Wedding Kwento Part V - last na!

After the mass, we had konting pictorial at the church. The guests proceeded to Balay Kalinaw but we, together with the entourage, proceeded to UP lagoon where we had pictorials. nakakainis lang kasi nakulangan kami ng oras (again because of the late wedding before ours! grrr!) so even though Bernard and i wanted to have pictorial at a near gasoline station (o diba cute yun, pictorial sa gas station, kunyari gas attendant kami... ito talaga nanghihinayang ako), we needed to go to Balay Kalinaw. i didn’t want the program to start without us at pag nagutom naman yung guests ko, i’ll never hear the end of it from my mom.

so off we went to Balay Kalinaw. sayang lang kasi may araw pa so hindi pa kita yung luminaries although sobra akong natuwa sa balay kandila kasi they lined up balay kalinaw’s driveway(?) with luminaries.

when we got there (which was like in 4 minutes sa sobrang lapit nun), my MUA kat was waiting for me for the retouch. kakatuwa talaga pag friend mo ang supplier kasi sobrang support.

the coords had the ento line up and we could hear the program start inside the hall. isa-isa nang tinatawag yung ento. nakakatuwa kasi habang nasa labas sila ng hall, nagkakagulo yung mga ento, nagtatawanan, nagkukulitan, pero pagtawag sa kanila ng emcee, papasok sila ng super poised na akala mo napaka-behaved talaga! hahaha!

it was finally our turn. the emcees, katkat and eric, asked the audience to stand up to welcome us. they asked the people who were sitting “in front” to blow bubbles from my P2.00 bubble giveaways... instead of renting a bubble machine, i bought 80 pieces of bubbles [yung laruan ng bata] from divi and had it distributed to the guests para may participation sila... actually nagkukuripot lang ako eh! hahaha!

anyway, when we entered, i could see my friends blowing bubbles. nakakatuwa kasi ang ganda ng effect. pagkapasok namin diretso first dance. when i met you by the apo hiking society yung song. and although i don’t dance, i enjoyed that dance.

the reception went smoothly. pag nagkwento pa ako dito, mauulit lang uli yung supplier ratings kaya wag na lang. :)

highlights:

1. we had raffles of the guest sheets. the winners were given roses (hehe! confession... since roses lang ang pwede naming prize, we rigged the raffle na girls ang winners) ang cute ng guest sheets namin! ay! ang yabang! hahaha! DIY kasi! haha! we had 4 x 6 guestcards and we had one for each guest/couple. we asked them for their advices, their suggested names for our kids (the most suggested name was Bernice... BERNard and clarICE... galing no? nakakatuwa! ang daming nag-suggest nito at ang mga nag-suggest ay hindi magkakakilala or magkakalapit man lang). we also provided each table with crayons and we asked the guests to draw us.

we went through the guest cards na, sobrang nakakatawa yung mga sagot ng mga bisita! we had the usual advices like ‘love one another,’ ‘be patient,’ etc. but we also had funny ones like ‘babae, wag batuhin ang asawa’ and ‘lalake, matutong umilag pag binato ng asawa.’ hehehe!

2. nasunog nga yung reception program at guest sheets sa isang table. i didn’t see it pero sabi nila lumaki pala talaga yung apoy. kakatawa pa kasi my friend was so busy eating that she didn’t see the fire in front of her. it was another friend from another table who yelled “fire!” (kung ako yun, sasabihin ko lang “SUNOG!!!” hahaha!) when brian yelled “fire!”, ria, the first friend, had the presence of mind to pick up the papers and place it on the floor (which, thankfully, was of vigan tiles kaya hindi masusunog). ang siste, nung aapakan niya na to put out the fire, she realized she was wearing sandals so she asked brian (who was a complete stranger to her) to put out the fire. it must have been so hilarious! tawa ng tawa yung mga kaibigan ko.

3. sobrang palpak nung projector!!!! see supplier ratings!

4. maraming guests na umalis after the pictorial. nung una ang sama ng loob ko. in the end, i realized na okay lang kasi, personally, the friends and family whom i really wanted to be there stayed anyway so when we got to the traditions, konti na lang ang guests and not because nagsa-sour grapes ako, but if i had my way, sila lang rin yung iimbitahin ko anyway.

5. my emcees were such hits! ang galing nilang magpatawa! sobrang spontaneous!

6. ang ganda talaga ng setup ng balay! :)

7. i enjoyed the bouquet and garter toss games. yung sa bouquet toss, i tossed single roses. the emcee told the girls that whoever does not get a rose will be the lucky one. syempre nagkagulo sila, promise! okay talaga kasi game yung friends ko! as in walang kelangan pilitin. syempre, as you probably already guessed, lahat sila may makukuhang roses but one has a stem shorter than most kaya it was nice that the girls had to put the roses together to compare pa the length of the stems.

yung sa garter toss naman, katkat had the guys line up. 1 minute ata yung alloted na time. she asked the guys trivias about us like “ano ang tawagan nila bernard and clarice? a. love b. honey, c. mahal” it was fun kasi kita kung sino yung nakakakilala sa amin at kung sino yung magaling sa tsamba! haha! at the end of one minute, the one who had the most wrong answers was the lucky bachelor.

the reception finished around 8:30. mr. ching was waiting for us (gawa na yung kotse niya) so we couldn’t stay anymore.

it was a really nice wedding, if i may say so. we had our families and our closest friends with us as we committed our lives to one another. my wedding day made me appreciate my family and my friends. ang galing talaga.

Madness in Music - Tag Along

I've been tagged by Lyra.

Random 10:

1. You're My You
2. Power of Two
3. Cruisin'
4. Seasons of Love
5. Sun and Moon
6. Neighborhood (Ally McBeal)
7. I'll Be There For You
8. Your Body is a Wonderland
9. Fast Car
10. 32 Flavors

1. What is the total amount of music files on your computer?
around 200 ata. kay jojie na laptop ito eh at siya talaga yung mahilig sa music eh

2. The last CD you bought is: Paolo Santos Live

3. What is the last song you listened to before this message: Cleveland (themesong ng Drew Carey Show... hahaha! halatang couch potato!)

4. Write down five songs you listen to a lot or mean a lot to you:

1. The Prayer by Josh Groban
2. Ikaw Lamang
3. Wonderful World
4. When I Met You by Apo Hiking Society
5. At Your Side by The Corrs

5. Who are you gonna pass this stick to? (3 persons and why)

Abie - galing kumanta ni abie!
Len - i love your CDs, len. i play them all the time.
Laine - miss you, sis!

