Sleeping with Caitlin

Kristine told me while having dinner tonight that last night, Caitlin was complaining about me - from time to time, I would roll over her arms or so. She complained, "dadee, ipeet, ipeet". Then, I would roll off, and both of us will go back to sleep.

The 3 of us are sleeping on a single-sized bed. So Caitlin could barely move and she would kick around to gain some space. Or simply roll over us (yes, she could do this), pushing us on the side.

No dull moments with my daughter!

Worrying Husband - 09282009

Yesterday, i was able to call my wife - she is safe and staying in the hospital. She saw what happened to us in TV, and decided that it's too risky to go ahead and go home. When she heard Caitlin's voice, Kristine cried. And at that moment, the line worsened (this time Globe was able to connect, but the line was out of whack). I tried calling again, but failed. But I was glad that she's in the hospital. That made my day.

The water is gone when I woke up, but traces of mud can still be seen as expected. The road is deserted. I got to the office at 630m, I simply took the jeep. There was a bit of heavy traffic near the entrance of De Castro (severely hit by the flood). Also, the foot of the Ortigas bridge were made as evac centers; lots of government vehicles were parked on the bridge, allowing only 1 lane per direction. The evac tents provided by the local government seemed to be deserted; there were a couple of people inside, but I don't see it as your typical evac center.

I brought our cellphones and chargers, just in case the situation worsens. At least we have available communication (SMART only) if this happens. I brought my office clothes since we ran out of water and the office has this expensive bathroom.

After taking a bath, I called my wife. I decided not to call her when I got to the office since I knew she's safe and I don't want to wake her up. It was just a relief that the whole family is totally safe. I am also glad that she's a doc and she can stay in the hospital.

Kristine met me at Shopwise late in the morning - we bought some supplies for the rest of the week. Luckily, my boss advised me to go to ShopWise first thing in the morning since there is panic buying since Sunday. True enough, I wasn't able to grab water for my kid; the buyers were both affected by the typhoons and those helping out the victims (buying boxes of instant mami and canned goods). It took us 2.5 hours waiting for our turn to pay for the goods!

I wasn't able to get back to the office due to the heavy traffic caused by the rescue vehicles on the De Castro area. The F. LEgazpi Street is also closed due to high water level. The normal cab fee of PHP100 per trip to our place became PHP300 - the cab driver have to go around Taytay, if he doesn't want to wait on the heavy traffic.

Whatever resentment I have yesterday, I am taking it back.... Life...

Worrying Husband - 09272009/1105H

It's 1105H, 09272009. Our cellphone batteries are dead; those that have charges cannot get signal from the provider. Only Smart has a signal. The last conversation our nanny had with Kristine was a 3 hours ago (and I was out observing our surroundings). According to the nanny, there was no indication that Tin is coming home. She did inform Tin that Caitlin's milk was running out fast.

I am worried that she might try to force her way home without considering the risks. I know she's much safer in the hospital than in the road. Besides, our place is still flooded - almost waist-deep. But the place near the second guard house must have higher water level than ours since it looks like the lowest area in our compound.

Before we had Caitlin, Tin could easily decide on tight situation. But when she became a mom, most of the time she would lose composure if Caitlin is involved. This is well understood from my side. And this is what I am worried about since she might panic and forget that there are several adults at home to take care of Caitlin.

I just hope that she gets home safe if ever she decides to.

1652H,
There's no sign of Kristine. The maids were not able to charge their phone outside, so there's no way we can contact her. I just hope she stayed in the hospital instead of trying to come home. I will know by tomorrow when I get to the office.

1716H
The maids told us that they had to walk to Ortigas bridge to find infant milk for my daughter. That's approx. 3 kilometers away from Cambridge. According to them, the country's President and Bayani Fernando were in the vicinity managing the disaster. A lot of people were crying while they were passing by.

This makes me more worried. Kristine might have forced her way in but got caught somewhere between UDMC and Cainta. My wife is not familiar with alternate routes going to our place. I just really hope that she's back in the hospital safe.

This is the only time that I resent her job that, I feel, doesn't see natural calamities as an valid reason not to report to the hospital.  Well, she had to report 2 weeks after our daughter was born due to similar practices in their department - she went through the knife and not via a natural birth process. I am sure this won't be the last of it.

Well, this is what I signed for...

