Miranda Kerr

May 24, 2009

I’ve put in a picture of Miranda Kerr as my user account’s wallpaper.  Lean asked who it was and I told him, it’s my new “sweetie-heart”. A teary-eyed Lean then said: “Hindi na si Mommy?…Gusto mo bogbog kita?” And he doesn’t even know what bugbog means!

Silver Lining

If there’re a couple of things I am thankful for in migrating to this god-forsaken country (god of heat that is, it’s 6deg at the moment) top of my list would be that it brought Trini and Lean closer together.  It was just because Trini had a job in the Philippines and her work stress and up to the roof workload makes it hard for her to spend as much time with Lean when she comes home.  Yep, I was closer to our son because I was an over paid under utilized IT professional.  Well, it’s all different now and to be honest, I was a bit jealous at first.  I’m not exclusive anymore!  One time, Lean even told me that he only wants his mommy to bathe him!  That little rascal!  Well, I guess that’s karma for me because I was a bit of a show off when I was the only favourite.  Sigh, the good ‘ol days…The days when I was the only one who can stop Lean from crying… now the little bugger runs straight to mommy.  But after a while, I have learned to appreciate this and no longer feel jealous when I see them all cuddled up in one sofa watching TV, while I sit alone on the corner.  Maybe a liiiittle bit jealous, but I’ll live. From all of this I can say that expensive labour has it’s benefits after all!

Every man of the house deserves to come home and relax after a long day of staring at the monitor and pretending to do some work while singing swear words in Filipino.  The padre de pamilya should be greeted warmly at the door, the house should be clean and ample for rest.  Dinner should already be cooked just waiting to be ravaged; all these made possible by none other than the loving housewife.  This brings me to the 2nd best thing we got out from this migration crap; Trini is in the process of being a good housewife (she is going to read this one day and if this entry sounds a bit over the top, I may already have received kurots and forced to edit it).  If you only knew her when she was growing up you wouldn’t imagine her being just a plain housewife.  Since her family always had a helper (at one time they had three!), she never did ANY house chores.  It’s really bad that they were so dependent of the help because one time she asked their helper for a glass of water - just an arms length away!

About 6 years ago, when Trini was still my girlfriend and we were LIVING IN SIN, she was forced to make changes in the “doing house chores” department.  She does the cooking (I was pleasantly surprised that she knows how to cook dozens of ulam!), we shared doing the dishes and laundry, I taught her how to PROPERLY iron clothes, but the house cleaning I insisted on doing myself.  It’s not that she doesn’t want to help (this is what I tell myself anyway) but I was such an OC that anybody else’s cleaning just won’t do.  It’s like asking somebody to scratch that annoying itch in your back;  They’re doing the job, but nothing can scratch yourself better than your own spirit hands.  Anyways, improvement on Trini’s household skills went to a sudden halt when we got married and had a baby.  We had the equally OC Jacqui to help us out and she’s the second person to receive my highly regarded stamp of approval in cleaning, next to my dear friend Dwight back in college.  Long story short, moving here to Australia is Trini’s first official experience of being a full time mom.  Of course, it was a huge adjustment for Trini and my constant nagging didn’t make it easier for her.  I was being such an ass that one time she broke into tears because of the pressure I was giving her.  I was just so impatient and wanted her to adjust quickly.  So after everything has been sorted out (and by sorted out I mean me apologising like a little puppy about a million times), I promised to just shut the hell up while she does her stuff and let her learn the OCness at her own pace.  And so far I am very happy with her efforts in keeping everything together.  I never go to work with crumpled shirts, not because of her ironing but she bought me heaps of sweaters to hide the creases.  I make my cousins jelous because I get to eat Filipino food every time plus I get to bring home made lunch to work, I just love stinking the entire office with my pritong tilapia!  Kidding aside, she’s really doing a wonderful job so far. House is clean, dinner is almost always yummehh and most importantly she’s a great Mommy to our son.

