NSIS Preschool Sports Day

NSIS had their Preschool Sports Day on 22 May 2009. Perfect timing that mom, dad and angel were here. Aly had an instant cheering squad.
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aThe entire preschool was divided into teams: blue, red, yellow and green. Aly was with the green team. Each team competed in five (5) different stations.
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aAly's first station: spoon relay. I was surprised that this was part of sports day because we were just practicing this at home a week before. Heehee!
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aExcited Aly.
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aLook at Aly go!
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aLooks like our home practice paid off! Aly breezed through the course with zero effort. Sisiw!
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aNext station was football. All they had to do was kick the ball towards the goal. Look at the boy in red. Soo cute! Parang superhero kick with matching pose pa!
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aOkay, I have to admit that I was a little bit nervous for Aly at this point. Hindi namin na-practice ito sa bahay! I wasn't even sure if she can kick the ball. Heehee!
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aBut she did. I was relieved. Phew! Note to self: ask Richard to teach Aly more about ball sports.
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aMore kicks.
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aStation # 3 was the bean bag toss. Aly was able to shoot one bean bag out of three. Not bad!
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aAly and Isya.
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aWith Lisa.
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aWith Vanessa.
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aStation # 4 was the baton relay.
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aLittle ones first...
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a...then it was Aly's turn.
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aLook at our girl go!!
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aGo Aly!
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aGo Aly!
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aGo Aly!
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aGo, go, gooo!!
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aRound two.
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aGO!
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aRun, Aly, run!
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aLook here: she's a little bit behind Lisa...
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a...but here she was able to catch up! Yey!
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Go Aly, go Aly, go!
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aSabay lang sila natapos. Bilib ako sa anak ko, ang bilis tumakbo!
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aAly with her cheering squad.
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a The last station for Aly's team was the junk relay.
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aOnce again, my little girl surprised me with her hidden sports abilities. I was worried that she might trip or something. It usually happens to her when we're at home. I'm glad that didn't happen. Phew!
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aTime for the awarding ceremonies. All the kids got a gold medal and a small token.
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aThe champ with the proud daddy and mommy.
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aAly with lola Aple, lolo Bernie and tita Angel.
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aAfter receiving their medals, the kids sang It's A Small World for their parents.
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We all had a blast during Sports Day! Aly enjoyed playing with her friends, and the adults had a great time watching them. The kids were soo adorable! Most especially the Nursery kids. Dad said they looked cute running in their diapers. Haha!
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I was proud of my girl's performance. She did great! More importantly, she did not cry when she didn't finish first. Haha! Richard and I gave Aly a small pep talk before Sports Day. We told her that winning is not important; it's ok if she's not the first. What's more important is for her to have fun and enjoy the time with her friends. And that's exactly what she did.
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Oh yeah, and one more thing: I was soo relieved to see Aly run. I was very happy to know that my little girl can actually run! Woohoo! I thought she's going to end up like me -- you know, I-hate-PE-and-anything-sports-related and I-would-rather-walk-fast-than-run me. My worst fears are over. Haha!
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a Great job, Babe!

