The Plastic Banoms

42 and counting...plus August pictures

2009-10-13T17:07:00.006+08:00

Last August 19, I turned 42. I have to say that I am starting to think more about what lies in store for me. My recent bout with hypertension (albeit not a very serious one) was enough to make me think things over. After all, I've got Ben to think about. So when the doc said make changes in eating habits and lifestyle and lose weight...well, I really had no choice, did I? Now, a few months later, after having shunned soda/coffee/juice and cutting back on my rice intake, plus walking as often as I can (I try one hour a day, when possible), I've lost about 15 lbs and will soon be at my ideal weight (I hope...although I have been getting back some of my appetite...not a good sign maybe?).

Anyway, on my birthday, Ben and I went to see UP the Movie. Loved it, both of us, and we are waiting for the DVD (or the dibidi) to come out so we can watch again. I wanted to take him to see the 3D version, but geez, movies have become too expensive here. We had a great time, even though Ben couldn't help himself and was quite loud in the theater. It was great mom-son bonding anyway, first time we actually went to see a movie together, just the two of us.

I've got some photos of us from that day, which I'm posting now. I thought our color combination was great. :-). These pictures were taken just before we left to go see UP.

That's our church in the back.

Ben on his first day of tae kwon do

Wearing his tae kwon do uniform

Posing in Kuya Toti's house just before we visited Tita Rosie and Tito Resty

Ben turns 7, his Lola Delan turns 82

2009-07-12T20:07:00.011+08:00

Time sure flies...

Last July 6, my Ben turned 7 years old. How he's grown. He is now about 51 inches tall, weighs roughly 70 lbs. I can still remember when he was a little baby and I just carried him around. I can't do that now :-).

The day itself he didn't go to schoo because he had a bit of a cold. With the A(H1N1) scare still gripping Ateneo, I figured it best to take him to the doc instead. Turns out he's got a bit of an infection in the throat which led to him being given antibiotics.

That evening though, we had spaghetti and cake to celebrate. His Lolo was here from Baler, and his Tito Toti, Auntie Jojo, Kuya Daniel and Kuya Miguel came over to help him celebrate on the day itself. Here are some photos.

These first ones were taken in the morning, just before we left for the doctor. He wasn't in a very good mood, but he managed to give me some smiles. He's also holding on to his Kuya Enzo's Ferrari book.

Later that night, he had a cake to blow a birthday candle. Here's a video clip.

Three days later, it was Ben's Lola Delan who turned 82 years old. For the past few years now, we've been joining her to celebrate her birthdays. She's still going strong. Here are some photos and a video clip from her birthday dinner which we had at Luk Foo Resto in Qi Central.

Here's Auntie Delan blowing her candle:

It was great fun, always is when we get together, although I wish there were more of the family there.

In my next post, I'll put up the photos from Ben's birthday party. For now, ta ta...

My little boy in a bubble

2009-05-24T18:38:00.004+08:00

Ben attended the birthday party of his classmate, Joshua, today and I was pleasantly surprised in the sense that he was quite well-behaved this time around. Not that he wasn't running around and being hyper, but it was somehow much less than in the past birthday parties we've attended. He had a great time and the part of the party he enjoyed best was the bubble show. Towards the end, they had the kids stand on something and sort of placed them inside a bubble. Here's a video of Ben in his bubble:

In Cebu

2009-03-29T10:29:00.057+08:00

Finally, our long awaited trip to Cebu, set up back in November last year, happened and has passed. It was Auntie Iring, Daniel, Miguel, Ben and me who took the trip. Auntie has never ridden an airplane before, and when I was surfing the web a while back, I came upon Philippine Airlines Econolight fares, which are quite cheap if you book early (very early that is) enough. So for less than PHP 8000, I was able to get roundtrip tickets for the five of us (in comparison, I spent nearly PHP 7000 on the round trip ticket for my first Cebu trip about a decade ago) back in November for a trip that took place March 24-27 (last week). The only catch is that we will be seated at the rear of the plane and we get no food. We were allowed water though. But since the flight to Cebu would only take an hour, I figured we could do without those food perks (consisting of cupcakes or crackers and drinks) and that the seats at the rear are near the flight attendants so they're probably better.

I like to think we had great fun, the five of us. Actually, the trip ended up being too long because we didn't have enough financial resources to do the things we wanted to do. Anyway, here's how we spent our time, with pictures and some video clips.

Day 1, Tuesday, 24 March 2009

Day started early. Our flight was at 730am, so I wanted to be at the airport by 6am to make sure there were no glitches for us. Traveling with Ben always poses challenges so I wanted to make sure I've got enough time to sort things out. We were on our way to the airport by 515am, with Kuya Tony driving us there. Even on the way, Ben was already his usual talkative self, quite excited about taking an airplane again.

At the airport, Auntie saw the relatively long line for the check-in counters. Fortunately, our wait didn't last too long, and we made our way into the departure area. Here's a picture of Auntie at the departure area:

And here's a picture of her (stolen shot so a bit blurry) inside the plane:

It was a nice sunny day, so the trip was relatively calm, except for a few bumps as we were descending to Cebu. When we were out of the plane I asked Auntie how she felt during the flight, and she said that surprisingly, she didn't feel anything bad. She thought she was going to get woozy, but she didn't so it was on the whole a good first flight experience for her. We had her sitting by the window and I think she enjoyed passing through the clouds and then looking over them as we were cruising above them.

Anyway, here's another pic, outside Mactan International Airport as we wait for Mang Nick (driver of Mrs Nenet de Manuel, of Cebu's Universal Feed Corporation, who so very kindly lent us her van and Mang Nick for the duration of our stay in Cebu so we could move around easily).

When we got to Silverdale Inn, the pension house where we stayed in Cebu, we were all so tired from getting up so early in the morning, we decided to rest for a bit, and start the sight seeing after lunch.

Before lunch though, we decided to swing by the Magellan's cross and the Churchof the Sto. Niño. Here are a few pics:

For those who don't know, this isn't the real Magellan's Cross. It is however the wooden case (made of Tindalo) that encased the actual cross that Magellan planted supposedly on this exact site.

That's Auntie Iring, Miguel, Ben and Daniel

Auntie Iring, Miguel, Ben and me

Ben (I like his smile here)

At the Sto Niño Church courtyard where they light votive candles

In front of the Church marker

With me this time around

The beautiful altar in the Sto. Niño Church

After visiting the Sto. Niño, we headed over to Neo Neo for lunch. Ben said he wanted sinugba, so we had all sorts - fish, chicken, squid, liempo. It was a very good lunch. Before we left, Ben wanted to get his picture taken by the fountain, so he did.

Our next stop was the Taoist Temple, and the views from up there were very nice. Here are more photos:

Let's just say Ben does not understand what the word "Silence" means.

After the Taoist temple, we headed up into the mountains to get some view. We went up this place that is owned by the Osmeñas. but we didn't bother to go in. So we just stayed outside the gate and took a peek over where there were some construction going on.

Afterwards, everyone was too tired to go anywhere else so we headed back to the pension house, only going out later in the evening to have dinner at...Jollibee, of all places. Ben needed to have his french fries fix for the day. Then it was bedtime to get ready for another day ahead. The plan was to spend the day in Mactan Island.

Day 2, Wednesday, 25 March 2009

Had breakfast at...McDo! Cheap you know. Then it was over to Mactan Island for us. Searching for a place to spend part of the day, we decided on White Sands Resort at Maribago Beach, Lapu Lapu City in Mactan Island. Daniel and Miguel wanted to give snorkeling a shot, but unfortunately, it was too difficult and expensive to set up. The kids just ended up playing a little bit on the sea -- Ben more than Daniel and Miguel -- and then spent most of the time in the resort pool. Surprisingly, there was no trouble getting Ben into the water, both in the sea and in the pool. Probably because the sea in Cebu wasn't wavy like the one in Baler, which he is afraid of. He even dipped his head into the water on his own, something he's never done voluntarily in the past. So I guess the decision to have him take swimming classes this summer is the right one.

Some pics and videos below:

The five of us in front of the pool.
Ben is only wearing underwear because originally, he had no plans to swim so I didn't bring him any extra shorts.

Pa-cute talaga ang anak ko!

Who can stay underwater longest???

Playing in the pool

After White Sands, then it's off to the Lapu Lapu monument for us. Ben particularly liked this place because he likes Yoyoy Villame's song "Nagellan".

Daniel imitating Lapu Lapu's pose :-)

Could this be where the Battle of Mactan was fought?

Then it was back to Cebu City again for dinner and rest.

Day 3, Thursday, 26 March 2009

We were supposed to travel down south of the province but ended up spending the morning at the Tubod Resort in Minglanilla instead. Ben wanted to go swimming again, and I'm not exactly sure why Manong Nick decided not to head further south. Oh well, I was pretty worried about work to and was frantically searching for a place where I could connect to the internet. I'm actually a bit upset with Globe because even though I was getting quite a strong signal, and I was able to connect and get amounts taken off my prepaid credits, my browser couldn't connect to anything. Anyway, the kids just spent the morning swimming and here are a few pics and some videos from Tubod.

One of Ben's dives...the dives sure look similar to one another despite the kid's insistence that they're very different

Here are some videos showing Ben diving into the pool...or so he says...

Miguel and Daniel going down the slide:

More of Ben's dives:

Then after Tubod, we headed back down to the city for lunch and because I needed to find an internet connection. Strange that driving around the city and even in the Ayala Mall, I couldn't get through any websites using my Globe Visibility connection. That got me really pissed at Globe again. You'd think you're in an Ayala area and there should be no problem with Globe. Well there was plenty. My laptop battery ran out and I had to find an area in the mall where I can get Wi-Fi access. We asked at their information booth and for some reason that place where they sent me had no Wi-Fi access. Anyway, I finally settled with Seattle's Best Coffee, which had outlets and free Wi-Fi. The breve did help to cheer my up a bit. Just before leaving, I took some photos from the mall's expansion area.

