As a child, I have memories of my family visiting Luneta Park or Rizal Park and even having my picture taken at that place. Luneta is where the monument of our national hero, Jose Rizal is located. As a Filipino, I just feel that my kids should visit the place to have a sense of nationalism.

Last Saturday, I decided to take them there. More than the reason above, it’s also an excuse for me to take photos for my photography class. Luneta has changed a lot the last time I was there. It’s actually a lot cleaner than I remembered.

The first photo is a picture of my son riding the Kalesa — a horse driven carriage introduced in the Philippines during the 18th century. It is no longer a popular form of transportation, you hardly see them in the Metro except for tourist spots like this. The kutsero or the kalesa driver was so friendly, he actually allowed my son to be the kutsero during our ride. It was truly an exciting experience for my ten year old.

My kids are never afraid of animals which is a good thing — they just love to caress and play with them. Here you can see them enjoying their time with the horse.

One good thing about trips like this is that I can see my kids enjoying each others company. And as a mom, it’s a joy to see them like that.

I would have wanted to catch the sunset by the bay, but my boy insisted to ride the train that was going around the park… How can I resist?

I just have to settle with this sunset photo….

It was quite a tiring day for me and the kids but it was all worth it. Seeing the smile on their faces, I know this weekend will be part of their childhood memories.

How about you? How did your weekend go?

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PHOTOHUNT : TIED

The wedding ring is one of the symbols of your social and spiritual union with your spouse. As you tie the knot, two lives will become one. It is a beautiful gift.

Many years ago, I have made this promise and to this day. I still wore the same ring that tied my life to the person I love. There is no perfect marriage, for the very reason that we, humans are not perfect. A lot of trials and conflicts will come your way. Personally, I believe there are four components of marriage that makes it work, LOVE, TRUST, RESPECT and more importantly FAITH. Faith on your love — that you can weather all the storms that will come, Faith in yourself — that you can give more in order to make things work, FAITH in the LORD — that He will guide and bless you and your union.

Marriage is a work in progress…. for it to be a happy ever after.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.(Proverbs 3:5,6)

Happy Weekend!

LITRATONG PINOY : MASINOP (NEAT)

Isa sa pinakapaborito kong desenyo sa bahay ay ang ZEN type of design. Napakasinop kasing tingnan. Walang masyadong maraming borloloy. Tulad na lamang ng desenyo nitong palikuran na ito. Minimal ang gamit at napakalinis tignan. Tunay na kaayaayang gamitin ang ganito kalinis na palikuran.

Sa totoo lang ang ZEN kasi ay hindi naman isang tipo ng desenyo ito ay isang pangkabuoang kalagayan ng kasarinlan o “state of mind”. Ang state of mind na ito ay nang-e-enganyo na maging calmado, mapayapa at bukas lagi ang isipan.  Kung saan ay pinapraktis ang pagiging mabait  di lamang sa kapwa tao kundi sa lahat ng nilikha ng Diyos. Mas madali da itong gawin kung ang tao ay mag me-meditate gamit zazen style kung saan ikaw ay nakaupo ng tahimik at sentro ang iyong paghinga.

Oo nga naman, paano ka naman makakapagisip nga maayos kung makalat ang iyong paligid. May puntos din itong ZEN na ito.

Ilan sa mga patnubay upang makamtan ang ZEN type of design ay maliwanag, walang “clutter”,  wala masyado abubot at bawasan ang pagamit ng kulay. Hmmmm? Sa mga nabanggit na iyan, mukang kaya ko lahat maliban lamang sa huli, kasi mahilig ako sa kulay.

(The ZEN type of design is one of my favorites. The neatness and the simplicity is what attracts me to it.  It has less decorations and clutter. Just like the design of this toilet, it’s simple and classy.  Truly inviting for anyone to use

The truth is ZEN is not a type of design, it’s a state of mind that encourage you to have a calm, clear and pure attitude towards life. It upholds one to practice kindness not only to the human race but to all creatures of the world. It’s easier to achieve this state of mind by meditating the zazen style, where you sit on a quiet place and focus on you breathing.

ZEN has a point there. I guess you really can’t concentrate if you have all these clutter around you.

One of the things in achieving a ZEN type of design is to have clear, free of clutter, lots of space, minimal ornaments and reduce the color palette. Hmmm, amongst those mentioned. I think I can do all except the last one, cause I really love color.)

Happy LP!

This weekend was another busy one for the family. The highlight was a splash party we attended at the Rockwell Club. I received an invite from a friend inviting us to the 5th birthday of her son and the kids, especially my son, agreed to attend even though they know that the kids who will attend will be a lot younger than their age group.

