World Premiere at Cupcaken - I Lay My Love on You by the Anoba Brothers

The world premiere happened at Cupcaken, February 21, 2012, Tuesday. It's Ken's birthday and they just decided out of nowhere that they somehow want to resurrect their music video days.

So without further ado, the Anoba Brothers singing I Lay My Love on You....



I Lay My Love on You - by ANOBA Brothers from Anoba Studio on Vimeo.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEN!!!


**Original by westlife**

Formally Welcoming A New Member of the Family

Yes, you're thinking quite straightly. But may not be interpreting correctly though. lol!

This is just to follow suit on Tom's facebook announcement that he has just formally turned into a father-to-be. "Formally" because the first 2 tests we did were just over-the-counter testing kits and we wanted a more formal way of being confirmed so we went to Hi-Precision to get tested. I'll upload some more pictures of the kits and Tom's excitement when they become available for upload.

I was a bit worried too because I couldn't feel that I was in the mood for sharing urine samples, but heck, Tom gave me 3 cups of water just so I can go through with it already.

After 2 hours, we went back to the lab and got the results, the releasing person was all smiles with her congratulatory releasing of the paper that said it was POSITIVE. And so started Tom's shouting and smiling while driving along the roads of Cebu City going back to Ken's house. He was going almost ridiculously berserk.

So anyway, to cut it short, I guess today, I'm on my 4th week when the method of computation used is based on the day of conception or the "actual" fetal age of the baby. If you want to try this out, you can get the conception date and other details by using this Due Date Calculator and then inputing that date into this Weekly Pregnancy Calculator to determine how far along you are.

I haven't gone to an OB yet and I haven't bought any pre-natal supplements or vitamins. All I'm taking now is Anmum. I accept donations too. Hahaha! The OB should be Cebu-based and affordable too.

Do you have any recommendations or suggestions?   ;)

Summer April 2010

At last, we had the chance to enjoy the summer heat... Not to the point of having heat stroke, but just enough to get sunburn. Ouch.

Last Friday, hubby and I, together with family, friends and their officemates, went to a beach in the South of Cebu - Tingku, Alcoy to be exact.

We spent the night at the shore with a mattress and some blankets (that's Tom).

The rest of the day was a blur of food, swimming (if that term's even applicable to me..lol!), and fun with friends.

Here are some of the pics from that lovely day of getting away.

new-age male witches....

group of "talented" people...  :)

Tom's attempt on levitation..

at the Baywalk of Naga... after several burgers, mango shake and chicharon...

compliments of Jason...  :)

this one was taken BEFORE we left the beach.. Tom was already snoring even before closing the car door. We went home Saturday afternoon, so that's about 24 hours of R and R...  :)

So.. Have you taken your time off?

:)

Difference Between USA & Philippines

We were feeling filthy rich last night so we bought 1/4 kilo of lechon (roast pig) for dinner. After devouring it, Tom and I decided to take a walk around the village. We always have chats, whether the topics are nonsense or seriously brain boggling.

We passed by a house with their tv facing the window; the show was Agua Bendita. You can laugh at me for saying this, but I do watch Agua Bendita, for the simplest reason that the director really knows what he's doing, Andie as Agua sounds freakishly weird for being too soft-spoken and Pilar Pilapil is such a hateful grandmother it's getting unrealistic.

Anyway, so Tom nonchalantly asks,

~
Tom: "Nie, do you know the difference between the US and Philippines?

Me: [thinking hard as to what he's up to so I can blurt out a comeback even if he hasn't started yet... but to no avail..] "Not really. What is it?"

Tom: "US has two political parties and a lot of channels..."  

[He hasn't even finished yet when I choked on my own laughter because I already knew what was coming. Good thing I wasn't drinking anything or else it'll spurt out of my nostrils!]

Tom: "while the Philippines has two channels and a LOT of political parties!"
~

To explain the humor of it, he was referring to the two major channels your antenna can catch if you don't have cable.

;)

Catch my hubby at his twitter account, but he's a bit inactive right now, but still! @engrmotmot

Numb and Indifferent

"You're acting like you're not my sister."

