365: Lunch at Panera

Walking With Dinosaurs

Today we watched Walking With Dinosaurs - The Live Experience at the Metro Center. The show is a $15M production that tells about the Earth in its prehistoric days and features life-sized dinosaurs. Pretty amazing, definitely very entertaining! Almost didn’t come since I still wasn’t feeling well - but very glad I did.

Here is a glimpse of the show:

365: Rock Star

365: House For Sale

Birthday Greetings

It’s my cousin ML’s birthday today! Have a great day!

Other March celebrants I want to make a shout out to:
01 - Pam Gozum
06 - Manay Llana and Mitch Beltran
07 - Soy Lao
15 - Ping Mendoza
29 - Ivy Casino

Hope you all had/have a happy birthday!

Spring is Here

Yesterday, daylight savings time began. This is very helpful news for my mom who seems to be always confused about time differences. More importantly, it marks the beginning of spring! Whooppeee! I don’t have pics to prove it since it actually snowed yesterday and today - but it’s official, spring is here!

365: Sombrero

Powerful Words

“What I focus on in life is what I get. And if I concentrate on how bad I am or how wrong I am or how inadequate I am, if I concentrate on what I can’t do and how there’s not enough time in which to do it, isn’t that what I get every time? And when I think about how powerful I am, and when I think about what I have left to contribute, and when I think about the difference I can make on this planet, then that’s what I get. You see, I recognize that it’s not what happens to you; it’s what you do about it.”

W. Mitchell
Inspirational Author and Speaker

365: Sick Day

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Here’s Rinoa singing Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” while Mica plays it on Guitar Hero. (Taken January 2008.)

February Adventure

Last month was so much fun. I was able to attend my cousin Jan’s wedding in San Diego, show my cousin DJ around Chicago, and visit my brother Jay and his wife Ivy in New York. All in a few weeks.

You can view a slideshow of my adventure, including Mommy’s and Tita Maricor’s stay in California, here.

Jannelle’s Wedding

1. I went by myself - which was a hard thing to do, to leave Troy and the girls behind - but I had a great time. I felt like a kid again, just hanging out with the cousins. Of course, now, they’re all taller than me!

2. I specifically told Troy not to feed the girls pizza, and what does he do? Serve them pizza the first night I was gone!

3. Met my sister’s GPS and named her George. Jorga, for short. ??? Haha!

4. Carrie showed us her school. Worst tour guide ever. Hehe!

5. Ate In-N-Out burger for lunch before going to the wedding. I know Troy is going to be so jealous.

6. Checked out some shops in downtown Coronado looking for a snow globe for Mica. Didn’t find one.

7. My flight home got cancelled because of bad Chicago weather - bummer. Fortunately, I was able to get a business-class ticket for the same flight as my cousin DJ is taking. And then learned that South West airline seats are all coach. Boy, do I feel special! Haha!

DJ in Chicago

1. Drove DJ around Chicago. Just ran a red light twice, stopped on a green light once, and drove through potholes a few times - all unintentionally.

2. Walked along Michigan Avenue in freezing 11F weather, and that’s not considering the wind chill! DJ actually took the cold weather pretty well. All that’s missing in his winter outfit were gloves, so we went shopping for one that day only to find out that all the stores were out of good, affordable gloves.

3. DJ almost saw the Wrigley Field and Soldier Field stadiums. Almost.

4. Had a blast watching kids try to walk on the icy sidewalk in Mica’s school. They just kept slipping and falling. One kid got tired of trying and just jumped on a snow pile, face down, just to escape the icy sidewalk. Felt bad for laughing so hard - but it was really soooo funny.

5. Mica and Rinoa showed DJ how to have fun in our backyard during winter - aka, they went sledding and snow tubing.

6. Made DJ taste Chicago pizza.

Visiting New York

1. Flew to Long Island with Troy, DJ, and the girls. Met Mommy and Jona at Jay and Ivy’s apartment.

2. Received a $1000 Armani Exchange gift card and so decided to shop at their Fifth Avenue location. Bought something for everybody, except for DJ who can’t decide what to get. Witnessed two sales ladies argue over me. Received two free water bottles and two free shirts because it.

3. Watched Little Mermaid in Broadway. Couldn’t stop singing “Under The Sea” after, haha! The line at the restroom was so long after the show that Rinoa didn’t make it in time. Had to stop by Toys R Us to buy new pants for her to change to.

4. Had to take a group picture in the middle of Times Square since Jay insisted in bringing his tripod. Was alert to grab the camera right away before someone snatches it - haha!

5. Ate dinner at Dallas BBQ. Huge place, and even after midnight, it was still packed. Then stopped by Roxy’s to buy cheesecake. $70 for a whole cake. Jay said we had to try it.