Typhoon Journal - 09272009

0636H
Caitlin woke up before we did. When I woke up, she was just rolling all around, I guess, waiting for us to wake up. When I sat down, she started calling my name and her tita (Lea).

Last night, every now and then I would check the water level. But around 9pm, the water level stabilized; my reference point was the plant infront of the building on the opposite side.

Our main challenge is that all of us don't have enough battery charge and only Smart has signal; Globe's is completely out of service (their cellsite might be the one just outside our compound - it's power supply is completely submerged last night.


0751H
I just got back from checking the status of my car - based on my estimate, the water might have reached the engine but not the computer box; if this is not the case, I am sure that the flooring is all wet. The car park is relatively higher than where our unit is standing. Furthermore, the fence in the parking space was washed out.

I also took some pictures. I spent around 45 minutes talking to the same person I met last night. Apparently, he's quite experienced about this situation; he grew up in Quezon, specifically Pollillo Is.

I also checked the other side of the compound, now I could see the roof of the Alto that I was checking yesterday - the roof is barely visible under the water.

One scene is the garbage (originally thrown in a water pit just outside our compound) surrounding the house, trying to get in, just like in TV about Manila's garbage problem.

I am sure the developer didn't anticipate this situation. I mean their power generator stopped earlier yesterday due to the rising water level. Oh well, this is a problem of yesteryears, I would say and it can happen again.

I pity those that are in the ground floor units. One resident told us this morning that there are only 2 of them, both ladies. They were only able to carry legal documents, otherwise, the rest were left to nature.

Time to save some water, I am not sure when the power will be back. The water may not recede until end of the day, looking at the progress. Besides, our building seems to be the lowest point of the compound and the power lines are buried on the ground.


0945H
People were shouting outside claiming that the sighted snake near the fence has been caught. From what we heard downstairs, there 2 sightings - 1 near our building (we are near the fence) and near the club house.


These people are personnel from the admin, trying to enjoy whatever is there around them. Not noticing that the water is highly polluted. This is just infront of the clubhouse.

I went out again to check the water level in the parking space, it is receding on a slow pace. But the flooring of the 626 is a bit above the water level; but I am sure inside the car is flooded. The CRVs and the other non-American SUVs were no match for the flood! But that gave me more reason that if ever I purchase a SUV, the clearance should be increased (my 626 has extra clearance due to higher humps and deeper potholes in where I lived before).


Figure 3. The black car (Mazda 626, 1994 Model), partly covered
by the crane, is my car. You can see that the water reached the
flooring level.


Figure 6. This was taken in the next day. But the highest water level I've seen, it reached the spokes of the spare tire.
The good thing is that it's sunny.

I also saw 2 people wading in the water (nearby the construction site); while a flow of, most probably, fuel or oil (if I am wrong, I am sure it's not water since it reflects rainbow color agains the sun light) from their right side crossing the stream. One of them, a lady looks like a mestiza, sporting a contemporary designed sunglasses with a leather-like lady bag (and she was wearing a pair shorts) leisurely wade on the water and seemed to be talking to her companion. In my perspective, she's a candidate for an infection or allergy of some sort since it was the second time i've seen her wading.

And this is why I discouraged the maid to go out for a cellphone recharge (all of our phones are dead, just enough time to inform Kristine that everything is alright except for Caitlin's milk that is running low).

The nanny decided to delute Caitlin's milk - it worked. But it's just a matter of time that the milk runs out completely. Hopefully, by then the water has receded enough for us not to get wet. I am planning that when the water level reaches knee-deep (relative to the road level infront of our building and not on the sidewalk level), I will check my car if it starts (I hope so since my worst experience with flood was when we were almost floating near the Kalentong area and waves from the trucks would push us to the gutter).

I am surprised how people (most probably haven't seen devastation from typhoon first hand) reacted. But then again, I lived thru hundreds of typhoons in our province. But one thing that I noticed today, everyone is smiling at me when we meet somewhere in the building - normally, ma at pa kami dito. The condo personnel who collects garbage every morning still did their chores and greeted me "good morning".

Behind the chaos, order are still being observed by some.


1649H
Lea cooked the remaining pancake powder. Caitlin had peanuts for snacks. I had to take the saucer full of peanuts away from her since she wouldn't stop.

