Our Family Adventure 2009 Part 1

We started going on adventure trips in 2008. We thought that its about time... our son is big enough to appreciate sites and to remember a wonderful experience. Just like me and my husband. We would talk about trips and moments we had when we were kids. The happy feeling of looking at past memories is very rewarding. We want our children to treasure theirs too.

In 2008, we went the Laguna Way. This year, its Batangas my dear friends. These places may just be a few hours away from Manila. Many might ask, why not Cebu, Boracay or some place far. This makes us different from the rest. We drive from one town to another and we discover a lot of new things beyond our expectations. The adventure? We have an idea where we are going. But getting there, we have to figure out still.

Late Tuesday evening (11pm), my husband told me to get ready at 5am in the morning (which is actually 5-6 hours away). I knew that we're up for another adventure. A road trip that's makes everything exciting, being clueless of where we are going.

A beautiful sunrise opened a wonderful day

1. Breakfast in Mcdonald's SLEX
2.Taal Vista Hotel
3. Tagaytay Zoo
4. People's Park In The Sky
5. Lunch at the Picnic Grove
6. Summit Ridge
Went to Taal Vista Hotel to check their room rates. Last time I was here, Franky was still inside my big tummy... The breeze was very cold. A perfect place to relax and take pictures.

Tagaytay Zoo
(100Php adult, 60Php kids)
People's Park
(15Php per head, kids-free)
The view here was just amazing. We enjoyed the cool wind and the long walk.

Lunch at the picnic grove. We brought hotdog and java rice. Bought our drinks there, we also have chips, candies, and my green mango.

Green Mango from Manong vendor (the highlight of my picnic experience) ,which I feasted on like there's no tomorrow.

Every Picnic Grove visit will be incomplete without a picture of the famous Taal Volcano. After lunch, we went to Summit Ridge, a new hotel. Bought some groceries from their supermarket and other things needed for the second part of our adventure.

We are now, Batangas bound!

My Moment, My Winning Entry

Blogging for almost 2 1/2 years, I think that I am already at my peak.

Let me share the dictionary meaning of PEAK:The point of greatest development, value, or intensity: a novel written at the peak of the writer's career. Though I am not a certified author or writer, a recent article of mine just won.

My Winning Entry

This being my first, was just overwhelming. I just came home from a 2 -day vacation with my family. You know, taking a break and detaching ourselves from our city life. This good news welcomed me home. Perfect!

If you're somebody close to me, and practically knows me... you would not even think that I will be able to create something worth as a winning piece. This is where my love for blogging comes in. The passion and inspiration. My blogging life is inspired by my family. Both with my husband and son, my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews and my in-laws. My life goes around these people. Making the Red Ribbon entry was a new opportunity for me to share more of our bits and pieces together as family. I took the contest as an opener to bring my love for sharing a step higher from the usual.

Thank you very much Red Ribbon! It was a very fulfilling experience.

For more of the contest details, visit: nomnomclub.com

CONGRATULATIONS to the WINNERS:

Enchie Cruz of Sweet Nothings
Levy Martinez of Living Life to the Fullest
Vivian Aguilar of The Divine Viva

Celebrating Sweet Nothing's First Blog Anniversary

Life continues. Stories of happy, sad, fun and Xtraordinary. As I was assessing my blog's survival for the past year, there is only one motivating factor behind it. The CHALLENGE of what my life has got to offer in order to share. Its all about life. Life, life, life. How colorful it is, how dull and bland it may be.

One thing that I totally forgot for the past 6 months though... the main purposes and reasons why I started blogging.

Theme: It's all about My Life's Purpose. Providing inspiration, learning from others, accepting adversities and making it as a strong point of starting all over again, opening up for change and simply releasing some thoughts that are worth sharing and maybe life changing. I am blessed with a life that most women enjoy. Some, they dream about, and others become very envious of.

Being a Mother and a Wife.

Just yesterday, I was aksed by a famiy and a friend. "So what's for you now"?

I answered: Where my husband goes, I'll trust, I'll follow and support him. Being a Mom and a wife is IT for me. There's nothing else IN for me. I am very satisfied with the life I have with my family. It's all about my family now...

Sweet Nothings will always be about our (my family's) Nothingness. The little but sweet nothings that makes our everyday extraordinary. Sometimes we don't see. It's just there, we all have it. It may be the smallest factor, reasons why we are happy. Sweet Nothings will stand with or without ads, EC, blog hops, and comments. With another year ahead of me, it is an opportunity to reflect on the old, create a happier set up, and for sharing new fairy tales, stories of love, laughter, sadness... whatever comes.