Then we're up to the mountains again to Mountain View for more breathtaking view of the city. I really like going up the mountain to view the city from afar, the view is just amazing.

My camera doesn't do justice to the view, which was pretty spectacular

I cannot explain the pose :-)

There was no way he was going to pass this up...

Here's a couple of video clips showing Miguel and Daniel crossing a hanging bridge:

After Mountain View, we went back down and just drove around to see more of the city at night. Then it's back to the pension house to prepare for the last day and the trip back home to Manila.

Day 4, Friday, 27 March 2009

We just thought we'd stay in the city, buy the usual pasalubong. We went and bought some dried fish, and Ben had a handful for his taste test. Needless to say, he loved the dilis and the dulong, so we bought quite a bit. Then we drove over to the provincial capitol. How I wish I could say that our provincial capitol came close to being this nice and this clean, but I can't...

On the sidewalk fronting the capitol, while waiting for our ride

From the capitol, we went to Chika-an to have lunch and then headed off to the Cebu Water District's Family Park. Ben saw another swimming pool, and had a mini-tantrum about wanting to go swimming again (there was a small slide in the kiddie pool).

Ben on the slide:

Swinging the swings:

Hopping with the hornbill:

After our Family Park trip, we just wanted to while away the hours. I had wanted to go see the City Hall, but we ended up just spending a bit of time at the Gaisano Country Mall where Ben played video games and Daniel and Miguel spent a bit of time in an internet cafe.

Then we headed on to Mactan Island again, went on another roundabout and took this picture in a launch area just next to the Hilton hotel.

It was also then that I realized my mistake. For the amount we spent at White Sands, we could've gone island hopping where the kids could've gone snorkeling. Well, too late, so I guess that will just have to wait until the next time. I think that four days was a bit too long for us too, given our limited resources, but for the most part I think we had a great time, and if only for that then the trip was very much worth it. Next time, we'll do better planning.

I think we were all pretty relieved to be home in Manila later that night though. :-)

Should've done this a while back

2009-03-08T15:58:00.016+08:00

It's been too long...and it'll be some more time before I can really sit down and post something more significant than photos, not that these photos are any less significant to me. With my last post being back in October, there are quite a few photos to share.

With some classmates during the AGS Fair

Riding the dorky dinosaur ride

With Iron Man at SM Cubao

Ben while waiting for Kuya Miguel's guitar recital

Spiderman (minus the mask) ready to go trick or treating for the first time

Holding Nanay's prized possession - an autographed photo of Brad Pitt

With classmates Wapee and Rafa

Hugging Mario

A dancing Santa!

The traditional 'in-front-of-the-Christmas-tree' photo

Just because I like this picture

Opening presents on Christmas Day

With Lola Iring

With Lola Iring and Lola Anay

And again...

and again...

With Nanay too, this time around

Miguel, Daniel, Ben, Jovin, Josella and Janina...karaoke-ing

Waiting for the New Year

The Boys : Daniel, Jovin, Miguel, Ben

Fooling around : Miguel, Daniel, Ben

Ben at the Air Force Museum in Villamor Air Base

With classmates outside Ark Avilon Zoo

Yin Yang at Alfonso A.'s 7th birthday

And last but not least...here's the Xmas photos of the Tan boys:

Mga Guapo!

Some videos

2008-10-19T19:12:00.005+08:00

As mentioned in my previous entry, here are some video clips of Ben. They aren't very clear he's pretty visible anyway.

The two following videos were from the Salu-Salo celebration in Ateneo where Ben's section performed a dance number for the parents. Had to stop in middle of videotaping it because I had to do something, so there are two clips.

This next video was from Jacob's (Kuya Boy's and Ate Nini's youngest son) first birthday party. Ben (he's the one in red shirt, 2nd from the right, front) and several other kids dancing to that High School Musical Song as they follow the party host.

It's been a while...

2008-10-15T19:15:00.006+08:00

Wow, it's been three months. It's not that there hasn't been anything going on, I've just been a bit on the lazy side (that's an understatement!). Let's see, since July 10, Ben has managed to finish both his 1st quarter and 2nd quarter exams, and is now into the 3rd quarter of his first year in Ateneo. He did great during the first quarter, and although I have a feeling his grades are going to slip during the 2nd quarter, I think he'll still do well. He's doing great academically, and from what I've been hearing (and not hearing) from his teacher, he's improved quite a bit since the first month in school, although he still has a relapse once and a while. Suffice to say, his teacher is pretty happy with him.

I've got a quite a few photos to share, which I'll do now. These first ones are from his Ateneo Football Center stint during the first quarter (Module 1). Actually they were taken on the day of their football festival. He decided he wanted to enroll in the second module, so I did enroll him, but he decided later on (a couple of weeks ago) that he no longer wants to play football. Oh well, let's face it, I don't think football is his sport. He's set to try karate next, and I'll have him try it out this weekend probably. Anyway here are the pictures:

Miguel and Ben

Ben in his AFC uniform (Yellow for Saturdays)

Joaquin, Miggy, Cody and Ben (Joaquin and Cody are also his classmates at Prep Malusog)

Waiting for the football festival to begin

In a huddle with coach

These next ones are taken during the Ateneo Grade School Fair Weekend (Sep 25-27). Ben had a lot of fun at the fair (at the expense of my deeply dugged into pocket).

Ben with his classmates in front of the playground

Waiting for the Dorky Dinosaur ride to go

With Iron Man in SM Cubao

Doing the Camp Rock dance during the Salu Salo celebration (27 Sep)

I've got some videos as well, but those will probably take long to upload so I'll just do that in You Tube and then post the link in another entry here.

I'm planning a trip home to Baler next week, thinking of leaving for home on Friday next week and staying for a week. I have to be back in Manila end of the month because I'm off to Kuala Lumpur for a meeting with my boss on Nov 2. November is going to be a busy month for me, because later that month I have to fly out again for our team meeting. Hay hay.

Enjoy the pics!

She's 81 and counting...

2008-07-10T16:58:00.013+08:00

My eldest aunt, Auntie Delan (Papa's eldest sister), celebrated her 81st birthday yesterday, and from all indications, I'm happy to say it looks like she's going to be having many more birthday dinner celebrations to come.

To celebrate, we got together for dinner last night at Club Filipino. In attendance were Auntie Delan's entire family (sons, daughters, in-laws, grandchildren), brother Emon (my Papa) and his family (that's all of us in the Philippines, except for my brother Irip, sis-in-law Girlie, and nephews Pau and Enzo who are in the UK), sisters Raye (Un), Jovit, Tik, friends Resty and Rosie. We had a great time as usual, kidding, laughing, telling stories. Food was pretty good, but I loved the lechon and the Hizon cake best.

I always like it when we get together, and it was especially nice because there was a time a few years back when Auntie didn't look as healthy as she does now. But she got a second wind and she's doing great (except for her hearing), and she loves to tell stories. Here's a picture of her from last night:

Looking good

I really like that picture, and of course, she kept telling me that I keep taking pictures of her, but I never give her copies. I admit, I've been guilty of that in the past, but last year, I did give her copies of the pictures I took from her birthday party. :) Funny, when I was a kid, I remember being afraid of her, thinking she was this really strict aunt. But she is a really sweet person.

Anyway, here are several more pictures from last night.

The birthday cake (I love this cake! So very very yummy!!!)

With her "apos" (grandchildren)

Another shot with the grandchildren

With her children and some nieces and nephews and in-laws

With friends Resty and Rosie, sisters Raye and Tik standing;
sister Jovit and brother Emon flank the celebrant

Dad and son (Kuya Boy and Jacob)

My Bentot

Ben with Jacob and their Auntie Mabel

Ben with his Ate Janina, Ate Cat, Jacob, and Auntie Mabel

The cousins (with a very youthful looking aunt ;) )

Ben and Jaden

The boys!

The girls!

And now, here are a few random video clips from last night:

And finally, here's a short video clip of Auntie blowing her candle:

It was, overall a very good night and I, for one, am looking forward to Auntie's 82nd birthday.

Ben turns 6

2008-07-07T06:32:00.005+08:00

Ben is now 6 years old. My, how time flies.

He had a birthday celebration yesterday afternoon, with his lolos, lolas, aunts, uncles, cousins, and of course, me. He also had his friend from the neighborhood, Jomer, come.

I wanted to give him something of a Spongebob Squarepants type of party, but I've been so busy I wasn't able to do anything other than some Spongebob Squarepants characters cut outs. I also wasn't able to take many pictures, as I was moving around so much. It was a bit crowded in the house yesterday, and since we still don't have a sofa set, people had to sit on stools, but it was a lot of fun, and getting together with everyone is always nice.

Another get together is likely to happen this Wednesday, when Auntie Delan celebrates her 81st birthday. She's looking good too.

Here are a couple of pictures and a video when Ben blew out his candle. Actually, he blew out a matchstick, because they waited so long before they moved around the cake to sing him his happy birthday song that the wick fell off the candle. He didn't seem very happy about that.

