Our Village Fiesta

Today is our village fiesta, in honor of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady Of The Pillar. This special day is always celebrated on the second Sunday of October.  It is also the 34th anniversary of my younger daughter's baptism. 

We usually baptize our babies within two months of birth, but then, the contractors whom my husband was talking to for a long time suddenly became free to start our home renovation.  They showed up without warning one Monday morning, so we took advantage of the opportunity.  We badly needed the house extension as we already had three children and our original house had only two bedrooms.

To make a long story short, the renovation took longer as is usually the case in most constructions.  When we pushed back the baptism of our daughter to October, after the cleaning and polishing inside and outside our home; we were oblivious that it would coincide with the fiesta.  By tradition some Filipinos would schedule such occasions to coincide with the fiesta or even Christmas since they would be giving a party anyway, "para minsanan" (one time preparation), they would say; but that is not us; we want such special occasion to be a separate and distinct affair.  

Back to the village fiesta. 

In the late 70's, when we bought our house in this village, most residents were basically our contemporaries; everyone then were eager to connect with neighbors as we were all strangers in this place. I recall street meetings in our home as my husband had been a long time Chairman.  Our Christmas parties were celebrated by the entire street. 

A week before the occasion, a carnival opens in the plaza, the villagers would go there to join in the fun; they would ride the ferries wheel while children enjoy the mini rides.  The fiesta used to be a two-day celebration; on the first night, there was amateur singing contest and residents participated. 

The second day was focused on church activities since it is the feast day of our Lady of the Pillar; mass baptisms and mass confirmations were administered by the visiting bishop. 

Parade bands would go around the village, people would linger in the streets; residents usually invite friends and relatives to their homes and the celebration would last the whole day until late at night when they watch a variety show. The residents pulled strings to invite as many show biz personalities and celebrities to sing or just for personal appearance. 

 

Nowadays however, this is no longer true. I guess, we are not so excited anymore, for one thing most of our children are adults who now have their own lives somewhere in the city or even abroad. 

This morning, as my husband and I attended the 10:30 mass as we do every Sunday, we were surprised that the church, including the wings were over-flowing.  We were a little late but the usherettes know us so they sat us on the 4th row together with the church committee and members of church organizations.  

It was a concelebrated high mass, with two bishops and at least 10 priests in attendance.  The main celebrant who is a visiting bishop gave the homily; he said that the blessed Virgin Mary made this apparition in Zaragoza, Spain, while still on earth, she was then living in Jerusalem.  To know more about this celebration/ apparition, click this link:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_the_Pillar

Today, I am happy that our village fiesta is confined in church activities, nothing pompous or commercial about it as most celebrations are nowadays. 

I Fancy Starfish

This Christmas season, I'm planning to use sea life theme for my home decoration in the living room. 

This idea came up when I asked my older daughter to get me two pieces of starfish since her family went for vacation in Shangrila, Boracay.  I have a fancy for starfish that I even bought a pair of starfish earrings, with 106 diamond bits. 

This week, I started my research for sea life design ideas. I already have some pieces to put together, and I wanted to see how I can display them to best advantage. 

I thought I'd work around the shades of blue to pick up the color of the sea and sky, with touches of white for clouds and silver to mimic the color of sand.  I think the silver would add to the festive look  in keeping with the season; something tinsel.  

I went window shopping this week and finally, yesterday to my delight, I got the throw pillows and I was happy because I got the colors and prints I wanted at reasonable prices. 

Today, I asked my maid to take off the lacy beige curtains, and in its place I intend to drape the 30 yards of while lace material as window treatment.  I invited my granddaughter's nanny who has this artsy flair to help me execute my idea in putting up the drapes. 

I also asked my maid to vacuum the windows and carpet so I could start my project. I started putting the new throw pillows in place:

This bushida tree came from my husband's front garden. I guess it hit a stone underneath the earth, so it never grew, it's almost like a bonsai.  One day, we just found that its leaves dried up.  My husband uprooted it and sprayed metallic gold to prevent decay.  I intend to make it my Christmas tree,  I'll hang miniature starfish shells,  I'm just waiting for my older daughter to get them for me when her family will go on vacation to Shangrila, Mactan soon. 