:)

scramble!!!!

there is a public elementary school near our place, and of course, street foods abound during the kids' dismissal time. there's mangga't bagoong, singkamas at bagoong, fishball, sago't gulaman, and, of course, there's scramble. you still remember what scramble is? it's that frothy shaved ice concotion, usually colored pink or green, with this really creamy powdered milk on top. yum!

everytime jojie and i pass by the school during the kids' dismissal time, i ask him if i can buy food there, specifically, mangga't bagoong. of course he always says no (can't blame him). since i'm also wary of street bagoong, i abandoned the idea. i think he was relieved when i stopped pestering him about it. after all, i also pester him to go to UP every once in a while to eat fishball and isaw and mangga't bagoong. since he does bring me to UP to eat, i guess he thought i abandoned the idea of tasting the food in the nearby public school. what jojie doesn't know, though, is that i'm only waiting for the perfect time (read: he's not with me) so i can buy... not the mangga nor the fishball but the scramble!!! and today, when i passed by the school, on my way to my parents' house, i was able to buy!!! yey!!! i was driving and since i was also in a hurry, i just stopped the car, rolled down the window, and ordered "drive-through" scramble. ang sarap!!!

it just breaks my heart

i was in the dirty chicken / laundry area last night, cooking pininyahang manok (see previous post) when i saw this boy of about 11 years old carrying the bag of our high school student neighbor. you see, we live in the third floor and i can see what's happening in the streets at the back of our building. every morning while cooking breakfast, i see these three sisters wait for their school service. it was only yesterday that i saw their service bring them home from school. in the morning, the school service driver drives up to the front of these girls' house to pick them. in the afternoons, however (or at least that's what they did yesterday), the service dropped the girls a good 15 meters away from their gate. i saw the girls walking towards their home and i noticed that one of their bags was being carried by an 11 year old boy (based on my estimate). the bag was definitely heavy and he was having a hard time carrying it. what is more, he was limping. when he reached the gate, he brought the bag down, agve it to one of the girls, and run-limped towards the service. it just broke my heart to see a boy so young having to work for a living when he should be in school. he was "serving" fellow children, for goodness' sake! i remember having our own "kuya" in our school buses before but they were aged 18 at least (still young to work but at least not a child anymore). i was so disturbed that i left what i was cooking, went inside, and cried. jojie didn't know what to do. he admitted afterwards that when i cry because of the plight of streetchildren and children who need to work for a living, he just doesn't know what to do.

i just think that life is so unfair. how come some people just throw away their money while some have to work at a very young age to survive? how can God allow this? why do i allow this?

i really need to finish my thesis as soon as possible. an MA degree will enable me to conduct free counseling services to streetchildren through NGO's. i know i can do this now but the degree will give me more credence. pray for me.

recipe site and pininyahang manok

i discovered this really wonderful website which contains lots and lots of recipes! it's called The Radical Chef: A Filipino Mom's Food, Cooking, and Recipes Journal. the website is maintained by connie veneracion, the recipes there are very simple and yet look so appetizing. so last night, while deciding what to cook for dinner (i wasn't able to make a menu for this week), i decided to browse this website. since i already started thawing chicken, i just clicked on the link to "poultry" and scanned the recipes for a relatively easy-to-cook one. i decided on Pininyahang Manok not because i like it (in fact, i've never cooked it before) but because we have canned pineapple tidbits we got for free as part of the christmas package included with the fridge we bought early this month.

this is the original recipe from the website. i will put in parentheses my comments and the little changes I made.

ingredients:

1 kilo stewing chicken ("stewing chicken", according to the radical chef, is the native chicken. mas masarap nga naman kasi talaga ang native chicken, mas malasa kasi. but since i only have magnolia chicken, syempre pwede na rin yun. also, since i was just cooking for the two of us, i cooked like 1/3 of a kilo lang. tip: when you come home from the palengke or the grocery, store the meat in the freezer na good for one meal per pack. that way, when you need to thaw, isang pack lang ang ilalabas and that's good for just one meal. also, i have learned that a good size chicken can be cut into at least 12 pieces so i get to divide one whole chicken into three meals [4 to 5 cuts per meal].)

1 whole garlic, peeled and crushed (of course, for this and teh rest of the ingredients, i used just a third of what the recipe calls for)
2 white onions, halved and sliced thinly
2 tomatoes, chopped coarsly

500 g. of fresh pineapple chunks, canned may be used but should be unsweetened (i was already simmering the chicken when i realized that the canned pineapple tidbits that we had was in heavy syrup. rather than go down [we live in the third floor] and look for unsweetened canned pineapple, i used what was available. it turned out to be good kasi tamang-tama yung tamis)

1 tbsp cooking oil
water
salt and pepper



procedure:

heat the cooking oil in a casserole. when smoking, put in the chicken until the outside starts to brown (i used slow to medium fire and really waited until the juices and fats of the chicken oozed out). add the garlic and the onions and cook until limp (by now, ang dami nang mantika nung manok). add the tomatoes and continue cooking until they start to liquefy (i was kinda in a hurry by this time but since i know cooking needs patience, i had to tell myself to wait until the madurog talaga yung tomatoes para maging malasa talaga). pour enough water to cover and bring to a boil (i put in the salt and pepper before pouring the water). cover and simmer for one hour. the liquid would be reduced to half by such time (since jojie arrived by this time and he was sort of hungry na, i just simmered the chicken for 20 minutes then put it in medium to high fire. in no time, the liquid was indeed reduced to half [remember though that i was only cooking a third of the recipe]). add the pineapple chunks. add the juice if using canned (by this time, i have realized that i only have sweetened pineapple. at first i just put in half of the juice coz i was afraid the syrup would ruin the dish. but i poured everything after a few minutes when i realized that i wanted the sweetness to come out). cover and simmer for another hour (again, i just simmered for 10 minutes and put it in high fire for another 10).

the result was delicious. jojie liked it so much! happy cooking!

dinners and a recipe

we marked our first month of marriage with a three-day long celebration. last sunday, the 16th, jojie and i went to TGIFriday's to eat. we haven't eaten in Friday's for a looong time, ever since we decided to save and that was like three years ago! ang tagal na talaga! nagbago na nga ang menu nila! hahaha!

we had fried button mushrooms (yummy!), grilled chicken salad (sobrang sarap), and steak (ata... can't remember pero it was yummy din although naubusan na sila ng corn which i sobrang love). i love their food talaga but after seeing our bill, though, i resolved never to make aya jojie there again :)

last monday, dec 17, was our pre-anniversary. "pre-anniversary" coz 17 marks our monthly anniversary (yeah, i know mali yan. :)) as mag-boyfriend while 18 marks our wedding anniversary. i cooked sinigang for dinner and syempre nasarapan ang asawa ko. super duper favorite food niya in the whole world ang sinigang. even if i feed him sinigang everyday, he wouln't mind. that's how much he loves it.

since we already had our Friday's celeb and our sinigang dinner, jojie thought that we wouldn't celebrate 18 anymore when, in fact, i had planned for a more-special-than-usual dinner for a week. my plan was to go to the supermarket early tuesday morning to get all the ingredients i need and prepare a candlelit dinner. but my plans were foiled when we woke up at 5:30 and jojie announced that he wanted to take a leave from work that day! hay naku talaga! hindi na tuloy ako naka-alis papuntang supermart.

come lunch time, i told jojie that we were going to have left-overs for lunch. he's not really picky when it comes to food so that was okay with him. we had sinigang (left over from the night before), menudo (left-over from sunday), and ginisang kaalabasa with alugbati (left-over from saturday). ang dami naming ulam! hahaha!

after lunch, i told jojie i needed to go to my parents' place to fix their computer. i said i will also pass by red ribbon to buy cake (we try to always have a cake in the fridge so that we can have coffee and cake whenever we want). he also needed to work anyway so he was okay with me leaving him. buti na lang! hehe!

since jojie only knew about the cake and computer, i needed to do my shopping as fast as i could. i bought spareribs, fries, and the other ingredients i needed. i then went to my parents' house and prepared the beef and the marinade. of course, i was also tinkering with the computer at the same time kasi i really needed to fix the computer eh. jojie was calling me na and asking what time i was going home.

