Sunday, May 10, 2009

Joys of a Mom...


PB020189
Originally uploaded by nte_bethvlim
Today we celebrate Mother's Day in honor of all the loving Moms in the world. This is a very special day for me and my children. I received a very precious present from them. The picture on the right of a white rose is a valuable gift. It represents how pure and intense their love for me. My daughter woke up early today and while doing her exercise regimen went straight to the flower shop and bought this beautiful white rose for me. We celebrated today's occasion by watching on DVD the movie Slum Dog Millionaire over lunch in my bedroom. We hugged and held hands from time to time to show our affections to one another.

It was a great bonding moment for us and this I'm sure will be cherished time and again.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Friends are Special

The importance of a good friend in our life is like the importance of our heartbeats. Though they are not visible, they silently support our life. A worthy friend is a connection to life, a tie to the past, a road to the future. Friends are gifts from God. Let our best be for our friends.



Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Beautiful Sights of Camiguin Island






Group picture at White Island with Mt. Hibok Hibok on the background. This was taken on Holy Thursday, 09 April 2009.












Souvenir pose with friends in the cool Katibawasan Falls.













At the hotel lobby of Ardent Spring, Camiguin Island the tourist are looking forward to a cool swim.













That's the Sunken Cemetery on the background.











Souvenir picture at the entrance to the Guiob church ruins in Catarman, Camiguin Island.








Friday, April 17, 2009

The Sleeveless Tunic Blouse

Although most people (especially men) admire women wearing sleeveless tops, I am not into it. Neither is my daughter Lizzy. However, this is the story behind this post.

My daughter Lizzy is now employed thus Holy Week is an ideal time for a vacation with her. We both agreed on Camiguin Island because according to tour guides it has many wonderful sights. True to their word we had a fantastic time there.

After Camiguin, we headed for Cagayan de Oro on April 9, Holy Thursday. The primary reason is to indulge shopping in the famous Limketkai Mall. We arrived in CDO at 2 p.m. Immediately we booked at the Country Village Hotel rested until 4 p.m. and took a taxi to bring us to Limketkai. Unluckily for us the gigantic "Ketkai" is closed. According to the cab driver this is the first Holy Thursday that the mall closed. So he took us to Gaisano Mall instead. Although a few stores were open, my daughter got what she wanted at the Penshoppe. While Lizzy was at the fitting room I had to look around. Then I took notice of this sleeveless tunic blouse, see the inset at the upperleft. After some serious thoughts I decided to buy it because of the price marked down from Php569.00 to Php219.00. I thought it will be a comfortable duster for my use at bedtime.

We went back to the hotel to freshen up. We still have ample time left while waiting for a friend who had offered us dinner. I showed Lizzy the blouse, then the fun began. She tried it on and it looks good but she is conscious of her flabby arms. Then she moved as if modeling in the ramp. I took pictures and she made more poses. We laughed out loud at the top of our voice. Then it's my turn wearing it, and it looked nice too but when we noticed that it's too long for me (I'm petite) we started laughing again, and we did not stop until our stomachs ached.

The sleeveless tunic blouse gave us that wonderful feeling and more importantly it was one of the best bonding moment I had with my daughter. :) Here are some of our pictures.



Thursday, April 16, 2009

Our Dog Moo

Our Moo is a "no breeder" dog. Even then my children liked him much because aside from being cute he has traits that are very endearing. He was born May 18, 2006 to Princess our lovable Shih-Tzu dog. His father is an "Askal" of Labrador origin. He was the apple of our eyes when he was a puppy. Now he is ten inches tall and more or less weighs 14 pounds. That's why I said he is cute.

My 18-year old son Dandan is into on-line gaming. He is good at it especially Counter Strike. He would stay playing online until the wee hours. Moo acts as his guardian during this time when all of us are asleep. He stays under the computer rack while watching Dandan and would bark at any moving object that he would suspect to be a threat to my son. When awake he often sits at the lap of Dandan and would attentively stare at the computer monitor as if also playing with him. When tired he would sleep on the floor but seeing to it that he is in touched with Dandan's feet. This has been going on for over a year now, so a deep bond between them has greatly developed. When Moo is out of Dandan's sight he would look for him right away and vice versa.

A few days ago Dandan reported to me that Moo has not been with him overnight. Immediately I ordered the helpers to look for the dog but he is nowhere to be found in our compound. So I gave up the hope to find him, I assumed that he got out of the gate and was made "pulutan" by folks who is fond of San Miguel beer. But my son never gave up. Together with our helpers he went out in the streets to look for Moo even though he was very tired and sleepy. After an hour of extensive search my son got home very happy. He was shouting at the top of his voice while approaching our gate that they found Moo in the vacant lot near us amidst big dogs. He said Moo was jumping and wagging his tail in excitement. He licked and kissed Dandan and was overjoyed that they found him.

