Ugu Bigyan and My Love for Pottery

It was around 8 years ago when I first studied pottery in Eastwood and 5 years ago under Ugu Bigyan of Tiaong, Quezon. I have my own electric wheel which I got second hand but never touched it in about 4 years. I so miss doing pottery especially after today when my family dropped by Ugu's studio on a side trip from a brief vacation by the beach in San Pablo.


My own pottery creation with the help of Mr. Ugu Bigyan 5 years ago. Photo taken in Tiaong, Quezon by my hubby.

Setting up a home studio for pottery can be a bit challenging, given some space constraints. But hubby and I have been discussing about turning my existing utility area into a pottery studio this 2011. I am so excited!

Anyway, while waiting for that to happen, I'd just be very happy of the 3 new pottery art that we got today from Ugu.

Feeling Like a Top Chef this Noche Buena

When I was still single, I used to cook tomato-based Italian spaghetti for Noche Buena. As far as I can remember, I did that for about 5-8 years before I tied the knot. It's not really that special but I really loved my spaghetti. I barely cook that now because I now prefer oil-based pastas. This tradition stopped when I got married and spent Noche Buena at my in-laws, my mother-in-law being such a great cook. I just appreciated what was served before us.

This year was a different story. Hubby and I decided to have Noche Buena at our home with my parents, and I did the cooking! I felt like a Top Chef because I only had 2 hours to prepare the salad, 2 main courses, and a pasta dish. Our theme was something healthy (our next door neighbor though just kept on sending "sebo" and "ma-cholesterol" foods which spoiled our diet a bit. :D)

I made the oriental salad that I learned from raw food class, which was a hit to my hubby because of the kelp noodles. I was a bit disappointed though when the helpers threw the remaining dressing because the ingredients were quite expensive. Hubby just told me to move on-- it's Christmas!

The other courses were buffalo wings, which is one of my signature dishes. I use Frank's hot sauce and tried using margarine this time instead of butter for the coating. That was suggested by my neighbor Pia who's the master chef in our village. I still preferred the my butter version though, because it tasted closer to that of Friday's. The other course was grilled blue marlin with lemon butter sauce.


Buffalo wings (taken months ago)

Our pasta was simply tuna with olives and capers. That was a choice by my husband who really wanted something light.

I'm very very happy because my parents and hubby appreciated the dishes I made. I could have cooked turkey but hubby said we'll do that next year on thanksgiving. We were also trying to "be healthy" though the sauces that I used are not exactly the healthy kind.

Speaking of Top Chef, I'm so excited to watch Season 8, their All-Stars season. I know it's still on-going in the US, but we are just waiting for it to finish so hubby and I can do the watching marathon.



Merry Christmas everyone! Have a healthy year ahead!

Raw Food Diet, Anyone?

During the weekend, I attended a raw food diet workshop by Dahon Kusina. Mommy Denise Gonzales of Indigo Manila shared this type of diet with me while we were exchanging emails about activities that will nourish the mind and spirit. As followers of My Magic Wand may know, I experienced a series of health-related problems that displaced my usually high self-esteem.

According to Wikipedia, "Raw foodism (or rawism) is a lifestyle promoting the consumption of uncooked, unprocessed, and often organic foods as a large percentage of the diet." It has a lot of health benefits which I will no longer expound on here because my interest on raw foodism right now is limited to just adding another repertoire in our family weekly menu. By the way, I found out that I had high cholesterol and uric acid in my blood, hence the search for healthier foods.

Asha Peri, the initiator of this workshop is eating 90% raw already. I cannot contest her passion for the diet because of the many benefits that she has experienced since she started. She's been a vegetarian for about 8 years too.

Offhand, my husband and I are committing at least our breakfast to eat raw by starting on the green smoothie. Admittedly, the green smoothie is quite filling. It gets challenging though this season because we have been receiving a lot of yummy breads and cakes from friends. Choosing between green smoothie versus holiday feasts is a daunting task. We are committed as I have said. My hubby calls me a big nerd when I'm into something, so I am not sure how starting on this new food interest will lead me.

For beginners, I stopped drinking sodas for 5 years. I mostly drink just water, though I'm a coffee aficionado. My intake now though is just one cup a day due to my acid reflux. Ordinarily, I consume mostly vegetables, fish and poultry. My bad cholesterol and uric acid only started after I started experimenting on "sebo" foods in the kitchen (with paksiw na pata as my favorite!). During the past 3 weeks, it's mostly veggie, fruits, fish, and poultry for me. My meat "suki" got actually sad when I told her I will stop buying pork and beef from her.

Anyway, here were highlights of the workshop. I have been raving about it to friends. This Noche Buena, I will try the oriental salad, so hubby and I will be off to Healthy Options today to buy some of the ingredients.







Good luck to us and have a merry healthy Christmas to all!

HOBBES AND LANDES Warehouse Sale!

