When was the last time you had a vacation?

I’ve been thinking about this and yes it’s true that most of my friends are living in different parts of the world. Now, if I could only have enough money to use in visiting each one of them, I’ll be spending the rest of my life travelling the whole world. I surely miss them all. Each one of them has his own character but I certainly hope that they changed for better. Because sometimes, I’m hesitant to call or visit some of them knowing what their nature really is. There are some who instead of appreciating my visit will be too much in thinking about his unfinished works, and yet not minding that he’s becoming offensive. That’s why sometimes when I plan to visit someone in a different place; I will make sure that not a single minute of my time will be wasted. I’m going to have different agendas in that place and visiting a friend is just one of those. Exploring the place’ natural beauty and famous spots, buying souvenirs and taking pictures or video of me as for my own travel mark will all be on my list. I’d prefer staying in a hotel as much as possible than to a friend’s house, not that I don’t want to be with him the whole time of my visit but because of few reasons. First, I want to experience how the locals of that place serve tourists like me, or should I say, I want to be served in a more special way. Second, I have so many plans and I don’t want to be a burden to my friend, he has his own life and business too, you know. And third, I can do whatever I want if nobody’s around me, and that's for sure!

My next plan target is Tasmania, Australia. I’ve heard from a friend who is now living there for 2 years now that it’s a beautiful place not to mention its good-looking people. I’m dying to see their famous landmarks especially in Hobart, an extremely historic Australian city in Tasmania. Since my friend knew that I preferred staying in a hotel, he immediately recommended some Hobart Hotels where I can be booked ahead of time. He promised me to tour in Tasman Bridge and Derwent River. He said we could do water rafting if I want. Aside from that, he told me that we can go to other cities, like for just more than 2 hours of drive we can be at Launceston if I want to do fishing at Macquarie Harbour, another known tourist attraction in Australia, isn’t that cool or what? The good part is I don’t really need to think in staying in just one hotel since there are also Launceston Hotels that give passes where I can purchase as many nights as I wish. I also heard of the Devonport & Cradle Mountain Attractions, I’m not just sure yet how far this is from Hobart but I hope there will be lots of Devenport Hotels I can choose from when I still get a chance. I can’t wait to see all these interesting sights but of course most especially, my friend, who I haven’t seen for a long time. He’s so generous in his invitation, I can’t refuse to accept.

Having a vacation is a good treat not only for ourselves but also to our friends who misses us. Make time for yourself, don’t just think of finishing your work as always, I tell you, it will never be finished. Don’t let your work finish you instead. Now, let me ask you, when was the last time you had a vacation?

Tasman Bridge

Hobart from the eastern shore of the Derwent River

Cataract, George Launceston

Devenport Cradle Mountains

Alligator, Chicken and Sprinkles??!!

Every day, new and newer things I'm discovering from my son. Time is so fast, and yet there's no significant changes happening to me but a lot of development I can see in my "ahoy' matee" Clarence (he loves pretending as pirate, Arrr!!). He'll turn 3 in April by the way. Sometimes, he'll just surprise us with his owned composed sentence that we don't know where it came from. Making full little sentences with a subject and predicate hehe.. plus some adjectives make him so adorable to be heard. I think becoming used from his baby talk and just few words when he was just a baby made us so amazed when we hear him talking like already a grown-up now. One time, he cautioned me by saying, "Quiet! no talking, mommy is sleeping"..I swallowed my tongue at that very moment hehe. And when we are playing paint in the computer, he'll changed the color followed by a reasoning, "this' much better daddy!". But one thing I definitely know, that he's Spanish counting of uno up to diez was Dora and Diego's liability. I thought, wow! He doesn't need me anymore to learn.. In fact, I don't want him to learn that way of counting before because I don't want him to be confused with the English counting..(he can count and recognize numbers individually up to 50 now) but who am I to judge him... hehe.. I think I underestimated him in that point somehow.. I learned that we should not think or say that our kids can't do or learn things, not unless we don't allow them to give it a try. Kids are so smart not to know what we already know, they just need a little explanation and trust from us. The funny part is when they juggle the words in some of their rhyming words hehe.. Like my son, when we went to the doctor's office which was located in 4th floor, we're playing outside the clinic while waiting for his mom's checkup... he grabbed my hand and pulled me while telling me he likes the alligator... I was so confused till we reached the ELEVATOR and pointing to the button while kept on saying.. come on daddy, alligator! alligator! hahaha... there are a couple of words more.. one is chicken whereas it should be kitchen.. "let's go to the chicken daddy, get milk!" another is sprinkles instead of splinters.. on the playground, he tends to take off his slippers and say, "daddy, Oh no! sprinkles on my socks".. He's adorably funny!!! Then I said to myself, well he still needs me and that is for sure! I wonder what surprises are in store for us for the next 12 months..