Daddy's Birthday

Dear daddy celebrated another birthday with us in Bangkok last May 20 :)
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Aly with her gift for lolo Bernie.
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Ang gwapo ng tatay ko!
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It was a simple celebration, no fuss -- we just had dinner at his favorite Chinese restaurant at Central Rama 3. His birthday celebration was so typical of my dad, just like him: easygoing, no fuss, quiet...he can walk for hours and he won't complain. You can go back and forth in the mall and he will just follow quietly, happily listening to his ipod with Bose earphones (his pride and joy). Dad, or P Diddy as we sometimes call him (that's his name on my cellphone), is a music connoiseur. He has asked me time and again to try out the speakers so I can "feel" the superior sound of Bose technology for myself, but I was never really able to know the difference. Sorry dad! Hehe!
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Anyway, back to daddy's birthday. I tried my best to make his birthday more exciting, but it was quite difficult because we were together the whole day: after his daily morning walk (he probably knows our neighborhood more than I do know because of that), he accompanied me and my mom to the gym. Sort of making bantay just to make sure that mom and I are doing some excercise and not just making chika. Haha! After picking up Yan from school, we went to Emporium, where, instead of buying a gift for himself, he bought mom a new bag. Isn't dad the sweetest?
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From Emporium, we went to Central Rama 3 where Richard was waiting for us, then we had dinner at Hua Seng Hong. After dinner, we went back to the apartment, where we surprised him with a birthday cake.
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Daddy's birthday cake: Macadamia Cheesecake.
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aAly singing to lolo Bernie.
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aMake a wish, dad!
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I wonder what daddy wished for...anyway, here's our wish for our dear daddy: we wish you good health, more blessings and many, many more years to come. Dad, you have always been the #1 guy in my life -- until I married Richard. Hehe! But I know you understand that and you love him just as much. You will always be my idol, my P Diddy. We are lucky to have you as our dad, Aly is very lucky to have you as her lolo (you spoil her too much, dad, but let's talk about that some other time), and mom is very, very lucky to have you as her husband.
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We love you, dad!

Lens Love

Actually, let me rephrase that to Lens LUST because that's what I felt the moment I laid my hands on this baby.
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Background kwento muna. It's been a year since we bought our dslr and although we've taken more than a thousand photos with it, I still have a LOT to learn about the many functions of our Canon EOS 400D. I bought the least technical photography book that I can find, but I still find myself putting it down the moment it gets too technical for me. Am I crazy or what?! Haha!
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Our camera came with the standard 18-55mm Kit lens. Many times I wanted to kick myself for not paying a little extra for the Image Stabilizer (IS), one of which was during last year's Halloween party where I got a lot of blurry shots. Anyway, with Aly's school play and graduation coming up, I thought there's no better time to upgrade our lens than now. I find it so frustrating when you want to zoom in on certain subjects only to be limited by the lens. Nakakabitin and it totally ruins the shot.
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So I did a little research and came across an article on Digital Photography School (DPS). Initially, my two options were either to buy a tripod or buy a new set of lens. Turns out, tripods and IS features do not go together. If you're using a tripod, you need to turn your IS off so I thought, I should buy lens with IS na lang. Based on the article on DPS, my best bet would be the Canon EF-S 17-85mm because it was the cheapest among the three options that were given and it's pretty much an all-purpose lens, which means you can go from wide-angle to zoom to macro with it.
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Yesterday, we made a trip to Pantip Plaza to check the price of the Canon lens. The last shop that we went to was the same shop where I bought my extra batt a couple of months back. The salesguy remembered us and what I like about him is he really takes time to talk to you, present different options, explain the different functions, make comparisons, etc. He showed us the Canon lens and we were pretty much decided on the Canon, until he showed us the Sigma 18-200mm. Number pa lang, you can tell that the Sigma lens is a lot bigger than the Canon.
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He let us try the lens on our camera. First, the Sigma then the Canon. Gosh, the Sigma lens looked so badass on our humble 400D, it was lust at first sight. The price wasn't so bad either. If Canon retailed for Thb11,800, Sigma was just a couple of hundreds more at Thb12,500. Canon 18-200mm is priced at Thb22+ so it really was a great deal. Plus, Sigma has Optical Stabilizer (their version of Canon's IS) and it came with a free lens hood which is something that Canon lenses don't usually come with. I just had to pay a little extra for the protective lens.
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Anyway, without further ado, here is our new Sigma lens :)
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aWith lens in normal position.

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aLens fully extended.