There's something about Hobbes and Landes every time they hold a sale of their items. Their items are unique and you can't find them just anywhere.

You have to pay a premium to their products, so toy enthusiasts, hobbyists, pet lovers and mommies should take advantage of their warehouse sale happening on September 16 to 18 at their Libis warehouse. It can get very hot in their warehouse so wear something comfortable and bring a fan.


click on image to enlarge

Paksiw na Pata ng Baboy

Me and the 2 helpers are always excited to cook after the kitchen renovation. Yaya would make her signature gata favorites due to her Bicolana roots, while Ate would look forward to chopping sprees with our new cutlery sets.

As for me, the first part of the house that I would go to after I wake up (besides the toilet of course) is the kitchen. Just a mere toast of my bread with margarine felt like bliss.

Last Saturday, I decided to make Paksiw na Pata ng Baboy for lunch. Hubby, who does not like pork at all, was in a book signing event and was not around to partake my sinful dish.

I got this idea from one of my favorite blogs. I simply followed the recipe from Home Cooking Rocks/ Pinoy Cook. Since I am still recovering from my operation, I had to compensate my guilt by eating a slice of cucumber after each spoonful of pata with hot steaming rice. It was truly a yummy dish.

Menu Planning and Cooking

When my husband and I were living in the condo during our first year as a married couple, we ate take-out food everyday. We were staying at a strategic location in Salcedo Village, hence we were in near proximity to a lot of restaurants and fast food chains. I was pregnant with my daughter then, so this explained why I gained 60 lbs given my petite frame of 5'1".

After we transferred to our own home in Taguig, I was at a loss on how to plan the family menu. With 2 helpers in the house, we cannot survive on take out everyday.

Admittedly, I was not a learned kitchen diva 3 years ago. I knew how to cook spaghetti and adobo, but I can never claim any title in the realm of food. As a beginner, I simply read cookbooks and food magazines and asked more experienced cooks about meal planning. I wrote simple recipes (i.e., adobong kangkong, chop suey, pakbet, tapa) in index cards. Our helper did mostly the cooking (because hubby rarely eats at home) but I'm quite hands on in the whole cooking process. Later on, we graduated to more complicated recipes.

Every Sunday prior to market day, I already plan the menu for the week. Since we are only 3 in the house (me and the 2 maids) who really eat (my daughter consumes too little food to be counted), we only cook once a day. I'm very particular with the combination of food that is served. I make sure that there's always vegetables in the menu. Weekends are usually special days wherein we either eat out or prepare something really yummy because my hubby eats with us.

Upon completion of the new kitchen, I got a little more hands on in cooking. There were a lot of new additions in my recipe collection. I promised myself to study cooking and baking next year.


My recipe collection. We had to dry them out because the accordion folder that secures the cards got wet when we stored it under the sink.

Decluttering One Space At A Time

Since I am still in the midst of recovering from surgery, I promised myself that I will be taking things easy. First thing I did was stop taking orders from my online shop and my distribution of Ecobloks-- quite challenging because I really enjoy transacting with fellow moms and it was part of my commitment to BiD Network and Philippine Business for Social Progress to grow Ecobloks.

But that's just work. If there was something I realized during my on and off confinement at the hospital, I have more important commitments for my husband, my daughter and to myself. Yes we need the extra income, but let's just say I am more willing to be frugal now.

Of course, I just don't lie down in bed at all times. While being more focused in planning the menu of the family and preparing hubby's baon daily, I promised myself to declutter at least one space at home per day.


Our pantry. There was a renovation done at our kitchen hence the bigger storage space.

It was very therapeutic. I was so happy when a guest told me that my house now has a different vibe. It used to be a bit gloomy because the design of our interiors was very minimalist with a limited palette of gray, brown and white. It looked good in pictures but felt cold and unfriendly in actuality. Aside from the new orange wall as suggested by my husband, I re-arranged our bar and removed the unnecessary clutter (old toys, bills, etc) and enhanced the living/ dining area with some interesting details (i.e., a plant, artworks).

My husband was against showing pictures of our house, so I just shared some spaces where I did some decluttering, such as the medicine cabinet and our pantry (well, we're nearing month end so it's close to empty).


Aside from organizing the medical items, I also threw away expired medicines.

Eight Hours to Live

Some of my friends envy me because I always seem to have quite normal pregnancies. I don't feel morning sickness at all, I can travel, and I was never required to be on bed rest. But on the 22nd week of my second pregnancy, diarrhea suddenly took the life of my little girl.

I lost Lira last July 17, 2010.

After 3 days in Marikina Valley Hospital, my husband decided to transfer me to the Medical City where my OB is based. I have been experiencing pre-term labor contractions for 3 days. The medications could not do anything. I was so tired. Any movement would hurt any part of my body.

