Sorry seems to be the hardest word

PNoy: No apology!
Photo credit: allvoices.com

I'm not a political blogger although the reason why we chose our cable subscription plan was because of ANC and the live coverages of senate hearings where the politicos' display their mudslinging and grandstanding acumen.

PNoy's statement on Tuesday about refusing to issue a public apology a year after the Manila hostage tragedy got my fingers itching to write a post on the matter. I beg your indulgence.

Kadayawan Festival 2011 Pamulak winners

Hello everyone! Davao City was again in a festive mood as the city celebrated it 26th Kadayawan Festival. Among the highlights of the celebration were the floral float parade (pamulak sa kadalanan) and street dancing (indak-indak sa kadalanan). Big thanks to Philip Lomada for letting me use his photos. :)

BIG CATEGORY

Big BURP for Php 100 - flat



Dencio's Pares 2: Grilled delights for 100 pesos flat.

After a looooong hiatus, I recently went back to blogging. This time I'm no longer Drama Queen but a happy Ina-Tay. 

On the Davao Bloggers FB page, Ria Jose (Kusina Maria) posted an invitation to the bloggers  to write about our 100-peso Davao gastronomic experience. Hmmm... this sounded like a good practice ground for me given that I've been out of the blogging scene since 2008. Quite frankly, I think I'm now a little rusty. It's Kadayawan  time in Davao so I was confident I would find lots of good material for this topic. Unknowingly, I didn't have to go far...

Finally - Davao has its own milk bank



I found this article through the Mommy Sense FB account. This article is from Manila Bulletin online and true to their word, the newspaper does give good news! It's a milestone and a great news to mothers. Really worth sharing with all of you. Let's help spread the word.

Perfection and the $64,000 question

Photo credit: http://blog.ezinearticles.com/

I was 22 when my essay was first published on the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Youngblood. This was followed by a second essay in 2007. I remember that day at work when everything was not going well and I resorted to writing to keep my cool and sanity amidst the chaos. It was about waiting for my then boyfriend turned good friend to pop the question then eventually seeing the countless benefits of being single. The title? The question.

Fast forward to present. I'm still single but I have a lovely two-year old daughter who is my pride and joy and heir to my stilletos, Leia. Two weeks ago, my baby brother Ton-ton (he's 28, an army officer but I still refer to him as baby brother) got married. I was happy for him albeit the stresses that went with their wedding preparations. The ceremony was at Davao Chinese Baptist Church. In his message Pastor Arnel Tan who officiated the ceremony said something that struck me - "If you are a perfectionist, don't get married". Everyone laughed including me but I knew right there and then that these words will stay with me for a long, long time.

I make milk, what's your super power???

August is Breastfeeding Month!

In celebration of breastfeeding month, I've been itching to share my personal experience on being a BF mama - the pains, the gains and all the other wonderful stuffs in between.

The "breast" of intentions...

I have quite a number of friends who are currently pregnant or has recently given birth. This encouraged me to post this entry if only to reinforce what I have been encouraging them to do - BREASTFEED! Quite honestly, I sometimes feel like a broken record sharing with as many people as I can the benefits of breastfeeding. So to all mothers out there (married, single, it's complicated, etc.), I hope you can read the rest of this post and maybe, just maybe, I can convert you to give your babies the "breast" of intentions...

Ina-Tay Recommends: Cetaphil Restoraderm Skin Restoring Moisturizer

 

Photo from Cetaphil website



 If you are like me, chances are you would always be on the look out for any bad habits your little ones may have developed; your pointer finger ready to say No-No! Thank God, I haven't heard Leia utter profanity or shown behavior that would give me a heart-attack. Unfortunately, no kid is perfect. On her 18th month, I observed her love for scratching (kamot). I brushed it off because there may just be an itch that badly needed to be scratched. I started to worry when one night as I was putting her to sleep, she started to scratch again until I saw the tiniest speck of blood.

Menudo ala Ina-Tay

Menudo ala Ina-Tay

I started cooking even before I learned how to cook rice. I remember the many times I've undercooked and overcooked rice but surprisingly, cooking main dishes was easier for me. Being in the kitchen has been a stress-reliever but was put on the side when I became a career woman. Modesty aside, I consider my cooking skills a gift which I try to pass on to whoever wants to learn how to cook. They say all cooks have their own styles, if you ask about mine I wouldn't be able to give you a straight answer. I cook what I feel like eating; I cook my food according to hunch which most often than out turns out to be palatable. hehehe Taking inspiration from my favorite TV Chef Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa, I decided to share my tried and tested recipes to all of you with the hope that you won't mind the chopping and occassional oil splats to come up with a dish you can serve to your family. My first recipe would be one of my all-time comfort food - Menudo.

Mum's big fight

No, Mum is not from Ateneo chanting "one big fight -Ateneo!"This blog entry is about her courage and strength in spirit... waaaaayyyyy overdue but something tells me I should post this anyway. Perhaps one of you may find yourself in a similar situation as we had been. So here it goes...