My brother will turn 20 tomorrow and I’m thinking how to make him happy on his special day without breaking my wallet… with much deliberation, I decided to give him a birthday treat by meeting him for dinner after his class. I already briefed my sister to tell my parents that a birthday party or a big dinner in the house will not be possible this time since most of us were on a busy schedule this week. But I’m sure a big celebration is not what my parents to have but only to see all of us gathered again through an occasion like birthdays.

A simple birthday treat can already manifest a memorable occasion… I remember when my classmates way back high school surprised me with a birthday treat by wearing my favorite color and giving me presents full of green, one of those presents was even a pail full of plain green leaves, I can remember how I laughed so hard and it became the most beautiful and unique gifts for me… and the last treat they gave was my birthday cake and it was decorated also in green! it was so funny and very memorable… that up to now I cherished everything and it was one of my happiest birthday!

I hope my brother will be happy to see me on his birthday… my treat…

Birthdays, Family birthday, birthday cake, birthday treat, Family

It’s my friend Lennyl’s birthday and since she is out of the country for work, i cannot greet her personally… I hope my birthday message reached her roaming number. I’m kind of melancholic every time a close friend of mine celebrates their birthday and I cannot come to see them and greet them in person, whew! this time… Dubai is very far…

I’ve been away from my desktop for 3 days now and I feel so preoccupied… I have lots of plans this coming days which excites me and amidst all these upcoming events there are times I need to pause and just be quiet and that’s what I’ve been doing the past days.

A trip to ‘The Walk’ and grab some pizza for dinner completes my day… Happy birthday Len!

Birthdays, Friendship birthday, Family, love

What a beautiful day for a special occasion such as my father’s birthday! Every year this day reminds me of how grateful I am to have a father like him. I witnessed all the hard works, the care and love he showered to the family and most of all, I witnessed even the mistakes and the down moment of this man whom I called my father. Everybody wishes a perfect and a great dad… but a good father is also an imperfect one… and through that imperfection I see the beauty of his being a father… those imperfect moments made the two of us talk and discuss to each other and form a bonding that rekindle good relationship.

A father who loves me, cares for me, cook for me, supported me in every things I do, spank me when I commit mistakes, and bring me to the altar to step the next chapter of my life independently and call me in the middle of my hectic schedule just to say ‘I miss you and I love you‘, and a father who commits mistake and bad decision and in turn give me a chance to scold him and advice him for those mistakes…

All these moments with my father reminds me of how thankful I am to have him in my life. And because of these, his birthday is worth a celebration every year.

Birthdays, Family birthday, birthday cake, birthday party, Family, father

My planner reminds me to visit parents place for the town fiesta in Minglanilla today. I planned an evening trip to get rid of the heavy traffic going to the place. I believe it’s not only a mere town fiesta but also for Catholics in the town, it is the fiesta of the Immaculate Heart of Mary which is the patroness of the town. I saw lots of a week long fun activities in their schedule for this fiesta in the net but no one gives me a result of schedule for their masses. Well, sometimes people tend to enjoy much and eat much in a fiesta but forget to drop by their parish and hear Holy Mass as thanksgiving.

Well, what is this occasion that we call ‘Fiesta’ anyway? According to the FreeDictionary.com, it is an “occasion on which people can assemble for social interaction and entertainments…” Each country around the globe has different way of celebrating this occasion, Mexico and Philippines is very popular for this kind of event… even Filipino community around the world celebrates their own fiestas to feel the fun and celebration of their country, if not they fly home from the United States just to celebrate. It is a whole day of fun games, people dancing to the music, parades, pageants, entertainment and a lot more of fun activities… and of course abundant food is never absent… lots and lots of foods in every house is one of the highlights in every homes to complete their fiesta.

The picture of a fiesta that first captured in my mind when I was still a little kid was endless of visitors coming in and out of our house starting from lunch time to supper time… and foods in our tables were very abundant to accommodate people who come to eat… that sometimes I even don’t know who and where they come from, haha..

Happy Fiesta!

Country Event, Family church, Family, fiesta, Town Fiesta

Occasion: Commemoration of the death of Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino, Jr.
Holiday Date: August 21
Official Status: Special Non-working Holiday
Why we celebrate this occasion? Ninoy’s heroic act to the Philippines

Yes, It’s a special non-working holiday today and occasions like this gives me an opportunity to bond with my family and spend quality time together at home… also a time for myself. Today I feel so relaxed and I tried not to look at my planner so I will be more focused on house keeping and not on upcoming busy schedules. I found time to browse the whole house this morning especially those corners that I seldom got an opportunity to go during my busy working days. One of my favorite place in our house is the rooftop, it’s over looking the neighborhood and sitting here makes me so relaxed, oh! how wonderful it is to find time to pause and keep the silence…

Well, we owe thanks for the rest day we are enjoying now to our heroes especially to Ninoy whom Filipino people are commemorating today…

Country Event, Holidays heroes, ninoy aquino, philippnes

This day is one of those ordinary occasions but wanted to make it different from the previous days by having a lunch out in The Walk, IT Park Cebu. I’m deliberating which restaurant to go that can satisfy my hunger at the same time enjoys good food and service… well, there are lots of choices when I wanted to spend special occasions by having dinner in “The Walk”… there’s Casa Verde, Shakey’s, Moon Café and a lot more. This time, I ended up trying Tapa King again.

