I was totally clueless on what to give my kids for breakfast tomorrow. We don't have cereals or bread. And I forgot to buy some or should I say that I was too lazy to go out (again) and buy them.  

It's Wednesday, the busiest and the most tiring day of my week: Going in and out of the house together with my 3 kids. They don't have school every Wednesday. (It's the education system here in France). To make it worst, our youngest, created a scene this morning while we wait for her sister to finish her "cours" at the conservatoire de la musique. She cried for the whole 2 hours of waiting. So I got no other choice but to wait outside of the conservatoire in the colds, with my crying baby at hand.  

I am not fond of cooking, as you might know. Though I can handle a little bit of baking, I am totally oblivious most of the time. But I don't have a choice this time or else my kids will go to school with on an empty stomach. I love my kids too much and I don't want to do that. And besides, I was thinking, we all have the ingredients to make bread at home, thanks to my loving husband who cooks a lot. Well, it's his profession so it's expected of him.

So here's my first, actually my second, experiment for 2012. (The first one is a whoopee pie, I'll post it next time or might not, it's not a cooking or baking blog anyway.)

Enjoy viewing! Actually, I won't explain how I did it, it's just to show you the photos of the process and the result. It taste really good and so easy to make although it will take you 2 hours and a half, (or more, just like me, for I need to put my kids to sleep first before doing the second process)for you need to leave it for an hour or so. For the recipe and the procedures just search for www.allrecipes.com. And just type in French roll bread.

 

  The mixture of all ingredients and made into a ball

  After leaving it for an hour.

  Ready for the oven.

  Freshly baked and out of the oven.

    The end result.

  And of course, the taste test. Yummmmyyy while it's hot and with cream cheese.

 

 

 

 

5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Happy New Year! Wishing all of us a Prosperous New Year!

I wrote this blog few days ago, so that at the stroke of midnight, I'll just hit the "post button," et voila, presto! It's written at the exact time.

For the year 2011, it's a series of ups and downs for our family. But the down are always overshadowed by the laughter of our kids. Just as long as they are happy, my husband always says, then we are fine.

We visited places that make us discover other cultures and beliefs that widen our horizon. Madrid (Spain) was not fascinating for us but made us realize most of the qualities that Filipinos inherit from them, Zaragoza (Spain), intrigued us about infusion of Muslim and Catholic culture. Bretagne, help us appreciate simple pleasures of life. The Region of Languedoc-Roussillon (France), enforced the meaning of family quality time and The Region of Alsace (France), made us realize that Christmas is about the relationship of Christ and our family.

Also this year, our youngest daughter celebrated her first birthday and we celebrated at the same time her Christening. We warmly welcome her into the Christian world and wished that may she fulfill the mission that God bestowed on her.

Financially, we are on the tight side but managed it through. Sadly, except for the savings for our kids, which we don't really use even in emergency, we haven't saved anything at all. The budget for vacation are set aside long time ago, so you wouldn't say that that's the reason why we haven't save anything.

Spiritually, we're bit on the down side. Our family's faith, unfortunately, was being tested this year. I have every chance to read the Word of God every day, yet I decide not to do anything about it. Maybe out of laziness or just feeling being detached from Him. But I will do something about it right now.

Emotionally is the aspect that holds us closer together as a family. Although, I haven't laugh more than I used to, it made us see through all the things that we were going through. Made us stronger individually and as a family.

2011 passed and looking back, I think we still did great; we're still standing. I would love to see how we as a family, not only stand this year 2012. I want to see how we soar this year.  

And at the end of the year 2012 I want to answer these questions:

1.    How's my relationship with God?

2.    Were we able to celebrate the Holy Eucharist constantly?

3.    Was I able to guard my relationship with Him?

4.    Have I found my direction through Him?

5. What were the most important words the Lord gave to me this quarter? 

6.    How's my relationship with my husband?

7.    Was I able to spend a quality time with him?

8.    How's my relationship with my kids?

9.    How was I with each one of them? Describe my relationship with them?

10.    Did I spend quality time with them? Each one of them?

11.  Did I have time for myself?

12.  Did I learn new things? Or re-learn anything?

13.  How many books have I read? Enlist those?

14. Movies I've seen this year?

15.  Financially, how was it this year? Describe how was it?

16.  Was I able to save for the rainy days?

17.  Was I able to share any blessings with others this year?

18. Did I fulfill goals I set this year? Or any of them?

19. What were my greatest blessings for these year?

20. What are my or our most pressing needs for the next year 2013?

-----------

A Rainy New Year from France. May all our blessings be as countless as these raindrops. May our lives be filled with prosperity, purpose and good health. And may our family be complete with happiness, trust and love. May each and everyone find passion in all that they do and in what they want to do.

