Tapioca and Munchkin Bonding Time At Bonifacio High Street

The Munchkin has been practicing riding her scooter every chance she gets. After getting her a scooter as a gift last year, Tapioca has been bringing her to the park, basketball court or any open spaces she’s free to scoot around. 

She’s actually getting really good at it. She finally knows how to use the break and how to steer from left to right. Munchkin is mostly practicing inside the house much to my annoyance. You see, we live on the 2nd floor of a small rise condo and the last thing I want to hear is a complaint from the downstairs neighbor. 

However, their practice session stopped when Tapioca got hospitalized. Munchkin has been asking when they will go back to the park again. It finally happened last Sunday.

. . . Tapioca and Munchkin

Here are some of the clips Tapioca took with this phone. The second video almost gave me a heart attack. I kinda freaked out seeing how fast the cars/vehicles were going. At first, it sorta looked like Munchkin would go straight to the other side of the road.

Tapioca rationalized that Munchkin was still far from the road and that there was a good 12 feet before it hit the road. Hmmm. I’m not sure. I guess I’m not convinced. Hahahaha!

When the little girl got tired, she asked for some donuts.  

Time for some refreshment. You bet these guys had fun. 😁

time for some donuts . . . 

I am thankful Tapioca is such a devoted father. I am thankful because I can rely on him  to take care of the kids even if me or the nannies are not around. I am thankful because he always makes an effort to spend time with the kids. No matter how tired or sleep deprived he is.

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Delijo's Banh Mi

I used to hate cilantro. I know hate is such a strong word but that’s exactly how I felt whenever I encountered the herb in my food specifically in Mexican cuisine. 

Just like cilantro, baguette was my least favorite carb. Even if it’s the most expensive one from a high end Boulangerie. I just can’t seem to appreciate it. Prolly because I am accustomed to the soft, pillowy bread like what most Japanese bread makers would offer. 

All of these, to the disappointment of Tapioca who adores anything Mexican and everything that is good and crusty bread like a French baguette. 

Everything changed when I got pregnant with little pumpkin. When hormones were crazy and my taste buds became weird. Suddenly, I was craving for anything with cilantro. The smell and taste was just too enticing. I can’t help but eat anything with it. 

It started with the Beef Thai noodles that oozed such strong cilantro flavor. Then the Banh Mi. These things I used to ignore and couldn't care less about pre pregnancy.

Unforch, I do not have any pictures of the stall where I get my Beef Thai Noodle fix. But I am aware that they have multiple stores around the city. The place is called Sen Luk Thai. I am not sure how authentic their food is but during my pregnancy cravings, I couldn't care less. In fact, I actually dream of travelling to Thailand and Vietnam. Hahaha!

I do have photos and videos of my favorite Bahn Mi stall. Again, I can't vouch for their authenticity but pregnant me back then loved every bit of it. I thought my taste bud would fail me once pregnancy is over. However, until this day, I am forever changed. My heart now belongs to anything with cilantro.

. . . delijo at the food court of robinsons forum in pioneer st.

traditional baguette, my favorite! . . . 

. . . fresh spring rolls, but I prefer the fried version 😉

For the record, I've only tried two places that offer Bahn Mi. Banh Mi Kitchen and Delijo. I can say that I prefer Delijo over Banh Mi Kitchen. It's hard to explain but I think their Bahn Mi's are two worlds apart. From the baguette used, to the butter, meat and pâté, everything is just not the same. For me, Delijo wins quality wise.

I love Delijo for it's consistency. I know making a sandwich is as easy as ABC but I commend Delijo for being consistent. I really, really love them. 

Check out this video, where the staff was being generous in putting cilantro in my sandwich per my request 😊

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I Quit!

Nope. Not blogging, duh!

Today, I came across this message from Teri Hatcher’s Instagram account . . .

If you’re going to quit anything, QUIT being lazy, QUIT making excuses and QUIT waiting for the right time.

Bull’s eye! Big time. Need to get off my lazy a**.

Thank you, Teri! Mwah 💋

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Lunar New Year 2020

 Happy Lunar New Year!

. . . photo from here

How was your new year? If you ask about us, nothing much really. We were just at home like a regular weekend. Tapioca is still recovering so we are stuck at home. Though we were able to attend the mass yesterday afternoon. But that’s about it. No fancy meal, no festivities. Nada.

