CMS OUTING AT LAGUNA

This year, our unit had our outing at Pansol, Laguna since we opted to have it someplace near. It was just too bad though that two of our officemates were not able to join us – one had to stay home since they had just recently established an eatery and therefore could not take a day off! The other one had a wife and family who weren't so keen to swim at Pansol, Laguna.

Anyway, so we all left on Thursday, at around ten am because our boss had a bit of work to do before leaving. Our first destination was Pook ni Maria Makiling where we can have our lunch. We got there at around twelve (after a two-hour drive) and thankfully the place was dotted with trees and quite cool enough for us to eat on their provided concrete tables.

But what the kids truly enjoyed was their Olympic sized swimming pool that charged only PhP25.00 for entrance fees! Quite cheap huh! Just too bad that the hubby isn’t here, otherwise, he would have enjoyed the huge pool. He was feverish since last night and had difficulty swallowing and so this morning, he just took us and the van to the office and left promptly to go home and rest. The kids all had fun swimming and even I myself wanted to take a dip but then I wasn’t feeling well either and just took some meds to stave off my fever since I couldn’t be absent after all I was the one who prepared everything for this outing with Nel.

While the kids swam and since we still could not go to our rented house that we reserved from 6pm to 6am the next day, we decided to head off to UP Los Banos to buy some kesong puti and their other milk products. This is another thing that Los Banos is famous for and another reason to head off South to Laguna (aside from buko pies, of course). I bought fresh carabao’s milk, cow’s milk (they have choco flavor now!), kesong puti, pastillas and a new discovery yogurt! It all tasted yummy and my kids loved it! I just wish Los Banos is just nearby so we could buy all this good stuff whenever we just feel like it!

At around five, we left Pook ni Maria Makiling already and made a quick detour at SM Los Banos to buy a few more things we need before going to our rented place – The Bellissima resorts. Upon our arrival, they were already filling up the pool, so at least we know that the water is new huh? Of course, even if the kids just came from a pool and while the water is still knee-high they immediately dipped in the water and we just let them while we fixed our things / food to be cooked in the kitchen and the ref. In a short while, after cooking rice, grilling the marinated meat and hotdogs, cutting up fruits, and cooking the sinigang fish, we had a hearty dinner.

After eating, the kids still continued swimming while I decided to sleep in early to rest my feverish body, I just awoke after an hour to check on the kids and encourage them to get out of the water already after all they still have tomorrow to swim anyway?

The next day, I was up and about early to see if I could help them cook breakfast but it was already underway by the time I got down courtesy of Ping and Nel (with help from Crispin and Eric) So I just had them buy some bread for those who prefer to just have bread for their breakfast. Besides, the kids already ate up all the bread yesterday in between bouts of swimming so we need to buy more for their snacks later on. Ping also bought some additional fish to grill for our lunch later.

I would’ve wanted to take a swim in the morning but still I felt feverish and the fever would only go away whenever I would drink paracetamol and so I’d rather not dip in cold water lest my fever gets to be full blown. The kids, as expected, took to the water as soon as they awoke and only stopped to eat breakfast, lunch and then some sandwiches for snacks. We decided to leave early at around three because we will be passing by The Original Buko Pie to buy their ever-famous buko pie. We were quite surprised to see that there was a long line waiting to buy, I guess there were more excursionistas during the weekend unlike our last ocular trip here that was a weekday. But still we persisted and stayed in line to buy what we intended.

Just our luck that we got caught in the traffic at SLEX and EDSA so that it was almost six when we got to the office, thankfully we rode with Chito and family who will be taking the van home (since he would be the one to take over hubby’s task to pick up Ate Ne’s sisters and mom at Garay for April’s wedding). It seems that the hubby was still sick and could not perform his assigned task. So despite the fact that we (the kids particularly) had fun during our office outing, I couldn’t truly be happy because at the back of my mind I was worrying if he is OK, maybe tomorrow I’ll take him to see the doctor.

THE ORIGINAL BUKO PIE

Yesterday, I left for an ocular inspection of private pools where we could conduct our unit outing and we opted to visit Calamba and Los Banos in Laguna since many recommended that we check out said places. We visited a subdivision (South Spring Villas) that surprisingly had many available houses with private pools that they rent out- most of their rentals ranged from 12K to as much as 19K for newer houses and bigger pools. But we had a limited budget and the one that we saw in Los Banos which had a big pool and very nice view was in conflict with our schedule because it was fully booked for the entire month of April.

