Doggie Heaven at Tiendesitas

It was a good day to finally take Peanut on her first trip to Tiendesitas. It's a shame that there are no other "malls" that allow pets to stroll inside with their people. She was on her best behavior and did not tug at her leash the way she usually does in other places. She also was not not bothered at all by the puppies that barked at her from their steel cages.

I told her that she would meet some "friends" there, and that she did. She met a female brindle Dachsund and eagerly approached her to do her usual "sniff at the butt". It was funny that the little Dachsund's people did not know that this was a normal thing for dogs when they want to get to know each other. While we may be turned off by butt-sniffing, it's different in the dog world. I do believe I heard the handler say "Ay, bastos." Hmmm...dog owners and wannabes out there, please do your research before even thinking of having a dog. We owe it to them to treat them right.

Peanut also gamely approached two 6-month old Old English Sheepdogs (both photos) above being walked by their handler from the Avilon Zoo. That's the thing about MinPins - they're fearless! They are truly big dogs in small packages.

Meanwhile, two Chihuahuas in mini skirts became aggressive at the sight of Peanut, so she returned the same aggression. I only later researched that Chihuahuas are "clannish", meaning, they would rather be with their own kind. No wonder George (Golda's Chi) and Nicu (Brian's Chi mix) got along well and shut my little Peanut out.

And then I saw the Pug of my dreams (photo at left)...a cute black Pug pup with the flattest face I've seen on this breed so far. He took to me right away and basically told me to take him home. Sigh...I had to stay several minutes more and think of a name for him.

I then saw the perfect Chowchow for my Hubby. He keeps holding on to the name "Precatoria" (ask him about it) in case he gets another dog. But after seeing the photos taken of the Chow (left), he decided that "Precatoria" didn't suit him, but a Roman name. Duh? By the way, both the Pug and the Chow cost P18k -- cough, cough!

The pet shops were the only fun place for Peanut and me. IF I had a ton of cash, I would've gotten Peanut a travel bag, some sweaters (for Baguio), a new harness, some toys, a back-pack for me to carry her around, not to mention all the pups I could find. I don't agree with the current system of keeping pups in their cages too soon. They need to be with their dam and litter mates for their first 2 months (at least) so that they will be well-adjusted and will not have the bad habits that usually form when they are stuck in cages for many months (like soiling their own space).

Anyway, it was relaxing to see so many pups and I went home with their images swimming in my head until I fell asleep.

A Buzz from the Chief Justice

What a thrill! My hubby got to invite Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Reynato Puno, to speak at their Men's Conference in Tagaytay (theme was "More of Jesus"). As my hubby will blog about soon (visit his site compassionateconsiderations@wordpress.com ), Justice Puno was his "classmate" at the Haggai Institute in Singapore a few years back and was his groupmate (with all the Filipino attendees) as well. The short of it is, I tagged along on the first day of the conference just to see and hear Justice Puno speak. At the end, after the "official photos", hubby introduced me to him and as we shook hands, he pulled me forward and gave me the "beso-beso". And I was the one privileged to receive it -- just meeee!!! Oops, allow me to gloat for a while.

Unfortunately, I don't have photographical proof of that beso - just witnesses who went green with envy --haha, kidding! I will post our group photo, though, as soon as my hubby gets hold of them.

I felt a thrill because such an esteemed man is so down-to-earth! It was really a privilege to have met him, if even for a short moment. I will pray for him.

"Beso-beso" with Chief Justice

What a thrill! My hubby got to invite Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Reynato Puno, to speak at their Men's Conference in Tagaytay (theme was "More of Jesus"). As my hubby will blog about soon (visit his site compassionateconsiderations@wordpress.com ), Justice Puno was his "classmate" at the Haggai Institute in Singapore a few years back and was his groupmate (with all the Filipino attendees) as well. The short of it is, I tagged along on the first day of the conference just to see and hear Justice Puno speak. At the end, after the "official photos", hubby introduced me to him and as we shook hands, he pulled me forward and gave me the "beso-beso". And I was the one privileged to receive it -- just meeee!!! Oops, allow me to gloat for a while.

