The Magic Cave

Another Adelaide tradition that's a sure way to get parents and kids into the holiday mood is the Magic Cave in the city. After the Christmas Pageant and when Santa arrives at the end, he would traditionally heigh off to the Magic Cave where he sits until Christmas. The Cave really is a part of the David Jones shopping center along Rundle Mall and it's basically a place where kids line up to see Santa and have pictures taken. There's a small section with a little carousel and rocking horse rides to entertain the kids. It's all dressed up like a cave in the North Pole with icicles hanging from the roof and displays of reindeer as well as elves hard at work making toys.

We went there last weekend and the place was packed. We went to the city to meet a friend for lunch and by the time we got to shopping center the waiting time to see Santa was over an hour already. It was a good thing that there was no line to get into the carousel and the little horse rides as most parents were really there to take the kids to see Santa.

It all sounds so commercial, isn't it? The department store Santa is cliched to say the least but it didn't really matter to our kids because they were happy with the carousel ride and the girl didn't really want to see Santa, anyway.

Actually, she's probably a little intimidated with the guy in the red suit. I asked her once if she wanted her picture taken with Santa and she emphatically said , "No!". She then said that she liked Santa better when she was asleep and he was there to just give the gifts.

Parent Information Night

Last night, we went to our kid's new school for a new parent information night. The school holds this kind of thing for parents of children who are starting out in the school in the new term. It's meant to introduce the school's background, vision, philosophy, method of teaching, class sizes and teaching policies to the new parents. They also introduce some of the Reception ( which is the equivalent of prep ) teachers to us as well which was also cool.

It was really interesting. Although the wife and I did our research on the school our daughter's going to this new year, it was still a pleasant surprise to find out about this kind of program and it gives us a warm fuzzy to know that our daughter is going to a kind of school that is open and friendly not only to the students but the families as well.

We were glad to see familiar faces from church and the parents of kids who our girl goes to kindergarten with. It was a relief to know that our daughter would have friends right away when she starts reception. We even saw a few Filipino parents and children there as well.

The kids were provided a creche for them to keep busy while the parents sat and listened to the principal and some of the staff talk to us about the programs we were to expect in the school term. I was even pleasantly surprised that they have a buddy system where parents of kids already in the school get to be paired up with the newbie parents to talk, share information and generally just to be able to navigate that first year of school.

Overall it was a good night and as we left, I had a lot of confidence that we chose the right school for our daughter ... and for us as well.

Dead! Battery That Is...

We had a busy day planned the other day. We were all bringing the girl to kindy and the wife was bringing our son grocery shopping after that. As I was loading up the kids into the car, I noticed that the keyless entry button wasn't working. I thought that was weird at first then I opened the door and put the key in the ignition. Hey, I thought, what happened to the engine lights on the dashboard? Then I glanced at the interior lights and noticed that that the switch was on the "ON" position. Well, that cinches it, battery's dead because the kids were playing with the lights!

We had to change our plans quite a bit that day. And we've learned our lesson. Next time, always check that the lights are off before we lock the car!

Stomach Flu Redux

We had a bit of a scare a couple of nights ago when our girl woke up in the middle of the night and began throwing up. We weren't sure if it was something she ate or if it was the return of that stomach virus. We were up with our poor daughter who seemed to be puking every hour from 3AM until sunrise.

When she was throwing up for what was like for the 5th time, she cried "Please stop!" and it just about broke my heart knowing there was nothing we could do to make it go away. All we could do was hug her and tell her that we were bringing her to see the doctor in the morning.

We went to see our doctor first thing that morning and as expected, he really couldn't prescribe us anything. He just advised us to just give her "prison food", meaning figuratively, bread and water so as not to upset her stomach even more and paracetamol for the pain. He did say ice lollies were ok and that seemed to perk her up.

When we got back home, she promptly had an ice lolly and went to take a nap. When she woke up, we were glad to see that she was feeling quite better and that the worse seemed to be over. At least, the puking stopped. After the first 24 hours without any incident, I began to relax a bit and glad that she was getting back to normal.

It really must have been one of those 24 hour viruses or just something she ate. We can't really be sure but all we know she's fine now and that's what matters to us.

I guess the puking and the doctors visits are all part and parcel of being a parent. One takes the bad with the good and hope that there are more of the latter.

The Kids Grow, the Christmas Tree Doesn't

Just a collection of shots of the family putting up the tree these past few years. Funny how time flies when you're having so much fun. ( Click on the photos to see a bigger version )

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Putting Up The Christmas Tree

There was so much Christmas spirit going around after the pageant that we decided to put up the Christmas tree in our home right away. I know this is late by Manila standards where we see decorations and start hearing Christmas carols as early as October. Nevertheless, we decided to make it a tradition from now on that soon after the pageant we will set up the tree.

Now we've only had this tree for about 3 years now. And every year, we always take photos of this event. The first time around, we bought the tree and unpacked it straight away when Bianca was just 2 yrs old and Nico was an infant who was not even crawling! We had to carry Bianca up to put the star.

