TITIT.

"Titit" is my nephew (my cousin's son), Gab's own way of saying Trick or Treat. He did his first Trick or Treat ever in my sister's school, Gymboree, so he went around Bonifacio High Street and Serendra with other kids, too. Of course, being the supportive family that we are, my cousins and I went with him.

And thus, my outfit.

☑ Hello Kitty top: Thrifted (Which is another way of saying, Greenhills)

☑ Dark floral leggings: SHUCKS I DON'T REMEMBER (To be updated lol)

☑ Boots: Doc Martens

☑ Canvas bag: Primark

☑ Black rubber bracelet: POP! Culture

P.S. Thanks to my cousin Kandy for taking the photos!

P.P.S. Excuse my fez in the second photo. I just HAD to edit it out!

My parents went to the UK last September and got me my Doc Martens! Still can't believe I own a pair and I still stare at them in amazement in my room once in awhile. They're not even kept with my other shoes in my dusty shoe shelf. Haha! I wore them for the first time last Saturday because it was the first time I felt that they were fit for the occasion. Actually, thank goodness for fashion week 'cause I'll be wearing them often this week!

Gab went as a cute ghost, by the way:

Hopefully this week I'll have time to take outfit photos. As usual, I'll be updating you about PFW through Twitter and stuff. I'll be starting tomorrow, instead of today though. Shame.

Here's the schedule for Philippine Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2012!

I'll see you at SMX, yes?

Food blog: Wicked Oreos/Oreos in Pancakes

So last Saturday (April 30), my sister and I had our own experiments in the kitchen. The day before, she went to this tea shop in Teachers Village called Moon Leaf 'cause I went there the day before she did and told her that it was really good. She said she wanted to try and make the exact same drink here at home. Anyway, we went to the grocery in the morning to buy food for lunch and for our experiments.

So she bought hers, and I bought mine. After lunch, she started with her experiment and it turned out PERFECT. It was good and exactly like the drink she bought from Moon Leaf! So hooray to my sister for being good in experimenting!

So after she did her experiment, I started mine! I've been hearing about Flaming Wings' Wicked Oreos from so many people already, saying how good they are. So I tried to make my own Wicked Oreos! I haven't been to Flaming Wings, so no, I haven't tried their Wicked Oreos.

My mom and my sister bought whole wheat pancake mix and it was surprisingly really good.

I never searched online for the instructions, 'cause they seemed very obvious. So I dipped the Oreos in the pancake batter then dropped them into the oil. Since there were pancake batter droppings, my sister had to clean them out and then suddenly oil dripped on her then more spilled on the floor. There wasn't any bad damage, except she got a wound from the heat, of course.

Anyway, when I got the Oreos out of the oil, I placed them on a strainer since they were REALLY oily and didn't look so appetizing like that.

Let me just remind you that I used WHOLE WHEAT pancake batter mix so that's why they're brown. But if my sister would read this, she'd tell me I was lying to you guys. To be fair, yes, I did burn (of course not intentionally) some of them, but the others are originally brown because of the wheat!

I don't know if my friends who've done this in their own houses had the same result but my Oreos became soggy in the inside because of the oil.

So like I said, I haven't tasted the original Wicked Oreos so I don't know if mine came out as a success for all you Wicked Oreos lovers. Personally though, I liked it. But it's not something I'd crave for, I think. It's a little too sweet and like I said, really oily.

Anyway, there was a lot of batter left so what else was there to do but make pancakes out of them?

So, there. I finally tried making and tasting Wicked Oreos. If you haven't tried making it, it's REALLY easy and a little messy. For the ones who haven't tasted it, it's something worth trying! :)

Food blog: Crisostomo and Starbucks

Hello thurrr. By now I'm supposed to be getting ready for an afternoon with my best friend but... Things change. Saaaad... So instead I'm with my mommy here at home, just hanging out. I missed my mommy. Anyway! Yesterday was a pretty good day and I was thinking about blogging about it the entire day. When something happened, I was like, "BLOG." Yey! Haha. By the way, I'm going to start food blogging now 'cause everybody knows I love food, whether I'm eating them or making them. I'll be labeling my posts with food with food blog so you guys can check it out easily. :)

So yesterday afternoon, my dad and I (with the driver) headed to the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines, which is where my dad works as the Executive Director. Mainly what I did there was play with the iPod Touch - downloaded new apps, deleted some of them, watched some parts of Sex and the City 2 and tweeted. Oh, and what sucks is I left my phone here at home by accident. Just before we left the office, crew from GMA came over to interview my dad for the upcoming Pacquiao fight.