We finished the day early armed with contact numbers and numerous pictures to show to our officemates so that they could make the final decision on what venue to choose. But, of course, before we left, we made one quick detour to buy an old-time fave - THE ORIGINAL BUKO PIE - at Los Banos, Laguna. It had been a long time since I was able to taste their stuff and of late, I have not been at all satisfied with the recent purchases I made of buko pies when we visit Tagaytay so I figured we'd make the extra effort to buy their buko pie, and guess what??? Our efforts weren't wasted - because their pies still taste the same - not too sweet and bursting with buko not crusty flour! Their pie was still warm when we reached the office (after two hours travel) and we vowed to buy more when we do go on our office outing later this week.

Here are some pics of the pools we visited: the first resort costs about 19K and had a new house and amenities; the second one was Monte Nevoso (the one I liked) for only 12K but was already fully booked; the third one also 12K but the pool was quite deep at 7 feet; and the fourth at 13K but had only 3 bedrooms.

MY CABINET UPDATE

This time around, I think he was a bit slow in making my cabinet, I guess because he had to change the specifications of the thing just so he can ensure that it would not be difficult in taking it up the stairs. He started it when my daughter’s cabinet was finished by the end of February. And he continued doing it during weekends that we were at home in March. But he was not satisfied with it. In fact, he even had my nephew sand it endlessly until it was so smooth. At first, he didn’t want to paint it, in fact, we already bought laminates at Ace Hardware at SM Fairview but midstream he changed his mind again and decided to paint it black, the color I liked. Here are some pics of the cabinet after about one and a half months of tinkering with it, maybe he’ll be finished with it soon.

WHITEY BIT ME!

Today, we planned to transfer Whitey to Brownie’s cage because her bunnies are going out of the wooden box and may fall off the floor of her cage. Her cage shall be cleaned too and get new steel matting because the old one was already torn in some places. My nephew started by transferring Brownie to the small steel cage then he cleaned Brownie’s cage first. But when it was Whitey’s babies turn to be transferred, I offered some kangkong to Whitey to distract her but she ended up biting me on the finger. It wasn’t very deep but it still bled and so I washed it thoroughly with soap and water and it was my nephew who handled the transfer of Whitey and her bunnies to the smaller cage.

It was only much later when I searched the internet and learned that it is rare for rabbits to have rabies and much more so to pass it on to a human or animal it bites. This is because the rabies virus can kill the rabbit and so it has no chance at all to pass it on to another being. Here’s an article I read from EHOW…

Rabies is a virus that affects the central nervous system in mammals. There is no documented case of a rabbit giving rabies to a person in the United States. Bites from rabbits rarely require treatment, according to the Center for Disease Control. However, even though it is rare, rabbits can get rabies. Rabies causes swelling of the brain and death. Death usually occurs only a few days after symptoms appear. (Rabbits & Rabies eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_6022147_rabbits-rabies.html#ixzz267A8tR9v)

So I guess I felt more or less assured that I would not need anti-rabies shots (whew! Thank God!) I just need to keep the wound clean so it won’t get infected. Meanwhile, here are some more pics of Whitey and her cute bunnies at more than two weeks.

FAS outing @ Bataan

For this year, the hubby’s unit decided to visit the beach resort in Bataan that our unit went to last year. This was OK since we liked that beach in Bataan and the kids especially liked spending time at the cave where they could go cliff diving. The group made an early start at 4:30 am since they wanted to head to the cove at once (unlike our group last year that went to the cove the next day, early morning). We arrived at Balanga market by 6:30am and they bought some more seafood supplies before we finally reached the Bagac Bay resort at around 8. We waited a bit for the others, unpacked our belongings and just brought the food supplies for our lunch at the cove.

We boarded about 5 bancas and reached the cove by 9. But it was a different one that the boatmen brought us to and when I asked one of the boatmen, he says the island/cove that I was referring to had been sold already to a foreigner and they’re currently developing and would soon command a steep price for entrance fees. But as it turns out the freaking guy was lying – it seems they have a cut for each visitor they bring to the island and seeing that there were so many of us he brought us here to this place which is not as pretty as the one we went to the last time the CMS was here.

We realized too late because later on in the afternoon our boatman took us there –before we went back to the resort…too bad! There were some biting insects in the water of the cove that they brought us to, oh I just hate those boatmen! How dare they decide what was best for us! They should have brought us to the other one since even if the price there was higher, the beach was prettier! Well, the kids still enjoyed swimming even for awhile. The oldies just ate the delicious lunch that was prepared, they also liked the ensaladang gulay that Ditse made.