when i got home, jojie saw the marinated beef but thought it was spaghetti. sabi pa niya, "naku! nag-shopping ka naman sa bahay niyo!" hahaha! everytime i go home to my parents kasi, i end up bringing food home. jojie calls that "shopping". :)

i started preparing for dinner around 5:30. since i'm putting jojie on an eat-vegetable-as-muc-as-you-can diet, i made garden salad (3 kinds of lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, cheese, and bacon bits). i had plenty of dressings to choose from so i figured i'd just make him choose. for the soup, i opened a can of clam chowder (hehe! nag-shortcut ba?) but in fairness, nasarapan ako sa soup. for the sidings, i prepared french fries and for the main course, i prepared beef spareribs.

i asked jojie to go inside the bathroom so i could setup our dinner but he wouldn't cooperate. we compromised; he laid in bed with his back turned and promised not to peek. since our dining table was just enough for two (think of starbucks tables), i removed the rug in front of the tv and set our dinner there. i lighted a few candles and my scent burner. i played Len's Volume 3 CD. overall, the effect was pretty romantic.

although he was expecting something na, i think he was still pretty surprised when he opened his eyes. we sat down at the floor and started eating. okay na sana lahat kaya lang nung nakita ng magaling kong asawa yung ulam, tinanong ba naman ako, "pinagawa mo sa bahay [referring to my parents' house] itong beef?" i answered, "hindi, ako gumawa. bakit?" "hindi mo pinagawa kina rina [my parents' cook]?" "hindi. bakit?" "ah okay... [saying this while munching and really concentrating on the spareribs] wala lang... kaya mo ito? parang ang hirap eh!" grrrrrr! he liked the food so much, he thought there was no way i could have prepared it! kakabwisit! ('x') hahaha!

anyway, it was a funny dinner. i thought it would be really romantic with the candlelight and the scent and all. i thought it would be more romantic than our TGIFriday's dinner since i was the one who prepared it. but alas, no! unlike our dinner at Friday's when we just ordered and had time to look at each other's eyes all throughout, this dinner found me looking at my husband and he looking and concentrating really hard on his food!!! we talked but not that much kasi the whole time, sinisimot niya lang yung pagkain! hahaha! i cooked eight slices of the spareribs; i ate two and he had the rest. (he'll kill me if he reads this!) hahaha! he even got some of my fries when he had eaten his. i guess i should be happy that he really liked the food. sobra lang ironic! hehe!

so there! that endeth our three-day celebration for our first month of marriage. :)

-----

I am not saying this is really good but my husband liked it and your partner might, too. so here's the recipe for the spare ribs. :) happy cooking!

Beef Spareribs with Ketchup Sauce (a really unimaginative name!)

1 kilo beef spareribs ---> (P187 / kilo; i halved the recipe so i just got a half kilo)
8 ounce Sprite
salt
oil for frying
1 cup banana ketchup
1 tbsp. minced garlic
3 tbsps. butter or margarine
2 siling labuyo, minced
1 small bay leaf
1 tsp. black pepper, ground
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. white sugar

1. rub spareribs with a little salt. set aside for 15 minutes.
2. pour Sprite on the spareribs.
3. mix banana ketchup, garlic, butter (or margarine), siling labuyo, salt, pepper, white sugar, and bay leaf.
4. marinate spareribs in the mixture overnight [i marinated mine for like 3 hours lang].
5. heat oil in pan. scrape sauce off spareribs then fry in oil.
6. when brown, pour 1/2 cup (or more, if you like) of the ketchup marinade. simmer for 5 minutes.

voila! you have an instant sosyal food you can serve with fries, corn, mashed potato, or rice. :)

we've been married for one month!

hay! isang buwan na ang nakakaraan mula nang ikasal ako at magbagong buhay. sa isang buwan na yun, nalaman ko na sobra pala talagang mainitin ang asawa ko! biruin mo, sino ba naman ang taong naka-aircon na ay nag-e-electric fan pa?! juice ko ay tang! isang buwan na rin akong gumigising ng alas 5:00 para magluto ng agahan! samantalang dati rati pagkagising ko eksaktong tanghalian na! hahaha!

isang buwan... nalaman ko nang sobra pala talaga oc-oc itong napangasawa ko pagdating sa dumi sa bahay. aba! eh napakaburara kong tao, natuto tuloy akong maglinis.

isang buwan... sapagkat nung isang araw lamang kami nalagyan ng keybol sa telebisyon, isang buwan akong nabuhay ng walang teevee!!!! juice ko po talaga ay ponkana! biruin mo dati rati pagkagising ko sa umaga, kakapain ko na ang remote para buksan ang tibi. bago matulog sa gabi, siguradong naka-islip ang katabi kong tibi. tapos isang buwan! isang buwan! isang buwan! biruin mo! isang buwan na walang keybol! kung hindi nga ba naman pag-ibig ito, ewan ko na lang!

isang buwan na akong maybahay. tinatanong na ako ng nanay ko kung magaling na raw ako sa 'home management'. home management? ano yun? hahaha!

isang buwan na akong dumudungaw sa kapit bahay habang nagluluto sa may likuran. isang buwan ko nang pinagmumuni-munihan kung ano kaya ang buhay nila. hoy! hindi ako naging chismosa sa loob ng isang buwan... ni hindi ko nga nakikita ang mukha ng kapitbahay namin... bubong lang at kakapiranggot na garden nila ang tinatanaw ko araw-araw. talagang araw-araw lamang na ginawa ng diyos iniisip ko kung masaya kaya sila sa loob ng malaking bahay nila, anong klaseng tao kaya sila, at kung anu-ano pa. lahat yan, araw-araw, sa loob ng isang buwan.

isang buwan... natuto na akong gumawa ng menu para sa isang linggo nang, teyk note, walang nasisira, walang napapanis, lahat nauubos. aba! baka nga tama ang nanay ko! baka marunong na mag-home maneydgment!

isang buwan...

isang buwan...

isang buwan na akong gumisiging sa umaga ng masayang-masayang-masaya. nakikita kong katabi ko siya. maaaring yapusin anong oras ko man naisin.

isang buwan na akong nag-aabang ng pagdating niya galing sa opisina. sabik na muling yakapin siya.

isang buwan na akong sobra-sobrang nagpapasalamat sa Diyos sa pagbigay Niya sa akin ng isang taong mamahalin ko at minamahal ako ng buong puso at buong pagkatao.

isang buwan na kaming araw-araw magkasama, hindi nagkakasawaan, pakiramdam ko nga kulang pa.

isang buwan...

isang buwan...

isang buwan na puno ng pagbabago, ng saya, ng pakikibaka (parang wrestling!)...

isang buwan...

ang galing! ang dami palang pwedeng mangyari sa isang buwan. ang saya!

Wedding Kwento Part I

Although we started preps early and I was a hands-on bride (I didn’t get a full-time job because of wedding preps), we still had lots and lots of stuff that we were able to do just at the last minute (last minute for me is like a week before). Our wedding was on Dec 18, I’ll start my kwento with the highlights of the two weeks before the wedding.