May we end 2011 and begin 2012 with hope and positive attitude. May we not forget both trials and success of 2011 and transform all of these into more fruitful experiences for the next year 2012.

Let us thank the Lord for all that has been and for all that will be, we say, Amen!

Wishing everyone a prosperous and a purpose-driven New Year. God bless us all!

 

I've been looking for this day since I made our hotel reservation since the month of March. I've heard a lot about these "ville" in the Region of Alsace. Strasbourg and Colmar found in the north-eastern part of France just beside Germany and Suisse. Both are claiming to be magnificent especially during Christmas time.

But days before that, a colleague of my husband told him to be careful out there because people from the region of Alsace are somewhat "cold" and racist. So imagine me being excited since March and then this. It's like bursting a bubble into my head. So during our 5 - 6 hours drive going there, this is in my head. I was scared not for myself but for my kids. Will they feel that they are unwelcome in that village or will they enjoy it there? Questions that were answered as soon as we arrived at Strasbourg.

Strasbourg (capital of Alsace Region) has the fusion of Franco-German culture. Knowing its history, you'll be amazed how many times they changed their nationality over centuries from French to German and vice versa.

    

As soon as we step on the streets of Strasbourg, you can really feel its difference; Traditional yet modern in the same way. Architectural details reflect the beauty of Strasbourg. The medieval cityscape, medieval streets and churches that survived during many years of wars that torment the city give definition to the "ville."

       

But most of all, I find that people are welcoming enough for me and my family. No, they did not welcome us with a band and banners all over but my kids never felt that they are different from the rest of people, either visiting like us or from the locals who live there. They were never looked at with scrutinizing stares, and we were even received with a smile as same as the others. Some even stop to say "hi" or say how lovely our kids particularly our youngest. So it made me at peace, knowing that presumptions that were in our head are actually faux.

    

One of the main attraction of Strasbourg is its gothic cathedral, second most visited cathedral in France after the Notre-Dame of Paris.

The Central Portal

   

The Great Rose Window and the gallery of the Kings

The Great Rose Window viewed inside the cathedral 

 

The Spire

Strasbourg's cathedral has a single bell tower and has a magnificent spire that extends to 142 meters in height and still remains Europe's tallest medieval structure.

Nave (with a glimpse of the pulprit)

The interior of the Cathedral itself is a proof to their claim of that Cathédrale de Strasbourg is really a "masterpiece of grace and lightness."

The Great Organ

Small structure of a dog in the pulprit

This is the work of Hans Hammer for Geiler de Kaysersberg (a humanist preacher at the Cathedral of Strasbourg).

The Chancel

Colmar, can be found at the heart of the Alsace Wine Route. It is one of the top tourist destination of Alsace Region aside from Strasbourg. Well, aside from their famous wine there are lots of things to be discovered there.

Anybody who have seen or who knew of the Statue of Liberty should also know Auguste Bartholdi, its creator. He was born in Colmar, Alsace in 1791 and in 1879 he started creating the "Liberty Enlightening the World," better known as Statue of Liberty which was presented to the people a on October 1886 as a joint gift of French and American people in New York Harbor which he personally selected. And in commemoration of his creation there's also one found in a round point of Colmar.

Liberty Enlightening the World better known as Statue of Liberty (Colmar)

Colmar might be popular during Christmas season because of it's 5 beautiful Christmas markets but it is also célèbre because of details found in its "ville." I will not give any details to all of these but I'll show them through photos.

Musée des jouets

 

Collegiale Saint-Martin

 

Ancienne Douane (front and back)

Schwendi Fountain

 

Kern House

Old custom houses

Little Venise district

Quai de la Poissonerie

Half timbered decorated houses

Spirit of Christmas are felt everywhere even if you're just staying at home with your family or even alone, just as long as we kept the fire burning in our hearts and keeping the faith that Christ was born and He was given to us. But it doesn't mean that we can't enjoy sightseeing and see how Christmas is celebrated in other places and countries.

