New Year 2008

We were debating on whether to welcome the new year at home or at Eastwood where there would be a fireworks display. We ended up staying at home because the mass ended at around 10:30pm and we expected CJ to be sleeping soon. True enough, he slept at around 11pm. Syempre nung nagputukan na, ang kawawang baby nagising at iyak ng iyak! Kawawa talaga kasi tulog na tulog siya, pagod from the day's lakad tapos putukan ng malakas. Dede siya ng dede at we hugged him tight pero matagal talaga bago siya napatahan.

During the day pala, we had lunch at Italianni's (the official restaurant of the Castillo family) kasi it was Ate's 50th birthday (golden girl na siya). Sayang we forgot to ask the waiters to sing (hehe, If I had done that I'm sure Ate would have been mortified hehe). Nandun din mga relatives ni honey from Canada. Shempre I took "last minute shopping" to the highest level and went around buying gifts during the time they were eating lunch. Wala yung imiisip kong gift (ubos na daw stocks) so I settled for something else, na turned out ay kelangan pala ni Ate kasi nagka-allergy siya sa old sunblock nya. Si honey pala, nung sinabi ko na sunblock binili ko as gifts, sabi ha? with that quizzical look on his face. Kala nya sunblock as in coppertone for swimming e december pa lang at di naman sila mag-a-outing. Hehehe.

Di na kami nakapag media noche kasi nakatulog ako kakapadede kay CJ. Kinabukasan na lang we ate ham and drank hot choco c/o our cook, Daddy. hehe. Before the mass pala we ate bread with butter and ham. sarap!

Christmas 2007

Dec 24 - we spent most of the day just lounging around in the house. Daddy cooked spaghetti for lunch (yummy!). The househelp was on christmas vacation too. I did not want to wash the dishes so the dirty dishes were all piled up in the sink. We went to church (Santuario de San Antonio) early because Ate said the church would be full. We arrived at around 7pm. The mass was at 8pm. So we ate a little at le Coeurde France (baka kasi magutom si CJ) and when we went to church at around 7:45 the church was already full. The pew occupied by the Castillos couldn't accommodate me anymore (hmph) so I sat alone in the pew in front of their pew. CJ was relatively behaved (as compared to another kid there). We ate dinner at Italianni's. I tried to buy gifts for honey's siblings at GB5 but Classic Confections (and I think the entire GB5) was already closed. For Andy & Adrian, and Mark & Doroy, we gave money. For mommy, we gave a bag (from Daki c/o kris kringle originally hehe). Fo ate, tess, and ernie, utang muna. From Ernie, we got cash. From ate and tess, CJ got toys. From ate, honey and I got clothes. At the stroke of midnight, we were at Shell McKinley getting free gas c/o ate's fleet card. We got home at amlost 1am. CJ fell asleep in the car. We opened the gifts (wow, tinding EQ ko na nyan ha, diko binuksan before xmas eve).

The next day, Christmas day, we woke up officially at 11am. Unofficially, I woke up at 8am because lola bear called from the province. We left the house at around 1pm to go to Tito Hermie's house. We bought a cake from red ribbon sa bayan (choco roll na xmas design). When we arrived at Tito Hermie's house, sobrang gutom na ako talaga kaya kain nako ng kain, nakalimutan ko nang pakainin muna si CJ. Ayun buti naman di nagreklamo at napakain ko rin nung tinanong ako ni Tita Edna kung kumain na si CJ. Medyo kumain na rin kasi si CJ ng spaghetti sa bahay, yung luto ng daddy nya nung Dec 24. Si CJ ang galing na kumanta.

CJ's new words

Daddy and CJ are at home now. Si Emily may dysmenorrhea ata kaya di pa nakakabalik. Omg, daming platong huhugasan ang naghihintay sakin. Hay. Anyway, katuwa lang, si CJ daw when his dad cooked spaghetty, said "Spaghetti!" sabay upo sa upuan nya and little table. Then when he ate he said, "This is really good!". Ang galing ha, di ko tinuruan yan. At galing ng daddy magluto.