Dec. 6
As we expected, none of the guests replied to the RSVP. But since we had definite seating arrangements with place cards, I had to make sure who will really be able to attend. At first I wanted to call or text all of the guests but calling would entail too much time while texting would be too impersonal. Also, Rhodora told me that if I were to personally ask the guests if they would be able to come, some would say yes kasi mahihiya lang sila to say no to me although they would know beforehand that they won’t be able to make it. So I thought of this really ingenious thing to do – I got the spare prepaid SIM card we had at home, loaded it with credits, and texted all my guests using that SIM card with this message. “Good morning. This is Rhodora and we are coordinating Clarice and Bernard’s wedding on the 18th. We would like to confirm your attendance….” Basta something to that effect. I forgot the exact wordings. It was a success! Everybody replied and some did say no. When they confirm their attendance, I would send the following message naman: “Thank you for your confirmation. We have reserved ____ seats for you. Attire is formal for ladies and Barong Tagalog for gentlemen. Thank you again.” If they say no, I would just thank them.

This was what I did the whole of Dec 6. Then I rearranged the seating arrangement accordingly. Sigh! I must have rearranged our seating arrangement like one million times! Exagg! Haha!

By the way, I woke up on the morning of the 6th with a slight fever. My dad, since he was home with me all day, noticed that I was not feeling well. Pinagalitan niya lang ako kasi baka raw magkasakit ako, pano na raw sa araw ng kasal ko. He didn’t know na may sakit na ako talaga.

Dec 7
I had an appt with my thesis adviser on the afternoon of the 7th. After my meeting with her, I called Bernard. We were supposed to meet at Ortigas to grab dinner but I felt that I would not be able to drive from Ateneo to Ortigas anymore because I wasn’t feeling well so I asked him to just meet me some place nearer to Ateneo. He said he’ll just pick me up in Ateneo then we’ll just have dinner in Katipunan. He arrived after around 30 minutes. We had dinner at Gayuma then he told me na he had a surprise for me. I was kinda surprised coz he knew that I wasn’t feeling well but he was insisting that we go somewhere pa after dinner. But since we rarely had time to ourselves na walang kinalaman sa preps, I agreed. He blindfolded me then brought me to this place. Kakatawa pa kasi naka-blindfold ako sa kotse, then paghinto ng car, he guided me, sasabihin niya sa akin kung may paakyat ba or pababa or kung may tao. We entered an elevator pa nga. When he removed my blindfold, we were inside a bedroom sa isang hotel/motel! Sabi ko, “Ano ka ba? Bakit tayo andito?” Natatawa ako sa kanya na nawi-wirduhan! For goodness’ sake, it was like two weeks before our wedding! Hahaha! He replied “Ayaw mo ba dito? Maganda ditto!” Ako naman, “Ha?” Then I heard a chorus of voices behind me, “Surprise!” Okay, bridal shower ko pala, thrown by my w@wie friends! Hahaha!

We had fun that night. Usually when we have shower parties, it was just us girls. But since Bernard was already inside the motel room (yeah, motel nga na nagpapanggap na hotel), we asked the hubbies and H2B’s of our friends to join us. Sobrang enjoy yun gabing yun. They gave me lots and lots of thongs and “barely there” nighties! Hahaha! I even received a crotchless panties!Tuwang-tuwa si Bernard! Hahaha *wink* We even watched Playboy porn (na promise walang kwenta so wag na kayo manood)!!!

Dec. 11 - Saturday
We threw a surprise bridal shower for Abie (ni Rey) at my house on Saturday. Funny thing was, since all our schedules were messed up, it was Abie who arrived first. So when she got there, I asked her to help me with my gel candle packaging. I needed to put a ribbon on the sinamay bag and I was really having a hard time doing it. Ang galing ni Abie kasi she knew how to tie the perfect ribbon! I, on the other hand, attended to Abie’s CD souvenirs. I assembled the packaging. It was funny coz we were doing each other’s wed preps chore! Haha!

Around 7, Candice, my maid of honor picked me up (Abie and the rest were still at my home. I just left them and they finished the ribbons!), kunyari to have a meeting with our emcee kasi raw may prob or something. It was another bridal shower, this time arranged by my MoH. She invited all the single women na friends ko na invited sa wedding, kahit na yung hindi pa niya kilala. Kakatuwa noh! I really have the best MoH ever! The funny thing here was that I knew they were planning a shower for me kasi one of our friends who now resides in Paris emailed me the day before and asked me where the shower would be held. She asked me to text her the hotel and the room number! Hahaha!

Candice knew naman pala that I knew so the whole time from my house to Makati, we were making kwento lang, nakikiramdam. I didn’t know that she knew. She knew that I knew but that I wasn’t telling her. Hehe!

We had dinner lang (We were supposed to have the whole stripper thing but Bernard didn’t allow it daw! Hay!). Each brought a gift which the giver thought symbolized something the two of us shared. Sobrang touching yung pagbigay nila. Then they gave me a scrapbook. Each of the invitees / attendees of the shower had a page. They wrote a letter for me, put pictures, and, because they knew I love to cook, put their favorite recipe on their pages. I was really so touched by all their efforts! I really love my friends!

By the way, kasabwat pala yung mom ko sa lahat ng shower parties ko. Both Rhodora (for the first shower) and Candice (for the second) coordinated with her. :)

Dec 14 - Tuesday
Bernard and I had a facial that afternoon then went to Greenbelt to meet with my friend coordinators, MoH, and emcees. Sobra talagang bait ng mga friends ko! Imagine, they were all willing to troop to Greenbelt just so we can have a final rundown of what was going to happen on the wedding day. My friends who were part of the group but were not part of w@w were so impressed with Rhodora, Teenee, and Diosa. Sobra raw efficient! Syempre, w@wies ang coords ko eh, what can you expect? Sino pa ba ang mas OC sa weddings than w@wies? :) We started around 6:30. We finished 11p.m. na ata. Four days to go! Kaka-excite na!

Wedding Kwento Part II

Dec 15 - Wednesday - Christmas Party!!!!

I made place cards and table cards all afternoon. We were supposed to go the pictorial kaya lang hindi na kinaya ng schedule. So we just attended the Christmas Party. :)

Haaay! What a night that has been! Sobrang nakakahiya kasi kinareer ko ata yung prizes! Hahaha!

When Bernard and I arrived at Gazebo Royale, he told me that we should sit in front, near the stage. He remembered kasi that during W@w5ive, we couldn’t see the projected video because there was a huge poste in front of our seats. So he said na this time we should be seated where we can really see everything so we sat in front of the stage nga, as in right in front of the video screen!

We were seated with Eileen and Matthew (na ka-seatmates din namin sa W@W5ive) and Abie. Sarap food!

Ito na po ang kwento ng mga prizes. When the emcee, Raquel, started the raffle and the games, I thought we didn’t have a chance of winning. After all, we’re not so lucky when it comes to raffles and then all the Bring Me items were wedding-related like gown swatches, supplier contract, etc. It was 3 days before our wedding. I’ve let go of the preps two weeks beforment e and I didn’t have any wedding paraphernalia with me. I think it was during the second round of Bring Me when I tuned out of what Raquel was saying because I knew that the items would be wedding-related again so I figured I didn’t have a chance. I just looked at my hands and admired for the millionth time my engagement ring when I heard Raquel’s voice saying “engagement ring”! Wooh! The Bring Me item was an engagement ring! Bernard was so surprised when I bolted out of my seat and ran up the stage! Hahaha! According to him, he has never seen me run so fast! Hahaha! That won us a gift certificate from Alex Franco.