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It's heavier than our old lens, but look at what this baby can do. Take note that these photos were not cropped. The only alteration that I did was to resize (original size was 4mb).
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I took this shot from our bedroom window, lens in normal position. Note the white and blue building on the left.
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Zoomed halfway.
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aMaximum zoom, lens fully extended.
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aI tilted the camera a bit downwards and this is what I saw. Awesome!! I have to admit, nanlula ako when I was playing around with it yesterday.
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I cannot say more about the lens for now. Like I said, I still have much to learn about taking photos and using the camera's different functions. At the moment, I am just thrilled to have this amazing gadget, this awesome piece of technology and I can't wait to use it on Aly's school play and graduation. I reckon that there will be lots of parents fighting over the prime spots in front of the stage to get a better view of the children performing, so I'm confident that if I don't find a nice spot, I can rely on my new super powered lens to give me a good shot. Hehe!
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Let me leave you with the first shots that I took using none other than my favorite model, Aly.
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Aly watching High School Musical.
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Aly smiling for mommy.
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P.S - I know I said this many times already yesterday but, thank you again, Sweetie for the lens! I love you!

Her Madgesty the Queen

I may have mentioned on this blog at one time or another that I am a huge fan of Madonna. This explains why her books deserve a separate post. She's a queen, she's a diva. Divas do not share the spotlight with anyone. Hehe!
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Madonna and I go way, way back. I was in fourth grade when I bought my first Madonna poster and hung it proudly in my room in Las Pinas. I think I even brought it when we moved to a new house in Alabang.
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Just recently, I almost registered for her fan club online, only to stop short when I had to enter my credit card number and pay for USD50 to get the complete fan club privileges. I'm a fan of her music and performances, alright, but I just wasn't ready to shell out that much money. I will just admire freely. Haha!
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Last week I bought two Madonna books.
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Life With My Sister Madonna (LWMSM) by Christopher Ciccone, and Madonna Inspirations.

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LWMSM drew a lot of attention when it was published a couple of years back because it showed Madonna in a somewhat bad light. Written by her brother, Christopher, it showed us the Madonna that he knew; that he grew up with, which is different from the "constructed public persona" that we all know. In other words, the book kinda says masama ang ugali ng lola mo. Well, kahit ano pa ang sabihin niya o nila, I still remain a true blue fan because above all, it's the music and the artistry that I admire. It was an interesting read. The author shared stories behind her concert tours, what goes on backstage, what happens after, etc.
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I was also telling my husband the other day that when I read the book, I found out that Madonna and I had so many things in common! Ok, it might sound wishful thinking (illusyonada is more like it!), but apart from the obvious (the singing) see here: Madonna likes making lists. Hello! I make all sorts of lists too: grocery lists, to-do's, wishlists complete with tick boxes! She also has an affinity for white stuff. Her dressing rooms are always painted white because she says that she looks better with a white background. Fans and admirers send her white flowers because they know that's what she likes. Duh? I have a white laptop with matching white mouse and white external memory! And when I buy stuff, I usually lean towards white. Gosh! Are we twins of what?! Haha!
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Negativity aside, I think the book showed Madonna for what she really is: she truly is the queen of pop. She worked hard to get where she is now and if she is a diva, she deserves it because she rocks!
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As if to validate or debunk the stuff that Christopher Ciccone wrote in LWMSM, I bought a DVD of one of her documentaries, I'm Gonna Tell You A Secret, and I watched it last night. It's about her Re-Invention Tour and the statement that she wanted to make (political and all). I didn't bother much with the politics because I was too mesmerized by her performances. She is not only a singer, but she is an artist, a performer. Ang galing galing! As for the book, it was the opposite of what I saw on film. She wasn't a bad person at all. She was, in fact very kind to her dancers, crew and assistant. Then again, that could have been scripted.
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Okay, enough about the biography. Let me share with you the other book that I bought, Madonna Inspirations. It's a compilation of black and white photos, illustrations and quotes from Madonna that people can draw inspiration from. I got it on sale (50% off!). I also bought it because at the back it says: "This book is essential for any Madonna fan and anyone who is interested to know how Madonna thinks." I was sold on the words "essential" and "fan". Haha!
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Let me share with you some of her quotes:
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"You can't sit around worrying about people disliking you because they're always going to be there".
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"I wanted to do everything everybody told me I couldn't do"
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"The person who was negative will bring negativity back towards himself"
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And my #1 fave: "I'm tough, I'm ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a b*tch...Ok." Yeah, baby! Madonna, you rock!