Videoke King

Ang dami ko nang pinalampas na post dahil sa katamaran, but I just have to blog about this: My baby CJ scored a 95 on the magic sing yesterday at our annual christmas party at tito hermie's house! As in highest scorer siya, tie sila ni Papa (at tinalo pa ako ha). Twinkle, twinkle little star ang masterpiece. Imagine, for a 2-year old, may tono at timing na siya. Manag-mana sa ina!!! Grabe. Hehe.

Back at the Office

My last day at work was on August 29, 2005. My first day again was on Oct. 1, 2007. So after 2 years and one month I am back. Am posting some thoughts on this.

Last Thursday, my officemates treated me to lunch at Chili's. Bait talaga nila. Kasi they got their bonus na on that day and I had no bonus kasi kararating ko lang and nag-poof na yung bonus ko which i didn't get before I went on leave. Sayang talaga yung bonus na yun kainis. So anyway, my officemate asked me, which was better, T*G or Lawyers? Hands down, lawyers kasi iba ang culture. Everybody wants to go home as early as possible. Sa accountants, aba e pagtitinginan ka pa ng masama kung maaga ka umuwi, ang culture kasi e the more OT you make, the better employee you are. E diba it doesn't necessarily follow naman diba? Ako ngayon naco-compare ko yung self ko dati sa self ko ngayon. Dati very carefree, may mga friends ka, kain kayo sa Glorietta o Landmark, babalik ng matagal sa office, ang ending e gabi na ang uwi. Or magdi-dinner ng matagal, kaya late din umuwi. Tapos internet pa. So madaming sayang na oras. Ngayon, wala nakong friends talaga (yung close talaga I mean) tapos internet limited lang, so ako I really work so maraming naa-accomplish during the day. Dati nga pala kaya ako nakakaalis ng maaga kasi kahit relatively light lang ang gawa ko compared sa iba, the project I was raking in was earning so much money. So sa mata ng partner ko I was worth keeping. E di naman pwede i-promote yung ganun kasi diba, tama rin nga naman, ang culture e OT talaga, so pag nakita ng iba na bakit napromote yung maaga umuwi baka di na sila mag-OT dahil di nila maintindihan. Anyway, all that is behind me. I'm pretty happy where I am right now. My officemate asked din pala about the challenge, alin mas challenging, sa TCG or sa Lawyers and sabi ko same lang. Honestly, it's too early to tell kasi di pako nakakakausap sa mga taga-BIR and all those other gov't people. Pero yes, my work there was very challenging talaga. Wag na natin i-count yung seminars except yung pag gawa ng slides. Madali lang yun. Pero yung queries, ko, restructuring ko, very challenging yun. Wala pa talagang answers sa Pilipinas so I had to look at (palagi ito ha) Mertens, and Westlaw of course, and mga OECD at US model para sa interpretations of tax treaties, etc. Never ko pa yan nagawa dito ngayon. May one time (and I will never forget this), I was assigned a restructuring job by my partner, which my SD said siya na lang gagawa kasi hindi ko daw kaya! I actually said, hindi sir, kaya ko yan! Just give me an outline, let me know what you want to see, and I will do it. Aba ayaw pa rin. And he said I'm not belittling you ha. Hay kumulo talaga dugo ko nun. Hindi naman ako magsasabi na kaya ko kung hindi pako nakagawa ng ganun dati diba. Marami na akong nagawang restructuring. So na-insulto talaga ako. Pero ok na rin, at least siya na naghirap. So anyway, back sa kung ano mas challenging. I think kasi sa lawyers before you present something sa BIR (for ex., you are filing a request for ruling) usually sure ka na talaga sa sagot mo. Like, meron na talagang ruing on that issue in the past. Kasi medyo delikado kung di pa tested yung theory mo, tapos paglabas ng ruling e adverse pala sa gusto mong kalabasan. E di patay ka sa kliyente mo. Sa T*G naman, we form our opinions kahit (I think lang ito ha) hindi pa siya tested sa authorities. Yan lang naiisip ko kung bakit mas wide ang nagagawa kong research dun as compared sa Lawyers.

