Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Happy Misis & Happy Mister strike again!

our #1 new year's resolution for 2006 is to limit our out of town travels (read: those that necesitates an air ride). obviously, we want to give our finances a breather after 4 trips to tacloban/oras & husband's bangkok trip in 2005 .
PRIORITY being our mantra, we figured, we have to go home only once this year. that said, husband & i agreed that it has to be in october, during which time, nanay will be hermana at the feast of the most holy rosary.
in january though, i received a call from my closest male 1st cousin that he wants husband & I to be part of the entourage in his june wedding in guiuan (a 2-hour ride from tacloban). i didn't have the heart to tell him of our new year's resolution. for sure, it will sound funny & it will disappoint him (read: he recalled that i attended other relatives' out-of-manila weddings in the past). so, I said yes. this early, we are breaking our new year's resolution.
~oOo~
in february, husband & i were reminded by my sister-in-law of her daughter's 1st bday celebration in tacloban. the bday girl, bea, is my goddaughter. after several computations, it appearing that we will not be cash-strapped, we said yes.
husband made sure that we avail of an airline promo rate. instead of the almost P8 thou 2-way fare, we got a P2.4 thou cebu pacific mla-tac ticket & P2.1 thou PAL tac-mla ticket. that's around P5 thou each! not bad.
we had a smooth ride to tacloban on a saturday morning, march 25. for the 2nd time, i won a cebu pacific tee during the fun-flight game. that hilarious experience deserves a separate blog entry.
husband & i were billeted in a decent air-conditioned room at vic-mar beach resort (the party's venue). the room being really big, we shared it w/ my sister & nephew, & husband's brother's family of four. all of them went all the way from oras. it was a good time to bond for all of us.
sunday, march 26 lasted so fast. in the morning, i was designated by the bday girl's mom to oversee the caterer's re-do of the garden venue. while taking snapshots of the venue's transformation, i prayed hard that it won't rain. it did not.
the party started w/ a mass officiated by the same priest who baptized bea. while adult visitors
enjoyed a 6-course buffet + an array of seafoods (read: huge shrimps, crabs...aaaah name it), the kids went ga-ga in their jollibee zoo party. the moment the jollibee mascot appeared, the place was in chaos. if only kids can vote, i bet jollibee will hit it big time in the polls : )
as if the gastronomic treat was not enough, bea's papa & mama hired 2 acoustic singers to liven the party. several intermission numbers of bea's cousins & her mama's officemates also added to the happy mood. will a sing-along machine be left behind? the answer is a big NO. as expected, the party's time limit at 10pm was extended to around 12 midnight.
bea's mom who's on oficial travel to baguio, joined us on our way back to manila, monday afternoon. we checked-in late & had no choice of the 2nd-to-the-last row seat left for us. good thing, we rode a PAL airbus 320 w/c felt as if we were seated in front. we have technology to thank. oh yes, dear GOD the most.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Meet BACH


The date was August 13, 2005.
I received the good news that our youngest sibling, our only brother, is finally a father. It was not a surprise, much more a pleasant one. But the moment our family was told that our brother's girlfriend is pregnant, we embraced the reality that, yes, a new family member is coming & for the first time, he will be carrying our family name (after 3 sons by our eldest sister).
The moment I laid eyes on this cutie, little boy at the Chinese General Hospital where her mama had to endure a cut, the cesarian section way, thoughts rushed in to 25 years ago, when our brother was just a baby himself. Dear God, my mind said, bless this young family.
His parents named him Bach (pronounced BAK). They say they got this unusual name from Johann Sebastian Bach, the classisist. We insisted that at least a Justin, a Joshua or even a Johann be affixed before the Bach (considering that Bach's parents' name both start with a J & our 3 other nephews' names also start with a J). But our brother was adamant. He prevailed. He's the father after all. And he's no longer a boy.
When our senior citizen aunt heard of Bach's name, she exclaimed: "Ay sus, kadami ng pangalan, bakit talud-tod pa!" (talud-tod is the waray term for likod; likod is the tagalog word for back, right?).
Barely 2 days before Bach turned 7 monhs, he was christened at the Sto. Domingo Church & we, the adults, feasted on an eat-all-u-can buffet in Kamay Kainan, West Avenue. He may not have parted with the yummy treat, but it is with hope that he will grow knowing and feeling that he is much loved by all of us.
Looking at Bach now, I can say that indeed, the best things in life are free.