Posts from — June 2008

We’re a month into winter. It’s a great time to go to the beach! Well, it’s not really to take a dip into the freezing water. I think it’s just a great time to go there and enjoy ‘the beach’. We had an impromptu trip to Bondi Beach. That beach is so popular that during summer, it would definitely be crowded. In fact, it is so popular that despite the cold weather, we still found a few people jumping into the cold!

Here’s an unfamiliar shot of Bondi Beach… just the beach.

An impromptu trip to the beach calls for an impromptu picnic. Here’s one of many seagulls who tried to join and get a share of some potato chips.

Thanks Christine!

~ Start Copy Here ~

Instructions:

1. Pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences after the tag chain.
5. Spread this tag to as many people as you can.

Book Tag Chain: 1) Only The Good Stuff, What Simply Works 2) Reflexes 3. Your site here

~End Copy Here~

Book: The Power of Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian

“This doesn’t just happen. It must be taught. And although we can do much to teach our children about living purely in the ways of the Lord and model this to the best of our ability, the real teacher is he Holy Spirit.” 

Tagging : A Blessed Life and A Great Pleasure

Thanks Nina for this tag.

The Rules:

• Determine your birthday month and get a word that rhymes with it or you can affix to it. Caps lock your birth month (ex: MAYday! JUNE dune, APRILicious, JULYvely, AUGUST pocus, parched MARCH…). Be unique.*
• Your birth month plus the word affixed or rhymed shall become the tag’s title in your case.*
• Get your birthday and add the digits involved. Example, if your birthday falls on the 25th of July, add 2 and 5 you get 7.*
• Whatever is the sum, write a list of the MATERIAL gifts you wish to receive, the number of which shall correspond to the sum of your birthday. For example, applying the case above (in rule number 3), you will write seven (7) things you wish to receive.*
• After your wish list, put your name and birthday in the Bloggers’ Birthday Directory, with a link to your blog/s. Note: when you add your birthday, please place it in a way that the dates appear chronological (January, February… 1, 2, 3)*
• Pass this tag meme by tagging as many people as you want.

June_in_Tune

My Wish List

1. PR (Permanent Resisdent) for me

2. PR (Page Rank) for my blog

Directory:February 20 - Caryl February 23 - Jammy March 7 - Mari March 29 - Rachel April 08 - Sheen May 3 - Vannie May 8 - joanjoyce May 27 – Zang Caesar June 11 - RoseLLe September 28 - Nina September 30 - Mckhoii October 22 - MommyBa December 18 - JoshuaOngYS December 19 - Alpha December 20 - Suzanne  YOUR BIRTHDAY HERE

I am tagging Christine.

It’s been a while since we last ate a sugar apple, or what is commonly known in the Philippines as ‘atis’. In fact it may have been years! Anyway, we saw this fruit in the grocery labeled as ‘mangosteen’. It does not look like as it is labeled. But it sure does look like an atis. It’s just that it is a bit oversized. We are used to see fist-sized sugar apples. This one is amazingly sized like a fist… inside a boxing glove!

After taking this ‘mangosteen’ home, we waited a few days for it to be fully ripe. And so the day came for us to take a taste. It is definitely sugar apple! Yes, A for Atis! It was nice and sweet. But with its size, we ended up laughing as we could not even finish it up in one sitting.

We’re having a few friends come over our house today. And when visitors are about to come over, that sounds the alarm to do a good round of house cleaning! It may sound easy for some people, but with a couple of kids, that poses a potentially overwhelming challenge.

Kids are known to have a relatively shorter attention span compared to adults. I guess that statement comes to life when kids are engaged into their own activities. Be it playing, making crafts, painting or other sorts, they tend to start with exceptionally high energy and spirits. After a few minutes you’ll likely see them jumping into the next round of to-do’s. That means you’ll probably end up with a floor that has a good mixture of toys, pencils, and paper. Something worse may be a case of a carpet treated with watercolor, a dab of marker which was left with cap off, or even massaged with a tub of playdough.