The reason why we celebrate CHRISTmas

As a family, we love to explore places here in France, for now. And I want to share these experiences with all of you through photos. I'll just put it a summary.

Ooopppsss... I almost forgot, famous food here in Alsace region are these.

The "choucroute"

The "munstiflette"

Bretzels

Churros with chocolate dip

Enjoy viewing. Until next destination. Wishing everybody a wonderful Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!

 

 

 

My husband and I were always fascinated by the region of Languedoc-Roussillon, formerly known simply as Languedoc. (La lingua d'oc, meaning the "language of oc," the Occitan word for yes.) From all the books that we have read, this region gives us the impression of vast myths and mysteries that arouses one's curiosity. One can only ask one's self if all these stories behind Languedoc are true or not. Knights, templar, Holy Grail and Magdalene are few of the topics related to this region.

BUT we didn't choose this region for our summer vacation just because of these reasons. We're not here for a grail quests. So why did we or particularly I, choose this destination?

Every time we'll be going somewhere else, be it just for a long drive, a long weekend or a long vacation, I make sure to research something about our main destination and interesting villages near it to answer all basic questions before going: where to stay, where to go, what to do, what to discover and where and what to eat.  My family, as I have written over and over again, loves long walk, hiking, sightseeing and simply being one with nature. We take pride as a family in being able to appreciate all God's given gifts through nature.

That's the foremost reason why I choose this region. Languedoc-Roussillon in itself, although it is an infinite region of land, its interior is still mountainous and also consists of plateaus with deep river canyons. It also has the "Parc naturel régional du Haut-Languedoc," a 2605 km of land that has a diversified climate and scenery, that is well protected and preserved not only by authorities but also by its own people. Rivers, lakes and beaches are scattered around it this region that makes it easy for each traveler to choose where to go. It is easy to admire this place for, it simply takes your breath away.

But these are just my words, now, I'll let the pictures speak for itself. Enjoy viewing. (And just like the last time, I hope you'll not copy any of my photos.) 

 

 

Sceneries around the region

Castle hidden behind trees.

We passed by through this village of Rochegude in the departement Gard going to l'Ardèche.

 

Well we are happy to share to all of you who read this our experiences as a family for our summer vacation 2011. First and second stop is at the departement of L'Ardeche. L'Ardèche is not actually part of the region Languedoc-Roussillon but belongs into its neighboring region which is Rhône-Alpes. But since it's a hour and a half away by car from Montepellier, I also put in my lists, for the following reasons: Gorge de l'Ardèche and Vallont-Pont d'Arc. Although we spent a day for each places, a day will not suffice for one to explore such beauty.

The view from the top of a mountain at the "gorge de l'ardèche"

 

The 2 kms. walk going down the "gorge de l'ardèche" and up again are all worth it.

 

  

Here are we swimming on its' fine stream

 

Now, introducing the Vallont Pont d'Arc

 

Different point of view of the Arc.

And yes, aside from the view, we also enjoyed swimming in there.

Third stop is the departement of Gard, the region that holds the title "240 days of sun in a year." And where the most preserved Roman Aquaduct is located, called "Pont du Gard," listed as one of UNESCO's World Historical Site since 1985.

 

  

 

 

Pont du Gard

 

Swimming on its cold yet relaxing river

After the swim, time to explore the beauty of its surroundings

 

View from the top of the bridge itself

Vacation is not only a quality time spent with each other, but also a chance to meet new friends.

Another place that we discovered by chance is the Saint-Guilhem-Le-désert, located in the departement of Hérault. This is still essentially a medieval village, yet considered one of the "most beautiful village in France." Well preserved and totally isolated. We discovered this by chance for we got lost. We are heading towards Montepeyroux. We reached our destination yet we can't find the river and we're really shy to ask for direction. So we passed through a street with a sign board that shows Saint-Guilhem, and so we followed it. And here is what we saw.

Monastery of Gellone

Just few minutes away from the monastery, there's a place for swimming called "Pont du diable," because of the series of bridges that connects two mountains.

For a clearer view.

 

On the other side of where we are staying.

  

This is on the other side of the bridge that you can see from the photo after the picture of the monastery.

  

Just let me add some pictures so you'll get some ideas of how breath taking this place is.

