Hello Kitty Birthday Bash for a Pretty Lady

One of the events we have been into during the first few days of 2013 is the grand birthday bash with a Hello Kitty theme of a good friend's daughter.

the very elegant venue turned into Hello Kitty Land

 my hubby and kids enjoying the meal ;-D

 my kids and their friend waiting for their turn for the face painting

 my youngest daughter Jasmine  with her choice of small floral design

 my daughter Sam with Hello Kitty on her cheek

 Jasmine with the very pretty celebrant, EJ 

 the artist doing the painting on Alexa's  cheek

It was one celebration my kids did truly enjoy . . . many thanks to the celebrant, her sister, and their mom!

(Updated!) First Fresh Egg

Woke up with a very big smile today because after around four months of waiting,  I harvested the very  first egg courtesy of our itiks (ducks)!

The mighty egg in all its splendor ;-D 

The itiks in my pond

 (photo grabbed from Sir Nur Juanday's FB account)

The cooking mom's damn excited for more eggs to come.  Salivating with the thought of making leche flan soon!

On the next day, we have two . . . found inside the pond ;-D that's why these eggs looked so clean ;-D

Priceless Christmas for Us

Christmas is supposed to be a time for merrymaking but for us it meant a time of reaching out, of extending helping hands and helping others see that beyond the clouds, the sun is still shining.  

My husband and I were tasked to assist in the activity spearheaded by the Local Government Unit of Gensan for the benefit of the dependents of missing fishermen due to Typhoon Pablo on December 23, 2012 at the GSC Sports Complex.

I was with the team who assisted little children of those missing fishermen find a little joy in spite of what's happening around them.  There were storytelling, playing games, and giving of gifts for the kids. Added bonus to the activity was the presence of mascots Jollibee and Hetty that really brought excitement to our young spectators' eyes.

The innocence of these children is simply enviable.  They still managed to give all of us a smile and were very willing  to seize the moment.  Their fathers are all missing for almost a month now and yet their families together with government agencies and NGOs are still not giving up in the search and rescue operation.

I was happy and sad at the same time doing the job of making these children see that there is still a glimmer of hope. Deep inside I know that survivors at this point in time is already nil.  I am just praying for God's mercy for the children and their families.  

We made the kids so happy that day . . . I just hope that in our own little way we still can in the days to come.

A day after, the whole family had our gift-giving for the wards of Maria Goretti's Home for Girls.  My girls were more than happy to share our blessings with the girls under the care of the Passionist Sisters.

 Many thanks to our friends and Olaer Development Corporation for helping us with the goodies we gave to Maria Gorettti's girls.

 What we've done may be temporary in nature but we hope it  made a difference in the lives of many.

Merry christmas, everyone!

A Biko With a Story

The cooking mom got the time to prepare something special for our noche buena. Prepared a good amount of food to feast on but I've got a piece I considered extraordinary - the biko (glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and sugar).  What makes it so special?

Well, basically it's a simple delicacy but it was embedded with so much love and passion from the mountains of Capas, Tarlac to our kitchen here in General Santos City.

The Aeta foster family of my daughter  during their immersion program in the mountains of Tarlac gave her a  bagful of mountain violet sticky rice as token. These good Aetas were the former settlers around Mt. Pinatubo who resettled in Tarlac to find a living. Aside from the sticky rice, they also gave my daughter sinfully delicious newly harvested brown rice.  It was so generous of them.

the so unselfish, so generous foster family of my daughter
 (Nanay Melinda, Tatay Gaspar and their kids with my daughter and other ADMU students)

Rafee handcarried the gifts all the way from Manila to Gensan.  I was almost in tears when I heard  her story of where these products came from. I wanted very much to say THANK YOU to her foster family and let them know how I appreciated their gesture but it's impossible to get through them.

So on christmas eve, I cooked the very precious gifts from our Aeta friends and shared these with people dear to us whom we requested to say a little prayer for this family who epitomizes the true spirit of christmas - to give and share without expecting anything in return!

To you, my dear friends from the mountains of Tarlac, our paths may not cross very soon but you will always be included in our prayers for God to keep you safe and healthy always!

Thank you for reminding us the true essence of Christmas!

Perfect Breakfast

freshly picked mangoes sliced into bits 

and steamed fresh from my garden camote tops 

with sinamak(spiced native vinegar) as dip -
pair this with plain rice
and fried daing (dried fish) 

Oh my! 

Family Bonding

bonding time with my hubby and kids

It was my youngest daughter Jasmine's 7th birthday last Monday.  A day before, we had a pre-birthday bonding at SM City Gensan.  It was a blast going out on a date with my hubby and six bubbly kids.  Hoping for a repeat soon before my eldest daughter leaves for Manila for her studies.

Raising Itiks

What's keeping me busy nowadays?  watchamacalitiks ;-D

Looking forward to sell balut (fertilized duck egg) soon . . .