Clarence with his art works on the wall

Happy St. Patrick's day!

Did you wear green today? They say that St. Patrick's Day makes everyone just a little bit Irish, do you know why? here's why..



St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by the Irish and Irish at Heart in big cities and small towns alike with parades, "wearing of the green," music and songs, Irish food and drink, and activities for kids such as crafts, coloring and games. Its a time for fun. Some communities even go so far as to dye rivers or streams green!

Prevention vs. cure

In times like these, getting sick is not an option. We already felt the effect of the economic crisis, in terms of income, tax returns, commodity prices and etc. And now from the Physician's professional fee or specialty copay and prescriptions' charges which are really like a steal in your pocket. Prevention is better than cure as always. I'd rather buy some disinfectants and cleaning materials than medicines. What do you think?

Friday the 13th on my birthday?

Yesterday was just like an ordinary day for me, trying to make it special since it happened to be my birthday. I set the alarm clock at 6:45am, enough time to get a shower and put on clothes for the 7:30 am mass. I went alone since my wife is so sick for 4 days now and my son was still sleeping that early. When I got to the church, i was few minutes late even if I drove a little more than the speed limit just to be on time. Oh well. i really don't like it if I didn't get the very beginning of the mass and there's nothing I can do but just to blame the hair gel that we bought, now i know why it was on sale.. gheez! Inside the church I was able to talk with our Creator without any interruptions, without my son crying around, i mean all in its solemnity.. I asked His forgiveness for all my faults and failings in the past 31 years. Gratitude for all the blessings and assistance in our daily living. I feel very relieved after the mass. I even met a very kind lady named Doris, she introduced me to the other members of their rosary crusade and invited me to join them every morning. She told me that I can lead one mystery of the rosary in my native tongue if I want to. I believe that's the best time of the day in my birthday... to be with God in my very special day!

Mom always on the Go!

What is this? DKP! (Diyos Ko Po!)

Black or White

The King of Pop is back. How does the African-American community felt about Michael Jackson's decision of becoming white? That's what I'm thinking before when I'm being so ignorant of what really happened to Michael Jackson. People should know the real story first before giving their disrespectful prejudices. You should know that Michael Jackson had been diagnosed with Vitiligo and this caused the depigmentation of his skin. See this video on youtube > Michael Jackson ~ Vitiligo clips
I saw last night on TV, Kimora Lee Simons said that her hand painted ceiling of angels will be changed because all of those angels are white. She didn't say that she'll replace it with black angels though. I don't understand the wars between black and white. As for me, I'm always in the middle, hehe..


Black Or White - Michael Jackson

The Fruits of Our Labor

The Fruits of Our Labor. Hard Work Never Tasted So Good. "Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not!" After a battle week of getting Clarence become used to his newly owned bedroom, we're now harvesting the fruits of it. My wife and I enjoyed every minute of her rest days, every night one or two movies are being peacefully watched by us. Clarence now sees the authorities in us and I'm so proud of him because he responsibly dealt with it really really good. We're all happy, less stress but more caress (If you know what I mean). My wife and I were able to talk as much as we wanted now that Clarence has his own room. There are still a lot of things to know more from each of us eventhough we've been together for almost 9 years (counting our gf-bf time). I love her so much and I wanted her to know that I appreciate all the things she's doing for our relationship. This song is dedicated to her.

think im in love again -

Here I go again, drifting on my own feet
Lately it seems I've been, being old foolish me
Mumble when I try to talk, stumble when I try to walk
Like I'm in a state of shock when I'm with you.

Here I go again, looking just like a clown
Everything I say is wrong whenever you're around
Somehow I got kind a shy and I can't look you in the eye
I come all apart inside when I'm with you.

Chorus:
Think I'm in love again, grinning that silly grin
Look what a fool I've been, think I'm in love again
Lately I lost my mind and I do it everytime
(Guess/Yes) I know all the signs of being in love.

I won't lie to you, I've been in love before
But I think that you're the one that I've been waiting for
Been around I'll admit, but this time all the pieces fit
Something tells me this is it, when I'm with you.

Lorie, if you happen to read this, i want you to know how much I treasure you in my life. You're one of the reasons I enjoy living my life. I love you so much. I know I will always fall for you. I'll make sure to be here beside you every step of the way.

