Ay! Knows nio ba na nung Monday, Feb 8 e officially nagstart na ang 90-day campaign period sa Pilipinas? With that note, napanood ko sa TV Patrol ang sari-saring kashungahan ng mga kandidato at kung anik anik na mga pakana para makakuha ng boto. OH MY GULAY! Nakakalokah sila!

Unahin natin tong mga tatakbong President. Oh, alam nio ba si Erap tatakbo ulet? I’m sure hindi na kayo magdadalwang isip na wag syang iboto. Susmaryosep naman, maawa kayo sa mga kababayan natin. Pag may history na ng pangungurakot, dapat wa na sya sa listahan ng pagpipilian nio. Eto namang si bilyonaryong Villar, hala, at lumangoy sa basura. Patawa ang jingle nia ha. Pero in fairness, nakaka-LSS. Ang panget lang! At take note, binayaran daw lumalagapak na 20M pesoseses si Sarah to endorse him. Nanjan pa si Wowowillie. Chaka! Tamaaa!

Ayus sana tong si Gibo. In fairness, matalino talaga sya. Magaling magsalita at alam ang mga national issues.  Ang bawas pogi points lang nia e nasa partido ng administrasyon sya at ang bise e si Mr. Game KNB?! Nakakatawang nakakainis ung mga tao, particularly, mga babaeng nakita ko sa tv na kinikilig dahil nahawakan ang kamay ni Edu. Hala.. Isa pang chakaaa!

Then there’s NoyNoy. Maraming nagsasabi ng hindi pa sya hinog at parang wala naman talaga syang nagagawa at napapatunayan pa. Ang plus nia, nanay at tatay nia ay bayani ang tingin ng lahat at isang kapatid na artista. In reality, may ibubuga nga ba sya? At take note, ang political ad: “Hindi po ako magnanakaw”. Uyyy.. may bitterness! Sinong pinariringgan mo ha?! 

Si Gordon tumatakbo din. Salamat at may Subic kung hindi, sino nga ba sya?  O baka ako lang ang di aware. Si Jamby Madrigal gusto din maging presidente. Ang tanong, bakettt?! Susmarya! And then theres, the joke  of the town na si Bro. Eddie Villanueva ba un? Ay ewan. Ang masasabi ko lang, ipagdadasal ko na lang sya. “Lord, naway paglinawin nio ang isip ng taong ito dahil hindi nia nalalaman ang kanyang ginagawa.” Oh, wageee! Nakakatawa din ang mga pasaringan at patutsadahang ginagawa ng mga politikong ito. Kung magsalita akala mo lahat sila e malilinis.

But kidding aside, this is an important matter. Each and every vote is very important. Kung talagang gusto ng Pilipinas ng pagbabago, it has to start by making a choice and standing by it. I mean, pag-isipang mabuti kung sino ba talaga ang karapat dapat. Wag magpadala sa mga star power at sa ganda ng pagsasalita. At siguraduhing susuportahan ang ibinoto kung sakaling manalo. Ang nangyayari kse minsan, hindi lang makakita ng agarang pagbabago e katakot takot na batikos na ang inaabot. Bigyan dapat sila ng pagkakataong ipakita ang kung anung kaya nilang gawin. At lagi nating tandaan:

Change does not happen over night and it cannot be done by just one person. Kailangan simulan natin sa sarili  ang pagbabago. Hindi natin pedeng iasa lahat sa mga namumuno ng bayan. Sabi nga ni Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Kaya pa naman e. Sayang ang demokrasyang nakamtan natin noon kung patuloy nating pababayaang mapunta sa wala.

So, exercise the right to vote and do it wisely!

Basta, I’m declaring this entry as my official 1st post  for the year 2010 since the last one really don’t have anything in it. So to be fair and for the lost time, I’ll give you a rundown of our entire trip to the Philippines + Singapore. This will be easy since I got all our activities  on a calendar and most have been posted on Facebook. I didn’t want to screw this vacation by letting a day go by without doing anything fun so I had to make sure the calendar was filled.

Dec 20

• Landed in the Philippines around 10am. Boy! it was hot!  But it wasn’t as bad as last year. All of us were very excited since we missed Liam sooo much. And guess what that big boy did to Daddy as soon as he carried him — a straight slap in the face! Ouch! I remember, Gabie did the same thing to my Ninang when she was the same age. Haha!  I guess it runs in the blood.

• Went to eat lunch at Jollibee at the SLEX. Gusto sana namin sa Kenny Rogers kaya lang wala kaming makitang malapit. We’re all so tired  so we decided to just stop by at one of the gas station by the express way and ate at Jollibee. They have this new offering (ewan ko lang how new) the chicken BBQ. I got excited coz it looks yummy but was let down because it doesn’t taste that good. Dry! Boo!  And the java rice sux! Man.. I wish ordered Chicken Joy instead. After lunch, we went straight home and rested.

Dec 21

• Woke  up early to grab breakfast at McD’s. Peeps from the US might probably say, di na nagsawa sa McDo but were talking about Pinas here people. Totally different menu!  And somehow, even the taste is a bit different. So yeah, 6am and I ordered longganisa with fried rice. Ay grabe! It was heaven for me. Hubby did not order since he wanted to eat goto.
• Run some errands with my mother-in-law in preparation for Kuya Marvin and Ate Che’s wedding on the 26th. Had hubby’s barong made. I felt bad for Inay since up to the last minute, she was having issues with the dress the she was to wear. In the end, she had to find another seamstress to create a dress for her overnight.