Yes I agree that "a dog is a man's best friend."

Sunday, April 12, 2009

The Kindness of a Stranger

After our sight seeing in Camiguin Island I went to Cagayan de Oro with my daughter on April 10. We stayed in Hotel Koresco situated in Pueblo de Oro Golf Estate, Lumbia, CDO. This 5-star hotel is overlooking the view of the Pueblo de Oro Golf Course and is owned by a Korean national. Aside from its superior amenities and facilities, the foods are fantastic. We did enjoyed our stay on that day.

One of the services extended by Hotel Koresco to its guests is the pick up and drop off at the airport. Just before dinner in its Ambrosia Restaurant, I arranged with the front desk for a drop off to the airport for our early morning flight to Cebu on April 11. The desk clerk was very careful in recording the details of our drop off. Thinking that everything regarding our transportation was taken cared of, we go on with our good time until the wee hours.

We woke up at 5 in the morning because we have to be in the airport 5:30 a.m. The clerk at the front desk that attended us is a new shift and has no knowledge about our drop off to the airport. He said that it was not well coordinated with the driver of the van. I was just quiet and thinking. If the driver was not informed of our early morning drop off, then we're done... we can't catch up our flight. Then a crew who is from another department came in to get something from the front desk. He volunteered to drive us to the airport.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

My Other Blog - The Blogger's Pick

You will know more of me when you visit my other Blog at http://bethvlim.info. Thanks. See you there.

Monday, March 23, 2009

The Kind Jap

Last Sunday, I was very pleased when Mark a very close friend from Cagayan de Oro dropped by our house for a visit. He is a golfer who happened to be in Bacolod to join the golf tournament at the Negros Occ. Golf & Country Club on March14 -15. When in town, he stays with his Tito Jerry who is an architect by profession and is also a sugar planter. We talked a lot of things in that short span of time of his visit. He can’t stay long because he will fetch a Japanese friend staying at the L’ Fisher Hotel. Before he left he gladly told me this incident with their Jap guest.

On Saturday evening Mark & Jerry with his family took Hiroo (name of their Jap friend) out to dinner. They wanted him to taste “Chicken Inasal”, a delicacy that made our city very famous. So they ate in Chicken Deli at Mandalagan. When they finished eating, Hiroo went out of the restaurant ahead of them. Mark was following him, primarily to light a stick of Marlboro. Two boys, very skinny, dirty, and in shabby clothes approached Hiroo with open palms. Maybe he didn’t understand what these boys are telling him but then he opened his wallet, took out a 500 peso bill and gave it to them. The boys not expecting to receive that big amount of money, were jumping with joy as they move away from the generous Jap.

Hiroo approached Mark and told him what he just did with the two boys. Mark said to him, “You know Hiroo, with the 500.00 you gave them they will have good food, maybe for three days”. Hiroo nodded his head and walked toward the direction the boys headed. Then he told Mark “I go give the boys 500.00 more so they have good food for one week”.

Car watch boys are common sights here in our city. They are everywhere (in our streets, malls, parks, & anywhere you name it) pestering people when they would knock hard on windows of cars/vehicles, begging for money. To me, these kids are irritants and a big burden to society. But then when I heard the story of Mark about what Hiroo did that night, my perspective about car watch boys totally changed.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Souvenir photo


This picture was taken by a representative of Nokia Franchise in its store in SM City - Bacolod where I claimed the four (4) units Nokia 2680 Slide phones that I won in the NOKIA December 08 raffle promo.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Angel on Earth

I am a person who doesn’t have the patience filling up raffle tickets, wrappers, etc. for draws on certain product promos. Last December 20, 2008 I bought four units Nokia 95 phones at Galleon Enterprise in Robinson’s Place here in Bacolod City. The sales lady told me that Nokia has a Christmas promo. Simply text name, address and the serial number of N95 units bought to register entry to the draw. According to her Nokia conducts a daily draw, declaring 2 winners each both from Luzon & VisMin areas. NOKIA 2680 Slide phones are the prices. Since I am not an advocate of these promos I did not text to register the four N95 I bought that day.

December 25 I bought another four N95 phones on the same store. The same sales lady was the one who attended me. After paying I hurriedly left but then the lady called. “Ma’am, did you text to register your entries?” “No,” I answered. She looked at me in the eyes, smiled and insisted that I register the entries for according to her I have more chances of winning since I bought 8 units. She added that many of their customers who bought only 1 unit already won. So to appease her I handed her my phone to register one entry before I left.

Frankly, I did not bother to register the remaining 7 entries to the raffle draw but then the sales lady kept on texting me that I must register before the deadline. Then I thought…..What have I to lose? SO, I DID.

Now, I’m pondering. THAT SALES LADY WAS AN ANGEL!!! I now hold four (4) Nokia 2680 Slide phones that I won in the Dec. 20 & Dec. 25 Nokia raffle draws.