Bacolod-Silay Airport on a Weekend

On January 20, we decided to check out the Bacolod-Silay Airport and these are what we saw:

something the old airport didn't have: sensor-operated doors
zen-inspired landscape still for completion, i think

waiting lounge. back in the old airport, we had to make do of
gutters and boulders while waiting .children eagerly awaiting the landing of the plane

side-view of the airport building . see the instant pine trees?


labing-labing while waiting.

Turned out, I was not the only one with the camera that day. It was like a field day. Children running about the well-manicured lawn right next to the building. Those who got tired, opted to sit by the lounge.

So near, yet so far. To think I live near the Pepsi Plant in Brgy. Bata, it took us around thirty minutes to get to the new airport. From Silay proper, we had to follow the road lined with sugarcane. Made me pop the questions: are we there yet? and are we on the right track? a couple of times. I heard from somewhere that they are going to start the construction of a 10km shortcut route from Bacolod to Silay to address this problem. Pleaaaaase do! Otherwise, we'd suffer the same dilemma of inbound flyers to Iloilo.

Fit

The nanny threw a fit last night. She learned of the news that her shirt, which she hung by the clothesline to dry, fell off the ground and was dragged around the backyard by our mini-pincher. The horror! We all know of her temper and I knew from previous experience that she's one of those who would die if they can't get back at whoever dare cross their path.

Let the action begin! She was hysterical, carrying around a broomstick, shouting the dog's name and running after him. The dog was terrified, scurrying to and fro evading the flying broomstick and later the flying shirt. Several times I heard the dog squeal but for the most part, it was the nanny's voice that hovered over our quiet abode.

I didn't interfere with her madwoman act. I made that mistake sometime in the past and I tell you, there's not much sense you can put into that hot-head of hers. So my strategy was to let her do her thing until she's exhausted. With her voice in the background, I talked my son into doing his writing assignments until the hubby arrived.

The hubby... the strong man in the house. When he arrived, he heard the nanny shouting and running after the dog. He asked the helper what was going on and he got a recap of the events that preceded the chase-and-shout situation.

A confrontation followed.

"Anong plano mo na sa ido, ha?" I cringed hearing the hubby yell down at the nanny from the balcony.
"Lagson eh," she shouted back."Tapos? Ano pa gid plano mo?" Silence from the nanny.
"Kung mahalay ka sang bayo mo, kimpitan mo para indi mahulog. Indi kay akigan mo ang ido, ido na ya kung ano da ya ang makita ya gusniton ya na ya!"
The hubby went back inside, entered the room, angry.
"Kung sigihon ya pa na ang batasan ya, pahalina na siya, bwas gd dayon!"

I braced myself for the worst. Made a mental note to call my mom so I can ask her to send reinforcement in the event that the nanny decides to leave (finally!) or I 'd be forced to evict her from big hubby's house. I tried to keep my cool the whole time (with all my insides tossing and turning with the uncertainty of what's to happen next.)

Dinner. I fed the son, who earlier declared that he wanted to eat with his nanny. I was able to dissuade him with 2 slices of mango as bait. From time to time I was expecting the nanny to pop out of her quarters with a declaration for emancipation. Nothing happened....She didn't eat dinner. The helper later said that she cried herself to sleep.

I, on the other hand, worried myself to sleep. Man, kay ka warfreak gd na bata, daw indi kabati bagting! masaligan gd tani kag nahamut-an na gid sang bata ko. Hay ambot... ma resign na lang ko bala, acheche! The night ended with much hanging over my head. I woke up couple of times coughing my lungs out. TB na bala ini?

Finally, morning came. Malinong ang palibot. It would have been one of my treasured moments had yesterday not happened. Breakfast happened. Nothing came... The driver came to get the service vehicle.

"Bing, upod na lang kamo kay Jury?" I yelled from our room.
"Oo, day!" A came and sane reply from the nanny.

Daw mayo naman modo ya a. Hopefully may yaya pa bata ko asta sa Marso. Hay...

Only in San Carlos

Saw these signages in front of my favorite roasted peanuts store in San Carlos City:

Daw naglibog man ulo ko....

Rambo the Latest Installment

In Joel Stein's interview with Sylvester Stallone for the Time Magazine article Stallone on a Mission the 61 year-old actor talked about what inspired him to do another Rambo film.

I was never fond of the two Rambo installments (well, I was too young to understand really). But reading this interview kind of got my attention and include the upcoming movie to my to-watch list.

Excerpts, from the interview, which did it for me:

What he wanted to say in the new Rambo came down to one smart speech: "Old men start wars. Young men fight them. And everyone in the middle gets killed. War is natural. Peace is an accident. We're animals."

