was really family day for my husband and me. First up was a big lunch with the Ocampos in Fairview. And then it was dinner with the Apitanas all the way in far Pasay. Hehe ?
I have truly been blessed to have grown up with fine examples of Dads. Papa and Daddy showed me that ‘good provider’ was not just about bringing food to the table but being a real presence. That love for family came first, but so did serving the bigger community.
My husband has always had big shoes to fill because these guys, my Kuya included, set a very high standard. Hindi naman din sya nagpapahuli.
Tho we are still working on that baby project, Pawrents naman kami to our four-legged babies. And sya ang primary caregiver. I just know he’ll make a fine Dad himself, given the chance.
To all Dads – a belated Happy Father’s Day! Know that you are loved and appreciated, every single day of the year ?
Say hello to Chiclet Onyx Apitana. She’s our nearly 6-month old baby and she drives us crazy!
In has been four years since we gave up Zune for adoption, and he has since passed on to the Rainbow Bridge. We weren’t sure about getting another puppy but when we first saw photos of Chiclet and her siblings, we were captivated. She had us.
We took her home when she was still two months old, and quickly we learned how playful her personality really is. She easily learned to play catch, but her favorite was getting up on the couch and licking whoever human happened to be sharing space with her.
When she tires of the licking, she’d go find herself a comfy position on top or in between pillows. Then she’d snooze right there. Like a boss.
Oh we love our little baby. She’s a mix of a Pomeranian dad and a Poodle mom. We are crossing our fingers her coat will be more curly, hehe.
The truth is, I could live without watching any of Manny Pacquiao’s matches. I would rather enjoy the traffic free streets of the city (although today was the exception, or so I hear), but when your entire family stays home for the Live show via Pay-Per-View, you stay put.
Oh yes you stay put lest you miss out on this:
Three generations – Grandpa (my Daddy), Amir (aka Beloved Prince), and Vlad (aka brother bear, or Amir’s Daddy). This was before the match started and we were patiently watching the undercard. Or just hanging out. Or singing and dancing to whatever Amir was singing or dancing to.
And then when Pacquiao was finally being introduced to the crowd, Amir had quickly changed into his Manny P shirt, but refused to pose for pictures:
Oh he was playing with us. His dad placed him in front of the TV and he just kept laughing! He then posed with his hand raised showing Number 1, but he was right next to me and I couldn’t get his arm in with the photo.
Though Amir wasn’t watching so much as looking at the TV from time to time, he sure knew how to cheer on with the rest of us – he echoed most every “Oi!,” “Sige pa!” “Go, go, go, Manny!” At the end of the match – he celebrated too. “He’s a winner!”
It was so cute. Haha.
So what I’m trying to say is that, boxing fan or not, I’d still stay home to see the match if it meant bonding time with the family. And I still couldn’t get through a match without thinking of my grandfather who was the certified boxing fan.
We celebrated Mom’s birthday a day early, with a big family lunch at Vikings, SM North The Block. Just like last year, Amir’s antics made it an even more fun and interesting lunch date. Hehe.
The party had the same attendees as last year: my parents, Alfred, Amir and his parents, with the addition of Eia, Diane’s sister. Except for Alfred and myself, it was everyone else’s first time at Vikings. We didn’t get to reserve a table in advance, but we only had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated. Amir was under three feet and was in for free, which was a good thing because he hardly ate anything really. He did seem to have a lot of fun dancing to the waiters who sang happy birthday to all the celebrants. Before we left, he also had the chance to walk and run around the restaurant.
We all had food that we liked, nothing was wasted because everything tasted really good. We also got to talk about other buffets and agreed that Vikings is definitely a cut above the Kamayan/Dads/Saisaki buffet. The ambiance was also what one would expect from a hotel buffet area, except they didn’t have custom tablecloths with logo on them. The decor was nice and mostly elegant, and the chairs had nice upholstery.
It would have been a good time to take a complete family photo for my journal, but we didn’t get the time to do that before the table was cluttered with empty plates and glasses. After lunch, my brother took Diane and Eia for some school supply shopping, while Mom and Dad watched Amir. I finally got myself a bottle of Novuhair and some cold medicine for Alfred. Amir only stayed still while nibbling on some Mrs. Fields cookies, but he wasn’t even done with the second one when he got off the chair to run around again!
I had a really boring weekend, if not for today’s lunch. Sometimes though, boring is okay specially when you have colds, cough, and headaches. How was your weekend?
May 13, 2013 was mid-term election day in the Philippines. Of course, I went out to vote.
We were pleasantly surprised not to see long lines at the voting precinct. I had registered only in 2009 and ended up in a different precinct from the rest of my family. But because Comelec implemented a cluster system since elections were automated, we still vote in the same precinct.
Barangay Kalusugan Voting Precincts
Just like in the 2010 elections, we went to vote as a family, except for my brother who went there straight from work so he was very early. Since the line was short, I decided I didn’t need special treatment (recovering from an operation and all) and waited patiently in line. We were all done in perhaps 15 or 20 minutes. My cousin says we’re lucky because they had to wait a lot longer. They were already done when we arrived. I guess the rain, and it being lunchtime, discouraged people from voting at the time we did.
But we really had it good. There were apparently many places in the country where voting didn’t go as smoothly as it did for us. I pray this is the last time it happens. We seriously need to have improved systems and a COMELEC who will work on it all the time, not just the year before the next elections.
Two days later, we still don’t have any of the senator-elects being proclaimed. I only voted for 9 candidates, and not everyone made it. But that’s democracy. And instead of complaining about Nancy Binay making it to the top 5, we should focus our energies on mapping out how we’ll make all 12 accountable to the people in the next six years. Instead of blaming an uninformed electorate for making Grace Poe number one and Dick Gordon teetering from number 12 to 13, let’s look at what we should do to ensure that the people can become better informed.
Political ads on TV, and the campaign sorties, were mostly how the people got to know their candidates. But those shouldn’t be the only sources of information. Netizens had some online resources, but not all of us actually took the time to review 3rd party profiles and analyses of the platforms or fact-checked debate responses. I’m just saying that no matter how sophisticated or un-sophisticated we are, the resource first has to be there, and then we need to take the time to refer to it. There needs to be an uninterested party (not affiliated with the political parties) out there who would do round-table discussions with the common folk, or maybe bring out laptops and tablets so the people can browse at material available online. But who would do it?
A group of child-rights NGOs came up with Bata Muna which was a campaign to engage with candidates to find out their stand on child-sensitive issues. That’s a good idea, I think. But then they would also need to distribute the information they gathered. In the end they did not seek to endorse any particular candidate, but they did present the candidates’ responses on critical issues. I took note of that and it helped frame who I would vote for.
Leading up to the elections you would see a lot of push to go out and vote. That’s good. COMELEC sees voter turnout at 70%. So 70% of registered voters cared enough to make their votes count. Kudos to us. But it’s not just how many people vote; what’s important is the thought-process behind those votes. Sorry, but do I make sense?
As for me, I continue to be hopeful for the country. I did my best to vote for the candidates that I feel would ensure that the future is secure, and that we learn from past mistakes. More candidates who didn’t get my vote are actually winning but that is no reason to be sad or jaded. That is democracy after all.