6. Ate brunch at Mesa Grill. Saw Kevin Pollak there. Of course, at that time, no one could remember his name - had to google it now as I write. Had grilled mahi-mahi with roasted pineapple-cascabel chile sauce and caramelized pineapple green onion salsa.

7. Walked, walked, and walked some more. Unless we’re underground waiting for a subway train.

8. Ate at probably the BEST Chinese buffet ever! Thanks Mommy!

Like I said, so much fun. There were so many more highlights in all my trips but then I won’t be able to finish writing if I list them all.

Thanks to Jay and Ivy for a wonderful time in New York. Until next time for both the East and West Coasts! =)

365: Just Me

365: Sweeping Time

Ice Hogs Game

Troy, Jona, Mica, and Rinoa went to see the Ice Hogs play today at the Metro Center. Mica and Rinoa were both excited to meet Emily Osment who came to the game to sign autographs. She plays Lily in Hannah Montana.

Jay and Ivy’s Wedding

First off, Happy New Year to everybody! I’ve decided to give my blog a fresh start complete with a new look. I don’t know why but I just love organizing and re-organizing. Don’t worry, all previously posted pics and videos will be back.

So December 2007, the whole family went to the Philippines for my brother’s wedding which took place in Cebu, his wife’s hometown. Since weddings are also about the merging of two families, it became a two-day event for me. The day before the wedding, we got to meet and spend time with Ivy’s wonderful family, including Ivy’s aunt’s diaper-wearing dogs who Rinoa adored. This get-together, I thought, was a nice and important precursor to the Big Day.

You can view a slideshow of the event here. Most of the photos are from their official photographer.

Day One: December 28, 2007

We arrived in Mactan Cebu late in the morning - Nanny, Tito Danny, Tita Mely, Ninang Elsie, Jona, DJ, Troy, Mica, Rinoa, and I. We checked in at the Hilton Hotel, although we had to wait for an hour in the lobby while housekeeping cleaned our suite. After we got settled, Ivy’s brother brought us to Shangri-La Mactan where we were going to meet Ivy’s family for lunch. Mica had been sick for a day or two already so she decided to stay at the Hilton with Jona keeping her company.

I didn’t have a clue where we were going to eat for lunch but I knew I was hungry. After meeting Ivy’s family for the first time, everybody that was there started walking towards the dock, and I just followed. We went in this boat, big enough to accommodate 30 people. We started crossing the water, and after a 20 minute ride, we arrived at this shack in stilts. We enter the shack, and whoa! A smorgasbord of seafood! I’m sure everybody just drooled, I know I did.

After we got ourselves so stuffed up with such fabulous food, we returned to Shangri-La where we broke out in groups. Some went to dance practice, in preparation for the wedding, some went back to their hotel rooms to take a nap. I went with Rinoa to Tita Paz’s house so that Rinoa can play with a dozen diaper-wearing dogs.

Just a few hours before dinner, Tita Liza showed Jona, DJ, Francis (one of Jay’s closest friends), and I around Lapu-Lapu City. We visited the monument of Lapu-Lapu, the Filipino who defeated Magellan in 1521. The monument stands at the center of a park where I bought Rinoa a small handcrafted guitar. Then we checked out Plantation Bay, an 11-hectare resort with a lovely artificial lagoon in the middle of the site.

That evening, families and friends got together again for dinner at the Abaca Resort, owned by Australian Chef Jason Hyatt. Immersed in romantic lighting and tranquil seascape, we had a Mediterranean-inspired feast that included wood-oven roasted pizzas and a variety of tapas.

Whew! What a wonderful day! Lunch, dinner, and transportation were courtesy of Ivy’s aunt, Tita Paz. Thanks so much!

Day Two: December 29, 2007

The big day! Mica still had a fever but she agreed to get dressed up. I went downtown with Troy that morning to get my nails done and buy some lunch for all of us staying at the Hilton. Got a full manicure and pedicure for just $4. Can’t beat that baby! Hehe!

An hour before the wedding, we headed back to Shangri-La. The ceremony took place at Shangri-La Mactan’s Ocean Pavilion. Such a lovely place, with the altar overlooking the ocean. I got to see the sun set as we all witnessed Jay and Ivy’s renewal of vows. Mica wasn’t able to march but she did gain an appetite and ate Jollibee chicken during the ceremony.

After the ceremony, we proceeded to Shangri-La Mactan’s Ballroom for the reception. Again, great food! The dinner was a buffet although the entourage got sitdown service. Jay and Ivy did a dance rendition of “The Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing. Pretty cool!