To my blogger friends and readers:

Thank you for the blessing of friendship, love, and inspiration. Thank you for the one of a kind experiences, the laughter, the "kilig" moments from your stories, learnings, and for the stories that define who you are.

Today, I choose to focus on Life's small gifts,
a touch, a smile, a fragrance.
Today, I choose the Good that Life has to offer.

0o0o
So how did I celebrate my first year?

My husband went on a 2- week leave from work. Everyday- from Monday, we were out loving our time. Enjoyed each other's company, danced around the kitchen together, brought our son to and from school together, made Franky's Halloween costume together. It was just all about being Extraordinarily together... everyday.

Plus, plus, plus

A 6-hour pampering in the new hair salon I just recently discovered. Hair treatment, foot massage, pedicure. Well, it's that time of the year when I pour time for myself. Might as well do it in celebration of my blog's first anniversary.

My little boy, happy to accompany me. Thanks to my husband who took care of everything

The Magnificent Manila Bay Sunset

Are these enough to make you stay here in the Philippines...

A relaxing Monday near the breakwater Manila Bay... All we wanted was to change our typical Monday. A leave from work, taking our time waiting for the sun to set and room for more bonding made our first day of the week splendid.

My sunset moment

All we wanted was to capture the beautiful sunset of the Manila Bay. Even before having a DSLR, all I wanted to experience for every Manila visit we make, is to see the famous sunset. For the first time, I was able to witness this wonder in full color.

Pixel Bug Weekend--- We're Back On Track

Weekend was all about our 'ol Civic. We're finally back on track with everything working perfectly fine. One thing lacking though... we didn't have music. My husband and I talked on getting a new car stereo (since the old one got busted from the flood), and if we're going to purchase a new one, might as well get the latest where we can just plug our USB for our MP3s.

tada! a New Car Stereo!

It was great listening to our favorite tunes as we drove to my hometown, where we enjoyed lunch with our parents. Talked on some interesting plans for the future. More stories about the recent flood. It was our typical relaxing Sunday. Nothing could be better than having some sunshine, good food, good conversations and good company.

Red Ribbon White Forest to end an inspiring weekend...

Later in the afternoon, we drove our mom to a nearby mall. Enjoyed another bonding time with her and my sister. We ate merienda in Red Ribbon. Even without the White Forest my dear friends, we are Red Ribbon lovers.

My Slice of Heaven

Finally we're able to reserve a White Forest Cake. That's right, "reserved". For the past few days, we had a hard time looking for a White Forest cake. In Cubao, there's only one Red Ribbon and this cake is also hot in the market.

Share your Pixel full weekend @ Pixel Bug Weekend

Have a lovely week everyone!

Red Ribbon White Forest Cake Brings Families Closer

From the moment I received my first White Forest Cake, I shared it with my Mom. She passed this good news to my aunt and other relatives. As predicted, being such cake lovers, they enjoyed the new Red Ribbon White Forest Cake.

Sharing makes room for bonding, more laughs, and good conversations. We spend our Sundays together as a clan. My siblings and I would always meet with our families at our parent's place. We make it a point that we see each other at least once a week. This way, we keep our relationship as family close and sparkling. Most of the time, we have lunch or dinner then we buy cake or some sweets for dessert. The White Forest Cake changed how cakes are looked at in our family. Especially for our Dad. Our Father is not a cake lover. He'd buy cake for special occasions only. Like birthdays and anniversaries. This cake sensation changed his thoughts on liking cakes. He is now the #1 fan of Red Ribbon. He got exposed to something and realized, that a simple cake can make our everyday special even without an occasion to celebrate. Family bondings happy conversations, a relaxing day, a perfect snack, and simply feeling complete... are enough reasons that cakes are for everybody, anytime of the day.

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It made us happier

He even bought a crystal cake plate to make the family's every cake experience sweeter, more inviting and tempting. Our Sunday get together is going to be more fun and colorful, for Red Ribbon's White Forest cake will now and always be part of it. We officially agreed that it's the only cake that everybody loves. The kids said its yummy and they're very much attracted with the long-stemmed cherries on top, they could just grab it easily. The young and old at heart are always excited to have some and more of it. All these for just one cake. Red Ribbon's White Forest Cake.

The flavor of this cake is just amazing. Luscious cherry bits in between layers of white chiffon cake, topped with rich white chocolates and long- stemmed maraschino cherries. Nobody can't resist to have a slice. So thank you Red Ribbon! Thank you for bringing us The White Forest Cake.