While this was happening, I was talking to my friend Liz on Facebook about the Bloggers United event we're going to attend. I'm really excited about it, actually.

It's going to be where all our favorite bloggers are going to be selling stuff that are going to charity! I'm so excited and I really wish I could meet my favorite bloggers there and I'll make sure to take lots of pictures. Ahhh!!! I'm so excited to go. <3

After my dad's interview, we had to leave to pick up my sister from Serendra. When my sister rode the car, we decided to go to Resorts World for dinner. Must I admit? It was my first time to go there and it was actually really... Okay. The place itself was nothing spectacular and my sister and I were surprised to see people smoking in the mall. We ate in Crisostomo for dinner which was also a first for us.

Victorinas Secret

Sisig Linares

Guererro

My dad ordered Victorinas Secret, which is basically a plate of fresh oysters which is his favorite while it is my least favorite of all the shellfish that I've tried. My dad orders it almost every time it's on the menu. I don't like it 'cause it's all slimy and it tastes like the beach. Hello, I'd rather be at the beach than taste it in my food, okay!

My sister and I ordered the Sisig Linares, which is their version of pork sisig. My sister and I were really excited but when it came, it didn't come in a sizzling plate which I'm not used to when it comes to sisig. Then it was with some kind of mayo I think or some cream, we couldn't really tell. It wasn't good, but it was crispy so I guess that's a good thing.

Our favorite was the Guererro though, which were prawns sauteed in sweet sampaloc sauce. They served us with six prawns and since it was our favorite, we finished it right away. When the prawns were gone though, my sister and I put some of the sauce on our rice which was awesome 'cause the sauce was really sweet but it was still a little sour at the same time. It was perfect.

I didn't know what special name they had for it or if they even had one, but we also ordered the Sinuglaw. I didn't get to take a photo of the dish 'cause it came late and we've already started eating. Anyway, if you don't know what it is, it's like kinilaw na isda (which is a family favorite) but it's kinilaw na isda with inihaw na liempo. It was really good and sour which is what it should taste like if you haven't tasted kinilaw yet.

Minatamis na Saging

Churros con Tsokolate

After we ate the main course, we still had a little time to spare before we had to pick up my mom from the airport. So my dad asked for the dessert menu. Personally the main course wasn't so fulfilling, it was okay and it could've been better.

My dad ordered the Minatamis na Saging. My sister and I were amused to see that they even put very little banana chips on top. At first we thought it was all ice and milk but when my dad started mixing it, he found more bananas under all the ice. I tasted it and it was okay, nothing really special.

My sister and I ordered the Churros con Tsokolate which is our favorite. It was something different 'cause it wasn't served with hot chocolate which you can sometimes drink. Their version came with something like chocolate syrup and it was really good and my sister and I actually liked it. She and I eat churros a lot so I was pretty confused with the inside texture of the churros though, I wasn't sure if it was not fully cooked or if it was really supposed to be like that.

Anyway, after Crisostomo, my dad wanted coffee so we went to Starbucks. Now, I don't know if you guys will ever believe me especially if you know me personally and you know I love Starbucks, but I have never tasted their chocolate flavored frappucinos. So yesterday, I didn't want to order my regular green tea frappe, no whip with hazelnut syrup. I ordered a chocolate frappucino, non-fat, with whip. I didn't like it much and I didn't even get to finish it.

So after Starbucks, we left Resorts World to head to the airport. Which was right on time because when got into the car, my mom texted my sister and my dad that they just landed. We had to park outside the airport because the parking was full and we waited for about thirty minutes 'til my mom said they were already outside. When she got into the car, after all the hugging and kissing, she started telling stories of their trip and we told her the things that's been going on here at home.

