[Caitlin With Tita Tuy (Joy) - First Day in Sorsogon]

We arrived in Legazpi (12132009) 5 minutes earlier than scheduled. I took Caitlin out of the airport and look for Joy; she was there alright, and left Caitlin with her while I went back to the terminal to get my luggage. Except for torn handle (of an inexpensive - got it from one of Tin's seminar, courtesy of a pharma group) coat back, the trip was uneventful.


Gary, Joy's hubby, took us to Jollibee for a breakfast. From there, Gary decided to let us check their place in Daraga. Their place has several stair cases, and I was catching up with my breath taking the stairs. But the view from the top floor was magnificent. Sadly, Mayon Volcano wasn't on her mood - the view was blocked by clouds (according to the legend, when clouds are blocking the view, the volcano doesn't want to be seen by the people). Caitlin freaked out when she saw Caleb, huge dog (I cannot remember the type). You have to realize that in our compound, askal and those dogs as large as German Shepherds or Doberman are not common, let alone dogs not in a leash. Afterwards, we proceeded for Sorsogon.

Knowing Caitlin, she was trying to get the feel of Tin's house. The last time she was here, she was still an infant. When she saw stuff toys and dolls, she was overwhelmed and started saying, "wow, wow", with matching stretched arms as if trying to hug them all. She liked the doll with its panties/shorts on. Me? The first thing I did is to check the mobile signal - no difference as 2 years ago.

Caitlin didn't want to stay at the back with her Tita. So she stayed with me infront; she fell asleep on our way. When we reached Tin's place (Brgy. Capuy, approx. 8 km North of Sorsogon city proper), Papa was around to meet us.

My brother-in-law, took time out to prepare lunch for us. We had grilled pork and Chicken Curry, with a well-cooked steamed rice. My sister-in-law, April, and her hubby grilled the pork (I was out driving Papa to Castilla). Caitlin didn't want to join them; later on I found out that the dogs were sitting nearby and she's quite afraid of the dogs after the last time in Daraga.

We had a hearty lunch. Caitlin didn't have anything, though she did consume 1 bottle of milk before lunch time. Afterwards, I saw her with her Tita Joy, while holder her the doll she picked up from the shelf.

I also took a picture of Mama's orchids (pictured right) hich she started nurturing 2 years ago. It is a beautiful sight. The background is the hill where we normally camped out back in high school. When we were still kids, Mama sold different types of roses and was popular in our place. When we got married (and so was April), we got some of the flowers from Mama's garden.

Around 1pm, Caitlin took her regular nap. At 230pm, we left for Bibincahan. We are staying there until Tin arrives from Manila.

When we got to our house (in Bibincahan), Caitlin was trying to figure out again the new place (she's quite observant). In a couple of hours, she felt at home, just like in Capuy. It was rainy in the afternoon. I watched cable programs while my mom was busy playing lola to her apo.

It's nice to be back home.... But it will never be complete without Tin in tow. She will be joining us only on the 23rd of December.

[Caitlin in the Office]

I had to come back to the office today to send some emails. I took Caitlin with me.

Earlier Beverly was playing with her but I had to take her away since Beverly is reviewing for an exam.

She saw a door (server room) and asked me to open it. She also has the baloon given to her by Beverly.

She's well behaved and got the hang of the place.

[Update on the Pool atbp]

I just got off from a conversation with Dennis, admin manager, that the pool will be repaired soon. Their challenge is that the contractor doesn't want to use larger tiles since when it breaks, it can scratch the swimmers. It's still looking for smaller tiles; based on what I gathered, all the tiles will be replaced (crossing my fingers). It's a good idea to replace all since some residents are playing ball and pushing their strollers in the pool, this dislodge the tiles. Sooner or later, these tiles will come off.

Also on the whistling pumps at cluster 6 and 7, they are just waiting for the replacement bearings. The pumps kick in automatically based on schedule. I asked Dennis to reschedule it since it runs as early as 4am or as late as 10pm.

There will be an election on 1st Saturday of May for the homeowners officers. Let's see...

[Caitlin's First Tricycle Ride]

Today, I decided to bring Caitlin with me and join her mom on her way to the Ortigas bridge. Tin's misses KT because she's not going to see her for 10 days (we are leaving tomorrow for Sorsogon).

Going to Ortigas bridge' she stood infront of her mom (in Cainta, the tricycle's side-car can accomodate 4 passengers). She didn't mind - she was curious about the places she saw on the way.

Right after getting off the tricycle, we just said goodbye to Tin and crossed the street to take another tricycle going back.

This time I paid for her seat. She's so cute simply sitting there. She was trying to get the feel of it. When the tricycle started to move, she started waving her hand and saying, "mommy, mommy, babatch, babatch". Of course, by then, mommy was gone on her way to UDMC.

