Ballet is one of my all-time loves. I’m no longer in it as a dancer but it still is very much a part of what I do and who I am and I think I might have imparted this ‘addiction’ to my little girl. Of course like most little girls who love pink and purple, she loves anything and everything ballet. Hopefully, when the time is right we can be able to send her to a ballet school one of these days. Earlier this year, a friend of mine who owns her own ballet school and teaches in several schools as well had a despedida for one of her dancers - Sarah J. Lee. We sent her off to New York to audition for the top ballet schools in the Big Apple. She auditioned for NYCB, ABT and Joffrey Ballet and she passed them all but she settled for Joffrey Ballet School in the end because she was granted a full scholarship with them. We are so proud of her achievements.
Hopefully, when my little girl reaches Sarah’s age and she is still determined to pursue this path, dh and I would be able to uproot ourselves from wherever we are, transplant our whole family and get those New York movers to help us settle us somewhere in the City that doesn’t sleep for the sake of a little girl’s dream.
Sarah’s (kneeling, bottom row, right) piece for the NAMCYA competition last year was as Odette from Swan Lake.
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Posted in Travel, opinion on Aug 3rd, 2008
Posted in Travel, opinion on Jun 27th, 2008
Did you know that there are online companies that can assist you if you need to apply for or renew your passport? For my own passport, I opted to do it myself which was quite a hassle to do so I’m contemplating if I should do it differently for the passports of my kids. If you plan to do it yourself here are some of the things you need to prepare for to help you out.
To apply for a renewal of a Philippine Passport here are some of the things you need:
- Passport application form (front and back downloadable from here
)
- For Green Passports or those issued after 01 May 1995 you need the ff.:
- Present passport together with the application form
- Photocopies of the inside and the back cover.
- Photocopy of the pages showing latest Bureau of Immigration departure and arrival stamps.
- 3 pcs passport size pictures with royal blue background (This one is a bit tricky because if it doesn’t pass their standards, they will ask you to have your picture taken again. There is a mini photo studio “conveniently” located at the entrance of the DFA auditorium just in case you are one of those rejected. You’ll only find out if your rejected right at the very last step of the process when all you have to do is submit your documents. It is quite irritating.)
- NSO Certified Marriage contract (for married women)
For a complete list of requirements you can also visit the
DFA website
Here’s a little tip that most people don’t know. Instead of waiting in line at the DFA just to schedule an appointment you can actually request for an appointment online. I found this out by accident and when I got to the DFA with my printed out appointment, the guard even asked me if I was an official or something. He actually made my day because I was already so frustrated at how they shuttled us back and forth from one line to another. So if you want to do that and save yourself a few steps go here : Passport Application Appointment System.
But if you want somebody else to do all that for you and all you have to do is show your face at the DFA you can also try Pilipinas Teleserv. They can do your passport, NSO birth, marriage, death and other certificates as well. They also deliver it right to your doorstep. If you are an American seeking to renew your passport and want someone to assist you, you can try American Passport dot com. Both of these agencies are non-government agencies that process your documents for you and they can come in very useful for folks that are too busy to do all the legwork.
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Posted in Photography, Travel, opinion on Jun 21st, 2008
Can you guess where I took these pictures?
I just want to share a few of my shots from our travels. I know that there are still a lot of wonderful places waiting to be explored and captured and I hope we as a family get to see more. No matter how bad our country is painted out to be, I am still a believer that there are still many things to be thankful for and that our country has been blessed in so many different ways. Beauty as they say is in the eye of the beholder and IMHO there is a lot of beholding that still needs to be done. Don’t wait for the Department of Tourism to promote our God-given natural wonders. The best travel guides for this country is YOU. So bring out your backpacks, get those cameras ready and share it.
BTW, don’t forget to vote for Tubbatha Reef and Palawan’s Underground Cave in the new 7 wonders of the world poll.
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Posted in Travel, Wishlists, opinion on May 21st, 2008
Posted in Travel, opinion on May 17th, 2008
Posted in Travel, opinion on Apr 12th, 2008
and a getaway place as well. Actually, I’m really not a coffee drinker but Jan, one of my bloggie friends, has been hosting a coffee break post every Mondays. This week’s post has me stumped. I’ve been pressed to finish a lot of last minute stuff at home, like my son’s final homeschool evaluation exams, changes in our Kumon schedules, a few design jobs for a friend, plus my mom and my sister are coming home from abroad for a visit etc. etc., I couldn’t squeeze my brain to remember the answer to her question. Actually, it’s been such a long time ago (isn’t that a revelation LOL) and my brain needs a little push (or maybe a shove) just to recall such details. Brain caffeine alert! Maybe, it’s that coffee break post that’s waking up my nerves telling me I need to pack my bags and go on vacation somewhere… anywhere! Maybe I’ll check out the Hilton Head rentals and ask my sister if she would like to go there after her visit here. I’ll tell her to pack me up in her suitcase as well… lol.