I checked the car 30 minutes ago (the water is knee-deep when I went to the parking space), aside from the soaked interior, the engine started just fine. I waited for 3 minutes before I turned it off. But the interior is full of mud! I guess it's time for a full detailing service that I've been planning for the last 2 years.

The ground floor is all messed up with mud everywhere. It will take a day to fully clean the ground floor, not counting those that are damaged by the water in each unit.
The maid just came back from the market - they can't find milk from what I heard from the distance. They are just talking with my sister sharing their experience. I am not sure if Lactum would work with Caitlin.

We are also running out utility water. Our drinking supply is still enough until tomorrow or after.

If the situation doesn't get better tomorrow, I will bring my kid to Sun Valley and report to the office afterwards.


Figure 5. Here's the water level around 9pm on September 26. This is infront of our loft.

Note: For more pictures of the event, you can visit this public site.

Typhoon Journal - 09262009/1943H

I just got back from outside our unit - the water level is still rising fast! Some of the unit owners from the ground floor are all over the staircase with their appliances or whatever they can save from the rising water level.

I checked the situation of the parking lot, the plate numbers of the cars can still be seen from the 4th floor. What caught my attention was the MB200 parked on the opposite row of where my car is parked on; I estimate that the water level is almost the same level of the flooring. I met one of the residents and we started talking of the nearby areas - we shared the same conclusion that the water must be coming from the mountains nearby (you can see the Antipolo area still lighted).

He also told me that some residents who have their parking slots infront of the building parked their car near the main entrance of the compound. However, the guy that I talked to wasn't able to start his car and decided to leave it to nature. I left with a heavy heart, I am not confident that my car would be lucky not to go under the water. I am still hoping thought that the engine won't go under (I don't care about the car interior), especially the computer box.

One CRV parked near the construction site is half-submerged with the water level reaching its spare tire at the back. How bad, the water level infront of the club house was already chest deep when I got there.

I checked again the other side of our building where the last time I saw an Isuzu Alto, I could still see the roof. Now it's gone! I compared it with some reference points, like the jeepney on another corner, it's sure is gone down under!

I pity those residents who evac from their ground floor units. I am pretty sure they bought their units thinking that it can be a better life for them. But here they are, staying on the stair case waiting for the weather to get better. It could happen to us also.

The last time I checked the water level infront of our building (before I got in our unit), it's approx. 4 feet from the road level. I almost panicked because I thought it was the 2nd level of the ground-floor unit; I realized I got down 1 level lower than ours. Whew!

When I got back, Caitlin has her normal tantrum when she's not staying on an airconditioned room. Luckily, my sister has all the patience in the world to put up with her.

The rain is also getting stronger...


The Suzuki Alto (far right) will be totally under water before the sun sets.


This scene is quite familiar around Saturday afternoon. On the far left of the picture shows (albeit vaguely) the roofs of the submerged houses. In the evening of the 26th9, the roof the jeep (on the lower right) can be barely seen.

Typhoon Journal - 09262009/1830H

I still have 3 hours and 20 minutes in my laptop battery, but otherwise, the whole residential compound is out of power since an hour ago.

Since this early morning, the rain is non-stop. The rain was pretty bad with strong winds, especially this morning. Now, it's just drizzling but the water in the compound is still rising. The last time I checked (luckily, I bought new batteries for the flashlight) 10 minutes ago, it's getting worse and it's getting inside the main entrance of the building infront of us.

This morning, I decided to bring my wife to Eastwood; from there, she can take a cab. It was raining hard; and it was one of the rarest moment that I had to set my wiper speed to the maximum. I only found out later when I got back that Manila was under Typhoon Signal No. 1 based on the feedback of the maids who bought came from the Taytay Market. I took it as "one of those days".

Figure 1 - The encircled portion is the water level around 930am.

After lunch, I took a nap and when I woke up I checked the window (out of habit). There it was, the water level was almost knee deep. I thought, "it's not that bad". Then after 30 minutes or so, I checked again, the level was rising. My kid saw it, too, and she went to her cabinet to look for her swimsuit (it took my sister a few minutes to calm Caitlin down when she was told that she couldn't swim in the water).

Figure 2. This was taken at 356PM. The sidewalks are covered by water.

