A post-Christmas vacation for the family would be a wonderful activity to cap off the holidays. I know this is too much to ask during times when almost everyone’s financial stains are tight but then again, maybe we can just do a staycation and enjoy family bonding without too much cost incurred.

I’m sure hotels near Disneyland and local resorts are fully booked by now.

Staying at home during vacation is a good idea too for this means enjoying each others’ company and just bumming around. And if it means more house chores for me, oh well, just grin and bear. Or make the kids help me out.

We steer clear of anything that is undesirable, like polluting the air, my other entry, but I actually mean a different thing.

The Renewal of Baptismal Promises is one way to reject those which are not good for the soul and its Salvation. There are several occasions when these are recited by a congregation and first Communion is one of those.

Our only son had his first Communion rites today.

This has been a bittersweet day for me. I am happy for my son who is growing up loving the Lord and never forgetting to pray. I am at the same time sad because this new milestone in his life means he is not a baby anymore.

Congratulations baby boy!

Ooops, pardon the slip.

photohunt

Frozen yogurt from Red Mango. Froyo.

How could this ever be undesirable? Frozen yogurt with almonds and sweet blueberries (on the other side). This is certainly a healthier choice than other cold and sweet snacks.

Never mind the sweet blueberry preserve sauce that I chose

The kids wanted to have this when we went to the mall the other day to buy a black belt for my son who had his first Communion rites today but we didn’t have time to do so.

continue reading this entry »

Have you ever wished for a special cake made especially for Christmas? Your wish is now a reality because Red Ribbon is presenting Santa’s Wish Cake, available from December 22 – 24, 2009 only.

Red Ribbon’s Santa’s Wish Cake is made with moist and dense rhumbutter cake with a layer of creamy caramel filling and covered in soft and smooth icing.

This will be made available in all Red Ribbon stores for December 2009 for PhP550.00.

Try Red Ribbon’s Chocolate Walnut Fudge with Hershey’s Dark Chocolate too.

We plan to get our cakes next week when we shop for rackmount needed for hubby’s office

For those who are looking for places where one can learn a lot about our culture through visual presentation, Zero In Periphery presents Ateneo Art Gallery, Ayala Museum, the Lopez Memorial Museum, Bahay Tsinoy and Museo Pambata.

This is a celebration of different art niches in different locations aiming to instill not just the love for our culture but the appreciation of the past and its impact on how we are today as a people.

1. Ayala Museum: The Ring of Fire, the First Southeast Asian Ceramics Festival

This exhibit ran from September 21 to October 4, 2009. This featured ASEAN potters, 16 Filipino potters and 10 ASEAN potters. Ceramic artist Hadrian Mendoza convened and organized this event whose primary goal is “to foster a community among Southeast Asian peoples that celebrates both the diversity and unity of the region through the art and craft of pottery.”

Ayala Museum is located at De la Rosa Street, corner Makati Avenue,Greenbelt Park, Makati City.

2. Ateneo Art Gallery: Beyond Frame, Philippine Photo Media

On October 1 till December 15, 2009, this exhibit has 14 different artists spanning three decades of captured scenes through photographs.

Ateneo Art Gallery is located at Ateneo de Manila University, Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

3. Lopez Memorial Museum : Deleted Scenes, exhibit is running from November 12, 2009 to January 9, 2010.

Deleted scenes include behind the scenes work: editorial sketches, paintings based on films from LVN Productions way back in the 1950s, old books, documentary films and Harper’s Weekly clippings about the Philippines done in the late 1800s.

Lopez Memorial Museum is located at the Ground Floor of Benpres Building, Exchange Road corner Meralco Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

4. Bahay Tsinoy: Remembering exhibit running from November 12, 2009 till January 9, 2010.

This exhibit aims to project images of two cultures: Filipino and Chinese people who suffered during World War II in the Battle of Manila and Nanjing Massacre.

Bahay Tsinoy is located at Kaisa-Angelo King Heritage Center, 32 Anda corner Cabildo Streets, Intramuros.

5. Museo Pambata: Invisible Children, exhibit running from November 26, 2009 to January 5, 2010.

Museo Pambata’s exhibit zeroed in in Invisible Children, discussing their rights and privileges as stated in the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). These rights are made known and taught to the children through various modes: letters, poetry, videos and other visual presentations.

Museo Pambata is located at Roxas Boulevard corner South Drive, City of Manila.

These are interesting places to visit with your children during the Christmas break. During difficult times likewe are experiencing, it is good to go back to our roots and learn about how we have evolved as a people.

All photos except Zero In and Deleted Scenes by: Arvin Ello

Full moon before Yule and Shell Lamps entries.

When we went home to visit my parents the other week, I asked my husband that I wanted to take photos of a creek beside the road. We were able to stop on our way back home so the photos I took were “dusky”. Not sure if it really is a creek although the body of water is definitely smaller than a river:

It would have been more fun to have the children wade in the water but they were asleep when I went down for the photos. I hope they can do that when we come back for a visit.

Have a fun weekend y’all!

photohunt