I gathered my sea life materials to arrange them in place.

Finally I went to the blue room where I displayed some of these items.  I discovered that my two precious starfish shells are gone, nada!  

I moved everything, checked every nook and corner, turned over drawers but nothing!  My most important decor, the "star" of my show is gone!

Oh, where can they be?  Sigh....

Filipino Food Presented In Style

Who says Filipino food can't compare with international cuisine because they can't be presented in an attractively appetizing manner?  Yesterday, at Crisostomo, a restaurant famous for Filipino food gave me a surprise! 

My daughter-in-law is in town to attend a class reunion, and we had to meet her for I was tasked by my younger daughter to send through her  the final cut of her Shangrila Mactan wedding video.  Whenever my daughter-in-law and my son are in town, they usually come over for dinner or even brunch I prepare at home. 

But this time, she called:

"Mommy, can we just meet at town center for tea?  I have to visit my grandma in Batangas early in the morning and my reunion is in the evening."  She also told me that she didn't anticipate getting home almost midnight the night before.

"There were long lines at the terminal 3 immigration check in, it took me an hour, then, I had a long wait for my luggage to come out from the carousel". 

I thought we would meet for high tea at Le Petit Cherie, a French restaurant at Molito, but my son thought she may just want local snacks like:

 bibingka (rice cake lined with banana leaf underneath; cooked at the bottom and on top). 

Puto  bongbong (a violet-colored rice cake steamed in a bamboo tube, served with sugared freshly grated coconut shavings).

While I realized later that Le Petit Cherie may have an assortment of these local delicacies as well as their usual spread of French pastries, my husband suggested Crisostomo.  In the end, it was an excellent choice for my daughter-in-law had to buy some stuff from Rustan's, evident of the big bag of items from where else but Rustan's that she was carrying along. 

I was surprised how Crisostomo presented my daughter's-in-law order. The lowly street snacks, Turon (plantain, dredged in brown sugar with fresh jackfruit, rolled in rice wrapper and deep fried). This came with a dip, fondue-style, looked like salted caramel, but of rich coco jam. I would say that foreign visitors would delight seeing this, and enjoy eating it as well. 

The churros that my son-in-law ordered was pretty much served in the same way. Sorry, I didn't take a picture, but it looks just as interesting. 

I couldn't resist their halo halo, (assortment of sweetened plaintain, tapioca, yam jam, creme brûlée, gelatin, etc., served with shaved ice, soaked in milk and topped with ice cream). There is even a choice of ice cream: ube(violet yam), cheese or vanilla. I chose cheese. 

While we were enjoying a happy hour catching up;  I told my daughter-in-law not to hesitate to say when it's time for her to go. She said, she still had to get some stuff for my son waiting back home with their 6-month-old son. She will fly home today to catch up with their weekly family outing she doesn't want to miss.  

Back To My Chiropractor After Seven Months

After seven months, I felt I had to see my chiropractor again. 

"How are you, Rita?",  Dr. Storm greeted me cheerfully as I entered his office. 

"I'm good, except I feel like electric current is running through my arm, from my elbow to my shoulder and I feel some kind of discomfort on my left mid-upper back", I respond. 

"And what else", he further asked.

"The second big toe on my left foot is quite tender, it is a bit painful when I walk or I stand on my toes."  

"Ok, let's check, 'da-pa' ",   (lie on your stomach), he said indicating his examination table. 

He went through the routine of checking that I'm already familiar with, like putting my feet together, checking whether they are of the same length, any discrepancy between the two indicates that something is not right.  After the initial check, he was a bit surprised that my condition was not as good as it was after the adjustments he made seven months ago. 

"You have a neck injury, what happened?", he asked. 

So I started telling him about that day when my granddaughter and I were excitedly walking fast to check on something at the mall.  My left foot sort of tilted to the side that I stumbled.   It must have been a hard fall since I couldn't get up right away; two kind hands who happened along offered to help me up.

Then there was pain on my left foot as well as my left arm and  shoulder.  I thought the pain was just a result of the impact and would go away over time, but I was wrong. And so, I told Dr. Storm:

"I fell and it must have put pressure on my left side".