Now there are a few choices to make things easier. The easiest is to keep all the toys and crafts away. Alright, that won’t work. Next option: follow kids around and pick up anything that moves from their hand to the floor. That would probably work. However, that doesn’t seem to be a very good option considering the huge amount of physical energy required to do it. How about hiring cleaners? Well, here in Sydney, it’s probable but not feasible (at least for us). The cost is probably unimaginable especially if we’re talking about regular (e.g. daily, weekly) cleaning.

With all the options, I guess the ‘clean after kids’ will be the most reasonable solution. ‘So what tools do I need?’ A vacuum cleaner is probably the most versatile tool. We do have one but I am looking for something more efficient. I used to have a cordless vac and I can still recall how easy it is to just pick it up and clean away! I found the Accucharge vacs to be pretty interesting especially as it has earned Energy Star approval. That means there is less pressure to keep the vac away to save energy.

Kids are kids… and it’s just a joy for a parent to see them do what they’ve got to do. Besides, you can still keep things spick-and-span with the right tools at hand.

There are some things in life that you can only learn out of school. And for some reason, it is also difficult to quantify these things! If we think about it, even school-aged children spend only a fraction of their day in school (hmmm… quantifying!). We parents and family members have a great opportunity to have an influence on children’s learning. The learning may happen as we teach them explicitly about things that will come out handy in life such as crossing the street, washing the dishes, etc. Another important aspect are things they learn implicitly… things that in most cases, build character. This may include manner of talking, our reactions to problems, etc. These are our footprints, and children do look and may follow these steps.

As I’ve earlier mentioned, the entire family is involved in this learning process. In the first photo is CN trying to imitate her elder sister RD in doing splits on the sands of Bondi Beach, Sydney. ‘Gaya-gaya’ as how we would normally call tots who learn by imitating practically everybody. The second photo was taken after RD found the footprints of a seagull and tried to put hers right beside it. It’s not that she learned how to follow a seagull… she learned how to set-up a nice photo scene for my photo entry here at LP! So don’t forget that we as parents can also learn a lot from our kids.

May mga bagay sa buhay na matututunan mo lamang sa labas ng paaralan. Dahil sa ilang kadahilanan, ang mga bagay na ito ay mahirap lagyan ng bilang! Kung iisipin natin, maging ang mga batang nasa edad ng pagaaral ay naglalaan lamang ng bahagi ng kanilang araw sa paaralan (hmmm…nagbibilang!). Tayong mga magulang at iba pang miyembro ng pamily ay may malaking oportunidad upang magkaroon ng impluwensya sa pagkatuto ng mga bata. Ang pagkatuto ay maaaring mangyari habang tinuturuan natin sila ng hayagan tungkol sa mga bagay na magagamit nila sa buhay gaya ng pagtawid sa kalsada, paghuhugas ng pinggan, atbp. Ang isa pang mahalagang aspeto ay ang mga bagay nan natututunan nila ng di-hayagan… mga bagay na sa madalas, nag-bubuo ng karakter. Kasama na rito ang pamamaraan sa pagsasalita, ang reaksyon sa problema, atbp. Ito ang ating mga yapak, at ang mga bata ay nagmamatyag at maaaring sumunod sa mga yapak na ito.

Gaya ng aking unang nabanggit, ang buong pamily ay kasali sa proseso ng pagkatuto. Sa unang larawan si CN ay nagsusubog gayahin ang kanyang nakakatandang kapatid na si RD sa pag-gawa ng ’splits’ sa mga buhangin ng Bondi Beach, Sydney. ‘Gaya-gaya’ kung paano natin kadalasan tawagin ang mga bata na natututo sa pamamagitan ng pag-gaya sa halos lahat. Ang ikalawang larawan ay kinuha matapos makita ni RD ang mga yapak ng isang ’seagull’ and nagsubok na gumawa ng kanya sa tabi nito. Hindi sya natuto kung paano sumunod sa segull… sya ay natuto kung paano gumawa ng eksenang panlarawan para sa aking lahok dito sa LP! Kaya hwag ninyong kalilimutan na tayo rin bilang magulang ay may matututunan mula sa ating mga anak.

