gabriel's christening and don bosco mountaineering boys reuniting

last saturday was a hectic day for us as we found ourselves hopping from one place to another all over metro manila. we started off the day witnessing the christening of buboy and lui's first-born, jose gabriel serapio, in our lady of fatima parish in valenzuela. we left cabuyao at 7 am to arrive in the church at 10:30 am. yes, our travel was that long as you can imagine the distance. but i have no right to back out as i am one of the ninangs.

it's a joke, lui... trust me. =)

kidding aside, we regard dearly these two as we almost have the same lovestory to tell. bukuhan na... hahaha! just for your info, all of us four belong to the same mountaineering group. we were just acquaintances before and nobody would think that we will end up as pairs. then love blossomed between me and jude. kilig! hehehe. buboy and lui were there to make tukso. shortly, another love blossomed and this time it's between the two. jude and i were wed on october 2005 and five months after, it was buboy and lui who made it to the altar.

and now we are both proud parents of beautiful baby boys. hope fate would be forever good to us. =)

after the reception in max's edsa caloocan, we bid goodbye to the serapios and sped off to sta. mesa to visit my supplier. we dropped by don bosco mandaluyong as jude wanted to and we were surprised to see this:

the child in jude was beaming with joy when he saw the magnified don bosco mascot and he was quick to remember his son and the camera... so who else was the photographer in that picture?

after the short visit of the shop in sta. mesa, we made a stop in my in-laws' house in vito cruz so we can catch a nap (especially for iñigo) as we knew that night will be another long one.

old and not-so-old members alike of don bosco mountaineering society (jude is a member way back college days) met in arnold's house in sun valley, parañaque for a reunion. even father carlo, jude's bestfriend and one of iñigo's godfathers, was there. fr. chito dimaranan, svd., who is one of our wedding sponsors officiated the mass.

jude, iñigo and fr. carlo

and here the other dbms boys:

and they're clueless on what's happening with their kids:

they're tame in this picture

while i was busing taking pictures of pretty arianna, arnold and tanya's daughter:

isn't she pretty? hope someday i'm gonna have a daughter of my own but with her face. hehe.

 

anything goes tags

tagged this time by nol. thanks, sis! let's set a meet-up one of these days, okay?

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night? it's either hubby or the little boy... can't remember


2. What were you doing at 0800? sleeping... to hubby's dismay. hahaha! i'm not a morning person.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? checking mails


4. What happened to you in 2006? gave birth to a beautiful baby boy

5. What was the last thing you said out loud? NOT THAT ONE, INIGO!


6. How many beverages did you have today? one glass of milk (yes, baby pa ako. hehe), one glass of coke, and 2-3 glasses of water

7. What color is your hairbrush? i use comb

8. What was the last thing you paid for? jollibee spaghetti

9. Where were you last night? home with the two boys

10. What color is your front door? white

11. Where do you keep your change? wallet together with the bills

12. What’s the weather like today? sunny

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? cookies and cream

14. What excites you? traveling with the two boys; any first-time event for iñigo like the trick ad treat party tomorrow that jude's company is organizing... =)

15. Do you want to cut your hair? yes. i easily get bored with my hairstyle

16. Are you over the age of 25? yes

17. Do you talk a lot? relative

18. Do you watch the O.C.? no

19. Do you know anyone named Steven? no

20. Do you make up your own words? no

21. Are you a jealous person? as jude... hehe. hinde yata...

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. angie

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K'. kristine

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list? love (hubby)

25. What does the last text message you received say? long eh... but it's from my friend explaining what sore eyes is... iñigo has it. waaah!

26. Do you chew on your straw? no

27. Do you have curly hair? no

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? asian hospital. our pedia needs to see iñigo' eyes

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? someone in my ex-office...

30. What was the last thing you ate? oatmeal

31. Will you get married in the future? have that status na

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? surf's up. the best because it's the only movie i saw. hehe. can't be a cineast anymore

33. Is there anyone you like right now? yes! dr. hayden kho. hey, jude knows that. =) i really find him cute.... yun lang.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes? can't remember. it's my help who does that. but i love doing it when i was still single.