Ok naman mga officemates ko. Napakabait talaga. At mga galante pa. Hehe. Dati kuman kami sa Joey Pepperoni, one of my officemates said, ako na bahala sa 500. Just like that. And the other said, bakit ka nakatingin sa akin ng ganyan, gusto mo manlibre ako ng pizza ano? Okay libre ko yung isang pizza. Just like that. Ang saya. Ako pa naman sucker for free food. Hehe.

Trick or Treat!

Yesterday, we went to Tiendesitas for CJ's first ever Trick or Treat. Well, I didn't really know what to expect from trick or treating (wala naman talagang ganyan sa Pilipinas diba). I basically found it as an excuse to dress up my baby in a costume. Hehe. Last Saturday, we went (for the first time also) to Trinoma (daddy wanted to look at something for his business) and I found in Toys 'R Us a nice pumpkin costume that was really cheap (like me hehe), P150 only, may pumpkin costume na, orange hat, and small pumpkin bag, pati plastic bag na pwede ding paglagyan ng candies. Trinoma looked very much like Market, Market. CJ stayed for an hour dun sa isang paid play area. He really enjoyed the slide there. Then we ate at Jollibee. Sosy ang dating ng Jollibee dun compared sa other Jollibee stores. Ibang klase ang seats.

Ok sorry pinaghalo ko na sa post na to yung Saturday lakad at Sunday lakad namin. Back to Sunday, Oct. 28. We went to Tiendesitas. Hirap maghanap ng parking so CJ and I went ahead while daddy looked for parking space. Nagpa-register kami and we got a bag. Tinatakan din yung back of CJ's right hand, na medyo na-amaze siya ng matagal dun dahil tinititigan nya talaga hehe. Then, because I was clueless, we just sat at the Activity Center and looked at the other kids. Pano ba talaga mag trick or treat diba? Do we go to the stores asking for candy? Parang kakahiya diba? So anyway we ended up eating Jun's Cebu Lechon (I had only eaten Cebu Lechon once and I will never forget about it kasi ang sarap talaga, ang dami kong nakain without realizing it. Pero nung kumain ako sa Cebu talaga yun sa authentic talaga. Binili pa ng maing relatives na taga-Cebu talaga so I guess the best na talaga yun). Daddy had never eaten Cebu Lechon before so game din sya (kahit may high blood hehe). Well, masasabi ko lang e mabagal ang service and inspite of matagal dumating ang pagkain e di pa mainit. Ano ba yun. Btw, fyi, I asked them if they flew their lechon in from Cebu, sabi di daw, they just cook it sa Fort branch nila. Well, technically, if you know the recipe, the taste should be the same anywhere the pig is cooked diba. Pero maybe may difference sa taste kasi di nga mainit. Sabi ni hubby ok naman daw. They probably couldn't microwave it kasi baka kumunat.

After tiendesitas, we went to Fun Ranch to see kung ano bang meron dun. We saw a sign din kasi saying they have trick or treat oct 27 and 28. Well, masaya naman mga kids dun pero wala naman akong nakitang nagtitrick or treat (or baka naman tapos na). Dun sa camera shake (parang picture company or blow-up babies) ang daming candies mukhang walang nagtrick or treat hehe. Btw, we were not able to get a single candy. While we were at Jun's Cebu Lechon, may kids lumapit sa tindera, sabi "trick or treat!" sabi nila, sorry, kasi ubos na (yung candies, I suppose). Parang ayoko naman mag-ikot2 tapos ganun ang response makukuha ko. Anyway, we don't want to give CJ candies dahil masisira yung teeth nya. So ok na sakin yung ma-picture-an siya in costume hehe. Yung camera shake pala, sabi may free photoshoot daw, syempre na-excite kami ni hubby, yun pala for the first 30 registrants. Sa shop nila mukhang wala namang tao e, pero we surmised na tapos na yung first 30 participants. Aba pano naman if we went in tapos sabihin namin, meron pa bang free, tapos sabihin, ubos na po, ano yun, lalabas na lang kami? Well, parang ayoko ng ganun, diba nakakahiya. Paninindigan ko na na pumasok ako diba. Hehe. So in short e di na lang kami pumasok. Hehe.