Have you ever been told something like this by your sibling? I have. Just yesterday - and it feels like nothing.

A few months back I would have shed a lot of tears thinking that I'm actually eating a decent dinner while my brother was stuck in Iligan, amidst the rebels and their guns. A few more months back, I would have been stressed out because he just got held up by armed men and I was in my room, safe and sound. A few months back, I would have pleaded with him, crying with my heart, for him to please stop all his nonsense and start living a better life.

My brother is actually not stupid by definition. In fact, he has quite an intellectual head on his shoulders. He was almost always an achiever in elementary school; we just couldn't figure out why it all changed.

Now it just pains me to think and see how he's wasting everything, all the sacrifices my parents are going through, his time and his life. He actually knows how hard it is to make money, but instead of taking advantage of some skills he managed to scour during high school, like his ability to play really good billiards, or his know-how with computers, networking and the like, plus his keen strategies with online multiplayer games, all from which he makes a decent amount of money, he just takes them lightly, takes all his “earnings” for granted, uses them up for non-sensible things like roaming around the mall doing nothing, or eating his heart out not with real meals but tiny snacks whole day long. He doesn’t care that my parents sometimes goes berserk looking for someone who can lend them any amount just to send it to him because he says “he’s not eating anything anymore” when in fact he just replied to my SMS saying he can’t go to our house to eat or stay for the night because he’s busy with a Dota or counterstrike tournament they joined with his “guild”. He couldn’t care less that mom and dad are actually also just swallowing their pride asking for loans or just drinking instant coffee instead of enjoying meals together, considering they’re no longer supporting me financially, because he told them he already needs food allowance and doesn’t want to eat in their dorm’s cafeteria where he can just list down his consumption because he’s stricken with pride or shame if you allow the term, when in fact he just turned down an invitation from us to just go to the house so he can finish off all the contents of our refrigerator at about midnight (thinking I don’t know what he’s doing) because he’d rather sleep and wait for one of his friends to come over so they can go to the mall and cool themselves with the airconditioning and later go off to another computer tournament thing. He isn't bothered by one bit that my mom almost went crazy trying to look for money to send to him to pay for his tuition fee, while he on the other hand, after learning that the money was already sent, took his sweet time withdrawing and lining up in the school tellers, and later telling my worried mom that he didn't pay his tuition yet because he didn't make it with the priority number and that it's really quite tiring to wait in line.

It pains me that when I was in college, I’d rather bang my head onto the wall for not understanding our lessons and striving to really get my brain working properly and fend off that 2.0 grade for fear of seeing that famous daddy’s facial expression that says “You could’ve done better. Is it really that hard?” While my brother lauds himself for just passing a major subject and dropping PE or Filipino.

It pains me how I was raised to be so responsible I’d pass as a guy. So independent it sometimes annoys my husband so much because it seems as if I really don’t need anyone at all to survive. While he, on the other hand, still asks stupid questions like, “If today’s voyage is already fully-booked, what will I do next?”

It pains me how I put too much value to my parents’ financial woes, emotional and psychological stress because they want to give my brother a decent education, a convenient way of life and even a few pleasures here and there, yet he instead has reversed that order of priority into having a more than convenient life - too much fashion-related purchases, extravagant gifts for a girlfriend I don't really know for sure and surely don't care anymore if he cheats on or not, too much time in internet cafes, too much strolling in the mall with a friend, too much sleeping, and just very few hours with classes, a few projects or maybe even none, a few texts to his sister asking for load because he had a quarrel with his girlfriend and his 100 peso prepaid load has already been zeroed-out, a nonexistent “achiever”-looking list of grades which translates to more dropped and flunked classes than passed, and even showing himself to his sister and his brother-in-law only twice this semester and expecting to get a belated-birthday gift or a “despedida” when he hasn’t even bought a ticket to go home yet, considering he was already sent the money the previous day.