..."Rocky represents the optimistic side of life, and Rambo represents purgatory," he says. The world, Rambo realizes, is perpetually chaotic and dangerous. "If you think people are inherently good, you get rid of the police for 24 hours—see what happens," Stallone says. "I could start a war in 30 seconds. But some countries spend 100 years trying to find peace. Just like good manners, peace has to be learned."

We'll see how much of these beliefs find its way into the movie.

I like My Father's Name

As we drove by the Cathedral, my mother mentioned that January 20 is also the feast day of its patron saint, St. Sebastian. Since it is also the hubby’s birthdate, I kidded around and told him that had his parents been devout Catholics, he would have been named after the saint’s name. All of a sudden, a pillow flew and landed on the dashboard from the car’s backseat. Chikoy threw the pillow in protest of the joke.

With hands crossed over his chest, he forcefully proclaimed, “Indi ko gusto!”

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Heath Ledger Dead

I was still laughing and cheering about the youtube post on Renaldo Lapuz in American Idol when I heard the news. OMG! I can't seem to accept it! I've been an avid follower of Heath Ledger over the years from 10 Things I Hate About You to A Knight's Tale and Brokeback Mountain. He's such an elusive actor, so choosy with his projects I end up wanting to see them all.

Sad sad sad...

Renaldo Lapuz - American Idol

The hubby was reading thru his usual financemanila stuff when he came across this post:



Need I say more?

B is for Bao

Over dinner, the nanny told us that her attention was called by Chikoy's teacher for being so chatty (talkative is so stereotype) in class. He's one of those students who couldn't finish his writing exercises because he's heavily engaged in conversation with his seatmate.

I asked the hubby if he was like that as a kid. He said no. It must be me then! (Although, I knew that already even before I asked the question LOL!)

Addendum:

I asked Chikoy what he and Rianne, his seatmate, were busy talking about - the blue car on the book cover. Some pick up line eh?

Note: Bao is Ilonggo for Turtle

Reduce Means Recycle

Iloilo Supermart has joined the bandwagon. They are now giving out rebates to customers who opt to reuse old Iloilo Supermart plastic bags. Quite a take on the Green Bag movement of SM Groceries. It seems like it's the way to go, really. The grocery saves up and the consumers get rebates for reusing old ones. And on top of that, the environment stands to gain from the cumulative effort of the community. Cool!

So to all you shoppers out there, save up your plastics and support all efforts to protect the environment.

Tooth Talk

I'm so happy to report that during our second visit to the dentist, my son made it to the dentist's chair without any fuss! Yipee!

The first time was when he was 3.3 y.o. when we had his first oral prophylaxis. We were interrupted a few times by Chikoy's attempt to get out of the dentist's chair. The result, we spent 45 minutes to get to the clinic for not even 5 minutes of dental care.

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Isko/Iska

Here's another tribute to all the Isko and Iska out there. I would have wanted to give credit to the person who posted it but since I just stumbled on a forwarded message, I'm taking the liberty of copying the image location from my source. For those interested, just click on the image.

Mabuhay ang Pag-asa ng Bayan

I received this text message from a friend a few days ago:

"It is a brand new year. And since 2008 is UP year, let me share this thought with you. UST accepts only wise students. LA SALLE accepts students who are great. ATENEO accepts only the best students. In UP, we don't accept the best, great or wise students, we MAKE them. Isang pagyayabang sa pormal na pagsisimula ng UP centennial celebration!"

Mainit na pagpupugay sa ika-100 na kaarawan ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas!

DIY: Bag Organizer

Saw this product from the Avon catalog for February. It's a Bag Organizer. Costs P290.00. It's not really much considering that it's colorful, a new design and I haven't seen one in the market by far. I liked it and I saw a need for it but I didn't want to spend as much for something I know I can improvise on. And so I asked the hubby to work with me on this project at a much lower cost.

Here are the things that we used:
> S-hooks
> Eye Screws (sorry ha, I don't know what it's called and the hubby's still asleep so I'm making that one up)
> Rope
> Hammer
> Nail
> Ruler


How to:

1. Measure the area where the line will be mounted
2. Cut the rope the length of the space for mounting with allowance for the knots and the end-of-line safety locks.
3. Insert one end of the rope into an eye screw and secure by knotting.
4. Measure and divide your line according to the number of hooks you want to install.
5. To install the hook, make a single chain (as in crochet). Then insert the first hook on the loop created. This will tighten as soon as the hook is in place. Do the same for the rest of the hooks.
6. Insert the end of the rope on an eye screw and secure. Now you are ready to mount your line.
7. Score the wall by hammering a nail half-way into the wall. Take it out the screw in the eye-screw. Do the same for the end of the line.

Voila! my very own bag organizer for a fraction of the cost! Quality bonding time pa kami ni hubby!

