. . . Shirshasana - The Headstand

I had been doing yoga since 2001. Although not consistently as sometimes I get bored and wall climb, bike, play tennis and swim instead. But no matter, I always go back to yoga. And today, I did my first Shirshasana.

My friend, Chris, gave me my first yoga video back in 2001. I was not big on dieting and hard core exercising so I appreciated yoga. I loved that I could wear anything for yoga. I loved that I did not have to wear shoes. I also love my purple yoga mat which is now as old as my yoga practice. I love yoga primarily because it helps me with my scoliosis. It can really, really alleviate the pain.

When I got shot in December 2002, I stopped practicing yoga. And then in 2003, Plantation Bay (my employer then) incorporated yoga in the resort activities. I met Dada Dinakar and he helped me get back in the groove. Plantation Bay was the fabulous venue for yoga. Very nature-ly.

When I changed careers, I stopped again. And resumed only on my 2nd trimester. Yes, I got pregnant. But I did Pregnancy Yoga. I got the yoga DVD off eBay. I was very pleased. I think it helped me vaginally deliver my 1st baby at 8.6 lbs. I also moved on to after-birth yoga. Yoga seriously helped me lose the baby weight.
And now, after 2 kids, I am still doing my yoga. I have since incorporated it with stability ball exercises and treadmill because those are the only equipment within my reach.

I have tried several asanas already – easy and difficult ones. I have also been doing shoulder stands for a while now. But whenever I get to talk to Chris, he would ask me if I could do the head stand already. I kept saying I probably cannot, since I have a weak back due to scoliosis. Because I seriously did not think I could. This morning, he again asked me if I could do the head stand already, I again said I couldn’t but I went ahead and tried.

And here I am in the beginner’s shirshasana! Yey! I did not think I could but I tried and I did it! I am so happy! It was not very easy and I am feeling some strains in my neck but with practice, I know I could do better and I could really perfect this inversion. It has a lot of benefits and I kinda felt a little calm and light-headed after.

I will definitely do this again.

. . . The Inaugural Address of President Noynoy Aquino

June 30, 2010

It’s a beautiful day. This is the song in my head as I wake up early in the realization of a new regime.

Goodbye little woman. It’s showtime for President Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III. PNoy, as he wants to be called, started his day early, too, and had a heavy breakfast in preparation for the long day and tight schedule ahead of him. He left Times Street 15 minutes ahead of schedule. His Land Cruiser went at moderate speed and even stopped at a red light. Is this the sign of better days? The President obeying traffic rules? His hagad not blaring the sirens to let people know that a VIP is passing by.

But there was no need to let people know. The people knew. Gloring might have plotted in making today a holiday so that schools won’t require students to go out in the streets and wave yellow flags. But the crowd came. From Times Street to Malacanan up to Quirino. They lined the streets in support of PNoy. They lined the streets with hope in their eyes and “L” on their hands.

Naturally, since he was early and I’m wishing this will be the new Filipino time, he arrived in Malacanan early. I saw VP Kabayan, calmly saying hi to the staff and soon-to-be-ex cabinet members present in the palace. I could almost feel the sense of relief evident on his face.

On to Gloring. When she took the steps down the stairs, I believe I am one of the many who silently wished she tripped. But she didn’t. Lucky her. PNoy extended his hand and she shook it. I’m guessing they were asked to hold that pose for more photo ops. Yikes! They let go. And held hands again. They let go and then again, held hands. Ewww-ness.

They then proceeded to the Mercedes Benz presidential car for the ‘traditional’ trip to Quirino. PNoy was seen talking to Gloring while he went in the car. Hmmmm…what did they say to each other? Awkward city for 15 minutes.

When they got to Quirino, the sea of humanity began chanting “Noynoy! Noynoy!” And when Gloring took her last walk, “Booooooo!” Serves your right! PNoy extended his hand to assist her up and down the platform they were standing on and she ignored the hand! Twice! What a blatant display of callousness! And when she finally rode her private car (which I’m sure was paid for by our taxes), the crowd went wild! She was like that elusive goal in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa!
To quote Oscar Wilde, “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”

And because of the new PNoy time, everyone waited for time. And because being early is apparently a new concept to Filipinos, the program organizers were forced to salang singers who could do impromptu stuff. Including Christian Bautista who did Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up” exceptionally well in acapella. The recently disbanded trio, Apo Hiking Society, also tried to pitch in but managed to sing an amateur, miting-de-avance-type number. Really tacky with all the shouting adlibs in between. Not impressive at all. Regine and Ogie also did the campaign jingles without the ‘shouting adlibs’ in between. They also did the Bagong Pilipinas song while holding hands. HHWS. Holding hands while singing. All of them were celebrating PNoy. How was the vice president elect feeling? Because of “PNoy”, I have begun calling the Veep “BNay”. Did BNay have his own awkward city moment that time-- during that really long wait for the “traditional high noon” proclamation?
However, BNay and PNoy were also seen talking to each other. I do not sense any tension between them not as how they were being portrayed to be in the news.
Noticeable also was the controversial presidential sister and her sons. The controversial MVP presidential bayaw however was nowhere in sight. Presidential nephew and MJ fanatic was also a crowd-pleaser with his yellow barong and yellow wayfarers! Kyoooot! Presidential yaya was seen carrying the yellow Hermes bag of the controversial presidential sis.