Unfortunately, I don't have photographical proof of that beso - just witnesses who went green with envy --haha, kidding! I will post our group photo, though, as soon as my hubby gets hold of them.

I felt a thrill because such an esteemed man is so down-to-earth! It was really a privilege to have met him, if even for a short moment. I will pray for him.

"Beso-beso" with Chief Justice

What a thrill! My hubby got to invite Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Reynato Puno, to speak at their Men's Conference in Tagaytay (theme was "More of Jesus"). As my hubby will blog about soon (visit his site compassionateconsiderations@wordpress.com ), Justice Puno was his "classmate" at the Haggai Institute in Singapore a few years back and was his groupmate (with all the Filipino attendees) as well. The short of it is, I tagged along on the first day of the conference just to see and hear Justice Puno speak. At the end, after the "official photos", hubby introduced me to him and as we shook hands, he pulled me forward and gave me the "beso-beso". And I was the one privileged to receive it -- just meeee!!! Oops, allow me to gloat for a while.

Unfortunately, I don't have photographical proof of that beso - just witnesses who went green with envy --haha, kidding! I will post our group photo, though, as soon as my hubby gets hold of them.

I felt a thrill because such an esteemed man is so down-to-earth! It was really a privilege to have met him, if even for a short moment. I will pray for him.

"Beso-beso" with Chief Justice

What a thrill! My hubby got to invite Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Reynato Puno, to speak at their Men's Conference in Tagaytay (theme was "More of Jesus"). As my hubby will blog about soon (visit his site compassionateconsiderations@wordpress.com ), Justice Puno was his "classmate" at the Haggai Institute in Singapore a few years back and was his groupmate (with all the Filipino attendees) as well. The short of it is, I tagged along on the first day of the conference just to see and hear Justice Puno speak. At the end, after the "official photos", hubby introduced me to him and as we shook hands, he pulled me forward and gave me the "beso-beso". And I was the one privileged to receive it -- just meeee!!! Oops, allow me to gloat for a while.

Unfortunately, I don't have photographical proof of that beso - just witnesses who went green with envy --haha, kidding! I will post our group photo, though, as soon as my hubby gets hold of them.

I felt a thrill because such an esteemed man is so down-to-earth! It was really a privilege to have met him, if even for a short moment. I will pray for him.

Do you smell something?

It's almost 10 pm, I'm tired, sleepy, and missing my hubby who is in a conference in Tagaytay. As I try to think of what to write here, I remember the comforting aromas that I look for in these "tiring" times.

I love the scent of my hubby -- fresh from a shower or straight from a day at work, it doesn't matter. His scent comforts me in a bad day and assures me of his love for me -- and that's just his scent!

I love the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. While I don't particularly like Starbucks, I do love that I smell their coffee a mile away. It gives me the feeling of freedom -- the freedom to just "sit and talk awhile" over a nice steaming cup of coffee. I can almost see the swirling steam...

I love the smell of freshly baked bread (especially one with butter). It brings back memories of my mother -- her care and attentiveness toward us.

I love the smell of fresh linen. I can almost fall asleep just thinking about it.

I love the smell of a freshly lit matchstick. I know, it sounds a bit weird, but I do enjoy the "phosphorical" smoke (ahem..cough..cough) -- it brings me comfort, especially in the little girls' room (haha!).

I love the smell of "imported goods". You know, that very distinctive scent when you open a balikbayan box from the US (I don't know about other countries). I've always associated this smell with the love of my aunt and grandmother whenever they send us their Christmas package.

I love the smell of a brand new car. Need I say more?