When we got home, my mom started unpacking all the pasalubongs she bought for the people at ABAP and here at home.

You see that Longchamp paper bag? That's my sister's. So far I'm the only girl in our family of four who doesn't have one. My mom got one from my dad for her birthday last February and my sister already has two, one from her co-worker and a new one (the one she's putting in the paper bag) that she bought just last week from the same co-worker. But all of that changed when my mom called me last night to the dining room, 'cause look at the most special thing she got me:

It's the Longchamp Le Pilage back pack!!! It has been my ultimate dream this year to have a Longchamp and when I found this back pack on their website, I really wanted to have one. So I can't believe my mom bought this for me. She said she didn't even think twice about buying it which was lucky because she bought it for almost a hundred dollars in Istanbul while it was more than a hundred dollars in Dubai. I'm so happy and I was really speechless last night. I so love my mommy for getting this for me! I love, love, love her and my bag. In fact this morning, I woke up and saw it still in the plastic Duty Free bag and I was like, "Oh, my. I still can't believe I have you."

So there's my May 2 for you. Quite eventful, yes? :)

Sorry!

HIIIIIIIIIIIII HI HI HI HI HI! I'm sorry I've been MIA in my blog for two days. I was supposed to make-up for the 21st yesterday but I got distracted (and okay, lazy). Let me tell you the story on why I've taken up an unplanned two-day hiatus! No, I haven't been to the beach or out of town. Don't worry, I have my reasons.

Last Thursday (April 21, day 21 for the challenge), as we Catholics know, it was Maundy Thursday (Fact: According to my family, I was born on Maundy Thursday!). It's actually one of my favorite days of the year 'cause when I was growing up we always participated in Visita Iglesia with our family friends (we visit seven churches) and we always started somewhere in the city 'til we got to Tagaytay! That used to happen every time we do Visita Iglesia. Now though, we STILL haven't stopped doing Visita Iglesia, but we've stopped going to far away places. This year we started near the airport first since we brought my mom there (she's in Turkey now with two women boxers and a coach for a tournament) then we ended in Quezon City. Thanks to my sister and to Tweetitow, here's a list of the churches we visited:

Thanks, Ka!

When we got home around dinner time, I was so tired that I was REALLY close to completely forgetting about the challenge. I really wanted to write but I was so tired and lazy and knowing that my laptop was discharged got me down. So I promised myself that I'd do the challenge the next day but oops, I also have my reasons for yesterday!

Yesterday (Friday, April 22, day 22 of the challenge), was day 1 without my mom and only my mom. We're used to not having my dad around or both of them, but not really my mom. My dad, my sister and I went to the cemetery to visit my grandparents (dad's parents) 'cause it was my Anma (lola)'s birthday last March. We stayed there for awhile then prayed then we headed off to my lolo's (mom's dad) house where my cousins live and picked up Baby Gab! Gab is my oldest cousin's baby who's only nine months old. We love to pick him up and let him sleepover once in awhile 'cause he's such a cutie pie. Again, thanks to my sister and to Twitter pictures, here's a photo from last night:

After crying and crying and crying!

So that's why I was distracted - 'cause my sister needed help for taking care of the baby and we were trying really hard to calm him down. He's a growing kid and he's starting to familiarize people and I guess he was shocked to be in a different environment with different people last night. Today though, we left early to go to my dad's office which is the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines gym in Manila. Gab came with us and he had lots of fun watching the boxers train. He was laughing and laughing!

Excuse the drool.

(Photo by Elora Picson, more on my Facebook soon!)

After training, we hung-out and had Jollibee delivered for breakfast then headed home. So that is now the reason why I am explaining all of this to you now! I hope you guys forgive me for not blogging on the 21st and 22nd!

Posts:

• Photo blog
• Day 21 of the challenge
• Day 22 of the challenge
• Day 23 of the challenge

Day 16: One day!

Good evening, everyone! I spent the afternoon with my sister today, going to the mall and eat. Really fun spending time with my sister. We don't get to hang-out just the two of us so much anymore 'cause she's so busy with work and she just got home from a four-day vacation with her high school buddies!