Lean has changed a whole lot and I think it’s because the Mom is hands-on in taking care of him.  And this is the 3rd thing I appreciate most for migrating.  Lean is now eating like a normal 3 year old boy! I cannot explain how happy I am whenever he says the words “I’m hungry”.  Back in the Philippines, he eats like a little bird, literally.  Just a few tablespoon of rice and that’s it.  But now, he eats almost everything a 3 year old would, so that means he still hates vegies and goes crazy for fried chicken.  His current favourite is breaded fish. Come to think of it, I guess he’ll eat anything breaded.  He loves the lutong of everything.  He loves fish crackers from this Chinese restaurant near our place, he loves potato cakes and he is addicted to KFC’s popcorn chicken.  What’s also great is that he even tries out food we introduce to him whereas before he would just give it a sniff then kilig his whole body in disgust.  Every dinner time when we’re gathered in the table, out of goof, we always say “Mommy, ang sarap mong mag mahal” after our first bite.

Even though I spend the entire day feeling like shit at work I still feel blessed because I go home to my family so I will be happy. I know some people who have it the other way around and a few ones who feel like shit the entire day.  I just love listening to Lean’s stories of how their day went, may it be good (i.e they went to the park) or bad (i.e. he had a fight on the park).  My heart just leaps for joy whenever they show me a song and dance number they practice while I’m at work.  Whenever I watch both of them in a riot or just sitting quietly I just feel happy…this is my family…and I am a happy man!

So, this entire experience just proved once again that stepping out of our comfort zones isn’t too bad at all.  I’ve been doing this my entire life and I always picked up a lesson or two.  It made me independent and (just an insy winsy teeny weeny) responsible when I left Lucena for Manila.  It taught me the ever painful lesson about priority and control when I left my bachelorhood and became a family man.  And now, leaving all that is joyous and comfortable that is called Pilipinas, I can say that the experience has made our family life more complete.  I sometimes think of this migration as something similar to having a team building activity.  Our family were functioning properly before but after this team building activity we will surely be much closer, we learn so much about each other and about one’s self.  But most importantly, we realise that the group won’t work properly without each other!

Tatlong Taon

This year, I can truly say, is the lamest, in terms of party and gifts, birthday my son has ever had. I blame it all, again, on our migration.  But Trini and I were prepared for this and thank goodness Lean is still young to make comparisons from his previous birthdays.  This year was nothing fancy AT ALL. Went to the beach on a winter morning where we had McDonald’s take away for handa and went home at around four in the afternoon. Lame Lame Lame.

Although it was totally different from birthday celebrations in the Philippines, it still was a very special day for the family.  Lean woke up to a birthday cake waiting for him in the balloon filled living room.  He got a “Go Diego Go” talking doll which Trini skilfully hid the entire time we were on the shopping centre the weekend before.  Even though it was winter season it was a beautiful day at the beach, and you can tell the day was special when you see dolphins swimming just a few meters away!  We went home pretty early and Yen dropped by to greet his godson a happy birthday and give him his pressie.  Lean got a Lightning Mcqueen race track from his Ninang Yen and it took 3 days for him to remember the existence of the Go Diego Go doll!  But it’s alright, he chose to play with the race track vs the doll so it’s all cool.  It’s just amazing that my son is growing up fast..I can’t growup myself!  So, while getting him ready for bed we had this small conversation:

R: Happy ka ba sa birthday mo?

L: Ofo. (with his dede in his mouth and mumut in his nose)

R: Brush-your-teeth na tayo, dali.

L: Ayaaaaw.

R: Um…OK, pass ka muna.  Birthday mo naman eh.

L: Daddy, Tapos na ba ang birthday ko?

R: Hindi pa, birthday mo pa hanggang mag-sleep tayo.

L: (eyes went wide in excitement) Meron pa ulit akong gift?!

My son, the smartass.

Toons!

Our commentary on Lean’s current favourite shows:

Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go!

Trini: Bakit parang hindi yata pumapasok sa school yang dalawa?

Rex: May episode akong napanood na pinakita ni Dora yung classroom nya.

T: Ah…pero si Diego hindi talaga siguro nagenroll.

R: Baka nga.

T: …mayaman naman kasi ang pamilya ni Diego eh.

R: Oo nga, mas maganda ang mga gadgets nya, may kayak, mountain bike, hand glider. Si Dora hanggang maracas lang at stickers!

T: Kasi naman parehong nagtatrabaho yung mga magulang ni Diego.

R; Si Dora ba?

T: Karpintero yung tatay nya tapos plain housewife yung nanay.

