Archive for June 2009
Rocio-isms 1
Posted on: June 19, 2009
Ain't we gorgeous?
This post is super overdue. I realized I better start putting all these things down before I forget.
So here are several things my crazy daughter has said since you left. Some are one liners, others are bits of dialogue but I’ll give backgrounders for each so you get the most impact from them.
Tara!
We were literally on our way out the door and Rocio was still fiddling with Lord knows what, packing her bag and all.
Me: Rocio! Come on! Tara?
Rocio: No I’m not tara yet, Mom.
What’s interesting here is that the meaning of tara that she inferred was a good guess. But no Talgalog cigar…
Concert Queen
I walk into the room one night and Rocio’s gaze is transfixed on the TV. She is wide eyed and her mouth is gaping open as she stands just two meters from the TV. A Shakira concert is on.
Me: What is that? Do you even know who that is?
Rocio: I don’t know but she’s my IDOL.
I Can Feel It!
We were in the grocery with my mom and Rocio wanted this bottle of Palmolive shampoo. It was pink, of course.
Rocio: Nana! Can I get this?
Nana: THAT? Ok if you want it but that’s what the yayas use. Yak! Get the other one. (Imported kiddie L’Oreal shampoo).
Rocio: Ok – never mind. (Puts in back on the shelf).
A few days later I witness this at the dinner table…
Rocio: So Yaya Inday, is it true you like to use Palmolive only for your shampoo?
Unsolicited Advice
As you know Rocio had no affection whatsoever for her substitute yaya over the summer. And she missed the faces she’s more used to seeing – like Yaya Inday who takes care of Mikel. I didn’t hear this first hand. My dad was the one who told me. This also happened at the dinner table.
Rocio: Yaya Inday, you want some advice? Don’t be like Yaya Gretchen. Focus on YOUR JOB.
Yeah, you tell ‘em, baby girl!
Watcha Think?
Posted on: June 18, 2009
I was having a few issues with the last template, hence I took the liberty of shopping around for a new one. So Watcha think? While I agree that the last one did reflect our effervescent personalities, I found it quite cluttered. And as you know, clutter sooo does not reflect MY personality (yes, I feel the need to be bida). So I hope you like this one. It’s a little more streamlined and uses bright blue and bright pink colors as a central theme. After all, aren’t we Kiki and Lala?
I Like: Streamline Luggage
Posted on: June 18, 2009
I’ve been dreaming about my next vacacion grande. Since my bank account decided to hop on the recession band wagon, my dream vacation will remain unrealized for a while. But that shouldn’t stop me from planning where to go and what to bring on this impossible dream of a trip. Aah! Now we’re talking. As I was surfing aimlessly on the web, look-ey what I found.
Suitcases by Streamline Luggage
Aren’t they so cute? Don’t you love how vintage it is? I feel like I have to go on a Safari in Africa with Isak Dinesen using this luggage! Streamline Luggage comes in different designs and collections. Check them out!
This is the Aviator Series. This particular design reminds me of my dad’s briefcases. Yes, the ones we are still trying to open!
Still the Aviator Series…
What do you think of the Editor Series, my favorite? I love the colorful leather straps.
And then you have the Producer Series…
…The Ambassador Series…
…And the Explorer Series made of some kind of weave. It’s pretty but by eyeballing it, I have my doubts about its durability. Of course I could be wrong…
So tell me, which series did you like? And more importantly, would you care to join me on my next trip to…”Oh The Places You’ll Go!”
The Good Guide
Posted on: June 16, 2009
In this age of information, it was just a matter of time that someone would come up with this awesome idea.
The Good Guide examines consumer products in the market and rates them according to safety, health and green standards. Curious to know what chemicals are used in your baby’s sunblock? The Good Guide will tell you. They can even tell you where your favorite Nike sneakers were made and whether they were made in some labor-code-violating sweat shop in Southeast Asia.
So why don’t we give it a try. I’m not sure what your Little Twinbrats use as sunblock but let’s just say that they use Coppertone Kids Sunblock SPF 30.
The Good Guide gives it an overall rating of 6.7. It examines the health performance of the product and looks at how this product impacts the health of your kids. Does it have carcinogens? Is it detrimental to reproductive or developmental health? It also tells you if any of the active ingredients are “ingredients of concern” and why. In this case, the ingredient of concern is Amorphous Silica and Tiethanolamine (say wuuhhh?) It even looks at how the environment was affected when producing this product as well as how the company’s working conditions are when producing this sunblock.
It’s a nifty little tool which you can use before using any of those supermarket products on you and your kids. So check it out at www.goodguide.com!