The next year, Nico was moving around a bit more and enjoyed playing with the big box with the tree. The first time he saw the xmas lights light up he started blowing them thinking they we candles on a birthday cake!

This year, we began by taking out the stuff from the garage. We proceeded by assembling the tree and putting it on the coffee table in one corner of the living room. Next we put on a new set of lights. Followed by the golden tinsel garland, and then finally the ornaments.

The ornaments from last year were just a collection of shiny balls. But this year we had something special to add to this tree. Over the year I secretly collected some of the small soft toys. Most of these toys came with the happy meal we have at McDonalds (e.g. Neopets, Pooh, Sesame Street characters). All up we had about 20 toy ornaments on the tree ... that means a lot of visits to McDonalds! When I took them out of the bag they wanted to play with them again. Good thing I was able to convince her that they will look better on the tree.

And this time, Bianca did not have to be carried to put on the star. She could just stand on the sofa beside the tree and reach for it by herself. Nico this time was a lot more mobile, but was not that interested in helping out with the decorations. He was more interested looking at his reflection in the xmas ball. But when he saw the lights go on the tree, this time he said 'Wow!'.

We can't help but be excited for Christmas seeing it from the kids point of view.

Pageant Pictures

More pictures on our Flickr Page: Click Here

The Adelaide Christmas Pageant

The Adelaide Christmas Pageant is an annual tradition here in South Australia which sort of heralds the official start of the Christmas season in Adelaide. The pageant really is a big parade that goes through the city. It has marching bands, clowns and over 50 floats showcasing many Christmas fairytale and fantasy scenes. The last float always has Santa Claus ( aka in Australia as Father Christmas ) to wind it up much like the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. The pageant never fails to delight the kids and not a few adults as well.

For the past two years, we were content to watch the specatacle on TV as the parade wound it's way up Adelaide. This year we decided to go and watch the parade for ourselves knowing the kids would be big enough to enjoy every minute of it.

The parade usual starts to move around 10AM but we thought of going early to avoid the traffic rush, which in Adelaide really means more than 10 cars in front of you at the stop light. We parked near the Adelaide central market and walked to Victoria Square which is in the exact city center. Suprisingly, I was able to get a nice spot not too crowded with people while the girls stood in line for free balloons.

It was only forcast to be a cloudy morning but as we were waiting for the parade to start, we could feel a little bit of drizzle. We huddled under the umbrella and the boy started going "Oh No! Rain!". I told him to keep on saying "Rain! Go Away!" which he did, diligently. Soon enough, the rain stopped and the parade began.

As the clowns and marching bands moved into view, I could see my daughter's face light up. She has seen this parade once before but she was stil small then, too young to remember. This time, she was watching everything so intently and after the first few floats went by declared to us that this was the best pageant ever.

Bianca wanted us to take pictures only of the floats she liked. There were some floats she was scared of like the Pirate ship float and the Haunted House. Nico loved the marching bands and would shout "Another one!" when a new band would march up. He would also go "Boom, boom, boom" in time with the drums. Soon enough Santa rolled around and all the kids went wild like he was a rock star or something. This marked the end of the parade and you could see everyone start packing up and leaving after enjoying year of the Christmas Pageant.

The whole affair was extremely well organized with lots of free stuff for kids like balloons, face painting and even bottles of water. They even reserve sections of the parade route specially for disabled kids to have a chance to enjoy the pageant as well. Adelaide being such a small town compared to Sydney or Melbourne, they still know how to organize a big event. I was quite impressed how the street was cleared not 2 hours after the parade with garbage crews and tractors removing barriers and rubbish right away. The streets were all clear and clean by noon and traffic resumed to normal.

After the parade, we met up with a friend for lunch and hang around the Adelaide Central Market for some shopping. It was a good day but it seemed that Bianca was still wanted to do more. As we were going home in the afternoon, she still wanted to play in the park. As if the whole day of parades and shopping wasn't enough for her!

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The parade lasted about and hour or so and we later learned that over 300,000 people went to the city to watch it which made for a very big crowd. It seems that it's almost a guarantee that in an event as big as this that kids oftentimes get lost. We saw one kid wandering around after the parade looking for his Mom. Good thing the police were ready for incidents like this and found the parents. Some parents are more prepared and we saw them before the parade writing their mobile phone numbers on their kids arms. This is the first time I've seen it but it seems like a simple and good idea. For our part, we just dressed the kids up in bright colors so they can be easily seen.

Christmas Gifts

With only a few weeks before Christmas, the wife was a little flustered about what to get our kids. We asked our daughter what she wanted Santa to bring her for Christmas. She didn't want to say because she couldn't decide. She reasoned that last year, she didn't tell Santa what she wanted but he gave her the right gift, anyway.

She then said that she knows whatever gift Santa brings her that it's always the right one, like he did last year. So, she then declared she won't be asking Santa for anything because she will like whatever he gives.

