Healthier Moms, Happier Kids

I’ve mentioned before that I’m gaining weight and I promised myself that I need to do something about it. Maybe I should check my eating habits and consider having a healthy diet, I don’t really eat that much but I must admit that my eating habit is not healthy. I’m a full-pledged meat eater and not a fan of vegetables so diet is not really for me.  It is already second quarter of the year and still no changes; you can call my diet “bukas na diet” because I keep on postponing it.

Every time I read something about healthy living, I always remind myself that I will do it but as expected nothing happened so when I got an invite to attend “Healthier Moms, Happier Kids” event, I did not think twice. Good thing it was a weekend event and my husband was willing to accompany me. So last Saturday, off we went to Makati.

I’m glad that I attended this event, listening to Dyan Castillejo and Matthew Castillejo makes me cringe because I’m totally opposite of them. A nine year old boy has 85% healthy eating habits and 15% only for non-healthful foods so at least he can taste soda and processed foods like bacon, hotdog or any stuff that other kids enjoy. I admired their lifestyle; they are very active, fit and healthy. How I wish when I reach my 40’s I will be like her. Dyan Castillejo is already 45 years old and she feels like 25 years old. OMG, I’m 29 years old but I feel so old because I can no longer do the things that I used to do when I was still in my teenage years. There are more inspiring stories I want to share with you but I don’t want to bore you. But Dyan Castillejo’s lifestyle gives me more reasons to remind myself that I need to start my healthy living.

she's not that tall, naka-heels lang and i'm wearing flats. #defensive

I asked Dyan Castillejo, how many glass of wheatgrass does she drinks every day and if there’s any side effect. She said, she drinks 10 glasses of wheatgrass and side effect is glowing skin and healthy body. Her son started drinking wheatgrass 4 years ago, so Matthew was five years old that time and he drinks 2 glasses a day.

After the talk, they introduced to us the Easy pha-max wheatgrass products. There is a juice dispenser where you can enjoy wheatgrasshoney. I was hesitant at first to try the drink, I’m not fond of green foods or green drinks, I don’t even like the taste of Green Tea Frappe but surprisingly, we love the taste of wheatgrasshoney and it is not a joke.

During the event we drink:

Hubby: 7 glasses

Me: 2 glasses

Son: 1 glass

They give wheatgrass polvoron to all the kids and my son loves it too, he ate 2 pieces of polvoron. You can see the recipe of wheatgrass polvoron here.

Easy Pha-max Wheatgrass cleanses, alkalizes and nourishes your blood and body with just one sachet a day to give you the maximum benefits of this wonder food.

1.     It has the highest chloropyll content among other greens. It detoxifies the blood, promotes blood production, prevents anemia and assists in wound healing.

2.     It is a great source of fiber that promotes regular bowel movement and prevents constipation.

3.     It is loaded with antioxidants that neutralize free radicals and fight aging.

4.     Enzymes in wheatgrass help the liver in breaking down harmful substances in the body and blood stream.

5.     It neutralizes acids in the body pH that prevents bone problems, blood disorders and promotes healthy cell growth.

6.     It promotes healthy blood circulation and better blood circulation.

7.     It is a superfood with 13 vitamins, 10 minerals, 17 amino acids, chlorophyll and fiber which the body needs to function efficiently.

8.     Rich in abscissic acid and enzyme called P4D1 that help prevent the formation and growth of cancer.

9.     Aid in digestion and faster metabolism.

10.  It promotes better body functions, muscle growth and energy.

11.  It stimulates growth hormone production, aids in male fertility and relaxes muscles in blood vessels, allowing better blood flow and preventing high blood pressure.

Products

Wheatgrass

Wheatgrass with Honey

Skywheat Bio Soy Milk

Insupro Forte

Skywheat Biocoffee

Skywheat Wheatgrass Plus

Whea Gee tablets for kids

Wheatgrass Ready to Drink w/Melastoma

If I have the budget I would love to try the So Easy Colon Cleansing & slimming “The So Easy Colon Cleansing is a nutritionally-balanced, safe, natural and healthy way for detoxification and weight loss at the same time. It helps in discharging major toxin called mucoid plaque from our body in a short period through 3 steps”

There is an upcoming Life Seminar: The Detox Workshop, if you are interested you can click here for more details or visit their website and facebook page.