As PNoy stood to give his inaugural address, presidential special nephew stood up to kiss his fave uncle and managed to cover PNoy from the entire crowd due to his hugeness.

The inaugural address was simple and precise. It was said in English and Filipino. It went for 21 minutes and 50 seconds. It was interrupted once by a brief smoker’s cough which I could understand since he might not have had his share of nicotine rush since he left Times.

Overall, I could feel the sincerity of his speech. I am happy he singled out Leila de Lima because I am still hoping for justice for the 2002 incident. The task PNoy is facing is ginormous but we should all be doing our parts if we want change to happen. God bless the Philippines.

. . . the G Lasagna

Much ado about the G* Lasagna.

I have read and re-read about the G Lasagna that I’ve had dreams about it. People have been gushing about how yum it is. Even my husband thinks so. (I’m not really a G fan.)

Since there’s so much hoopla about the lasagna, I went ahead and tried it. For some reason, G restaurants have always been too small and too cramped for space so naturally, there was not a vacant table in sight. I decided to have my lasagna to-go and just eat with it my babies.

When I got home, I opened the two boxes and showed it to my kids. Probably because of transit, the lasagna went a-tumbling in the box. My daughter asked me if it was still good food because it looked panis.

And we indulged. Oh, well, as my daughter aptly puts it, “lame-oh!” It was not as I dreamt it to be. Sad to say, I was disappointed. Maybe because it was no longer fresh from the oven and maybe because of its appearance that I was no longer enticed. I’ll give the G* lasagna another try. But this time I’ll try it over at their small outlet at the mall. Soon.

June 28, 2010

. . . Cleaning Up my Closet (at least one door)

June 18, 2010

This is my closet. Or at least one of them. This space is just for my sleeved, tube, and spaghetti-strapped tops. However, long tops are hung along with the tops I use for work -- blazers, dresses and some skirts. Not in this space. In a separate clothes rack. The clothes hung above the folded tops are some of my daughter's dresses and skirts.

What you see there are what's left of my tops after I tried disposing of some by giving them to yaya and bagging some for a planned garage sale slash ukay-ukay. I've tried several ways of arranging my clothes to make it easier for me to find stuff but still after a few months my clothes come to life and party inside my closet! Grrr! When I tried piling them according to color, I noticed that my closet is predominantly black and purple when I was single. When I did it according to style, I realized I had a lot of spaghetti-strapped tops and venus tops! Now it's just whatever-way-as-long-as-they-fit-in-the-closet. I utilized the closet door for my bras -- I have a lot of hot pink, purple and black pairs!

Nyxy is just 4 years old but I've passed on two of my tube tops to her. (I'll check later if they fit her.) She now has a brewing closet-overload problem, too. Yikes! My bad!

. . . Spaghetti anyone?

June 18, 2010

For lack of a better thing to do, let me tell you about my favorite pasta dish.

Spaghetti and Meatballs over at Yellow Cab. I super love the spag over at this pizza place. It is NOT the sweet, catsup-red Filipino-style pasta that you normally see in fastfoods. It's even a bit pale in comparison, literally, but I truly enjoy the play of tomatoes, pasta and meatballs! My tummy is rumbling. Yum!

One 'box' of spaghetti is good to share. My kids absolutely love it, too!

. . . Happy Birthday, Boo!

June 16, 2010

It’s my boo’s 31st birthday.

After my grand, hotel slash resort hopping last month, I don’t think I can top that for my husband. I remember on his 1st ‘married’ birthday, I sent him flowers at the workplace. But after that, I don’t think I’ve gotten him anything worth remembering. I hope he understands though.

He says he’s low profile and that he just wanted to spoil me during my last birthday. Well, that’s really true, because I’m really bratty and he is dedma -- to anything. So maybe that’s what he’ll get – a dedma.

I will dedma all the things about him that sometimes make me hurl. I will dedma the fact that he’ll be out with friends to celebrate his birthday. (There’s nothing wrong with that, I know. I’m just jealous coz I don’t have friends. I don’t have time to go out with friends, let alone time to even make friends. So just let me be jealous.)