By the way, its selling like hot cakes everywhere.

Girls Talk! My Favorite Shoes

The girls are buzzing again. This time, its about our favorite footwear.

Shoes... every girl's weakness. Don't tell me its not. To be honest, I am not a shoe person, but when I see something that I really like, I buy it and it stays with me forever.

Two of my first favorites are these:

Peep toes from Cathryn and Charlz (2 years old)

2 inches slip- on from Parisian (1 year old)
I like it with jeans.

For every pair there is a story. I was on the look for a different kind of flat shoes. I searched for about a month. I found several nice flats, but not as sophisticated looking as the one I bought from Cathryn and Charlz. I use it for both causal and formal. Dress, jeans, pants, shorts, skirt. It fits every outfit in my closet.

We all know that Parisian is from Shoe Mart. I got these shoes just for my Visa interview. I didn't have the time to go around and look anymore. And when it comes to these kind of situations, I go to SM. They always have the answer for my dilemmas. By the way, with all the rushing on the day of my interview, I ended up wearing the peep toes.
My Adidas, and its red!

4 years old with me

If I were to buy a new one, I will still choose red. Have this old one repaired and keep it. Lastly, let me share the oldest of them all. My Doc Martens. Offcially mine back in 1997.

12 years old

It was very hot when I was in high school. Every kid has it. A friend of mine bought hers from Hong Kong. That time, I own a very nice Benetton shoes (which was also very hot back then). She liked my Benetton, and I was dying to have a Doc Martens. She thought, since she owns more than one DMs she's happy to trade her boots for my Benetton. So that's how I got my first boots. I still use this by the way. Especially on a rainy day. Plus, I want it in white! (si Jandi kasi e...)

Wanna share your favorites? Go to: Girls Talk!

Fragrant Finds For Your Home

This product has been part of my grocery list since I discovered it at SM Tiendesitas early this year. As moms and wives we all want to keep our homes clean, well-maintained and in order. Plus, we definitely want every corner of it to smell good. Not all odor eliminators are healthy. Especially for the kids. According to recent findings, one of the factors that greatly affects our respiratory system, are sprays with chemicals. In any form as long as its mixed with chemicals. May it be an insect spray or your favorite air freshener. I guess that's why we now have gel air fresheners. This is not a paid ad. I just wanna share that this product has been doing wonders in my home.

My latest find is their Super Odor Neutralizer. It smells so good. Remember, our car went underwater in the recent flood... It's helping on eliminating the excess stench. Perfect for any fabric, carpets or simply spritz some around your living room, bedroom and bathroom. Not recommended on Silk and Leather by the way. But I still used the Odor Neutralizer over the car's leather seat cover. Nothing happened.

The smell is long lasting. The gels can last up to 1 month. With an empty container, it can still make your room smell nice.

My favorites: After The Rain, Sunny Laundry (not in the picture) and Lavander for the gel air freshener. Orchard Garden for the Odor Neutralizer.

Pixel Bug Weekend--- Videoke with Family and Friends

Busy weekend? Yup! it was a busy- fun weekend indeed! We were reunited with a family from America. My husband's cousin came home for a short vacation here in the Philippines. Last time they saw each other? was back in 2001. By the time my husband got home from America, it was Bryan's turn to leave. I have known Bryan and Dolf as close as peanut butter and jelly. If there's me and Dolf, definitely, there was Bryan and Dolf first.
Things are different now... both have matured into a family-loving and happy father. It was really exciting to watch and get entertained by the boys as they catch up with the past and the present.

Friday night, my husband went on leave to meet up with Bryan and his family. Franky and I tagged along. I was very happy to finally have met his wife and son too. Our sons got along well. As if they've met before.
They're like two souls from the past reunited. Well, it runs in the blood. Their dads has a very colorful relationship. It would be lovely to see them grow together too. We met at Greenbelt 5.

Walked all the way to Greenbelt 3 had dinner at Fish & Co. with some more friends. After dinner, it was Red Box time!
One thing that will complete any Philippine visit is to experience videoke, Filipino style. Franky stayed up late with us. I mean, its rare that he joins us in our night outs. Plus, Franky likes videoke. We had Nachos, Gambas, 2 rounds of beer, Buffalo Wings and Mozzarella Cheese Sticks.

This was just the first half of our weekend. Sunday, my husband and I invited them over our place. Spent the whole day again together.

