sabado night

since friday afternoon, i've been telling michelle that the next night, i would be going to a fundraising and i couldn't take her with me. she only let me go after i promised her that i would have a surprise for her when i got home.

so to prepare, i went to target to get her a little something. i did't want to go home empty handed which has happened many times before. i don't want to disappoint her again this time. mahirap pala maghanap ng panuhol sa anak! but i found something that i was sure would lift her spirits.

saturday night, me, chel, t, claire, lai, ed, ron, perry, pastora mona and dorcas went to st. thomas more school for their cioppino night. seafood heaven!!! we all prepared for this evening, eating next to nothing the whole day so that we have enough room and appetite for this tradition. we ate soooooo much seafood! bakit naman kasi hindi?? this dish has crab, clams, mussels, and shrimp. we all dug in, bibs around our necks and devoured our food. our boy scout server gave us 2 helpings of the mussel appetizer and 4 servings of the cioppino. i kept telling myself, 'mie, hindi lang lobo ang pumuputok!' just to stop myself from eating. dessert was amazing, too, but unfortunately, i was not able to enjoy it too much dahil talaga puputok na tiyan ko.

we didn't like much of the items up for auction so we didn't bother bidding. or siguro our attention was just too focused on the food. =)

i took home 10 balloons for michelle from the school. feeling 'UP' ako while carrying them out of the gym. =D She was aleep when i got home, sayang. But at around midnight, she opened her eyes and asked, 'mommy what's your surprise for me?' i said, 'look up'. Her eyes opened wide and she flashed a big smile 'Balloons!' she said. And she fell back to sleep, still with a smile on her lips. haaaay! those little things make me so happy to be a mom. =D

btw, i got her a bubble machine at target as my real surprise for her. since the balloons were available, yung muna ang binigay ko. she's taking a nap right now and given that it is a gorgeous day outside, i told her i have another surprise for her when she wakes up from her nap. =)

itlog lang

Michelle: 'mommy lets go 2 tselogs aftr my ballet class 2mrw!'

Mommy: 'wat r u gona eat @ tselogs?'

Michelle: 'i'm gonna eat eggsilog!'

guess the word

michelle and i made chocolate covered strawberries tonight. she ate quite a bit of them and her hand got all wrinkly and soggy from the strawberries. after cleaning her up, she noticed that fingers felt like prunes. this is what she said....

michelle: mommy, why are my fingers like this?

mommy: like what?

michelle: my fingers are googly. why are they bakule?

mommy: huh? anong bakule? (i can't stop laughing at this point)

michelle: bakule! mommy, it's bakule!


can you guess what she means by bakule????

bakule = kulubot

don't ask me how she came up with bakule!

fat tuesday

i'm not one to break tradition...

it's fat tuesday so i 'loaded' up on ice cream.

and then for the next 40 days, eat oatmeal and veggies and some protein.

it's called the quasi-goat diet.

gotta do it man! 100 days til maui!

40 diet days + 60 days to find the right clothes!!!!

vacation counter

i've added a vacation counter to my blog. 100 days till maui!!!!

can you tell i've been thinking about it a lot??

family valentine's day dinner

tri-tip from morton's
(sold at costco)

clambake by me!
(recipe from the barefoot contessa)

hungry husband sold separately

buy one husband, get a daughter for free!

chez papa

3 words for ya...

kobe beef tartare

sarap!

kung iisipin mo, since when did raw beef become tasty??? i don't know who invented this beef tartare dish, but he/she is a genius! genius!!!

paul and i truly enjoyed our meal. sa sobrang enjoy namin, nakalimutan na namin kunan ng pictures yung mga pagkain. sarap. i would go back any time. one of my favorites and not overly expensive.

naalala namin to take pics of the food, half way through each dish na. sayang kasi ang ganda ng presentation ng food. here is the best we could do...

kobe beef tartare

alaskan cod

steamed PEI mussels

what does a 40 foot wave look like?

these surfers (and photos) will show you.




Maverick's or Mavericks is a world-famous surfing location in Northern California [about 15-20 minutes from our house]. It is located approximately one-half mile (0.8 km) from shore in Pillar Point Harbor just north of Half Moon Bay at the village of Princeton-By-The-Sea. After a strong winter storm in the northern Pacific Ocean, waves can routinely crest at over 25 feet (8m) and top out at over 50 feet (15m) [the waves above were around 40 feet, the highest in contest history so far]. The break is caused by an unusually-shaped underwater rock formation.

Mavericks is a winter destination for some of the world's best big wave surfers. Very few riders become big wave surfers; and of those, only a select few are willing to risk the hazardous conditions at Maverick's. An invitation-only contest is held there every winter, depending on wave conditions.

photos from sfgate.com, information from wikipedia.

i cannot wait!!!

i haven't been this excited in a really long time!!!!

my husband agreed to maui and where I WANT to stay and we booked it this morning! we are all set for a 4-day, 3-night stay in maui and I CAN'T WAIT!!!!


if you've been to maui, please let me know the places that are not to be missed. (gracious, give me tips!)

i am hoping a local from maui will chance upon this blog and let me know where to go and where to eat. i want to go where the locals go. =) so if you're from maui, please send me a note!

maui is keeping me awake!

i should sleep now but i'm so excited thinking about maui!!!

i turn 30 in may, so i want to really celebrate my birthday. i thought about going on a cruise again, but i'm not crazy about going to ensanada, mexico which is my only choice because we don't have time. i thought about spending the long weekend at santa barbara, pero i feel as if it's not exciting enough.

then i thought about hawaii and bells and whistles started going off everywhere!!!!

hawaii it is.

i know i don't want to go to oahu. i don't like crowds so i know i should put oahu at the bottom of my list. so maui is the most logical choice.

do i go for reasonable, or do i go for broke?

ooooooh!!!! i'm so tempted to go for broke. there is no in-between for me here. either i go choose a simple place to stay or pay the $300 difference and go stay at the place i know i would just absolutely love. it doesn't seem much, but $300 should be enough to cover our meals in maui.

waaaaah! i want to book it tomorrow na because i found such good rates on pleasant holidays!

and then i thought, i could give up buying the bag that i want and stay where i want.

can the bag wait?

urgh!!! the choices!!!!!! the choices!!!!

where to go next????

our choice was el nido or boracay...

el nido was in the lead. e parang ang hirap puntahan. baka mahirapan lang si michelle, tapos magsasabi pa to ng, 'mommy it's so init, i'm getting pawis!' so scratch el nido. pag mga 7 years old na sya, pwede na.

so boracay ulit ang goal namin. the question is where to stay???

pero si michelle, when i asked her where to go on our next adventure, ito ang sagot nya:

mommy: michelle, where should we go for our next adventure?

michelle: uhm, i want to go to south america! (kakapanood ng up, south america ang naisip).

michelle: after we go to the pilappines we'll go to south america!


sabay kami mangangarap for now. =)