My son taking a break from his swim while posing for me …

On the other hand, my teenager refuses to take a dip upon seeing all the little kids, so she just ended up posing for me as well. This is just one of the many shots I took of her.

After almost two hours of swimming, my son got hungry and immediately proceeded to the corndog stand and grabbed a bite…

It was truly a tiring but exciting weekend for me and most especially for the kids. How did your weekend go? Join Pixelbug Weekend and share with us how exciting your weekend was…

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Since it’s free week on Photohunt today — I am sharing a photo of my daughter enjoying “sorbetes” or dirty ice cream. It’s a term called here in the Philippines for the unbranded ice cream sold in the streets. Of course, it is not actually dirty, however since it is sold via carts that roam the streets — like the one on the photo, people tend to be squeamish in eating these kinds of food. It is sold with wafer or sugar cones, plastic cups and bread buns.

To all my Photohunter friends, I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to a weekly meme. This will be every Monday entitled Pixelbug Weekend. It’s a way of showing how your weekend went through photos. Hope to see you this Monday.

Weekend was as usual full of activities for me and my family. The highlight of my weekend was a trip to my hubby’s construction site. Hubby is an architect by profession and he’s into construction, apart from his day job. His latest project is a residential house. Hubs usually takes me to his project in three phases : just before it starts, right before its finished and after the homeowners have transferred.

Since I am a layman in terms of construction, those phases are the only times I can truly appreciate the beauty of his work. The photo below represents the “right before its finished” phase. Only a week more before he turns it over to the owner.

If there’s one thing I can truly be proud of is that Hubby never sacrifices the quality of his work. Below is a picture of one of his workers finishing of a varnished door — the almost finished product is at the right side.

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Here are some of the photos from the interior of the house… (continue reading…)

B O W L I N G

If there’s one thing Hubs and I enjoy together, it’s Bowling. Although, I am not the sporty type of person I have enjoyed bowling so much. Even though we both did not go through any proper training, we enjoy this sport so much that it became our stress buster.

And here’s a trophy I won in the first competition I joined…

Happy weekend y’all!

Sabi ng matatanda, “Ang taong tamad ay walang mararating.” Korek! Agree naman ako dito. Kaya nga bilang magulang tinuturuan ko ang aking mga anak na magsipag upang makamtan nila ang kanilang mga pangarap. Subali’t dahil bata ay normal lang naman na paminsan-minsan ay tamaan ng katamaran. Katulad noong pumunta kami sa Palawan… Heto ang aking bunso, tinamad maglakad nang makita kung gaano kahaba ang lalakarin sa NAIA Terminal 3. Kaya nakiusap kay ate kung pwede siyang sumakay sa pushcart. Mabait naman si Ate at pinagbigyan si bunso.

At dahil napagod sa buong araw na pagsiswimming at boat ride, heto na lang ang ginawa ng aking panganay at ng aking kapatid nang makita ang kama sa hotel. Nararamdaman ko ang katamaran sa kanila dahil ako din gusto ko nang mahiga, pero dahil nanay ako, hindi pwedeng humilata na lamang sa mga biyaheng tulad nito. Syempre pa, ako ang manngagalaga sa mga maruruming damit at lahat ng bagahe… Ang basa ay patutuyuin muna bago i-impake. Dahil malalaki na sila, pagkatapos ng pictorial na iyan ay pinatayo ko sila upang ayusin ang kanilang mga basang damit. Hehehe … sadista ba? Hindi naman… tinuturuan ko lang ng responsibilidad upang di maging tamad paglaki.

(According to our elders, “A lazy person will never reach his dreams.” Correct! and I agree with that. That’s why as a parent, I teach my children not to be lazy and be full of life in order to reach their dreams. But then, they’re kids and it’s normal to have episodes of laziness from time to time…. just like the first photo. My youngest was overwhelmed at how big the airport at NAIA Terminal 3 and seeing how long we’re going to walk, he requested his sister if he can ride the push chart and my daughter willingly obliged.

The second photo shows my sister and my daughter lazily lying on the bed. This was after a day at the beach and boat ride. Due to exhaustion, this was the first thing they did when they entered the hotel room …. the bed was heaven. I honestly would want to jump in with them but as a Mom, I can’t do that just yet especially during travels like this. I take care of everything… luggage, gears, esp the wet clothes — I make sure that they are dry before I even pack them. Since these two girls are big enough, after that shoot, I asked them to stand up and help out. Am I cruel??? Hehehe. No, I’m just teaching them a little bit of responsibility so they won’t turn out to be lazy when they grow up.)