Colombières-sur-orb, is another destination that we really didn't expect. It's also a part of departement l'Hérault in the same region. I was a little bit hesitant about this place for the "gorge du colombières" is really located up in the black mountain. Even our family is a little bit adventurous, I wouldn't put them in any risk and I don't want my kids to be deadly tired after. So between "gorge d'Heric and gorge de colombières," which is by the way only 10 minutes apart, I choose the later for gorge d'heric is a 90 minutes walk, and might be a little steep for my two older kids.

At L'Ardèche we went down to reach the river, this time we're going up first to reach our destination.

  

Our journey going up.

  

The magnificent scene that welcomed us as soon as we arrived.

 

Swimming time once again.

Here are some photos at one of the beaches at Montepellier and some others that will give you a little bit of an idea about the region of Languedoc Roussillion.

 

  

  

 

All these beauty that we enjoyed are all thanks to nature itself. Definitely will go back there. Hoping in few years, when all my kids are grown ups (a little bit) they can too can still experience such splendor. Hoping that it will still be the same. And also hoping that people who also discovered what we did, will never abuse such gifts. By the way, all the places that we visited were also visited not by French people (just some of them, mostly locals from their region) but mostly by foreigners. (Spanish, Dutch and English people).

Although we enjoyed our stay in this region, there's still the saying that goes "home is where the heart is," My kids as soon as they entered our house said "home sweet home." But it doesn't mean that they didn't enjoy the places, faces and experiences that we gathered from this summer. Looking forward to the month of December. Next destination Alsace, France.

 

 

Looking forward to going "Home." Another end to one's journey.

My daughter celebrated her 10th birthday but instead of celebrating it with friends as she always does, she decided to celebrate it somewhere near the beach. My daughter loves the sea, sand and seashells. So I took time to check out places where we can really enjoy each other and most specially what we love doing as a family -- joy ride, hiking, nature seeking, exploring, photography and swimming -- and of course, to have fun and to give my daughter something to remember for we were also there to celebrate her special day.

So here are some photos that I took during our 3 wonderful and great bonding days as a family.

Well, we left Paris at 5 in the morning, for Bretagne is 5 hours drive away. Very unusual but true for our family, we don't really mind those 5 hours travel, even with our 7th month old baby. We love joy rides. We take pleasure in looking and exploring, satisfying our eyes with all the beauty of our surroundings. These are things that are free but priceless.

We will be staying in a small village called Carnac but our check-in time is still in the afternoon yet we arrived there at around past 11 am, which is our goal, for we really want to explore the area before heading to our hotel. So our first stop was, "la grande plage de Carnac."

 

(La grande plade de Carnac, Bretagne France)

  

   

(The five of us)

As the saying goes, "when in Rome, do as the Romans do." My husband always insists on this thought. He's point of view is that learning is not only achieved through books but best achieved through human experiences, including learning through taste buds. He's a cook so how can you argue with that. So for lunch we had these. Bretagne is famous for their crêpes so we didn't missed the chance to try it for ourselves together of course with a bottle of cold "Cidre." And I attest to you that LIFE IS REALLY GOOD.

      

(Crèpres de Bretagne)

(Chez Maria, the little restaurant where we had our famous and yummu crêpes. Located at 3 Rue de l'Eglise, Carnac)

     

Chez Maria is a small restaurant with a homely feeling with it for it is a family business that was passed on through generations. Some of the guests were satisfied because of the variations of crêpes prepared but some are not for the reason that the restaurant is so small yet lots of tourist and non-tourist alike wants to eat in this place. And their Crêpes were named after people)

As fast as we checked in our hotel after lunch, is also twice as fast as we left it… for the time being though, for we wanted to explore Quiberone, a neighboring village of Carnac and sort of island but not detached  and which was connected by a small frontiere to the mainland. That's why they called it "presqu'île de Quiberon," which literally means "almost an island of Quiberon."

 

 

(Our Hotel, "Hotel de la Marine"

 

Faces and places at Quiberone

      

(Streets of Quiberone, where you can also find a store of all their typical quiberonnaise canned products like sardines, spreads etc..)

(Le Château du Turpault, this castle is the gateway to the wild coast of Brittany. Though this is privately owned and can not be visited but still a part of Quiberone's history)

       (The Fisherman)

   

     

(Some things that you can see ing the "Grande Plage de Quiberone)

After hours and hours of walking and exploring Quiberone, we decided to call it a day and returned to our hotel. We rest and ate dinner and of course, our little ella-la-belle defy all rules of sleeping and decided to do her own version of "cart-wheel."