Thank you God for my Kaka. :)

Day 16: Dream house

I have a dream HOUSE in a subdivision and I have a dream APARTMENT/CONDO in the city. I

If I'd still live in the Philippines when I start my career, I'd love to live in an apartment in Makati or Ortigas! Along New Manila wouldn't even hurt, far from Balete though, ples. And if I had to live outside the country, I'd love to live in New York or San Francisco, or London. I want a simple apartment/condominium, very modern. Perfect for one or two! I'm not good in describing things like these. Better yet, I'll show you floor plans! Did I ever tell you guys that I LOVE LOOKING AT FLOOR PLANS?

I like this, but the bathroom's too small.

I loooove this, but can anyone tell me

what LINEN means in architecture?

I like this toooo!

I also have apartment favorites that I've seen in movies:

• I like Carrie Bradshaw's apartment, not the one with Big though.
• Matthew McConaughey's apartment in "How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days" is awesome

If I wanted to live in a house here in the Philippines though, I love my current house too much to leave it for another. My mom designed our house with all her love and I would love to live here forever if I had the chance. I always feel safe in my house! When I get married though, I want a house in the same subdivision or in another subdivision that's close to ours.

I made a floor plan a few months ago of my dream home:

It sucks and everything and I don't even know if this

is architecturally correct. Here's my dream, though.

I even brought this to life when I played SIMS 2 and it was awesomeee! I even put in a room for a teenager and it was cool. I'd really want to live in a house/apartment/condo/whatever like this.

One day God will bless me and whether or not it will look like any of these designs, I know I will appreciate it because it came from Him! :)

Day 08: Back when I didn't know much about H&M

I really promise to make up for my blog yesterday. It really sucked. I'm going to be whipping up something special for yesterday!

Day 8: A place you've traveled to

I've traveled to more than five places, local and international. I love travelling, especially because I don't get to do it much so I appreciate a lot more every time. My parents always try to bring us to places where they know we'll enjoy and we'll find really interesting.

Last February 2010, my parents, my sister and I went to Hong Kong. It's only my second international trip and it was such an adventure, especially with my sister. Sooo awesome.

You see, there's a story behind this trip. We've been talking about how I haven't been to Hong Kong and my mom said that someday I will. Before I was born, my family's already been to HK, and when I was born, we went to Indonesia to hang-out with our family friends who lived there. I don't remember much about the trip except that there was swimming.

Around the end of January 2010, my parents went back and forth from China for business and there was a time when my dad came home. He was really busy and I was in school so we didn't get to talk much. One day though, he texted me and told me to have my picture taken for passport. I did and one night, during dinner, he said it was for my renewal. I let it pass but it was so obvious that something was up. A couple of days passed and I was losing hope that something good was going to happen.

On another night, my parents were both and so was my sister. My family and I like to hang-out once in awhile after dinner in the dining room and this night was no different. They mentioned they had to go back to China, so my sister and I were going to be left alone again. Then my sister said, "Does Bam (me) already know our itinerary going to Tagaytay?" In my mind, I was like, "Oh, Tagaytay. Sounds fun." I shook my head no and then my dad showed me his laptop screen.

It was a plain ticket to Hong Kong! Turns out my parents were coming from China and meeting us in Hong Kong. Another surprise! My sister and I were travelling alone for the first time ever. It was so awesome.

The rest of the trip is history, and the best time ever with my family. :) It's times like these when I'm so thankful for my family.

A few months or weeks ago (I don't really remember when), my mom finally asked me if I wanted to have a party or travel for my next birthday (which is my 18th). MAKING ME THINK, THIS IS HARD.

Day 04: The best love ever.

Hi, I'm feeling better now. :) I'm reading a story authored by my friend, and it's already quarter to 11P.M. I almost forgot to write my fourth day for the challenge! Here goes. It's a very special topic, I love it!

Day 4: Your Parents

This is my favorite photo of my parents. They've had better

pictures, but this is the sweetest of all of them. :)

My parents are the best. As in, the best parents in the entire world. They say that no one's perfect, and nothing is, but seriously, they're perfect for me. They're perfect for my sister and I. My parents story is the first story I've ever written in my entire life and it goes like this (You can click on the photos to enlarge them):

My mom has saved up the story ever since I wrote it so many years ago. When Ondoy happened, it was still saved, even though our fridge was floating.