After eating, the group left to swim in the cove. This is where they had so much fun because the water was cool and there was less sun so those not wanting to have burnt skin took a dip there. But of course, the boys especially liked the cliff-diving thing where they jump from the top of a huge rock into the deep ocean below. Well, I have always been afraid of heights and though I know a bit how to swim, I can’t venture into deep waters without donning a life vest. But still watching them leap over gives me the creeps and more so when it was my son who took the plunge. He was a bit hesitant about it and dilly-dallied for quite a time on top of the rock that his father had to go up and threaten to push him over before he found the courage to jump by himself. I too breathed a sigh of relief watching him surface the deep water not because I was afraid he may not know how to swim but because compared to the others who were jumping –who were all lithe-bodied - he was a bit on the heavy side and so I was fearful that his weight may make him plunge deeper into the rocks but thank God that he didn’t. I do not know how deep the water actually is but it may have been deep enough to keep all those jumpers happy.

After awhile, we left the cove and returned to the resort to bathe, get dressed and retreat to the cool confines of our bedrooms to rest the afternoon off. We got down from the bedroom a bit later to help out in dinner preparations. Then, of course, the boys started their fave pastime the minute we returned to the resort - drinking and singing their hearts out. The girls, meantime, engaged in chikahan and more swimming on the shores near our rented boathouse. The kids even went night swimming. I guess they just couldn’t get enough of the water huh?

Then, after dinner there were games for the kids which Helen and Yeng facilitated. I didn’t watch anymore and instead just stayed upstairs in the room, alternately sleeping and reading on my tab. My kids participated in the games a bit then after awhile, they went up to get some sleep.

The next day, we went to Mt. Samat cross to get a nice and high view of the province of Bataan. Well, we had been there before during the kids’ fieldtrip but it was just ten or twenty pesos and kinda fun going up there again. After everyone was able to go up and visit the cross, we left Bataan and had our lunch/picnic at Clark playground before doing some duty-free shopping and then heading home.

HOLY WEEK AT CANYON WOODS

For this year, Papa decided to bring the family to another place for the Holy Week but as usual, it is still within the vicinity of what I think is his favorite spot in the country primarily because of its weather – Tagaytay. If you had read my previous blog articles, I already shared that the previous house we used to frequent in Tagaytay had been slashed from our list of possible places to go to because the new owners/caretakers became Jehovah’s witnesses or something because they don’t want meat cooked inside the house and we are sincere carnivores so we sure as hell couldn’t live like that! This is just too bad since we so love their house and had so many memories there.

As is our usual practice, we only follow them there on Good Friday and spend the first few days of Holy week at the hubby’s hometown in Pampanga. But what is different this year is that my kids went ahead with them since they were already vacationing with my cousins in Pasig so they just went along for the ride. After all, they’re big kids already and could very well take care of themselves. And so it was on Friday when the hubby and I left by our lonesome to go to Tagaytay, well not really lonesome because we brought along his nephew with us. My other cousin would’ve wanted to ride with us but plans went awry so he decided not to spend Holy week with us. I would learn later on that he had an argument with his mom, well, I knew they’d soon patch things up. You know how we still are like kids sometimes despite our ages, hehehe.

We brought with us some paladusdos that Papa requested but it took us so long to get there because there was just so much traffic inside Tagaytay unlike in the Manila roads we just passed that practically had zero traffic! Thus, we almost didn’t make it to snack time and the paladusdos almost got spoiled. We refrigerated it quickly when we arrived and the others ate at once so what was spoiled were the leftovers. We made so much and they all liked it and would have wanted some second or third helpings after dinner but by then it had already spoiled and so they threw it away.

The place at Canyon woods is quite pretty. It had many trees and very nice but large houses that are spaced very well and so it ensures some privacy between neighbors. The house Papa rented had about eight bedrooms - the master’s bedroom on the 2nd floor, where Papa initially wanted us to stay; two small guestrooms in the first floor, each with its own bathroom - one for Mama H and her alalay and the other room for the boys. Then, upstairs, aside from the master’s bedroom there were three more rooms, one for Auntie C and family, one for half-sister R and family and the last, which should have been ours, became the girls bedroom since they had sequestered it for the past two nights that we were not yet there. And so, we squeezed into the boys bedroom downstairs with my son getting kicked out to stay downstairs in the den/basement with his cousin A. The basement has in fact two more small rooms – one for cousin D, with daughter Kyla and the other for the driver. Here are some pics which I took around the house.

