My Happy Hour

Out of nowhere after I retired, I asked myself:

"When will I ever stop watching my diet? "  

I never knew where it came from when I told myself that 

"I'm old, I deserve to eat what I want."

Maybe I got tired watching my diet, so I ate full meals, snacked on chips, cookies, cake, ice cream, dried fruits and nuts; everything that I've craved to eat but restrained myself.  I ate just anything and everything. The worse thing was that I ate a lot late at night, sometimes way past midnight while I read novels. 

How wrong I was! 

After sometime, I was diagnosed as "pre-diabetic" because my blood sugar was high and I developed a fatty liver.  From then on I avoided sweets as well as fatty foods. And because I needed to exercise, my doctor advised me to just walk, not run nor jog. 

It took time for me though to gather enough courage to start walking. Eventually, I forced myself to walk; and I found out that I kinda liked it; I even enjoyed it especially when I felt better, and I became more energetic and more enthusiastic to do things. Then I also realized that as I walk, ideas hit me; interesting things that I could do or write for my blog come to mind.  

 Soon walking became a routine, a lifestyle even; and that started my "happy hour".  Eventually, my exercise became more interesting because my husband joined me.  Everyday without fail, we walk for an hour. 

Recently, I read an article from HOLA! Magazine, lifestyle section writer Step Juan wrote that:  

"it is good to exercise with someone, after all exercise is considered as a social activity, pretty much like eating out.  Being with someone will prevent boredom and when enthusiasm wanes, your companion will keep you going".

Step Juan continues: 

"if you exercise together with your partner, you get  "double rewards". the reasons being that:

It means you have more time together, you don't have to choose between exercise and time with your partner; you can have both.

It gives you motivation, your chances of sticking to the regimen increase when you have someone to cheer you on..

It develops a stronger bond between the two of you as you work towards a common goal."

Someone asked me:  

"How many steps do you make, would you know?"

Since I don't have a Fitbit, Misfit,  Lark Life,  jawbone Up, Nike+FuelBand, or any kind of pedometer,  I counted the steps I made in five minutes and I arrived at 350; multiply that to a dozen and I'm doing  4200 an hour; and if my husband parks a little further from the entrance, then I'm sure that will round it off to about 4250 to 4300 steps for that hour alone. 

Our "happy hour" extends  to Starbucks where I enjoy my "reward" of green tea cream frap (no whip, sugar free vanilla, nonfat, more milk, less ice), while I read the newspaper or browse through a magazine. I really look forward to this activity everyday and I never want to miss it except on days that our granddaughter visits. 

My Grandson's Christening

The baptismal ceremony

It was a happy occasion; the christening of my grandson. My husband and I had to fly thousands of miles to attend this important milestone in our family. Though we only stayed overnight and flew back home the next day, we didn't regret it a bit; we're so happy to have been there, missing this occasion is unthinkable. 

The christening took place at The Catholic Church of St Ignatius. It was a solemn and orderly affair, very well conducted by the parish priest with two volunteer assistants who queued the participants every step of the way. I learned that they only administer baptisms every first Sunday of the month, I believe it was a lucky day as it fell on the 8th day of the month.  Moreover, there were also 8 infants that were baptized that day.

Dad, Mom and son wore white at the church. As I mentioned in my previous writing, my grandson wore the white baptismal garment that I brought with me which belonged to my younger daughter who used it at her baptism 33 years ago. The other infants' attire were varied; one boy wore a white shirt with a black bow-tie; a girl was wearing a headband but she still had very fine hair. The families attending were in their Sunday's best. But the best dressed were my grandson and his family, if I would say so myself. 

Though it was a mass baptism, the major parts like the anointing; blessing and invocation of God over baptismal water, prayers over ears and mouth were all done individually.  This gave the photographers a chance to take pictures every step of the way. My grandson, whose Mom brilliantly timed his feeding slept through the entire ceremony while some of the infants were impatient. After the rituals were over and done with; the priest announced that he would pose with each infant and his family. The entire ceremony took about an hour. 

The Reception

A reception of about fifty guests was held at The 2nd Floor of The American Club.  Again, my grandson behaved in spite the ohhh's and ahhh's of the guests who came to take a closer look at him, a dear lady even prayed over him.  The closest and dearest from the offices of both my son and daughter-in-law were invited together with friends and relatives who live in town. 