"When did this happen?"

"About three months ago. My family doctor said that the muscles were strained and may have swelled, hence the pain, so I thought that in time, it will get better." 

 Initially Dr. Storm applied pressure on my back making that familiar "cracking" sound, as a result of air being displaced as the bones move. He was surprised that my hips pretty much reverted to the same condition he observed the last time before he made adjustments. 

"Ti-ha-ya", he said, meaning lie on my back, he checked my feet again to see if they are of the same length. 

"Turn to your left" he said.  Feet together, with folded knees while my upper body is slightly flat on my back, my arms folded across my chest;  he pushed my hip towards the opposite side. The pressure caused a popping sound. He did the same on the other side, and my hips is adjusted. 

"You also have a slight knee injury", he added, as he went through the process of correcting it using his activator adjusting instrument. 

"What's that for"?, I asked.  

"It's an adjuster", he replied showing me how it works. It looks like a big syringe attached to a spring which is controlled by an adjustable ring to regulate the desired pressure. The nozzle can be directed to a specified area, and pressure is applied upon pushing the T-handle as in administering an injection. 

"Instead of using my fingers to work on your toe bones, I use this, it makes my work a bit easier.", he explained. 

"You have a neck injury as well,  I may have to see you for another one or two sessions more", he said.  He adjusted my neck, turning it to the right thus causing a significant cracking sound.  A minor sound was heard as he turned my neck on the other side.  I felt that my back ache was relieved. 

I went back for another adjustment after two days, this time I felt better, minus the tingling or the "electrical current" going on my left arm. I still feel some discomfort on my mid-upper back and my toe was still tender. 

Back to his examination table, he did the routine check up, then subsequently adjusted my back, applying three significant pressures starting above the hips progressing towards my mid, then upper back. I felt the pressure and when I heard those familiar sounds again, I'm relieved that adjustment was made. 

Finally, he worked on my neck, this time, it was a bit painful, producing a tighter cracking sound as he turned it to the left, then the right with the appropriate pressure. Before I realized it, the pain was gone. 

"How often should a person see a chiropractor?  Do we go only when there is pain?",  I asked. 

Dr. Storm did not answer my question directly but he told me: 

"I have been on chiropractic care for 42 years now".  He further explained that even children as early as 5, maybe put under chiropractic care as well.

I read that we may have a misaligned spinal column or vertebrae subluxation, without feeling any pain or discomfort. Therefore it is wise to go for an evaluation whether there is pain or not.

Now, I'm thinking that my husband and I should include a chiropractic evaluation to our annual medical check up so that immediate adjustment can be done when necessary.  I believe that it is worth the trouble and the expense.  More and more people are being educated on chiropractic care, so much so that nowadays, there are initiatives to include chiropractic care in HMO plans in most countries, including ours where Senate hearings are going on presently to implement this through a law.  

Check this out to know more about the importance of a well-aligned spinal column.

http://alignedbalance.com/benefits.html

 I learned from the book,"YOU: Staying Young" 

by Dr. Michael F. Roisen and Dr. Mehmet C. Oz claim that:  

"There are huge delays between the cause of a problem and the effects you actually see in your life.  That means you have to start building defenses in your thirties, forties, and fifties against attacks that may not occur until your sixties, seventies, and eighties."  

Following the same logic, I believe that it is never too late, even for seniors like us,  (we are almost 70) to be aware of such conditions to be able to prevent any future pain and/or discomfort, not to mention the effect on our health and well being. 

Bonding With Family

"Hi, Mom!", my older daughter greeted me on the phone as she usually does every morning. 

"can you accompany me to Dr. Rick?" ,

that's our family doctor, an iridologist.  She wanted a second opinion on earlier results from her OBGyn.  

"Of course", I replied.  

We made an earlier date for last Friday when she also took a leave from work but due to heavy rains, we opted to stay home. 

Didn't I say earlier that when I have a chance to be with family,  I drop everything and if I know about it ahead of time,  I rearrange my schedule so I can be free?  Well, not everybody can do that,  but I can because I don't work for anyone.  My children do the same, they take a leave whenever possible if we are visiting. 