The Oscars 2009

The film industry's biggest stars have gathered in Hollywood for the 81st annual Academy Awards ceremony, recognizing the year's top movies and movie makers. The Oscars is tonight, February 22nd 2009, Live 5PT/8ET at abc.

Nominees are:
Actor in a leading role:
Richard Jenkins - THE VISITOR
Frank Langella - FROST/NIXON
Sean Penn - MILK
Brad Pitt = THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Mickey Rourke - THE WRESTLER

Actress in a leading role:
Anne Hathaway - RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Angelina Jolie - CHANGELING
Melissa Leo - FROZEN RIVER
Meryl Streep - DOUBT
Kate Winslet - THE READER

Best Picture:
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
FROST/NIXON
MILK
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Separate bedroom for toddler

Here in MD, they require 2 year-old toddler to have a separate bedroom, thus, when we looked for a new apartment we have no choice but to get 2 bedroom unit because of our toddler. As of the moment, there’s no available 2 bedroom in our apartment complex that’s why we’re still stuck in our very first lease (1 bedroom since when we applied for this before, my son was just 11 months old then) I remember the transitions that took place in times when we get Clarence his bed.. From crib, during his infant stage, to cradle, then toddler bed and now queen size bed.!! Could you imagine that? I’ll tell you later why. I’m 100% agree in the idea of separating the kids from the parents’ bedroom because it teaches child to be independent. Sooner or later, my son will need to be in the school class room all by himself with other kids and he needs to be brave in facing that challenge. Clarence became used in sleeping by my side since my wife is working at night. I thought, we’re just two in the house and we both don’t want to be alone during the whole night, that’s why I allowed that kind of sleeping routine. At first, it felt wonderful because it made the bond between us as parent to child really strong. He always looks for me and most of the time preferred to be with me than his mom. Then little by little, time after time, I observed the negative consequences it brings, not only to him but for us. He doesn’t want to be alone in a room, not a single second. He always asked either me or my wife just to be with him to whatever he wanted to do, to the littlest thing he can think of. When it’s my wife’s rest day, we can’t get to ourselves alone because my son always wanted to sleep in between us. In his playgroup activities at school, I noticed that he’s hesitant to mingle with other kids unless I held his hands. To this, we came up to a decision to give him a bedroom of his own. Before, his toddler bed was also in our bedroom but it became useless since he tend to transfer in our bed during sleep time.

Last Thursday, we did some home makeovers, we folded and hid his toddler bed and gave to him instead our queen size bed. Now my wife and I are using the sofa bed in the living room. We put all his toys, books and learning materials in his bedroom so he’ll somehow feel that he owns something and he can tell that it’s his place. His territory. The first night was extremely painful, emotional, heart-breaking, irritating and tiring. It took more than 4 hours of struggle, crying, pleading, bargaining, arguing (me and my wife), and a lot lot more. Clarence almost lost his voice in crying out loud, we didn’t mind if he’s disturbing Mr. Grumpy Old man upstairs because we are strict to our plan even if it did bring us a lot of pain. Well, we have to be consistent, our son’s welfare is at stake when we give up. I’m proud of my wife because whatever I say to her to break her up, she won’t listen and instead gave me a realization of what’s best for all of us. Our strategy was just to stay at the bedroom’s door to let Clarence know that we’re still there but not joining him in bed, since it's his first night. Explaining to him that we already have our own bed in the living room and the big bed is now his. Now is the third night, I can say that there’s a progress since he can now sleep without his body trying to touch and look for mine. I can now little by little, leave the bedroom's door. But it took me 3 hours tonight before he finally gave up. What did you know??, it’s 1:38 am now and he’s sound asleep, how about me? I can’t get my sleep back anymore that’s why I’m now blogging hehe.. One more thing, whenever he cries for my name, I never showed up because he's using his cry to get my attention and make me go back inside the bedroom and when he goes out the bed, I put him and tuck him back in his bed then gave a command to lie down, close his eyes and sleep.. I hope the following days will be a success for us… to make him independent and for us to get our love life back hehe…

Benefits of playgroup

Yesterday was somewhat special for us because Clarence turned 2 years and 10 months old. We were able to spend our day going to his ABC class field trip in Baltimore’s National Aquarium. We really felt that we did the best thing in registering Clarence in school programs like this because of all the benefits he and “us” can get. I also have to say that all of these classes are free of charge. He started attending playgroups/classes when he was just 2. Aside from ABC class, he also attends Infants and Toddlers. When my wife and I were talking, we recalled being enrolled in school at the age of 6 or 7 and we say, wow! This boy is so blessed.. hehe.. His teachers are great. They are evaluating Clarence developments, to know where we need to concentrate more in our parenting. He’s also starting to build confidence in his self because of all the social activities he gets in dealing with other kids. If you ask for the admission fee, you will say it’s worth the money. I acknowledged the men and women who maintain, keep and make the place worth visiting. By the way we did not spend a single penny for this trip for it’s all free for the ABC class.