There was a sumptuous spread of roast duck and beef,  pork shar chu; about 7 other assortment of fish and meat dishes; salad greens, fruits and an array of mini-cakes.  But what I enjoyed the most, the one I had to go back to the buffet table for, was the salmon with tomato-capers salsa as well as the sweet prawns in wasabe sauce.  I'm not so fond of prawns but I enjoyed this so much. These two dishes were what I practically ate with fresh fruit. 

After dinner, my son expressed his thanks for the overwhelming support and prayers offered for the health of the newborn; as well as the gifts, the cards and balloons; and the numerous well wishes.  Finally, he passed around cigars and the guests bade their good-byes.  Of course, the family stayed on and had another round of food while we rehash the celebration. Everyone had a good time. 

Now I'm wondering why I enjoyed it so much, compared to the christening of my three children. My memory is still vivid on these three occasions when they were baptized.  Maybe my husband and I were pre-occupied with the conduct of their  christening then that we did not have enough time to really enjoy them. 

Again, I say that the best part of grand-parenting is enjoy the grand children with no responsibilities whatsoever. Grandparenting is the best! 

First Meeting

I'm very excited to go to my grandson's christening!  I haven't seen him yet but I've got lots of pictures to see how cute he is.  

We had to start early since our flight leaves a few minutes before six in the morning. Since we will only be there overnight, we wont check-in anything, we just have our overnight bags.

I am bringing our antique baptismal top in case my son will want my grandson to wear it for the christening ceremony.  It is made of very light and soft cotton material with delicate embroidery of little flowers. This was given to my younger daughter by her godmother when she was baptized 33 years ago.  My  granddaughter used it too, on her christening day nine years ago. 

We are also bringing with us 35 pieces of Don Juan Orquijo cigars, if you're familiar with that, you'll know that it's not cheap either. I was surprised when my husband told me how much it costs; even though my son doesn't smoke, he has excellent taste in cigars. He would have preferred the Corona packaging, five pieces in a wooden box; but there wasn't enough available, so one was a bigger box of the same brand. 

 

We were met at Changi airport terminal by my son himself. He brought us straight to his home where we met our grandson for the first time. Of course, I had to change my blouse and washed my hands and entire arms with a special kind of liquid soap called dettol, 99% kills germs.  Finally done, I entered his room, oh my; he's so cute. Like all babies, he exudes that sweet and delicious scent you would want to smell forever. 

The parents of my daughter-in-law were there earlier on to assist her for the first few days. Immediately they urged me to carry my grandson, my compadre even told my son: "take their picture". And here we are.

After an hour of feeding and burping the baby, my son brought us to my younger daughter's condo where we were to stay for the night. My daughter was so busy with work so she had food delivered, lunch was so delicious that I was tempted to eat a lot even though I was worried that my dress will be tight. Didn't i  mentioned that my daughter has "gut taste", so her food is always yummy. After lunch, we prepared ourselves for the afternoon christening. 

I'm Cooking For Two Again

I thought I'd ask my sister but I never got around doing it; I thought that she may give light to the matter for she is also in the same predicament; she's also cooking for two. 

How do you cook for two? I seem to have forgotten it already. 

You would think that cooking for two is simple and maybe even exciting like it was before when there were just the two of you; reminiscing or even re-enacting candle-lit dinners in the past. 

 

It's not that easy, anymore.  You won't like all that fuss; besides, your palate is already so sensitive and discriminating;  you won't eat just anything. More often than not, you already have in mind what you want to eat for the next meal.   We become more picky as we age and sometimes eating is just a necessity. Besides I practically don't eat dinner anymore, unless we eat out or we have guests. 

When my husband and I were both working I only worry about dinner since breakfast is a hurried coffee-and-a-sandwich-to-go; lunch is at work and dinner is sometimes taken in a restaurant. Therefore, more often than not that's the only meal I had to plan and prepare. 

Moreover, I've been so used to cooking for my family of 5; three children with teenagers' appetites that necessitated me to cook in adequate proportions.  Years later, when they became hard-working adults with practically no time to eat properly at the office except fast food, I had to compensate for that on weekends when our lunch was always a feast. 

During those years when I went to the wet market a few blocks from our home, I bought practically a kilo of every veggie we like; a kilo or so of each fresh seafood of my choice that is available and adequate choice cuts of chicken, pork and beef.   I only decide the menu for lunch and dinner at home as I go over my purchases.

You see, I'm not a stickler to a weekly or bi-weekly menu. I buy fresh seafood that's available and veggies that are in season. I don't bring a shopping list to the wet market either,  that's only for the supermarket. 