It came as a pleasant surprise to us that she was so appreciative of whatever she receives and doesn't seem to ask for anything. We're so glad to have raised our daughter like that. Hope it lasts a few more years.

Dancing at Hungry Jack's

We went out to eat at Hungry Jack's the other day. They had a CD jukebox and while waiting for our food, the kids spontaneously went up to it and danced. The first things we did was take out our mobile phones and took pictures! Ah, the convenience of technology.

Talking Nico

Nico's starting to shed his baby talk and has been enthusiastically been forming his own sentences. A lot of stuff he likes to say a lot like, "Stay here, be right back!" and "This Way!". We think it's a reflection of what we say to him because he says it in the same tone. He also pretends to talk his toys, like putting them to sleep ( "Sleep Now" ) or giving them milk. Sometimes, his own bottle!

When he is frustrated or angry he would do a "Grrr!" and fold his arms or put them on his hips just like a little ( angry ) man.

He often shouts just to get his way. When he wants Bianca to do something, he would shout "Bianca! Stop!" over and over again! This get's Bianca angry as well and he would tell us that Nico was hurting her feelings. Of course, we ask him to say sorry right away and, to his credit, he does it with no hesitation.

He seems to be on his way to reading, as well. There's a book that he likes us to read to him every night called Zaza's Baby Brother, by Lucy Cousins. He is able to read or at least recognize a few words on each page now like "bed", "cuddle" and "baby".

On top of it all, he loves to sing! He's learned he words to some of the songs and actions in Blues Clues, the "I'm a Little Teapot" the nursery rhyme and of course, the Jollibee song!

He's not a baby anymore, he's become our little Man.

Sunday at the Doctor's

Sundays are considered the day of worship, rest or recreation for most Filipino families, and we were no exception. We had already planned to go to church in the city and meet up with someone for lunch. However, this did not turn out to be a typical Sunday at all.

Meme woke up today with some pain in her left hand. It's been bothering her these past few days but today seemed particularly excruciating. As it was a Sunday, our regular doctor was not available so we had to hunt for a clinic that was open. There aren't many private doctors clinics that are open on Sundays. The alternative really was to drive to an ER to have a doctor take a look at the hand but we didn't think this was to be considered as much of an emergency. Also, our experience with ER's tells us that it would take more than a few hours to have someone look at you.

Anyway, we found a doctor's surgery that was open. It wasn't too far away and a relatively short ( 45 minute ) wait to be seen. The kids were fine as the clinic had toys and books for them to keep occupied. When the doctor saw us, he wanted to have an x-ray just to be sure. He prescribed some meds and we made an appointment to see him again tomorrow after we get the X-ray done.

The doctor couldn't make up his mind on what it might be and just asked for the x-ray to be taken. It must be like this for Sunday doctors, all business like.

Times like these we wish we could have our family doctors within easy reach. We would have had three of them to choose from.

Kid Funnies Part 5

This afternoon, our daughter goes up to us and says, "I have another rhyming word, Mommy and Daddy!"

"What is it?", we ask.

"Poem and Moem!", she exclaims.

I scratch my head, "What's a moem, Bianca?"

In a matter of fact voice, she answers, "A Moem is like a Poem, only thicker!"

I just had to laugh out loud at her sense of logic. At least she gets what rhyming words are.

Fitting School Uniforms

Our little girl was so excited. We went to her new school the other day to have her fitted for school uniforms. The wife and I of course had no idea what to get her but the lady who was running the uniform service was really nice and showed us what Bianca would be needing for her first year at "real" school.

So far, she's going to get a school frock, a sports uniform, a hat, a school bag and socks. The uniform lady was really great and told us about the better ways to save money on uniforms, like waiting until later to get the winter and summer jumpers. And like getting the shoes prior to school starting so there would be no growth spurt surpises, etc.

We can't get used to the idea that Bianca's only using one set of school uniforms that she would use throughout the week. I suppose we would need to launder it often. It's so much different when we were growing up and we'd have at least 5 sets of uniforms for school and even more. One for each day of the week.

Time really flies. One minute their crawling, the next their going off to school. But I suppose that's really how it is with kids, they do grow no matter how much you try and stop it. All you can do is give them all the support, advice and guidance they need to hopefully help them grow up to be the good persons you want them to be.

Our Kid Can Read!

Our little girl can read now ( she's turning 5 in a couple of months ), not a lot but she's getting really good. She can read her story books and is even insisting on reading herself to sleep lately. We're so proud of her. I would like to think it was all the reading we do and not just because of Sesame Street.

And she reads everything! My wife and her were at the grocery store this morning and she was reading everything off the shelves and at the check out counter. And as we were driving around, she tries to read all the road signs.

I guess this means she'll be the ones to read me the bedtime stories from now on. Can't wait. :)

Nico's Attempts At Photography

Nico went trigger happy with the camera. These are some of the shots he took. More pictures on our Flickr Page

So I'm an Aussie Now

After almost 5 years of being a resident of Australia, I finally took the plunge and became an Australian citizen. The process was relatively simple. About a month ago, I started filling up the necessary forms, paid the requisite fee and sat through a quick interview at the Immigration office. Before I knew it, I got approved for citizenship. The last step was to attend a citizenship ceremony where we would take an oath of loyalty to Australia.