35. Are you currently depressed? depressed that my little boy at his young age has sore eyes already =(

36. Did you cry today? no

37. Why did you answer and post this? it's fun to answer

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey: jaja, amie, gigi, jah and meng

i've been tagged

tagged by my fellow n@wie, meng. thanks, sis!

1. Are there any babies in your family or circle of friends?

i have one and his name is iñigo. =) he's the youngest in my side while another baby is due to arrive for the bustamantes this january. in our circle of friends, many to mention kaya i won't mention their names anymore. hahaha!

2. Are you one of those people who use a high-pitched, sing-song voice when talking to babies and small children?

nope. i talk to them using my normal voice... plus the "extra" sweetness of course.


3. If you were standing in line next to a *very* pregnant stranger at the bank or grocery store, what would you say to her?

nothing. except if i know the person then i will surely engage myself in a conversation with her.


4. Similarly, what do you say or do near babies in public?

if they are cute... i usually tell them how cute they are and i would often receive a sheepish smile from the parents. if they don't pass my cuteness meter, deadma! hehehe.

5. When walking through a department store, are you the sort of person who can go by the baby clothes without even a glance or do you have to stop to ooh and ahh?

i must admit it's more of the girls' clothes that i would often give a second look. and it doesn't stop there... i'll get it from the rack pa and take a closer look. hinde ba obvious i also want to have a baby girl? hahaha! boys' clothes kasi are very generic... shirts and trousers, shirts and shorts... yun lang =D

now i'm tagging maybelle, marj, pinky, morning, and my kumareng lui. enjoy girls!

how financially healthy are we?

i was hoping that i could blog about iñigo and his fascination with the jollibee character and the jollibee parties we're attending every month.... yes, it's as often as my monthly period. hahaha! but i need to delay it a little more because am still waiting for the pix of iñigo during his kuya charles' 7th birthday last sunday, the last jollibee party we've attended so far.

so let me blog a more important concern, which jude and i are taking seriously since we found out that we're already pregnant with iñigo--only 5 weeks after we got married. so soon noh? we had no savings to speak of then aside from the cash gifts we received in our wedding. jude was still paying for the lot and the car loaned thru his company and what's left in his salary was enough to augment my not-so-big income. of course we were thrilled that our union is already blessed with a baby but i would be dishonest if i tell you that anxieties and fears were not part of that "mixed feelings" of parenthood. we had no idea of raising a child and the more of the costs attached to it. fortunately for us, almost all of my monthly check-ups, lab exams, prenatal vitamins, and ultrasound procedures were shouldered by jude's company. and when i delivered iñigo, it was also jude's company who paid for the bills in makati medical center. hence, we were able to save a little money in the bank since we were financially unscathed.

fast forward to october 2007...

we still have some money left in our bank accounts, invested in some mutual funds and bought some stocks shares... yes, everything is "some" because it's really not that significant so i cannot claim that we are already financially stable.

it also doesn't help that we are in the midst of financing the construction of our house and my soon-to-open business. the next resort for us is to loan again from jude's company. well, it's better to have the money from them because their lending rate is the lowest and the terms they offer are shorter than the banks or other financial institutions.

so how good are we now in terms of financial health?

we're on a passing grade i guess because am confident that our net worth is still positive. but let me share you our financial health scorecard which i created after reading some very good books on financial matters. i'm not going to fill it out yet as we have just entered our third year of marriage but i hope after ten years or sooner, everything is checked with "achieved". =D

	target amount	status
1. emergency fund equivalent to
six months' expenses
2. life insurance for us which is
equivalent to a year's expenses
3. retirement fund for us which
can sustain us until we're 70, or
probably 75 years old! =)
4. college fund for iñigo and future
sibling/s.
5. extra savings for other emergencies
including grave sickness of other loved
ones
6. extra savings for travels and other
leisures

say good luck to us! =D

mommy is the most important person in the whole wide world!

wait... my son hasn't told me that yet. although i would love to hear it from him in the next few years and am sure such validation would bring me to tears.