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Calamansi Cupcake

I’ve watched Julia and Julie movie last holy week and it inspires me to enhance my cooking and baking skills so we bought cook book but it did not happen. I don’t feel like cooking and baking because of the oven-like heat we have this season. I’m so lazy especially now that I feel so burn out but my son was so demanding yesterday. He never stop saying “mommy, cake please”. I called my husband and told him to buy cake or mamon but still I bake cupcake.

I always bake banana bread or banana cupcake so for a change I bake calamansi cupcake. I got the recipe here. It was my first time and I was happy with the result, it’s soft, moist and not sweet. But I was little bit sad because hubby and son did not like it. My son was so excited to taste the cupcake but after one bite, he quickly went to our trash bin and pukes the cupcake. Imagine, I spent an hour to bake this cupcake and this will be his reaction. Maybe, he doesn’t like the calamansi taste. I asked my hubby for his verdict.

Me: anong lasa?

Hubby: lasang sauce na niluluto mo para sa salmon

Me: Hollandaise sauce!?! Don’t tell me, mas gusto niyo pa rin yung banana cake.

Hubby: oo

Over sa reaction ang aking mag-ama but honestly, I like this cupcake, I’m pretty sure they will not include this in yummy magazine if this is not yummy. I told them, I will bake more calamansi cupcake, lemon cupcake and lime cake. (basta may maasim na taste) #pang-asar.

i was able to bake 24 pcs of calamansi cupcake 

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Blast from the past: Coron Island Tour

We don’t have any upcoming summer outing because my son is still in summer class and we need to allot the money for his school needs. So the best thing that I can do to enjoy summer is to reminisce my past summer vacations. Coron, Palawan is one of my memorable vacations and I consider Coron as one of the best places I have been to. I’ll be sharing you our past trip.

We woke up early because the tour will start at 8AM. We went to Calamian Travel and Tours to rent kayak, snorkel, and fins and of course to meet the boatmen. The sea port is just beside the market so before hopping on the boat, we bought cooked rice, bread, and ingredients for grilled liempo.  

Itinerary for the day: Banol Beach, Twin Lagoon, Skeleton Wreck, CYC Island, Barracuda Lake and Maquinit Hot spring. We already went to Maquinit Hot Spring during our first day so we skipped this part.

Banol Beach is a peaceful and small beach where you can relax and unwind. It is a good place to kayak and snorkel. This was our first time to experience kayaking. We ate our lunch at here, while enjoying the beach, our boatmen is in charge to cook our food.

Next stop is Twin Lagoon, the place is really beautiful and there are so many fish so we tried fishing. We are so happy because we caught several fishes. 

Then we went to Skeleton Wreck, where you can see the Japanese shipwreck. I felt so scared because I feel that there is still some spirits that will pull my legs so I did not stay too long. But if you are a diver, I’m pretty sure you will enjoy this place, just don’t forget to bring your gas cylinders and other diving stuff.

Next stop is CYC Island; the place was so packed so we headed to Barracuda Lake. You need to trek to reach the lake. The Lake is so clean but we’re the only people so we did not stay too long. Last stop is Siete Pecados. (Marine Park).

I still dream to visit Coron again and I hope when I get back I know how to dive so I can have a better look under the sea. I’m aware that diving stuff and equipment are expensive so I’m sure I’ll just rent disposable gas cylinders, diving shoes, dry suits and other accessories. 

Good thing that we visited this place last 2005 because I’ve read that each places has entrance fee already, I think P100, so expensive. During our trip, I only paid less than P30 in Banol Beach and Barracuda Lake and the rest are free. =)

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Nostalgia: Wedding Day

I've just attended a wedding last Saturday and I can’t help myself but reminisce our wedding day. Did you know that I had two weddings in a year? Well, we did not plan it but when my husband learned that his father will be going to USA, he decided to have a civil wedding as soon as possible. He wants his dad to be present on our wedding day. I have no idea about his plan, he just informed me after he talk to his parents. I was really shocked because we only have two weeks to prepare but I still said yes. Good thing that we have marriage license already, I applied early because I need my mom’s signature. I did not do anything, my hubby’s family prepared everything for the wedding, we just gave them money and our marriage license. And because it was a rush wedding, I only invited my immediate family.