Cost: Dolphin Show & Admission to Aquarium
Adult (Ages 12-59) $27.95
Children (Ages 3-11) $17.95

We saved $55.90

Here’s a video of our trip. It’s really unbelievable how they can manage to feed and maintain all the animals here.



Aquarium Trip - ezekiel

Happy Valentine

Happy Valentine to all. Before thinking of becoming sweet on this day, you may want to know the Peanut recall news first. Chocolates containing peanuts that are contaminated with salmonella could still be somewhere else. You might have bought them before and just sitting in your pantry, it could be on sale to some of your local stores or might as well has been imported in your place. The key is to be aware and find out if what you had are in the list of the products being recalled. Thinking of making your partner feel special is good but poisoning or making her ill will be a disaster. I believe ladies prefer flowers instead since most of them are now conscious about their figure.

Try checking on this list > http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/2009/2009typhe.shtml .Remember that the list can still be subject for updates for there are products that are still under investigation.

Watch this video, victim of peanut butter crackers.

TV or PC

Do you know that you can also watch TV programs or even movies online? but beware of the risks in visiting some sites you don't really know because some of them might contain hidden viruses and redirecting porn sites. Some antivirus softwares can easily identify if a site is safe or not, so it's better to check on them first before browsing a site. It could also help if you clear your Internet Explorer's or Firefox' cache.

Green means Go!

WASHINGTON (January 26, 2009) -- President Obama took swift action on the environment and energy this morning by supporting state efforts to limit emissions, and increase fuel efficiency.

How can you help in preserving the environment? I don't know about you, but me, in my own little ways, I believe I contribute somehow. I collected all the magazines, mails and other paper stuffs that are not useful to me and put them all in the recycle tank I found near the church where I go to. I'm reusing plastic bags. I preferred to use a drinking glass rather than plastic / styro cups. I don't smoke. I buy local products so as not to support products imported from far places that cost much fuel in getting in our place. I buy organic fruits and vegetables for they were grown without pesticides that are harmful to both human and environment.

Happy Chinese New Year!

It's New Year again?? It's Chinese New Year!! January 26th of 2009.. bye rat! hello ox!
The Ox conveys prosperity through qualities of fortitude and hard work. A stable, fearless and friendly animal, the Ox is calm, patient and tireless, enduring difficulties without complaint. Those born in the Year of the Ox are believed to be born leaders with a hard-wired ability to achieve great things, they know they will succeed through hard work and sustained effort and find no truth or benefit in concocting get-rich-quick schemes.

Famous Year of the Ox births include:
Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana, and President Barack Obama.

YEARS OF THE OX: 1901/1913/1925/1937/1949/1961/1973/1985/1997 and 2009

Obama's Inauguration

President Obama dances with the first lady at the Home State Ball.

Baraks meets Ate Glow(in Manila)

Skittles Commercial 2009- Reflect the Rainbow (Mirror)

Skittles Commercial- Have you ever thought when you are being tailored to fit a new suit, each mirror brings a different perspective of your life? Well, this guy had one perspective where Skittles was very important. One perspective was African-American, the other perspective was Hispanic, and the other one was Asian, Filipino to be exact. The language spoken in the mirror is Tagalog, but the Tailor is speaking Thai.

This video is owned by Mars, Incorporated and its Affiliates. This video can be removed by the request of 2009 Mars, Incorporated and its Affiliates. Thank you!!

I can translate the Tagalog but not the Thai. The Filipino in the mirror is reasoning out that he's hungry that's why he's eating. The rest of what he said during the fight, that, I can't understand anymore.. I just found myself laughing at it.

Dneero Surveys

SpitzTunes -- Right Direction!

Many have asked "Who is Spitz?" Just a Panama City Beach guy, making my way through life. I look back at my time on the radio, in a truck, on the b-ball court, lovin', drinkn', .... and I ask if I've been going in the right direction ... I think so, but I'm not there yet ... looking forward to the rest of it!