I got invited to the citizenship ceremony held at the Port Adelaide-Enfield ( our city district )Town Hall about which is a bit of a drive from our house. We don't go there often and in fact, the last time we were there was for Meme's own citizenship ceremony two years ago. And the funny thing was, on the way there, I took the same wrong turn I took then, which had us going over the Port Adelaide bridge and into an industrial area. Sheepishly, I made a u-turn and got us to the Town Hall with plenty of time to spare.

The kids were initially excited about going out at night but as we sat and waited for all the people to come into the hall and the ceremony to start, they began getting a bit restless in their seats. Meme and I had to do our usual distraction routines like giving them snacks or giving them something to play with. Nico had a ball when he discovered he could work the digital camera. He took quite a few pictures and always saying "Cheese! Camera!" every time he pushed the button.

Bianca did her best to sit quietly though. I tried to explain to her what was going to happen but she couldn't quite grasp the idea of the ceremony. So, I told her that we were all there because Daddy was going to stand up and sing! She took that in stride and she waited patiently for my "performance".

The ceremony was a relatively simple affair unlike the big ceremonies they have during Australia day. On the night, about fifty or so citizenship candidates took turns going up to the front of the hall to take their oath in front of assembled government officials. My kids went with me to the front as we all took our oaths. Although the boy didn't stay too long with me as he ran to his Mom to take the camera from her because he wanted to take the pictures!

After we got our citizenship certificates, we sat down a bit to listen to a couple of speeches and then we all rose to sing the Australian National Anthem and trooped out for some late supper of sandwiches and drinks. It was a bit late when we got home so we got the kids ready for bed and they went straight to sleep without too much of a fuss.

A good way to end my first night of being Australian.

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There were a lot of countries represented last night. There were people from the Sudan, Afghanistan, Irish, English, Yugoslavian, Chinese and Malaysian and all with a common desire to become Australian. I have to admit that I don't feel any different yet but being a certified Australian gives a sense of belonging. It's not that I've forever left the Philippines but it makes me, us, feel grounded in this country we now call home.

On another note, as we were leaving the parking lot after the ceremony, we saw the flashing lights of a police car. The officer was pulling over a car for some traffic violation. As we pulled up to the cars, we recognized the driver as one of the people who took the citizenship oath with me! Poor guy, the first act he does as an Australian citizen was to commit a traffic offense.

Telling Stories

We read to our kids all the time, especially at bed time. More often nowadays we tell each other bedtime stories before the kids go to sleep and we find it really fun. We would all gather in either Bianca or Nico's bed and each of us take turns telling a story at the foot of the bed. We make up stories that almost always begins with "Once upon a time" and end in "The End".

Bianca is getting good at making up her stories, and she sometimes tells the traditional fairy tales she's learned in school like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Nico on the other hand just loves the attention when it's his turn to tell a story. Although we can't always understand him, we can make out his "Once time" and "The End". We're always delighted by our kids performances and how they seem to enjoy performing. Well, I suppose, that's what all parents say.

Playful Nico

DSC00351
Originally uploaded by chazzvid.

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I like this picture! Nico can be so playful with the camera at times.

The Fire Drill

A couple of days ago, I volunteered to look after my daughter at work while my wife ran a few errands in the city. I figured it wouldn't be too much of a hassle as I only had the one teleconference in the afternoon and Bianca pretty much can keep herself occupied for a while drawing at my desk.

A few minutes into her drawing and into my telecon, the fire alarm rings. Of all the days that I had my daughter in the office, we have a fire drill! This sort of thing happens about once every few months in the office. All the cubicle dwellers start heading out and go down the stairs.

I explained to Bianca what was happening. I told her that it was only a pretend emergency and that it was nothing to worry about but we all had to go out. She then asked, "Even the kids?" and I replied, "Especially the kids!"

As we filed out I could see her face just wide eyed with wonder as she saw all the people waiting in line to get down. She took a look at the stairwell and she exclaimed, "That's a lot of stairs, Daddy!".

I then realised that I had carry her all the way down those stairs. Eight flights of stairs! All the way down, she kept exclaiming how there were so many steps. At level 5, she began the "Are We There Yet?" questions.

Anyway, we made it safe and sound to the first level where her mom was already waiting. Next time I bring my kids to the office, I'll make sure it's a Saturday with no scheduled fire drills. :)

A Girls Day Out

Since Bianca will be going to big school in a couple of months, I rescheduled the week so that I get to spend the whole day with her while Nico was is daycare. This was a "girls day" as she would call it. On some days when I'm feeling tired and need to catch up on housework, we stay at home most of the day and she helps out. On bright sunny days we go to the park, the mall or the hairdresser, then have lunch together.