After our civil wedding, we’re still busy preparing for our garden wedding. Some people advise me not to continue our garden wedding and just save the money for our future house but I did not listen because I really want to have my dream wedding. Not a grand wedding but I want my family, relatives and friends to be there. We already paid down payments 14 months before the original date of our wedding and it’s non-refundable so I don’t want to waste the money.

And of course I want to have a souvenir; I want photos and videos of our wedding day. I love pictures so I got package that includes two photographers and one videographer but I was so disappointed because I have very limited pictures after the wedding. I only had two family pictures. We even had more pictures during our pre-nup than my wedding day. So I won’t recommend them, I hope Minneapolis photographers are not like them.

I’m checking some wedding sites and I’ve learned about Minneapolis wedding DJ. A wedding jockey on your wedding day sounds cool. Too bad I did not know about this six years ago. 

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Pancake House

It’s been awhile since the last time we dined in Pancake House after we had a bad experience with them in their Boracay branch. Then last Saturday, we tried Pancake House again, we ordered chicken and pasta.

We enjoyed our meal but since we are in hurry, I told the waiter to take-out the mac and cheese and I asked for the bill. Hubby and son went to Starbucks to redeem our free drinks; he was surprised when he came back because I’m still waiting for the bill. After paying the bill we immediately left the restaurant, on our way to the wedding, I remember my take-out food. Lo and behold I forgot the mac and cheese, I paid P120 for that and I left it. I’m not happy about it because it seems I always forget something. I left my son’s black shoes when we attended a debut, I left our take-out food and I also forgot the yellow shirt of my son.

I was also disappointed with Pancake House, sa tagal ko ba naman naghintay sa bill, hindi nila binigay sa kin yung take-out food ko, #defensive. But I’m also thinking if I need to drink vitamins for my memory. What do you think? Signs of aging?

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The Wedding

Last Saturday we went to Plaridel, Bulacan to attend my cousin’s wedding; we left the house at 12NN. We stopped in NLEX gas station to have a quick meal at Pancake House around 3PM just to make sure that we won’t be hungry, nadala na kasi ko last week.

But it was a wrong decision, buzzer beater kami sa wedding (4PM), everybody was ready, anak ko na lang kulang. And I forgot his yellow shirt, mukhang others ang aking anak, (blame it to me #makakalimutin). Lesson learned, there are some people who still follow invitation time.

After the wedding rites, my son was very active again.

Picture taking time, I was looking for my hubby and son. We’re really in a hurry so I have no time to fix my son, so mukhang ewan lang. =(

buzzer beater din!

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Day Off

Photo source

These past few weeks were indeed stressful and I have really limited time in blogging and blog hopping. I have so many things to do but time is so limited and even my body can no longer take it. I can really see that I’m so stress because I’m having flare-up again (psoriasis). I can also feel it because I get easily irritated, I’m so impatient and I always forget something.

All I need is a day off and have time for myself but it seems so impossible because I’m a full time mom. That is one disadvantages of being a stay at home mom, you don’t have a leave and you can’t even file resignation. I’m not complaining but I’m just human, I need to relax, rest and recharge so I can be effective mom. I only had one day off for four years of being a stay at home mom, this was my post in my multiply account.

i hope someday...Apr 25, '09 11:18 AM

I hope someday my husband will realize that I also need a break, a rest day, day-off, mommy's alone time or whatever you want to call it. It's been a year and two months since I became a SAHM (Stay at home MOM) and I have no regrets but I know that it is not easy for me since I am not used being at home. No work, no pay, no "me” time.

I don't know how many times I've asked him to give me just one day for myself, without him and my baby. I don't know how I will explain it to him so he can understands and feels that it is not for a selfish reason but also for a healthy reason.

I just need a break to unwind, to relax and to treat myself from the pain and hardships I've encountered during my pregnancy, labor and few months of being a mom. So I can feel that I still have life on my own.

Or should I accept the fact that motherhood has no Day off.

One week after this post, I packed my bags and left the house because I know if I will stay more I will be crazy. I just spent my weekend in my sister’s house just to have time for myself and went back home.  It’s been three years now (almost) since I had my day off and I’m looking forward to have my "me time"again. I just need a little time for myself, away from household chores, errands and mommy duties. But checking my husband’s schedule I know it would be impossible unless God will make a way. 