It pains me now that before I even exerted effort on pleading with him to get his life straight, that even up to this day, my parents think that it just goes natural for me to casually ask my brother how he’s doing. It pains me now, that my only brother doesn’t pay any kind of respect to me, even just for the sake of birthright, because it has gotten to him how my grandfather seduces him into thinking they should be very close because he’s going to inherit almost everything, which is absolutely not true at all. It has gotten to him how the phrase “you’re even brighter than all your cousins” sounds so endearing when in fact he has wasted all his abilities with games, lies and living a mediocre life.

It pains me that my parents cannot even exert some form of authority over him or instill fear nor demand respect from him, when I used to cringe on even the thought of dad or mom being even the least bit angry with me about anything at all.

It pains me that my parents beg me to talk sense into my brother thinking he’s actually going to listen, not understanding how, for so many years in the making, I have grown fed up, tired, angry, frustrated, dismayed, and now, indifferent to my very own brother.

As a Christian, it pains me, that I cannot be one to my own blood brother. I just cannot forgive and reach out to an unbelieving brother. Not now. Not tomorrow nor the next month. It pains me that no matter how tempting it is to curse someone, I most certainly cannot do so, for the fear of God and because he still is my brother. But I have stopped being a sister. I have even stopped “acting” like one.

It pained me before. But now I’m numb. Numb and indifferent.



~
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Have Fun this Christmas!

37 more days to go, and it's Christmas. I really don't want to think that I will be breaking a Christmas family tradition by not going home to my parents' house, but Tom and I really have to think about it sooner or later. Hmm, and this includes the finances... eeek!

This going home thing has been a yearly tradition particularly since I went off to other places to study, like Davao City for high school and Cebu City for college - so Christmas was something to look forward to.

For example, I'm always tasked to buy those round fruits - 13 of them if possible - but most of the time I just manage to bring 3 or 4 kinds, but mom doesn't seem to give too much attention to which ones. Personally I prefer bringing grapes since I can get one or two pieces every now and then. hehe.

Aside from the fruits and shirts and whatnots that I bring home, I also look forward to what activities are in store for everyone. Usually the cousins and myself go to Tita Ruby's house and take turns playing games or PSP. Sometimes I just prefer to be the nuisance since I'm the eldest. I love annoying other cousins 'til they cry. So bad, right?

Anyway, there were also times when the whole family stayed up late just talking in groups around one big dinner table, sometimes they take out the videoke thing and all those gifted with non-irking voices sing their hearts out, sometimes we play parlor games, like last Christmas when they even did Maria Went to Town. There were also times when group games like charades, scrabble, chikicha, tong-its and bingo were lined up. But this time... Hmm... Since there's a possibility that I won't be there physically... How about online games?
Online poker or online bingo? Anyone?  :)


~o0o~
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First Online MALL in Cebu City - BILIVERY.COM

UPDATED:

I stand, mean post, corrected by the proponents themselves. BILIVERY.com is not just an online grocery store, it's gonna be a whole MALL. And by the word "mall" they really mean MALL - with music stores, hardware stuff, clothes, gadgets, appliances, pharmacy, bookstore, etc, etc, etc.! Got it?


~

Wondering what's a unique gift to give this Christmas? {Everyone's problem!}
How about, a unique way to give a common gift? Sounds better?

First in Cebu City, a fully online grocery store that will deliver your purchased items right into your doorstep! (Or the doorstep of your family, friends, loved ones, or complete strangers for the Christmas spirit.)

Bilivery.com first and foremost caters to the busy working moms who would conveniently and readily choose to have their groceries delivered than fight with the grueling traffic of day-to-day commute, especially at times when almost all of the working population is on the road.

Using Bilivery.com is so easy - with a site that's very user friendly:

Register for an account to start using the services of bilivery.com, click on the LOGIN link at the upper right hand part of the window/site and this will appear: (click on images to enlarge)

Joomla Turns 1!

Our great Joomla has turned 1 last August 13.. Happy birthday!
Here are a few snap shots of our dinner with him.





He was so busy fiddling with his VTech toy from Kenken and Yanyan. :D


On a side note:
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