My old ways is the reason I was at a loss when all my children  had left home; which incidentally coincided with my retirement. At first, I had a  lot of left-overs, I didn't know what to do with them.  I was also left with a lot of wilting veggies in my crisper, that was when I decided to do something about it. 

Cooking for two is a real challenge; at first it wasn't easy to adjust my marketing and cooking habits. How do you cook two bowls of chicken soup anyway?  You tell me, unless you make it from a package, just add water and boil.  But I seldom use commercially prepared soups, I cook from scratch all the time. I also don't use mixes, I make my own. 

Earlier on during this adjustment period, I prepared "asado", which consisted of marinating the beef overnight, brown in little oil, then simmer in its marinade for two hours until tender.  Whenever I prepare this,  I usually prepare a substantial amount every time to make it worth the effort.  Anyway, I told myself, "this recipe can keep and I don't mind reheating it".  Would you believe that it took us quite sometime to finish that usual portion?   Our meals became a replay many times over. I  even converted some as quesadilla filling, some I used for sandwich filling. 

Learning from that experience, I became more conscious of portioning. When I go to the market nowadays, I remind myself to buy only what's good for two. When I buy the whole beef tenderloin, two thick medallions is enough, I marinate the rest and freeze; two pieces of a medium-size fish to fry, bake or broil is enough for a meal with a salad. 

 And oh yes, even salad needed adjustment.  While one big head of romaine for Caesar salad earlier was hardly enough, now I just buy the baby ones; a small bunch is just right for us.  When I cook pasta or noodles, a kilo would ready be way too much;  I know now that even 1/4 kilo is more than adequate. I also learned to get smaller packages of other things, no need to go to S & R anymore ; I can't get chicken wings less than a kilo there anyway. 

This situation has it's pluses though.  Oftentimes my husband would pop in the kitchen and asks "what's for lunch?", and if he is not in the mood for that kind of food, he'll say: "let's eat out".  We don't worry leaving anyone behind to eat alone, we can go at the spur of the moment. And when we also happen to be in the mall during mealtime, then I'm yet again spared in preparing  another meal.

BB cream and Other Alphabet Formulations

Did you ever wonder what BB cream is? 

I was curious when I saw  a magazine ad of a BB cream, I even took a picture so I would remember what to look for at the cosmetic counter. 

When I eventually bought one of the L'Oreal True Match BB cream SPF 50,

I found that I already have a BB cream. My younger daughter, who is always aware of new products gave me a tube of Clinique age defense BB cream SPF-30 earlier.  I thought it was just a tinted moisturizer, 

"take this Mom, I know you're fond of tinted creams".

 I was thrilled for I know Clinique is an excellent brand and not cheap either.  It is funny though that I did not look closely so I over-looked the "BB" on the label.  

I used it several times but it felt "thick and heavy". I feel I have to use it somehow., considering it's value.  So I apply it as protection whenever I do sun-gazing; I look at the sun whenever I take off my contacts to improve my eye-sight making it "high definition".

I've been a user of facial moisturizer under a foundation ever since I can remember. I knew they worked for me and I like the coverage they provided. 

Then came the UV Perfect tinted moisturizer cream with SPF-50, "This is better", I thought for there are shade choices and definitely will add coverage. 

I got myself a tube and started using it under my pressed powder; it felt lighter than my usual age-defy Revlon foundation, though I must tell you that the tinted moisturizer did not give me the coverage that the foundation provided. 

When I tried the L'Oreal  True Match  BB cream, I found that it is relatively lighter on my face.  Then my younger daughter found a store that sells L'Oreal cosmetics at more reasonable prices and since I'm happy with the true match under my pressed powder, I asked her to check out the cost to compared with local prices.  Instead of just looking, she bought for me the true match along with the UV Perfect BB max sunscreen SPF 50.  

"Here, Mom", she said as she handed me both tubes:  "no need to use both, just use the sunscreen for daytime". I was very happy that I'm still using both to this day. 

But I still didn't know what "BB" stands for and I was curious.  I read everything printed on both of the boxes but it does not explain what it meant.  So I went to the expert: "google" for enlightenment. 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"BB cream stands for blemish balm, blemish base, beblesh balm (apparently because of the trademark in Korea on the word 'blemish'), and the western markets, beauty balm." 

Furthermore...

"BB cream is promoted as an all-in-one facial cosmetic product to replace serum, moisturizer, primer, foundation and sunblock.  It can be worn alone as tinted moisturizer". 

So there your are, that's BB cream.  

