Children Learn As They Live

My big man was cleaning the bodega one hot Sunday afternoon, a chore he loves doing because it is his way of relaxation.  Funny because it's the total opposite for me.  Just the thought of facing all the junk and mess in that bodega makes me want to throw up, stresses me out, and tempts me to invite a mild migraine attack so to have an excuse for not facing it.  Good thing the bodega chore enjoys him a lot, and so I am saved.  Every now and then, he would hand me a piece of whatever junk.  That gesture was his silent way of asking me which of the stuff he was giving me has to go.  I gave my nod to the souvenirs and tokens received from parties, old toys beyond repair, magazines, newspapers, etcetera.  They once served their purpose and now they have to say goodbye for they contribute a lot (but no thanks!) to our already cluttered place. Then he gave me this piece of paper that had a beautiful message written there so I told him no, not this one.  Not this piece of paper.  As I read the message, I told myself I should blog this and share this to everyone--parents, grandparents, even  teenagers.  Because the message said a lot on how big our role is to children.  That being with them, even for just a minute or for their entire growing years,  we contribute a lot to their well-being.

CHILDREN LEARN AS THEY LIVE

A child that lives in ridicule

learns to be timid

A child that lives with criticism

learns to condemn

A child that lives with distrust

learns to be deceitful

A child that lives with antagonism

learns to be hostile

A child that lives with affection

learns to love

A child that lives with encouragement

learns confidence

A child tht lives with encouragement

learns confidence

A child that lives with truth

learns justice

A child that lives with sharing

learns to be considerate

A  child that lives with knowledge

learns wisdom

A child that lives with patience

learns to be tolerant

A child that lives with happiness

will find love and beauty.



How do you say it?

There are words that deplete a man's confidence of pronouncing them, for the simple reason of not having an idea on how to properly pronounce them.  So here are some of the most "murdered" words I can think of, and their right pronunciations. Please feel free to correct me (there is a comment box here) if I am wrong with what I know.

Beauty, Fashion, and Designers' names

Ralph Lauren

Ralph LO-REN or Ralph LORN - RL is an American brand, so it's not LO-RAN

Yves Saint Laurent 

 E-VES San LO-RAN, it's not IVS

Marithe Francois Girbaud 

 Mari-TIHEY Frans-WA Jer-BOW

Lanvin

Lan-VAN

XOXO

pronounce it by the letters.  I swear I heard someone say SOKSO.

Carolina Herrera

Caro-LEENA HAIR-rera or AIR-rera

Versace

Versa-CHEE

Pierre Cardin

P-YER car-DAN

Thierry Mugler

Tee-air-REE Mug-LAY (no "h" on the Thierry)

Bulgari

BULL-ga-ri 

Hermes

Er-mez

Bebe

Bi-bi (from: to BE or not to BE)

Eclat 

e-clah

Pour Homme

pur-om

Guerlain

guyr-lahn

plaid

plAd (not plEyd)

Kerastase

keh-ras-TAZ



Food

Parmigiana
par-mee-JA-na

Gyros
yi-ros

Worcestershire
wors-ter-shir

Bolognese
bow-li-n(y)iz

Croissant
kr(w)a-san

Parmesan
por-m(i)-zan




Places and Geographical terms

Connecticut
ki-ne-ti-khat

Greenwich
gri-nich

Buendia
bwen-DEE-ya, not bwendya

Shaw
sho, not show

Thailand
Tay-lan(d).  It is a silent h

Max's Chicken-All-You-Can

Last year when it was launched, I had the misfortune of missing Max's chicken-all-you-can promo.  That's why when my BIL kuya Edwin announced that the family will be going to Max's to have our share of sarap-to-the-bones promo, I did not resist.  I reserve Sundays for catching up on pages left in my book so going out is often a no-no, but it's Max's chicken-all-you-can we are talking here, baby! And I am not allowing myself to miss this promo again!

We arrived there a bit late for the 6:00 "call time" so the scenario of long queue and us landing the 9th spot on the waiting list did not surprise us at all.  I was impressed though that they really started on time, for one of the ways you can tell that the chicken feast is on would be the Max's dancing crew.  I do not know what the dancing is for.  If it was for entertainment, then they should rather slash it off the promo for people with complaining tummies won't be entertained with any form of dancing, I should say. I must commend how they call out names from the waiting list.  Once, twice, thrice and no one claiming the slot, you are out of the game.  So you rather be there waiting even if you so desire to go out to get some fresh air, or regret on the last minute.  For even though you were listed, if you were not there when your name was called, you will be down to the last spot again. Tsk tsk tsk.

After just a short twenty minutes of waiting since they had the dance number, we were called.  We were assisted to our long table.  A couple of minutes more,  first batch of the famous home-cooked chicken started arriving.  And the second serving, and the third, and the fourth, and to some, their fifth.  For a price of 199 pesos, and with a Pepsi drink or an iced tea to go with it, what more can you ask for?  That is why to date, Max's holds the record of "the biggest eat-all-you-can promotion ever launched by a single fast-casual dining restaurant in the Philippines".  How cool is that? And here comes another treat:  they also give 20 peso money coupon for every 200 peso spent during the promo (which can be used starting July 11).  It's like binusog ka na, sinuklian ka pa...so saan ka pa?