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Florida on Sale?

Photo Source

If you’re looking for a great value trip to Florida for the ultimate family holiday, you can find a great range of low-cost packages and cheap USA holidays to suit even the tightest of budgets at a price that won’t break the bank.

You might not find a trip to the States at Spain holiday prices - let’s face it, if you did you should be asking some serious questions about your tour operator - but with a bit of planning you can still enjoy cheap holidays to Florida complete with all the trimmings and with a good standard of accommodation.

Like supermarkets, major tour operators are always competing against each other to win your custom which means they regularly discount the cost of holidays to draw you in. This is great news if you’re searching for low-cost holidays - especially if you’re travelling with children during the school holidays as this is often during peak season.

If that’s not enough, when considering a long-haul destination like Florida it’s usually worth booking well in advance. If you can book with the launch of a new season you’ll often secure early bird deals or helpful discounts such as free kids’ places, as well as the opportunity to spread the cost of your holiday and pay it off in installments.

Failing that, if you’re looking for something departing soon you may benefit from a last-minute booking. Package holidays usually drop in price the closer you get to your departure date, so if you’re the impatient type this could be right up your street. Just be prepared to be flexible on your preferences as the later you book, the less availability you’re faced with - so you may have to alter your choice of resort, hotel and even your departure airport.

It will be worth it though and the more money you save now, the more you’ll have to play with when you arrive.

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Time is Gold

Last week was really stressful because my son started his summer class so I have to adjust my schedule. It’s a struggle to wake him up and get him ready for school. His dawdling make me so stress so every day I also adjust his wake up time so even he moves so slow, we won’t be late. I have to cook in advance so by the time we get home we have something to eat and of course I have to do some household chores. It is really obvious that full time mom is not a bum. #defensive

Well, I just want to stress that time is gold and every second, minute and hours are very important to me so please learn to respect other’s time. I will give some example that really pissed me off. Last Friday, we attended a debut, according to the invitation the party will start at 6PM but we already informed them that we will be late because my hubby will be coming from Makati, he’ll be out by 5PM. 


My son had his moments again, he doesn’t want to wear his clothes so we left the house with my naked son because we’re already late and dahil sa pagmamadali namin, I left my son’s shoes. We reached the venue 7:30PM, lo and behold we’re not late because the party will start at 8PM but it started 9PM and no dinner yet. OMG! I left my son’s shoes and we skipped dinner so we can be there as early as possible because my hubby was part of the 18 thousands (not familiar with 18k? minimum of 1k cash gift #brightidea but I’m not liking it).

Buti na lang may slippers siya

bored na bored!

We did not finish the party because my son was sleeping already; we left at 11:45PM after the 18 thousands program. I don’t really understand why you have to put 6PM when the party will start at 8PM.

And last Sunday, it happened again. I was told that reunion will be at 11:30am but everybody was late again. This was not the first time, it happened every year (reunion). The sad part is I don’t hear any apologies. Anyway, no matter what they say, I won’t bite it because it’s already a habit. I can still take 15 minutes late but more than 1 hour is not acceptable. I don’t really understand why you have to set a meeting time when you cannot commit.

Now, whenever I see an invitation I’m really thinking twice whether I should be on time or not because this happened several times, two more scenarios.

1.     Christening at 8:30AM, I travel from Laguna to Bulacan just to be there at 8:30AM, only to find out that baptism starts at 11AM.

2.     1^st Birthday party at 1PM, I travel from Cavite to Q.C., arrived at 12:30NN and Jollibee staff told me na 2PM pa daw yung party.

Not all people follow Filipino time, you are just punishing early bird guests. I admit that there are times that I’m late too but I really have a valid excuse and traffic is not included. I see to it that I inform the other party if I’m running late. Every day we only have 24 hours and we need to use it wisely. Please respect other’s time. 

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Things You Should Never Say To A Stay at Home mom

We had a college reunion last weekend, I suggested Sambokojin but they wanted Dads, Saisaki and Kamayan so I give in. Meeting time is 11:30 and I was there 11:45am, it was really my plan not to be on time because my friends are always late and as expected they came past 12:30nn.  They suggested the venue and time but they did not make any reservation so I was really disappointed because all I thought there’s already a reservation since it’s weekend. So imagine our waiting time just to be seated. We left the house at 9:30am so we’re really hungry.