Reviewing my former blogs, I found that it is becoming some kind of a diary, mostly documenting the events in my life.  I know that they maybe insignificant or of no interest to others, but to me that's all that really matters.  I always want to spend time with family so I take every opportunity possible.  

When we visited my 5-month-old grandson late last month, we extended our usual visit to another 5 days so we can spend more time with him.  I almost didn't want to sleep; I just wanted to hold him, watch him sleep, or catch a happy moment by taking pictures.  Being with him was reward enough but when he moves his hands or kicks his feet and gives a lop-sided smile, ohh, boy,  what joy that brings!  My husband and I almost didn't go out during the day as we usually do; except the times when our son or daughter asked us to lunch. I practically gave up my noonday nap as well. 

Of course we couldn't pass up being with our son or our daughter whenever we have the chance, especially because we live thousands of miles apart.  These are opportunities when they update us on what's going on with their lives, including their future plans. These are rare occasions that we treasure the most.  I believe, they feel the same way too, since every time we go home and thank them for their time spent with us and how we enjoyed being with them, my son would always reply: 

"I enjoyed our lunches as well, come visit us again soon". 

Maybe that's how parents and grandparents feel towards their children and grandchildren; they always feel that their time is running out.  I recall when my mama was widowed, she practically left our ancestral home and made the rounds of staying with one married child after another.  We are five siblings, all married, and she had about 10 grandchildren around that time.

I remember, she just kept reading or spending time with grandchildren, playing card games with them;  her favorite is gin rummy.  I can't help but smile when I recall my son, nine at the time; in tears everytime he lost a round. I'm not sure whether he cried for losing a few centavos from his allowance or just because he was not a sport enough to accept it.  Soon even my mama would cry, as well as his nanny who was always around watching them; but the game goes on.

After she passed away, I saw my mama's small planner and found that she divided her time among our families, she even had the dates listed with whose family she spent on specific days. 

Back to my day with my older daughter. 

Of course my husband drove us to the doctor's office, though we can drive ourselves; I think, he also wanted to be with us. I knew that he must also miss this daughter even though we see her weekly; every time we bring home our granddaughter after her day's visit with us; but these are brief encounters; nothing like sitting down to lunch. 

"No pictures, Mom, especially on facebook", my daughter reminded me prior to lunch.   "Remember, I'm on sick leave, I don't want to be seen having lunch out".  

"Oh, but you went to the doctor, isn't that reason enough?", my husband put in.  Anyway, we respected her request, so no pictures, even on this blog. 

We went to one of our favored Italian restaurants,  Bouna Vita.  This is my granddaughter's favorite restaurant, she never gets tired of their pasta ala vongole.  Though they serve authentic Italian food, the chef is versatile and whips up Spanish signature dishes as well.  

It was almost 1 pm, I felt ravenous that I couldn't help myself from eating the assortment of breads with pesto and salsa dips. When our food was served, the head waiter approached us:

"How's everthing?", he asked. 

"Good", I replied. "Actually we came here for your lengua, 

 (ox tongue)"

"I only eat lengua and roast lamb when I come here", my husband added. 

My daughter ordered callos, another authentic Spanish dish. 

During lunch, we caught up on the latest goings on in the family as well as those of our relatives. Over cafe latte, while my husband took his drink outside to have his nicotine shot, we exchanged new recipes, and some household tips we recently learned or read; we updated each other on the status of our new project: our pocket garden of herbs.

Another wonderful day, well spent; thank God for the opportunity. 

Family Of Growers: The Aspiring Green Thumbs

(The sub-title is my husband's show of encouragement to us)

This is a sequel to my younger daughter's blog:

Singing sappy songs in the shower: "Family of Growers"  here it is, just click the link. 

http://singingsappysongsintheshower.blogspot.com/2014/08/family-of-growers.html

As soon as I got back from my vacation in a Singapore, I looked up my stock of cilantro and spring onions left behind in my crisper 10 days ago. Wrapped in brown paper, I found then still good to use, so at midnight (that was when I finally had the time to do it), I trimmed off the top leaves and set them aside to use later and put the lower portion with the roots in water. 

