If you have been following me on Instagram –> @jenaspacio , you know so well that majority of my posts are food related. I just went over my IG account and took a screencap.
Instagram makes micro food blogging fun! 9 out of my 10 succeeding IG posts from yesterday were food shots!
In celebration of Filipino’s passion for food, whether it be dining out with family or home cooked meals, Electrolux is embarking on a journey to re-discover our appreciation of Filipino food, culture, and heritage through its Discover-E kitchen campaign.
Hubby and I woke up today with this reminder from Gloc9 music video on choosing the right people to vote for. While I am not the very least interested in politics, I am not resorting to apathy. Because really apathy will bring us nowhere. It is our duty as Filipino citizens to go out there and cast our votes for the future of our children.
“Dapat Tama” by Gloc9 featuring Denise Barbacena
I know I should have been more ready with my list some days back at least. But because aside from being under the weather for the most part, I had to take care of my son’s 8th birthday and my tons of other tasks that have swamped me like crazy. So it’s a last minute “kodigo” list for me.
The first seven senatoriables in my list. I only voted for 10. Because honestly, I do not know the rest who campaigned and leaving it to chance and shading the wrong name, I am so not at peace with. I voted for the following senatoriables:
Bro. Eddie Villanueva
Angara
Jun Magsaysay
Grace Poe
Gordon
Hagedorn
Cayetano
Pimentel
Mitos Magsaysay
Honasan
As frustrating as it is to do this election duty as Filipino citizens, we have to choose to do what is right. I Read the rest of this entry »
Last week was a very memorable pre-mother’s day week in all the eight years I have been a mother. I honestly have tons of things I want to blog about, share and document. But aside from the still not done with getting things in their proper places back home (yes, we have finally moved back home after more than 3 months), tons of online backlogs to work on, the regular house chores, I have been urticaria-stricken for more than a few weeks now, 24/7 at that. Totally no time for massage montréal. If that won’t keep any mom, stressed, I don’t know what will. The love for my family keeps me going and with friends who are praying with me, I’m sure I’ll be back to my good mommy warrior stance in no time.
Many as they are, allow me to get started with my son’s fondess for the musical Phantom of the Opera. Is it too weird that my then 7 year old son (he just turned 8 yesterday) loves Phantom of the Opera? What made me smile a handful of times was when I woke up a couple of days last week with my son (who usually crawls up our bed in the morning) humming to the tune of Phantom of the Opera. Reminds me of when he started humming himself to sleep (a child’s own self-soothing nature, I gathered) when he was a few months old. He then would habitually hum songs first thing when he wakes up. Something I will never tire of and I am not going to apologize for being so giddy over what might seem to be too shallow for some.
At first, I mistook the tune of The Phantom of the Opera to the “You are My Hiding Place” song. Then I remembered as he went along to hum the rest of the song, I figured it was from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. That same day during breakfast, I had the Soundtrack of Phantom of the Opera play on my Macbook upstairs. Our son finished his food right away (no second serving – unusual) and went right up. While I was busy downstairs, hubby reported back that he found our son sitting in front of my computer as the rest of the soundtrack played on. He was so into it!
Our son first watched the Phantom some months back with his Ninong Ted but never got to finish it. Then the week before last week, we watched it during our overnight stay at Kawayan Cove (such lovely place). I was surprised myself that a 7 year old will have interest at all. Hubby and I kinda of found it dragging at first and although I always knew about this movie, I was not a fan. Only now am I taking interest on that play. All because of my son.
I did have my reservations as I was not so sure if the musical was too intense for a kid his age. Since I had no time to research (I really had no clue what it was about aside from having that creepy masked character), I played it by ear, I was with him anyway. I figured if I find any scene explicit or too intense, I can always pull him away. More than the bothersome scene of young phantom being tormented in a gypsy freak show (where he was saved by a caring young lady), the falling chandelier, I think what I saw from my son’s response that made him cover his ears a couple of times when the musical score transitioned to being intense. He does that a lot even with cartoons. I have this feeling that our son has this heightened auditory learning ability. He picks things up rather easily. I remember him started to mimic our repeated “I love yous” when he was 2 months old! No kidding! I have to get that video uploaded sometime. This might even explain why he appreciates plays and movies like Phantom of the Opera to begin with.
