Wii Rockband and new food

We've been so busy playing Rockband the past couple of days. The only rest I had last Sunday was when we went to church and I worked some on a document that I sent out to a client. Other than that, we were rockin'-away. It's so much fun, I fully recommend!

We have no plans for July 4th yet, but we'll figure something out. It's going to be a long weekend, 4th being a Friday. Maybe take advantage of a good sale, but at this point, we can't fit anything anymore in our tiny apartment.

I need to cut Gabriel's hair, but he insists that today is not the day. Maybe I can convince him a bit later. He's now reading his Bible and so I don't want to stop him from doing that.

Now that I've sent the document I was supposed to do for a client, I'm freer to think about our travel to Manila. I'm so excited, I get to see family and I get to eat Filipino food again! Yahoo.

Speaking of food, we tried out Maxim's in Richardson twice last week. We had dimsum: siomai, spare ribs, chicken feet! It will be the restaurant to go to just to get our dimsum fix. I've been in Dallas for 3 years, and this is the first Chinese restaurant where we had dimsum, imagine that! So we definitely are going back.

There's another new restaurant which we tried last week: Sushi Sake. We dined there with Renee and Kevin and we had fun. We are probably going back there again, and although it's a little bit pricey, the hand-rolled spicy tuna was great!

Leon and Blue

Have you met Leon and Blue? Blue is Gabriel's code name for the radio while Leon is Jojo's. There's a story that goes with Leon's name (for sure). So when we were thinking up of names to name our bikes, I picked Valentine (because it's red). Well, Jojo insisted to call his Schwinny de Leon. His bike is a 21-speed Schwinn. Haha. Come on, I know you're laughing too!

So while thinking of a code, we were in our bedroom where the bikes are propped against the wall. Jojo couldn't think up of a name, so Gabriel volunteered, "How about Leon, Dad?" And you should hear Gabriel say that, it's sounds like Lee-Yon. And Jojo definitely did not pronounce it like that, but your rather typical pinoy pronunciation.

Which brings me to another story. One day, Jojo and Gabriel were talking about watching Kung Fu Panda. Naturally, Jojo pronounced Kung Fu like koong foo. So Gabriel was beside himself with laughter... I asked him why. He merely said, "Dad, it's not koong foo. It's k-ugh-ng foo (or kang foo, I'm not sure what spelling is more accurate)." The three of us laughed so hard after that.

We're raising an American.

Still busy but at least finding time to write

The weekend was a blast, well, at least for Gabriel. Saturday, we went and took him to back-to-back parties, where he had so much fun. In one of the parties, he was able to see his classmates after a week out of school, and he was able to experience the Big Kahuna! Hold your horses, nothing too much to be excited about. This is a waterslide setup right in the backyard, but it was huge, and kids his age were bounced right to a puddle of water below. Cool!

Here's an image if your imagination is a little faulty this time of day.



And then Sunday for Father's Day, we accidentally met up with a couple of friends in our favorite restaurant for lunch. We also took a dip in the pool, and it feels so good to be able to do that as it was really hot and humid.

Travels and being sick

I was in Phoenix the first half of the week and going back to Dallas, I may have caught a bug on the plane. I woke up at 5am Wednesday morning very sick, sore throat + fever. I thought I could fight it off, so I started to work in the morning, did a couple of conference calls. Then at noon, bam! it hit me. I was freezing to death in Dallas spring weather and my joints were starting to ache so much. My muscles too. And did I mention that I vomited during the next two days? Eeew.

The next day, Jojo took me to the clinic and after waiting for 2 hours, I was diagnosed with throat infection and got prescribed with 10 days of twice daily antibiotics. I thought I felt better after that, but my voice have not recovered and certainly not my body. Still, I had so much work to do, so I found myself engaged in calls and working, rather typing away on Friday. I really did not have any choice. People depended on me.

What is the worst part of being sick? I don't know but I sure don't like the whole idea. People who've seen me sick can attest to this. Haha. I cry, I'm so emotional I would cry if you so much look at me. So no eye contact when I'm sick, ok? My colleagues said I sounded terrible, which I probably did. And you can forget about how I look. I could wear the same clothes for 3 days, if only they're not soaked with sweat. And did I already mention crying? I cry all the time.

Gabriel was the nicest boy ever. He would tell me over and over, "Mom, I'm just here ok? If you feel anything bad, let me know, ok?" And he would pat my back in the bathroom while I do the nasty stuff, and tell me he loves me. Ok, so after the bathroom incident, he told me, "Mommy, when you were vomiting, I almost puked too. It almost makes me vomit to see others doing it." Poor baby.

And Jojo, he was laughing half of the time. Which made me cry all the more. But the other half, he was taking care of me and doing everything for me. Thanks hon. I owe you.

Lazy Sunday

The family just stayed home this Sunday. Gabriel watched the Heart concert on TV and was earnestly waiting for Barracuda to be played. Now he and Jojo are working on completing the South America map.

I, on the other hand, have been doing some cleaning. Now, I'm just surfing the web. This is nice, no pressure to do anything.

For the past week, my thoughts have been filled with going home to Manila. We've already made the visa appointments to renew our visa, we've been checking out tickets and flights, we've been looking at making additional trips while there (just one really, Boracay). And I need to make a list of all the restaurants that we need to go to while we're there for the brief time that we've scheduled to be there.

So busy.

I've been looking at the photobooks that we've created and deciding which one to bring back. Almost makes me sad to think that there are more pictures and memories than photobooks, but there's just not enough time to make them. I hope I manage to make a couple more before the trip, but it does seem highly unlikely. I've got so much stuff to do at work that I would rather just play the Wii whenever I'm at home.

I need to prepare for my trip to Phoenix tomorrow so I guess I'll see you later. Have fun!

Good food and friends

The weekend has been good.

Last Friday, I finally got to meet Jojo's friend, George, who visited Dallas with his Tita Dulce and Tito Ped. It was great! We had lobster buffet at Plano, which was enjoyed by all. We spent the whole night eating and drinking, and the next day, more of the same, without the drinking. Haha. We had lunch at Bistro B and that was a hit. Even Gabriel finished his Com Thit Nuog Xa (grilled pork with fried egg).

Sunday was just spent at home, after going to church and lunching at Bangkok City. Played the Wii, and also managed to sort clothes that will need to be shipped to Manila.

Oh, and I did color my hair! It's now yellow - eeew! But I like it, and Gabriel says I'm now officially a rockstar! Well, I'll take that as a compliment since we try so hard with Guitar Hero. We love Wii! And we can't wait for Wii Rockband to arrive. Mental note to pre-order in Amazon before it goes out.

I'll see you later.