Stormy Weather

These pictures are not of the current storm, but of Typhoon Basyang four years ago.

It's been raining four days straight today and many places are flooded.

Classes in local schools have been called off for the rest of the week.

Angelica and Mataji were still in Manila four years ago.

  

They lived down the block and would come over every weekend--and anytime school would be called off.

The girls did lots of things together.

Later that same year, there was the devastating typhoon Ondoy which was much worst than Basyang. Then last year, in 2012, typhoon Habagat drowned the city.


Our garden is a bit different now, and the kids are much bigger.

Angelica and Mataji are also back in New York where they now live and go to school.

But these storms still come every July and August and cause so much damage.  Today there's finally some relief from Typhoon Maring.

I hope this is the last typhoon of the season.

Cupcakes for G and C!

These are the perfect cupcakes for my book-loving daughters! Wish I knew who can make them locally.

Abbey Kids

I've been swamped lately, not so much with things to do and accomplish (well, that too!), but mostly because the kids moved school just two weeks ago. It was a monkey-wrench in our otherwise peaceful existence, moving in the middle of the schoolyear--but the opportunity couldn't be passed up. The girls are more than fine--they are very excited. They miss their friends, but kids adapt to change easily. I'm the one going through major thought-adjustments, realizations and learnings. 

I snapped this shot above of the girls and some of their friends after the school's Family Day on a Saturday. They went to their school for the last time on Monday. On Wednesday they were at their new school!

When I took the picture, I didn't realize that Abbey Road was the last album the Beatles recorded together. It went on to become one of the most popular albums of all time.

I'm taking this as a good sign.

You're a Great Way to Fly...

Found these while backing up my iPhoto files. This was taken at an airline-themed birthday party about 7 years ago. We received a boarding pass party invitation, and food was served in trays just like in a plane. Very cute!

Let's Hang...

 photo from Apartment Therapy

The girls have always wanted a hanging chair in their bedroom. I've only seen elongated hanging chairs made of rattan on the roadside going to Batangas. My friend Sandy bought a two-seater hanging chair from them, and we love sitting on it in her beach house.

Then I saw this acrylic bubble chair in Singapore. Apparently it's an iconic piece of furniture originally designed in 1968 by Eero Aarno. From the website links, I learned that the price of one of these original bubbles was $4900! Whaaat?

I don't suppose the one I saw in Singapore was an original bubble, because they have similar bubbles being sold online for about $300, made in China. The Eero Aarno website has such a cheekily-worded page on "Asian fakes" that makes me want to go out and buy a fake one right now. I know it's the opposite of what they intend, but that that's the effect of mindless and sarcastic text.

Ideal minimalist bedroom

The ones on the roadside to Batangas look more like this one pictured above, which is a bit bulky, and definitely not minimalist.

These rattan egg-shaped chairs might fit better in their bedroom since it looks narrower, and it will satisfy their need to "hang."

 Bohemian fun

Those roadside shops might be happy to custom-make one for me. Then I'll be the proud owner of an original hand-crafted hanging chair, instead of a smug owner of an acrylic copy, or worse, a penniless  owner of an original Aarno.

Christmas Chaos

 Christmas 2008. The year we were moving house.

I was too dizzy to have a proper Christmas tree. See that palmera with balls behind?

The last three weeks has been a blur, with all the Christmas preparations going on (hence the lack of posts)  Christmas in Manila takes on a different level--it's a mixture of excitement, mayhem, stress, and warm fuzzy feelings.  Just last night I got together with yet another group of friends. People I don't see throughout the year, but on Christmas, when everybody is home for the holidays, we make a special effort to have a Christmas meal together. Then we always wonder why we don't see each other more often.

Faith and G's Dollhouse

 Faith Bradford started her collection when she was 7 years old, 

and donated it to the Smithsonian in 1951

I've always had a fascination for dollhouses ever since I saw the Faith Bradford dollhouse at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC more than ten years ago.  The history of this dollhouse is so intriguing that there is even a book dedicated to the details of the dollhouse.

Last year, when G mentioned that she wanted a dollhouse for her birthday, I immediately asked the carpenter, who happened to be building shelves in our (real) house, to work on a dollhouse for her instead.

Bamboo Beach Club in Nasugbu

Those familiar with the western Batangas coast in Nasugbu will tell you that the best swimming beach in the whole coast is Bamboo Beach. 

In decades past, Bamboo Beach was reachable only by sea, so only the townsfolk of Barrio Wawa who had access to bancas, and the more affluent boat owners from neighboring beaches like Tali Beach, Munting Buhangin or White Sands (now Terazzas), Natipuan,  and Maya-maya reef club were the only ones who could reach the place or bring people to Bamboo Beach.

A Love Song

I found this on my desk.  "It's a song I wrote for you, mommy" G said.

They are at that precious age where they adore me. Wish they could stay this age forever. 

To the Coolest...

Happy Birthday Coolio!

I guess you've left disco behind and are now on to Justin Bieber. From now on I think you're going to teach us what dance music is, instead of the other way around. I loved your 7th birthday party last year--which you planned all by yourself. You invited a dozen of your best girlfriends to a disco party at home.

The Study Room

On my long list of to-do's is fixing up the study room of the girls (before they graduate from high school--haha).  I haven't really paid attention to it in the past year, so things are dumped there with regularity that it is now a stockroom of sorts.

Miracosta Hotel at Tokyo Disneysea

 

My Tokyo friend told me that Disneyland is the number one dating destination in Japan. The young people don't mind waiting hours in line for ride--in fact, the longer the line, the better for them! Not for us, who need to get as much done in one day.

On one Tokyo trip with the whole family, we spent our last night at the Miracosta Hotel right in Disneysea.

 

We got there right after lunch, checked in and then explored the park, which by that time was swarming with people. Since our hotel was right in Disneysea, the folks could go back and rest when they were tired. When it got dark and the crowds thinned, we had the whole park to ourselves.

We did the rides over and over again...and then again! And when we had our fill, it was nice to just walk back to the hotel instead of taking a long train ride back into Tokyo. The next morning, we enjoyed Disneyland before the crowd got in too.

The Miracosta opens out right into Disneysea. Our room had two double beds, one which even had a trundle --so four of us fit comfortably in one room. Our group got three rooms, two of them connecting to each other. I was still renovating the house when we stayed here so I took lots of photos of interior details.

On other trips, we did Disneysea and Disneyland only for the day, so we went by subway and then took the train. It's about an hour commute. It's very efficient, but we just have to plan our return well so that the kids are not too tired for the trip home.

Staying at a hotel in the Disney area rounded off our Disney experience and helped us maximize our park visits. Glad that our schedule allowed us to do that then.