I remembered, I also have left-over romaine, so I did the same to it as well.  But then I over- looked the fact that the fresher the veggies, the better chances to re-grow; so much so that my cilantro is in serious condition, it's in ICU, I cant take a picture., hahaha!  But my spring onions and romaine are thriving, as you can see below. 

As my daughter referred in her blog, this "fascination" started when I accidentally found this link on Facebook and immediately shared it. It's about re-growing veggie tops or bottoms first in water, them plant in a pot to propagate.  Supposedly, it should survive inside the house.  You maybe interested as well, here's that link: 

http://www.unbelievable-facts.com/2014/08/8-vegetables-you-only-need-to-buy-once.html?m=1

Then I thought, why not do it together with my sister in the US and my two daughters; one lives in another Asian city and the another lives in town.  

"Hey guys", I post on Facebook, 

"let's do this for fun",  I captioned the link and picture. I knew they will not pass up this challenge. 

"Let's start in September", I said to celebrate my sister's birthday month because I also knew that I'll be out of the country on the last week of August.  I didn't expect such enthusiasm from them that I was surprised when they immediately worked on the veggies available at home without waiting for September. 

My sister immediately post a picture of a trimmed celery, (picture in my daughter's blog) and here's the result after a week when it was time to plant. 

My older daughter started with scallions.

Then added celery upon realizing that celery seems to work best in the game. 

And my younger daughter tried an onion bulb.  It seemed like everything was going well, then, coming home from a 5-day trip, she said that her onion is R. I. P.  I recommended to take off a big part of the blossom and hopefully there maybe some hope. 

Then, I also enticed my niece, who practically don't sleep at night doing paperwork for the operation of around 30 outlets (and counting) of Aboy's Fresh Lumpia (spring rolls).   While working, I'm sure she perks up when she opens Facebook and checks out what's going on about our plants. 

"I don't do planting", she initially told us but then, she couldn't resist and tried a romaine bottom.

This created a lot of interest that we made a lot of comments on Facebook, so my younger daughter thought it was time to organize, she created a group and called it: "family of growers". 

Mind you, don't be so impressed, we are not professional growers, we're just doing it for fun, believing that in the process, we learn some, and when the need for such herb/ veggie arise, we have them on hand at home.  This is also turning out to be a good conversation point among us; I'm just loving it.  It also gives us a reason to look forward every morning to check our plants and open Facebook to see what the others have. 

Soon, my older daughter started posting pictures of seedlings, this one from the avocado they ate:

And here's the chili pepper she used and planted the seeds. (Right photo)

 My younger daughter put her calamansi (a local variety of lime) with robust fruits and even used it as a header for "family of growers". 

And boasted her garden-bought basil from where she get some leaves for her salsa and pasta. 

Not to be outdone, my sister post her papaya tree already bearing fruits in her backyard. 

 Then she also showed us the cilantro leaves she used for salsa and her intent to propagate the stalks. 

"I need to grow cilantro since I use it often".

Two days ago, my younger daughter put in:

 "I went shopping today", 

And I thought: 

"What? Another designer's dress again! ", but look at her post:

And my older daughter's posts: "I bought pots"

And my sister commented: " you guys are really serious". 

Now, we are growing all the bottoms of veggies we cook, I am  tending petchay bottoms from the leaves I used for fish stew two days ago. I just planted them today. See them below. 

Carrot tops I used for spring rolls yesterday, already soaked in water, I guess I have to wait a little longer than a week. 

My sister is also growing bochoy from leaves used in preparing kare kare (meat stew in peanut sauce)

After a week, here they are:

The enthusiasm continues, yesterday my older daughter even scattered calamansi seeds on a pot. Well, we will wait and see about that; I just hope we won't wait too long. 

At this writing, we are enticing my two nieces (my sister's daughters) in California to join in the fun. I can only say that it's getting merrier and merrier. 

Getting To Know My Fitbit Zip

Today, I "nailed it", as per my Fitbit zip!

I finally burned more calories than I took in!  This made me more optimistic because yesterday was the start of my typical day after my vacation in Singapore and the subsequent visit of my younger daughter and her husband in town.   I believe that I can meet my goal if I follow my regular daily routine and watch my diet carefully.

