ANDREI'S 14TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

It's my baby bunsoys birthday and syempre, pandemic or not, Yub and I will do what we can to make it an unforgettable one.

Last year, we had a surprise party for him when the bunso turned 13 years old.

This year, even if turning 14 is not as grand of a milestone as when he officially became a teenager, we still wanted to give him a celebration to honor our loving and talented bunso.

Of course, there may be no staycations nor multiple dinners at our usual birthday restaurants, but still, our munting celebrations were filled as much love as we could all muster.

So HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS my dearest baby bunso!!! We love you soooooooooooooooooo much!

DELICIOUS TRAYS FROM ALIMANGO HOUSE BY RED CRAB

RED CRAB has always been a long time favorite when it comes to indulging and craving for cooked crustaceans. Of course, we could always go for the cheaper option by ordering in farmers market or dampa, but still, it wouldn't be cooked like the way we have always been drooling over. 

I would also always order in RED CRAB whenever our hosts have a craving. As in we would get kilos upon kilos of their ginormous crabs smothered in garlic (their go-to dish when they're in the mood for seafood). With the current pandemic however, our live shows became limited thus RED CRAB became bye-bye. 

It was such great news however that ALIMANGO HOUSE by RED CRAB is offering their mouth-watering specialties in food trays that is perfect during this phase where we all have to stay in. They also have new items in the menu that would surely be top of mind when we have a live show again and our hosts have a craving. 

So happy were we when ALIMANGO HOUSE by RED CRAB said they'll be treating us to a delicious seafood dinner and to just say when.

Ah... eh... pwede EVERYDAY?!?!?!?!!?

Tee hee... As much I was so compelled to say THAT, the Yub and I just chose to have it on our sons' very special event.

Their first day of school! Ha ha ha ha ha!

So yeah, even if the boys were initially fretting that their vacation is really over, they brightened up at the sight of glistening fatty crabs in the best kind of oil there is. 

Me also I'm happy because not only will the love of my lives from home will be able to enjoy the deliciousness of ALIMANGO HOUSE by RED CRAB but I could also order again for work!

Yep! All sides covered. Ha ha ha ha!

Check out our sea-shelly happy meal from ALIMANGO HOUSE by RED CRAB trays and see how to order. 

 

OOH WOW! Now I'm crabby! Ha ha ha ha!

OUR VALENTINE'S (2021)

Iiiiit's VALENTIME'S once again and though many out there are all starry eyed and looking forward to a romantic celebration this day of hearts, for me it's different.

I have another excuse to EAT!!!

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha! Naaaah! I'm kidding!

I've spent so many years being that unattractive other friend whom nobody notices and I dream of the day when I'll have a forever Valentime. I guess I looked pathetic because my Dad would send me flowers with the card "From Roger, your secret admirer" just to make me feel better. Ha ha ha ha ha!

So that day finally came and I'm so thankful to have not just one, but 3 pogi VALENTIMES all in all.

Of course, Daddy will always and forever be my original VALENTIME who was there when no one wanted me. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!! He was after all, the one who set the standard of surprising me with flowers, giving us chocolates, and treating us out every VALENTIME'S!

Now the guys I have now will suffer the consequences!

BWA HA HA HA HA!

Kidding!

HAPPY VALENTIME'S DAY everyone!

(Yes that's how I always call it. May reklamo??!!)

MENYA KOKORO BGC

For one Saturday family gimik, my guys and I decided to try out something different from our usual Bonifacio High Street lunch and coffee. Instead, we decided to go Uptown Mall...

..for some lunch and coffee!!! He he he he he he!

This time though, we wanted to try out MENYA KOKORO!

ITALIANNI'S BGC AGAIN (2020)

Once again we are out and about in BGC on a Saturday, and once again we will be planning to eat at our "flavor of the month," ITALIANNI'S. This time though my big guy joined us because he got "inggit" with how happy we were in last week's lunch with Andrei.

I don't blame him because we really had a lot of great food that time. I'm sure with this family lunch, we'll have another awesome lunch!

And that we did!

ITALIANNI'S!!!!

OUR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION FOR 2021

Good-bye 2020!!!!

Based on the posts and comments of other people, many were happy to say adieu to the year that was. Some would even go far as wanting to  get rid of 2020 saying that it's the worst year ever.

