Weekend

Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wild Life

Now, this post is two weeks late because the event happened two Sundays ago on Mother’s Day.  We didn’t spend it with our moms though – Alfred and I took Esban to the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife for a photo shoot.
Believe it or not, Alfred has never been to Wild Life before. I can’t believe that they didn’t go there on a field trip when he was in grade school?  I’ve been there so many times, but that was long ago.  I realized then though that I confused some of my Wild Life memories with days spent at the old Nayong Pilipino.  

It was a fun day, but I would have been a happier trooper had it not been soooo hot! Even with the dense trees protecting us from the direct heat of the sun, I was still sweating like a pig!  I was frustrated by many of my photos too, I just couldn’t make it work.  Alfred says it’s because I lacked sleep (I came straight from work, and with only two hours of sleep from the night before because that was the day after the BDP class) and was already irritable.  I think he was just trying not to make me feel bad.

We started later than we had planned so we decided to have Liempo Boy for lunch first, before finally heading to our final destination for the afternoon.

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Waiting for lunch to be served@Liempo Boy

Upon entering the park grounds, we were welcomed by this rubber tree.  We told Esban what it was, and encouraged him to go ahead and pose in front of it.  Little did I know that this tree’s brothers and sisters were going to have an even bigger role for the day!

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Can you see him? Right there in the middle… Here’s a closer look at his wacky face:

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Still can't see his face? Click on the image for a larger view

Okay, I’m testing the WP-SV Gallery Plugin that I just installed. The previews are smaller than what I want them to be, but please go ahead and click on the link at the bottom of the box to see a larger view of the pictures in each gallery. 

[svgallery name=”Rubber tree very pretty”]

I’ve always been fascinated by root systems, so these did not escape me:

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Now, Alfred told E that Lastikman got his powers from a rubber tree .  Now, I preferred the alien version myself, but Esban’s imagination was definitely stirred by what he was hearing.  Here he was looking for a cozy nook to simulate how Lastikman must have been trapped inside a rubber tree!

[svgallery name=”Esbantree”]

Fine, he doesn’t look trapped, he’s really just enjoying himself.  But you know what he really wanted to try?  Swing from tree to tree a la Tarzan!  We were laughing so hard the whole time. We were sweating, not because it was hot, but because we were having so much fun already!

[svgallery name=”Like Tarzan”]

He enjoyed swinging so much that he refused to go home without stopping by another tree and have another go at it. Problem was, we couldn’t find the one that had vines that would suit his purpose!  In the end, he agreed to leave because he was tired, and he had somewhere else that he needed to be at. 

We took photos of the birds and monkeys too. I’ll share those at a later post, this took way loooonger than I had anticipated. Thanks for sticking it out till the end 🙂

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It’s day 1 of our 15 day trial with Sky Broadband. It’s hi-speed Internet cable. I was subscribed to this maybe two years ago but we decided to switch to PLDT DSL because of the savings we’d get for it (since it’s bundled with the phone service).  But their service has been so disappointing, so in two weeks or less we’ll make a decision to finally get rid of it or else just endure the inconsistent service we’ve received.

So far – I love it! My downloads are done in two or three minutes at a time. Sweet! 🙂

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I thought I’d be at the mall today, shopping for slippers and some supplies for our Baler trip.  I guess it’s a blessing too that we didn’t go, or else I would have had to practice a lot of self restraint while passing through the section for women’s shoes.  I certainly do not need a new pair, but when I see beautiful comfy footwear, I just can’t help it sometimes 🙂

 

Self Portrait Attempts

My Facebook and Windows Live contacts would have seen these photos by now, but what the heck, what’s another announcement right? Haha!

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The FB album info says this: 

I took these photos on Sunday evening. The boyfriend was in search for the perfect pair of pants, and I was already sleepy from having no sleep since setting off for work the night before. Since fitting rooms these days are roomier and equipped with chairs (and have excellent lighting), I figured I’d sneak in there with him and snap a few. Haha.

For someone who doesn’t like having her photo taken, I think I’m crazy for sharing these here now. Haha. But here, check out the slideshow.

I don’t think I’ve posted here yet about my pending plans to move to another company.  I’ve already given 30-days’ notice to my current employer, but in the past week I’ve been having second thoughts about moving. There are several factors to consider apart from the salary increase I’d be getting when I move.  I’d have to consider the additional medical and disability insurance that I used to get for my mom for free at my current workplace – I’d have to pay for that in the new one.   It’s not too costly though so I don’t mind that so much.  I’d have additional transpo and food expenses too. So when you think about it, the increase in salary isn’t going to be substantial. So for that, should I go jumping at the opportunity to start all over again?

D60 it is!

Thanks to the boyfriend who financed 50% of my newest toy, we went out today and came back home as proud owners of a Nikon D60! Woot woot! 🙂

We had to cash out Alfred’s last NCO paycheck at Citibank Paseo de Roxas then we had lunch at Jollibee right across the bank. From there we took a cab to Quiapo. Went in to inquire for a D60 at Henry’s, left because their stocks were just arriving in the next two hours. Tried next door at Mayer’s which was packed, and got good quick service from the attendants and manong who looked like he was the owner.  We were shown a brand new D60 and we said we were taking it. Went out to the ATM right across the store, came back not 3 minutes later to find that another guy purchased the kit that was shown to us. No biggie, they had more stocks from where it came from.  Five minutes later (okay maybe more), the whole transaction was done. The box was wrapped in newspaper, then I shoved it, along with the camera bag, into my reusable shopping bag.  