Fully Booked

I have two good reasons for my long absence: 1) Mom, dad and my sister were here a couple of weeks ago so I didn't have much time to go online, and 2) I was fully booked.

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aFrom top to bottom; left to right: Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour and Kitchen Confidential, Life With My Sister Madonna by Christopher Ciccone, Madonna Inspirations, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella.

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Yes, these books have kept me off the internet in the past couple of weeks. It was like I woke up one morning and had a huge craving for reading! I think I spent a total of three whole days hanging out in bookstores, browsing until I made my purchase. I didn't buy them all at the same time, by the way.
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To give you an idea about the books that I've been reading: In Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain tells us what inspired him to become a chef, how he rose from being a lowly dishwasher to executive chef, what exactly goes on inside the kitchen and other intriguing "adventures in the culinary underbelly". When I read this book, I fell in love with Tony all the more. He is so cool and I love that he's into rock and roll. Haha!
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This book brought me back to my Highlands days when certain assignments for the newletter and events would require me to visit the kitchen and hang out with the chefs. Aahhh, how I love those days...being in the kitchen with the chefs, watching them do their magic (I was lucky to get free tips and recipes from some of them!), admiring and lusting over the array of ingredients and equipment was truly the best part of my job in Highlands. My favorite part was doing the monthly feature on Bread and Cake of the Month, which would require me to visit the pastry chef and to take a photo of the food. The chef knows that I am a big fan of his work so he always lets me sample the food after the photoshoot. Wasn't that the best job or what? Anyway, I'm getting off topic here. Back to the book. So if you like watching Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen, you will probably like Kitchen Confidential as well.
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Remember Me? is about a girl who got amnesia from a car crash. The story revolves around her trying to remember the last three years of her life, how she went from a plain working girl to a corporate big shot with a trendy apartment, a closet full of designer clothes and a good-looking millionaire husband. It's delightful, yes, but it wasn't exactly memorable for me. You see, I've read the entire Shopaholic series of Sophie Kinsella. I loved it. It's funny, very entertaining, and I love that I was able to relate to it in some way. I was probably expecting the same from this book (not that I ever had amnesia or had been in a car crash), but I felt kinda bitin. But this won't stop me from reading the other books that she wrote. I still plan to complete my Sophie Kinsella collection in the future (two more books to go!).
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You might be wondering why I have a dictionary in the photo. I just bought it recently to help me with some of the words that I come across. I just figured that having one at arm's length while reading is a lot easier than having to look up the word on the internet!
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I will be talking about the Madonna books on a separate post :) Meanwhile, let me share with you the last book, the one that I am currently reading:
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What makes this book special is I had to search five different bookstores (Kinokuniya and Asia Books at Siam Paragon, Asia Books Warehouse at Erawan Plaza, Asia Books and B2S at Central World) for this baby. I was about to give up my search when I found one copy, in pristine condition (I'm OC so I like my books to look perfectly new with no creases on the cover and pages), at Kinokuniya Central World. If the book had a single crease on it, I would have had second thoughts about buying it, but it was perfect. Like it was just sitting there, waiting for me to bring it home (after paying, that is). I was floating on clouds and I declared it a good book shopping day.
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A Cook's Tour is about Tony going around the world and eating all sorts of stuff. This culinary tour is anything but conventional. I mean, would you count eating the beating heart of a live cobra the usual tourist foodfare? Intruiging, huh? Anyway, I haven't finished the book yet, but I'm loving it. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at Tony's wit and humor. After this book, I plan to read more of Bourdain's books. Hopefully they will not be hard to find.
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So there you have it, my latest literary adventure :) I'd like to know what you've been reading lately and if you have any book suggestions, do let me know.