My mom decided to stay with me during the night of the 16th so hubby can take some rest. In the midst of the painful contractions, my water bag broke. I did not realize that I was already pushing the baby out, until I felt her in my underwear. At that moment, all I remembered was I cried and my mom alerted the nurses and doctors that the baby just came out. Mom was telling me, "Wag kang iiyak, magdasal ka" as people were bringing my bed out of the room. There was no time anymore to bring a stretcher. I don't remember praying at that moment. My mind was just blank.

The next thing I knew, I was at the recovery room and hospital staff were asking me to sign the birth the certificate of the baby (with the footprint). My husband also came to me that we had a baby girl, that she's in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and that she was already baptized. My OB also spoke with me, and told me that my daughter will not live long. Her organs were not yet mature to survive the world outside my womb.

Some minutes later, I was brought to the NICU. My baby was so small (498 g), but I can already see that she looked like her older sister. I touched her little feet and at that moment, I just let her go. I knew right then that she belongs to heaven.

I'm writing this so I can gather more strength from the experience. It still pains me each time I remember my very short encounter with my daughter.
But those eight hours of Lira in the outside world was already a miracle. She could have died in minutes. I thank God that I was able to touch her.

Lira is now dancing in heaven with the other angels. Watching over us. As for me and my husband, we still have each other and a daughter who continue to bring us joy and inspiration.

Diversity, Gender Gap, and Women Empowerment

When I was in The Hague, one of the important meetings I attended was a Women in Leadership Forum sponsored by the ING Group (a Financial Institution). The presenters were Jacqui Robertson, Head of ING Global Diversity and Amita Ramnarain, an awardee of Entrepreneur of the Year in the Netherlands. The women entrepreneurs who attended came from Colombia, Kenya, Niger, India and the Philippines. The BiD Challenge was dominated by male entrepreneurs, or about 75% if I am not mistaken.





During the training, it was discussed that companies like ING are encouraging the female employees to step up and take important positions in their company. Under usual circumstances, the corporate world is led mostly by males. Amita, on the other hand, shared her story as to how she became a successful entrepreneur and the sacrifices she went through. Thanks for a supportive husband who allowed her to excel in her chosen field.



For me, the most important part of the training was the sharing among the BiD Challenge female entrepreneurs. What struck me and fellow Filipina, Marianne Olano, the most was the fact that women from other countries do not enjoy the same freedom as most Filipinas in their respective careers. Some women had to give up their careers if their spouses are already way behind their achievements. Some cannot even drive newer cars than their husbands! I know this also happens in some families in the Philippines, but I rarely hear about it from the experiences of my own friends and families.

Here's a link on the Gender Gap Report 2009, which was put together by the World Economic Forum. http://www.weforum.org/en/Communities/Women%20Leaders%20and%20Gender%20Parity/GenderGapNetwork/index.htm

Interestingly, the Philippines is in the top 10 of the survey and even the highest ranked Asian country. As a Filipina, we should take advantage of the fact that we are given this opportunity to excel in our respective fields with very little issues. We should continue loving our husbands and kids, but we should always remember that we have all the right to enjoy and share our skills and talents with others through our work and passions.

Summer Activity for My 2 Year Old

I honestly think that I am a super relaxed mommy. I try to understand that my daughter develops at her own pace, and it is possible that some kids will be more advanced than she is. My Ecobloks partner, who is a seasoned pre-school teacher, and my hubby's publisher, who owns a pre-school, both told me that my daughter can attend playschools, but we can wait until she's 3.5 years before she can go to a formal class for an entire school year. That's a relief, though I am not challenging the parents who brought their kids to school at 1.5 or 2 years old. That's just me, as a parent.



Every summer, though, I enroll my daughter in a class. Last year, it was Kindermusik's "Zoo Train" module. We are still playing the CD until now. It was a good program though I felt that my daughter was still too young for that class. At that time, she was 2-3 months under the age requirement.

She used to have a tutor, visiting her 2x a week, but her teacher got married and is now pregnant.

This year, I am happy to have found Abba's Orchard in Piazza, McKinley. They offered a half day class for 2 weeks from Monday to Saturday using the Montessori way of teaching. The class begins on Monday. I feel a bit scared that I have to leave my child for half a day in school, but it's also a relief that she will be able to do other things this summer. I'm so excited for her art classes because I really wanted to learn how to integrate art in her activities.

After the summer activity, I just hope that my decision to wait for another year to enroll her in a real school will remain. Or maybe I will just let her decide-- that I cannot challenge. That's just me, as the mom.

Facebook Management

If there's such a thing as Anger Management, I think it's time that we invent something like Facebook Management.

I have been a member of Facebook for more than 2 years already, but it really became popular last year, wherein my friends list easily increased by 5x. Admittedly, I was always online until my love story with Facebook dwindled about last month. For some reason, I lost a bit of interest. Actually, I have been praying for that to happen when I noticed that I have been on Facebook for most of my working hours (as a work at home mother).

The secret? Just stop updating your status unless there's something really important to announce to your friends. Really. It worked wonders for me.

Now my days are productive. That's Facebook Management. :)