OMFG, a Cupcake ATM!

I saw this on Reality Pod today. While I love cupcakes, I’m really glad the technology is not yet available here in the Philippines. A beautiful cupcake available 24/7 would be too difficult for me and my tummy (who is currently on a diet) to resist.

 

Signs of Drowning

I initially planned on having all original content for this blog, but then every now and then I come across some sites which I want to share with you guys. Since I’m also very forgetful, it works out.

This morning, Pao shared with me this post by Mario Vittone on drowning:

It’s really alarming and something that every person needs to know. According to this post:

“It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC).”

Shit.

In the post, Vittone lists the signs of instinctive drowning response, which is what we do to avoid drowning. From experience, I can attest that it’s impossible to shout out when you’re drowning. My dad was in the same swimming pool when it happened to me, and if it wasn’t for a stranger who saw me struggling, I wouldn’t be here today.

So please do read the article and share it with your friends and family.

 

An Ode to Polvoron

It’s been a hectic week for us. The yaya went on vacation last Monday so our all around maid, N, had to take over the Meia duties. To help out at home, my Mom asked one of her maids, F, if she wanted go on secondment with us for a couple of weeks. Thank god she agreed. So while N is getting used to taking care of the bear, she’s also training F. Pao and I are doing what we can to help out – I’ve even gone on leave a couple of times this week to help with the transition.

So yes, I miss our yaya very much. I hope she comes back as promised.

Whenever I’m stressed, I find myself looking for sweets. The other day I bought a bag of 20 pieces of Goldilocks Classic Polvoron. Goldilocks polvoron is my guilty pleasure. I’ve tried other kinds of polvoron, even those that claim that they are “gourmet”, but in my opinion, they don’t hold a candle to Goldilocks polvoron.

http://www.goldilocks.com.ph/

This isn’t the bag of polvoron I got. I bought the one that came in a plastic bag instead of a box  I prefer that because the pieces of polvoron inside are wrapped in yellow cellophane and not vacuum sealed. It’s hard to get the polvoron out of the vacuum seal bag – I end up scraping it against the bag and scattering crumbs all over myself. Sayang. Plus, call me old fashioned, but there’s nothing quite like the experience of unwrapping polvoron like candy. I’m salivating just thinking about it.

Yesterday, I ate 4 pieces of polvoron. FOUR. If Paolo didn’t stop me, I think I could’ve eaten the entire bag. Right now I’m dreaming of eating more of them. Which got me thinking, how many calories are in 1 piece of polvoron?

Uh oh. According to My Fitness Pal, each piece has 130 calories! Which means that yesterday, I gobbled 520 of them! Yikes.

Yaya better come home soon. Stress is making me fat!

 

WWE: My Favorite Soap

Four months into my pregnancy with the bouncing bear, I started to spot. My doctor told me to observe the bleeding and if it repeated a few more times, I needed to go on bed rest. The instructions were not to go back to work until 2 weeks pass without any spotting. Needless to say, I didn’t see the office again until after I gave birth.

Back then, I worked in a mid-sized law firm in Makati. I was used to the busy, fast-paced work environment, having had been in law firms for the past 4 or so years. I was just recently promoted and work was piling up and I loved it. So you can imagine how I felt when all of a sudden I had to stop. I wasn’t used to doing nothing all day.

I immediately bought a 1000 piece Beatles Abbey Road jigsaw puzzle to keep me occupied. I paced myself – I only allowed myself to put together 100 or so pieces each day. After all, it was supposed to keep me entertained for 2 whole weeks. No cigar – by day 6, the puzzle was completed and I was bored out of my mind.

And then I rediscovered wrestling.

I used to watch WWE (then WWF) back in grade school. I got the habit from my mom who was a huge fan. I remember I even watched the Undertaker and my crush, Adam Bomb (don’t look at me that way, I’m sure you’ve made lapses of judgment as well) in Araneta when they came here.

The WWE kept me sane during the remaining 5 months of bed rest. I even remember watching WWE in the labor room, while they doctors were trying to stop my labor (the bear wanted to come out 8 weeks too early). Back then, I loved seeing Randy Orton in action. I swear, Meia would kick every time his music played.