(Our little ella-la-belle doing her cartwheel before sleeping. So small at 7 months yet she can keep us up and alert.)

Second Day in Bretagne, France

It's a Sunday, the 12th of June 2011 which also happens to be "the Pentecost celebration". So we started our day by celebrating the holy eucharist at Saint Cornelius' Church who also happens to be just 5 minutes walk from our hotel. What a great way to begin our day.

(Eglise de Saint Cornély)

The weather is not that good so instead of spending it at the beach, we spent it cruising the gulf of Morbihan.

 

(Cruising boat and island hopping)

We went down at "ile-aux-Moines," which means "island of the Monks," and had our lunch there.

          

(If England has fish and chips, France has "moules et frites")

After lunch, we went with a bus tour of the island itself and explore the surrounding areas for 3 hours, bought some souvenirs and waited for our boat again. 

(Meet "Galipette," the turtle with a wiggling neck. A souvenir chosen by my son for this trip and now a part of family)

Here are some photos of what we saw.

(Locmariaquer)

 

(One of the many "light house of the gulf of Morbihan) 

    

(Boat, boats and more boats)

(Surfing People) 

   

(Big islands, small islands, inhabited island, uninhabited islands)

(To make the trip lighter the tourist guide told a story about a man named Bernard living in this house, still single and looking for a wife, if anyone is interested kindly talk him at the end of the cruise and he added "by the way Bernard is 84 years old." Ok, not something to laught out loud but at least, he tried)

13 juin 2011. My daughter's birthday and our last day at Bretagne

After breakfast and checking out, we still have more exploring to do before going back home. Today is a holiday because of Pentecost, so we decided to make the most of this day and discover a little bit more about Bretagne, France. So for the last day, we decided to visit the megaliths or stonehenge of Carnac, the tumulus of Saint Michèl, explore the wild coast and the "Pointe de Conguel."

    

(The "Megalithe du Carnac." The megaliths are large stones,  that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement. One of the best known megalithic structure can be found at Wiltshire, United kingdom. To see it kindly click Stonehenge)

 

(Tumulus du Saint Michèl. A tumulus is a mound of earth or stone raised over a grave. Thus in this photo, giving it an effect of "church on a hill.")

(Welcome to the wild coast where no one dared to swim because of its strong waves, BUT those walking paths that goes along the cliff makes it into an ideal any-day-walk. Hiking or trekking as you pleases) 

(And because of all of these beauty, we didn't waste any time. My husband and I took photos and practice what we love doing most to relax our body, mind, heart and soul. Photography)

 

   

(Here is where all the "happy" mishaps happened. As you know we were hiking to explore the west coasts, but because we wanted to bring some good memories back someday, we took a family photo beside the beach. But the waves were so fast and strong that it hit our feet making all our shoes and socks wet. We had fun after even with wet feet and pants. We didn't mind though, even our kids. We walked bare foot toward the car and put on out sandals and sleepers and hike with them. We then continue to our last destination - Le Pointe du Conguel)

   

(Hiking with our sleepers and sandals)

 

(Le Pointe du Conguel can be found in the extreme south of the peninsula of Morbihan. It's a great place to walk.
A trail goes around the point and leads you to a viewpoint.
Offshore, two islands emerged: the "small hole" within walking distance to the tides and the "big hole" where Gallic graves were discovered. There's also a lighthouse that looms the rocky bench where the battleship of France sank in 1922. But unluckily, I wasn't able to take a photo of the lighthouse itself. But there will always be a next time)

At the end of the day, as we were about to reach home, I asked my daughter if she really like her birthday celebration even without cakes and party, she told me that she'd rather celebrate it this way together as a family than celebrating it any other way.

 

 

 

 

What I really love about the photos that I take are the memories that it brings especially when I spent it with a loved one.

Ice cream

This photo are the time we spent at St. Malo and also the time when we discover that there's a store that can make the biggest "soul food" of our family which is ICE CREAM! We love our stay there plus loved the ice cream too which by the way, made us almost sick because of the quantity that we ate. But we enjoyed it anyway.

Eye to Eye

This photo was taken few weeks ago when my youngest daughter refused to sleep on her bed because she wanted to sleep beside my husband. She's a papa's girl you know and my husband calls her "his little sunshine." In this photo, they are having an eye to eye moment. Our little angel can't take off her eyes from her papa.