But do you know that aside from the BB cream, there are also the CC cream and the DD cream, and  the three together are the so-called  "alphabet formulations".  It's becoming more complicated, right?  Now don't be confused for I found this link on Fashionista.com, written by Cheryl Wischhover on 26 April 2013, who clarified the differences of the alphabet creams.

http://fashionista.com/2013/04/the-difference-between-bb-cc-dd-creams

Cheryl Wischhover wrote that "CC stands for "color correcting", meant to address redness or shallowness, unlike the BB which is like a lighter foundation." In other words, it provides better coverage.  

In the mall that I frequent, Clinique is the only brand that carry this CC cream

Wischhover further wrote in 2013, that she anticipates the launch of yet another cream, "the DD cream, 'Dynamic Do-All', a BB/CC hybrid".

"Why are you so interested anyway?", you'd ask me.   Please don't get me wrong, I'm not that OC (obsessive and compulsive) about make up, really!  It's just that I want to up-date my look to keep up with the times, while make up still works for me. 

And let me tell you that nowadays, I've accepted the fact that as I age, my face will "grow old" with me.  I no longer worry when I see a new wrinkle as I face the mirror every morning or see more creases or "crow's feet" or the so-called laugh lines around my eyes.  I've been resigned to that sometime ago, why worry? It's inevitable, anyway.  Still I want to present a , ah, ah.. how shall I say this;   a proper or respectable face maybe, to people around me, especially to my family; if using the latest in facial care would give me a better way to present myself, why not?  

So how about you? Are you using the BB cream as well? Want to send me feedback? 

My Mother's Day : A Three-day Celebration

Whew!  What a day!  It seemed like everyone greeted every mother they know today; well, at least on Facebook but I can imagine the same on Instagram, Twitter,  and all other forms of social media.  I'm happy to see that most of my friends greeted and dined their mothers and/or was dined themselves by their children. All in all, I'm sure it was a happy day of family bonding.

It was a wonderful Mother's Day for me. Read to know why. 

My celebration started the night before when my husband treated me to Caesar salad and pizza. I  really couldn't take in much more than that since I already had a sandwich for my afternoon snacks, and with my daily shot of green tea frap after my walk, that's enough for me for the day.  Besides, I knew that I was going to have a heavier breakfast the next day than my usual oatmeal-banana-dried fruit since my son was coming to town and was meeting us. 

When I got home, my sister in the US messaged me asking to provide her a picture of our mama. I thought she wants it for her Facebook post. "I'll send it early tomorrow", I said.  I need the morning light to take a good shot of the black and white photo taken in the mid-60's by a local photographer.  

So I got up early and while having coffee, I looked for my personal album entitled:  "Intimate Portrait", I called it that since the entire album is all about me, really very personal, something like a diary.  There were only three pictures of my mama, I chose two of my mama in a group picture and I emailed both to my sister.  She was surprised to see herself in the picture; she didn't even know that there's  such  a picture. She must be 9 years old when it was taken. 

Standing: my brother Tony and me at the back. My mama is seated and my little sis standing in front.

That done, I opened my mini and saw an iMessage from my older daughter, "happy Mother's Day  Mom, see you later".  I bathed and dressed early anticipating calls from my children abroad, I was even thinking that they may even want to FaceTime. True enough, just when we were leaving, I got a call from my son and daughter in law.   

"Hi",  I said, "we're on our way out to have breakfast with your sister".   

"Happy Mother's Day", my son said. "I'll be there tomorrow and it will be my turn to treat you to a Mother's Day breakfast; see you at the hotel at 6:30; I have an 8:30 meeting"  (my son is only here for a day on business but he had to see us).  

My daughter-in-law came on the phone and we both exchanged "happy Mother's Day" greetings.  After that we were off to breakfast. 

We artived at Le Petite Cherie, a French restaurant ahead of my daughter.  The place was cozy, bright and cool even on a hot summer day.   My granddaughter automatically hugged me when they arrived and handed me the greeting card she made which says:

 "happy Mother's Day, Nana, I love you, I love your food". 

My daughter handed me a gift bag as well and upon opening, here it is:

A cookbook of Asian cuisine, that explains the spices.

I ordered Croque Monsieur,  French toast with ham and cheese topped with bechamel sauce served with greens on the side.  I would have preferred fresh fruit with it instead of greens;  however there's freshly squeezed orange juice that went with it. You may wonder why I did not order it's female counterpart instead; the Croque Madame, but there's an egg on top and I'm trying to lessen my cholesterol intake. 