The next day is our usual swim or pasyal day but since this is Tagaytay and there is a dearth of places we haven’t been to, we decided to just go for a swim. Initially, we wanted to go hit the beaches either at Nasugbu or Calatagan since both places are just near – less than an hour of travel lang. But Tita’s friends (who own a house in Canyon Woods) arrived and they agreed to sponsor us in the clubhouse pool – there was an indoor and an outdoor pool but since both are far away from each other (and I believe had separate prices too!) they made us choose only one place to go to. Majority chose the indoor pool – because it would protect them from the sun. My only problem is that both places required wearing a bathing suit and so I decided not to swim and just watched over them while they swam, and of course, took pictures.

We spent most of the time just chatting with the cuzins, catching up on chizmis and the recent happenings with the other members of the clan. As usual, just too bad for those who weren’t present but most of the time, you are the topic of discussion so next time better attend, hehehe! There was also DVD watching in the den/basement downstairs but I didn’t like the movie choices very much so we just contented ourselves with simply eating, sleeping, chatting (in the garden, usually while the boys++ smoked) and more eating…

But, of course, the highlight of the Holy Week is, as always the EASTER EGG HUNT! It started right after breakfast on Sunday but, secretly, the kids have been eyeing/searching the grounds the moment they woke up because they knew that Edgar hid the eggs at dawn (or so that was the plan). The hunt itself started at around 10, after the entire family had their breakfast. The small ones began the hunt with a leeway of about three minutes, then after that even the older kids stepped in to join hunting for eggs. For this year, it was D’s daughter who emerged as the big winner. My daughter did OK (with a little help from his ninong, of course!) but my son wasn’t satisfied with his dismal find. Well, it was a bit difficult because the grounds covered were quite big and included the carpark and front lawn not just the garden at the side of the house. In fact, two of the 24 eggs weren’t found anymore which was just too bad! Well, at least it was still another fun-filled weekend that everyone enjoyed at least as far as I can tell. I am sure all the kids are looking forward to another fun Holy Week celebration next year!

CUTE BUNNIES

Finally, a day at home to rest! It’s quite difficult you know, shuttling from one place to another this Holy Week but it is necessary to pacify everyone – we need to go to BP at least for a few days to satisfy the hubby and then travel to wherever it is the family would decide to spend its Holy Week for mine and the kids’ sake. We spent a fun-filled weekend at Tagaytay this year but it still feels great to be home. Even if there are so many things waiting – like the laundry and the pets' cages needing to be cleaned. These are the things that had to be done, there’s just no way to avoid it lest the house go to such disarray. I can’t just totally clean the rabbit cages though because the bunnies may get wet. By the way, here are pictures of the bunnies - the first pic was taken just three or four days after they were born and they were just starting to grow some hairs. But in the last pic, taken after ten days, they’re getting to be so cute! I just wish we didn’t have to give them all away! But as it is, we don’t have the space and the finances to keep another pet. So I’ll just take their pictures while they’re still here with us.

A NEW PET

When we arrived Sunday night after staying at BP for the weekend, my daughter excitedly came in the house to ask if she could keep the puppy that her neighbor-friends found near the playground. She pleaded and pleaded and since she had been hankering me to buy her a dog (a Shih-tzu pa nga!) for quite a long time already, I decided to just let her keep it. Anyway, it would not entail much on our part because the puppy was lost and seemed an askal and not some fancy breed that would require equally fancy food. I told her, too, to extend more efforts to try to find the owner of the dog before she became too attached and claim it as her own.

I promised her she could have her Shih-tzu when she is already in high school because at her age now (ten years old), I am sure she would not be able to handle all the responsibilities that comes with having a pet – feeding it, giving it water regularly, a bath once a week, then visits to the vet for rabies shots and for some vitamins. The dog seems to be a good pet. It would playfully wag its tail when called – we named it Kobe after the Lakers basketball player and it seems to follow instructions when told to stop in a stern voice. More importantly, it has not started to bite at our things particularly our slippers so I guess he’s quite well-bred. Besides, the puppy seemed to understand our dilemma on allowing our daughter add another animal in our already littered backyard (with the bunnies and birds) so the puppy keeps looking at us with its big brown pitiful eyes, so I guess we have no choice but to welcome the new pup into our home. Here’s a pic of our new puppy in its cage.