Turning

This photo was taken also few weeks ago, when I had my day off. So I decided to spend it with my son while my youngest daughter sleeps on her stroller. He had a great time and not because he spent it more on playing but because he told me that he had me "all for himself."

Butterfly

This photo was taken when my little one and I had the time of our own for her siblings were at school. So we spent time dressing up, well, it's more me dressing her up. And I like this one for it pleases her to have her own wings and be a butterfly. It really shows on her face, you know.

Guitar

This is the time when my son wants to prove that he can do things that his sister does. So after the guitar lesson of my daughter, he took his sister's guitar and started playing "jingle bells." Though I'm not quite sure if it is really "jingle bells" that he's playing. But I love it just the same.

Sister's Love

This was taken few days after the birth of my son. Memories that I always treasure when my daughter shows how much she had waited for this moment to have a little sibling of her own.

Changing diaper

Always love this photo, wherein my daughter is trying to show that she's now a "BIG" sister to her brother.

Just like sleeping angels

                 

Love to watch my kids sleep. Where they are at their best behavior and when I can enjoy them in all my tranquility and where I can achieve ultimate serenity. But even if they're awake, I love them just the same even if they keep my world turning upside down each time they talk, play, argue and fight.

Growing up too fast

Photos not only bring good memories, it also bring realization. This photo is the first time that I realize that my daughter is growing up and that she's growing up to be a beautiful young lady with a mind of her own. I realize at this point, that sooner or later I need to learn to let her go. As she'll soon be able to decide for herself. But not yet, let me still enjoy her while I can.

Making memories of our own

     

     

We love creating memories of our own as a family. So every chance that we get, we create one. Just a simple celebration for the cause that we all together as a family is reason enough to have a good time. So we always create "party" days, like this "our first masquarade party." We also have a "cotton candy party," "cinema nights," "baking party" or even "cooking party." Any lame excuse to have a "party" as a family will do.

Photos are just a reminder of memories that we can cherish. But it does not mean that we should just create memories for the sake of having a photo. With or without photos, creating good memories together with our love ones are the most important thing of all.

 

I am a person who can appreciate a good photo. I love looking at them and ask myself what are the memories behind those images, where and when were they taken and by whom. I want to know stories behind them for life is always full of anecdotes that can be kept as a part of a good reminiscences from our past or present.

These memories are the one that kept me from taking photos. Photos that will be a reminder of people I've met, places I've visited, experiences that I gained, people that I love or simply, photos that affected me one way or the other or photos that just took my breath away.

I'll warn you first, though, I'm not a professional but all these were taken by me. And I hope you'll like it, but please don't copy it. Enjoy viewing.

(Just a little anecdote before I show you photographs of the country where I was born. Do you know that Philippines though quite small are composed of 7107 islands? But I never had been to one of them. Ok, maybe I did but not outside Luzon. The farthest that I reached was Batangas, I think. Oh, I remember going to Ilocos Notre but still within the wall of Luzon together with my colleague and yes, we went to a beach but I forgot the name. But these photos were my first time outside Luzon. And I realize that my life is practically in a box. I never knew that such wonders exists outside it until I discover to jump out of it.) 

Memories of my country.

My beloved Philippines. What I discover and what I miss the most.

Magnificent wonders like the famous chocolate hills of Bohol.

Beaches. Told you, Philippine is composed of 7,107 islands so what do you expect.

People and their hospitality

Or just like what I said, photos that are simply breath taking.

Photos that are reflection of my so called life.

Memories of my second home. Paris, France.

Been living here since 2001. And I can't imagine myself living elsewhere.

La Tour Eiffel

Place de la Concorde

Lady Liberty of France. One of. 'Cause there's two of them. The other one, you can find it in Jardin de Luxembourg.

Photos of people that I've met.

The Bird-Man

My Toad Hall colleague

Colleague once, but are now friends

My italian friend who is now back once again and living in Sicile, Italy

My French friend who is now working in China as an English Professor. Quite frankly, I miss both of them.

Friends before, friends now and friends forever. Distance will never change that. By the way, this last photo for people I've met were not taken by myself.