She was well behaved on our way back. She would glance outside enjoying the sceneries (of the squatter areas).

When we got back, she didn't want to walk anymore so I let her sit on my shoulders.

Family Picture as of Dec. 6, 2009

Note: Taken by Nokia E75, set to maximum resolution.

Krispy Kreme Attendant Passing Time

Her Tita Leah brought her this Krispy Kreme cap. The video she's watching is the classic musical, Annie.

Sierra Isobel Años Ordoña - New Member of the Laurio Clan

Today I am in Fairview visiting the new member of the Laurio clan.

She's taller and way bigger than KT! Definitely mana sa ama! Si Peps tatay na tatay na!

Bing was beside the crib when I arrived. The Haber kids are in Circle, with Lea and Manay Titin; the Haber couple are in SM as of this writing.

I was supposed to bring KT with me but we realized she has colds (later on I found out that Ading or Sudi have colds according to Lalaw), and decided against bringing her to Fairview. Later on Tin told me that KT turned off the TV, pulled the plug and rolled in the floor and started to cry (while I was taking the car out of the parking lot). Naluuy man ako...

Lunchtime! Nagluto si Lalaw ng pansit!

One Fine, Sunny Sunday

Today, I decided to buy our plane tickets for December's trip to our hometown. I decided to walk from our place to Robinson's Galleria. I left our place around 825am and found myself near the corner of East Bank (Floodway) Rd. and F. Legazpi bridge 15 minutes after.

Around 40 minutes after I left our place, I felt dehydrated and my legs were screaming like hell! I was near the Ugong Barangay Hall, just infront of the gas station, Flying V. I wanted to get something to drink. There is this sari-sari store just infront of the gas station - it offers the soft, chewy cookies in a 3-cookie pack. I asked for a 12-oz Coke - they don't have it; a 500-ml Coke - they don't have it. What they only have is a Coke Sakto, otherwise, I have to take the 1-L bottle. I thought the old lady was mad, but I realized that Coke released Coke in a smaller bottle calling it the same name. The old lady manning the store offered me 2 bottles of Sakto.

Somebody (a guy behind the lola manning the store) poured the soda to the plastic and put a straw on it. I didn't care if the guy's hands were clean, I just wanted to have that drink and chew my cookies. It was one of those memorable experience with Coke product!!

After staying for 5 minutes, I walked again along Eagle street (I was almost side swiped by a van due to a weird traffic direction on that area). Then, I turned right along C-5 and crossed under the C-5/Ortigas flyover going to the direction of Tiendisitas. It was a bit uphill and decided to take Ortigas Ave. instead of Vargas street.

Walking against the traffic along Ortigas Ave. was just appropriate since it offered shade against the sun; furthermore, the shrubs along the sidewalks help as well.

I arrived in Robinson's Galleria (Ortigas entrance, near Mc Donald's) around 1:45 hours after I left our place. I felt that my knees and ankles were going to fall apart. I went straight to the top floor and change clothes (I can't find the restrooms in the ground floor and I am not familiar with the place).

Afterwards, I was able to sit for 5 minutes in the booking office until my name was called.

Going back to our home? I took the bus and tricycle. My legs couldn't take pounding of another almost 2-hour stroll (if you can call it one).

Did I upload my experience when I walked to Taytay market?

Product Review - Nova Transistor Radio

After typhoon Ondoy, I bought a transistor radio since one of our challenges during the said typhoon was lack of awareness outside our area (our TV was busted and we didn't have any radio in the unit).

The brand is Nova and was made in China. It cost me less than PHP400. I grabbed it immediately since I only wanted a radio function, specifically AM band (the original request of my wife was a unit with CD player, which is 4 times more expensive).

Two weeks ago, the maid was complaining that the radio wasn't working. I checked it out, it seems that the tuner is loose, otherwise, it works perfectly.

Then just last weel when I came back from the office, the maid complained again that the radio made a spark in the morning. I checked the power cord and saw that it shorted. Apparently, the wires (under a protective sheath) are quite small and one of them might have been exposed the copper wire due to inappropriate handling (like pulling the wire when unplugging it, considering that the socket is not loose). Luckily, when I tested it using 3 DD batteries, it worked fine.

For several days, we used a battery especially during the typhoon Santi.Sometimes, the reception is bad that I have to bring the radio near the window. There's some art needed in listening to this radio unit (but then again, it's also the same with my Globe's Visibility unit).

Yesterday, I purchased a 2-pc, PHP25-plug from DYI in Ever-Sta. Lucia. With some help from my old Swiss Army knife, I was able to restore it to working condition. However, since the electric wire is quite thin (I did check the specs on the cable - it says 300v) and the hole of the plug where the cord goes through is way wider than the cable's diamater. I decided to fasten the cord with electrical tape - this will ensure that, when the cord is pulled to unplug, the cord will be pulled instead of the thin electrical wires.