SURPRISE!
Posted on: June 13, 2009
I thought our background theme needed to be brighter and fresher – to reflect our effervescent personalities 
Do you like it? If not, we can always change it. Just speak your mind – like you needed to be told.
PS 22
Posted on: June 12, 2009
Meet the choir of PS 22, a public school located in Staten Island, NY. They are a bunch of fifth graders who have found their passion and some kind of fulfilment in singing.
Photo credit: ps22chorus.blogspot.com
Gregg Breinberg, their music teacher and the man who started it all, acts somewhat like the pied piper leading his kids away from drugs and gangs and channeling their energies in artisitc expression.
Photo credit: ps22chorus.blogspot.com
Many of these fifth graders are healing childhood wounds that, unfortunately, come from the difficult environments they grew up in. So many of them have found singing as effective therapy and a fun way to simply express. And look who they’ve met along the way!
Crowded House
Photo credit: brooklynrail.org
Tori Amos
Photo credit: brooklynrail.org
They managed to move Tori Amos to tears. Check out the video.
Last I heard, the kids from PS22 will be performing with Fleetwood Mac in Madison Square Garden this summer! How awesome is that? So let me leave you with the kids and their version of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide.
Pink Or Blue
Posted on: June 12, 2009
As if the baby business isn’t already full or crap we don’t really need, someone comes up with this…
The Intelligender is a pee test that tells you the gender of your fetus much earlier than an ultrasound. You can take the Intelligender test (I find the name so corny…) as early as 6 weeks from the first day of your missed period! Ultrasounds can predict gender with accuracy only from about 18 weeks on.
This is not a stick test like an EPT. You pee into a cup and then transfer that into a test cup and set down the cup on a flat, even surface for 10 minutes.
If you get the contents of the cup to look like this:
You’re having a girl.
And if you get this color instead:
You can expect a bouncing boy.
Manufacturers claim the test has a 90% accuracy rate in the lab and 82% in real world studies. If you’re taking hormones or have PCOS or don’t use your first morning pee or are having fraternal multiples, the accuracy decreases.
And website does say, the product is meant as a fun, pre-birth experience for the parents and in no way takes the place of professional ante-natal care. Nor should any emotional, financial or family planning be based on the test results.
So for impatient parents-to-be, this is a gift from the geniuses of science… and crafty, money-making marketers. I mean seriously, how hard is it to wait? But then again, if I do go for a third, I just might be willing to fork out the $35 to pay for this sucker. Would you?
The Philanthropist
Posted on: June 12, 2009
There’s a new show coming soon and I’m hoping it will be good enough for me to get hooked. The Philanthropist is about this billionaire who, while on a business trip in Africa, has a life-altering experience that leads him to make adjustments in his life. Yeah yeah I know, it sounds like a Brangelina in Zimbabwe or a Madonna in Malawi kind of story. But as you already know, I’m a sucker for things like these. So back to the show – the BIDA is this guy called Teddy Rist who I imagine to be a cross between Richard Branson and George Clooney. After his experience in Africa he becomes a Philanthropist/Vigilante by helping people on the one hand, and atoning for his “sinful” past on the other. The show was shot in South Africa, Prague and Mozambique and stars that actor from Rome, James Purefoy (Mark Antony). Check out the short preview below.
So I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I’m hoping I’ll like this show. I haven’t gotten excited over a show since Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Trust Me , which both eventually got cancelled. My batting average sucks!
I Believe I Can Fly
Posted on: June 9, 2009
Look what I came across when I googled “things to do in Manila”.
It’s called kite land boarding or power kiting. Basically, it’s like what they do in Bora when they’re on something that looks like a wakeboard and they’re hanging onto a kite but as the name implies, what I’m referring to is over land. The land by Mall of Asia specifically.
Watch this video to get a better idea – just mute it because the scoring is horrific. In fact, it’s enough to turn you off from trying the sport. (What kind of eewwy people listen to this crap?? Seriously??)
They teach on weekends from 4-6pm. P500 per lesson. I wonder if it’s worth it. And hello if ever I try it I wanna bring my own helmet!!
Mitsuwa Marketplace
Posted on: June 9, 2009
This is where I go if I want to get everything Japanese. Mitsuwa Marketplace is a shopping complex with a grocery, a food court, japanese specialty shops, a japanese bookstore and japanese restaurants to name a few. I go there primarily for the food court and the japanese grocery. The first thing that you will notice is how clean the place is! The food court is – for lack or a better word – shiny!
Melty Kiss!
Spicy cod roe spaghetti topped with seaweed