Could you remember when you were a kid and got hurt either by tripping on something and hitting the floor?  Or maybe your finger got caught in the door, drawer, or cabinet.  And after the dreaded event happens, your parents (or siblings, and maybe even grandparents, auntie, uncle, cousins, etc.) come to the rescue to provide relief to your aching finger.  And even after they put ice on the swollen finger they continue to make you feel better by saying ’shall we spank the door?’,  ’shall we spank the floor?’  It may sound funny but maybe in one way or another, as a kid, it may make one feel better. It is interesting how creative parents can be just to make their children feel better!

CN got her finger caught in the screen door today. It was her first experience getting hurt in such manner. She was getting into the house after a quick play outside and bang! it just happened. So I rushed immediately to her, carried her, put ice on the poor finger and that’s it. I didn’t really offer to spank the door. Though I did feel like doing it… just to make CN feel better.

Got this tag from Joy. Thanks!

~Begin Copy~

Rules :

1. Start Copy from “Begin Copy” until “End Copy”.

Master List :

A. Asia : 1. Moms… Check Nyo (Philippines) 2. Aeirin’s Collections (Philippines) 3. Jenny and Belle(Philippines) 4. Hailey’s Beats and Bits (Philippines) 5. Appleofmyeyes(Saudi Arabia) 6. Deranged Insanity (Philippines) 7. PROJECT HEAVY TRAFFIC (Singapore) 8. Rooms of My Heart (Indonesia) 9. Blessings and Beyond (Philippines) 10. lancerlord (Singapore) 11. allinkorea (Korea) 12. kimchiland (Korea) 13. korean food (Korea) 14. idealpinkrose (Korea) 15. Pinay Mommy Online (Philippines) 16. Momhood Moments (Philippines) 17. Business Mars (Philippines) 18. A Great Pleasure (Malaysia) 19. your turn

B. Australia : 1. Reflexes (Australia) 2. Collect and Connect (Australia) 3. your turn

C. Afrika : 1. your turn

E. South Amerika : 1. your turn

F. Europe : 1. My Imaginary Travels (Netherlands) 2. Juliana’s Site (Netherlands) 3. Picturing of Life (Netherlands) 4. SuperMae (Portugal) 5. The Callalily Space (The Netherlands) 6. your turn

G. Antarctica : 1. your turn

We had a quick trip to Melbourne last weekend. My husband conducted a training at SAP St. Kilda towards the weekend so we decided to hitch along. It was generally overcast the whole time we were there so we didn’t experience what some people would refer to as ‘expriencing four seasons in one day’ at Melbourne. But with only a weekend in our schedule, we had to brave the cold and enjoy what Melbourne has to offer.

Flinders Street Railway Station isn’t your ordinary train station. Built in 1854, this is the oldest city station in Australia! Caught on the photo is a huge crowd who just went out of the station and ready to cross the street… indeed a testimony to the fact that this is very busy with an average of 110,000 people passing through the station every day!

Another famous Melbourne landmark just diagonally across the Flinders Street Station is the St Paul’s Cathedral. This cathedral was consecrated in 1891 and underwent a few more exterior work before coming to the great architecture that we enjoy today.

Melbourne City skyline at night. We went up to Rialto Observation Deck to get a 360 degree view of Melbourne. With that I can say that ‘I’ve seen every bit of Melbourne’.

This Giant Sky Wheel is another feast to the eyes at night with all its colorful lights. Well none of us were really into riding this huge ferris wheel except for our 3-year old CN. For obvious reasons, we couldn’t let her take the ride alone so we all ended up on the Carousel ride just adjacent to it.