Around 4pm, I decided to check the status of my own car (can be seen from the end of the building), it was okay. The parking space wasn't flooded, and the rising water was still outside the perimiter of the parking space. I checked again 30 minutes after, 1/4 of the parking space (near the main entrance) was already flooded. By this time, I decided to check the other side of the compound - there it was, the water level was chest-deep. One car was under and the roof can be seen. I could see people transferring TV from one house to another. Lea, the nanny and Caitlin joined me after I told them about it. I took some pictures. On the far left (near the riverside), I saw that several houses were already under and only roofs can be seen.

My thought was, the water came from the mountains. And since subdivisions are popping out like daisies, I suspect that natural tributaries have been buried without any alternative route for water to flow to the river (in this case, it goes to Laguna de Bay).

















Figure 4. This is infront of the club house. Those 3 cars have a single owner. From what I gathered, the owner rented 4 business areas to get 4 parking spaces (1 car is missing).


This is the first time I've seen a flashflood. I grew up in the province wherein typhoon is a part of our lives. But I've never seen such flood before (but in this place, I won't be surprised that it's a normal occurence).

Tin also sent me SMS informing me that, around early afternoon, Santolan was flooded and rubber boats were being deployed. Oh, it took her 5 hours to get to the hospital; the cab she took conked out somewhere near the TB Center. So she ended up taking a pedicab. By the time she came to the hospital, she was soaking wet since the pedicab has a lower clearance.

As of this writing, Sun and Globe signals were spotty. Globe signal was spotty early on (I already complained this in the office admin) today, I wasn't surprised.

I still have 2 hours and 50 minutes in my laptop. I will file another entry later tonight.

Figure 4. This is the cluster infront of the club house.

Note: For more pictures of the event, you can visit this public site.

Caitlin's Vocabularies

Here are some Caitlin's vocabularies and phrases (and how she says them):


Airplane - "ipis"
Apple - "apot"
Ate - "atee"
Babay - "babatch"
Banana - "bata" or "batata"
Barney (from a kids' TV series of the same title) - "ba-ty"
Bubbles - "batus"
Cinderella - "pila"
Cockroach/Ipis - "ipis"
Elephant - "epa'tatat"
Fish - "pish"
Get - "git"

Good night - "goodnatch"

Hat - "at"
Help - "eelp"
HOt - "at"

Horse - "oos"

I love you - "bakukuh"

Itay - "itat"

Jaq (from the 1950 Walt Disney Cinderella character) - "kakak"

Lola - "owa" or "wa"

Mary Poppins (from the movie of the same title) - "pa-tis"

Nanay - "nanan"

Nemo (from the main character of "Finding Nemo" movie) - "mono"

No - "nooooh"

No more - "monon"

Opo - "opu"

Please - "pis"

Popcorn - "pakmh"

Shoes - "toosh"

Tatay - "tatat"

Thank you - "takmh"

Umbrella - "pila"
Yes - "yis"
Yoghurt - "otat"


For the rest that she can't say properly, she simply says "umh". How's that for effective communication??


Note: My wife who didn't need to report to the office for 3 months, had enough time to learn Caitlin's own language. Thus, she's currently the family's interpreter. Now I understand why those who are close to their kids would develop a second language in the process. Me - Caitlin adjusts and she just shows me what she wants to have or do.

Caitlin is Growing Up

Just look at her now with the chair that I bought even before she was born.

With the picture above, she deliberately posed for the camera. And lately, this is becoming a habit.

I think she is watching video on her mom's laptop when this picture was taken.

Family Affair - Sta. Cruz Speaking Engagement

On September 5, I delivered a workshop to SELCHA, a catholic ministry under Sta. Cruz Parish.

The participants came from all walks of life, including senior citizens. At first it was intimidating, considering that fact that most of the participants have more wisdom than I have.

This didn't start this month, it all went back as 5 years ago before Tito Arnel left for Canada. I was just starting my management career then. We were discussing the possibility of delivering social-changing topics (he did it a couple of times when he was assigned in Bicol). Both of us shared nationalistic principles, and we just like to discuss such possibilities over a couple of San Miguel Draft pitchers in Shakey's (most of the time in Malate branch, facing the old Aristocrat resto) and a basket of fried chicken. I guess it starts with possibilities and belief that it can be done...

Earlier this year, we discussed about running a public workshop for their parishioner, which I was very open to. However, due to some changes on priorities he asked me if I could deliver a workshop for the local catholic ministry; wherein, some members are familiar to me since I would drive my uncle around, visiting her former parishioners. And I am glad to meet them again.