Dec 22

• Tagaytay Day!  Hubby and I planned on going without the kids since we wanted to hit the casino . Unfortunately, we didn’t have any means of transportation. But when mom called and said that they were going because Ninang and Ninong wanted Gabie to ride a horse , we gladly went with them with Liam, of course. Weather was gloomy . As soon as we got there, we went straight to Josephine’s for lunch. Food was great!  I didn’t realize I missed a lot of Pinoy foods until I was there. And man, the puto bungbong and bibingka was to die for.

• As soon as we were done, slight shower of rain  started to fall. And then there was fog. Gabie was feeling a bit sad already since she won’t be able to horseback. Luckily, God must have heard her prayers (my daughter is really good at praying) and the fog and driplets of rain slowly went away. She get to ride the horse and eventually, Liam and I did too!
• Casino never happened. When you’re carpooling, you go where the driver and the owner of the car goes.  So yeah, after that we went home. Dayo lang ng pangangabayo! Ay ang pangit pakinggan! Hahaha. But it’s all good. At least I didn’t get to lose any money in gambling. Siguro sabi ni Lord, gamitin mo na lang sa iba ang pera mo.
• Had my favorite cake in the entire world, UBE  from Red Ribbon. I know, I’m cheap like that!

Dec 23

• Went to Taal to find Liam his barong for the wedding since it’s been apparent that the seamstress that was hired to do most of the entourage’s gowns and barongs failed to rise to the occasion.  I mean, gosh! Tatay’s barong was weird and he could not raise his arms without ripping that thing off, so he was bound to just let his arms dangle in his side . One of the flower girls’ dress still has a needle attached to it showing proof that it was not completely finished. And Inay… poor Inay. To think that she is the mother of the groom and she’ll look like somebody just murdered her dress.  And that is actually an understatement. Thankfully, as mentioned above, they found someone who created a new one from scratch and put all the little tiny beadings on it overnight.
• Not too sure if this was the day we went to attend a mass in memory of Padre Pio at one of the church in Lipa. Ate Maricel wanted to complete her novena so we went with her.

Dec 24

• Attended early Christmas mass at La Salle Sentrum with the entire Laroza family. Ay! minus Tatay pala. I think he was in San Jose during that time. Geez, I cannot remember. Maybe he was with us. Oh my I’m so bad. Anyway, saw some familiar faces and a few acquaintances.

• Christmas Eve!   But wait, earlier that day, I was scrambling to finish wrapping the presents that was supposed to be given out that night.  I told hubby that instead of giving out the pasalubongs to everybody as soon as we arrived, why not wrap it and then distribute them as soon as 12mindnight strikes. Tradition, right? Wrong. After eating dinner I was so tired. I went to take a little nap. I decided since we’re probably gonna be up till about 2am, I needed to rest. But when I woke up at about 11pm and noticed that most of the lights are turned off, I realized that the opening of gifts and Noche Buena will never happen. I was a bit disappointed.  I felt somebody just stole Christmas from me and it wasn’t the Grinch. I told hubby how come he didn’t tell me about it but he said that he mentioned it to me the last time (which he did… a year ago). And that’s why he wanted to celebrate New Year’s in Lipa is because they don’t do the normal Christmas eve celebration.
• But it’s all good! We laughed about it the following day. I guess I was just excited to see how different faces light up when they open up a present, specially my two kids. But don’t worry, Gabie get to open up some of her presents. Liam was asleep the entire time. He wouldn’t understand anyway.

Dec 25

• Christmas Day. Went to Tanauan to visit my side of the family for Christmas. My Ninang’s house was where my parents were staying. Gabie bounces between Tanauan and Lipa. They had presents for the kids too and so they were so excited opening it. Liam can’t decide which toy to play with first. Gabie’s present were mostly clothes. Some of it were supposed to be dresses but her ninongs didn’t think she was as tall as she is now so they passed for as tops. Haha! Boys.
• Went back to Lipa in the afternoon and slept the whole day. I guess when you become a grown up, Christmas becomes just a regular day.

Dec 26

• Kuya Marvin and Ate Che’s Wedding Day.  More pix on our respective facebook account.
• It was held at a church in San Jose. Officiated by a priest that was close to both of them. Gabie looked very pretty with her dress. Liam looked like a little congressman in the making. Inay’s gown delivered. For something done overnight, I think it came out pretty good.  Good enough to be noticed and praised by some of her friends and relatives.

• Reception was held at Bluroze Farm in Lipa. The venue was great. I’ve been to Bluroze a couple of times but I never knew that there was a place like that. Must have been done over the years I wasn’t there. Recent maybe? Maybe not.
• Hubby delivered the speech I made for him as the best man. Little kids danced to the tune of Noboby, Nobody.  Liam got all pumped up and didn’t want to leave the stage. Dad had to carry him out of the dance floor. Oh he was a scene stealer alright!
• All’s well that end’s well, they say. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Marvin and Richelle Laroza! I guess we we’ll be looking forward for a playmate for Gabie and Liam the next time we come home.

Ok. I have to stop here for now. This post is gearing up to be a long one so I have to do it in parts or else your eyes will be strained just like mines are right now.