But today started out bad for me, it was raining and I woke up with a bad headache. Hubby drove Nico to daycare in the morning. As soon as the boys stepped out and Bianca was in front of the TV, I went straight back to bed. A few minutes later, I woke up still light-headed, remembering I had to do some more housework. By mid-morning, I remembered I had to do an errand in the city. And then it occurred to me that this was supposed to be a 'girls day' and I did not plan anything special for my little girl. What was I to do?

And then I had a great idea ..... what if we took a bus to the city, do my errand with her and then do something special with her the rest of the afternoon. Shopping was an option, but I wasn't too sure she'd enjoy that. And then I thought, maybe the museum might be a better place. It was educational and the first time for both of us, and most of all it was all for FREE. At that same moment, my headache disappeared as quickly as the rain clouds vanished. After a quick call to hubby, we made a plan: ride the bus to the city, have lunch with daddy, come with mommy to the errand, go to the museum and then meet up with daddy to go pick up Nico at daycare. Now she was really excited. I tell you, the bright look on her face made my day!

First, I told her we had to walk from our home to the bus stop and ride a bus to go to the city. And after some thought she said, "Hey Mommy, I have a great idea. Let's call the owner of the bus to come pick us up here at home." I had to explain that buses don't work that way , but taxis do at a much higher price. When the bus arrived and we sat down, we started playing a game of "I spy". Soon after that she began the "Are we there yet?" questions until we got to the city.

Next, we had lunch at the food court with Daddy and then we walked all the way to Daddy's office. When we got there I thought of taking her with me during my errand. But hubby offered to take her off my hands so who was I to refuse ?! After the errand and getting a cup of coffee, I went back to pick her up. I arrived at the building only to be told not to enter as there was a fire drill in progress. So Bianca had to go down so many flights of stairs with her Daddy. By the time she reached the lobby, she was so excited to tell me all about it. And then she asks why they had to do that ... we said it was to practice getting out of the building in case there is fire ... so she asks where is the fire ... we say there isn't any, just a pretend fire ... so she asks again " What does a pretend fire look like ?" .... the questions just keep on coming!

At this point we still had a little over an hour to go, so we both headed to the museum taking a short bus ride. When we got there, she was amazed to see the dinosaur bones on display. She also got to see lots of stuffed birds, her favorite would be the 'galah' since it was mostly pink. And then she asks ... 'Are they real birds?' because she noticed they were not moving. Next was the 'discovery' area where they kept the live snakes, lizards and turtles. This time around, she got a bit scared when they started moving behind the glass! By this time she was really full of questions about anything and everything she saw and heard.

Another 30 minutes to go, we decide to head back to Daddy's office. Until we saw that the State Library was just beside the museum. Oh well, I suppose we can spare a few minutes in there to check it out. We went directly to the kid's section where there were a few seats and lots of books for her to read. Some books she could read on her own, others I had to help out a bit. Also noticed there was a video game section with a sign that said '15 minute limit, give priority to children'. I suppose that sign was meant for adults that were 'kids at heart'.

And then end of this, I thought she deserved a treat - her favourite strawberry/bannana smoothie. Armed with these drinks we started walking back to her Daddy's office. A few months ago she would have complained about all the walking and demanded to rest or ride the pram. But I guess this time she's grown up a lot more both physically and mentally.

It was a very busy day, with lots of questions to answer ... but all worth the time and effort. I have no regrets about being a bit spontaneous today and leaving the house full of stuff to clean. All that can wait. Bonding time with my little girl is far more exciting!

Finally it was nearly 5pm now, so we met up with her Daddy as she proceeded to tell him about all the things she saw. Also she mentioned she was a bit tired from all the walking. And then asked him " Daddy , could we have 'Daddy and Bianca's Day' tomorrow?".

Dinner With Friends

We had dinner with friends last night at home. They just migrated to Australia and they were currently visiting their various relatives and friends around here. It's so nice to be able to talk with, I guess some of our peers.

Not a lot of people from the Philippines automatically think of Australia as a migration destination so it's great to be able to talk and relate with them and share experiences. And I suppose, it's also nice to be able to share what we have with them, be it advice or just company.

Dinner was nice. I think we undercooked the roast beef a bit but the lasagna my wife made was excellent. Bianca even insisted in making a recipe of her own, mashed carrots on top of mashed potatoes. She was very eager to serve it to our guests as well and a bit put off when no one wanted to try it at first.

We were pleasantly surprised that the kids were well behaved with our guests around. I guess they were a bit unsure with strangers in the house at night as we've never really had visitors before. I was preparing for the worst that they'd be constantly craving attention but they were great. I'd like to take credit and say we taught them to behave well, heheh.