Ben's happy birthday banner

Ben's birthday cake, surprisingly good, I thought

With his cousins and friend after blowing out the candle

Here's the short video of the blowing of the candle:

My little football player

2008-06-29T12:50:00.003+08:00

Ben started going to a football clinic yesterday. It's a 6-week/12-session module that is supposedly designed to teach them the basics of football. I asked him a couple of weeks ago if he wanted to join and he said yes, so now he's registered to go for the first module. Yesterday, he was ready to give up after running around for some time, saying he was tired, but he made it to about an hour and half, and this morning another two hours. The sessions run every Saturday and Sunday for the next six weeks, well, five now. Today, he wasn't very happy after the end of the session because he felt that his fellow students were upset with him. He said he wanted to quit. I told him that things will get better and that it's just that some of the other students didn't like the fact that he kept goofing off, which he did. Hopefully, the next few weekends will teach him how to get along and make new friends with the other students (most are prep students at Ateneo as well), and allow him to develop his endurance. I have to give him a couple of puffs from his inhaler before each session starts, so as to avoid the possibility of having an asthma attack. He said he felt good today. Well, he's still got a long way to go, but I'm hoping this first shot at learning a sport will start him on his way to developing a good self-esteem and team spirit. Here's a few shots of him wearing his uniform and on the field...

I missed some...

2008-06-17T17:07:00.004+08:00

I was looking over some of my blog entries and realized that I missed posting some pictures from when Irip, Girlie and kids came for a visit. We went to 9 Waves before heading to Baler and I thought I'd add some of the pics from that.

Enzo and Miguel

Mothers with sons, Enzo in the background

Ben and Nanay

Girlie and Enzo

Pau, Daniel, Enzo, LJ, Ben, Isa, Girlie, Miguel

Enzo jumping into the water

Ben happily swimming

Enzo and Irip

Pau and Irip

A new school year, a new school

2008-06-10T11:24:00.004+08:00

Ben started a new school year today at a new school. He's now Prep in the Ateneo de Manila Grade School, and joins his cousins Daniel and Miguelin the school (although D & M are now in High School). Another cousin, Jovin, is in ADMU.

Of course, since it's his first day in the new school, there are photos...

Proudly wearing his new uniform

With his Kuya Daniel and Kuya Miguel

Nanay and Ben

I went with him to school today, and the plan is to just wait for him in school during these first few days, since they will be dismissed earlier than the regular dismissal time. Next week, he'll just ride to school with Kuya Toti and Jo and the kids and I will just pick him up later. I woke him up at 430am today, which of course, he didn't like. It was a battle through breakfast and bath, but once he was in his school uniform, he was looking forward to going to school. There were a lot of people bringing their kids in today, first day of primary school at AGS. Anyway, we just led him to the cafeteria and he was good to go on his own (well, with the help of the teachers anyway).

He was let out at 930am, and there was a bit of chaos in getting him from his class, but all went well generally. So now begins a new chapter in his life...grade school...here's hoping he'll do well.

Three weeks of chaotic fun

2008-04-21T18:47:00.028+08:00

For three short weeks, it was chaos in our family. Fun-filled chaos that is. My brother Irip, my sis-in-law Girlie, and my nephews Pau and Enzo, flew in from the UK to visit after being away for 3-1/2 years (Girlie almost 4-1/2 years). So it shouldn't be difficult to imagine the excitement Ben and I felt while waiting for them, and then when they finally got here.

To be honest, the three weeks was too short. I wish they could've stayed longer, but Irip and Girlie had to get back to work. Still, we'll take what we can get. Ben was particularly happy, as he had playmates with him for three whole weeks (a welcome respite from the usual play alone he has at home). Irip and Girlie look pretty much the same, but the kids have grown quite a bit. When they left, Enzo was just about Ben's age, and now he's 8 (almost 9) years old, and Pau is 11. They've both stretched up quite a bit. And Enzo's English accent was a blast. It was so fun listening to him talk, although I have to admit, there are many times when I couldn't understand him right away so I had to ask him to say again. Not that it mattered much, since I loved listening to him anyway.

They arrived on March 26, after staying a few days in Singapore where they visited with Girlie's brother and his family. The days prior to going home to Baler were spent either in the mall, at the doctor/dentist, and the day the trip to Baler, swimming at 9 Waves. BTW, this post is going to filled with tons of photos.

Our first outing was to the Mall of Asia. Here are some photos:

Enzo trying the mini-carousel at Timezone

Pau revving it up

Enzo aiming for a strike

Ben on a roll

Enzo and Ben at the ferris wheel

By Manila Bay (we missed the sunset)

Father and sons

That's my boy!

Ben and Pau by the fountain

Late merienda (halo halo and ensaymada) at Razon's

The Tan boys (My Boys): Ben, Enzo, Miguel, Pau, Daniel

My Boys 2

Another mall trip was to Trinoma, albeit not as many pictures:

Mom and son (Girlie and Pau)

Pau, Enzo and Ben by one of TriNoMa's fountains

As it was, most of their (at least Irip's and Girlie's) waking hours spent in Manila were either at the doctor, dentist, or hospital, but they did manage to squeeze in some fun time in between.

On April 3, we (Irip, Girlie, Pau & Enzo; Jojo, Daniel & Miguel; Ben and me) headed home to Baler to visit with Papa and Girlie's parents. During the trip home, Ben and Enzo had a talkathon. Neither wanted the other to win, and at one time during the trip, they were having a contest as to who's got a better theory for the dinosaurs' demise. It got very funny, believe me, and then it got just plain annoying, he he he.

As always, the time spent home was much welcome. My poor Papa, so used to just sitting down on his rocking chair and reading...his life was topsy-turvy for the next 10 days, he he he, but he was just as happy to see his grandchildren all together. Irip and family divided their time between the house in Brgy 4 and in Calabuanan. We went swimming a couple of times at Kuya Boy's house, visited Ermita and Pier, and the kids had a short dip in Ben's ever favorite Biklat River.

These batch of photos are from Kuya Boy's pool and yard:

The boys in the pool

Enzo's big dive

Pau enjoying the water

Ben getting ready for a dive

This looks better that it actually was

Daniel, Enzo, Miguel and Ben

Bosing 1 and Bosing 2

The two bosings with Pau...

with Daniel...

...and with Miguel

Oh my!

My Boys, again

While in Baler, Daniel and Miguel took a day to learn how to surf, and then went surfing on their own a couple of times. Here are pictures of them and some other photos from the beach.

Enzo and Daniel with the board

Miguel on the move...

and Daniel too...

...hooray!!!

Daniel nears the end of his run...

...as Miguel rides on

Nice smiles, dudes

Enzo holds on to the board

Irip and Pau

Pau and Ben on the beach

Still afraid of the water ;)

That's my cutie!

Pau and Girlie

Nice bod, Enzo ;)

Enzo feels the water

Fun fun fun

"Should I go in or should I not?"

"My feet, my feet..."

"I'm getting Mama wet"

We also went to visit Ermita and the pier again, among the usual places to visit while in Baler, and here are the photos from there:

A view (albeit very far away) of the pier from the top of the hill (Ermita)

It does look pacific, doesn't it?

Jo with Daniel, Ben, Miguel and Enzo in one of Ermita's view decks

My Boys...

...and again

Love the look, Enzo! :)

Pau and Irip

Getting their feet wet by the pier

Sunset from the pier

Daniel ponders...

as Miguel gets ready to dive in

What's with that look???

Ben with Nanay and Enzo

Enzo fronts the sun...

...as it bids bye bye

We had planned to have a picnic in Biklat River, but decided not to after Enzo had stomach flu. Actually, Irip, Girlie, Pau and Enzo all had a bad bout with their tummy while in Baler. So we spent the last day in Baler at home, and I pestered Papa to make barbecue and grill some piggy meat.

On the third Sunday of their visit, we went to Tagaytay. As much as some people say there's really nothing to see there, I disagree. We went to the People's Park in the Sky, bought the usual stuff at the Good Shepherd Convent, and then drove around to find a place to get a nice view of Taal Lake and Taal Volcano. We finally ended up at the horse place near Taal Vista Lodge, where Ben and Enzo took a ride on a horse (with help, of course). Then lunch followed at Dencio's before we started back home. Here are the photos:

Pau and his first love ;), Jollibee

Getting ready to go up the People's Park

Explorer twins

Pau and Girlie at People's Park

Irip, Pau, Auntie Iring, Ben and Enzo

Fronting the piña: Enzo, Ben, Auntie Iring, and Pau

Girlie joins the troop

Ben, Enzo, Pau with their Tito Tony

GROUP HUG!!!

Bosing 1 and Bosing 2, take two

"Your eyes are so small, Kuya Enzo":"Your eyes are so big, Ben"

Enzo and the fruits

With Taal Lake and Taal Volcano in the back

Ben rides...

...as Enzo waits his turn

The volcano on the lake

Lola Iring imbibes the Buko

Girlie and Enzo

Enzo the explorer

Waiting for the pooping boy

Pau and Irip

As it was though, the three weeks seemed to just whiz by and they had to fly back to England. Ben went with us to the airport to see them off, and was sad the whole day. I guess he missed having someone to play with. He kept asking how long it will be before Tito Irip, Auntie Girlie, Kuya Pau and Kuya Enzo will be back again for a visit. Irip had said it would be a minimum of two years, so I told Ben it'll be a little over 700 days, but he kept insisting they'll be back in 180 days.

Two days later, he's settled back to his old routine of playing by himself. Oh well, it's summertime, and he'll be playing outside again, so he'll be meeting and making some new friends from the neighborhood I hope. Until then...and the next batch of photos...Ciao and Enjoy!

Christmas 2007 pictures

2008-02-01T16:57:00.000+08:00

Each year, near Christmas time, I have made it a tradition to have pictures of the kids taken. This is really for me, since I like looking over the old pictures and marveling at how much they change over the years. I started having these pictures taken I think when Pau was one year old. So that would've been in 1998. Anyway, Pau and Enzo are now in the UK so I wait for their Papa (Hoy, Irip, ikaw yun, padala mo na yung mga pictures!!!) to send me their pictures. In the last three years (I think), I've asked Irip to put the pictures together for a frame as a Christmas gift for Papa every year. So, this past Christmas, here are the pics of Daniel, Miguel, and Ben (Warning: the studio photoshops the pictures, so they may look a little weird. I'm still looking for a photog who will take good photos...cheap, he he he). Enjoy.

