Friday, October 26, 2007
an open air museum
 sometimes, last minute trips are the best way to go. last friday, friends who had nothing planned on the weekend gamely agreed to join us on a day trip to ballenberg - an open air museum that featured switzerland as it once was, more than 100 years ago - the houses, mostly. it's amazing how different the architecture of buildings each canton had. it also featured "men at work", making lumber - trimming the trunks to make planks, among others. the day was great except for one factor - it was freezing cold and we were not-so dressed up for the occasion. i think temperature was around 3 degrees, it would have been fine if it wasn't so windy! but all in all, it was fun! we spent the whole day at the exhibit and took shelter inside the charming houses. we then capped the day with a very hot and spicy indian dinner in Interlaken. you can check out our photos here  the whole day was not enough for a by-foot expedition and freezing weather, so by 4pm we decided to leave - the place was just huge at 660,000sqm, we missed the alpine region of the exposition, which i think is really nice. maybe we can go there another day, but that will probably be next year already since the museum is closed from 1st november until 31st of march every year - necessarily, at wintertime. here's the map of the place, so the next time we come there we will be going thru the East Entrance Brienzwiler to see the Alpine, The Valais, Bernese Oberland and Ticino regions.   Labels: friends, swiss life, trips |
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
a third one
... scrapbook layout, that is! :) i've managed to make my 3rd manual scrapbook layout, it's not ritzy at all but i'm sharing it anyway since i managed to finish it in one sitting yesterday while the boys were taking their afternoon naps. hopefully, i'll make more... since i did have more than a hundred photos printed out for the purpose. |
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
the alphabet tag
| Got tagged by Jody, thanks! It's laundry day today and I wanted to sneak this one in :) My abcd .... Instructions: Each player starts with 7 random habits/facts about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog! Seven facts about me: I am a currently a SAHM, it's been almost two years now. I have two little cute boys, videos are below :). I am super happily married to Francis for almost 5 years now. I learned to cook about 3 years ago and am really enjoying the art now. I am a bargain hunter. I love to travel. A - Age: 31 B - Band Listening To Right Now: None. Yesterday, was listening to Hillsong music. C - Career: Accountant, currently Domestic Affairs Manager a.k.a. SAHM. D - Drink or Smoke: Nope. E - Easiest Friends To Talk To: Fara, Haydee, Jade, Grace, Mardi, Mae, Jaypee. G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Gummy Worms - the sour ones! H - Have a Boyfriend: 3 :p I - In love: With my family. J- Junk Food You Like: Chips, Chocolates, Dried Fruits K - Kids: Two boys, Franco & Simon L - Longest Ride Ever: Vevey, Switzerland to Las Pinas, Manila 24hrs door to door N - Names For Your Future Kids: hmm... Girl - Alessandra, Boy - Isaiah (first thing that came to my mind at the moment) O - One Wish You Have Now: pwede bang two? Peace and Health for everyone. P - Phobias: hmm... I am scared of open waters, I am not a swimmer. Q - Favorite Quote: "When we look back and wonder how we ever made it through, we realize it’s not because we’ve been clever but because God has been wise, not because we’ve been strong but because God has been mighty; not because we’ve been consistent but because God has been faithful.” R - Reasons To Smile: Being alive, having my family together and intact. S - Sleeping Hours: 10/11pm-7/8am T - Time You Woke Up: today, 7:30am U - Unknown Fact About You: I can draw/paint... but haven't practiced at all. V - Vegetable You Hate: Okra W - Worst Habit: hmm... sometimes preferring to go barefoot when you should wear slippers! X - X-rays You’ve Had: chest, for annual physical exams. Y - Yummy Foods: Pinoy BBQ, Japanese and Thai cuisine Z - Zodiac Sign: Aries I'm tagging... whoever runs along this post and wants to share some facts about themselves :) Labels: ala lang |
Monday, October 22, 2007
talent show
| one relaxing weekend, the boys decided to show-off their talents... well, one's talent for now is eating. :D |
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
a taste of SG
we live in an apartment that has a gym, video rental, hair salon, health insurance company, carpet store and an asian (indian) store on the ground floor... so we are basically living in a commercial area... so very convenient, since right across the street is the commercial center, banks, and restaurants. but, for me, the best perk of living in the city center, particularly in our area, is the asian store downstairs. it sells relatively cheaper items (comparing with those from the supermarket), and i get to go down in my slippers, just put on a jacket and buy, say, 4  so, what's a photo cooked crabs doing here? well... you see, last week, while i was in the store buying some supplies, i've chit-chatted with the owner and she offered if i needed some veggies, i said not today, and then she said, we have some fresh seafood too! and that got my attention... so i asked what they had, she said she had some blue crabs... yummm... so i said, ok i'll be back, i just need to run to the other store since they don't have the veggie for my kare-kare. so going back, i check-out the crabs, they were good! looks fat (i don't really know how to judge or how to pick). so i went home with 4 blue crabs, which i think weighed around 700 grams. i actually had a traumatic experience with frozen seafood crabs from a store i went to before, what happened was, when i defrosted and cooked the mud crabs i bought, they were