Bianca had dinner with us while Nico just stayed in his sisters room playing with the computer. I had to check up on him to give him his dinner but he was very well behaved and even shy. Does this mean we can hosts dinner parties now? :)

Kid Funnies Part 4

My daughter and wife were talking about Brisbane and where it was. My wife explained that it was in another state in Australia called Queensland. My daughter then asks, in all innocence "Are there Queens in Queensland, Mommy?" lol

Parks and Playgrounds

Weekends our kids and I often go and spend time at the playgrounds and parks. It's not only fun, it's nice and cheap as well! Adelaide, as do most Australian cities have an abundance of public parks and playgrounds. It's all free and it's a great way to give our kids something to do. We live only a short walk away from a public park. It has a man made lake and lots of open space although it does have an old playground.

A lot of the new subdivisions or residential areas around town have real nice modern parks with real funky looking playground sets that are beyond the traditional swings and slides.

Kids just go wild when it comes to playgrounds, be it modern or traditional. It's a great way to relive old childhood memories. I can still fit in the swings here, heheh. Although these days, I can see a lot of thought and planning have been put into playgrounds. They are so different from when I was growing up. No more hard concrete slides or rusty metal swings I remember playing on when I was in kindergarten. These days it's all plastic and kid safe with rubberized grounds or with wood chips.

As Pinoy as Jollibee

Since both our kids are born here in Australia, one common question we get from fellow Filipinos is 'Do you teach them to speak Tagalog?'. Apart from a few words like 'mata', 'ilong' , 'ligo' and 'puwet', the kids speak mostly english. Even if they hear us speak Tagalog at home, they do not seem to pick it up as easily as English. Or maybe not yet. After all, sometimes I do not feel like translating every word I say. It is sometimes simpler just to talk in English since that is what they hear all around them in school, daycare, playgroup, TV, etc.

Recently we made a trip to Manila with the kids, Bianca now 4 yrs and Nico at 2 yrs old. The purpose of this trip was to get them to know all other relatives not with us is Adelaide, that means grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousin. It also meant a chance for us to expose them to the pinoy culture that we grew up with. And for us, a big part of growing up was the food, eating out at the malls and window-shopping. One of our favourite places to eat was Jollibee ... so glad this place is still going strong after all these years.

Back in our time, we went there for the yummy burgers, spaghetti, palabok, and mango/peach pies. I frequented so many Jollibee branches, especially in college as it was a good value for money. Nowadays, there are so much more food variety on the menu including rice meals, burger steak, tuna pies. Also, the mango/peach pies now come in a smaller size, really nice for kids hands.

Another notable addition to some of the restaurants were these great play areas which is a big hit with my kids. The play area was quite interesting too, to see how our kids would interact with other kids knowing that there were other kids there that did speak Tagalog. True enough, the language not hinder them from playing and enjoying themselves.

As part of the meals in Jollibee, they were giving these VCDs for kids on the Filipino aphabet, the numbers and shapes. I thought, wow ... what a great way to introduce them to pinoy culture. By the time we got home, we played those VCDs over and other again, they now memorized the words and dance to the music all the time. A few days before our departure, Bianca even felt so bad when we only got 2 out of the 3 VCDs on offer. With the power of text-messaging I texted all my siblings to be on the look-out for this particular VCD in any outlet they may encounter along the way. After all, there were so many branches all over Manila now. Good thing my brother Teddy came up with the goods one night, and my kids were so happy when they saw they had a complete set of VCDs in the morning.

Now that we are back here in Adelaide, they often ask us to play the Jollibee VCDs again and again. One time Bianca asks me, "Mommy, did you have Jollibee when you were a little girl?" . 'Ofcourse I did, and I loved it! ' (A little white lie there as I think Jollibee did not exist when I was her age). And then we proceeded to talk about our favorite foods - burger, spaghetti and peach/ mango pies. And to that she replied ..."Wow mommy, we're the same!". It felt good to know that somehow we exposed them to a part of the Filipino culture that I hope they will remember for a long, long time. Its nice to know these experiences will be one thing we as parents and kids will have in common. They will grow up not knowing what a 'yaya' is, but at least they know what Jollibee means to all of us.

Allergies

The day before we were supposed to leave the Philippines our son had a very very bad allergic reaction to a peanut butter cookie. Not 5 minutes after eating the small cookie, his face started becoming red, he begun rubbing his tongue something fierce and he started scratching his skin like mad. It was a good thing his Tita recognized that allergy signs and she and my wife drove our son to the clinic in the village.

The doctor there gave him a shot of Benadryl, put him on a nebulizer and they waited until the swelling came down and my son went to sleep. He was still sleeping when they returned him home but his face was still a bit puffy.

He was quite alright that night and back to his lively self, albeit with some swelling. It was still a very scary thing that happened. We've never given him peanuts at all because we always thought it would aggravate his eczema so we never really expected such a nasty reaction.

Needless to say we had to quickly change our flights and push it back a few days. The next day, we went and got an appointment for him with an allergenist. We thought we could do a prick test then and there to determine how bad his allergies were but she suggested we have it done in Australia as the allergens were different here.

Anyway, the first thing we did when we got back home was to get a referral to see a pediatric allergologist. It took as almost more than a month to book an appointment.