Since their opening day, it’s my 2nd time to dine at Tapa King, my first impression was not so great, and nevertheless I still wanted to try it hoping I will have better dining experience this time. But unfortunately, I’m quite discontented after I realized my hunger that food is served longer than usual, I wonder what took it so long to serve my food knowing the fact that there were only 3 customers waiting and my order is just a tapa with sunny side up egg. I tried their ‘Tapa Queen’ which their attendant described it as sweet and spicy… the tapa is not served hot and is not spicy at all…and to my dismay the serving is not valuable for an 89.00 pesos and the food is not delicious. Sad to say I got a bad dining experience for this occasion.

But maybe their other menu taste good… their lined up menu is impressive to look at, from salads, sandwiches, meriendas to deserts… but it seems like I will not be able to try them since I’m not coming back to Tapa King for a 3rd time, not unless when one of my fastidious friends will recommend the place or I can read good credible reviews.

Dining Experience dining experience, food, food cart, franchise opportunity

Its time to give the best toast! To give the great toast turns an ordinary occasion into an extraordinary celebration…

One wedding occasion where I’m the ‘mistress of the ceremony’, I announced in the middle of the meal that the toast will be given by the couple’s maid of honor but to my surprise she whispered to me and asked how to give the best statement for a toast… well, since she’s my cousin I easily answered back… then she pronounced the toast!

Preparing what to say in advance is the best 1st thing to do when tasked to give a toast, put in mind to give only a short speech so you don’t need to be nervous especially when in front. Usually, I don’t read my speech from a piece of paper instead make an eye to eye contact with the audience and pronounce the toast sincerely and as natural as it should be… you can even joke in the middle of your speech that you are nervous since everybody can relate with it and when you got the audience attention, end the toast with a big ‘Cheers!’.

Here are some of my favorite lines to add in my toasts. Let’s all raise our glass and say cheers!

May all your joys be pure joys,
And all your pain champagne.
–Unknown

“Here’s to love, money, and health.”
–Michael Kors

May you live as long as you want
And may you never want as long as you live.
–Unknown

“The best and the most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor even touched, but just felt in the heart.”
–Helen Keller

Occasion Family, love, Occasion, toast, Wedding

 

I’m so excited when the 1st copy of my 3 favorite magazines from Summit Media arrived at my desk, at last I’m now a subscriber… which means I don’t have to go to my favorite book stand every month to secure a copy and sometimes ended up nothing due to ‘out-of-stock’. I am fond of collecting glossy magazines and love to see them all piled up in my book shelves… I’m a ‘Cosmo’ mag avid fan before but now I switched to more inspiring mag that is more family-centered and business-centered… these kind of magazines not only entertain me when I am bored but also guide me to every occasion where I am with, from fashion tips, parenting tips, house grooming, making money tips and a lot more. Oftentimes, I also got lots of occasion tips that guide me how to make different special occasions possible and successful.

Alas! My 3 favorite newly subscribed magazines:

Smart Parenting. My first favorite parenting magazine! This magazine influences parents of kids’ ages 0 to 6 years old, it is where during the formative years of the child where many parents are unsure of their parenting skills. Smart Parenting magazine is an easy-to-read-source of the major aspects of raising a child: health, nutrition, child development, values formation, and education.

Good Housekeeping. My next favorite magazine… It is the magazine that guides modern moms to their role as wife, mother, career woman, homemaker, and her self. It is indeed a very inspiring magazine not only for moms but for the whole household members.

Entrepreneur. Not only my favorite but my hubby’s #1 favorite too. It is a handy guide not only to existing entrepreneur but most of all to the aspiring ones. The magazine is overloaded with lots of tips, best practices, guides and how to identify good business opportunities. A must have.

Whew! I hope I can finish reading all of them over the weekend!

Family, Occasion entrepreneur, Family, good housekeeping, magazine, Summit Media

I’m glad that I still remember the significance of this day and find time to keep in touch with each of my girl friends… it’s the “Cheramis” 13th anniversary an occasion to commemorate our friendship. Exactly thirteen years ago, our favorite Salesian sister who is our constant spiritual adviser named our group ‘cher ami’, a French word for ‘dear friend’… way back high school we were tagged and known all over the campus for this name which we later pronounced ‘cheramis’. We are six in the circle and I remember how inseparable we were even outside the campus… high school graduation day made our path separated especially when we faced the tough College life… and the more when we trekked the professional/career life… and up to the biggest stepping stone of getting engaged, and getting married. Two of us get married, two are outside the country and the other two are so much in love!

But despite of so many storms and challenges we faced, and even how seldom we bond and see each other lately… one thing for sure, the friendship is still alive. I miss all of them and I’m looking forward for another bonding moments with the ‘cheramis’.

Friendship Add new tag, Family, Friendship, love

At last its now my cousin’s turn to walk the center of the aisle and express her ‘I dos’! It’s her wedding day and I’m late and in return hubby and I were not able to join the entourage processional march which it turned out not totally my fault because the wedding starts 20 minutes early… and the bride was looking for me texted me wondering where I have been and that she is about to march the red carpet but I’m no where to find, oh how I miss it.

But the good side is… just in time we arrived and we were still able to comply our role to light their candles and I can see my cousin’s surprise look. I value my role not just in her wedding day but all throughout the days of her marriage, for me the role is important because the candles symbolizes light that will show the married couple the beauty of being husband and wife and this light will give hope to a lasting marriage.

Wedding Ceremony is very symbolic and one of the most awaited special occasion for lovers to be one… sort of a conclusion for the love to each other by jumping to another stepping stone… well, it’s ‘boyfriend-girlfriend no more’ but a beginning of another chapter entitled.. ‘husband-and-wife’.

Congratulations Cousin Dear! After a long, long wait and all the challenges you both faced… family disapproval, ocean’s apart, age pressure? hehe… but now you are together at last! I am proud of you! Cheers!

This wedding is the “Featured Occasion“.

Wedding church, Family, Wedding