Daniel (hard to believe how much he's changed)

Miguel (hee hee, we have so many comments on this picture)

My Ben (growing up faster than I'd like, sigh. By the way, that shirt he's wearing is Pau's.)

About 3 or 4 years ago, I also started having a picture of Ben and me taken so here's the latest one of us.

As usual, any picture I'm in I tend to ruin

When Irip sends me the picture of Pau and Enzo, I'll post them too (Hoy, Irip, parinig yun sa iyo!).

It's been too long...

2008-01-15T08:49:00.000+08:00

No posts since October...so much has happened since. Well, not really, but one important thing that has happened is that we've moved to a new (well, technically not new, since we're the third owners) house. Quite a distance from the old townhouse in Mapagbigay St, but much quieter and definitely roomier. We've been here a little over a month and so far, so good. Of course, getting this house means major belt-tightening for us, but hopefully we'll be alright.

Here's a pic of the front of the house. It's a bungalow, and it looks small from the outside, but it really is quite roomy inside.

I've been looking for a picture of the house where we used to live, but I can't find one right now. Maybe I'll just do a side by side in another post. Anyway, one of the things I really like about this house is that it sits just across a church, which is quite reassuring for me. Also next to church is the subdivision's clubhouse and courts so Ben has a huge place to play around in. So we're pretty much settled. There are still some stuff that needs to get organized and stored, and we still need to get some new furniture but we can wait a bit for those. Hopefully before Irip, Girlie and the kids come to visit this March, we'll be able to have some additional furnishing, he he he.

As for Ben, well, he's growing. The pants of the school uniform I got him back in June is now about over an inch short. And he's a bit meatier than he was before. Officially, he is now 121 cm (almost 4 ft) tall and weighs 27.9 kg (roughtly 60 lbs). What follows are some pictures from October last year.

Here he is with his Lola Iring. This and the next photo were taken just before we went to Church.

This is a picture of him wearing his costume for their presentation during the 40th Foundation Day of Claret School. Unfortunately, it rained so hard that day so the presentation which was supposed to have been held outdoors was moved to the school gym, which couldn't fit in all the parents so it was chaotic. Everyone wanted to get in. We ended up seeing Ben's group perform from far away and with their backs toward us.

The next few pictures are from our annual trip to Baler for the All Saint's/All Soul's Day holiday. Ben is still afraid of the sea, and it was really difficult even getting him to go near the seashore. Actually, it was a riot.

Can you tell from his face that he really didn't want to be there?

With his Lola Iring and Lola Anay

Another day, after much coaxing, we got him to test the waters and when the waves came he cried. The two kids with us are Ruskin and Rey, a couple of his friends in Baler.

That is a forced smile.

That is a genuine smile, and he's holding on to the tricycle driver on our way home from the beach.

With some new playmates

This next batch comes from the annual Claret CSC field trip. The trip visited Avilon Zoo, the Science Centrum, and a peek at the biggest shoes in the world. I'm only posting some of the pictures here.

At Avilon Zoo. It cost me P50 to have his picture taken with that bird. I wanted him to have his picture with a bird of prey, but he didn't want to.

A hyena in the back

Another P50 to sit on and have a picture with a mini horse

Swinging in the Science Centrum

I told him to just have his head out but he wouldn't listen.

His weight in various planets in the solar system.

Playing with the giant abacus

With his classmates JM and Miggy

Joined by Yvonne

Before I post the photos from December, I'm sneaking in Ben's class picture for this school year. It's an even bigger class now as there are 22 or 23 kids of them in their section.

That's him in the second row, 3rd from left.

Ok, on to December, which was a very busy and tiring month for us because that's when we moved to the Jade St. house. The first one was taken outside the Bayantel office in Diliman. He really likes this Santa because it dances. The next ones were taken when Ben's school had their Christmas presentation. They recycled the costumes from the Foundation Day celebration and used them for the show. Ben's class sang a medley of Christmas songs. I would've posted the video but it's not very good since Ben is positioned in the back.

With the dancing Santa

Onstage just before the show began

With Sister Vivian, adminstrator of Claret Child Study Center

With Rafael, a classmate from Senior Nursery that is now in another section

With classmates Mark and Martin

Mark, Ben, Martin and Renz

Receiving his gifts from the 'dark' Santa

With Jon Benedict just before going home

These next ones were taken on Christmas Eve, just before we crossed the street to go to Church (major advantage of having one right across the house).

Me and Ben (with Papa's feet in the back)

With Anilyn, Marjorie, Auntie Iring, and Jackie

Growing and growing...

Last Dec 29th, we attended the 40th wedding annivesary of Tyung Edgar Abesamis (Mama's 1st cousin). The reception was held at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel and Ben was really excited because it was the first time to attetnd an event in a five-star hotel. The food was great...but best of all, Ben pretty much behaved that night.

Our trio (I'm getting bigger and bigger every year!!!)

Mother and son

Outside the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel

The next pictures are from New Year's Eve. As usual, we trekked over to Kuya Boy's house by the beach to enjoy Media Noche and fireworks. For some reason, Ben, who was originally gung-ho about fireworks, decided to sit it out when we started lighting them. His excuse was that he didn't like the smell. Still it was fun fun fun...

With his Kuya Daniel and Kuya Miguel (they're growing up so fast!)

Spongebob...Smile!!!

Some of the Tan Ta Ran Tan kids just before the New Year officially started

The revelers...minus our hosts Kuya Boy and Ate Nini, who were both so tired they fell asleep before the clock struck

Here's a couple of fireworks video clips...

That was fun...and now I close this entry with some pictures of Ben taken in the mall ...

At SM Fairview

With Mr Potato Head in front of Toy Kingdom (The Block at SM North EDSA)

With the Monopoly Man

Well, that should make up for a couple of months of silence...enjoy the pics.

Jacob Adrian Uy Tan has arrived!

2007-10-11T13:52:00.000+08:00

Ben's newest cousin has arrived! Jacob Adrian Uy Tan was born a bit past midday on October 10, 2002 in California. He joins big bro John Marvin (Jovin), Janina Andrea (Janina), and Josella Marie (Siobe). He he he, since Jovin and Siobe's initials match, then Janina and Jacob's initials match also. Here are some pics, courtesy of Jovin.

I can't wait to meet him in person, but Jovin said they might not be coming back until December. That's a couple of months away still, but Jacob is worth the wait.

Welcome to the family, Andrew Diego Redman Romulo

2007-10-01T17:34:00.000+08:00

Ben has a new cousin. Andrew Diego Redman Romulo was born in the evening of September 26, 2007, just 2 days before his mom's birthday. What a very nice birthday present for Sharon (also a late birthday present for his dad, Kuya Edmund). It's so nice to have a new member in the family. Just fitting, we heard that's some reddish hair he's got on his cute head. Here are some pics:

Isn't he just so cute???

To top things off, Ben has got another new cousin coming on October 10. He's Kuya Boy's and Ate Nini's 4th child. Can't wait to see what he looks like and of course, I'll post his pictures too.

A fiesta and the big 4-0

2007-08-24T19:16:00.000+08:00

This year, I turned 40. Getting older and hopefully getting better and wiser, but I'm not so sure.

We spent the weekend in Baler, which celebrated its town fiesta on the same day. Patron saint is San Luis Obispo, thus the name Luisa (tempered by the Maria in front). For a while I thought we wouldn't be able to go home, no thanks to supertyphoon Egay. Surprisingly though, the weekend was relatively calm, and Ben and I were able to watch the parade on Sunday (19th) morning. It was a bit of a disappointment. I thought there were going to be street dancing and stuff, but it was mostly just people parading with a few floats of Little Miss Baler runners-up and winner and bands from the different school. Still I think Ben enjoyed it. After the parade, we passed the day basically doing nothing, just relaxing, then we had spaghetti in the evening for long life. It was nothing major, but I felt that I really had a great birthday celebration.

Like I always say, it's always good to go home to Baler, and this trip, the roads notwithstanding, was worth it. I would've wanted to stay longer, but work and school called us back to Manila. Here are some photos to share:

Ben with Abraham and Gabriel, two of his friends in Baler

One of the bands...

And Ben looks on...

I have no idea...

Kids in costume...

Ben and his Lolo Emon doing one of their favorite pastimes

That's me with Papa and Ben

Ben and me under the lateris tree

Gaming on the computer

Ben with his Ate Jackie and Ate Roxanne

Family Day

2007-08-11T20:12:00.000+08:00

Last July 28 was Family Day at Claret's Child Study Center. It was a half day of program and games for Ben, so Auntie Iring and I went with him. Their class sang one song, and then all the CSC children sang another song together. I tried to videotape it but my videocamera was running out of battery, and the video taken with the cellphone is too small (I need a new digital camera with a video taking function to it). Besides, Ben, being one of the taller kids, was relegated to the back again so it was difficult to get to him with the camera. Still I did take some pictures which I'm sharing below.

The children also made little paper necklaces for their parents with a heart pendant and one of the pictures show me (looking horrible as usual--why oh why oh why!) with Ben after he put the necklace on me. It's really sweet and touching to see him running towards me to give me his little gift. Last year, it was a card. Anyway, here are some pics:

Ben with his Teacher Caei and classmate Yvonne

That's Ben in the last row, almost center

That's me and Ben after he gave me the necklace

That's him in the last row, 2nd from the left after they finished singing "I Won't Last A Day Without You."

