the canDIshhh tales

I think I'll officially name my #OTWOL posts as #OTWOLDiaries, any suggestions? ... So I missed the episode last night.  I went to dinner with my mom and brother. You see, he's getting married today and the night before I got married six years ago, we had dinner too.  It was a fun dinner with just the three of us. I came home late because the traffic was bad.  I kissed my kids good night.  Fixed a few loose ends, packed and prepared for a long day tomorrow. Then, I opened my laptop, typed in the website of where my mom watches the previous day's Kapamilya episodes.  And while waiting for the episode to load - I looked at my friend Grech's Twitter feed.  I saw the words - OUCH.  I got scared.  And then the episode loaded. I just finished it. I cried. The scene where Leah was sitting on the stairs (after she walked out on Tatang Sol singing).  She and Clark were talking about love.  It was then that I realiz...

Love hurts. There's no easy way to saying it because that't the truth!  To cope, you put up walls to avoid getting hurt again.  But no matter the height and strength of those walls, only two things can happen:  You get trapped inside those walls forever  or someone breaks it down eventually. Through the years, we've all built walls around us.  Personally I've built so many walls that I've somehow become numb to certain things.  One example is the *Love Wall* that I've built, unconsciously.  Being married for 6 years, I think I can say that I've felt hurt and unloved at times, and as a defense mechanism - I've built walls to protect me.  I've become numb and indifferent at times.  I guess life experiences make you have those feelings to cope. So when it comes to *romantic* love - I don't think it exists anymore.  Seriously.  I would often hear people say, *you already have kids - why even think of romantic things, we're pas...

Celebrate Halloween with Starbucks' FRAPPULA Frappuccino!! Enjoy this SPOOKY and delicions FRAPPULA Frappuccino until October 31, 2015! This FRAPPULA Frapp is the newest HALLOWEEN ice blended creation.  It has an eerie layer of mocha sauce that is topped with a sweet Vanilla Frap that is soaked in a terrifying ruby red Strawberry sauce!  Yummy.... Happy Halloween!!

I'm giving away a 2016 Starbucks Moleskine Planner!! Click the link at the end of the post. ---- It's that time of the year again! The Starbucks RED cups are here!! :) Welcome their newest drink - the Christmas Panettone Latte!! What is it exactly?  Well, think of a Christmas cake topped with dried fruits!  I love the bread and buttery flavor then top it with whip cream and tiny bits of dried fruits!  I will borrow their words *It's a delicious twist on a classic holiday tradition!* Of course, these red cups will never be complete without the Filipino favorites. My personal favorite - the Toffee Nut Latte and my Panget's favorite - the Peppermint Mocha These special handcrafted drinks will be available on November 2, 2015 - Monday! :)  So be sure to catch them and don't forget to claim and collect the stickers for the much anticipated STARBUCKS 2016 PLANNERS! This year - Starbucks has partnered with Moleskine!  An...

I have a soft spot for OFWs.  Maybe because I experienced living abroad and working part time to earn, it's just that I didn't need to send the money I earned back home.  The money I earned, I used to keep up with my extra expenses while studying abroad. My mom was strict with me.  She gave me the opportunity to study abroad but only gave me enough money to cover for rent, food and a little miscellaneous expenses.  I had to come up on my own, whatever else I wanted to spend on like trips and etc.   And so I worked part time as an English teacher.  My weekday afternoons were spent teaching kids English.  I would walk 30 minutes to get to the pre-school, and teach the kids for about an hour to an hour and a half.  While my whole Saturday was spent traveling two hours by train to a nearby province to teach middle school kids English.  It was my very first time to teach English, so it was a kind of a shock to me.  But when I g...

Three years ago on a Monday, I gave birth to Connor.  It so sudden as I was scheduled to give birth a week later.  But since I was experiencing labor pains, my OB suggested that I go the hospital immediately - she was there and she can gauge the progress of the labor. I went to the hospital thinking that I was going to be sent home.  I think I was in the hospital by 11:30am.  I remember walking up the narrow stairs to the second floor of Cardinal Santos and knocking on the labor room.  Within minutes, I changed into the the hospital gown and was lying on the bed.  A few minutes later, my OB came in to do an IE. We need to do the CS now. That's what she said.  I looked at her blankly.  When I came to my senses, I immediately called my Panget.  I told him that I was in the hospital and that I need to go to CS na.  That the staff was going to prep me na.  My Panget said to tell my OB if she can wait for an hour till he got to...

