Archive for "Family"
Dancing the Night Away at Park Cafe
Posted on October 25, 2009 by Ching under Family, Things to Do, Travel.
After the homecoming-slash-birthday party, we all decided to go to Park Cafe for some outdoor ballroom dancing. We hesitated to go at first because it was kind of rainy, but then it stopped raining just in time. I had worried that the ballroom dancing had been canceled, but Tanjayanons are true dancing die-hards who wouldn’t let a little rain keep them from their Park Cafe. It was a smaller turn out than usual, but more than I expected considering the weather.
I’m glad that we went because I ran into my cousin George Ramirez (Jojie). He is a lot younger than I am so we didn’t really get to know each other until my last visit to Tanjay in 1998. Being an internet addict, I went to Mozcom all the time. Jojie happened to work there and that is how we met. He is the only relative I have on that side who is always so eager and proud to claim me as a cousin. Maybe it’s because we are both from Tabuc. LOL.
The dance floor was pretty slick from the rain, but that didn’t stop us. We are die-hards after all. True Tanjayanons to the very core.
Below is a photo of mom with Inday Milet, Inday Roquesa (Jojie’s mom) and Manong Tikboy (Inday Milet’s husband).
The local dance instructors (DI) and their fabulous dance moves kept everyone busy.
Brian danced with me despite his glaring dress code violation. Apparently, you have to wear a nice shirt, pants and shoes in order to be able to participate in the dancing. No shorts or flip-flops. Since we were going to be in a hot, tropical climate, Brian didn’t pack any collared shirts. The two linen pants (we figured that any other material would be too hot) that he did bring with him were both dirty.
We decided to go as we were. He tried to stay away from the dance floor and was pretty content watching us dance with the DIs, but eventually gave in to the call of the music (also known as my pleadings). LOL.
Daddy, who was also in improper attire, danced with mom as well.
We didn’t really care that we were violating the dress code. No one was going to be able to keep us from participating in the dancing and missing out on all that fun.
Auntie Joy has some awesome dance moves and could be a DI herself. She is a fantastic dancer.
Mom ran into an old friend from school, Oning.
No trip to Tanjay is complete without doing some ballroom dancing at Park Cafe. Everyone had a fabulous time. 🙂
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Mom’s Birthday Party – Filipino Style
Posted on October 25, 2009 by Ching under Family, Flickr, Food and Drink.
We all had our nails done on the day of mom’s party. Well, all of us except for Brian. Even dad got his nails done.
The nail tech who came over, Nory (not sure of the spelling), is the official manikyurista of Tabuc. She goes to everyone’s homes to do their nails. For instance, going to Auntie Jessica’s house every couple of weeks and to Mama Iyay’s house every month.
Nail services in the Philippines are pretty inexpensive. My manicure and pedicure cost me less than $2, even after tip. It’s not like a spa mani and pedi but, for the nail tech to actually come to your house and perform the service, that’s huge. That way you don’t have to get your toenails muddy. =)
Earlier that same day, Uncle Wesley came by and gave mom a bouquet of flowers picked from his beautiful garden (which is next to mom and dad’s house). Mom and I thought that was very thoughtful of him.
I’m not sure what kind of flower that it, but it is very pretty.
Brian did a great job of moving the car out of the car port so we could make room for the tables. Auntie Neneng’s car is stick shift and with the steep incline and the narrowness of the carport, it was very tricky. However, Brian managed to move the car out without the use of a rock (I noticed the others, including Cholo who chauffeured us around whenever we used the car, have to do that before they can switch from reverse to drive). This is further proof of Brian’s expert stick shift driving ability. Go, baby!
With the car out of the way, dad was able to clean the tile floor using walis ting-ting (stick broom) and water. The carport doubles as a patio, when there is no car parked. The architecture of mom and dad’s house in Opao is actually really creative and functional. Did I mention that, besides the tile floors, the walls are tiled also? This way you never have to worry about wooden walls rotting or having to get the walls repainted. I think the tile walls withstand the strong rainstorms better than regular walls also. Their house is very well-suited to the local climate.
Later in the afternoon, the soda arrived. Mostly Coke, but there was some Sprite also. In bottles of course.
Coke is the drink of choice in the Philippines. Brian knows this first hand now. Once you cross the Pacific Ocean to the other continent and arrive in the Philippines, Coke tastes like Pepsi (which is our – when I say our, I mean Brian and me – cola of choice here) and Pepsi tastes like bad watered-down cola.
We set up extra tables and chairs around the house. Okay, so someone else set up the tables and chairs for us. We helped a little, though.
There were tables and chairs in the carport/patio and also the front porch. We have a huge extended family so we had to make sure there was enough seating for everyone.