When my friends came, I asked one of my friends why she did not make any reservation and she said, “busy ako noh, bakit hindi ikaw? wala ka naman ginagawa at nasa bahay ka lang buong araw”. I did not say a word because I choose my own battles but deep inside, I was deeply hurt, it is like a slap into my face that I’m very unproductive. Yes, I am a full time mom but it doesn’t mean that I have so much free time. It doesn’t mean that I’m not doing anything. Full time mom is also a busy individual, I’m not just watching tv, eating, sleeping or checking facebook, I have my own work too, it may not be in corporate world but still I work. I won’t resign on my part time job if I have so much free time. I have neither yaya nor helper and I’m doing my best to manage my time so I can finish my chores and just to have my own “me time”. If I was the one who organize the reunion, I will definitely make a reservation even it’s a long distance call.

photo from google image

So please, if you have a friend or you know someone who is a full time mom, be careful with your words. Here are some things you should never say to a stay at home mom: I’ve read this last month at mommy fleur’s blog.

1. When the kids are older, do you think you'll get a real job?

2. How June Cleaver of you!

3. Oh, so you don't work?

4. Since you have extra time on your hands, could you whip up a few dozen brownies for the bake sale tomorrow?

5. All day with your kids? I can't even imagine.

6. I'm jealous. I wish my husband were rich so I wouldn't have to work either.

7. What do you do all day, anyway?

8. I'm sure you're not the only one who's ever wasted money on a college degree.

9. That explains why your son is so clingy!

10. Weird. I assumed your house would be superclean.

-Candy Kirby of thelaughingstork.com, with help from her Twitter followers and friends

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Stage Mother

From the moment I had my son, I’ve been with him 24/7, I witnessed his developments and milestones and I’m always there whenever and wherever he needs me. But now that he is in school I became a paranoid mom because I have no idea what’s going on inside his classroom. I always ask my son what happened in school but he is not saying anything. He will just sing, sing and sing until he gets tired of it. I know that they are singing, dancing and doing some activity but I want to know if someone push, pull or hurt him.

This is the second time that he attended summer class but last year was different because I attended his class for more than a week and after that I’m just waiting outside his room. So I have chance to peek, I even witnessed how my son has been pushed by his classmate, not only once but it happened twice, it really broke my heart because I can’t do anything. As much as I want to go inside the classroom to comfort him and help him to stand up, I just can’t and that time gusto ko pagtitirisin yung classmate niya but kids will always be kids. That’s why I’m so paranoid because we’re not allowed to stay outside his room and we need to wait in the waiting area which is very far from my son’s classroom. I just do hope na walang bully sa class nila.

Anyway, they had their first activity today, letter A and number 1 and it’s pretty obvious that my son doesn’t like tracing and writing but at least he tried. Hehe! I have so many tracing and writing workbooks at home but my son hates this activity but he loves to draw and color. 

horizontal line ang natrace at hindi number 1

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Staycation vs Cheap Holidays

Our family loves to travel so I always search the internet for seat sale, cheap accommodation, cheap packages or any promo that we can avail for our future trips. It can be a staycation or cheap holidays as long as we are together. And while browsing the net, I found this image, I’m sharing this to you in case you are looking for summer getaway. 

"Provided by ThomasCook"

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Taytay Falls

As I mentioned before, this was really an unplanned trip, after our visit in Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery, I told my husband to go back to my grandmother house because I don’t think this is the best time to go to Taytay Falls. But he was really determined to swim so we continued our journey. After 3 hours (almost) of travelling from Victoria, Laguna we reached our destination. We had 3 stop overs along the way; some people are asking for donation for fiesta daw, you have no choice but to give kasi naman hindi ka makakadaan at may harang talaga na tali.

Entrance fee: P20 each no charge for my 3yrs old son.

Parking: P30

There is a logbook at the entrance, just write your name, pay the entrance fee and they will give you the stub. You have to bring the stub on your way to the falls; there is a guy who collects all the stubs. From the parking lot, you will pass few sari-sari store and carinderia where you can buy food and drinks. But it is best if you can bring your own food.  