I have said it before and I will say it again.  I find shopping for clothes a chore.  Seriously.  I really dislike it.  I can shop for others, but I can't for the life of me, shop for my own self.  I can't explain why but when it comes to shopping for myself - I always dismiss it.  When I travel, the first thing I think of shopping for are my kids.  I'm at the bottom of my list, every single time - and I don't mind really.  It's just that when I get back home and unpack, I can't help but feel kinda disappointed but then it's my fault, really. I'm also lazy - I honestly need someone to *push* me to try on clothes.  I don't have an eye for style nor fashion.  I mean, I admire stylish people, but then I've come to realize that since I don't have the ideal body type, there's no reason for me to dress stylish.  I've become too comfortable in what I've been wearing for the past years.  I belong to the awkward stage of having the bo...

There used to be a time when I believed in fairy tales and love stories.  I would read romance novels and day dream of how one day, I will meet the love of my life.  But life experiences changed me.  I got heartbroken and I realized that love - well, it's not all that.  It's not what it was hyped up to be.  But I tell you, being in love is a wonderful feeling, hahaha!  It's just that when you get older - well, love becomes a different many things. I think I forgot what it felt like to be really in love.  You see, I'm married and I have two kids.  So love for me, it's a different kind of love already.  I don't feel the romantic love anymore because my Panget isn't a romantic.  How I wish he was, but he's not.  And I've accepted that fact a long time ago.  I'm very practical - I don't expect him to change because that's the way it is.  I've learned that loving a person is to accept them for what and who they are, and my...

PRESS RELEASE Knorr’s “Lutong Nanay” Nutrition Program Battles Malnutrition According to Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the DOST, at least 5 million children are malnourished in the Philippines. It’s a staggering number that shows the issue is closer to home than we think. Wanting to take urgent action, Knorr, a brand committed to enhancing Filipino meals, started its “Lutong Nanay” Nutrition Program in various barangays and communities nationwide. In the fight against malnutrition, Knorr promotes the importance of healthy meals prepared by moms for their kids. Knorr partnered with Kabisig ng Kalahi for the Metro Manila leg of the initiative, to build a sustainable nutrition program that goes beyond simply distributing food. With simple, easy to follow, healthy meals, moms also learn to provide their kids with delicious and nutritious dishes. Knorr recently visited two barangays in Smokey Mountain, Barangay 101 and Barangay 128, with its ambassadors...

For the first time in my teleserye watching life, I am rooting for a love TEAM.  Yes, a team - a partnership and that's #JamesReid and #NadineLustre aka #JaDine. I confess that I really love JLC and Jericho Rosales, I don't usually root for a female lead well, except for Judy Ann Santos.  But that's it.  I don't want like their respective love teams.  I like admire them as individuals.  But with James Reid and Nadine Lustre - I have this feeling of protectiveness that I don't want them to be paired with other actors.  Have I officially joined the bandwagon of Love Teams?  Hahaha!  I think I have! So what made me fall in like love with #JaDine ? I have never seen any of their previous work.  I've only seen them in #OTWOL and I was amazed with their rapport, their banter, their ease with each other.  How it's natural for them to show just the right amount of intimacy without it being too sexual or forced.  Natural intima...

I've never tried waxing.  EVER. The though of it and the pain leaves so much for my imagination to play around with.  I am direly scared of pain.  A little headache - I take Biogesic.  If I have body pains - I take Myonal or Arcoxia.  Yes, I am deathly afrain of pain.  So imagine my fear when I gave birth?  I was so glad that I was knocked out had a pain free experience. So, yesterday - I was very lucky to be invited to #MarjRoBrowBash!  One of the pamperings was a treatment with Browhouse & Strip.  Just two weeks ago, I went to Browhouse to have my eyebrows groomed.  And I LOVED it!  So this time - since my eyerbows have been groomed - I had to do the waxing thing.   I honestly wasn't very convinced, but I thought to myself, what the heck - GAME na kung game!  So I took the plunge.  Waxing it is! I like that their reception area looks very welcoming and clean! On the left side is Browhouse and...

Yes, it's Monday again. And I'm EXCITED. Why? Because there will be a new episode of #OTWOL !  Woohooo!! (Read my previous post on On The Wings of Love: James Reid & Nadine Lustre  ) I haven't been like this in a long looong time.  Giddy.  And I swear, what I'm feeling now - I forgot what it felt like looking forward to another episode to catch.  I'm nervous and excited and left wondering what could be in store for me!  I am THAT excited.  Hahaha!  Iba na ito!  I am glad that in this digital age, one can watch old missed episodes online.  I was very lucky to have been a given a link to past episodes. Last Friday, I was able to catch up to last Thursday's episode.   I think I slept at around 1-2am and I had to wake up early that morning to go to Alabang.  I woke up late, and guess what my mind was filled with?  Scenes for #OTWOL!  Ano ba yan Didi! I swear to you, #JaDine was on my mind.  I ca...