but with how he patiently waits at our front door because he knows its my time to be home,

how he giggles or shrieks with delight when he see me coming out from the gate,

how he hugs me tight and never let go of me,

and how he cries whenever i put him down so i can just change my clothes,

or whenever he see me walking towards the door afraid that he will lose sight of me again,

and how he pouts, by the way, when he sees me in the morning or in the afternoon readying myself to go somewhere,

how he looks at me as if am the prettiest woman in the planet (charing!),

and how he wants to be cuddled only by ME when he's sick or sleepy,

and kiss me on my cheek whenever i ask for it.

gee... if all these are not enough to tell you how much my son loves me...

and how i love being a mother to him. =)

 

 

 

 

 

all about iñigo

iñigo has a favorite trick these days. he'd come near us and make a blow on our skin to his heart's delight. his laugh is contagious. his daddy and i would often end up wet with his laway. yuck. =) but we don't mind at all as we see our bundle of joy growing up happy.

***

among his toys, the "bo" (ball) has been a consistent favorite of the little boy. he already has eight and it comes in different sizes and colors. we already bought a basketball ring for him and he's been practicing his shooting and dunking skills ever since. hope his love affair with balls won't end up soon because among the toddler toys in the market, it's the cheapest. hahaha!

he also developed a liking for toy cars. we went to the mall the other day and he was enjoying the remote-controlled cars being demonstrated by the sales attendant. he'd say, "vrrrrmm." and tried to run after it. we ended up buying one for him.

***

it's gratifying for a mother to see his son growing up pious. as i've shared here before, we never taught him how to make the sign of the cross. iñigo just picked up this good habit as he sees us praying before meals and before going to sleep. iñigo learned to make the amen sign at nine months. now he would touch his forehead four times when the blessed trinity is mentioned and the amen sign would come afterwards. there are times when the little boy becomes a reminder that we missed out praying as we see him doing the sign of the cross alone.

***

the little boy just recovered from a bad cough, which he acquired from yaya matet. the daddy and the mommy are relieved that he is already well now and is back to his usual self--playful and active. like other parents, we worry to death when iñigo is ill especially when he is lethargic and cries at night because he's just not that.

his big appetite also came back. he was not eating for one week that he's sick and he lost almost 1 kilo of his weight. it's only my breastmilk that sustained him. now that he's eating i think he already regained the weight he lost because he's as heavy again as before.

***

the agonies we suffer every medicine time also ended. iñigo hates taking medicines. he would already pout at the sight of the medicine spoon and he'd purse his lips tighter the more we tried to open his mouth. we did everything to make it easier--we sang his favorite barney song, we cajoled him, we even involved buchik (the household lizard) to convince him to take his meds--but to no avail. paiyakan i tell you!

***

iñigo has a penchant for upbeat music and dancing. we observed this on him since he was seven months as he'd beat his hands whenever he heard the song "itaktak mo". okay, he had the same dance step to all songs he'd hear. hahaha!

and now he would entertain us with his dancing skills when he'd let the music in his exersaucer played and he would stand in front of us and dance. uy, nag-improve na yung steps... he would also make use of his legs na rin. hahaha!

***

are toddlers expected to be friendly at their age? because my son is not. our neighbor maya who is older than him by four months visits him often complete with smile and flying kiss but the little boy would just give him a cold treatment. it's either he would turn away from her or worse, he'd close our front door. SNOB!

am i ready to take the big plunge into entrepreneurship?

yeah... i think this is it. it's just either i make it or break it. i've already told one thousand and one people that we (although it's really more of me) will open our very first food store this coming november. the mall owner called for a meeting last friday and told us that ther'e a big chance that the construction of her commercial building, where my store is located, will be finished by end of this month. she would turn over the mall spaces to us--tenants--by november 15th. horrors... that soon! we are looking forward pa naman on the hong kong trip jude's sister is sponsoring next month. but more than that, am not yet finished with my products development and materials sourcing... there's a lot more to be done!

but as i've earlier said, there's no stepping back for me. i must confess that the whole idea of leaving the comforts (and discomforts) of my 9-5 job, which i already did last may, and risking our hard-earned savings in a business is DAUNTING. i would have quiet moments lately and rethink if i can handle all this with jude as my only partner. but knowing myself and how stronghead i can be when i want to achieve something, i know there's a room for me in the business world.