literally empty, i think the storege time was too long, so the meat diluted, i don't know! and then there was the milk fish incident, where i bought the already cleaned and cut frozen bangus, i made sinigang out of it, but we were again disappointed because the fish bones was everywhere! matinik talaga! but the fish itself was good, it was just too "boney". so we promised ourselves never to buy seafood from these stores again... but the fresh seafood offer was too tempting so i decided to give it a try. i bought the 4 crabs without knowing yet what dish to make out of it. and then i remembered the other week we went to a birthday lunch in a malaysian restaurant... they served mud crabs! that's it! i'll make that kind of meal! so on i went searching the net for the recipe... and here is what i made! singapore black pepper crabs, a simple yet very tasty dish, and quite easy to make! i'm sharing the recipe, just in case you'd be interested to give it a try! looking at the photos of my finished products makes my mouth water!  oh, the dish was great, fiery hot - but that never stopped us from finishing the 4 crabs down to the last meat... really mouth watering! enjoy! Singapore Black Pepper Crabs   To serve 4 (but two people managed to finish it... and even wanting more!) Ingredients for the crab:
Method for the crab: 1. Have your fish market kill and clean the crabs, cut them into quarters and crack the claws. i promise... it's yum-yum! and as far as we're concered, it is exactly how it should taste... maybe just a little milder, since i've adjusted the "hotness".  Labels: dailies, in the kitchen |
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
an afternoon at the circus zoo (knie)
 we watched the circus two weeks ago in another town... now, this week, the circus is in our town and, as usual, they had a mini-zoo just beside the tent of the main event. at a minimal fee, you can go oogle at the circus animals, ride the "live" merry-go-round and even get to ride the towering elephant.. and that we did and it was fun! here are the photos. btw, there were lots of horses, but we didn't get the chance to take photos of them as they were in their sables and it was busy, we were afraid if getting trampled-over by those big beautiful horses. checkout the photos here.  so there were ponies, zebras, lamas, camels, elephants, monkeys, pumba (you know, the wildhog), parrots, goats, dogs and of course, the horses.   |
Monday, October 15, 2007
when boys get bored...
... they would make a round of a shouting game... here's a sample, we got to capture the "moment" when were they were almost finished, so this is the mellow part of the game ... so, you can imagine how we "suffer the consequence" of their having fun when they decide to play it the car. hmm... maybe they're doing it on purpose?  |
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
For you folks out there born in the 1950's, 60's nd 70's
| i was actually teary-eyed while reading this... miss those good old days, buti na lang umabot pa ako, and am proud of that! btw, i belong to the latter decade... heheheh ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** TO ALL THE WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1950's, 60's and 70's !! First, some of us survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. ( sioktong ang inumin) They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, fish from a can ( brand : ligo ), and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints, pati na yung laruang kabayu-kabayuhan. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, no kneepads , sometimes wala ngang preno yung bisikleta. As children, we would ride in car with no seat belts or air bags – hanggang ngayon naman, di ba ? ( jeep ) Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. ( maykaya kayo pare ! ) We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle ( minsan straight from the faucet) We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. Or contacted hepatitis. We ate rice with tinunaw na purico ( dahil ubos na ang star margarine), nutribuns na galing kay macoy and drank sopdrinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight kasi nga..... . WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. Sarap mag patintero, tumbang preso , habulan taguan…. No one was able to reach us all day ( di uso ang celfon , walang beepers ). And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our trolleys or slides out of scraps and then ride down the street, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms....... ..WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. The only rubbing we get is from our friends with the words…..masakit ba ? pero pag galit yung kalaro mo,,,,ang sasabihin sa iyo…..beh buti nga ! We play in the dirt , wash our hands a little and ate with our barehands…we were not afraid of getting worms in our stomachs. We have to live with homemade guns – gawa sa kahoy, tinali ng rubberband , sumpit , tirador at kung ano ano pa na puedeng makasakit…..pero walang nagrereklamo. made up games with sticks ( syatong )and cans ( tumbang preso )and although we were told it would happen, wala naman tayong binulag o napatay….paminsan minsan may nabubukulan. We r ode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Mini basketball teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Walang sumasama ang loob. Ang magulang ay nandoon lang para tignan kung ayos lang ang bata….hindi para makialam. This generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and managers ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the government regulated our lives for our own good. and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?! PS - The big type is because your eyes may not be able to read this…. at your age ok lang ba kaibigan? pakipasa nga ito sa mga tunay mo na kaibingan para makaalaala pa. |