After Fun Ranch we went to Megamall naman kasi sabi ni hubby may real estate expo daw. Syempre when we went there wala naman. Fil-Negosyo expo meron. Pero si CJ knock-out na. Karga ko siya habang tulog and I just sat on one of the seats sa expo kasi ang bigat na talaga ni CJ as in. Then we went to Booksale (my favorite store) and CJ and hubby went to the Food Court at dun umupo while CJ was sleeping. (Btw dami naubos na diaper ni CJ sa dami ng ininom nya.) I was able to buy a lot of books (26!) pero mga 1.2k lang lahat. Dati Dr. Seuss ang gusto kong kolektahin, then ngayon pati Berenstain Bears (eto super ok, may aral talaga), then kahapon I was able to buy a lot of Arthur books. Dati ayoko ng Arthur kasi ang pangit ng drawing pero mukhang okay naman yung stories so okay na rin.

Then we went to Toy Kingdom. Ang ganda na ng lugar, newly renovated. May portion pa nga ata na under renovation pa. Si CJ natatakot sa mga spooky masks (pano tinatakot ng daddy ano ba yun, Natakot din pala si CJ sa statues ng Alien at Predator sa Mario's sa Tiendesitas). Ako dun sa may customer service hintay ng toy registry gift for one of my bosses sa office who invited us to his son's 1st bday party sa Nestle Creamery on Nov. 11. I'll post something about this promise. Never pako nakapunta sa ice cream party e hehe.) CJ and hubby naman ikot2 sa store. CJ ay super bait talagang bata, wala akong masabi. Talon2 lang, sayaw2 sa mga nakikita nya pag natutuwa siya but he never demanded that we buy him anything. Kunwari yung swing, pa-swing2 lang sya ng matagal, pero di yung tipong di na aalis unless bilhin mo yun. DUn sa may bukana ng toy kingdom may isang tindera may "bubble gun" siya, tuwang-tuwa si cj at maraming bata. Ayun 220 lang ata, plus refill ng bubble solution, mga 294 lahat, e may points nako sa SM advantage card so 208 lang lumabas. Sobrang tuwang-tuwa si CJ. Hanggang ngayon, eto daddy nya gumagamit ng bubble gun.

So that's our weekend story. Last Sat night pala, nagsimba na kami ni hubby sa village church at nandun ang mga kandidato for the barangay elections. Today ang elections but I'm not voting. Hanggang ngayon e sa Las Pinas pa rin ako naka-rehistro at hindi ko naman kilala mga kandidato so wag na lang. Pero pag national elections e kahit malayo talagang pumupunta pa kami sa Las Pinas. Nag-attempt nako dati magpalipat ng rehistro e ang guulo, walang pila, nainis ako.

Isasali ko na rin nung Friday. Wala yung partner namin nasa Davao for the PICPA convention (I made the slides for his presentation). E out din lahat ng officemates ko that day, so I went alone to Landmark dapat pero stopover muna sa Powerbooks sa Greenbelt. Nakita ko yung Eric Carle books na sabi sa n@w e highly recommended daw ng early childhood educators. Kaya lang sobrang mahal e. Sana may makita akong ganun sa booksale o books for less. Then kain muna ako quick lunch sa landamrk foodcourt (binilisan ko lang, alam mo naman praning dahil sa glorietta blast). Normal fare ko ngayon yung sulit meal D na mushrrom ang sauce plus garden salad na caesar's ang dressing. Kita nga from Landmark na may puting plywood na nagtatakip sa Glorietta 2. O sige isali na rin natin thoughts ko sa G2 tragedy. I think conspiracy yun ng gov't, bomb talaga yun, tama si Trillanes na diversionary lang. I mean diba not long after that e biglang pinardon si Estrada. The timing is really suspicious, you have to admit. Katakotkasi dun sa G2 na gitna may books for less e suki ako dun e, I love buying books for CJ dun. Buti na lang papunta kami sa client nung may sumabog. Freaky kasi one of those who died was actually just browsing sa booksore na yun. So anyway after lunch punta ako sa taas ng Landmark and I bought 2 oshkosh shirts, dapat gift natin for the bday boy na anak ng isang boss ko sa office, but then I realized sa anak ko na lang kasi bagay sa kanya hehehe. Yung isa naman dun sa isang inaanak ko na lang. Wala pa talaga ako nasa-shopping for my inaanaks. Buti na lang konti lang sila. Balak ko kasi pera nalang, I think mas kailangan nila (or their parents) yun e. Pero kids love ifts syempre and sa mga magulang naman talaga mapupunta ang pera so siguro a small gift na lang then some money talo-talo na. I bought lots of red envelopes/angpaw (spelling?) na for that.