Girls Talk! My Favorite Perfume

I have been aching to join Niko's Girls Talk!. It's all about the wonderful life of being a SHE. This week, the girls are buzzing about their favorite scent/s.

I actually have 3 favorite perfumes. 2 are in the picture, the other... all empty threw it already.

Banana Republic JADE--- i like it because of its spicy-sweet scent. Its different yet not too strong. Its beyond our usual (sweet and floral). Perfect for both day and night.

Clinique Happy Heart--- my "anytime of the day" scent. I almost tried every Clinique perfume. Happy, Heart, To Be, In Bloom... they're all nice but I'm staying with Heart. Its in-between everything.

Estée Lauder Pleasures--- I also consider this as my "anytime of the day" perfume. Sweet smelling.

One important factor I look for a scent is the after smell. Sometimes perfumes can be so nice at the beginning, but later in the day, you end up smelling like you worked for 2 days and perspiring.

Lastly, I also like body mists and baby colognes.
Johnsons baby cologne HEAVEN will always be part of my scent sensation, also Watson's Body Treats--body mist. It's a good thing we have our local scents made already. During summer or on a very humid day, I use baby cologne or body mist. It makes me feel cooler.
What's your story girl? Share it with the rest @ Girls Talk.

Sunny Goodnews!

Again I started my day enjoying a sunny and windy weather. Thank God for this cool change. I mean, we need it so badly to relax a bit while rebuilding our homes, our cars, putting together our minds and hearts and moving forward with what's left behind.

Today, let me share some of that relaxing and joyful experience with you. As we all know, our car went underwater during that unwelcoming day when typhoon Ketsana came. From the looks of it, we felt that it would be impossible to put things back together. Good thing that we own an old car. Meaning, no computer box damaged (which will most likely cost 5,000-100,000 to have it repaired if we have one). All we did was to wait for the car to dry, and here comes the mechanic/s. Yup! The talyer (car shop) people of 10 came to our place just to fix our car. Just 1 car. I was overwhelmed with what I saw. They brought the whole shop with them. Tools, man power, cleaning equipments. All we can do was to provide food. For lunch, we bought them food from Mcdonalds. Merienda, 2 boxes of pizza and ice cold Coke. How I wish, we could have given more. Friends were behind this heart-warming effort. You know who you are... Thank you very much!


We've heard stories of survival through people we interacted with today. From the cab driver who took me to Cubao, the car mechanics, the pizza person... they all said it was terrible that day (Sept. 26, 2009)... But they still strived to go back to their normal lives and continue without looking back anymore. One thing is for sure... they/ we all learned our lesson from mother nature.

To add some sunshine, I received a package just last Friday from a family in GA. Two of the things I got really brightened my week. A cute sundress from my mother-in-law... and yehey! to officially start a Sunny full day...

New sunnies for me!

Thanks to our Mama and to my sister-in-law! It will cost another 1 0r 2,000 Php just buying a new pair. Well, my old sunglasses went underwater too, it was inside the car's comparment (instant goggles). That's why I'm very happy. Some good news ey! Or at least reasons to inspire my every day.

Smiley Face

A New Beginning

I miss blogging...
I have been busy storing whatever is needed and looking over my family.
Finally we have water and constant electricity.
Car is still busted but my husband is having it fixed today.
Hopefully, our week will start right this time around.

The Man In The Mirror 1958-2009

Its been months since the King of Pop passed away. Well, it wasn't easy to just grab a memorabilia. Stores have been selling them for a very high price. I was hoping to grab a copy of Time Magazine's MJ Tribute. But its selling like hotcakes. During the recent book fair, I looked for a copy, and still nah-ah (none).

I found several MJ magazines, but still too expensive. They're being sold for Php600-Php1000 each, and its just a magazine.

So I took my time, went to every store big and small, and lucky enough, I found a hardbound MJ Tribute book by Tim Hill for only Php500. This book contains everything about his music life, from the beginning and to his very end. His memorial was also included. A guy beside me holding some of the expensive magazines regretfully told me that he should have looked around first. I knew that I made the right buy just seeing the look from his face.
Smiley Face

I knew Michael Jackson through his music. I don't really mind if I don't get to know more of his private life. That's his and his alone.

As long as his music is bringing ua joy, love peace and inspiration... he will always be remembered.

Let Me Be One Wth Nature Again

Every day I wake up and am grateful for all the good things that I have in my life. I am lucky to be alive and live in joy, peace and harmony.

-Noreen-
"Turn your wounds into wisdom"
-Oprah (submitted by Jacqueline Sato)-