We have always known that pomegranates (punica granatum), “granada” in Tagalog, are the healthiest fruits on earth. Egyptians in the ancient times bury their dead with bunches of pomegranates with the belief that it promises eternal life. An even more interesting Persian belief is that it was a pomegranate that Eve ate in the Garden of Eden. The name “pomegranate” itself was derived from Latin which means, “seeded apple.” There must be a reason why pomegrantes are broken open during Greek wedding celebrations. I have since researched about pomegranates as I got convinced that there is more to it than culture and traditions. Now, if we don’t have such painfully humid weather, then maybe growing one in our backyard should be no problem.
I believe it was some years ago that I learned about pomegranates being the best fruits for those who have cancer, prostate and breast, specifically. Health experts reveal that the fruit is loaded with antioxidants and a handful more of health benefits like fight against osteoarthritis, heart problems and so on.
There is supposed to be a better way of getting those precious arils and seeds off a pomegranate. You first have to take the crown off then slice the rind all around without going all the way. But I have always cut it this way and I am okay with it. I actually massage the fruits before cutting them open. I find the arils and seeds come off rather easily from the pockets when I do this.
Some just chew on the arils and spit out the seeds. But that’s totally wasting the Vitamin K and C that pomegranate seeds are known for. Because of my love for my boys and I know that both won’t have patience to chew on each seed, I used a blender (a power juicer would have been best– we’re still praying to have one), I gradually set the speed from slow to high to get those seeds as crushed as possible before I add the ice. Read the rest of this entry »
Kids grow really fast. Sometimes it feels like a piece of clothing becomes outgrown before it has time to travel home from the store. This can be really rough on families with many kids or whose budgets are tight. After all, at a certain point, allowing your kids to run around naked is going to get you into trouble. So what do you do? How do you keep them clothed without having to take out a second mortgage on your house?
1. Shop Online
The web is filled with promo codes that you can use to make your shopping more affordable. Even if your taste (and your children’s taste) trends toward the higher end designers , there are coupon codes that will allow you to buy that designer gear affordably. Read the rest of this entry »
Admittedly, during the initial stage of the construction of SM Masinag (across which our village is located), I was all too afraid that the structure might worsen the flooding we were already experiencing within our community during rainy season. Traumatized by Typhoon Ondoy in 2009, you really cannot blame me. Although our then 4 year old son was plenty amazed by what he called “river road,” I was all too scared for our safety, never mind the material loss and the appliance repairs we had to deal with. But when SM Masinag was launched in 2011 and rain came, flooding was not as bad as it was the previous years. I recently learned about the water reservoir underneath the SM Masinag structure itself. Apparently, SM Masinag is the first shopping complex in our country that has employed this innovative construction that is designed to absorb floodwaters – all 3,000,000 gallon of it!
A glimpse of our neighborhood a day after Typhoon Ondoy
The water reservoir is said to be as wide as the whole SM Masinag structure itself and two-storeys tall. Leaving me beyond impressed! Right there, SM has earned my respect for caring enough to do something for this community that has practically been more of a catch basin back east way before Ondoy happened. That huge tank can accommodate 15,000 cubic meters of rainwater. And from that holding water tank, the stored rainwater is processed through sewage treatment for reusing in comfort room flushing (explains why the toilet water is not clear), irrigation and grounds maintenance. Any environmentalist will appreciate this as SM moves towards going green. The Earth Hour and Earth Day participation of SM Malls affirm this truth as well.
I have witnessed for myself too how SM Cares Program on Disability Affairs follows through from the special access for PWD, to their deaf and mute employees in their malls, to this particular Farm-to-Market Project for PWD farmers. Take Mang Donald Carpo, for instance. Mang Donald is a member of the janitorial personnel of SM Rosales. He received free training to grow papaya. He later sells what he harvests through SM for his own profit. Before working for SM, he sold tupig to motorists along the highway.
SM has surely gone the extra mile to contribute and make an impact on the lives of people with disabilities (PWD) and their respective families. Read the rest of this entry »