Día de los Inocentes

You know how it is when you were a child when you look forward to December 28 to get back at people who played a prank on you the previous year? It starts with "Day, tawag ka ni Nanay mo, mabakal ka kuno itlog sa tyangge, dali-a da ay! maakigan ka naman karon!" Being the obedient daughter that you are, you hurry to the kitchen looking for your mother to do the errand as told. Then you hold out your palm and tell your mother ,"din na ang kwarta 'nay?"Then your mother looks at you with her eyes ready to pop-out of her eyeballs, "Anong kwarta? aga pa kwarta naman pangayo mo......." and before you can even react, you see your cousin from the window silently laughing his heart out for submitting you into an early morning sermon. You make a promise to yourself that before the day ends, you will be able to get back at him. Then the prank jokes get nastier and nastier as the day comes to an end.

Nadumduman ko lang kay daw naisahan gd ako sang Landbank sang December 28. Nagpila ko sa ATM machine, off-line. Pero nagpila man ko gyapon kay siling sang guard dali man lang daw ma-online naman dugay dugay. 5 minutes.... la gyapon. Tapos gulpi lang, nag online! Naghingagaw man ko gulo sang akon na ATM sa machine. La na ko nag balance inquiry kay siling ko basi mag-offline liwat kag makaon card ko. Nagwithdraw ako 5K dasig ang pagprocess sang computer. Sang naggwa ang akon na card, nagkalas-kalas na ang guluwaan sang kwarta. Wala pa mag 5 seconds, nag-offline liwat! Naggwa ang akon receipt, transaction complete kuno. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! din na ya ang akon kwarta?

Being a SOP-abiding person, I went inside the bank and filed my complaint. Then it hit me, I could have withdrawn over the counter instead of transacting through the ATM ! Why had I not thought about that in the first place? Why? Why? as if one why would not suffice. Good thing I still had money in my account so there was still something to withdraw and squander for the remaining days of the year. Then began the wait.

I checked my account balance through phone since the 29th up to the 4th of January. No sign of my money. I called the bank, they said that the matter is being addressed by their central office. It so happened that I was not the only casualty of the holiday rush and that the transactions are being processed batch by batch. I talked to the person who received my complaint, asked him if there is hope for my case. Of course he was obliged to say yes! But I couldn't help it, I really told him, "Te pano na na, mahibi gd ko ya kung indi niyo pagbalik akon na kwarta".

The hubby told me that it is possible that the bank would deny me of my money because the transcation print-out says, "transaction complete". Pero pwede bala na? Indi gid ya dapat! indi ko man sala nga nagkalas-kalas to ya ang cash machine kag nag-offline, no. Indi gd ya dapat. Indeeeeeeeee! Happy na ko tani kay maka-withdraw ako, tapos wala ko man gali nakuha kwarta ko. tsk tsk tsk.... halit na bangko!

Gapautwas lang.

I hope to get a better response from the bank within the week. God, please give me patience, now!

7 Gifts

What I got for Christmas:

1 grocery pack raffled off by our coop. would have wanted to win one of the pillows or maybe the electric fan. sige na lang gani, this is better than nothing no?

2 shirts: one from the mil the other from the mother, may paaman pa na 3 ka undies!

3 gifts from the office: meringue from an officemate, pillow cases from the boss and ice pint from my manita.

5 gifts from abroad: soap bars from my supervisor from her trip to the US, key chain, soap and Swarovski earrings courtesy of the cousins from Singapore and Kuwait and the Elizabeth Taylor perfume from the Canadian cousin.


7 pants and 6 blouses from the hubby's aunt. they're HMDs (hand-me-downs) actually. Auntie said I choose from the loot sent by the aunt from Manila who changed her wardrobe recently. Whatever will be left will be given to missionaries. To make myself feel a little less guilty about wanting everything, I left behind the Calvin Klein denim and two other dresses. I'm so evil! Pati ka na, indi man to kaigo sa ila nga mag-ulutod amo na nga nahidumduman ko nila na tagaan, hehe. Kis-a man lang ni a, galing daw indi na ko kaliwat LOL!

Kulang 4 haw... care to complete my list? hehehe!

New Year's Resolution: Get Physical!

The helpers went home for the New Year celebration but this did not stop us from getting ourselves busy in the kitchen. For three days, it was a case of wake up- prepare food - breakfast - wash dishes - prepare food - lunch - wash dishes - prepare food - merienda - wash dishes - prepare food - dinner - wash the dishes for me and the hubby. It's as if we have deprived ourselves of kitchen labor for a whole year that we missed it so much we ended up starving for it. We were dead tired at the end of each day. But what the heck, we were not only gastronomically satisfied, we also burned all those calories while preparing for the next meal!