I understand and respect where the strong emotions are coming from especially with the pandemic. My family also experienced losses because of it. Still, I want to (try) to look at the bright side and appreciate what we still all have: family, close friends, our humor (ahem... tiktok vids??), a roof above our head, our means to earn, our lives, our food, and of course, our faith.

2020 is the year the we could all do without. Still, I want to recognize that because of 2020, we all learned something, appreciated what we had, treasured those who matter, and renewed/strengthened our faith.

2020 may be a bad year but remember that there were still smiles, there was still love, and we still had each other. To me, it would still count as a good year.

Yun lang it will be the "leastest" of all good years. Ha ha ha ha ha!

Sharing with you our celebration in welcoming the New Year. Let's all hope and pray that 2021 will be better, even for just a bit.

EOW POZH 2021!!!!!

(Teeheee)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

MY OFFICE CHRISTMAS NIGHT (2020)

Our office Christmas party is one event that EVERYONE in our workplace is excited for. When I was new, somebody told me how our parties were epic and I was able to happily discover why.

And yep! It was always awesome!

Let's just say that every time I talk about our office Christmas parties to other people, the usual reactions were "WOWWWW GRABE NAMAN!" or, "ANG SAYA SA OFFICE NYO!!!!"

Syempre ako naman, I'd gleam with pride. The Christmas Party at TAPE Inc is indeed the icing to the cake of being part of a very cool company.

Due to the pandemic however, there were so many changes in our Christmas Party celebration. For one, we cannot have a grand getogether because of rules and regulations prohibiting large social gatherings. So with that, we had a zoom Christmas party where attendees from the studio (because there was a live show), from the office (it was a workday), and those who worked from home, all joined in.

Honestly speaking, it was still fun. Of course, the craziness coming from our big and rowdy crowd may be gone but we were still able to celebrate our Office Christmas Party with a more intimate flair into it. The great thing there is that we were able to confirm that it's not just about the large venues nor the rows of buffet lines, or the kalog games that causes maximum enjoyment.

It's actually the Dabarkads. Mismo. Kahit na zoom call pa!

I'm very thankful to work with cool people (who are already like my family) that wherever we were, we still have a great time. So yes, this year may be different, but I will still welcome the night with hopeful spirits

At least may celebration pa din di ba? :) 

Sharing with you guysh this year's DABARKADS Christmas Party... este.... Night, for the holidays. We may have had a rough 2020 but there were still many things to be thankful for.

And one of those for me is still being part of the longest running noontime show ever!! :)

Merry Christmas! 

Our office Christmas Party!!!!

OUR CHRISTMAS (2020)

It's CHRISTMAS! And even though I've heard several times from people how "they don't feel the warmth of the holidays," I beg to differ. Of course, I know where the sadness is coming from. This pandemic truly caught us all by surprise and I'm sure everyone (myself included) has experienced pain and loss. Still, even if our holidays were not as festive and "en grande" as before, we should still remember and focus on the deeper meaning of CHRISTMAS. The season after all celebrates the birthday of Jesus and I believe that is already reason enough to at least appreciate what we already have and (still) thank God for everything.

So yes, even if CHRISTMAS is different this year, let us all just focus on what's important -- family, blessings, love, and Jesus.

With those in mind, I'm sure the heart will find the happiness we all need right now.

Sharing with you what happened to us during the holidays...

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

OUR YAPPY 2020 (PART THREE)

And there you have it. The last trimester of the year. I know I have been saying this over and over again, but let me say it once more: who would have thought that 2020 was going to turn out THIS way????

Now the expression "Hindi naman aalis ang (destination) na yan..." is just so ironic now. With the pandemic, as much as we wanted to go somewhere, we cannot do so. For everyone's good, we have to stay at home or limit our social life unless it's something very important.

It is so sad too that we have friends and relatives who've had deaths in their families. I could only imagine the pain they are going through during this time where everything was just beyond our control. It's just unfortunate that we also cannot be with them during this very difficult time. Instead, we offered prayers for their loved ones. Just overwhelming na talagang "sunod-sunod."

May be hard to believe but the saying "There's no place like home" gives much comfort now. It got me realizing that even with the crises going on, we should still all be thankful especially if we have a loving home to sleep in.