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Tapioca and Dengue Fever

Last week, Tapioca fought with dengue fever. It was hell.

. . .  spot Tapioca

It started with him complaining about some itchy insect bite around his arm. He didn’t know and couldn’t tell where he got it from. Not even sure if it’s mosquito bites. I mean, it could be bed bugs or something. All he could say, it was damn itchy.

Sunday morning, he started to have a fever. Despite feeling feverish he was able to go to the market, prepared and cooked food for the supposed drinking party with his officemates at home.

By lunchtime, he could not bear to stand let alone sit and accommodate his friends. He was in bed all day running with a very high fever (39 degrees which never went down even when he took paracetamol). Munchkin and I entertained his guests. We didn’t even know Taal Volcano erupted while we partied.

Monday and his fever was still up. He was having diarrhea and having difficulty eating. All he wanted was to lay down in bed. He went to a nearby clinic and was prescribed some antibiotics. The doctor advised him to get CBC if the fever never goes down by Wednesday.

I took his temperature again as soon as I got home from work. It was at 40 degrees. I wanted to give him some water bath to help lower down the fever but then I noticed the rashes. He insisted those are his freckles and not rashes.

It was night time so I wasn't sure. I went online and checked again. I read all the signs of dengue fever. He had all the signs except for vomiting and bleeding. I told him we will not wait till Wednesday for the CBC. We will get one in the morning.

Tuesday morning came and he woke me up saying he needed to go to the hospital as he was feeling really bad and having hallucinations.

We rushed to Makati Medical Center’s ER and got confirmation that he was indeed having dengue fever. Since it’s his 2nd time (he previously had dengue fever when he was younger), the symptoms were more severe.

He was very weak and helpless. Getting up was such a pain. I couldn’t stand all the blood extractions. I imagine how difficult it could have been for very young children if they got infected. 

I thought of our kids, Munchkin and Pumpkin. I prayed and asked for protection so that they may be spared. I prayed Tapioca will get better soon and avoid all complications. It was all I could do. PRAY.

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Pumpkin’s Bapstism

We finally got the pictures from Pumpkin’s baptismal day. Usually, it just takes two weeks to get them from our trusted photographer but because of the holidays it took quite some time. I was so excited to go through them after receiving it last Sunday.

Pumpkin got baptized at a local church near our place. I have been going here ever since I was a little girl. The church had gone through major changes and renovations over the years. I’d say it’s current state is the most beautiful it has ever been. It now has a bell tower with the most beautiful sound.

Unfortunately, solo baptism was only available from Tuesday to Friday. In consideration for guests who were available during weekends only, we joined the mass baptism on a Sunday. It was Immaculate Conception Sunday.

There were 26 kids who received the sacrament of baptism that day. It was a chaos. It was so hot because the electric fans were turned off. They turned it off so as not to extinguish the candles during the ceremony. Imagine all the people especially the kids sweating it all out like we were in a big sauna room.

I’m glad I got pumpkin a baptismal outfit in cotton fabric. And thankfully the baptismal rite didn’t take that long despite the number of children being baptized. When Father finished blessing all the kids, everyone had to fight off a spot at the altar for photo op.

We made a rush to the other side of the altar. Not as pretty as the one in the center but good enough for the church picture souvenir. We did not take a lot of photos because there were other families waiting for their turn. Also, we had to rush for our reservation at Gino’s. They're only giving 15 minutes to hold on to our reserved tables.

Reception at Gino’s Brick Oven Pizza in Serendra.

Will make more kwento when I feel like it *wink, wink* Hahaha!

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Help, The Grinch Is Back!

The holiday season wasn’t the easiest. Not when the devil is lurking around making me feel sad and bad all the time.

We still have no nannies/househelp, I'm still not feeling well and miserable. Tapioca is working on New Year' Eve and I’m left alone with the kids. One of them, cranky and fussy because he’s teething and not feeling well, too. Once again, I felt like I failed motherhood. I failed my kids. But I refused to feel what I was feeling. I fought the Grinch trying to steal my happiness. I reminded myself that this season is not about me. Not about my feelings or about failing. I reminded myself of the true meaning of this season.

Let's count my blessings, shall we?

I'm thankful I’m home for the holidays. It’s not every year that happens. I’m thankful it was me who’s watching the kids and spending the holidays with them at home. Kebs if there’s no yaya. Kebs if the house is a mess. My kids couldn’t even care less for as long as mommy's there to take care of them and their needs.