Two weeks before the said workshop, I reviewed the result of their own workshop and realized that they are facing the same issues what a normal organization will face - growth pains. I realized that whatever we deliver in our own corporate organization, would also help them. It all starts with self-mastery.

I had to adjust my approach, e.g. I shouldn't be technical in nature, have to adapt to their salutations ("sister", "brother"), pray when the church bells rang at exactly lunch time, etc. But their energy amazed me and it was contagious! I shared with them the Left-Hand Column, VDM and the Levels of Perspective. And they raised the same challenges that I also raised when first time I heard these stuff from our founder.

One thing that caught my mind when trying to review my notes the night before, I realized that church organization and the BPO industry, are on the same industry - service industry. And when I was sharing my thought to them, I told them that the difference is that we are in customer-service industry, catholic or christian organizations are servicing the souls. Some got my point and gave me a smile.

I introduced them to World-Cafe, especially in getting feedback from large no. of people. I also introduced them to the Check-In. There such high number of similarities in feedback that I was able to gain my trainer-confidence; I was really expecting the worst that somebody might disagree with the principle (I mean, how do you disagree with a person who walked in this world for the last 60 years, while I am still trying to prove myself??).

On the last part, Visual-Deployment Matrix, I wasn't able to have them do their organization's VDM. However, we discussed some situations and how VDM can help them. Most of the questions were about expectations settings, effective communication and the likes.

During my last leg of my presentation, I was already short of breath for some reason. I was a bit dizzy and one participant offered me a bottle of water, to my relief.

Every question they raised and I tried to answer, I would ask confirmation if I was able to answer it. Luckily, I was able to. I also felt the energy that they showed; I just felt passionate when delivering the workshop (afterwards, I felt that my knees are going to fall apart).

It was ironical because I still remember Tito Arnel challenging me to find his bag of coins when I would visit them during summer when I was still a kid. But now, it's totally different. Must be part of growing old....

The best part of the workshop, it was a family affair - I brought Kristine and Caitlin with me. Caitlin was relatively behaved, except for the fact that it was a bit warm inside the room - but when she's out, she liked to run after the cats. I was also very proud that I was able to introduce Kristine around (I realized how long it was the last time I saw some of those familiar people, I was stillsingle then when they last met me!). During breaktime, Kristine would give me some pointers as well (apparently, most of my examples at the very beginning were all about from corporate experiences).
I still have another session to run... And I am looking forward to it... And even if it won't push through, I am still glad that I was able to have such experience. It was totally different!

Playing with Lola B

Here are some pictures of KT and Lola taken in Sun Valley during our visits.

2012H August 16, 2009

Today, Caitlin's nanny left for Bicol. Her sister died 2 days ago. Thus, Tin and I are left to take care of house chores. This is not the first time, but normally I would bring my family to my Grandma's house especially during weekdays; but this time Tin doesn't have to stay in the hospital every other night.

It was a fun day. I wanted to cook for my wife today since it will be a long week for me (so what else is new). I decided to cook pork steak, and opened the freeZer and got the first frozen meat I saw. I left it for 2 hours to thaw; afterwards, I realized that I was running late fo lunch (it was 1130am), I heated water to defrost the meat faster. It was a success, only to find out that I got the wrong meat - the meat is for lechon kawali.

So I decided it would be lechon kawali this time. I wrote a separate entry for this.

After lunch, my wife cleaned up the floor in the kitchen (I messed it big time while cooking). She left me finish cleaning the stove and the dishes. By the time I was done, it was time to prep up for Sunday mass - we were going to UP.

Luckily, my wife took a bath 1 hour early. When I was ready to go, she was almost ready (she had to prepare KT's stuff, too).

We didn't have time to walk around UP since it was 5min before the mass would start. My sister met us inside the church.

Inside the church, Caitlin was fine. But she would dance every time she heard the choir sang. She didn't attempt to go out of the church; she was fascinated by the place - too many kids.

We had dinner in this small carinderia just nearby the UP parish. It offers JApanese and Korean menu. It was relatively cheaper than Tokyo Tokyo, but not exactly worse. KT loved the Yakisoba; she didn't know how to bite the noodles, so she choked when I gave her a long noodle. She recovered quickly, but Tin was very worried.

Caitlin was very sociable, she was smiling to another boy on another table. And she danced when the boy sang HAPPY Birthday. When the boy and his family left, KT waved to them.

