Santa Claus on Sale

If you have been to the Philippines, then you surely know that Christmas from where I am starts as early as September. Chistmas songs are played on the radio and malls starts to dispose their previous inventory via big Sale. You would see a lot of christmas decors everywhere. Speaking of decors, the kid and I went to a bookstore last weekend and we saw these paint-your-own Santa Claus set. It comes with four Santa Claus porcelain figures, a brush and a paint set. I want to add a different flair to our Christmas tree this year and thought that this could be what I wanted. And the kid was really bugging me in getting them. He said he wants to paint them and that it would be a good bonding moment for us. Makes sense, right?

 So this is how they look like inside the box.

Once they were out of the box, I found out that they seem to be heavy for something to be hanging on a tree. I guess, I better find a different place for them instead. On top of a side table perhaps?

And here they are after they have been painted.

Pardon the fourth one, it was not fully painted yet. My bad, i got all sleepy when we were painting them. I guess painting porcelain figurines would help me in my sleeping habits, too. And, did I tell you, these are really cheap deals? This stash only cost  P 169.75 (around 4 US dollars). Another thing is that it's on sale, you get to have another box for free when you buy it. So that means eight Santa Claus figurines instead of four. Good buy, isn't it?

 I still wish I have enough money though because I would really like to buy this Santa Claus.  He will surely be a great addition to our garden come Christmastime.  Hmm, perhaps next year?

An Afternoon at Nuvali

Have you been to Nuvali Park in Santa Rosa, Laguna? We went there last Sunday as part of the itinerary of my kid's school field trip. We had our lunch in one of the tents that was sprawled on the grounds. Had I known that there were a lot of good restaurant choices in the area, we wouldn't have carried boxed lunches with us. What we really enjoyed in Nuvali was the Koi Fish Feeding and the boat ride. Seeing a lot of koi fishes was really overwhelming. It is our first time to see these much of koi fishes in one place. At a glance, we really think that they are over crowding the lake. But during the boat ride, we realized that there really was a lot of space on the lake and that the fishes are just on one place because they know that is where the feeds will be.

You get to feed the fish when you buy a pack of fish feeds which is just 15 pesos. I was actually afraid that the fishes are overly fed but my husband said that if they were then they would not mind the people throwing the feeds. Fishes unlike human know when they are full and would stop from eating. Well, that is the theory of my husband but I haven't really checked if there are scientific basis to that. The boat ride is also a must try! You have to pay 30 pesos per person to enjoy the ride. We paid the boat in full (360 pesos for 12 persons) and then what we did is ask my kid's friend to enjoy the ride with us. Did he enjoyed it? Oh, you be the judge.

Not only did I enjoy the ride but I also enjoyed the view from the ride.

And after the scorching heat, we headed to Starbucks to grab our favorite coffee concoctions.

Red is my Favorite Color

Red is my favorite color. If you check my closet, you will definitely see how red is favored as most of the shirts and blouses that I have are in that color. It was actually a late love affair for me and the color red. As a kid, I was not into this color, mainly because I am a "morena" and during those times, I don't think that it fits my skin color. The love for red started when I realized that it is actually a very powerful color and that it can really boost one's personality. It had always been associated with confidence.

Wearing two of my favorite red outfits.

And the love for this color is also visible on other things.

Me and my brothers having fun with our red curtain as the back drop.

And then, I realized that a red bag is all you need to level up a drab outfit.

And whenever I am not feeling right, all I need is a dab of my favorite red lipstick to change my mood.

Now can you guess my favorite superhero?

Trick or Treat for the Young Once

Admit it or not, all kids are into sweets. Chocolates, lollippops, bubble gums, candies, cupcakes and every thing that's sweet, give it to them and they will surely devour it in no time at all. When my kid was smaller, we dreaded Halloween. Not because we are afraid of ghosts or the supernaturals, but because the kid had recurring bouts of tonsillitis (which led us to decide to have him undergo Tonsillectomy last April 2010). So my kid never really enjoyed "Trick or Treats". This year was different though. Hubby was appointed as one of the officers of our subdivision and we cannot resist joining in the fun.

We invited my husband's nieces to join the party, and they came in costume,too. That's my kid as Dracula, the one in the middle is a Pink Fairy and the other niece is a Kikay Witch!

It was actually a family affair for us.  We all get to dress up (in my case, have some make-up) our part.

Since we are not at home, we decided to just bring in the treats on the place of the event. And boy, did they really love the Halloween cuppies. 

 This is one of my favorite picture of the night!

It was a blast! Seeing neighborhood kids in costume and the moms too.

Needless to say, we had fun but I still wish we could pass on some real Filipino Halloween traditions to our kids.  Sad to say, that no one in the neigborhood knows what "Pangangaluluwa" is all about.

And now, we are looking forward to the Homeowners' Christmas Ball!

Q is Quiet Time

From the moment that I had started to read, I had always been a bookworm. I find solace in reading than in watching TVs or listening to the radio. Reading brings me to places I have never been and makes me experience things that are most of the times out-of-this-world. And this is the very same reason why I am such a sucker for book sale! Yesterday, we went to one of our favorite bookstore and these are the books that I hauled.

Reading is my me-time, my quiet time and I enjoy every moment of it. And I am glad that the kid seems to inherit the fondness for reading. He has his own collection of comic books to brag about.

A large, still book is a piece of quietness, succulent and nourishing in a noisy world, which I approach and imbibe with “a sort of greedy enjoyment,” as Marcel Proust said of those rooms of his old home whose air was “saturated with the bouquet of silence.” – Holbrook Jackson