There was so much food that we had a lot of leftovers the next day. Check out FOODIES for pictures of the dishes that were served.
Check out the slide show below for pictures from the party.
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Another Photobook
Posted on October 24, 2009 by Ching under Family, Tips.
I made a photobook of our family. I created this one through Shutterfly.
Click here to view this photo book larger.
If you’re thinking of a holiday gift idea, photobooks are usually a home run.
- Companies that I have used to create photobooks:
- My Publisher
- Blurb
- Mixbook
- Shutterfly
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Visiting the Cemetery
Posted on October 21, 2009 by Ching under Family.
We initially planned to visit the cemetery on Wednesday, October 7, Papa Osing’s birthday. I had borrowed a couple of umbrellas from Tito Ope because I couldn’t get my hair wet. I was ready to go, but the weather would not cooperate. The rain continued nonstop. No else one wanted to go that day. I was a little disappointed, but they promised me that we would go before we left.
We planned to postpone until the following Monday, our last full day in Tanjay. However, we had nothing else on Saturday as my power plant tour was moved to Sunday, October 11. Saturday turned out to be a somewhat nice day. It still drizzled a little, but it was nice enough (compared to the torrential rain we’d been having the previous days) that we were all able to go. Manong Jovilo, Auntie Inday, mom, dad, Brian and I all went. We piled into Manong Jovilo’s Easy Ride.
We figured we might as well go while we can, instead of waiting until Monday. You never know what will happen. If it started raining again, then we might not get to go at all. That would really be disappointing.
There used to be only one cemetery in Tanjay. Now there are two because the original cemetery had gotten overcrowded. Here are some photos from the old cemetery, where my great grandparents are buried…
Overcrowded is not an exaggeration. Graves are literally stacked one on top of another. So when Mama Priscilla passed, she was buried at Serenity (the new cemetery). Papa Osing was buried there also.
Serenity is a lot less crowded than the old cemetery. Actually, it wasn’t crowded at all. Half of the cemetery was still open so there were tons of plots available and then there is vacant land adjacent to the cemetery so there is further room to expand. Serenity is a lot nicer so I can understand why people are choosing to be buried there. It is much more expensive than the old cemetery.
The plan is to build a mausoleum around Papa Osing’s grave. The mausoleum is yet to be designed, but I think that shelves will line the walls so that the urns of those who plan to be cremated (like dad and some of his other siblings) can be stored in the mausoleum with their parents. Mama Priscilla’s grave is located at a different part of the cemetery, but after five years they can move her remains next to Papa Osing’s so they can be together.
I think mom and dad both want to be cremated so it will be easier for us to bring them back home to the Philippines. I told them that they will need to leave detailed instructions so Jenni and I don’t mess anything up. LOL.
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Cousin Gladys
Posted on October 19, 2009 by Ching under Family, Travel.
This is a photo of mom with my cute cousin, Gladys. She is now 13. The funny thing is that Tito Ope keeps calling Gladys “Ching” because he remembers me from when I was 13, the last time that we really got to spend time together.
I suppose Gladys is a lot like me at age 13, except she’s probably more well-behaved than I ever was. She is very quiet and respectful, and doesn’t ever forget to mano. I was kind of a pain. LOL.
It rained nonstop during the week of our stay in Tanjay so we were pretty much stuck at the house. I had all of these things I wanted to do, but the weather wouldn’t cooperate. It was quite boring.
On Tuesday afternoon we decided to go to the salon to get our hair done. We were all pretty bored at this point. Even Brian came with us.
We decided to hail a cab (not a taxi cab, a pedicab – LOL) to take us there. It was a modified pedicab (a motorcycle with an attached sidecar) that could fit half a dozen people at least. Normally, these cabs can only accommodate 4 or 5 people at the most. I suppose the more people a driver can fit in the pedicab, the more money they can make.
Here are some pictures of us taken at the salon:
Gladys and I both had our hair rebonded. This is a Japanese hair straightening method that turns wavy or curly hair straight and it lasts 6 to 8 months depending on how well you take care of your hair. The process and products used are slightly different than hair relaxing.
Here is the result:
The result of hair rebonding is stick straight hair. My hair pretty much dries completely straight right now, without the use of a flat iron. It’s awesome. I have heard/read that hair rebonding is bad for your hair so I’m kind of scared to flat iron my hair because it might not be as strong as it once was. I was told I can’t flat iron my hair with the flat iron set above 180 degrees. I think the lowest setting on my flat iron is 300 degrees. Still not sure what to do about that. So far I’ve just been air drying my hair for the most part. Although, I did use a hair dryer once at Plantation Bay.
Anyway, time for me to get ready for work. Stay tuned for more trip recap.
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