Happy birthday, boo. I remember we’ve only been together on your 2nd ‘married’ birthday. I hope we can celebrate your next birthday together as a family. Now blow the candles and make THAT wish.

So ordered. Mwah!

. . . School Opening

June 15, 2010

Today is my eldest daughter’s 1st day of school as Kinder 2. Nyx skipped Kinder 1 because, according to Ninang Liz, the school registrar, she already qualifies for K2 after being Pre Kinder.

I had mixed feelings again yesterday although not as weird as last year’s. Last year I really went in a downward spiral because Nyx was already going to school. I had the separation anxiety issues. She had zero. I felt sad because I knew I was not gonna see her as often as I want.

I am so proud of my girl because she’s really independent. Draco, however, is another story. I will find out next year when he steps into school, too, for the first time. I hope I won’t get depressed again.

This week is a dry-run for all of us. So far, so good, today. Woke up at 4:30am, packed Nyx’s stuff. She was ready by 7. They left the house around 7:30. Cooked my breakfast, did my yoga (with Draco), and chatted with my sis. My ride was here to pick me up even before Nyx and yaya got back. So when she got in the house, it was “how was school, I have to go” for me. Sad. But I promised to call her when I got to work. And I did. I found out she was no longer in the same section as her long-time, pre-kinder boyfriend, Diego. But she’s proud to claim she has new friends and new seatmates – Julie Gail and Christian.

Thank you Lord for today.

. . . Yaya Gone Wild!

June 7, 2010

We were in church yesterday when we all got a text message from my sister, Twinkle, to call her immediately. Important. My mom, who read the message first, went out of Redemptorist to call her.

After the mass, she told me that my sister’s yaya was caught in the act doing the deed with her boyfriend inside their house. Leaving poor baby Dash, bawling in the living room floor. They called the cops and the yaya and the boyfriend was brought to the police station. So we followed.

When we got there, we got the story. They were getting ready to go grocery shopping when Twinkle noticed a man at their back gate. So she confronted him and asked him what he wanted. He said he was the yaya’s cousin. But Twinkle knew better. She asked if she was the boyfriend and he confirmed. She told him to go to the front gate and not act like a thief. She then left with her husband, leaving behind their one-year-old son, Dash, with the yaya.

My brother-in-law kinda felt suspicious and decided to go back to their house and check on things. True enough, when he went in the house, Dash was running out of breath, bawling in their living room floor! He looked for the yaya and went to the maid’s room. When he yanked open the door, it was pushed close. So he forced it open and he was surprised at the sight of a naked man in front of him and their yaya trying to fix her shorts. Long story short, Mymy tied the man’s hands behind his back and called the cops. They were then brought to the police station. The boyfriend was booked and the yaya was fired. Twinkle called the yaya’s mom and she was picked up by her aunt to be brought home to her hometown.

Who wouldn’t overreact when your kid’s life is at stake? In their case, what if the guy turned out to be a thief and stabbed the yaya and then Dash and then steal all their stuff? Or what if Dash poked an electrical outlet with his tiny fingers? Or what if he ran and fell head first? What would they do? How would parents react?

Careful about your yayas. We all really can't just trust anyone with our babies.

. . . Urinary Tract Infection -- Boo!

June 5, 2010
My lower abdominals have been bothering me since last Sunday while we were at beautiful Don Salvador Benedicto. I was not sure what it was but like I always do, I ignored it and hoped it would just go away.

But my ouchy tummy, as I call it now, won’t go away. I tried Buscopan and Ponstan but well, it just won’t go away. Maybe it’s the stress (office problems). Or maybe PMS (but I just had my period!).

Until yesterday when I could no longer stand, I went to see my OB-Gyn. I have been putting off going to the OB because I feared that I might hear the bad news – you’re having a baby! LOL! But I heard slightly better news than that. I have Genito-Urinary Tract Infection. UTI! My gosh, what else is new? I’ve been having UTI for like forever. It’s my lifestyle. Controlling my pee, not drinking water, gulping on loads of coffee!

Doc told me however, that my sumthin-count is 80-95 and that is quite high. But since I keep dismissing it as nothing, I wondered why it hurt so much. I asked what is the normal sumthin-count. What do you know? 0-5! Wow! I was slammin!

I also got a pap smear since I was already there in the stirrups and that supposedly you get a pap annually. Doc chided me for not seeing her the past 3 years! Like I said, avoiding the Gyne.

I was prescribed with a kick-ass antibiotic called Augmentin (twice a day for a week!) and some stomach painkillers called Buscopan Plus. Augmentin costs PhP 71 at Grace Pharmacy. (Posting this so people with UTI would know, too) Bawal magkasakit, true, mahal!!!