getting into a business is something i really wanted to do ever since i earned my college diploma. i never saw myself employed until my old age. that would be a disgrace for me, i said. i think it was my mother who influenced me to have this mind-set as she had a lot of business ideas; unluckily, most didn't push thru. and at a young age i saw my potentials and interests to become an entrepreneur. i remember back in high school i was selling polvoron and yema to my classmates as we have a neighbor then who's into this hobby-business and i asked her if i can bring some in my school and sell it during breaks. i toted plastic bags of these goodies every morning as some of my classmates even ordered packs to bring home to their parents and siblings. i was only thirteen then but it already dawned on me that making business is more interesting than studying... hahaha!

i did the same when i was already in junior level when a classmate, whose mom was a hong kong viajera, was selling original giordano leather bags to us (remember those semi-luggage bags of giordano?). but this time my customers were my ate's colleagues in the pharmaceutical company she worked for. they were medical representatives and they found my giordano bags very useful to carry all their medicine samples. needless to say that i was able to buy the sanrio items i wanted for myself out of my earnings.

there's a lot more i sold and traded through the years, including wine and abaca bags. would you believe even our wedding rings were funded partly by my rakets? jude gave me the money for the downpayment but instead of giving it to the jeweler i used it first as seed money for a business venture. the profits i raked in were able to cover the balance for the ring. of course, jude was more than happy!

those were happy times. and i know business would not always be as simple as peddling polvorons and giordano bags. but my heart is into it right now and i believe being an entrepreneur is another calling for me. i promised my son that he would see his mother more often in the house. and i promised myself that we will enjoy life better than we used to. business permits me to have both.

all it takes for me now is a little audacity and faith in myself... and a LOT of prayers.

i just want to end this with a quote from my business icon, who else but mr. john gokongwei. in his book "john l. gokongwei jr.: the path of entrepreneurship" published by ateneo de manila university, he admitted that being an entrepreneur is a way to end poverty but is definitely not an easy path to take. but here's his response to the challenge:

“but we have to start somewhere, however small, however difficult...”

inspiring, isn't it? it's all i need to read to boost my morale.

okay, maybe what i'm feeling now is nothing but jitters and i just have to cut down my caffeine intake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

on kalibo, boracay and traveling with a toddler in tow

when jude and i were deciding on what destination to take for this year's wedding anniversary, the island of boracay instantly came to mind. you see, we haven't been to this overrated tourist destination and we thought it's high time that we set foot on its white sand beach and see for ourselves how fine and powdery it is. it's like everyone had been to this place except for us! it always came as second choice for us then and it was only this year that we both longed for a boracay trip so that explains. =)

we stayed first in kalibo for one night before we took the ride going to caticlan. we were with iñigo, as usual, so we were very careful with our itinerary trying to have it toddler-friendly as much as possible. but as fate would have it typhoon "ineng" was still in the country last weekend and though it was heading north, the strong gusty winds enhanced the monsoon rain in the western visayas area, boracay included. and i tell you, it was RAINING all day in boracay. we just locked ourselves inside the room and killed time watching cable tv.

we would have been more adventurous and just ignore the rain and the possibility of getting wet if it hadn't been for iñigo. going on a trip with a baby, who's now a toddler, made a big difference on the way we travel... and the loads we need to carry, i must add. for this trip alone, jude had to bring the samsonite luggage and my expedition backpack to accommodate all the necessities (take note: we didn't bring anything unimportant) especially for iñigo, which includes the nebulizer apparatus. and i haven't mentioned the stroller yet which was another bitbitin for the poor daddy. good thing that we bought a lighter one because the graco stroller iñigo was using when he was still an infant is really a heavyweight.

oh well, that's the trade-off i guess for having a kid. we can't even go on an island-hopping or banana boating because that would be risky for us. and yes, we didn't swim nor take a stroll on that day we arrived in boracay because we can't take iñigo out in the rain.

but that was friday. fortunately for us, the weather went better the next morning so we were able to go to the beach after a brief stroll in d' mall. iñigo wasn't in his best mood as he was suffering from a bad cough. we just let him stay in his stroller which we parked along the beach as i read that sea breeze is the best saline solution to remedy a cough. true enough, iñigo's cough calmed down, which made jude to consider buying a beachfront property in batangas. feeling mucho dinero ang daddy! hehe.