R: Baka meron din silang FTB A at FTB B, lampas na sa salary bracket ang mga magulang ni Diego.

T: …

R: …

T: Papayagan mo ba si Lean na sumakay ng kayak na mag-isa?

R: …

T: Dapat pinapa-barangay na nila yang si Swiper, wala nang ibang ginawa kundi magnakaw.

R: Sila din ang may gawa kasi ina-isolate nila. Dami dami pa nung cupcake hindi man lang nila mabigyan ng isang piraso.

T: Nung birthday naman nya nagpa-party sila kay Swiper ah.

R: Anong nagpa-party, Nag-CRASH sila sa party, ni hindi nga nila alam na si Swiper pala ang may birthday eh.

T: Walang hiya nga kasi yung magnanakaw na yun.

R: …uuuyyy si Lean crush si Alicia…yihiii…(Lean hides behind the couch laughing)

 

Yo Gabba Gabba

T: Bading ba si DJ Lance?

R: Malamang. Sagwa.

T: Lam mo ba kung bakit si Brobee ang pinaka-iyakin sa kanila?

R: Bakit?

T: Kasi sa mga costume nila, yung kanya lang ang detachable ang bibig.

R: Ah…at si Toodee naman ang pinaka-pilyo. Snow kasi ang world nya kaya nanigas pati ulo.

T: …korny.

 

Power Rangers:

T: Sa lahat ng Power Rangers, favorite ko ang SPD. May katuturan kasi ng konti ang istorya.  May envy, love story, jealousy…parang teleserye.

R: Mas maganda pati ang soundtrack nila kesa sa Mystic Force, parang cheap imitation ng Outkast. Lalo na sa Overdrive, mumurahing rapper lang ang na-afford ng budget.

T: Favorite ko pati na Power Ranger Red si Jack, hindi katulad sa Dino Thunder tatanga tanga yung Red nila.

R: Sa Overdrive naman may nepotism, porque anak nya eh automatic Red na kagad kahit mukhang sasapukin.

T: Wawa naman si Sky ano?  Frustrated na maging Red Ranger.

R: Sinulit naman nya nung sa isang episode ipihiram sa kanya yung Red morpher. Pati yung kaka-issue lang na weapon ginamit nya kagad.

T: Ambilis nilang pumick-up ano? Kakalabas lang nung weapon alam na kagad nila lahat ng features.

R: Syempre, Power Rangers nga eh…pinaka maganda pati ang costume ng SPD.

T: Sa Mystic Force, walis tambo ang weapon! Hehehehe.

R: …uuuyyy si Lean crush si Maddie…yihiii…(Lean hides behind the couch laughing)

 

Bob the builder

T: Ang yaman naman ni Bob kasi nakakapag-pondo sya sa mga contruction.

R: Council yata ang nagbabayad sa kanya.

T: Mukha nga.  Kasi parang monopolized nya ang contruction sa Bobsville.

R: Kadikit nya si Mayor eh kaya siguro hindi ina-approve ang magopen ng competition.

 

Thomas and Friends

“They’re 2, they’re 4, they’re 6, they’re 8,

shunting trucks and hauling freight.

Red and green and brown and blue,

they’re a really useful crew.

All with different roles to play

Round Tidmouth sheds so far away.

Down the hills and round the bends,

Thomas and his friends.”

R: Sa kabila ng global financial crisis, wala sa kanilang mare-redundant.

Ampalaya Chicken

This recipe comes aaalll the way from our kitchen in Lucena.  Everybody in the family knows how to cook this one, so decided that I should at least try.  This dish is pretty simple and if you know how to cook Tinola, most probably you are able to cook this one as well.  But If you don’t, why you came to the right post!  You lucky bastard!

As I’ve mentioned, this dish is similar to Tinola and instead of using Papaya, this dish requires Ampalaya.  Although I can’t remember when I started liking this bitter vegetable, I do remember those dreadful nights when this was served for dinner.  My Dad would always say to Tom and I, “You’re able to stand the bitter taste of beer, I don’t understand why you can’t you eat this!”  But we’ve learned to liked it eventually, and Dad is Ilokano anyway so we must be programmed to like it at some point.  Anyhow, first step to cooking this dish is to prepare your panggisa (onion, garlic and ginger) and cut Ampalaya into strips. 

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