Our first visit to the doctor wasn't too bad. We just discussed our son's case to him and he planned out what tests to give. The prick tests came in the next visit. To be honest, it wasn't that bad either. The hard thing was keeping our boy still and he really didn't have any problems with the pricks he got.

The nurse first marked his back with a pen to indicate what allergens should go where. Then his mom and I kept him on his front as the nurse started placing drops of allergens on his skin and lightly scratched it. The nurse was new to the job and it took forever before we were done.

After a few minutes, the bumps started to appear on his back where the pricks were. It was a bit weird to see it and disappointing to finally be hit with the reality that indeed, he had allergies. To a lot of things.

Our boy had an allergic reaction ( marked as 10, I don't know if it's the highest ) to peanuts and a few other things like pollen, moulds and dust mites. He had also mild reactions to prawns and sea food. The good thing though is the doctor didn't advise us to carry epipens. That shot of adrenalin that parents keep handy so their highly allergic children don't die.

I wasn't looking forward to a life of being an epipen carrying parent and it was good to know we wouldn't have to carry it just yet.

SO what does this mean? Well, we really have to keep him away from peanuts. It also means discouraging him from playing on grass or sand for too long as this would aggravate his eczema or skin rashes. We're taking steps to get rid of some of the dust catching stuff in our house like drapes and the carpet. But we think it's worth it so our boy wouldn't have to suffer those damn skin allergies anymore.

Our Philippine Trip: Kids At Play

The kids had the most fun during our last trip and it's hard to keep up with them once they get started. As is normal in Manila, we had to go out almost everyday as there was only so much to do at the house. The kids got a kick out of visiting the malls and doing stuff with their cousin. Their titos and titas were also almost always ready to keep them amused with trips to the local swimming pools and taking them out shopping. Here's just some pictures of what they did during their holiday. More photos on our Flickr page

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Arts and crafts, stuff the kids made while in the house.

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Bowling

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Fun at the airport

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Say it with flowers!

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Posing for the Hershey's Promo

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Having Fun with cousin Maya

Merry Christmas

Our Philippine Trip: Christmas in September

Since we were obviously not going to be in the Philippines come Christmas time, my kids' Tita had a great idea to celebrate Christmas while we're there. When we got in from the airport we saw when we got home was the huge Christmas tree all ready and decorated.

The idea was that the Christmas celebration and gift giving was strictly for the kids and one of the first things our daughter did then was to go up and wish on the Christmas tree. She closed her eyes and whispered very intently: "I wish for a bike with bells!". Of course, it would have been very difficult to bring the bike back with us!

As kids are wont to do, during the course of our holiday, the Christmas decorations on the tree slowly slowly got tangled up and taken down by the kids' eager hands. And they were constantly delighted by the gifts under the tree and how it grew in number as their tito's and tita's slowly added gifts under the tree both for them and their cousin.

Christmas night was especially good. The family had lechon and prawns ( oops forgot to take a picture! ) as Noche Buena and the kids couldn't finish their food fast enough as they eagerly awaited the opening of their gifts. When it was time, the kids had so much fun ripping into their presents. The adults were content to just look at how happy the kids were.

All in all a great time was had by all. Now, how to explain to our kids why they wont get any more gifts this Christmas...

First Medical Exam

Now open wide...!

Our Philippine Trip: Tagaytay

We did a few touristy things this time around. We hied off to a short trip up to Tagaytay. It was a nice day for it too. After a good lunch at Rose and Grace in Sta. Rosa, it was a quick drive up to Tagaytay. We stopped for some horseback riding. The kids had a great time at it. Although when I asked the man if I could join my kid on the horse, the words "no, you can't" didn't leave his mouth fast enough! Ah, the surly horseman! So my kids' Mom and Tita ended up riding with them.





We then went to Taal Vista Lodge for a proper view of the lake. Our daughter was excited because we told her that we were seeing a "sleeping" volcano. She wanted us to be quiet because we might wake it up!

We then spent some time at the Taal Vista coffee shop being entertained by the house band. Or should I say, the house combo. I think they were there strictly for the tourists and we stumped them for requests for kids songs. They were able to do the Alphabet song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the obligatory Happy Birthday Song for my kids Tita as it was her birthday that day.

On the way back, we stopped for coffee at Sta. Rosa and browsed a few of the outlet stores there. As with most outlet stores, we can't find the sizes we wanted and the selection wasn't really complete. Nonetheless, we were able to buy a few Adidas and Nike gear for cheap.

On south superhighway, my daughter did a nice thing and prayed to God thanking him for the nice day we had. And it was a nice day after all.

Our Philippine Trip: Paging Doctor Vidal

Although our trip back wasn't the best planned trips we ever had, one good thing that happened that I am thankful for was that I was there for my brother as we waited for the results of the medical board exams. I know it was really tough on him waiting like that and I was so glad when we got through that night in one piece.