I was excited to own a Fitbit, remember I wrote about getting one for myself on my last birthday but while I was waiting for my son-in-law to order it from amazon, I became ambivalent due to some blogs I read about the Fitbit flex, (my original choice, it wears like a watch with a silicon strap) , that it is "uncomfortable and smelled like vinegar when you sweat". 

However when I saw my son wearing a black flex, it looks like it's fine. 

"I remove the tracker and put it in my pocket when I go to work", he says;  while showing me how to take it off from its strap.  He also didn't find anything wrong with it. 

"I can get you one if you like, come on, open Fitbit.com and look at the choices. ",  he said and went about showing me the choices from my iPad. 

I chose the Fitbit zip as I could easily hook it on my bra, that way it is unobtrusive.  I feel conscious wearing the flex on my wrist;  makes me feel like I'm "trying hard", especially since I really look over-weight; unlike  my son who has the look of someone "really fit".

Thanks to my son, for getting me a Fitbit zip last week.  Now, my exercise becomes even more exciting and challenging.  He helped me set it up; first we installed the app on my iPhone; he showed me how to log my food in-take and find the equivalent calories.  Then I was left on my own to know more how the zip operates. 

As I continue exploring the stats that my zip provides regards  my program, I can't help but be amazed how detailed the information that it puts forward every time I sync my activities. 

After a week of using it, I even got a feedback from Fitbit.com how I fared this past week of September 1-7. By the way, most of the stats it provides are in graphical form, and I'm one person who have full appreciation for graphs.  My husband has a fancy for graphs, he used to make sales proposals and reports practically based on a graph alone, and this he always shared with me, so I fully appreciate how the stats are presented. 

 Earlier on I thought I just needed a gadget to count my steps and to keep tab of the calories taken versus calories burned, but I was happy to note that the zip on its face alone shows 

. the number of steps made

. distance navigated

. active minutes 

. Calories burned and it also

. Tells time. 

What's more, "it syncs wirelessly and automatically" to my iPhone and  my data comes out in real time so I know right away how many steps I made, how far I travelled and calories burned.  The tracking is possible through a few apps.  I chose the Fitbit App.

What I am most happy about my zip is the goal setting feature.  Actually this feature can work both ways, whether you desire to lose or gain weight. Should you wish to lose 5 kilos for instance; it gives you the option to choose how rigorous your regiment will be.  There are four options provided: slow, medium, moderate and fast. 

 Depending on the pace you've chosen, it then sets your goal on the actual activities you should undertake to meet it: specifically the number of steps; distance you need to travel; water intake; the  number of calories you must burn, length of active minutes while it leaves you to manage your diet. If you log your intake, it gives you the balance between calories in and out immediately, this will also  tell you  how much more food you can take in for the day.  

I am happy to note that meeting my goal is quite a possibly since I met the requirement for a day, my typical day; with my normal activities and my eating pattern.  It was not really difficult since I chose the slow regiment.  I feel that with baby steps, my goal is easier to achieve.  Besides, my doctor wanted me to keep my weight but not to gain more provided I go slow on sugar and fatty food. 

"If you lose too much weight, your skin will wrinkle and you will look older",  he said.

 But I feel I need to lose a few pounds, and I chose "slow", so my loss will be gradual and hopefully according to my zip, I'll meet my goal in eight months, starting this current one. 

 When I started using the zip on the last day of August, I was just focused on the calories burned and number of steps I made.  I was not aware of the enormous information the zip can provide in aid of my goal.  I got a good boost when  Fitbit.com congratulated me for earning my first badge walking 5000 steps while window shopping half of the morning. 

"You walked more than 5000 steps today

Congrats on earning your first step badge. You're halfway to earning your next one".

 Since I was then on vacation, I was not so active, I missed my regular one-hour daily walk coupled with the fact that I kept eating; often in larger proportions because my son and my younger daughter together with their spouses kept bringing us out to lunch and dinner. Well, one's got to live once in a while, right?  

 But that was a blessing in disguise for it revealed a lot when my zip indicated that I really ate so much more than I burned during those 10 days. If I keep eating that way, I will gain so much weight and before I can say awww, I won't  be able to put on my skinny jeggings.