I got Paolo hooked on WWE as well. We love watching it so much we bought the bear official merchandise.

Meia wearing her Awesome onesie

Meia’s now 9 and a half months old. Paolo and I are still watching WWE religiously. Much has changed in the WWE since Meia was born. CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are now the champions (WWE Champion and World Heavyweight Champions, respectively), Zack Ryder (WWWYKI) won the USA Title from my current fave – Mr. Perfect meets Shawn Michaels Dolph Ziggler, and Cody Rhodes (bless his heart) is finally wearing knee pads. One thing that’s still getting to me though is the absence of Brodus Clay. I really like Brodus Clay. He reminds me of Benjie Paras, don’t you think?

From brodus-hq.com and http://www.abante-tonite.com/issue/july0311/showbiz_jg.htm

 

Four Years Later

Four years ago, I made the worst best decision of my life.

Fast forward to today, I think we’re doing pretty well. Paolo is now a Palanca award winning author and has 2 titles out on Amazon (High Society and Alternative Alamat). I, on the other hand, have recently left firm life and am working for a good company that gives me the work-life balance that I need. More importantly, we have been blessed with a bouncing bear who always keeps us on our toes.

A few months before we got married,  I forced convinced Paolo to join this blog contest. The prizes were pretty substantial – I think they were worth over P20k. Unfortunately, we lost, but Paolo’s essay was considered as a “selected entry” and was likewise featured.

Anyway, I just remembered the entry Pao made last night while trying to put the Meia to sleep. Below is the full text of it, for your reading pleasure.

I swear motherhood is making me soft. Now, I’m blogging about our anniversary.

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NOTHING SAYS “I LOVE YOU” LIKE A STRANGLEHOLD
by Paolo Chikiamco

I honestly think that there is no greater indicia of love, than that scintillating, trembling desire to take your partner in your arms – and wring her neck.OK, so, maybe that’s not very normal of me. Then again, my relationship with my bride-to-be is not very normal either, which suits both of us just fine. I’m one of those uncommon male forms who would much rather sit in a corner with a book than go out drinking with even the most beauteous of women. As for Shaps, her idea of a perfect day would start with a trip to the zoo, detour to a Lewis Black comedy cuss-show, then end with a jump into the mosh pit at an Aerosmith concert. Those descriptions might seem to place us squarely within the “opposites attract” couples sub-genre, but as usual looks can be deceiving – there is a happy overlap to most of our interests that accounts for the fact that I will enjoy her perfect day almost as much as she herself would, and vice-versa.That is not to say that we never disagree, but the very fact that we can actually engage in pointed, passionate and quite heated arguments is a cornerstone of our relationship. As lawyers, neither Shaps nor I are the timid, reticent type, and it is refreshing indeed to be able to argue to the best of one’s ability, pulling no punches, because you know your partner is not likely to be swayed merely by your fancy vocabulary, nor the force of your personality. I know I’m quite often wrong in my positions, but it is a rare thing to find someone who can weather my oft-bombastic tirades and also fire back with succinct arguments as to just how and why I am wrong. Shaps, bless her heart, makes it a personal mission to prove me wrong. Frequently… and with evident glee.To this day she never makes me forget that, technically speaking, she’s never officially agreed to be my girlfriend. She has etched in her memory those painstakingly crafted words that my younger, quite nervous self asked her those six years ago: “Shaps… will you consider becoming my girlfriend.” Which means, she points out, that I have basically been undergoing nothing but a lengthy probation.Apparently though, I have acquitted myself well enough to convince her to give me her “official” assent when we get married this December (or not… it wouldn’t be completely out of character for her to say ‘I don’t’ if I manage to screw up before then, for instance by once again failing to put the “_” in my “^_^” smiley face). As long as no one forces her to wear a veil (“Do you not want to look at my face?”) or march down the aisle to anything other than Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”, I’m sure we’ll be fine, and well on our way to years of marital bliss, detouring inevitably into the occasional mental neck-wringing.