Backtrack to while we were in the cab on our way to Quiapo… Alfred went to the BDO branch near Citibank to withdraw from the ATM there.  He said he saw Chavit Singson there. He also saw a bank employee that reminded him of when he was working at the BDO head offices.  There are many different jobs in banking but the one he held while he was there so many years ago, doesn’t really have anything to do with banking.  To tell you honestly, he sounds bitter now when he talks about that 6-month stint.  He said that when he saw that poor guy earlier, he wanted to approach to tell him to get out from that joint and find something better.  Haha.

Anyway, back to the D60.  I have to be honest, the manual isn’t helping me a lot.  Maybe I’ll just read through it again tomorrow when I’m not sleepy.

I’m naming her Maxine, because she’s Frankie’s daughter. But I might still change my mind. No photos to post yet. Maybe I’ll share a few tomorrow.

For now, I sleep.

Youth Camp

My four nieces, ages 10 to 14, went away to camp this morning.  I sponsored two of them, Chiki and Shanti, although I originally only said yes to one.  I attended camps throughout my teen years and I know that this is something they can really learn from.  I hope it at least broadens their world view.  Now, about the sponsorship, what’s in it for me?  I asked the three older girls to maintain a journal of their stay and write down their learnings and maybe even feelings for the day’s activities. One entry for each, per day.  Now, I doubt they will actually do this, but let’s see.  They’ll be back on Friday.

So this camp that the girls are attending is more of a spiritual/religious one.  I was at a different kind of camp the previous weekend.  It was Asia ACTs’ Youth Camp for Children of Migrant Workers.  It’s the first of it’s kind that Asia ACTs, together with ILO and Save the Children-UK, sponsored.  The youth that attended camp had parents or significant adults who left home to work abroad.  The aim of the camp was to see how these children are faring, what their situation is, and mostly, how they’re coping.

The camp was held at Forest Camp, located in Barangay Puypuy, Bay, Laguna.

The first thing that caught my attention (aside from the trees) as soon as I set foot in Forest Club, were these flowers:

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They have a lot of these in different flower combinations, I’ll try to show more later.

It was a fun three-day weekend.  I had terrible headaches every morning (was it because I had lots of sleep?), but they eventually went away and I sure wouldn’t let them rob me of that weekend.  I had to take a two-day leave from work just so I could join the camp as one of three documentors, I wouldn’t let headaches take it away from me. Besides, I was there to work, not to relax (no matter how beautiful our room was).

The weekend was a bit emotional for some of the children, but it was mostly fun for them. They got to build new friendships, learned about their inherent rights, and also gained a new perspective of their situation.  They also got to be a little adventurous with the canopy walk, two-rope bridge, log crossing, and the famous (and stinky) mud crawl!  I took pictures of the adventure of course, but I used Frankie because it was outdoors and a good opportunity to take her out.  There are some photos on my Kodak, snapped by Ate Reg, I’ll probably put those up.  I actually have lots of photos from throughout the weekend but I’m wary of posting them here because, well, just because. 

So how does it feel joining a workshop after almost four years in a different world?  It’s all the same.  Everything’s still goes the way I remember them.  Not much has changed.  Part of me wishes I could just go back and do it all over again. But there’s the part that doesn’t want the added baggage that sometimes comes along with it.  The biggest pull factor is just being with young people and seeing them blossom.  

It wasn’t too long ago when I was just like them. Discovering myself, and learning about others.  What’s most important though, is seeing them realize that they can do something to change a situation that they don’t like, be it their’s or someone else’s. The best part is when you see one or two or three of them be empowered to take control of their situation.  That’s what I miss being a part of.

Anyway, I’m not sure this post turned out the way I had thought it would, but what the heck.

Here are random photos:

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april-5-2 april-5-3 april-5-4 april-6 

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Congrats Bestfriend!

After weeks of cancelling and rescheduling, I finally got to meet up with my bestfriend on Sunday.  We met up, sat down for a snack, and then we stayed there for the next 4 hours.  It was nice catching up, and even more exciting to hear the good news.  She’s getting married next year! 🙂

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Preparations are already full swing and I’ll try to help her as much as I could though, for the life of me, I have no idea about these things!

Anyway, we talked about things we’re up to and things we look forward to. It was so nice to feel grounded again; that’s what seeing her does to me.  She’s always a breath of sunshine, you know?  I guess because we’ve known each other so long, and were inseparable when our lives were so much simpler. 

We had spent the afternoon at this place called Secret Recipe at the Atrium in Megamall.  We had no idea what they served, but the cakes on the display just convinced me to step in.  Here’s the cake we shared (to be honest though, I ate most of it!):

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See all those alternating layers of chocolate cake and mousse filling? Yummy, I tell you!  And we were so fascinated about the smooth thin layer of chocolate that coats the cake.  Ahhh this cake sparked a conversation on baking too. 🙂  We also talked about my new interest in photography, and my blogs!

But the most important news of the day?  Of course, it’s about her wedding in a little less than a year’s time.  Her fiance is currently working abroad (in Dubai, where her mom also works) and he hasn’t sent over the ring because he wants to give it to her personally (makes sense).  So she’s preparing for the wedding all by herself! Good thing she has a wedding coordinator friend who’s helping her.  And myself? Well, I’ll help in any way I can. Like I said, I have no idea about these things!

Oh well, I just hope we don’t wait another six months before we get together like this.  I’ve missed having girlfriends around all the time. I miss being a friend to a friend, you know what I mean? 

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