we still had a nice time in bora despite the rain, which poured down again btw in the afternoon. jude ogled at the curves covered only by two-piece swimsuits while my eyes feasted on the goodies being sold in shops or by peddlers. i realized at the end of the trip that bora is more of a shopping haven to me than a beach paradise. hahaha! we've already been to honda bay in puerto princesa, el nido, panglao island, and coron and honestly speaking, boracay comes last in the list.

we stayed until sunday afternoon which gave us more time to enjoy the beach. for our meals btw, we survived in boracay because of andoks, goodah, and cindys'. isn't it obvious that we were in tipid mode? =P we only had a grand dinner last saturday night since it wasn't raining anymore and we felt that a bora trip isn't complete without a dine-out in one of its restos. we went as far as station 3 for the buffet dinner with a promo price of php 200 per head. i failed to get the name of the establishment but i left my seat disappointed because their foods were all ordinary to my palate.

talking about restos and foods, we enjoyed them more in kalibo city as we stayed there again sunday night to make ourselves in time for the early monday morning flight back to manila. if you'll get the chance to visit this city, which is famous for its ati-atihan festival every january, i recommend that you eat here:

- perfect combination, formerly known as mix n' match. we tried their baby back ribs and it's good! you can't believe its price because it's only php 100 per serving.

- peking house. this seems to be an old restaurant but i was really raving when the sinigang na hipon was served on our table--i counted the prawns and it's 10 pieces! =D i couldn't believe the prawns are that cheap in this city because i only paid php 95 for it. and mind you, it's delicioso too. with its name, this resto also serves good chinese food.

so okay... that's all for our 2nd wedding anniversary celebration. though we still cap it off last monday night with a nice dinner in paseo de roxas as jude insisted. SWEET!

 

 

the tl and the sweeper's story: lovestruck on the mountain

 

okay, for those of you who's not into mountaineering and doesn't understand our jargons...

- the tl or team leader is the person who heads the climbing pack. he/she organizes and maps out the itinerary; arranges for the transporation, climbing permit/s, and guide (if needed) and other requirements; designates the role of each member and makes sure that they are all in good condition and well-fed. in short, alila ng grupo. hahaha!

- the sweeper or tail positions himself at the end of the pack. he/she is usually one of the strongest and veterans in the group since he/she must "sweep" anything that's accidentally (or intentionally) left behind by the other members, including a worn-out body. during my early mountaineering days, i usually befriend and charm the sweeper or tail as i know how useful he can be to me when am already too tired to carry my own backpack. hahaha!

that particular climb is on mt. amuyao--traversing the mountain from the other side to the other--all the way to the remote village of batad. it took us 3 days to complete it, excluding travel time. i was the team leader in this adventure (would you believe?) and jude was one of the sweepers together with our fellow member who's a doctor by profession. the presence of these two senior members from our group was enough to intimidate me and made me feel incapable of leading the group. jude later revealed to me that he was only waiting his time to take charge as he was seeing me as too feminine (his euphemism for maarte). in fairness, jude has something to boot as he served their all-boys college mountaineering group for two terms and did it with flying colors. he was already climbing since his high school days while i, on the other hand, was only a neophyte then. that's why a girl for a team leader in a multi-day hike on an unfamiliar territory was unacceptable for him. especially someone who can't live without a face powder and lip gloss. hehe. but i proved his initial impression of me wrong! and that made him like and admire me even more daw. i think my organization skills and control-freak attitude helped me to assume the role.

that climb is really a memorable one for us. because aside from the strenuous and risky adventure we had (i almost fell off to the ravine), the unique and breathtaking sceneries that greeted us each morning, jude and i also found love over the mountain.

i hope we can join again our group in one of their climbs very soon. it would be great to relive the memories of our pre-wedding days when weekends were also spent in hiking and camping out. the experience of being on top of the mountain or in the midst of wilderness with someone you trust and love dearly duplicates the life that we have now. and it's really comforting to know that amid the uncertainties and challenges of a married life, there is someone whom you can always count on. 

 

mt. ugu climb with mms; july 2005