Green, Green, and More Green

"You've been meaning to do it -- start a compost pile, buy recycled paper, trade in that pollution-spewing gas guzzler for a cleaner, more fuel-efficient model -- but you've never quite gotten around to it. Well, there's no better time than the present to begin turning your environmental ideals into environmental action." (Natural Resources Defense Council - NRDC)

Our Little Big Secret

I can’t get weary watching all my son’s pictures and videos. Every night, I play them over and over again. It’s worth watching and spending my sleep time since it gives me a sense of relaxation. As I go over it, there was one time I videotaped the two of us learning some letters from the alphabet. In myself, I'm sort of feeling proud for all the things I've taught him in his early age. As I can recall, I think that was 2 months ago, the winter hits us with colds and cough and I had to bring my wife in Patient’s First. That’s also the time we already taught our son about sizes, big and little. He can easily verify if what he sees belongs to a big group or to a little group. Like Big “A” (upper case A) to little “a” (lower case a) or an elephant to an ant. You may ask, what’s the connection? This is how it goes.. when we arrived at Patient’s First, we had to wait for our turn for there were so many sick people who registered before us. I decided to go outside just by the door with my son to keep him away from getting germs inside. My son was so friendly then, he greeted ‘hi’ to everyone who goes in and out of the door. Until there’s a woman who I believed has a weight of between 240-250 lbs approaching the door, my son who saw her afar, pointed his finger like he’s identifying something specific and told me repeatedly, “Big!... Big!... Big!” My eyes got bigger! I don’t know what to do, I didn’t know that he will use those words to people. As the woman gets closer to us, I tried to distract him and divert his attention to something else. I was so worried that the woman might hear him. Quickly, me, not used to do it, opened the door for her to let her in, in as fast as she could possibly be. I almost wanted to push her in, I just said “good morning” to supersede my son’s talk. After that, I took a long breath, whew! I tried to explain to my son that what he did was not a nice thing to do. I can’t blame him, he's innocent about it since he’s just telling what he learned. I might somewhat confused him though, because I did not tell him my praise “Good Job!” that time as what I always do whenever he’s right in identifying big and little things he pointed.. haha I wonder what reaction would the woman be if I did that. From there on, we're careful on the things we teach him, there's always an exception.

New Year's Kaput

I know this is late but I just want to share what kind of new year we had in here last New Year’s eve. In relation to my last blog, about being grumpy, I remember the old man living upstairs of our apartment, I’ll tell you the story about it. I don't know if most people here are not really into Christmas or New Year celebrations because as I observed, they are not really giving much attention to it. Thanksgiving is what they valued most. It's very unlikely in the Philippines, our home town. During these times of the year, families and friends are getting together, workers and students are having their Christmas breaks to celebrate with their loved ones. Food is always present both in Christmas and New Year’s eves. This is not just for the family to enjoy but also to symbolize abundance for the coming New Year. Firecrackers, some great fireworks, and loud music from radio will be heard when 12:00am of the 31st of December approaches. When I was a kid, I used my coin bank and torotot (toy trumpet or horn) in creating noise. It's really loud during New Year ’s Eve in the Philippines, everywhere you go, your ears will not find rest. You can't even hear your own voice because of all the loudness around you. They say that the loud noise will make bad spirits go away and leave along with the old year. We really missed the joy and gladness the season brings in the Philippines. Who said that we can’t bring it here? You will see in our video how happy we were, I put on a little loud music in my computer to give the New Year a spirited welcome. My speaker has its own woofer that’s why you can really feel how lively the music was. That was the very first time I did a loud music (just a little loud actually), I believe it won’t hurt since it’s New Year anyways. But I’m so wrong! Not more than 30 minutes, Mr. Grumpy Old Man from upstairs knocked on our door and said, “Would you mind turning down your radio, it’s really annoying up there!” Eventually, I already turned it off even before he asked for it because we’re about to say our prayer, I said “Oh, I’m so sorry, we already had it off”, he replied, don’t be sorry just turn it down” with a commanding voice like a father to a kid. I’m tempting to say, “By the way, Happy New Year!!” but he already went upstairs. Geez! I thought, it’s just one night and that was my very first time to have the music on! And there’s actually a reason for that music, so inconsiderate!!! It ruined the joy of the night. It made us feel that we did something wrong. My wife said that we should not let that incident affect our happiness. We ended up watching TV while enjoying our food. I wish and pray that Mr. Grumpy will find happiness in his heart so that he will not be so difficult to deal on, having him as a neighbor. Happy New Year to all!!!

new year 2009 - ezekiel

By the way, I found great music playlists from imeem.com. How about you? What kind of music do you prefer?