So far so good. Now I am thinking of bringing the unit to our office. I love listening to AM's decade-long programs. It releases me from my daily grind with technology (e.g. MP3, Windows Media Player, etc.) and also reminds me of my childhood back in the province.

Recommendation - You get your money's worth for this product. It's definitely not for urbanites and techies, but if you want a simple transistor radio to get updated news from DZRH or DZMM or DZBB, this will do the work.

Note: I tried checking the web for Nova brand of radios, I could only find one. After clicking several related links, I got nowhere.

First Haircut

Caitlin had her first hair cut. She was with her mom and my sister, Lea.

According to Tin, she almost jumped out of the chair when she saw the blower.

Caitlin's Vocabularies - Part Duex

Here's another set of Caitlin's vocabularies:

Boat - boot
Dance - daes
Elmo (of Sesame Street) - emo
Good morning - mininin
Happy Birthday - hapititi
Lipstick - thipst
Lola - umtah
Lubot - bthuth or butut
Nips (Pinoy M&M) - niths
Pencil - pitis
Peanut - meynan
Powder (any) - bati
Tita Joy - titatut
Tita Leah (improved version) - titatat

As of this writing, she talks a lot and not even her mom cannot keep up with her linguistic skills.

Here's the first part of this article.

Living in a Condo - Water Pump in Cluster 8

On our way to our unit, my wife and passed by the main staircase in Cluster 8. Under the staircase, water pumps are located. Even before we reached the Cluster 8's main entrance (where the staircase is located), we were hearing a loud, weird sound of grinding metals. It turned out to be water pump, most probably filling out the building's water tanks.

Yesterday or the day before, I also heard the same sound. I thought it was the generator of the compound. Now I know where the sound is coming from.

While passing by where the water pump is, Tin and I imagined if we were staying on the nearby units - I can't imagine listening to that annoying sound after coming from work.

I think the pump is damaged by Pepeng since this the first time I heard the pump make that sound.

Living in a Condo - Homeowners Meeting

Last night, I attended the homeowners attention. I got the invitation 2 weeks ago in the parking lot. The agenda was all about what happened during typhoon Ondoy. I joined 15 minutes late (the meeting was 8pm in the clubhouse).

I wasn't suprised to see that the host (not even an officer, if my guess is right) had an emergency light lying on the floor, just beside him; the lighting was poor; half of the attendees were standing; and the speaker taped his manila paper presentation on the wall. It's barely a homeowners meeting, if I may say.

I signed the log book and took my place just behind the rest. The topic was about the flooding and how the developer, Empire East Land Holdings, should do it. As what I already surmised watching the flood water drain through our area from the rice field beside us, the speaker (from what I found out, he's an attorney, but I didn't get his name) claimed that our area is a catch basin. Thus, when the perimeter fence was swept by the flood water, our water level didn't subside immediately. He (the speaker) claimed that there should be a drainage that is 5m by height and 5m by width, I am not sure where he got the specs, going to the tributary on the other side of the compound. He claimed that having such facility (or lackthereof), the buyers should not be paying PHP30,000/sqm, but should not be more than PHP10,000/sqm. Where he got that figure is another matter.

Another point that was raised (which I've seen the copied document, but no idea if it's real), is the Cease-and-Desist Order from the housing board. What it says is that the buildings are not compliant. According the speaker's explanation, the development is only allowed to build 2-story buildings; however, the developer kept on adding more levels, reaching the current 6-story buildings. He made an example of Ruby Tower this is the building that collapsed during an earthquake in 1960s, I am familiar with this because my mom told me the story more than a couple of times.

I could feel the interests of the participants were increasing. Me, I was just there to observe - I haven't attended any homeowners meeting yet. Besides, I know for a fact that when I decided to purchase the unit, I was attracted by the model unit and never investigated it. Now, I (and the rest of my family) have to suffer my stupidity.

Questions started to pop up, like what can the buyers do. One possibility that the speaker raised is to file a damage suit to the developer. Two howeowners claimed that they are not paying anything to the developers, except for the association dues (which goes to daily ops of the compound). When the parking fee was raised, everyone agreed that what we are paying is unfair since the parking area doesn't offer any kind of security. I really don't know if this is the case, I haven't put too much thought on what I am paying for except for compliance sake.

And what about those who paid cash? According to the attorney, they have the rights to take their payment back.... with interest! The way it was said, it sounded quite attractive (at least in my perspective). So there's hope alright. And what about those who doesn't want to pay, but are paying via PDCs (post-dated cheques)? They can stop paying; according to the attorney, there's a law allowing them to avoid the bouncing check law.