After winning, we realized that we had a chance in spite the fact that we did not have our wedding preps folder with us so, now, we were in the game! When Raquel mentioned that the next prize was a major one – pearl earrings worth P12,000, I told Bernard that I wanted to win that and that I even told my Mom about that. When Raquel said that the next item was to be brought to John, stupid me thought she was talking about John Mateos Ong! Hahaha! Isip ko pa, bakit kay John? And then I realized kay JOHN pala! Haha! (Sorry, John!) When Raquel said that the Bring Me item was a size 10 shoe, I immediately remembered that my fiance wore a size 10! I don’t normally remember that; it’s just that we just shoe-shopped for his wedding shoes a few days before so I remembered. He ran to John and luckily, he won! Yehey! When he got the earrings na , he first thing he told me was “O yan ha, may gift n a ako sa iyo!” Hmph! Haha!

The next prize we won was the Little Dreams package. Syempre Bring Me uli (told you we didn’t have luck pagdating sa raffles eh). When Raquel announced na the prize was a Little Dreams package, I thought if I were going to play pa for that. After all, our wedding was like three days away but I figured that maybe I can ask for a discount or something (haaay! sorry, gahaman ba?). When Raquel announced that that item was with Tony (Pionilla of Little Dreams), I told myself na I won’t play na. But then no one was going to Tony either. One of the suppliers (girl supplier, may edad na ng kaunti, asawa ng isang photographer, I think team sila) kept on motioning me to run and go to Tony! She pointed where Tony was. I didn’t stand up na kasi I was waiting for the others. Siguro she had to motion to me around 3 times before I gathered enough courage to go to him. I was wearing boots with like 3 inches heels for goodness sake! Ang hirap tumakbo! When I reached Tony, I politely told him na that I was a client of Little Dreams. I think I said something like “Good evening po. Client po ako ng Little Dreams...” I was going to oh-so-politely ask him to give me the item (a calling card) but he was ignoring me! Instead, he just held on to the calling card and raised it with his hand. I didn’t know what to do but then when I saw around 3 people in my peripheral vision about to grab the calling card, syempre I grabbed it na without hesitation!

Benz told me that we had to verify with Mel Cortez if I could upgrade my own package to Decisive using the package I won. When Mel said no (I knew Decisive was already taken anyway so it was okay), we had the certificate “re-raffled” and I was able to choose from the available prizes in lieu of the Little Dreams package. :) Oh, by the way, the day before my wedding I learned from Little Dreams that they’re giving me a P5,000 discount because we won nga! Ang galing! Sobrang naging win-win yung situation! Really love Mel Cortez!!!! :)

We had a really great time at the party (Juice! Manalo ba naman ako ng sangkatutak na prizes noh!). I met so many w@wies! Galing!

December 16 - Thursday
Since hubby didn’t invite people from his office (except for a few, they didn’t even know that he was getting married!), we decided that we’ll just bring lunch to his office to treat his officemates. It was his last day coz leave na siya ng Friday and nun lang nalaman ng officemates niya na ikakasal na siya! :) So I cooked food (you know, nagpaka-dakilang girlfriend ako) and brought it to his office in Ortigas. I waited na for him kasi usapan namin after nila mag-lunch sa office, alis na kami kasi may surprise naman ako sa kanya.

I went to Megamall while waiting for him. I had a quick lunch and I looked for a dressing-up outfit. I saw this really nice Kill Bill outfit (a pair of yellow sweats) which I figured would look really nice in the pictures. Btw, I don’t normally wear yellow kasi I feel na I’m too dark for yellow. For some reason, I still bought it kahit na yellow siya. Buti na lang kasi it really looked nice sa pictures. (By the way, thanks to Abie and Eileen who, when I told them that I wanted a dressing-up outfit like Autumn’s, told me na I can just buy a generic pair of sweats and have it embroidered with the word “bride”.) I tried to look for a shop who can embroider “Bride” in front of the top pero sobra nang puno at Dec 26 ko pa raw makukuha!

After shopping, Bernard and I met na. I had a surprise for him; he never had a full-body massage ever in his life and I brought massage and body scrub certificates from Fitness First RCBC for the two of us. That was the longest I’ve kept a secret from him! Nagulat ako sa sarili ko! I bought the certificates last August and I managed not to tell him about it. When we were in the car na, he asked me where we were going. Syempre I wouldn’t tell him. I even asked him to wear a blindfold so he wouldn’t know. Kaya lang he figured out na pala! Nakakainis! Since I told him to give me the exact time when we could leave for Makati, he figured that wherever we were going needed an appointment. That was the only clue he got and he figured it out! Haaay! Kainis! Pero okay na rin kasi when I realized that he knew na talaga, I let him drive na lang para mas mabilis at hindi kami ma-late sa appointment. :)

We had the time of our lives inside the massage room. We got the couple’s room and sarap talaga magpa-scrub and massage. Bernard loved it so much that we bought 7 massage/scrub certificates after! Yehey! Bernard brought me home after our spa (we had a little accident on our way home, little dent lang naman, thank God). When I got home, I called Ronald and discussed the reception layout over the phone. I slept at 3:30 a.m. that night since I arranged all the things that needed to be brought to the hotel.

December 17 - Friday
Candice picked me up from our house around 10:30 a.m. We went to a nearby salon to have foot spa and have our nails done. Since I was so magulo, we managed to leave for the hotel around 3:00 na! Hay! Buti na lang since I paid Linden for our suite months in advance kaya they couldn’t cancel our reservation. Arrived at the hotel around 4p.m. (sobrang traffic!) but our suite was not ready yet! Grrr! It was okay thought because Linden just gave us free snacks at their restaurant. We were starving by then so buti na rin lang late nag-check out yung previous occupant ng room! Hehe!

Candice left for Megamall around 6 so I was alone sa suite (she had to buy shoes and yung pouch for the arrhae). Nakapag-preps pa ako ng kaunti. In fact, I even had to make a few place cards kasi may mga last-minute (talagang last minute changes sa guests namin. hay!). I called Bernard sa Astoria. He seemed so relaxed! Nakakainis! I was panicking na with the place cards and all tapos he seemed so relaxed! Tinanong pa ako ng “Hindi ka ba magsi-swimming?” Grrr! I already had the fitting form so I tried to iron the gown so I could put it sa fitting form pero hindi ko magawa. Masyadong mahaba yung train! Buti na lang my mom arrived na with my whole family (they brought dinner kasi and my sister and brother were also sleeping at the hotel) and so she and my dad fixed my gown. Maya-maya dumating na rin si Candice uli and we had dinner na.

The messenger from our honeymoon travel agent arrived around 9. Juice ko! I learned that our travel agent changed our airlines! Grrrr! From Kuwait Airlines, naging Lufthansa! Okay naman yung change ng airline per se but the time of our arrival in Manila on Dec 24 changed from 4pm to 7pm! Sobra talaga akong nabwisit! Tinawagan ko yung travel agent at inaway ko ng sampung minuto, straight! The fact that my parents were just nodding their heads while I was screaming my head off at the travel agent was proof enough that I was the one wronged! Haaay!