After dinner, I saw the baloon vendor. Lea bought KT the dog baloon (the one that's popular among kids since it floats in the air as if the kid is pulling a dog on a leash). KT was ecstatic! She was looking behind her, instead of infront of her, while walking. And she became very worried when she lost her grip on the string!

The trip back home was uneventful. But when we got home, KT was very excited with ber new toy. She calls it Jack-Jack (from a character in Cinderalla).

Meanwhile, my OC side of me kicked in and decided to clean the rangehood; I swiped the grime with my fingers, and it was unsurprisingly thick (according to the manual, I have to clean it every 2 months but it was 1.25 years since we bought the unit). It was so thick that the screen didn't pop-out when I unlocked it (contrary to the manual's description).

To make the story short, it took me 2 hours to clean it! It was getting late so I decided to simply wash and rinse the screen and plan to clean it again after a couple of months (and replace the filters by then).

It was definitely a satisfying day!

Cuts and Bruises

We went to BF today after visiting Lolo's grave. Caitlin loves to run and so we let her run infront of Tita Lyd's house....

And she tripped and hit the ground face first....

She has bruises on her forehead plus a cut on her lower lip.

It was difficult to see her crying...


I put some ice cubes on her forehead, but she didn't like. She cried for 3-5min or so and stayed with Kristine. After an hour or so, she started playing again.

Bi-Lingual Kid

My wife and I wants to train Caitlin to be proficient in English, Bicol and in Filipino. Tonight, while we are playing with Caitlin, she responds correctly if we ask her to show her feet/tiil, eyes/mata, head/ulo, tummy/tiyan, teeth/ngipun.

I feel that she's more proficient in comprehending Bicol than Filipino since we speak the former at home and would speak in English from time to time. The funny thing is that Caitlin would pronounce English words with a strong accent learned from her nanny (who is also a Bicolano herself).

I can't blame her, it's the nanny who spends most of the time reading books with her. That can change since my wife just ended her residency.

One Saturday - A Family Day

Several days ago, our maid left us (several days back, our daughter's nanny also left). I had to call my sister to man the house and accompany my daughter while my wife and myself are in the office; luckily, my mom was scheduled to visit us last Thursday.

It's difficult not have a maid in the house, worse if you have a kid and no nanny to take care of. But for us, it gave us a chance in the family to be together, doing households. Our daughter woke up during the weekends, and my sister was already downstairs making our breakfast.

I didn't have a chance to have breakfast during the weekend, instead I did the laundry (I am the only one who could operate the washing machine). After the first batch, I realized that our former maid transferred the drying area; there are now designated drying area with your unit no. on it. And I also found out that we didn't have enough hangers. When going back to the unit, I decided to ask my dad (who arrived while I was doing the fist batch of clothes) to bring the rest to my grandma's house. We are going there tomorrow anyway to celebrate my mom's birthday.

While doing the second batch of clothes, I decided to cook our brunch - fried rice with eggs (next time, I will get fried garlic in the supermarket to make garlic fried rice); while my sister helped me prepared the ingredients.

Right after doing the laundry, Tin and I decided to make Ampalaya (bitter melon) con Carne. It was already past 12pm when we finished hanging up our clothes to dry. Tin did most of the chores; but the major thing I did was to add chopped hot chili to the Amapalaya. Tin did all the cooking; I was the one who added the seasoning and ensure it just tasted right (well, Tin decided what is "right"). While she was cooking, I was washing the dishes (that we used in the morning).

Nanay liked the Ampalaya con Carne, but she almost choked when she had the first bite - it was very hot! I chopped 3 hot chili on sliced 3-pc Ampalaya.

We finished lunch around 2pm. After an hour, my mom asked me to prepare the snacks (which I promised her since tomorrow is her birthday) because my father wanted to leave before 5pm. Kristine's idea of snack is a honey-coated Saba, rolled in corn starch. I just followed her instruction (she fell asleep while texting). I didn't slice the bananas into thinner pieces, but Tin woke up on time to remind me. Since the bananas were ripe already, it was difficult for me to slice them vertically. I just improvised, as long as I sliced it into smaller pieces.

Then I bought ice cream (Mango with Cashew nuts) that would go with the honey-coated banana. To make the story short, they liked it. It was an improvised banana ala mode (but I need to remember to do it on a non-stick pan next time). By the time Tin was half-way with her snacks, Tatay and Nanay were done and asked me what he will bring back to Sun Valley. My parents left shortly for Sun Valley.