Places that I've visited

   Departement de Ile et Villaine

Saint Michel

Sain-Malo

Biarritz

Courchevel

Haute Pyrénéés

Marineland, Antibes

Thoiry

Cannes

Boulogne-Sur-Mer

Trouville

Zaragoza, Spain

Lourdes

Giverny

Deauville

Marne-la-Vallée

I would love to show you more but I guess, there's always next time to do that. Photos for me are boxes of images that capture memories of good times, bad times and all those times spend with love ones or just simply someone. Memories that will always bring a smile in to our face but mostly into our hearts. So until next time.

 

 

 

 

She's quiet most of the time. Either working hard at home or sitting quietly doing her needle work. Anything you say to her, she'll reply with a great big smile. But she's just like that. Words have no meaning, her presence are more reassuring. She's a vision of simplicity, silence and tranquility. Her mere presence will always bring calmness into my thoughts. I love being around her for I am always reassured that there's someone with me in any situations that I am in, quietly observing and silently waiting.

She's what I called a "silent presence" in my life. She'll be 86 years old on June 26. She's my grandmother. I call her "Lola," while my kids call her "Lola Conching."

On Sundays she goes to St. Joseph Parish Church, every Wednesday at Baclaran for the Mother of Perpetual help, Thursday at St. Jude and every Friday at Quiapo Church for she's a black Nazarene Devotee. Her greatest weapon in life is her faith and the love that she offers.

One of my fond memories of her is when my siblings and I were talking to her, we're always shouting. Not because we're mad or angry at her but because she's deaf. People always give us scrutinizing eyes and question the way we talk to her. But little did they know that she needs a little extra tone of voice and to read our lips to hear us. But we respect her in every way. She doesn't mind, so we don't mind what other people say.

Gossips? No matter how far you are from her, when gossip is concerned she can clearly hear that. That's her. Maybe she's lip reading, maybe… I don't know. But the thought will always bring happy memories to me. The way she beams up when she knows that we'll be able to share a secret. Her face, her smiles even her wrinkles and creases.

I was never close to my relatives on my mother side. She's the only connection that I have with them, aside from my mother herself. Every Christmas I remember that, she's always bringing sons and daughter of my aunts, uncles and cousins at home. Carefully introducing each one of them saying, "This is your cousin with your uncle or aunt such and such." I don't pay much attention, but I always give all my attention to her. She's the most important woman in my life aside from my mother.

The last time I saw her was during my last visit in Philippines on December 2009. From her house she walked by herself towards my home. 30 to 45 minutes walk. When I saw her, it broke my heart because she's at that point in her life that she should not be alone. She should not be by herself. At that point, I thought, here she is, loving her other children too much, sharing all the blessings mostly financial to them and all the things we give her, she'll give them, but look at her, all by herself. Taken for granted. I pity her situation but mostly I felt anger. Angry at all of them who could at least accompany her to see me. At the same time, angry at myself for I exerted a little effort to see her. I am so used to asking someone pick her up at her home just so I can see her. Not noticing as years go by, she's growing old too. I promised myself that next year, it will be different. Next year, I will be the one who'll pick her up. But next year will never happen anymore.

I remember every conversation that I had with her. The last one was she telling me that I am getting fatter and fatter each time she sees me. Asking me not to eat too much. We both laugh about it. My husband was laughing at us that time for I am shouting again so that she can hear me. And my Lola thought that my husband was my brother Rolly-Boy. She's confused but she'll always be a source of love and happiness to me.

I think I seldom had a chance to tell her how much I love her. If I did, you can count those times between the fingers in my hand. My right hand. Not more than 5 times in her life time. But I love her. Wish I said it more often. But I love her.  I just hope that my actions did its' part of telling her how much.

Never did I hear her speak in English except for the word, "I love you" and "thank you" that she says everytime that we leave Philippines

I remember a day when I was talking with my mom about her, my mom and I was having regrets that my grandmother hasn't had a chance to see the world. My mom wished that she can bring her here in France but she's too old to fly.

Now God gave her own wings and she's flying wherever and whenever she wants to.

I love reading. But what I love most about reading are the lessons that I’ve learned from what I read. I love to ponder to those words and if I can, apply it into my daily living. Or simply stash them in my heart and if situation arises, I would just take them out just like taking out a paper inside a pocket and read them out loud, assuring me that all these learning will help me gain wisdom in whatever situation I am in.

I’m the happiest when I read. And when I am given a little time for myself (because I don’t have much of it, I’m a mother of 3 kids, you know) I take advantage of it. Even just 15 minutes of spending my time in silence and in reading, I know I would gain a lot.  