New Packaging for Cookies

I just recently "expanded" and "professionalized" my baking operations (sounds major, huh?) by re-designing my Velvet Confections logo (to fit the new packaging and market) and re-designing its packaging. I'm also happy to announce that you can now get my Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies and Healthy Oatmeal Cookies at Ming's Garden (Silang, Cavite, en route to Tagaytay) and Rowena's, also along the road to Tagaytay. I promise you'll love it, as my husband says.

Chef Jomel

We had the pleasure of having our young friend Jomel stay with us again for one night two weekends ago. Hubby wasted no time in assigning him to cook "tinolang manok" (chicken soup with green papaya). Jomel did not hesitate at all and confidently cooked one of his masterpieces. He claimed that his tinola is to die for, since he's Kapampangan. Well, I must agree with him -- haha! At the end of the meal, hubby had to admit that Jomel's tinola was better than his. Oh well, no matter -- I like hubby's tinola too...mwah! Thanks for the treat, Joms!

My 2nd Cake!

I baked a caramel cake with buttercream icing for our friend Tess’s 41^st birthday (oops! She may not want me to say this). I made two mid-sized cakes just as a contingency, in case one turns out funny. The caramel swirls and “flowers” were made of caramel sauce mixed with confectioner’s sugar, cooled. It was a “guess-what-will-happen” design since I wasn’t sure yet how the random caramel drippings would look. I think it looks quite artistic, if I may say so myself.

I baked the cake toward the evening since the whole day was packed with activities. Tess didn’t know that I would still be able to bake her cake. When it was done, hubby thought of pulling a prank on her. He sent here an SMS saying that we have a problem and that we wanted to talk with her and just cry to her if she was still awake.

Naturally, being the friend that she was, she said that we can go to her house and she immediately sent her kids inside so we could talk in their yard privately. She also called up hubby’s phone just to find out in advance what the problem was. Hubby gave her a very convincing answer in a very serious tone, while trying very hard not to laugh.

We decided to just park our car outside her house while we waited for her to come over. She rode in the back, already asking where we were going to talk. And then we sang “happy birthday to you…” and laughed. Needless to say, she got the surprise of her life and kept telling us we were “pangit” – haha! She liked the cake and we all ate it in their yard. I hope we made her happy that night despite the prank.

Buko pie, anyone?

I love a good buko (young coconut) pie. Unfortunately, a lot of “fake” buko pies are being peddled along the roads of Los Baños and Tagaytay at a not-so-cheap price and people not in the know end up buying them. We, too, were victimized once and we ended up biting into a hard, plastic-like flour mixture underneath the crust topping. Ugh! We threw out the whole pie.

The good news is, there is a very good buko pie and it can be found in The Original Buko Pie store, also along the Los Baños route. Many stores along the same road claim to have “the original”, but only one store really makes it fresh and worth your money. And we were blessed to have a church member give us two boxes of The Original two weeks ago. Even my hubby, who isn’t a buko pie fan, loved it. I am now craving for it as I write. Do have it cold with a good steaming cup of brewed coffee.

System on Low-Batt

After several weeks of silence, I'm back in front of our PC named Gigapooh. I still find myself tired and a bit unmotivated after all the youth summer camps, trips, chores and other activities these past couple of months. Summer is at its end and my hubby and I realized that...we need a vacation!!!

Some might wonder why, when the camps we've been to were located in resorts by the beach or were equipped with a nice swimming pool. Well, people, that was work! We hardly had time to even pose by the pool and pretend we just came from a refreshing swim. However, we did enjoy serving and being among friends and the tireless youth. Why, we even learned some of their lingo! Let's see..."astig" (though this is not new), "emo", "ngarag" (I still don't know what this really means), and others I can't recall right now.

So, now that our camp clothes have been washed, the house is back in a semblance of order, the dogs are rested, and my baking projects back on track, it's time for me to update my sites, upload some pics, and reflect through my blogs. But before I do all these, let me just pause for a while, take a deep breath, and recharge my 39 year old batteries.