My parents left around 10 and we slept around 11. I texted Bernard before sleeping. Sabi ko, "Good night, my husband (and in 17 hours, totoo na ito!). I love you." He replied, "I love you, too, Mrs. Avinante!" Then I fell asleep na. :)

Wedding Kwento Part III

Dec 18 - THE DAY!!!
I woke up around 6. By the time I even stirred, Candice was already taking a bath. I woke up my siblings and when we were all ready, we went to the restaurant to have breakfast. Had breakfast until around 7:30a.m.

When we went back to the room, I called my parents, fully expecting them to be on their way. Syempre nasa bahay pa sila! Haaay! I was starting to be stressed na. Kakatawa kasi Candice was talking on the phone and I could hear her telling her friend that I was "hustling and bustling all around". When she recognized that I was starting to be stressed, she put down the phone and talked to me.

My "coordinators" arrived before 8:30. Sila Rhodora, Teenee, at Diosa. At least hindi na ako masyadong stressed kasi andun na sila. We discussed some last-minute stuff and I turned over all the wedding paraphernalia to them.

Maya-maya dumating na rin parents ko. Katkat, my emcee and one of the secondary sponsors, also arrived in a little while.

Brenda and his/her team, MUA for the ento, were the first suppliers to arrive. They setup immediately and started on my sister.

In a few minutes, dumating na rin si Kat, my MUA and one of the secondary sponsors. Haaay!

Hindi na ako ninenerbyos! Lahat na ng tao andun so I was assured na. Although mejo stressed pa rin ako. You know, being a very OC person, I was was still going over my mind the things that needed to be done but I was very confident that my team of friends would do a very good job kaya I was able to just sit down and "relax". I took a bath na. Wanted to have a bubble bath but can I just tell you? My period came!!!! Grrrr talaga! So I just contented myself with a long shower, at least as long as I can manage without people wondering if I escaped na through the bathroom window. :)

When I came out, I was wearing na my dressing-up Kill Bill outfit. Kat started na on my makeup. After a while, the video team from Little Dreams arrived na.

I received a call from Mr. Ching, the owner of the 1953 Benz Adenauer we were supposed to have as our bridal car. He was in Alabang and the car had minor wiring trouble. He didn't think he cold make it to my hotel at 1:30 so he already looked for a replacement. He said we would be using a 1932 Studebaker instead but that he would be the one to bring us to the reception from the church. I was okay with it. I didn't panic too much since we already had a replacement anyway. Funny thing was Bernard was making me kulit for a couple of weeks to make sure that the car was okay. Pag nakukulitan ako, sasabihin niya, "Aba! 1953 pa yung kotse, baka masira yun bigla!" Matatawa lang ako sa kanya pag sinasabi niya yun tapos nangyari! Haha! I called Bernard to inform him of the new arrangement. He was okay with it naman. My voice was sifferent when I was talking to him. Sobrang kalmado. Siguro he realized na hindi ko kakayanin pag nagsalita pa siya ng kung ano pa man.

Around 10:35, Rhodora informed me that list of deliverables from the florist did not list the flowers for the secondary sponsors. I started to panic (pero syempre hindi pa rin kita sa mukha kasi dapat maganda pa rin sa video). Usapan namin pag dumating si Mang Boy na wala yung flowers, magapapatakbo kami sa Megamall. Mang Boy arrived at 10:50, exactly yung time na sinabi niya na dadating siya (usapan namin was 11 a.m. but he told me he'll be there 10 minutes before 11). He had the flowers! Ang galing galing! Ang tanga ko kasi I forgot to order it ata from him or at least I forgot to list it down sa order ko and I forgot to confirm it. Buti na lang he remembered. He brought wrist corsages for the secondary sponsors.

Edu, our main photog, arrived in a while. Nanggaling na kasi sila sa hotel ni Bernard. The back-up photog remained with Bernard while Edu and Flowers, the videographer (promise ito ang pangalan niya!) were with me.

My make-up done, Brenda's team started na on my hair. I could see that his/her team a very good job on the ento. Ang ganda ng mga makeup nila!

By this time, lahat na ng tao na darating, andun na. Eric, the other emcee, also showed up to discuss last-minute details with Kat (You'd really love my friends sa sobrang effort na in-exert nila for my wedding.). Cris, Candice's friend, also showed up to bring me tampons kasi I asked Candice to find one for me! Tita Babes, my mom's friend, also came to bring food for everyone (she cooked lunch for the whole group para hindi na raw mamroblema mom ko).

When my hair was done, picture-picture syempre. It was a really good thing that I was able to have our prenups with Edu kaya sobrang sanay and at ease na ako sa kanya.

After the picture taking, I changed na to my gown. It was the first time my mom saw me in my gown. She commented on how beautiful I looked (ayshsus! eh syempre nanay ko yun eh!).

Matagal yung picture taking, as you can imagine. In fact, by this time, Bernard was already in the church. Hindi rin naman excited yung boypren kong magpakasal no? Hehe!

When we went down to the lobby and I saw the bridal car, natuwa ako. Ang ganda nung car, mas classic pa sa bridal car namin talaga. I knew Bernard would be thrilled.

In the car, I was panicking kasi hindi nakasunod sa car namin yung mga ento. Sinasabihan na ako ng parents ko to let go. I was only able to let go when I realized na hindi naman pala ganun ka-traffic so hindi sila mahihirapan kahit na wala silang hagad (policemen who interrupt traffic to make sure that we don't get caught in jams).

My parents could see that I visibly shook myself to let go. I asked for food and my mom brought out the Inipit, a Bulacan delicacy, she brought for me. I had so much fun eating the Inipit (didn't have lunch kasi) that I even asked Edu to take a picture. Hahaha! Pwede na akong endorser.

Arrived at the church around 2:30. It was tamang-tama sana but no! There was a wedding going on! Grrrr! I didn't know there was a wedding before us! My pre-wedding gimmicks were foiled! We were supposed to play mellow love songs in the church to set the mood (idea from Len ni Edward)! Hay naku! I hate pa naman yung naghihintay yung mga tao sa labas kaya nga ayoko ng Intramuros church eh pero yun din pala. Ang ma-okay naman dito, everybody saw me tuloy sa car and I was able to make chika with my friends. Buti na lang Abie was there and she kept me company. Syempre rin this gave me time to have more pictures taken! Hahaha!

Then I saw na the wedding guests of the other wedding file out. Syempre linait ko pa yung wedding nila (Ang sama ko talaga! Nainis kasi ako sa kanila since Abie said that they started late kaya pati tuloy kami na-late!)

I saw my guests go inside the church and the coordinators were lining up the people for the march. Mr. Alvarez, the owner of the Studebaker, asked me if I were ready na. Wala na raw atrasan! Hehe!

- to be continued -

Wedding Kwento Part IV

I could see the ento from afar na unti-unting pumapasok. Inakyat na ni Mr. Alvarez yung kotse sa driveway. Pagkapasok ng parents ko sa simbahan. Sinara na agad yung pinto ng church at pinababa na ako. By the time na nasa halfway ng aisle and parents ko, I had 16 seconds to prepare. So I was standing there in front of the doors. Edu was with me kasi siya yung nag-ayos ng gown ko at pinicturan niya pa ako. Syempre pa-cute na naman ako. Aba! Dapat maganda ang pictures!
Nakakatawa pa kasi sabi niya bagalan ko daw ang pag-lakad. Akala ko naman isa yun sa words of wisdom niya sa mga brides yun pala sabi niya pag mabilis raw ako hindi raw siya makakatakbo at wala raw akong picture! Hahaha!