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Posted in Travel, opinion on Mar 28th, 2008
Posted in Design, Travel on Mar 26th, 2008
I had the opportunity to travel to Brunei a few years ago and I have more than a few fond memories that remind me of that trip. I have traveled to a few other countries that were predominantly Muslim but each one that I’ve been to has their own unique quirks. One unique Pinoy cultural quirk is how we call someone’s attention. We do that by saying “Psst!” or “Hoy!”. Nowadays, in text lingo it has evolved into “Oist!”. Or what about our “tabo” or bathroom dipper and the original exfoliant “panghilod” or river rock? These are dead giveaways that you are in a Pinoy household.
Brunei has its own cultural peculiarities as well. An example would be pointing at an object. Usually, we use the index finger to point to an object, person or location. In Brunei, it is offensive to do that. Instead, they close their hand as if giving a person a thumbs up and then they use their thumb to point to whatever. I find it quite amusing. Another thing that I learned about Brunei is that, since it is a predominantly Muslim country, alcohol is not allowed or served in restaurants or dining places. I found out later how some of the locals become quite creative on how they get around that “no-no”. One time, while we were at a certain function and having dinner, I noticed that some of the people at our table acted as if they were hiding something under the table. They had just asked the waiter for a teapot and some tea cups with nothing inside. I asked the person next to me what was going on and he said that those guys actually had sneaked in a few bottles of liquor in gift bags and they were drinking it out of tea cups so that they won’t be caught. Talk about slick and sly! Alcohol is not available for sale in Brunei, so these guys would actually drive across the border to Miri, Malaysia and buy the stuff and drive all the way back to Brunei with their loot. Makes me wonder if I could find an alcohol rehab in Brunei?
If ever you do visit Brunei, two of the must see places to go to are these places:
First, the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque. It truly is spectacular especially at night.
The other must see is the Sultan of Brunei’s Palace or Istana Nurul Iman. (pic at the bottom)
I’ve only been outside the gate but what makes this place a must see, especially if you are a Filipino, is the fact that it was designed by our very own National Artist for Architecture, Leandro V. Locsin and built by Filipino firm, Ayala International. Truly Amazing! Go Pinoy!
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Posted in Travel, opinion on Mar 18th, 2008
I’ve decided to make my Tuesday - tEysT-ful which simply means my take on anything that suits my taste or fancy just as it says up there in my header. So you may agree or disagree with my opinion and that’s fine because we all have different perspectives about how we see things. That’s what makes life more interesting. In the end, I hope you will have a good read.
I remember years ago when we lived in Arizona for a while, every weekend, my husband and I would go on long drives across the States. Looking back at what we did, I realized that we did some pretty foolish things. Once, while still pregnant with my first baby, we drove all the way to L.A armed with just a tiny map at the back of a slim diary, no cellphone, no specific destination or contact to go to, no emergency stuff. I didn’t even remember my mom’s phone number in case something happened to us. We were married for less than a year so everything was like an adventure. Every rest area we found was like finding an oasis and a chance to get those hotel/motel coupon booklets that gave you discounted lodging rates. Now that I think about all that, what we did was pretty scary and actually really st__id. But we were hooked on these long drives. The views were just exhilarating and you can’t relish all that when you’re on a plane.
So next time we had the chance to go on another long drive, we hit LAS VEGAS! This time, my mom, my brother and his wife went together with us and my son. We had to be a little bit more prepared this time. We rented this big van to fit all of us. We checked out the best rates that all these Vegas hotels were offering to find out which had deals and perks and low season rates that we could take advantage of. No coupon books, budget hotel discount cards this time, at least.Finally, we agreed to stay at the Excalibur Hotel. It wasn’t that spectacular for me but it was okay. It fit our budget. I wanted to go to the Venezia but it was way tooo expensive. Not worth the $$$. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to at least stop by for pictures with the gondolier.
Of course, if you are in Vegas you would normally want to experience what the celebs do even if it was just once in your lifetime. So for dinner, we wanted to do something a bit more fancy than Denny’s. We wanted to try either Emeril Lagasse’s Delmonico restaurant or Wolfgang Puck’s but they were all fully booked and the only place that was available was at a steak restaurant over at the MGM hotel. So we trooped over there, dressed to the nines, feeling like celebs for a night and had dinner. It was okay but I’ve had better steak for a lot less because it was a bit dry. The ambience was great, the service was fine. It was a pleasant experience.
Overall, the experience was memorable and I’d love to go back and do it all over again. Not really the fancy stuff but the long drive, the rest areas, the coupon books, the rustic diners that don’t have that fastfood burger taste… this time with my kids and of course more prepared than ever…with a cellphone.
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Posted in Design, Scrapbooking, Travel, digiscrap on Feb 2nd, 2008
Posted in Travel, opinion on Jan 16th, 2008