So when I went back sa office, weok-work muna, then just my luck, nag-aya yung isa kong officemate may sale daw ng rubber shoes sa client nya, not open to the public, pwede lang kami sumama kasi friend nya yung nandun. E diba nasira na yung rubber shoes ko, yung sole natanggal sa may taft avenue nung last Sunday ng bar hehe. Yung kay mama ganun din ang sira. Kaya wala akong rubber shoes for the SGV sportsfest (which is ok na rin kasi ayoko naman sumali kasi wala naman akong sport talaga). Ayun sa tuwa ko, I bought 3 pairs of rubber shoes, 2 for me and 1 for mama. Hehe. Kasi laki ng discount e, 70% ata. Basta malaki discount sobra. So happy-happy ako. Nung sinuot ko yung isa kainis lang kasi ang sakit ng paa ko. Medyo weird kasi Air Zoom sya pero sakit sa paa. Though sabi sa web konti lang daw ang cushioning nun. Whatever.

Ok stop na next post naman.

Catching up

There are so many things to blog about. After the last Sunday of the bar exams, I really want to blog about so many things. I stopped myself from blogging during the review because time is really precious. I couldn't afford to spend my precious study time for blogging. Kaya lang for some reason I couldn't access our blog kasi spam blog daw! Kakainis. Anyway ok na ngayon pero ang tagal ha.

After only a week of rest after the bar, I started working again. To think I was contemplating on posting about career options, the factors that I would consider, etc. In a flash, I had decided to return to SGV. Let's do our updates in bullet fashion, shall we?

* SGV - I had actually said yes earlier to a small law firm in Greenhills. Being a mom, I wanted to spend as much time as I could with my family. I knew that travel time alone would eat up a lot of my time if I chose to work in Makati. So Greenhills was a good choice. I asked God for a sign, but I didn't really specify what sign I wanted. That week, Rod Strunk committed suicide (you might wonder, what does that have to do with my career choice? Wait lang.) The subject law firm was located in the building where Nida Blanca was killed, purportedly by Rod Strunk. What are the chances that that would happen while I was contemplating on joining that firm? Pretty slim I believed. Fyi, Nida was found dead in her car in the parking lot of the building so I guess security (and mumu?) was also a concern. So I said yes. Then subsequently, I learned that they had work on Saturdays, which a no-no for me. Weekends are for family. Come to think of it, 'twas really weird of me to base my yes on Rod Strunk's suicide. Hehe. Another thing, I had the misconception that a small frim equates with little work. WRONG. Small firm means less people to do the loads of work, so small firm = more work. So I decided to go back to SGV. Everything and everyone was familiar to me. Change and adjustment are not easy things to swallow, so I figured I might as well go back. I'm still adjusting, but things are not so bad. The people I work with are actually very nice. And I'm glad because I'm learning a lot of things. I determined that I'm really a perpetual student. I really like learning new things. So work that is clerical or repetitive will not make me very happy.