He arrived in Manila just that afternoon and we were up until late just accessing the website for updates. Between us we downed a few beers and passed the time talking and bonding again as brothers. It got to 11:30 when we figured that the results weren't coming and it would be best to call it a night. Not 15 minutes later, who should call but our sister from the US. She was at the Inquirer website and she saw the results before we did! Of course, we hurriedly got on the 'net, trying not to believe the news until we saw it with our own eyes. After an agonizing wait ( I hate dial up! ) we finally saw the results in black and white! My brother has become a DOCTOR!



It was a great relief for him not just to pass but to see the results finally. After so many years of real work, he finally got to the end of it. Rather, it would be another beginning for him this time. All the best, bro! I love you.

Our Philippine Trip: The Grandparents

No doubt the kids had serious spoilage when they were in the Philippines. Of course, we had to indulge them as they don't see their grandparents very often but any longer in the Philippines and it would take some serious deprogramming to revert the kids back to their normal, unspoiled selves. :)

I guess the Lolo and Lola has fun spoiling the kids as well. Knowing that our daughter loves Jollibee, Lola would bring her some burgers after her morning errands. She did this for her granddaughter almost every other day!

Our son didn't fail to capture his grandparents hearts. People say he's the spitting image of his Lolo. Most probably in this pose as well.

Our Philippine Trip: Getting Haircuts

One of the things we do when we get home is that we get haircuts. It's amazing how expensive haircuts are in this part of the world. That's why we like to take advantage of cheap haircuts in the Philippines. The kids love them too because they get to be extra pampered back home.



He does look so serious, doesn't he?



She loves the shampoo!

Our Philippine Trip: Having a Big Family

There was so much going on in our holiday that it's almost impossible to write down everything that happened. Suffice to say that the kids enjoyed their trip immensely. When it's just us here in Australia, it's difficult for the kids to realise how large a family they actually belong to. Our trip back home lets them appreciate that.

My daughter gives me a broad smile when she says she has a big family. And her eyes just positively light up when I then say that everyone of her family, from her grandparents, uncles and aunties and cousins love her and her brother.

I guess that's one of the many things we miss out on when we're so far away, that feeling of family that comes with living together. I sometimes feel that my kids are being deprived of that.

Mommy's first post

First post!

Our Trip Back To The Philippines Part 1

As promised, here is my first entry about our recent trip to the Philippines. We went via Singapore airlines again as we find that it's really one of the better airlines out there. They take great care with kids and we feel that you get a lot of value for your money with them.

Our route would take us from Adelaide direct to Singapore. We'd stay overnight there and on to Manila in the morning. The trip really was uneventful. The kids were really good waiting to board the airplane although I wished we could have experienced the new Adelaide airport before we left.


The plane ride was ok. The kids were manageable for the most part although watching any of the inflight movies was out of the question. Because the kids had allocated seats now, we couldn't get any seats that were together. We ended seating up 3 + 1, three in the window row and 1 in the aisle seat. So, the wife and I had to take turns sitting in the middle of the kids.

As per usual. Singapore airlines food was great. The kids meals were brought on time although the kids hardly ate. Guess who had to finish it up.

We left Adelaide around 1PM and arrived in Singapore 6PM local time. It took a while to get to our hotel. We took the Singapore stop over bus which took forever to reach our destination. And just our luck, our hotel was the last stop! We got there almost 9PM already.

The hotel wasn't really that nice but it was just really a place to sleep. Although even after a nice bath, the kids weren't feeling sleepy at all as they kept jumping on the beds. We ended up ordering room service and feeding them while they were still awake.


Our flight in the morning was an early 9AM so we had to wake up before 6AM to get ready. Surprisingly, the kids were not that hard to wake up and in fact, they were raring to go. I guess the whole experience was really giving them that caffeine buzz that the wife and I desperately craved that morning.

Again, getting to the airport wasn't too bad as the bus picked us up on time. It's a shame that we couldn't stay any longer in Singapore considering that part of the overnight stay included lots of discounts to most of Singapore attractions. Maybe next time.

At any rate, the trip from Singapore to Manila was a bearable 3 hours only so we made it ok. The wife was even able to catch some part of the inflight entertainment.

We like to break up the trip like this, with an overnight because it sort of gives the kids and us a break. Instead of one long day of travelling, we get 2 days of moderate travel.

Blogging Excuse #42

I've been swamped with work these past several days and I haven't been able to sit down and collect my thoughts and write about our Philippines trip. As with most holidays, they are all too short but nice. I'll try to find the time this weekend to put down into words some of the things that happened.

And one more thing ...

He loves miso soup!

Kid Funnies Part 3

My little girl was making the most of not having a car seat to sit on in the Philippines and she was getting quite unruly on her seat. So, with a stern voice, I called out her full name: "Bianca Estelle!". And she replied, "But I'm already STILL!"

With a comeback like that, how can we stay mad?

Back from the Philippines

Just got back from the homeland and it was quite the eventful trip. Lots of eating, shopping and allergic reactions! I'm still knackered from the latter part of the trip where we found out our little boy had an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts and the consequent rush to an ER clinic so I can't really blog about it for now. Let me gather my thoughts and see if I can write about our vacation in sequence.