It was a long day for everyone, but it was all worth it. I realized that due to the convenience of life, sometimes I would tend to forget that household chores bring a family together.

Guilt Feeling

Last Sunday, I brought Caitlin to UP as originally planned this morning.

Before that, I went to the office with my wife (who took a cab to UDMC) and I worked on some stuff that I needed this week. I wanted to stay until the evening, but I felt guilty to do away with the original plan. But it took me 30min or so to finalize my decision.

I am just relieved that I did what I originally planned. Caitlin and I played football until it rained. I also carried her on my shoulders, which I normally do (I prefer this than carrying her on my arm).

Running up and down the mound near the College of Music, kicking the ball as she shouted with glee, easily worn her out. I was also got tired easily, shooting pictures of her. Then we walked to the football ground, she stayed with her nanny's arms; sometimes I would take her on my shoulders.

After seeing a group of soccer players, she was looking for her soccer ball. She started playing on the field, but every time a ball would get near us from a female soccer team (who was waiting for their turn to play on the field), she wanted to play with the bigger ball.

Finally, we went to church to attend mass.

This is one of those priceless moments. Regardless of the stress in the office, this one surely overcomes it.

Fixing a cabinet

The kitchen cabinet wouldn't close completely. I figured that it might be the hinges; besides, the hinges are becoming rusty (it supposed to be stainless, but then again, I took the cheapest). So it lasted barely a year.

I decided to buy replacement hinges from DIY near the office; originally, I just wanted to have a workaround and buy some sort of a male/female lock (I saw such type on our cabinets in our house back in the province). I was excited to fix the cabinet. It was really urgent because roaches could get in through the gaps.

Right after arriving from the office, I just checked my daughter; play with her a couple of minutes and started checking the cabinet.

To make the story short, these hinges require adjusting to ensure that the cabinet door would fit into the frame (almost) perfectly. It took me 2 hours to fix it - in the end, it was only a bit better than before. My legs were stiff; my pants were soak wet by my sweat - and it didn't even come closer to my expectations.

The good thing I was able to compare these hinges with the ones I am used to - butterfly hinges. I figured out how to adjust it after screwing in/off the hinges from its positions several times. I also realized how much I care about the cabinet (when I was a bachelor, you need to offer a lit candle for me if you see me fixing things in the house) and the house. I was also very proud showing it to my daughter, whom I want to share this trait when she grows up.

Kaizen - next time, I will check the internet for more info before taking out parts of the house. Ironically, I would strongly pushed the employees under me to read the manual of our products.

Luckily, it was only a cabinet door. Otherwise, I would still be stuck tonight.

Rare Moments

One of those rare pictures that my wife and I are together. This was taken last December during Mommy's birthday celebration.

Play House Anyone?

Yesterday, we celebrated Lola's 97th birthday. While everyone was preparing for the big day, Manay Cuttie showed me her kids play house.

If I got the measurement right, the area is almost the same as our living room and kitchen combined! I told Kristine that Caitlin should have this in her itinerary when visiting Sorsogon.

When Manay Cuttie showed it to me, I thought it was a full blown house. This one seems bigger than a GK-built houses. The place is full of toys for the kids. According to her, kids love it; but it's difficult for parents to ask their kids to go home.

The picture on the left is the bedroom, but it also serves like an attic. I think 5 kids (not older than 10 yo) could fit in there. You can see some stuff toys on the bed corner. While taking this picture, I realized that I am quite heavy and the 2nd floor might collapes (my pamangkin, Jarra, and 2 of her friends may not be heavier than 40lbs each). Surprisingly, the flooring never made a sound screaming for me to get out of the place.

Oh, and it has its own AC unit!

And here's the kitchen and the living room of the house. I didn't check the plastic box on the corner, but I assume it's one of those portable cooking stoves that you can buy in the hardware store in Manila. I didn't test the faucet, but knowing my cousins, I am sure it's working. This is really something for the kids to enjoy.

It might sound weird, but you can use this to train your kids on the house chores without breaking those expensive plates and glasses.

Well, what are you waiting for! Come and visit the Cubias Family's Play House! Located in Macabog, Sorsogon.

Hey Manay Cuttie and Manoy Joey, it's a heck of a play house!