1. Married to one husband.

2. Got two equally beautiful kids.

3. Lived in three countries.

4. Stayed overseas for four years now.

5. Visited five countries in Asia Pacific.

6. Worked in six companies.

7. I wake up at seven o’clock every morning.

8. Eight is one of my favorite numbers.

9. My eldest daugther is turning nine on her birthday.

10. We’re celebrating our tenth year anniversary this year.

Thanks to Dance of Motherhood and StrawberryGurl for the tag.

Tagging Heart of Rachel and From the Eyes of my Heart.

I found this photo to represent different characters fitting this week’s Litratong Pinoy photo theme: ‘Father’. Ephesians 6:4 says ‘Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord’. A father is a builder, just like this crane in the early hours of the morning. Just as a crane is a picture of strength, fathers play a vital part in building or strengthening the family. Yet to face another day ahead, especially with today’s challenges, he would need the strength that may come only from God, our Father.

Nakita ko itong litratong ito na nagrerepresenta ng iba’t-ibang karakter na akma sa tema ng Litratong Pinoy para sa linggong ito: ‘Itay’. Sabi sa Efeso 6:4 ‘Mga ama, huwag ninyong ibunsod sa galit ang inyong mg anak sa halip ay alagaan ninyo sila sa pagsasanay at sa turo ng Panginoon’. Ang ama ay isang taga-tayo, gaya nitong ‘crane’ sa mga unang oras ng umaga. Tulad ng ‘crane’ na larawan ng kalakasan, ang mga ama ay may mahalagang ginagampanan sa pagtataguyod ng pamilya. Ngunit upang maharap muli ang isang araw, lalu na sa mga pagsubok sa panahon ngayon, nangangailangan s’ya ng kalakasan na nanggagaling lamang sa Diyos, ang ating Ama.

Some of you may have noticed that things have slowed down in this blog.  Well, there are a number of reasons.  I guess, the first one would be due to a situation that most bloggers have been into: finding a new and fresh theme! It sure is turning out to be a wild hunt. Essentially, I would like to move into a non-magazine type of theme. Though I have to admit that parting with the ‘magazine’ features is also not that easy. Anyway, if you’ve got tips, it is greatly appreciately. I have downloaded heaps but couldn’t decide yet on the future theme of Reflexes.

The second reason for the slowdown is a family holiday. My husband conducted a training at SAP Melbourne and since it was towards the weekend, we have decided to have everyone get a piggy-back ride. So that would give you a clue that I would have some posts coming up regarding our freezing trip to Melbourne.

Anyway, we’re back in Sydney and starting to warm up this blog… but still finding that elusive theme.

I first heard the slogan ‘The Fresh Food People’ in a very popular supermarket in Singapore the Cold Storage, where we go and buy yummy things to stuff our bellies.

Now that we are here in Sydney, there is no Cold Storage here but there is one who carries the same slogan, the Woolworths and just recently I have learned that they call it differently in Melbourne, Safe Way. Anyways, for as long as their foods are fresh and their prices are relatively good, I would continue to patronize them.

But how about Cherry Foodarama?…our favorite grocery store in the Philippines. Well it doesn’t carry the same slogan but we definitely miss going there and buy the basic things that we need for the week. 

Here are the rules:1. Check out your Blog Readability Test here then post it.2. (OPTIONAL) Stop asking yourself regarding the results of the test (LOL!)3. Add your blog from the list together with the results.4. Tag as many friends you like.

Our little 3-year old princess, CN, seem be pretty good in making us laugh. It just comes out naturally that she would be that jolly bubbly kid. In fact, that is the case even if she is not feeling well. Again, indeed we can learn a lot from kids. As the frequent saying goes… don’t worry! be happy! (in this case, be funny!).

Scene: At school, drawing time. CN is seated beside her teacher.

Teacher: Wow! That’s great, that is beautiful.

CN: No. That’s scary.

Teacher: Why is it scary? Who’s that?

CN: Oh! That’s you. 

Teacher: (laughing) Oh you’re bluffing me.

CN: No. I’m just joking.