Click the link if you're interested to know more about this sandwich. Recipe included here. 

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/croque_monsieur_ham_and_cheese_sandwich/

When I got home after Sunday mass, I heard the "ding" from my iPhone, a greeting from my younger daughter: 

 "Happy Mother's Day, Mom!  Not feeling well, I'm in pain, call later", she messaged. 

After resting and a mug of warm camomile tea later; she called that she was feeling better. We caught up on family news for a while before we hang up.  

As the day progressed, I saw on Facebook more and more pictures of families of my friends and relatives celebrating.  "What wonders Mother's Day brings to the family",  I told myself.  Most pictures were taken while families were eating; some posted pictures of gifts received;  some gave a breakdown of their day.  All in all, I conclude that Mother's Day is truly the "most celebrated occasion; it being the most popular day to dine out" 

The third of my Mother's Day celebration started early  morning  to meet our son.  Over a sumptuous breakfast spread at Holiday Inn restaurant, Flavors, we had a wonderful time; more than an hour catching up on each other's latest (though he calls often). This made our day; for really, meeting and talking face to face beats FaceTime anytime! 

This is the foyer of the restaurant. Notice those big bowls?  They contain spices, the mustard-colored one maybe curry powder, I didn't look closely nor smelled it.  

What a way to conclude my three-day Mother's Day celebration. A million thanks to my thoughtful children for the warm greetings, thanks to my husband as well who is always there for me. 

Once again, happy Mother's Day to all mothers, I hope that your day is as wonderfully happy as mine! 

Who Should Greet Who On Mother's Day?

Mother's Day feeling is in the air, every business establishment is gearing up for this special day.  Did you ever wonder why it is one of the most celebrated day of the year?  It has become very popular that everyone greets every mother they know.  I'm curious though if there is really a rule here; 

 "who should really greet who"? 

I often hear my husband tell me about a colleague who says that his wife always complain  "why he did not greet her, gave her a gift and dined her on Mother's Day?"  And My husband has a standard answer to that:

 "why, is she your mother?"

Is it really a " mortal sin" if a husband  do not wine and dine his wife on Mother's Day?  Can we brand him thoughtless if he does not do that? In the first place is he supposed to?

So, back to my question, "who should greet who?" 

Who in the family  is duty bound to do it? 

Was it only yesterday when my older daughter was relating to me that her brother recently  asked her; 

"did you feel bad when I didn't greet you last Mother's Day? I realized too late that you're already a mother too".  And she replied: "why should I, I'm not your mother".

But this occasion is so popular that everyone greets all mothers they know,  this greeting has been Instagrammed, twitted and sent via all other forms of social media over and over every year. Wanting to know more about this day, I searched the web and from this link I'd like to share with you; 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother's_Day_(United_States)

I learned that it is "the most commercially successful occasion, having become the most popular day to dine out".  In the early years of 1900, a certain Anna Jarvis celebrated her mother's memory; calling it "Mother's Day, bringing to the venue 500 white carnations. Soon afterwards, the annual celebrations continued with people wearing red carnations if their mothers were alive, and if not, they wore white carnations. 

It also talks about billions of dollars spent on gifts on this day; in cards, flowers, perfume, jewelry and things that express how much a mother is greatly appreciated and loved. This is the reason entrepreneurs kept the celebration alive to this day. 

Curious about Mother's Day quotes,  I found that the top ones mimic the "magic" of a mother's touch; just her presence alone has such enormous effect on her children.  My husband has a friend who when sick go home to his mother;  the siblings do the same, and you know what? They really get well fast. Then also, there is my husband's former boss who when not feeling well always get soup his mother brings to his office and he feels better right away. 

Now it dawned on me why when my two daughters are not well, they call me or; in the case of my younger daughter who live abroad, message me. Just last night I got a message from her that she is "not feeling well, has stomach cramps and feeling weak".  I hope that I messaged back the right words because after an exchange or two, she bade me "good night". 

But then again, "who should greet who"? I sound like a broken record, right?  You see, I want to set this straight. 

For me, I have no problem though,  I feel loved and appreciated when this occasion comes around every year.  My three children never fail to greet me, in words, (email, call or text if they are out of the country), cards, gifts and dining out in a restaurant.  And oh! My husband beats them all in greeting me first thing in the morning every year, he also makes sure that we celebrate the occasion whenever all my children are out of town and can't do it themselves; even if  "I'm not his mother". 

So, in keeping with this age's practice therefore;  I'd like to greet all the mothers of the world a "Happy Mother's Day"!