I could also remember what Jason Magbanua wrote for the wedding primer. Sabi niya, pag nag-closed door entrance daw, make sure na pag-open yung doors, walang ibang taong makikita, yung bride lang so I made sure pa na wala nga akong katabi.

It was Rhodora and Teenee who opened the doors from the inside. Syempre excited na ako. Walang nag-register sa isip ko. Ni hindi ko nakita yung aisle flowers! Alam ko na on cue yung pagbukas ng pinto sa unang verse ng The Prayer (bridal march ko) pero except for the 1 second after pagbukas na pagbukas ng pinto na narinig ko yung kanta, never nang nag-register sa isip ko yung music.

While walking I was telling myself to savor the moment. I even told myself to lower my bouquet para makita yung gown ko (tip ito ng isang w@wie sa primer). Tapos nakita ko yung mom ko naiiyak na. Syempre tinanong ko pa yung sarili ko, “Hmmm... maiiyak kaya ako?” Tama ba naman yun? Then I saw my groom waiting for me at the altar. Sa gitna siya nakatayo so from my point of view, nasa gitna siya talaga ng parents ko. I just focused on him. Tapos nakita ko siyang umiyak. Aaaaawwww... as in naiyak na ako kasi sobra siyang umiiyak (syempre hanggang ngayon hindi niya inaamin na umiyak siya!).

When we reached the altar, I faced my dad who helped me remove my veil (got this from Lea Salonga’s wedding). I faced my mom and we hugged each other so tight. I faced my dad again and hugged him, too. I am very close to my parents kasi and although there were times I just wanted to leave home and be on my own, now that it was actually happening, ang hirap pala. After hugging my dad, he helped me put my veil back on again tapos I faced Bernard na. I was so smitten with my groom. He looked so handsome! *kilig*

After Bernard has kissed my mom and shook hands with my dad, it was my turn to do the same to Bernard's parents. Buti na lang may alalay din sa church who guided us. When we reached the altar, Jojie faced me. I thought he was going to profess undying love. Sabi niya, "Ang galing nung kumanta! Akala ko CD! Live pala yun?!" So much for undying love! Hehe! Pero ang galing kasi talaga nung kumanta ng bridal march ko eh. He's one of my friends from the clinic before and his name's Denden Atanacio and he's a soloist of 92AD. Nakakahiya pa sa kanya kasi he had so many singing engagements that day at talagang siningit niya ako sa schedule niya. Right after niya nga kumanta, umalis na siya eh.

Anyway, back to our wedding mass... Iba rin pala ang feeling ng nasa harap. Tsaka hindi mo nakikita kung maganda yung wedding kasi ikaw yung andun sa harap! Hahaha!

The rites went smoothly. When we came to the part where we were going to say I do's and it was Bernard's turn to be asked na, pag-umpisa pa lang ng pari ng tanong, sumasagot na po ang mister ko ng "yes, yes, yes." I knew he was excited and I am very convinced of his love for him but seeing him cry and hearing him say those words as if he could not wait one more minute to be married to me just made me melt. His love humbled me.

I love the passage that we read while giving each other our rings. We didn't have our own vows but we had this:

I, Clarice, take you, Bernard, as my friend and love, beside me and apart from me, in laughter and in tears, in conflict and tranquility, asking that you be no other than yourself, loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not know yet, in all the ways that life may find us. Bernard, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

which, for me, embody what marriage is all about and what Bernard and I are all about. :)

The mass finished without incident. Although tawang-atawa kami kasi yung church organist ay ayaw pakantahin si Abie, akala niya siguro magaling siyang kumanta. Haaaay! Tawang-tawa kami ni Bernard kay Abie kasi nakikita namin siya na gusto nang sakalin yung organist!

After the mass, the guests proceeded to the church doors for the petal and rice throwing. Ang galing-galing ng mga coordinators ko! Akala ko hindi nila mapu-pull off yun eh but by the time we walked to the doors, naka-line na talaga yung mga guests at may mga petals and rice na panghagis. Ang ganda ng recessional namin.

- to be continued -

call for respondents

hi!

i am desperately in need of respondents for my thesis. i need to interview high-income filipino mothers with three to four children (must have at least one boy and one girl) with the eldest child being 10 to 12 years old.

if you or anyone you know fit the above description, please send me an email at clarice.avinante@gmail.com or text me through 0920.926.6471. i would really, really appreciate a referral.

thank you so, so much!

menu

did you know that a whole chicken can be cut into 12 pieces (not including the neck)? which means i can divide one chicken into three meals. :)

hay! the things you learn while being a maybahay.

i wrote down our menu for the whole week. here it is:

monday:
bfast: tocino (homemade - ginawa ko ito!), sunny side up, fried rice
lunch / baon: porkchop
dinner: dine out

tuesday:
bfast: beef tapa slices, scrambled egg with tomatoes, fried rice
lunch / baon: chicken afritada
dinner: fried tilapia, ginisang pechay

wednesday:
bfast: palm corned beef, sunny side up, fried rice
lunch / baon: sandwich for me; no baon for jojie
dinner: porkchop, squash with alugbati

thursday:
bfast: chesedog, omelette (with onion, tomatoes, cheese, bell pepper), fried rice
lunch / baon: adobo
dinner: fried chicken, garden salad

friday:
bfast: adobo, scrambled egg, fried tomatoes, fried rice
lunch / baon: chicken curry
dinner: kardillong tilapia


so far, nasusunod ko naman yang menu, except this morning when i ran out of time at hindi na ako naka-prepare ng fried rice. pero masarap naman yung chicken afritada ko na kanina ko rin lang umaga ginawa (at least accdg to my husband dearest) so okay na rin. 4:34 ako ng umaga gumising kanina! haaay! antok na antok pa ako ngayon! :)

on leaving home - part 2

note: part 1 can be found here.

i went home to my parents today to get the car and some other stuff. my dad was in the garage, tinkering with his bike, when i arrived. i kissed him hello and went straight to the kitchen to get the "stuff". as i passed the dining table, i notived that the table was already set for lunch. and since i am now married, the table was set for just one - just for my dad.

i cried when i saw the lone plate on the table. with me not living at home anymore, it's just my dad home all day long (we have a build-and-sell business. since my dad is in between projects right now, he just stays at home while waiting for the next.). i wold have stayed if i could but with jojie going to a meeting (although he called in sick, he had an important meeting he had to attend to), i had to rush home.

it pained me so much to realize that by marrying jojie, i've left my family. siguro nga it's the way things are just supposed to happen. alangan namang hindi ako magpakasal forever but it just hurts so much.

i cried while driving home. and when my mom called me after lunch, i told her how i felt. syempre i cried uli (and syempre i'm crying while writing this now, here in the middle of pasig city hall). sabi ni mama, "okay lang yun. ganun lang talaga, anak."

i didn't expect that it would be this difficult to leave my family. everybody kept telling me before how exciting and trying married life would be but no one mentioned anything about being "homesick". siguro kakaiba ako. siguro hindi naman lahat ng nagpapakasal at lumilipat ng bahay ganito. how i wish i could be with jojie and still be with my parents. but i know that i have to live my new life -- the life i have chosen. i also know that the greatest way i can repay my family for the life they have given me is to uphold the values i was taught and to make sure my marriage succeeds and to raise good, God-fearing kids.