There were harrasments, like people with unpaid parking bills were not allowed to go inside (police and barangay officials were not allowed to join in because it's a civil case, whatever).

What I found out, that I will clarify with the admin, is that the regular officer election is May 5 of the year. According to those who lived here for 3 years now, no election was seen or called upon. However, there's a list of officers posted on the bulletin board (I saw this, one last name caught my attention was "Tan").

My hunch was confirmed - the group who organized it wasn't allowed to use the clubhouse's facility. Thus, the lights were not turned on, except those that are turned on at nights regularly. Mosquitos were everywhere!

Anyway, the mosquitos won! I left the area when I couldn't stand them punching through my skins. The discussion was just starting, but I have a good feeling where it will lead to.

I am interested to know, really, what my rights are. I will be consulting the admin on some stuff and want to know the details. I pity them because I know they are caught in the crossfire. But then, this is the job that they signed for.

In my opinion, the money that I paid for this area is just what I am getting. I mean, if you buy a condo in Makati, that will cost you PHP4M a pop! But the service is incomparable. I also didn't do a due diligence when buying this unit. Besides, I work in Eastwood Cyberpark - the building where I am working got flooded 2 weeks after Ondoy!!! Wait 'till you hear this - there are 3 elevator shafts in the office building, one elevator is always out most of the time of year for repair considering that it's a 30-story building! Guess what, the developer for our condo area and Eastwood is the same - Mega World. East Empire Land Holdings is the developer for low-cost housing project. I mean, there's no difference between buying a cheap condo unit from buying a made-in-China products - they are cheap, alright, and there are undesirable consequences.

I am sure worse will happen to this area. I am not an expert on land development, but I know when some facilities are out of place - in engineering course, they thought you to be logical and practical, and not where the money is. And this is not the case here.

This community is simply unsustainable from what I am observing.

Lesson that I learned - don't attend the homeowners meeting! =P

Welcome to the world of adults who wants to have a house of their own...

Leah's Graduation

I am at the 2nd floor of the PICC's Plenary Hall looking down at the school officials. I am also listening to this particular speaker (she's a commissioner, but not sure where). She's harping about the important document (diploma) that their getting after years in college; she also mentioned about the effective learnings that the graduates earned in college. (Unfortunately, I have a different perspective, but it's another story for another time).


I did like what the speaker said - be the best you can be. This is what I always advise my sister.

I am just glad that my sister has hurdled through college. She's very pretty with her dress (unfortunately, I don't have a picture of her yet). I am sure she's starving now (we were here since 1130am), unlike myself and my mom who dropped by Jollibee to have lunch; Nanay also had to buy a new pair of sandals since her original pair cut through her skin.

This is the second time I've been here. The first time - it was my graduation 11 years ago.

[New Software Installation - anong version ka]

Anong version ka???  =)

 

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1..0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,

Desperate.

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --

DEAR DESPERATE,

First, keep in mind,
Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme. html, try to download Tears 6.2, and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.
If those applications work as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause  Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5,  Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1.

Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the FartingandSnoringLo udlyBeta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0-program. This is an unsupported application and will crash  Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0  is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck ,
                Tech Support

 

 

 

 

 

Caitlin has Fever

Caitlin fell to the ground last Saturday, just beside a pile of wood with protruding nails. When we checked, she has a scratch on her knee. Since we are not sure if that was caused by a nail, Kristine gave her a DPT booster anyway.

While Tin was giving her the shot, she was moving and I had a hard time holding her. After an hour, Caitlin was complaining about her arm. And she started crying afterwards because of the pain. Eventually, she have had fever.

When we left this morning, she was more active and she was using her arm already (the one that got the needle). But she still have fever.

I called the house today, my dad told me that Caitlin was asleep and she's fine. I am glad.

Caitlin in Santa Cruz Church

Last September 21, I went to visit Tito Arnel in the Sta. Cruz Parish. I brought Kristine and Caitlin with me. Caitlin behaved accordingly. Afterwards, Tito Arnel treated us for snacks in the nearby Chowking fastfood.

As much as possible, any activites in the church, I want to take my family with me. This starts Caitlin's exposure to the Catholic church, at the same time, it's also a family affair even though I am the one who has the main business.

Here are some pictures:

Figure 1. Caitlin is enjoying her own chair, while Tito Arnel (not included on the picture) and myself are having a discussion.

Figure 2. Caitlin waves her hand to me while I am trying to take the picture.

Figure 3. Enjoying the trip to Sta. Cruz Parish.

Figure 4. From the eyes of a child.

Figure 5. Caitlin is curious what's happening outside the fastfood. She doesn't see that much activities in our compound.

Learning how to Read

Caitlin's First Mural

Kristine didn't catch Caitline on time. And this is what Tin saw. How's that for a canvas??

Mommy and Caitlin