So yes, 2020 may be a very trying year for all of us but let's just try to see what we could learn from the experience. Corny as it may sound, I believe that from the darkness there will always be light. So really, let us learn from what happened to us in 2020 and be ready with a positive attitude for 2021. Things may not return to what it used to be but let us just be thankful for what we still have.

With that, let's take a break from the defiant "Bring it on 2021" or focusing on greeting the new year with a glamorous bang. Instead, let us say our prayers and believe that everything will be better soon.

Until then, let us still thank the Lord and appreciate all of the blessings that He has bestowed us this year. Believe me, there is still a lot. Hence, this post. I'm taking notice of all of it. Ha ha ha ha ha!

Promise, we still had a good 2020. For 2021, let's all pray, that it will be great!

YEHESSSS! 

OUR YAPPY 2020 (PART TWO)

Never in a million years (as if I lived that long) would I have thought that a certain Covid-19 would paralyze our social, economical, professional, educational, etc., etc., system.

We were all caught unawares!

Still with that pandemic, many of us were able to discover more about ourselves.

I for one appreciated more how cool and loving my family really are especially when I see others post about how bored they were and how they wanted to "break free" from their "prison." Never did I feel that because everyday had a different kind of simple fun in them. I rather enjoyed being in solitude with my family doing simple things like cooking (we play loud music and try out new recipes), cleaning (promise ang kulitan namin at who will wash dishes is so funny), eating (kwentuhan galore), movie nights, praying the rosary, etc etc. Truth be told, I enjoyed our extended family time more that I wasn't able to join zoom or group chats. My focus really became the people who I was with -- my family.

A friend (itago natin sa pangalan na Mareng Gail) told me that at our age, we should now choose to be with people who makes us happy.

And with that, I'm thankful I am "stuck" with the people who not only make me so happy but they also make my life complete. As a result, we really didn't mind the ECQ too much because it became an extended "home-cation" for us!

Sharing with you the second trimester of our year 2020! Usually my "end of the year specials" only have 2 parts, but for this year, I divided it into a threesome. I know that 2020 is the year where many things went wrong and there were no gimiks/outings that happened (too much). Still, I want to remember the good times that we had during the start of the year and I'm grateful that there were still many that I want to remember.

Rock on!!!!!!!!!

I swear that it's still a great year!

OUR YAPPY 2020 (PART ONE)

As much as we were all excited to face 2020, I got to admit that it started off hard. Many events happened that were sooooo unexpected like:

The explosion of the "used to be quiet" Taal Volcano...
The death of a basketball icon...
The discovery that a deadly virus is already within the country...

AND THAT'S JUST THE FIRST MONTH!!!!!

Still I know that things will improve. As they say, when you're at the bottom, there's nowhere to go but up. So yes, even if the year started off on the negative side, I was still bursting with positive vibes because I believe and I have faith that everything will turn out better... if not, awesome!

And yes, I know it will!!!!!!

And then on April....

NOT!!! (This is Jaz from the future).

I found my February self (when I wrote the upper intro) so adorable because I'm all hopeful and feeling like it's still going to be a fun summer.

HOWEVER.

Saying that we didn't know what's coming was indeed an understatement. Yep. It surprised us all. Still, I'm glad the Lord blessed us with so many things that we were able to cope with this pandemic and made it into an experience.

Believe it or not, we still managed to have a fun summer because we were with FAMILY.

No we're not stuck at home.
No we're not bored.
No we're not getting crazy and impatient.
No we're not daydreaming of going out of town or out of the country.

I am with the people whom I love soooo much and I'm happy that they're cool too that everyday was still enjoyable.

Because I'm HOME.

Of course, some days tend to be the same (like we're in Groundhog Day), and we would also get into each other's nerves. But at night, after praying the rosary with the family or when I reflect about the day's events,  I just get this warm and cheerful feeling inside that get me all thankful and looking forward to the next day. As a result, it makes me so grateful that even if I hear or read numerous complaints from other people that they're bored or that they're having such a hard time this ECQ (just because they can't travel or socialize), I cannot relate because I am experiencing the opposite.

As they say, HOME is where the heart is and I'm thankful that during this pandemic, everything became pleasantly endurable because of the people I love.

Sharing with you the first part of our 2020 and the start of our experience with this pandemic. You'll find that it is more detailed as we stressed on how there is always something to be thankful for and I wanted to look back at this time with a smile.

:)