Anyway, I can not emphasize how understanding and patient my parents are with me. I'm not the best daughter in the world, but after every mistake I've made, they've always been there to sit me down and talk to me. I've done so many things that could make any other parent throw their kids away, but they've been so patient and so understanding, and it's only lately that I've realized how lucky I am.

I'm so thankful that I'm a teenager, who may not be out partying every night with my friends, that I am not a teenager who may not be going to the mall with 10 thousand pesos for a shopping spree, but I am still lucky because my parents brought me up good. They taught me how to be patient as well, to be understanding, to be respectful and to be giving. I love my parents so much for teaching me these values. Also, for teaching me to Trust in God and have Faith in Him.

I don't get along with my parents a hundred percent of the time, but every time we do have misunderstandings, I always feel guilty and bad at the end of the day. They give me everything I want, even though I don't deserve more than most of them, just so I could be happy. The least I can do is to do better in my studies and obey them.

So enough of talking about my parents, let me talk about Ed and Karina. :)

They're the most loving people ever, not only to their family and friends, but most of all, to each other! Whenever I'm with them, I always feel happy to see my parents so in love. They've been married for 25 years and counting! It's so sweet. In fact, to end this post, let me mention the conversation my mom and I had earlier this evening when we were waiting for my dad to arrive.

She told me that it's funny how sometimes she would text my dad and my dad would reply, "I was just about to text you." or he would text just as she would start texting him. I think it's really sweet and loving. The first thing I thought of telling her and I did was, "Ma, it just proves that you and Papa are really meant to be!" That made her laugh and smile, 'cause we both know how true it is.

I love my parents. I know that our parents could sometimes be lame and annoying, but c'mon, they're parents. They were made by God to be lame and annoying, but that's only because He wants our parents to help us avoid mistakes we're going to regret for the rest of our lives. My parents are truly children of God, and I'm so happy to be theirs and His. I am truly blessed! :)

Thank you Lord for my parents. May they stay together 'til the end of time! I know they will. :)

Another one of my favorites of my parents' photos.

Aren't they the sweetest???

I love you, Papa and Mama! Thank you.

Whatcha sayyy!

Hey, everyone! Sorry for the month-long hiatus. I got a little bit tired of writing in a blog but I always promised that I'd write again. I have plans for February, actually starting today (January 31) and I'll tell you about that later! :) For now, let me tell you about the things that happened since my last post.

So for New Year's, it was the first time we spent the holiday with just the four of us. Like I said in my last post, my cousins and I grew up spending every important holiday together. So New Year 2011 was really different and surreal for us. My sister and I were afraid that it might not turn out so good because the only ones in the house were my dad, my mom, my sister, our two helpers, and me. But it turned out really fun and still very special. My dad learned how to make martini's the night before (James Bond style) and we didn't really like it so he gave in to my Cosmopolitan request! We started the night with cosmo's with dinner, then we went to church then when we got back, he made Mojitos and my sister and I learned how to use the vuvuzela.

First we thought that she and my mom (who bought the toys) got ripped a hundred pesos (each!) off, but then someone realized what it was and I had to search on YouTube how to use it. You can learn and watch it here. So, back to the real story, my sister and I bought fireworks earlier that morning on our way to the mall and since our driver went home, our maid, Lanie, was the one who played with them and we enjoyed watching them. At twelve midnight, we made noises with bells around the house and I used the Flip to take videos of the fireworks happening all around. It was magical and really fun. :) Oh, and while I was outside, I saw my best friend of more than ten years and we hugged. It made me really happy. We ended the night with champagne (we gave some to the helpers, too! They spit it out right away 'cause the other one said it tasted like vinegar, haha!) and Media Noche.

The next day, we had family over and we spent the day eating, again, my sister and older cousins played their new favorite past time, Mah Jong and then my darling cousin, Kandy and I sang karaoke in my room. When they left after dinner, my mom, my sister and I stayed with my dad and his friends in the terrace and we finished the champagne left while I hosted a game of "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" with my dad's iPod Touch. It was so fun 'cause everyone was trying to think of the right answer, as if we were actually getting a million dollars in the end.