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Surviving Christmas

This is probably one of the saddest Christmas of my life. Tapioca working on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. No nannies around. No home cooked meals. No Noche Buena. No kids around. They were at my brothers’. Me all alone at home sick and feeling miserable.

I’m just glad I survived. I hibernated. I took all the rest I could and took all the meds I needed. I don't want to be sick until New Year’s. That’s gonna be really sad.

I looked at my social media feed and saw all those wonderful photos of friends and families all complete for the holidays. I can’t help but wonder. I asked myself “Do I feel jealous? Am I getting green with envy?” Hmmm maybe. Not. I have to double check. But seriously I wasn’t. In fact I was inspired.

Instead of sulking and being bitter and miserable I chose otherwise. I took all those happy photos as inspiration for our next Christmas. As a matter of fact, I already jotted down notes and made plans on how we will celebrate Christmas next year.

Because of this experience, I’ve learned something and realized that this quote is oh so true:

Happiness is a state of mind.

Happiness is a choice.

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Our Christmas Tree is Up

I finally decided to put up our Christmas tree last night. Unlike the past years, I somehow felt indifferent. It's like I wasn’t excited. Like I did not feel happy at all. It was strange. Setting up the tree has been a tradition that I look forward to. It always makes me happy and excited for the holidays.

However, it was different yesterday.

Munchkin was sick. She was not in the mood and didn’t feel like helping in putting the decors. She missed her class’ Christmas presentation. 

Yesterday was supposed to be the Christmas presentation before the school break. Tapioca didn't allow us to attend because Munchkin was still not feeling well. He said we needed to let her rest so as not to repeat what happened from her last school activity. You can read about it here.

Once again, I felt bad. This is the 2nd time she got sick when they were supposed to have a school program. Last time was during Linggo ng Wika. She was already high with fever but insisted on joining the program.

I was sad and disappointed. I mean, this was supposed to be another first for our Little Munchkin but what can I do? Who would have thought that this would happen again, being sick again before the school presentation? Am I being a bad Mom? Am I not taking care of her well? The stress and anxiety was killing me so I thought maybe putting up the Christmas tree would help.

Going back to my Christmas tree, I find the color theme and the floral decors boring. Or maybe the right words would be sad and depressing? I felt that it didn't spark joy. What do you think? 

I know my Christmas tree is fake and cheap but the decors did not help. It somehow made it look more cheap. It also felt lifeless.  I was so sorry it felt so fake. It just made me feel more sad than I already was.  

I swear, I'm going to get rid of those decors when Christmas is over. I wouldn't even think of recycling them. So sorry Mother Earth.

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Munchkin's First Field Trip

It’s Munchkin’s first field trip today. I’m so glad I insisted on Tapioca to join us.

When the school announced this year’s field trip, we were apprehensive of joining because of the steep price. Php 1,700 for kids and Php 1,800 for adults. Well it’s reasonable if it’s just Munchkin. But if all three of us join, that will be Php 5,300. If you think about it, we can spend that amount for an overnight trip out of town.

Tapioca said one of us will have to stay and that’s gonna be him since he has work. I thought about it. If it’s just me and Munchkin, who’s gonna take our pictures? Who will watch over our stuff on the bus during the stopover? Or when we need to go to the loo? Who am I gonna talk to aside from Munchkin? I don’t know anyone there except from Munchkin’s teachers. I’m anti-social na kasi hahaha. So I insisted he join. This is our daughter’s first field trip. We should not miss it. Kebs na sa gastos. That’s why both of us are working so we can provide these experiences.

. . .  the little munchkin woke up early and excited for the day

eating instant noodles that daddy cooked for breakfast . . .

. . . slurp, slurp, slurp!!!

As I was saying, I’m glad Tapioca joined us. He woke up extra early today and made egg salad sandwiches which we will bring as baon. He also packed Munchkin’s stuff - extra clothes, snacks, towels, etc. When I woke up, he was cooking instant noodles for breakfast. All Munchkin and I had to do was eat, take a shower and get ready. Awesome, right? I didn't even ask him to do all these. Nagkusa ang lolo nyo.

Part of me wanted to scold myself. Because I’m the mother. I should be responsible for doing those things. I should be the one taking care of them.

Times like these, I really appreciate Tapioca. I’m thankful that I can always count on him. That he will step up when I’m slacking.     

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