Ondoy

Just want to make a quick shout-out that I am alive and well!! And here’s hoping that all of you are doing fine.

During the typhoon, we had poor cellphone signal, poor water, no electricity, no telephone, no internet, no nothing. At night, we couldn’t sleep, bcoz the twins were sweating to death despite our best efforts to fan them. Flood water was thigh-deep outside our apartment. And because we were beside a creek, we were praying real hard that the wall will protect us from the raging waters. And it did. Just past midnight on Saturday, we heard a crash. In the morning, we discovered that the wall collapsed just a few houses away from us.. thick mud and big rocks were everywhere, about three houses were severely damaged.

On Monday, Keith decided we needed to evacuate. All hotels were booked, except Lancaster Hotel in Shaw. Mau, Moxi and the yayas were with us so we booked a 2-bedroom loft-type suite with kitchen (utensils, pots included), a dining area, living room and laundry area. It was a good refuge to us typhoon-victims. Buying grocery from Megamall was a nightmare. The lines were crazy long! I overheard Sta Lucia was closed so people were doing their shopping in Mega.

Ondoy will never be forgotten. He has taken so many lives in Rizal. In fact, in De Castro Pasig, where we usually lived, the houses were submerged in flood water. I am so grateful that we have moved to Brookside and I am truly blessed that my entire family is safe. We were fortunate that flood was only in our street. Mom's house was not as lucky. Flood water was waist-deep on the first floor and all cars were submerged in water. My dad was rushed to the hospital on Sunday night because of cold sweating, tummy ache and headache. He was discharged today and is perfectly okay. Na-stress lang, hehe!

Lancaster Hotel, Shaw

Lancaster Hotel is nice.

I didn't know the De Luxe Suite we checked into was loft-type. I was a little hesitant because we had three toddlers with us and the last thing we needed was a child falling from the stairs. But all other hotels are fully booked, so mag reklamo pa ba? The swimming pool was at the top of the building, and it was an open area, so that's definitely a no-no for the kids. I had strict orders for the yayas to be 200% careful.





Here we are, reading bedtime stories. This we cannot do at home because of brownout.



The staff were accommodating, but service was slow. I had to call them five times to send the additional pillows. There was only one TV and it was in the living room. No TVs in the bedroom. Over-all, the hotel was okay. We needed electricity, water and shelter, and we got it from Lancaster.

What's with the tongue??

"Smile" for the camera is this:

Short hair again after 6 years!

Moxi at 10 months

This is my most beautiful pamangkin, Moxi, pronounced Mouksh by Vito and Carlos.



In this pic, I really think she resembles me when I was a baby, hehe. Lucky girl ;)



Isnt she adorable? :D

Hello from NYC

Tito Ruben and Tita Chat came by to visit the Philippines for a short vacation. Since arriving 10 days ago, they have toured Nueva Ecija, Roxas, Dumaguete to visit relatives, and now Manila.



We had lunch together and food was sumptuous! Lumpiang ubod, Kare-Kare with bagoong, Pancit Bam-i, Chicken Teriyaki, fruits and ice cream. I gained another 10 lbs this weekend, mwahaha.



Pose for a family picture. Not included are Vito, Mau and Moxi coz they were taking a nap.



OMG!! I look so phat! este fat. The 10 lbs I gained are all in my cheeks! Bwahaha.

Vito and Carlos at 24 months

Katrina's Tagaytay

We met up with Mike and Botch coz we have planned to go to Tagaytay this evening for dinner, and some chillin' in cool weather. It was traffic in SLEX because of the Skyway extension, but we saw a lot of Decepticon trucks. That kept us amuzed, hehehe. In Laguna, we stopped by Paseo de Santa Rosa, where Keith was able to buy a gray cotton t-shirt (with a right-side pocket -his favorite shirt style) at Dockers with 50% discount. He also found a backpack in Nike which is strong enough to hold his laptop. It also has a thermal pocket for his tumbler. He got the bag at 50% off. You bet he was beaming with happiness.

We then headed to Katrina's, a resto-pub serving authentic Mediterranean cuisine, just a few meters away from Casino Filipino and Mcdonald's. We were met by the very accommodating owner and restaurateur, Trevor Roberts. That's him behind me.



He indulged us with stories and secrets of their restaurant, I am not sure if I can share them here though, hehe. Just pay him a visit, I'm sure he'll extend the same warmth and hospitality.

Our first order was a bottle of semi-sweet Infantes red wine. And since it was our first time, he suggested that we try some of their best-sellers - pizzas baked in an oven with volcanic stones, double cheese spaghetti, cottage pie, fish & chips, and apple pie. We ordered them all. For pizza, we ordered two - Chef's Special and Alfredo. Dinner was super! And cheap. For all that we only paid P2,500.





Currently, a part of the restaurant is under renovation. We will surely come back for the great food, affordable meals and cozy ambiance. BTW, they also have rooms for rent, very convenient if you've had too much to drink and cant drive. For inquiries, call 09053288425 or 09192756904.

Before heading home, we made a quick stop at Starbucks just to check out Taal and have more of that cool Tagaytay breeze. We were so full that we didnt even attempt to buy water, hahaha. Until next time... :)