P.S., We never got to a million dollars. I don't even remember getting to a hundred!

The next day, we went to Araneta Coliseum for a Chinese acrobat show.

I really wish I could tell you so much about this but my fever was starting to show when I was in the coliseum itself. :( But I really wanted to react as happy as the other people around me. They were so graceful, pretty and talented! They were so good. . I wish I could watch them again so I can go like, "WHOO!!!".

So many things happened already in my first thirty days of 2011 and one of them is our Ormoc trip which I'll tell you all about real soon, with more pictures. :) So, about my plan (that starts today) for February: It's the 30-day blog challenge which I got from my blockmate/friend, Liz Pasana. She's a very beautiful, artistic and creative friend of mine who also loves to write and I try to read her posts everyday. She just finished with the challenge today and I want to join in the fun, too! Check her blog out, you'll see how witty she is and sweet!

That's all for now.

WHUT: How'd your first thirty days of 2011 go?

By the way, just wanted to share my #nowplaying (on YouTube): PaRappa! It's a game my sister, my cousins and I used to play on our Play Station 1. I'm watching American Dragon right now and I think they ripped off one of the raps from PaRappa, so that lead me to this! Hihi. Okay, good night now. :)

Merry Christmas!

Hi, dear readers! First things first, I want to greet you and your family a very Happy Christmas! :) I hope you stuff yourself into all that food and please don't forget to greet baby Jesus a Happy Birthday! Last night, there were only nine of us here - My dad, my mom, my sister, me, my three cousins, my cousin's husband and her baby Gab. It was all new to us. It was quiet, it was fast, it was kind of sad. See, growing up, we experienced the best Christmases ever - there were fifteen of us every year - my mom's dad, her siblings, then my cousins. We'd always have something to do. My mom and my tita's would be playing Mah Jong, my sister and my older cousins would be drinking beer and what not, my dad and my lolo and my tito's would be drinking too, me and my (almost-same-age) cousins would be watching movies, and my younger cousins would either be sleeping or playing. Last night, it was different - my dad stayed in their room with baby Gab sleeping, my mom was preparing Noche Buena, my ate, my two cousins, and my cousin's husband were playing Mah Jong while drinking and me and my cousin, Kandy were just taking pictures and stuff.

But whatever, it was still fun, nonetheless. My tita (my cousins' mom) kept on calling from work to greet everyone, my lolo (who's visiting my cousins in Australia) called up and we talked to him, my tito and my cousin. When the clock struck 12AM, we all greeted Merry Christmas to each other the same way we did every year ever since we were all born. Kandy and I (mostly Kandy) shouted the names on the Christmas cards on the gifts and then we opened them. I got great gifts this year - my parents got me a clutch and a Juicy Couture perfume (I never thought I had one!), my cousin and her husband got me a really cute shirt, and so did my lolo, my tita gave me an OWL CITY album, my cousin and his girlfriend got me SIMS 2 (Expansion. We kept on laughing last night 'cause just two weeks ago, I finally installed SIMS 2 on my computer, and he didn't know.). The present I'm really, really ennjoying the most though is the one from my oh, so great sister.

She got me the "RELAKS, PUSO LANG YAN, MALAYO SA BITUKA" planner! It's really cute and funny with all these "important events" written every week, if not everyday. Like this one:

I love it 'cause it's really funny! It has big spaces for everyday, too. So I guess you can be artsy or busy or artsy AND busy! It has nice designs per month, too:

And they have what you call, "activities" in some parts. Like, fill in the blank things:

(By the way, don't you just MISS AND LOVE "The Little Rascals"?!)

Thank you so much to my sister for giving this to me. :) It's really sweet and special. I love you so much, Merry Christmas!

Anyway, I just wanted to share Christmas Eve to you guys. But I have to go now 'cause my mom and my sister are making me get ready 'cause relatives and friends are coming over in less than an hour. Hoping your Christmases are going fine and dandy like mine! Merry Christmas! :)