*CJ - CJ still loves reading books. Last Oct. 6 was his last day at Kindermusik (though we still have to attend 2 make-up classes in November for the 2 classes we missed). Kids were to come in costume. Being the kuripot that I am, I didn't want to buy a new costume (for a class that would last for only 45 mins? no way hehe). Fortunately, his superman costume (which he wore on his first birthday) still fit (though admittedly it was a bit tight hehe) so we made him wear that. Another mommy and I were laughing because our kids were wearing tight costumes hehe. But her child's case was worse because his green lantern costume actually ripped in the crotch area hehe. Anyway, there were 3 kids wearing superman costumes in the class! Funny! The teacher said it was a Superfriends convention. Kasi may naka-green lantern pa. O sige na nga, next time, I will look for a unique costume. Pero diba, why buy a new one when kasya pa naman yung luma? Hehehe.

On potty training naman, potty trained na talaga si CJ. Before, he would say, "wiwi, potty" then we would pull down his brief and let him wiwi on his potty. Now, he can take off his brief on his own and he goes to the bathroom and just tiptoes and makes wiwi on the bowl na derecho! Very good! Tipid sa diapers! Hehe.

On singing naman, he loves to sing na. His lolo bought him a cd of children's songs which he plays all day. He knows the last song on the cd and as soon as that is finished, he knows which button to push so the cd will start again. He even knows the button to push to make the volume louder. So now he has memorized a lot of songs. Twinkle, twinkle perfect na nya. Yung Are you sleeping brother John, sabi nya "I am sleeping" imbes na are you sleeping hehe.

Tinuruan sya ng yaya nya pag tinanong what's your name? He says "Name (kulang ng "my" hehe) is Cahlos Jose Sadua Tasteeyo (should be Carlos Jose Saldua Castillo) hehe ang cute. Pag what's your father's name naman sabi nya "Father's name is Donesto Tasteeyo (Jose Dionisio Castillo). Hehe, pangit na nga yung Dionisio ginawa pang Donesto. Haha.

*On Daddy - Daddy's bent on pursuing a career in real estate so currently he's taking up review classes for the real estate brokers' exam. I actually planned to take the exam with him pero di na ako magre-review, I would just read the materials (may hangover pa kasi ako nun after the bar, parang nasanay na ako may binabasa palagi) pero di rin natuloy kasi nga nagtrabaho nako after a week. Proud na proud ako dyan kasi talagang nagtitiyaga sya to learn and earn passive income for our family. Well, ako naman, I think gusto ko pa rin kahit papaano mag-work pero sana few hours lang and malapit lang dito sa bahay. I'll gve myself mga 7 years to learn all that I can learn tapos (sana magka-guts ako to do this) I'll put up my own tax accounting and law firm at home (para wala ng travel time - travel time is really time wasted, diba?). Hope you support me when I open my firm ha! (Aba feeling may ibang taong nagbabasa ng blog namin hehe).

*On Papa - Papa has put up his own consultancy firm with his friends. Something that has to do with banking 'coz Papa's been a banker for like 20+ years and he's really an expert. I think he's having fun with this new racket.

*On Mama - Inaayos pa rin ang bahay sa Las Pinas.

*On Lola - Eto, bago lang masakit daw tuhod nya, sabi ng doc di naman daw arthritis, baka daw osteoporosis. Well. we can't do anything much about it now except for her to drink painkillers kasi Osteo dapat bata ka pa may calcium ka na e. Right now, I'm taking calcium tablets so sans di ako magka-osteoporosis in the future.

*On college friends - Last Oct. 7 (na Pacquiao-Barrera match din, panalo si Pacquiao by decision) my college barkada met to celebrate the birthdays of Onor (Oct 4), Momer (June 26) and JOven (Aug 5). Matagal na rin huling nagkita-kita (dati to celebrate Joven's passing the bar). 6 na lang kami naiwan sa Pilipinas. Kulitan at tawanan na naman. Lunch was at abe Serendra libre ni Onor, dessert was a takeout large mango bravo cake from Conti's c/o Momer and Joven. We wen't to Lian and Ivan's condo (very nice pad) at dun we drank brewed Starbucks coffee (di na mawawala to sa bawat get-together; bahagi na ng barkada hehe) with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, etc. Sarap! Kwentuhan galore na naman.