And here's the video from the cellphone of them singing I Won't Last A Day Without You. It's not complete, because my knees started to hurt from kneeling and it's quite blurry, but I thought I'd upload it anyway. Again, Ben is the second kid from the left on the last row.

Ben and Bailey

2007-07-11T02:41:00.000+08:00

This video clip is a few weeks old. I think this was taken when during my cousin Tricia's birthday celebration. Anyway, Ben is holding on to her puppy, Bailey. I'm seriously thinking of getting Ben a dog in the near future.

Ben turns 5, and Auntie Delan celebrates 80

2007-07-11T00:05:00.000+08:00

This past weekend, there were back-to-back celebrations in our family. The first was Ben's merienda birthday celebration on Saturday (his birthday was actually last Friday), and the following day, the Tan family got together for Auntie Delan's (Papa's eldest sister) 80th birthday (which actually was on Monday, July 9).

Ben's really grown. He's quite big for his age, and although he isn't the biggest kid in his class, he's one of the bigger ones. He's now 117 cm and weighs a little over 24 kg. I just feel that time is passing by so fast. I really try to hold on because I know time will come soon enough when he'd like to do things on his own. For now, while he still asks for me to keep with him, I do. Here's a picture of him taken on his birthday, just before he went to school (he's in kindergarten now, I think I mentioned that in an earlier post).

Funny expression, I know. Unlike before when I could get him to smile naturally when I take his pictures, these days, he likes to make funny faces.

On his birthday, he also took part in a contest in school. He was one of the finalists. The winner would represent Claret School CSC in a quiz show in one of the local cable channels. He had a good chance of winning, but he didn't because he wasn't paying real attention to the quiz master. Still he managed to come in third (which means after he was eliminated there were only two contestants left). Anyway, we didn't have a birthday celebration in school because I think Claret actually discourages school parties. So rather than celebrate in school, we decided to have a merienda celebration the following day. I tried to work out a dinosaur theme into the "party" because Ben has morphed into a dinosaur addict over the last few months. Since our house is quite small, it was kind of cramped what with about 30 people together at once, but it was fun. I wasn't able to take a lot of pictures because I was busy trying to get things to work right.

In line with his current dinosaur fetish, I tried a dinosaur-themed merienda party.

Blowing the candles took a bit of an effort. A couple of stubborn candles took some time to blow out, thus the laughter.

All in all, it was a good celebration. Ben was quite happy with it, more so with the gifts he received.

Then the following day, it was off to Club Filipino for lunch to celebrate Auntie Delan's 80th birthday. Quite a milestone, and it's nice to see her looking quite well. Here's hoping we'll be sharing and celebrating quite a few more birthdays with her. Here are the pics from that get-together. I need to have these pictures printed for her too.

The birthday celebrant...

...and her cake!!!

Miguel, Daniel, Jovin, Ben, Josella, and Janina

With Kuya Tony this time

Ben and Jaden

Janina, Ben, Jaden, and Josella

Janna, Janina, Josella, Ben, Jovin, Jaden, Daniel, and Miguel

Ben and Jaden playing jack-en-poy

Daniel and Ben doing their WWE imitation

Piggy back ride with Jovin

A kiss for the celebrant

Papa, Auntie Tik, Auntie Jovit, Auntie Delan and Auntie Iring

With the "apos"

With kids and other relatives

With more "apos"

With kids, nieces and nephew, and an apo, I believe

It's nice to see that Auntie Delan enjoys these get-togethers, and I think they give actually give her a boost. I should add that I enjoy these too. It's nice to get the family together, although somehow we never really manage to get everyone in most of these gatherings. Still, it was a fun time and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Up on High Street

2007-07-10T20:47:00.000+08:00

Recently, we went to The Fort to check out High Street and of course, Fully Booked, which I read had opened. It's our second visit there, and Ben likes the place because of the several fountains they have. He is particularly fond of the big boulder fountain. Anyway, I'm posting here some pictures that were taken during our first visit sometime in May (I've posted some photos earlier) and the ones from our last visit a couple of weeks ago. The pictures were taken using phone cameras so they may be a bit blurry, especially the ones from the first visit.

May visit:

By one of the fountains at Serendra

Strongman Ben

From recent visit:

With Lola Iring at his favorite fountain in High Street

Ah, LeBron

I really like Bonifacio High Street, not just because of its huge Fully Booked branch, but because it's a nice place to just have Ben run around. You can really tell that Ben lives in a cramped place because once you get him into an open space like that in High Street, he's off and running around. And very difficult to catch. Maybe we'll visit again soon.

More KL pix

2007-07-03T16:57:00.000+08:00

More KL pix c/o my friend Carrie at (Desperately seeking Petronas). Enjoy.

A mini-romp in KL

2007-06-29T08:53:00.000+08:00

Ben and I, together with Carrie and Terrie (two of his godmothers) took a short trip to Kuala Lumpur last week. Thanks to my boss, Conny, and Air Asia (a low-cost airline), we were able to fly over for a three-day stay. Needless to say, the time was too short to really do everything we want, but I think we all had a great time.

Thursday (21 June) morning, we took the bus to Clark Airport, about 2 hours north of Manila, to catch the Air Asia flight to KL. Thankfully, we didn't have a long wait outside the airport (it was too hot! I don't understand why they don't build a more passenger-waiting area there, considering that quite a few people and air lines already use and service the airport.) and were able to check in and stay inside the terminal to wait for the plane. We left just before noon and arrived in KL (following a very bumpy flight) just a little past 3pm, half an hour ahead of schedule. A welcome surprise after Conny told me that Air Asia is notorious for being delayed. Anyway, here's a picture of Ben just after we got off the plane and were making our way to the arrival/immigration area.

That's the plane we took in the back (sorry for the backlight).

While waiting for Conny to pick us up from the airport, we had ice cream cones and french fries from...McDonald's!!! Haven't missed patronizing a McDonald's outlet in any of my overseas trip yet, and I wasn't about to.

On the way from the airport to Conny's house, which took about 45 minutes via very nice and roomy tollways, Ben was yapping and yapping in a mix of English and Tagalog. As usual, he had trouble keeping his mouth shut. Good thing Conny seemed not to mind. Conny's house is in Kayangan Heights, Shah Alam. It is a residential area nestled in a hilly area, and was just lovely. I made the mistake of not taking a picture of her house when there was light so there is no picture of it, but it is really nice. Ben and I were put in a guest room downstairs, Carrie and Terrie upstairs.

Ben was immediately friends with Preethika and Joshua, Conny's 6-year old daughter and 4-year old son. It was so nice to see Ben get along so well with them. That first night after dinner, we drove to the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque, which is one of the biggest in Southeast Asia (photo below). I can't remember if Devan (Conny's husband) said it has capacity for somewhere around 25,000. Anyway, I read somewhere that it's also known as the Blue Mosque. Well, it sure was a nice sight to see. Very, very big.

Anyway, this isn't a very good shot. Check out the web for better shots, but this is the best I could take. This photo in no way does justice to the splendour of that place.

On the way back home, Ben fell asleep (he did have a very long day that day, and he hardly slept during the bus trip to the airport or the flight to KL) in the car. Here are some shots, with Preethika and Joshua clowning around a sleeping Ben.

The following day, the plan is to go to the city center. Before going though, Ben played around the yard. Here are some photos:

Ben on Preethika's scooter

A view of Conny's house and driveway

More of Ben and the Scooter

Ben with Conny's dog, Sheffield

Then it was to the Kuala Lumpur City Centre. I gotta say, the roads are really great, roomy and smooth. And the nice thing is the KL is the fact that the city is one of the greenest big cities I've ever seen. So trees, plants, and flowers are everywhere, and it was nice to take in all that. Some of the roads were also made by blasting through hills so there are some rocky outcrops, with greens on them. Very nice. Anyway, on the way, we stopped at the Tugu Peringatan Negara Malaysia, which I think is their war memorial. Ben loved it because there were fountains and pools. It's a pretty big memorial, with a big monument of soldiers. Here are the photos:

Ben by the entrance to the memorial with Carrie and Terrie

Ben and me at the entrance
Ben, me and Carrie inside the memorial

Ben in front of one of the fountains

On the base of this monument, it says: "Dedicated to the heroic fighters in the cause of peace and freedom. May the blessings of Allah be upon them"

Then it was on the KLCC. First stop was the Petronas Towers, one of the tallest twin towers in the world, and were the tallest buildings in the world for a few years. It's really awesome. We wanted to go up to the skybridge, but they only give out so many tickets per day and we were too late. So we just walk around and took some pictures from outside the building. Following are the photos.

Carrie, me, Terrie, and Ben in front of the Suria KLCC shopping center which is just by the Petronas Towers (so tall we couldn't fit it in the picture)

A closer shot

Ben with Conny, with a whale sculpture in the back
Mother and son

Taken at the park in front of Suria KLCC, that's the KL Tower in the back

Another shot with the Towers in the back, still at the park near the Suria

We then went to Aquaria, which is an underwater park located beneath the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Of course, being a fish lover, it's something Ben would love, so we spent a about two hours there.

Carrie, Terrie, and Ben enjoying the interactive information computer just outside the entrance to Aquaria.

That's a real scorpion believe it or not, which partly explains the expression on Ben's face

Carrie and Ben on the conveyor belt inside the 90-metre long underwater tunnel taking in the sight

The expression on Ben's face reminds me of his expression when we were at a similar place in Ocean Park in Hong Kong

Face to face with a manta ray (ok, so not exactly, but close enough)

Those are jelly fish, I think

That's how big a shark's mouth is???

After Aquaria, we went and had lunch at the Suria with Conny, then headed off to Kinokuniya, a huge bookstore, where we browsed for about half an hour before heading off to the KL Tower (Menara Kuala Lumpur), which is a telecommunications tower. It is one of the tallest in the world, I think, at about 421 m. Because it is situated on a hill, it looks even taller than the Petronas Towers. It is also supposed to house the highest McDonald's in the world. The observation deck offered a very nice view of the city.