We first took pictures while waiting for the first serving of the famous Max's fried chicken.


  

My very first piece of Max's chicken-all-you-can!!

Max's home-cooked style  fried chicken will never ever be complete without this.

The caramel bar served as our dessert, or in other words, tanggal umay.  After which, we were back to the chicken fight, err, chicken feast again.

Sarap to the bones indeed!



Obviously, all of us were satisfied with Max's fried chicken... and the doggies back home will be having their own version of Max's promo, too!





Father's day the simple way

June 19, 2011 - Father's day.  I woke up with the fear of having another Ondoy.  Talk about being paranoid of the heavy rains since that traumatic episode in Philippine history, I could not help but wonder where the heavy rain that woke me up in the early morning would lead us.  Aside from birthdays and anniversaries, this was supposedly one of the most awaited days of the men of our lives and I was afraid the angry skies will ruin it all.  With its solid raindrops with equally heavy wind, I was ready to announce the bad news to my hubby.  That despite his special day, we might settle and stay at home.


Holiday naman, you considering going out tomorrow instead? I asked him.  He just gave me a disagreeing look.  Okay, I got the answer loud and clear even literally he did not even move his lips.  So the three of us got dressed, with umbrellas and jackets as weapons, and off we go.

We were a bit hungry already when we arrived at the mall.  Worse, parking was full for obvious reasons.  So imagine how starving we were when we stepped inside the restaurant we picked.  Burgoo had a great buy- one-take-one-for-free offer so we grabbed that.  Burgoo's palatable dishes were  to die for, so the promo was definitely a steal.  Plus, almost every table took advantage of the offer.  Who would not?  The entree with the higher price will be billed, and the lower one was the free item. That offer was really cool!  While waiting for our orders to arrive, my little man enjoyed the "write-write" moments.  He was quite amazed of how his scribbles looked like.

His hands were full!! He simply just won't share his crayon, that's why.

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We got their grilled pork chop ( I dunno why hubby has an addiction for pork chops? ) and their shrimp and ribs platter.  One entree was good for sharing already so we are talking of like good-for-four-heads meal here.  And to pay for just one, that was such a great offer!! Both entree were perfectly done, kuddos to Burgoo.   Honey and little man loved everything!










The father and his mini-me!




We finished the day with a couple of photo opps.  The little man knew where to pose!  He is a fan of Cars and Kung Fu Panda!





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2011 Summer Escapade (and a video that shows the fun!)

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It all started last summer of 2010.  The whole Bonifacio family went on an overnight get together and that was quite a success.  I must remind you that the Bonifacio brothers, five of them, each owns a business that they cannot simply leave behind even for a day.  Sun up until sun down, they are committed to their bread and butter.  So it was really a shock for some of us that the summer outing last year was a success.  Almost everybody was there!  That was really fun.

And so because we craved for it so much, the Bonifacios, courtesy of the younger gen, planned another escapade.  Last year was in Antipolo, this year it was in Laguna.  The place: Villa Bellagio.  We rented the whole place for 25,000 and I must say that it was all worth the pay given the fact that all of us enjoyed the stay (not necessarilly because of  the place, I must stress that out).

There were five airconditioned rooms (2 large rooms and 3 just-enough-size rooms) each having its own bathroom that functioned just as right(that was a plus point).  The rooms had enough space for additonal mattress if needed (another plus point for we really needed tons of it). The bed and beddings were decent and clean.  Despite the appearances of some uninvited crawling creatures which I was able to get rid off in a flash with screams here and there, I was able to sleep well and tight. 

It has two swimming pools that catered kiddos and adults.  I must say that one nice thing about the set-up was the net that served as a "ceiling" that covered almost the entire pool. Thanks to that net, we did not mind the supposedly scorching heat of the tanghaling tapat sun.  The net provided the shade that we needed!  So that made the dip sulit na sulit because nobody wanted to get off the pool even if we were reminded constantly of our check-out time.

Aside from the pool, the place also has a billiard hall and the staple of all households--videoke machine.  The younger ones had a wonderful time playing the billiards while the oldies took turns in damaging the microphone :)

Since it was an out of town gathering composed of five big families, food was assigned to each to save a bit on the budget.  Every family brought their share, and since we were really that big, simot na simot ang pagkain.  We even had to rush to the market to buy a new batch to be cooked the next day--from breakfast to dinner.  The place has a small kitchen anyways, so cooking was never a problem.

The parking lot was a challenge though.  Since, as what I have mentioned, our family was really big, we had no choice but to bring nine cars.  Make that nine SUVs.  Haha!!  Even the owner of the place did not expect that scenario given the fact that his parking lot is quite big already to begin with. 

Overall, our stay at Villa Bellagio was a pleasant one.  But I must say that family gathered together as one, enjoying each other's stories and sentiments, with food and drinks (toxicating or otherwise) on the side, made this escapade a blast.

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