Ok masyado na to mahaba. Next post naman about the bar experience.

We're back!

Finally, we are back online!

The Dreaded Bar Exams

At 12mn tonight, it will be August 1. One month to go before the dreaded bar exams. I better stop blogging and return to reading. Signing off for now.

The Toothbrushing Struggle

It's been so hard to brush CJ's teeth. He never liked brushing. And it's not wise to force him lest he despise toothbrushing forever.

We brought him to a Pedia Dentist once, Dr. Aida Salcedo at the Philippine Children's Medical Center. She was very nice and very knowledgeable. I think she is one of the pioneer pedia dentists in the Philippines (well, at least I think she is -- she trains the new pedia dentists and she's quite "experienced" already - ok, she's a little old. There, I said it.) I asked her a gamut of questions and she answered them all (though at one point she said, I have other patients, I don't have all the time in the world - hehe). She really knows her stuff. I just love it when I ask doctors so many things and they can answer my questions. It makes me feel that my family is in good hands. Anyway, she said that CJ has some teeth that need to be "fixed", and to do that, she needs to anesthesize the baby (an anesthesiologist has to do it) and the operation will be done in the hospital. I found it too drastic an option considering that we are talking about milk teeth here, they are bound to fall off in a few years. A n@wie (member of my yahoogroup, newlywedsatwork) asked for advice re:this operation, and someone even told of a case where the child became a special child because of a botched operation. Well, I wasn't willing to risk that so we brought CJ to hubby's dentist and she cleaned his teeth and said she would put pasta on his teeth on our next visit. Well, on our next visit CJwas cranky so it didn't push through. Maybe next time.

In n@w, some members suggested different ways of encouraging kids to brush. The most effective and doable I think is when the mommy sings while brushing her baby's teeth. Another one is the baby will brush the mommy's teeth while the mommy brushes the baby's teeth. I was thinking about how to implement this but I haven't started yet. So imagine my surprise when yesterday, I saw CJ brushing his teeth, alone, just like that. Siguro ngayon lang talaga siya ready. Praise God at nagtu-toothbrush na siya.

Kotong Area

I attended the Philippine Real Estate Festival 2007 last Sunday at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. While I was driving my way through Buendia in Makati, I saw a Nissan Murano making an illegal left turn from Pasong Tamo to Buendia, disregarding the oncoming traffic from the opposite lane. He was flagged down by some traffic enforcers. I said to myself he deserved it. However, I was suddenly struck with fear when I realized I will be going through an area where I have been victimized by kotong cops who flag people down with no apparent reason, except maybe to get some grease money.

My wife has been victimized once and I have been victimized twice in the vicinity of Roxas Boulevard and I was thinking about this while crossing Roxas boulevard and Macapagal Avenue, being careful and wary of the traffic enforcers. With a sigh of relief, I was able to reach the parking aree of the WTC. Once I accomplished my tasks, which was to get foreclosed real estate listings from participating banks, I happily got on my car and exited on Buendia. After crossing Roxas Boulevard, I said to myself I was home free... I was wrong. Near the intersection of Taft Avenue and Buendia, the bus in front of me suddenly made a left turn. I stayed on my lane and crossed Taft Avenue. Lo and behold, this brown clad traffic enforcer is flagging me down. I stopped and rolled down my window and asked what the problem was. He said I was swerving. What the f*$k I was telling to myself. I respectfully told him that the bus in front of me was the one who suddenly turned to the left. He then mumbles that I was not on the right lane and I was speeding and reckless. Speeding and reckless at 20kph?!?! He then asks for my driver's license which I give hesitantly. He then says he will have to temporarily confiscate my drivers license. Now this is getting absurd. He the says without hesitation "Is there anything you want to do so I won't have to take your license?". Now i get it, he's asking for money in exchange for letting me go. When I was taking out a 20peso bill, he showed me his list of traffic violations and pointed to an entry which states swerving has a 500 peso penalty. I was thinking of the inconvenience if I contested this and had to retrieve my license from the LTO so I just flashed a 100peso bill. The traffic enforcer got the money and said I should be very careful with my driving next time.