Ben enjoying one of the scopes at the observation deck

Obviously, he enjoyed it. There are several scopes around the deck and he was actually upset that he had to line up for some of them.

Ben by the fountain and pool fronting the KL Tower. He is facing the Tower in this picture.

Another shot of Ben by the fountain and pool, this time with the Tower in the background. Too high to fit in the photo.

I'm not really sure if these are called kulintang by the Malaysian

Me and Ben

Carrie, Ben and Terrie by the pool

By the entrance to the KL Tower

After the KL Tower, we headed back to the Suria to visit Petrosains, a science and technology museum. Unfortunately, we were too late and they weren't selling tickets anymore. Good thing there were some exhibits, including a formula1 car (or a replica of it) that were just outside the main museum. Of course, Ben had to have his pictures.

The following day (Saturday) began with and Indian breakfast at a local restaurant. I liked the crepe-like bread and the coconut rice. Then Conny took Carrie, Terrie, and me to the main tourist markets (Central and Petaling Street). Ben stayed with Conny and the kids. He reported to me later than he enjoyed the bath he took in the jacuzzi at the house (and begged for one to be fitted at home). Later that afternoon, they went to pick up a new puppy and Ben fell it love with it. Here are a couple of photos.

Ben playing with Precious (daschund puppy) while Preethika plays

Ben enjoying time with Precious

Later that evening, I joined Conny for an anticipated mass. Their church is really really nice, with a beautiful altar. Conny told me some of the materials used in the altar were from the Philippines, one of which is a wooden relief of the Last Supper.

After mass, we had dinner at a local outdoor Chinese restaurant. Here are some photos.

Ben with Conny, Joshua, Preethika and Devan
Preethika and Ben
Ben and Devan
Joshua, Ben and Preethika clowning around
That's us
More clowning around

The following morning, we got up very early since our flight back to the Philippines leave at 720am. I don't think any of us got a good night's sleep, and that became evident on the flight back home, when Ben threw a major tantrum in the plane. Suffice to say, he didn't stop until he got a stuffed toy plane.

Ben on the plane back home

Anyway, the trip was just too short, but I really didn't want to impose on Conny anymore. Nevertheless, it was a fun trip, and I was glad that Ben, Preethika, and Joshua got along so well. Someday we'll visit again.

Some photos

2007-06-26T11:07:00.000+08:00

Oh boy, I haven't been very good at posting. I didn't even realize that it's been two months since my last post. I've got a few things to share, but since I've got somewhere to go today, I'll just post some pictures that should have been posted a long time ago.

The following three photos were taken on our way back to Manila from Baler after our Holy Week vacation. We took the Baler-Bongabon Road, and passed by Villa Aurora, a big part of which was destroyed a few years ago after a major landslide buried much of the area. These photos were taken on the banks of the river.

Behind Ben is what's left of the bridge connecting the two sides of Villa Aurora

There used to be some houses and a school in the area behind Ben.

A lot of the people that used to live in this area have been relocated in an area about a few kilometers away. One of the reasons I don't like taking the Baler-Bongabon road (besides the fact that it's winding) is because I don't like passing by this area. I still feel awfully sad whenever I see it.

These next batch of photos (a bit dark, sorry!) are taken from Sto. Tomas after we visited there in April with Papa. This was just after I got back from my trip to China. Papa was trying (unsuccessfully) to get Ben to take a nap. The stuffed panda Ben is holding in the third picture is something I got him from Shanghai.

This next batch of photos were taken at The Big Red Barn, a mini amusement center for children in Ortigas. Ben and I took a ride at the bump cars...something I'm never going to do with him again.

How he loved this ride!

While his interest in trains is waning, he still has high regard for them.

Giving the xylophone a shot

Getting into the beat

Another thing he's still interested in are fountains...size doesn't matter

These next batch were taken at Serendra in The Fort (part of the Fort Bonifacio area in Makati that has been commercialized). These are pretty dark again, since I accidentally changed the camera settings.

That's a boulder doubling as a fountain...did anyone say fountain???

With Auntie Anay

Ben's Kobe pose

Then last June 13, the new school year started. Ben is now in Kindergarten at Claret School's Child Study Center. His section this year is Matapat, and his teacher is Teacher Caei. So far, so good.

What can I say? He's just growing up too fast...

Summertime

2007-04-20T09:25:00.000+08:00

It's summertime again. Weather has been awfully hot, makes you want to stay under water all day. Ben has been after me to go swimming at Nine Waves again. Will do, but maybe later on in the month or early May. I wanted to enrol him in swimming lessons this summer, but I haven't yet. He flip-flops between wanting to and not wanting to learn.

Been a while since my last post. I've got some photos to share, those from his Moving Up day at Claret and some taken in Baler where we spent the Holy Week. That was a welcome break. While the mornings were quite hot as well, the nights were much cooler there than in Manila. And there were a couple of days when it rained so that cooled things up a bit in the mornings too. Of course, that meant a crying Ben (he cries when it rains...to this day I can't figure out why). It was kind of a bummer to return to Manila, but work calls. Fortunately, I've got him enrolled already for the next school year so that's one worry off my mind.

Here's a picture taken during his Moving Up day, after we went up the stage for him to get his medal (Best in Math).

Another one of his class after they all got their certificates:

That's him in the back, 2nd from left, between the two girls. He isn't the talletst kid in class, it's the boy 2nd from left in the front. But he's among the tallest.

Then in Baler, we went on a picnic in Cemento. I couldn't get him to get further into the water than near the shore, so the pictures are taken from there. He is supposed to be swimming in the photos where he's on all fours.

I've finally gotten myself a DV cable, so I should be able to download all those videos I took of him from the last year. Will do that when I get back and post some later.

Ben and Jaden playing keyboards

2007-03-25T23:44:00.000+08:00

A couple of short video clips taken during Kuya Boy's birthday lunch last March 18 (his birthday is actually March 17). It was a fun get together for the family, unfortunately, I don't think anyone took still photos. So just enjoy watching these two little kids.

He's moving on up

2007-03-21T12:41:00.000+08:00

Ben has finished his second year in school. Last Saturday (March 17), Claret School's Child Study Center had their Moving Up Day cermemonies. Auntie Anay, Kuya Tony and I came to see Ben go up the stage for his certificate and watch him perform with some classmates a song number.

He was surprisingly well behaved that day, not as hyperactive as he usually is. In addition to his certificate, he received a medal for being Best in Math in his section. :-D I can't deny I'm not proud, but I would've been just as proud even without that extra award.

So now, he's on vacation for the next two and half months at least, which means there'll be no escaping him even when I'm working. He's still quite a handful at home (well, pretty much every where else). We're planning to go home to Baler next week and spend the Holy Week holidays there. When we get back, I'll see if I can enrol him in swimming classes. It's time he learn I guess.

Below are pictures from last Saturday. He's kind of sweaty on some of the photos because it was hot inside the Claret Gym where the ceremonies were held. I don't have the official photos of him getting his certificate and medals yet. Will post those as soon as I get them.

Ben marching to his seat

Receiving his certificate

Doing the song number, can you tell where he is?

With his Teacher Coocoo

With his Teacher Brenda

Me and Ben

Ben wearing his medal

Ben's certificate

Indulge me

2007-03-16T11:59:00.000+08:00

Received a letter from Claret yesterday. Ben is one of the kids getting an award during their Moving Up day celebrations tomorrow (17 March). I'm so proud of him. Here's a scanned image of the letter.

The kid also poses

2007-03-13T17:55:00.000+08:00

This morning, we got Ben's class picture. I think you'll find it understandable why he was the first one to catch my eye.

In case you can't find Ben, that's him in the middle row, 2nd from the right. Another of the kid's talents: he also poses ;-)

I also just realized that it's been more than two years since I started this blog...wow, it's been a while.

Another birthday celebration

2007-02-05T10:50:00.000+08:00

Auntie Anay and Auntie Iring, my mom's twin sisters, celebrated their 73rd birthday last January 25. Auntie Iring had a day-long celebration in Baler, but unfortunately for Auntie Anay, I was out the whole day (in Capas, Tarlac to visit a feed mill and a pig farm) and Kuya Tony had to work, so her birthday celebration had to wait until the Saturday following her birthday.

We had a small get together at Kuya Toti's house in Marikina. Besides us (meaning Auntie Anay, and me and my brothers and the kids), also present were Tyung Dante and Tricia, Iñaki, and Ka Fina. We had pancit and cake and ice cream. It was nice to just have a small celebration for Auntie. Of course, we had to have a cake so Ben can help Auntie blow out her candles.

Following are some pictures taken that day.

Auntie Anay and Ka Fina

Ben, Auntie Anay and Tyung Dante

Group shot with Kuya Tony (Kuya Toti and Miguel are missing because Miguel had to go to his guitar lesson)

Group shot with me

Home for the holidays

2007-01-06T19:40:00.000+08:00

As usual, Ben and I found our way to Baler for the holidays. We left Manila later than expected. My plan was to go home on the 21st, but we had problems getting someone to drive us so we had to wait until the 23rd. As with our trip back from Baler last November, we suffered another flat tire going home. Ben enjoyed the stop of course. He was running around while Andy, the driver, changed tires. As always, it was almost nonstop talkathon for Ben throughout the whole trip.

For Christmas Eve noche buena, it was just Papa, Ben, Albie, and me. Kaka was there but he decided to sleep in. We just had some pasta (stroganoff from a recipe I found online...not too good) and salad. Then it was off to bed. Christmas morning Ben and I attended mass and then we basically stayed at home, except for a visit to Auntie Anay and Auntie Iring and some picture taking with them and their friends.