ang hirap pala! kaya pala sabi nila mahirap raw ang pag-aasawa. hindi lang yung mga pagbabago ng meron ka nang bagong kasama sa buhay pero pati yung pakikipaghiwalay sa pamilya mo. oh well! with jojie, my mom, and my dad behind me, alam ko kaya ko ito. i embrace my new life with confidence, baon ko lahat ng turo sa akin ng mga magulang ko.

lesson learned

just have to blog about this real quick before i start my day's "work" :)

jojie had a slight fever last night and when we woke up at 5 am, he was still not feeling well so i asked him to take the day off from work. he agreed so we slept again (yehey!).

we woke up at 8. he was hungry na raw so i got up to make breakfast, i was going to make tuna omelette so i prepared all the ingredients in the kitchen before proceeding to the dirty kitchen / laundry area where we cook. everythign was going well. i sauteed the garlic and the onion and put in the tuna. when the tuna was "cooked" na, i removed the pan from the stove and brought it to the kitchen. i put the tuna mixture in a bowl of beaten eggs and returned the pan to the stove. i put in more oil in the pan and turned on the fire. dito na ako nagkamali. i went back to the kitchen (i couldn't see the stove from the kitchen. see diagram.)



i was going to the dirty kitchen na with my egg and tuna mixture when i realized i haven't put salt on it yet so i did pa muna. i also realized that i needed to put one more egg so i got another egg from fridge, beat it, and added it to the mixture. at last i was ready. i went to the dirty kitchen with my syanse in one hand and the bowl of egg/tuna mixture in the other (you have to realize that all these are happening ng mabilisan lang). and what do i see? the frying pan was on fire!!! for some reason, the fire from the stove transferred to the top of the pan. i think i unknowingly put the stove on high fire. as in sunog na siya at hindi lang apoy! it would have been a welcome sight if i were making a flambe kasi pangarap ko yung makapag-flambe. pero hindi nakakatuwa yun kasi simpleng tuna omelette lang naman ang linuluto ko! :)

i though of what i should do. calling jojie to put out the fire was not an option. una may sakit siya. pangalaw, either pagtatawanan niya ako or pagsasabihan. and i was in the mood for either of the two.

my next option was to put out the fire with water. i remember watchin in roswell though that water does not put work in fire na based sa oil.

another option was to get our fire extinguisher pero mejo exagg naman ata yun kasi exagg sa laki yung fire extinguiser namin dito sa bahay (ito kasi ang business ng dad ni jojie kaya meron kami nung standard na fire extinguisher na ready palagi). isa pa, jojie would know.

buti na lang, i saw this thick rug beside the stove and i heard my lola's voice telling the helper time and again that in case of a small fire, a thick rug will do. i even reasoned in my mind that it will work kasi mawawalan ng oxygen yng apoy kaya mamamatay siya (hahaha! even in emergencies, i am such a nerd!). so i did just that and i was able to put out the fire. :)

lesson learned, make sure to beat enough eggs from the very start. :)

buhay misis!

today is my fourth day as a housewife. since i am a full-time graduate student right now supposedly working on my thesis (due on 25 january), i stay at home (syempre, i don't work on my thesis, rather i use the net, cook, and do some other things, basta hindi thesis! hehe!).

grabe! i realize now how hard it is to set up house. jojie and i are staying at his condo unit and although maliit lang yung unit, syempre we make sure na maayos para we enjoy being at home. so far, okay naman. we all have the appliances and the furnitures that we need. konting decor na lang ang kelangan.

kami rin ang bumili ng mga gamit namin sa kitchen. we're particularly fond of our plate set. kasi what we did was to buy a black japanese melamine set. kakatuwa kasi kakaiba tuloy ang plates namin kasi black at japanese. :)

okay naman kami ni jojie sa pagbili ng gamit. basically magkasundo yung taste namin sa mga gamit. minsan lang we argue over the things i would like to buy na he thinks, of course, na we don't need naman. like for example, i want to buy maliit na plastic bowls para pag magluluto ako, meron akong lalagyan ng lahat, like pag na-chop ko na yung vegetables, eh di marami na akong ready na lalagyan. aba! hindi siya naniniwala na kelangan ko yun! haaaay! for now, okay pa naman ako kasi i manage even without the bowls pero sabi ko sa susunod na shopping namin (you know, bagong kasal, we try to limit our gastos), bibili na ako ng mga additional gamit sa kitchen. bahala siya! :)

natutuwa rin ako kasi we really get to enjoy each other's company. what we usually do when we're home is watch DVDs. remember, the first appliance we bought was a home entertainment system? so ngayon, sobra namin sinusulit yun. we watch DVDs whenever we're home and we have time. we pick, in turn, kung ano yung movie na papanoorin namin. like last week, we agreed over dinner na we'll watch a movie (we have this starbucksy dining table na good for two na we really like) pero we didn't know kung ano. so nag-bato-bato-pik kami, up to three, and the winner, of course, would get to choose which movie to watch. i won and i chose godfather. it was both our first time to watch godfather. aysus! ang ganda pala nun. the next free time we had nga, we watched naman yung part 2. we'll watch part 3 soon. :)

the biggest hurdle for me is waking up early. for nearly two years now, i've been waking up at around 9 or 10 a.m. ngayon, since jojie needs to leave for work at 6:15, he needs to eat breakfast by 5:40 so that means i have to be up before then since i need to prepare pa his breakfast. yung baon naman niya for lunch i prepare while he's taking a shower. haaaay! okay lang sa akin yung luto since i really enjoy cooking but the waking up early part? hay naku talaga yun! funny pa nga kasi ever since, my parents have been telling me na i should learn to wake up early raw para hindi raw ako mahirapan pag may asawa na ako pero syempre hindi ako nakinig. haha! kaya ito, nahihirapan nga ako ngayon! :) funny pa kasi my mom called me up early sunday morning (okay, so it was not really that early, mga around 9 na yun). si jojie yung nakasagot. sabi ba naman ng salbahe kong asawa sa mom ko, "good morning, ma... opo, ma... tulog pa po, ma... problema ko nga po, ma, eh, kanina pa ako gising, tulog pa si ging..." eh i was half-asleep so i didn't realize na mini-murder niya na pala ako! when i went to the phone to talk to my mom, sabi ng nanay ko, "anak! gumising ka na! kaya ako tumatawag para gisingin ka at alam ko na tulog ka pa. kumuha ka na ng papel at bolpen at magsulat ka na ng menu niyo for the week!" imagine hearing that on a sunday morning! nagising nga ako! hahaha!

so far, so good. actually, not just good, it's great! nakakapanibago yung bagong buhay pero masaya. hindi pa totally nagsi-sink in sa akin na kasal na kami. feeling ko minsan boyfriend ko pa rin lang na nagkataon lang na nilulutuan ko at katabi kong matulog. hahaha!

the other night i had a bad dream. napanaginipan ko this guy that i used to go out with at sa panaginip ko hindi pa kami ni jojie, ni hindi man lang mag-boyfriend. inis na inis daw ako kasi dumating na naman yung isang guy na yun at natatakot ako na baka akalain ni jojie na i still wanted that person when all i wanted was him. so dun sa dream hindi ko alam kung paano ko explain kay jojie na i want to be with him lang. then i woke up and i saw my husband sleeping beside me. i was so thankful for seeing him, i prayed to god and thanked him for my husband. i am so blessed.