You need to walk about 15-20 minutes before you reach the falls, it depends on the traffic and how fast you walk. 

Traffic na, pababa pa lang!

paliit-ng paliit ang pathway

It was Black Saturday so the place was really crowded. I don’t really plan any summer outing during Holy Week because I dislike traffic and crowded places. As far as I can remember, we only had one family outing during holy week. We had a day trip in Golden Sunset and it was my hubby’s decision.

Anyway, Taytay falls is just a small falls compared to Daranak Falls, Three Falls, Katibawasan Falls and Kawasan Falls. So far, this is the 5^th falls that I’ve seen. Ten or eleven years ago, I was supposed to be here but I did not join the trip when I learned that most of the participants are boys and it was an overnight trip. I don’t see myself sleeping on a tent and I’m not sure if there’s a comfort room in the area. But if I joined the trip, this will be our first meeting (me and hubby). He was one of the participants and according to him "maganda daw ito and nagtrek talaga sila mula baba. Akalain mo pwede naman pala magkotse, nagpakahirap pa sila. Hehe! Sayang daw, sana daw sumama na ko nun kasi ang laki daw ng pinagbago ng falls kasi ngayon commercialized na."

I must agree with him because I did not enjoy our Taytay Falls trip. The place was really packed; there are tents and trashes everywhere. I had a hard time looking for a good spot where I can stand and take pictures. I don’t know if this is the scenario every weekend or dahil holy week kami nagpunta. We only stayed for one hour including our walk from parking to falls and back to parking.

traffic din palabas

I feel so sad when I saw the falls, sana lang malagaan nila. From Taytay falls back to Victoria, Laguna, we travelled 1 hour and 30 minutes (wala ng side trip).

Note: Taytay falls is also known as Majayjay Falls or Imelda Falls.

There is shower room and comfort room in the area but I have no idea if it is clean. Hubby and son did not take shower after they swim because of the long line. Good thing that we are less than 2 hours away from my grandmother’s house. 

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What is your dream home?

I believe that all people dream to have their own place where they can spend their lives, a place that you can call home. But looking for a dream home is not easy; it entails a lot of effort and time to find it. There are a lot of things that we need to consider such as location, size, style and price.

Some people prefer condominiums like Austin condo and some people prefer a house. I guess it depends on our needs, wants and lifestyle. When I was still single, I was looking for a condominium near my workplace to lessen my travel time. But I have no idea that a studio room would cost so much so I just chose an apartment which is much cheaper than renting a condominium. There is no one year contract and no home owner’s association fee.

sample picture: photo source

We also rented an apartment after our wedding but of course priorities change when you have your own family. When I learned that I was pregnant, we started to look for a house. Hubby and I prefer a house than condos Austin because we want more space. We are not looking for a big house; all we wanted is a house that fits three persons. Thank God that we did not have a hard time looking for it, though I cannot say that this is already our dream house but I’m glad that we have our own place and I can definitely say that this is our home.

How about you? What is your dream home?

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Viaje del Sol: Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery

Do you still remember my Viaje del Sol post last year? It is one of my goals to visit those places and I’m glad I was able to visit Nagcarlan Undergound Cemetery last holy week. We did not plan to visit this place but on our way to Majayjay Falls, we saw this church.

Nagcarlan Church – The first church which was made of light materials, was built by Rev. Tomas De Miranda, D.F.M., who was assigned to this town in 1583 as resident priest. The second church of brick and stone was built in 1752 but it was partly destroyed by fire in 1781. A choir loft was added to the reconstructed church in 1845 by Rev. Vicente Velloc, who built the Nagcarlan Cemetery and its underground crypt. Rev. Tomas De Miranda was pioneer in the successful cultivation of wheat in the uplands of Nagcarlan.

While checking the church, we read about the Nagcarlan Cemetery so my husband asked the vendor how to get to Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery. Sorry, I can’t give you the exact directions because I wasn’t listening but the landmark is Shell Station. The underground cemetery is just in front of the gasoline station, 10-15 minutes away from Nagcarlan church.