While it was a relatively quiet Christmas for us, I still had a lot of fun, especially when Ben got his gift from Santa. He asked for a hammer, which he got with some more toy tools.

Things got more upbeat though when everyone else arrived for the New Year. Ben was much happier with his playmates around. As in the past couple of years, New Year's Eve we spent at Kuya Boy's house by the beach and there were fireworks and sparklers. At first Ben didn't want to hold the sparklers (I bought some big ones for him), but later on, he finally did on his own. The best was when the 16-hole fireworks were lit (there were two of them), and you'll find the video clip of one of them below. That's Ben you hear screaming loudly in the background.

New Year's Day we had merienda at Bay's Inn. But the rain came down and Ben didn't like that at all, so he was telling everyone that we had to go home. He even wanted his Kuya Miguel (who is a slow eater) to hurry up so we could leave.

The following day, it was travel back to Manila. We would've made good time, but we had to take a side trip to Bongabon to help out a friend of Kuya Boy. We ended up staying there for about 3 hours so that set us back. We didn't get to Manila until about 1 am.

Oh well, here are some of the pics. More can be seen at Christmas06/New Year07 in Baler.

Ben by the Christmas tree

Ben and chubby me

With his gift from Santa

With Lola Iring and Lola Anay and their friends, Lola Ben, Lola Banang and Lola Estela

Feeding his favorite fish, tilapia

With a new friend, Yvonne

Dancing with Yvonne

That's me, Fr Nilvon, Lola Iring, Yvonne, Ben, Lola Ben, Lola Banang, and Lola Anay

Taking a ride in Lolo Kaka's steamroller with Kuya Jovin, Kuya Daniel and Kuya Miguel

Me and Ben in the backyard of Kuya Boy's beach house

Ben and Ate Syobe (they share birthdays)

Kuya Miguel, Kuya Daniel, Ate Syobe, Kuya Jovin, and Ben

My budding Batista

The kids in the loft of the beach house

The kids on the concrete deck in the beach house's back yard

Ben and Kuya Miguel in a loving pose

Holding the flares

That's us after New Year struck

The boys by the beach

Merienda at Bay's Inn before the rain came

Uh...

Just outside the town hall of Bongabon

And here's a couple of video clips. First one is of Ben wrestling his Kuya Miguel and the other one is of the fireworks.

A Christmas Show

2007-01-06T18:41:00.000+08:00

Last December 18, the Claret Child Study Center (where Ben is in nursery), had their Christmas program. His section danced to Winter Wonderland so they were dressed in sweaters and bonnets and gloves. Unfortunately for me, I sat in the wrong section with Ben being positioned on the other side of the stage from where I was sitting, not to mention being positioned in the back row. So the pictures, and the video aren't great. I was only able to take pictures of him after the dance number and not during it, and still they aren't too great. Nonetheless, here are a few shots. The rest can be seen at Ben's Christmas program.

Here too is a video clip I took with my cell phone. It's kind of difficult to spot him, but once in a while, you might get lucky. He's the second boy from the right, wearing red sweatshirt. He's right about behind the second girl from the right wearing red.

Oh well, he had fun anyway, so that was all that matters and it really was fun watching all the kids perform.

Two nights before the program, we ended up at SM's Mall of Asia in Pasay City (quite far from our house). Originally, we were going to take Ben to see the dinosaur exhibit at Baywalk, which is the stretch along Manila Bay from Ermita to Malate. However, Kuya Tony missed the entry to the parking lot and since there was a lot of traffic, we decided to just head on to the mall. It is quite a big mall, which is the largest mall in the Philippines and, according to Wikipedia, is the third largest in the world. Here are a couple of pics from there.

Ben and his Lola Iring with the skating rink in the background

Ben with Tigger :)

A visit with Santa

2006-12-15T19:13:00.000+08:00

This afternoon, we went to Megamall for a bit of shopping, and guess who Ben ran into? Santa Claus. And here's a picture to show for it. I wonder what he asked for?

Ben with Santa

Christmas photos

2006-12-10T10:19:00.000+08:00

It's that time of the year again, and I had pictures of the kids taken. It's really nice to have pictures of the kids taken at around the same time annually. I get to see how much they've changed over the years.

There were several shots taken, but I'm just posting the one each. You can look at the others at Christmas 2006. Anyway, here they are:

Daniel @ 14 years old

Miguel @ 12 years old

Ben @ 4 years old

Me and Ben trying to look cute

A field trip and a birthday

2006-12-07T15:57:00.000+08:00

Last November 20, Ben's class went on a field trip (I went along, of course). The day-long outing had us riding round trip on the LRT 2, visiting the PACEM Ecopark in Antipolo City, and gulping some donuts from Gonuts Donuts in Cubao.

Ben was excited about riding the LRT. That was his (and mine as well) first ride on that light rail line. He has taken the MRT (EDSA route) before. He spent most of the time staring out the window. He kept asking me too if the cars were going to fall off the tracks. The roundtrip (Santolan-Recto-Santolan) took a little over an hour. I was sleepy by the time we got back to the bus to travel to the Ecopark, where we had a picnic lunch before going around to see some of the birds and other animals that were kept there. Ben was excited to see them all, especially the birds. He got real close to them. After the Ecopark, we headed on to Gonuts Donuts in Cubao where the kids got to watch how donuts are made. They also got free donuts and juice, but as usual, Ben wasn't really able to eat much.

Here are some photos from the field trip. You can check out the rest at fotopic CSC Field Trip.

In front of one of the LRT trains in the garage

Near the tracks

In the LRT

With his Teacher Coocoo

In front of the Assumption statue at the Ecopark (run by Assumption Sisters)

With his classmate Alyana in the butterfly and insect exhibit

In the shells exhibit

By the cage of the cassowary, the second largest flightless bird in the world (I think), and according the Guinness is the world's most dangerous bird

Close encounter with a bird

Another close encounter with a bird with classmate Matthew

With Matt and Gabriel

With Marcus (former classmate at Fremont too) and Matthew

By the wishing well (hmnn...I wonder what he wished for?)

With Matt in front of the statue of St. Francis of Assisi

He had a lot of fun, but was quite tired by time we got home late in the afternoon.

Two days later, it was Papa's 72nd birthday celebration. We had to have a cake of course, so Ben could help him blow out the candles. Some photos and a video clip follow.

Lolo Emon's birthday cake

Papa and Ben with Kuya Miguel and Kuya Daniel (we miss you Pau and Enzo)

And here's a short clip

An update

2006-11-17T11:28:00.000+08:00

Well, I see it's been sometime since I last updated this blog.

Nearly a month has passed, and I've got some new pictures and video clips of Ben to post.

First, here are a couple of video clips of Ben singing songs from his favorite show, Thomas and Friends:

I'm sure you had trouble trying to figure out what he was saying.

Then, on October 21, we attended Claret's Foundation Day celebration which coincided with the United Nation's Day celebration. The CSC (Ben's school) had a presentation and Ben's section did a Chinese dance. Since he is among the biggest in class, he's usually relegated to the back, and that is the case during the presentation. I tried to take photos while he was dancing, but I was too far. Anyway, the photos below are from the presentation.

Doing the Chinese dance. That's Ben in the back near the stairs to the stage

Posing after dancing

With his classmate Mark

Enjoying the confetti

Ben with his Teacher Coocoo

Following the presentation, it was a couple of weeks of school break for Ben. We went home for a week-long stay in Baler on October 28, for the All Saint's Day holiday. Unfortunately for us, a supertyphoon hit the country, specifically northeastern Luzon. Baler was hit as well, and it was several days of brown out after that.

The first picture was taken on our way home. This is in Brgy. Diome in Maria Aurora, Aurora. We stopped to let Ben take a leak. Then he wanted his picture taken, so I did. So here it is:

Later on, when we were in Baler, he decided to take some self-portraits using my cell phone (without my knowledge) so I thought I'd share one (with his complete face on the photo since the rest had only part of his face):

We also visited the beach once. Ben was all excited to go when we were still at the house, but when we got there, he didn't want to go down to the beach anymore. It took me the better of 15-20 minutes to convince him to go down. When he finally did, I managed to get him to wet his feet...and then there was a little bit of an adventure, as the video clips will show. See the pictures first:

Ah, the sun!

Worried about the water

Here's me assuring Ben that the water is nothing to fear.

Yehey, he didn't run away.

And now the video clips:

I'm kind of surprised he didn't ask to leave after his first fall, and neither did he asked to go home after the second fall. Oh well, I thought he would want to visit the beach again before we left for Manila, but he passed. I guess we'll have to wait until we go home for Christmas to get him to go back there.

On the way back to Manila, we had a flat tire in the mountains, very near the place where Doña Aurora Quezon (after whom Aurora was named) was killed. I tried to tell Ben who she was, but he wasn't too interested. Anyway, we got off the car and had a little walk around. As usual, it was photo opportunity for Ben. I just couldn't resist.

the flat tire

in front of the marker for Doña Aurora Quezon

ruined road

no more water

So, can't wait until we go back home again. As they say, there really is no place like home...which in my case is Baler. By the way, it's Mama's birthday today. She would've been 74. It's also Girlie's birthday (Happy birthday, Girlie).

Agrilink a year after

2006-10-19T18:12:00.000+08:00

I took Ben to Agrilink again this year. He had a good time with the mascots. He liked the flower exhibit too, I guess because there was a little fountain there. Didn't get to see much of the piggies though. Anyway, here are some of the pics.

fish remains a big favorite

Ben is fond of cornicks

Ben with Hoagy

fish and water...can't take him away from those

I'm sure that's not Tony Tiger, but Ben wanted a picture with him anyway

more water

the flower exhibit

My budding guitarist

2006-10-11T08:27:00.000+08:00

Here's a really nice shot of Ben looking like a serious guitarist, well except for the outfit maybe (although, with the way rock guitarists dress now, this might be the future). Hey, maybe someday he will be.