So what do I love to read?

Inspirational books, quotations, anecdotes, anything available that will teach me something else. Luckily, reading now is very accessible compared to the olden days. You can readily read opinions, expressions and experiences of others through internet. There are these things called “blogs” of different people around the world. Bloggers that can, in their own writings, give us a clearer view, distinct outlook or a different meaning about life. Bloggers just like me who are willing to share their life experiences in order for other people to discover something in them. Blogs that serves as a small window into their own world, for us to peak into them, to pick up knowledge that they partake, to be able to empathize, to comprehend or to just simply appreciate the value of what they are saying to us. Their different points of view maybe far from what we know, but these can give us another outlook that can be useful in dealings with our own. Some of them may be able to help us discover something within ourselves and make us a better person. And some just to make us laugh and let us feel the lightness of life. Some may even answer the question about the essence of our life.

But what is important is that, from all these learning, it gives us a chance to open up our mind and our hearts to all the possibilities that life can offer.

I believe that aside from books, the most valuable learning that can teach us about life are through the experiences of people around us. Through their lives, we gain more than knowledge, we gain wisdom as well.

So don’t stop learning. That’s a lesson learned.

 Different people have different ways of handling their own stress. Today I saw a colleague who cracked and ruin his image of “being cool” because of stress and fatigue.

Of course, I’m only human. I also experience stress and fatigue. But I don’t remember when the last time I sensed these things in me was. And I’m hoping that I won’t experience them soon. Frankly speaking, I am tired. My body aches after work. But never did I complain for, I “think” I know how to handle myself in face of stress or maybe because I have lots of outlet to let go of my stress.

Stress can be defined as forces from the outside world impinging on the individual. Stress is a normal part of life that can help us learn and grow. Conversely, stress can cause us significant problems.

So how do I handle my stress?

One, I write what I feel. I always keep this notebook, sort of a journal, where in I write all my thoughts and what I feel on that specific moment. And it really helps me a lot to alleviate all the burdens inside my heart.

I read somewhere that stress is like a glass of water. Hold it in your hand and extend your arms for a minute, you’ll not complain. But hold it for five minutes or more, your arms will slowly grow tired of it and you’ll suddenly feel the urge to put it down. Stress is the same; it will burden us as long as we hold it in our heart.

Second, I read. Not the bad news that we read on the newspaper every day. I’m not saying that we should not be updated to all the things that happen in our surroundings. I find it most important to also be aware of what’s happening. But I read mostly for my heart. I read books, articles or something that will inspire me to keep on going. I find reading unwinding and calming for my brain and physical tension.

I smile a lot. I have this theory that smiling helps to keep people ageless and has a heartening affect on the person themselves, thus resulting to lessening of stress. This is not proven though but I would still recommend that you smile more often than frown.

I walk a lot. Alone or with the whole family. We are nature lovers. And being one with nature also helps to take of burdens from our shoulders. Accompanied by people whom I love is a plus, for it doesn’t only take off stress but also warms the heart.

I sing. I always sing this particular song if I am worried or stressed out. And it helps calm my soul.

 “I cast all my cares upon You.

 I lay all my troubles down at Your feet.

And everytime, I don’t know what to do.

I will cast all burdens upon You.”

 

I have my family. My kids although they are noisy, demanding or laborious are also my source of strength and joy. At the end of the day, I always look forward to seeing them. No matter how tired I am, this tiredness will suddenly disappear as soon as they open the door and laugh and scream all at the same time saying, “Mama’s here!” That’s the real music to my ears.

I have my faith. And my faith tells me that God exists. That He is just waiting for me to surrender my stress to Him. That my body is not made for severe stress. And that my God wants me to be happy.  And every day, He’s taking off all these stress, worries, anxieties and fatigue on my shoulders. And that He is not expecting that I get it back from Him. This aspect is what separates me from the others who claim that they are “cool” in face of stress.

Last week a colleague asked another colleague if God exists, and he said, “He respects all the religion but he believes that life is the only one existing but he doubts that existence of God.” They did not ask me if I believe that God exists. If they did, I will only tell them one thing, “Amidst all this chaos in our life, amidst all these doubts and anxieties, amidst all these responsibilities, amidst all these stress, why am I still standing and smiling at them if God does not exists?”

Casts your cares in the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken. – Psalm 55:22