Oh well, at least I spent no more than 10 minutes and 100 pesos in exchange for spending a whole day lining up at the LTO office to get my license back and pay the 500peso penalty. Some might say I am contributing to the corrupt practises of these traffic enforcers but If you experience going to the LTO, you'll also swear that you'll never go back there ever again. I guess the only word of advice I can give to fellow motorists is to avoid that area altogether, there's just too many corrupt traffic enforcers and they will flag you down sooner or later.

CJ the Bookworm

I just had to make a blog about CJ’s feats these past few days. Halos ma-memorize na nya ang “The Foot Book” and “Hop on Pop”, both by Dr. Seuss. And to think we just bought those books in July! I am so glad I got the idea of buying books from Booksale from Mommy Trina of homeschoolphilippines.blogspot.com. I don’t know her personally, but I came across her blog when I was researching about homeschooling. She wrote about the books that she bought for her son Nitoy. I tried buying some books too ( I got some tips from my friends Farrah and May that I should buy Dr. Seuss books). And now CJ is hooked! He is only 2.5 years old but he loves books! Of course he doesn’t know how to read yet (though we are thinking if we can read somehow because it’s quite difficult to memorize sounds and connect them with the pictures. It’s amazing how he knows the right words that are written on the pages when he flips the pages and “reads” them. Hmm.) but he always wants me to read to him. I read somewhere that when reading to a child, be as animated as you can be, and I do my best to read “with feelings” so to speak. Reading aloud is good for me too because it forces me to brush up on my English. I don’t usually speak English (I usually only speak straight English when I’m angry hehe) but with this exercise, I’m hitting so many birds with one stone. I’m teaching CJ to love books, how to read, and how to pronounce, I’m brushing up on my English, and of course my son and I are getting closer as reading is one of our bonding moments.

I don’t remember reading many books when I was a child, though I do remember that we had a few board books. As we (my brother and I) grew older, our parents bought us those nature and science books, but not the simple story books. Would you believe I wasn’t able to read any Dr. Seuss book? Well, I guess there are also many others who haven’t read his books but I’m glad that I am able to read them, albeit only now.

My next idea is to bring CJ to a nice bookstore, like Powerbooks or a different bookstore. Once when we were in Mall of Asia, I went into a bookstore where a mother was reading to her child in one corner. The child was so young, probably only 2-3 years old and she knew what the story was all about already. What a cool idea. You can read all the books that you want, and for free! Naka-aircon pa. Probably the family can do this by end of September.

Kindermusik with Teacher Jeannie

We first attended a Kindermusik trial class on June 22, 2007. It was Teacher Gimbey’s practice class, and we were privileged to attend for free because Teacher Gimbey is the friend of my good friend Eugene Teves. We liked the idea of a music class for CJ. We were looking for a class to improve his socialization skills. Nothing academic or structured. We had never enrolled CJ in any class at that time. We were careful not to send him to just any school because he might be traumatized and not like learning at all.

Anyway, during the practice class, it was Teacher Jeannie who really made the effort to make CJ comfortable with the surroundings and helped him participate in the class. The class was actually for 3-5 year olds, and we thought we would just be observing, but Teacher Jeannie was nice enough to let CJ participate. She was really nice and CJ liked her very much. So we enrolled CJ for the first semester class which started last June 30, 2007.
CJ likes his classes very much. He likes their play area. He likes the Pete and PJ book that’s part of the take-home kit. He loves, loves, loves the Home CDs too, so much so that we play them so many times during the day. I think the CDs now have so many scratches from being played too much. The CD player has also given up now. Daddy says it’s probably because the CD head(?) is dirty. We’ll probably be able to clean it by tomorrow when Daddy brings a cleaning kit.
I’d have to give some credit to Teacher Jeannie and Kindermusik for CJ’s improvement in his speaking, singing, and dancing skills. He is so musically inclined. And he loves to sing and dance. We are so proud of him.