My budding crooner

2006-09-19T16:40:00.000+08:00

Just a couple of video clips featuring Ben, the future crooner from Mapagbigay. :-D

A go at Tom Jones' Delilah:

Singing along to Courage the Cowardly Dog:

Sowaddayathink???

Poultry and fish

2006-09-18T19:05:00.000+08:00

Ben saw his first live ostrich last Saturday. I took him to the second day of the Poultry Show in Megamall. He saw ostrich eggs too, which amused him because they were so big. Here's a picture of him touching some ostrich eggs in front of the booth where the ostrich (they were young ostrich, about two months old, and a bit difficult to see in the pic) were kept:

He also played some games in the Show, and won a pen and an umbrella. He joined a picture coloring contest, which of course, he didn't win. The clip below show him hard at work on his entry.

He later talked Terrie into getting some rides, and Te obliged.

After Megamall, we went to Makati with Terrie for a real quick meeting with Carrie, and a short shopping spree (okay, it wasn't really a shopping spree since we didn't buy anything!) at Landmark. Before leaving Makati, Ben had to look at the fishponds just behind Glorietta 4 (he remembered from the his last visit to Makati). I took some pictures. A dad/son team gave him some bread to feed the fish, which he enjoyed doing.

"Nanay, o, fish!"
Yup, Ben, that's a tower crane

Then we were on the way home. Since he was hyper throughout the whole afternoon, Ben finally fell asleep in the car halfway the trip home. Good to have a bit of peace and quiet in the car.

Later in the evening, we went to 10 (my Tan grandparents' house) for a short visit with his lolas, and Ben had a pic taken under his popos pictures.

That's Popo Tatay and Popo Nanay
Clowning around in the car
Are you sleepy?

Are you kidding? He took his time falling asleep that night. Good thing there was no school the next day.

Family day and a birthday

2006-08-25T10:32:00.000+08:00

Ben and I attended the Family Day in Claret last Saturday, which also happened to be my birthday.

We had a great time. Ben and his classmates danced the tinikling (minus the stilts...don't ask me why) and a song number. Since he was one of the bigger kids in class, he was relegated to the back rows. Unfortunately, since he wasn't really towering over his classmates, it was very difficult to spot him while he was on stage. I did manage to take some shots after the dance and song numbers though.

He also got to mingle with Clifford the Big Red Dog, and was taking his time I had to pull him away so other kids can have their turn too.

Highlight of the event was when the children gave their parents a handmade card. Ben's was a bit wrinkly and messy, but it was a great gift, nonetheless. Best one I've had in years.

So here are some photos:
Just after his tinikling dance

Me and Ben after he gave me his handmade card

Just after his song

With his classmates Matthew and Gabriel

The SN-Maamo artwork

Ben's artwork, placed in the bottom of the display

With Clifford the Big Red Dog

The following day, I took out my tripod and decided to take some shots of the two of us. Here are a couple of them;

New pictures of Ben

2006-08-16T18:32:00.000+08:00

I just wanted to post some new pictures of Ben. He's grown another centimeter and now weighs roughly 47 lbs.

pa-cute talaga itong batang ito

talagang camera-friendly

watching TV with his lolo

love niya si lolo

Weird how he's grown so fast. I look at his pictures when he was a baby and realize that so much has changed. He can be a handful at times, but I honestly don't mind. I cherish all the time we spend together. I know the time will come when he'd rather be with his friends and other people, so right now I'm enjoying the fact that he seems to like having me around all the time.

Here's a picture of the two of us taken last Christmas. I posted this same picture back in December but am posting it again (a smaller file) so I can add it to my blogger profile.

you look at this picture and you think we never fight :-D

Oh well, I love Bentot...

Moving blog

2006-08-16T16:52:00.000+08:00

I've moved my other blog from Friendster to Blogger. If you want to have a look-see, feel free to visit that's just me talking... or click on the link on the left.

Happy reading.

Ben is 4

2006-07-11T19:15:00.000+08:00

Another year...another birthday. Ben turned four last 6 July. He agreed not to have a party in school anymore, but we did have a small merienda here at home last Saturday (8 July). It felt kind of weird actually. I was looking at old pictures of Ben, back when he was a baby, and realized that if it weren't for the pictures, it's hard to remember what he looked like back then.

Anyway, on his birthday, we just took out some food from Country Chicken (pancit canton included for long life, of course). He was fine with that, even ate quite a bit of pansit. Then on Saturday, the little house was pretty filled up with people. (Roll call: Papa, Kuya Tony, Auntie Delan, Auntie Anay, Kuya Toti, Jojo, Daniel, Miguel, Tyung Dante, Tricia, Ate Mabel, Cathleen, Ate Nini, Jovin, Janina, Syobe, Iñaki, Borseg, Andy, Julie, Lysander; later in the night Veron, Dave, and Gwen came by too). We had spaghetti, chicken, and veggie salad. The highlight was Ben's birthday cake: Thomas the Tank Engine. He didn't eat it though, he just blew the candle and decided he didn't like the fact that his lips turned black and blue when he ate the cake. All in all, it was a fun celebration. Of course, pictures were taken and here are some of them:
On the day itself, just before he went to school
Ben's happy birthday banner...walang creativity ang nanay
top view of his birthday cake
front view of his birthday cake
side view of his birthday cake
with his small "handa"
with Ate Cat, Ate Syobe (with whom he shares a birthday), Ate Janina
blowing the candle
the oldest member of the Tan Family with the youngest generation
birthday boy and Nanay
birthday boy and Lolo (the dark lips courtesy of the cake's icing)
with Gwen

For other photos, go to Ben's 4th birthday

New uniform

2006-06-19T17:05:00.000+08:00

Today is Dr Jose Rizal's birthday. I thought there should be some kind of commemoration, especially since he's the national hero, but apart from some editorial, there didn't seem to be much mention. I remember when I was in grade school, there was a fuss about Rizal's birthday celebration. Oh well, maybe there is still in the schools.
Speaking of schools, Ben wore his new school uniform today:

So far, he's doing good. He had his first star stamp this morning, and while I didn't speak to his teacher, I assumed he was good in class today.

It's back to school time

2006-06-14T11:33:00.000+08:00

Today (14 June) is Ben's first day in his new school, Claret Child Study Center. I went with him today (and will accompany him again tomorrow). As usual, the kid was very hyper. I guess it's the excitement of the new school year (yeah, wait a few more years...).
His section is Maamo (not exactly a very apt description of him), and there are 14 of them in his class. I just can't remember how many girls (I think there are five). Seems like he's already made a new friend, as one of the boys and him were playing together for some time during the play period.
Of course, when circle time came, he couldn't sit still. He stood up a lot, and then laid down on the floor. He did participate though while the teacher was reading a Blue's Clues book (small wonder).
I'm posting the picture I took before he went to school today next to the one I took of him during the first day of school last year, just to compare. My, he has grown.

Today

Ben on the first day of school in 2005

It's been too long

2006-06-14T10:14:00.000+08:00

Been a while. Either there were too many things to do or I was just too lazy to sit down and type something up. I had meant to put up a couple of entries and a few photos since my last entry, but somehow, I just couldn't sit down and type up. My other two blogs have suffered too.
Anyway, since my last entry, I've spent a week in Cagayan de Oro, gone swimming twice in 9 Waves/Ciudad Christia Resort in San Mateo (a few minutes away from Kuya Toti's house), and pretty much stayed home. At least I don't recall doing anything else particular.
So, I'm posting a some photographs from the two 9 Waves visit. The first time we went, we were joined by Jovin, and the second time, by Janina and Josella.
First pictures were taken April 23, when Jovin joined us.
I am too big!
Ben ready to swim
On his own
What a dive!
Here I come!
With Kuya Jay, Kuya Daniel, and Kuya Miguel

This next set was taken June 2, when Janina, Josella, and Iñaki joined us.
With Ate Siobe, Ate Janina, and Kuya Miguel in the wave pool
With Ate Janina and Ate Siobe in the banga, Auntie Jojo sitting outside the banga

The next few pictures are of Iñaki and the kids in the deep end of the wave pool during one of the wave episodes:

Last May too, the black Honda finally got some fixing. Here's Ben in front of the cleaned up car.

Next photos were taken during Ben's last day of summer school at Fremont. They had a pajama party, which explains why he was wearing pajamas to school.

Back from Baler

2006-04-17T09:57:00.000+08:00

Following one glorious week in Baler, where we spent the Holy Week, we're back in very hot and humid Manila.
We had a relaxing time, as usual. Ben and I went swimming with Jovin in our first two days there, then pretty much just stayed at home until Saturday when we joined Kuya Toti and his family and friends for a picnic, which was when the following photos were taken.
Ben made new friends, Alex and Rachel, who are Cecille's (Kuya Toti's friend and Papa's goddaughter) kids who are visiting the Philippines with their mom from New Jersey.
Oh well, now back to work (after posting of course).
With the kids of Kuya Toti's friends
Me and Ben (boy, I'm too big now)
Ben with Kuya Toti
Enjoying the river
With new friends Rachel and Alex
The picnic kids

Fun rides

2006-03-31T19:03:00.000+08:00

We went malling last Thursday and Ben wanted to take some rides. Here are a couple of photos:

riding the firetruck in the car carousel

roundabout in a plane-like ride

Ben docs

2006-03-27T10:54:00.000+08:00

I thought I'd share Ben's certificate, report card, and assessment, with those who may be interested.