Sementeryo sa Ilalim ng Lupa ng Nagcarlan – Ang naiiba at nag-iisang sementeryong ito sa Pilipinas ay itinayo ng mga misyonerong Pransiskano sa pangangasiwa ni Padre Vicente Velloc noong 1845, kasabay ng pagtatayong muli ng pinalaking simbahan ng San Bartolome at pagtatayo ng kumbento. Dito nagpulong nang palihim ang mga pinuno ng himagsikan sa Laguna noong 1896. Sa bisa ng Kautusan ng Pangulo bilang 260, Agosto 1, 1973 na sinusugan ng Kautusan bilang 1505, Hunyo 11, 1978. Ang sementeryong ito ay ipinahayag na pambansang palatandaang makaysaysayan.

 Unfortunately, it was closed so we just took picture outside and off we went to Majayjay Falls or Taytay Falls.

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Back to School

Vacation is over for me because I enrolled my son yesterday in summer class in preparation for this school year. For the next 6 weeks I’ll be in school to accompany my son, the school was just 10-15 minutes away from our house via tricycle (special trip) but I decided to wait for my son in school to save some pesos. Time is so slow when you are waiting, two hours seems like forever + hot weather.

Yesterday was also his first day; hubby filed a half day leave to accompany us. I was really nervous because last year, my son didn’t want to enter his classroom. He’s always excited every time we go to school but when he needs to go inside na, oh no, I need to drag him or carry him inside the class and I even attended his class for more than a week, ayaw paiwan sa room. But there was a big improvement yesterday, we went early and he was really excited, no crying moments when we left the room. I hope, tuloy-tuloy na.

few minutes before his class

But he needs to improve his attention span, sinisilip ko paminsan-minsan #stagemother and mala-supervisor na naman siya, he’s all over the room. After class, I checked his snack bag and wala nagalaw, last year, I asked his teacher kung ayaw ba magrecess ng anak ko and she said “mommy, hindi namin siya mapaupo”. But after one week or two weeks, nag-improve na naman. So hopefully, maparecess nila anak ko after few days. 

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MLM: Holy Week 2012

Now I’m back from my hiatus, how’s your long weekend? We had a blissful week, finally we we’re able to rest in my grandmother’s house, sort of staycation. Here’s the summary of my holy week.

Holy Thursday

We stayed in the house to finish our household duties before going to my grandmother’s house. We cleaned the house, finished the laundry and ironed all clothes. Quite tiring but we did not mind because we will be having our much awaited staycation.

Good Friday

As expected, we went to Caleruega, we left early to avoid the traffic. Surprisingly, there were more people who visited Caleruega this year compared to our previous trips. It is really hard to take pictures because you have to wait for your turn. =)

Then we went to Victoria, Laguna where my grandmother lives.

Black Saturday

I’m enjoying my staycation when all of a sudden my husband wanted to go to nearby falls. This is really an unplanned trip because we don’t have any swimwear. We left the house after lunch without a map; we just ask questions along the way.

Our joy ride brought us here,

Nagcarlan Church

Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery

and finally Taytay Falls or Majayjay Falls

Easter Sunday

My grandmother was wondering why we have an extended stay because we used to “eat, sleep and run” the following day. Whenever we visit her, we will just eat merienda then dinner, sleep, eat breakfast and go home so this was the first time that we really stayed long.

But we really enjoyed our stay; it is our sweets escape away the hustle and bustle of the city. You can have a good sleep without aircon and we even turned off the electric fan. Of course, it’s not all year round, there are days that it is really hot but during our stay, we’re blessed with good weather.

view at the back of  my grandmother's house

view from our room

My husband loves to stay here because he can have a good rest and there are times that he will suggest to visit my grandmother.

Hubby: hon, punta tayo sa lola mo.

Me: bakit? Ano gagawin natin dun?

Hubby: matutulog

Me: matutulog? Pupunta tayo dun para lang matulog?

Hubby: para maiba naman. =)

And of course he loves my grandmother’s dishes. We always look forward for ginataang fish and vegetables. To tell you the truth, we gained pounds again during our staycation. 

As much as we want to extend our vacation we have to go home. We dropped by at Isdaan to check the place but we left immediately when we saw the crowd.

Day of Valor

Back to reality, household duties again and time to finish our errands. 


Linking to Memory Lane Monday

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