From Philippines to here.....

In celebration of Philippine Independence Day, the Filipino-American Social Club (FASC) of Hernando County Florida commemorated the special event in honor of our nation. Even though we are not anymore in our own native land and some of us chose to become America citizens, but in our heart, mind and soul will always remain of who we are and where we come from.

In order to introduce some of our traditional cultures, two of the young ones presented the Tinikling Dance. A pair of dancers hopping between two bamboo poles held just above the ground struck together in harmony with the music. It is considered to be our national folkdance originated from Leyte province. This dance imitates the movement of “tikling birds” hopping over trees, grass stems or over bamboo traps set by farmers.

At the end of the performance, the dancers of FASC invited the audience to try dancing. Guess what? Most who came up in the front were Americans! But nobody’s foot got caught in the poles.

Another dance presented was the “Pandanggo sa Ilaw”. Yours truly is one of the dancers. The word pandanggo comes from Spanish dance “fandango” portrayed with lively steps and clapping while following a varying ¾ beat. Originated from Lubang Island of Mindoro, this dance traditionally requires excellent balancing skill to maintain the stability of three oil lamps, placed on the head and at the back of each hand. But since we are not professionally trained, we decided to dance with only two candles in the glass each and placed it on our palm. Close to the end of the sequence, it was the part when our partners are placed with a glass on their head, while slowly dancing at a twirling movement. Good thing I didn’t have to do it! But fortunately, no glass was dropped on the floor.

This coming July 27, we are invited to present this dance again. I guess we’re going to be super stars soon! Just kidding…

Sto. Nino Visited Spring Hill, FL

A filipina friend of ours (Tita Rita) who lives in New Jersey usually comes down here in FL during the winter months and fly back when spring is over. She’s one of those whom they called the “Snow Birds”.

She is one among the devotees of Sto. Nino (Infant Jesus), the “holy child of Cebu”. Although she is not originally from Cebu City, but she devout the miraculous child.

When she came here in America for good, she brought with her the statue of Sto. Nino along with the Lord of Pardon and Blessed Mother Mary. She then started inviting other Filipinos to join in group praying. And she offered the families that they are welcome to sponsor if they have the desire of the Sto. Nino to come to their homes. Traditionally, the saint stays every house for seven (7) days. Performing the daily prayers, as embodied in the prayer guides.

Last winter, she decided to bring the holy child down here in Spring Hill and had visited, stayed at few households already. But not only for a week but a family can keep Him for a month. Several Filipinos here wanted to have the saint, so Tita Rita made a monthly schedule for those who want to sponsor.

With God’s grace, I got a chance to have the Holy Child here in our home last June. It was a great pleasure and I felt honored that I was able to keep Him for the whole month. I put Him in our bedroom on my own altar with the Lord of Pardon and the Blessed Mary. But it didn’t take long and it was time for Him to leave. Last Sunday, I finally took Him to the next sponsoring family. Viva Sr. Sto. Nino!

August Feast

In about three weeks, it’s going to be the month of August—the hottest month of the year. And it is the month that Bond family is looking forward to for a Watermelon feast in Oriental, North Carolina.

David’s uncle, John (his Dad’s youngest brother) and his wife Aunt Fay have a farm of the sweetest and biggest watermelon I have ever tasted and seen. Since 1969, it becomes their tradition every harvest time to throw a feast to the town where they live. All the family, relatives, friends and even strangers that just happen to passed by are welcome to join and grab a slice of watermelon or as much as you can stuffed in your belly and until you give up eating!

People are always looking forward to this event and this is the time too when most of the Bond clan are gathered together and meet those we rarely get to see. A group of band is also there to play music while people enjoy munching their fruit. Photographers are busy taking pictures so they have something to show for the next issue of their town’s newsletter.

It is a fun thing for us to do although it takes long hours to drive up there. But seeing the family is worth the distance traveled. And I cannot wait to see them and taste the watermelon again---and that if time allows us this year!

Naturalization

I just mailed my US citizenship application yesterday. I was supposed to send it 1 week ago but proscratination prevailed. I have been here in US for a little bit more than 4 years but been a legal resident since September 2005. According to one of their qualification, a person can apply for citizenship if you are a Lawful Permanent Resident for at least three years and have been married to and living with the same US citizen for the last three years. Since I am married with the same husband for almost 4 years and will be turning 3 years on my residency, then I fall on the said category and have met the requirements.

I am hoping that the process will go through quicker. They said (and those I knew who had done the same thing), it takes six months to complete the whole procedure if they find your application without any problems especially with all the required initial evidence asked and your eligibility.

The art of a Laser beam.....

Just want to share to all of you these amazing pictures that were sent to me. You will be blown away with these incredible works they did by using laser beams. Enjoy!

My Calorie Calculator

My Calorie Calculator

Do you want to know how many calories you need to have each day in order to maintain, loose or gain weight in a healthy and balance way? Depending on the goal you want to attain, the result will help you guide in getting the desired number of calories needed for your body. So here’s the result of my calorie calculator:

1) I need 1706.8 calories per day to maintain my current weight without exercise.
2) If I reduce my current caloric intake to 1206.8 calories per day, I will lose one pound every week without exercise.
3) If I increase my current caloric intake to 2206.8 calories per day, I will gain one pound pre week.


Exercise and Calorie Needs

If I exercise for 30 minutes each day, I may need to increase my caloric intake to 1893.2 calories each day and still maintain my present weight.

If I exercise for an hour every day, I may need to increase my caloric intake to 2126.10 calories per day to maintain my current weight.

If I exercise for 30 minutes each day, I will be able to reach my goal weight with 1955.1 calories pre day.

And if I exercise for one hour each day, then I will be able to reach my goal weight with 2196.4 calories per day.


The above calorie counts results are an average. It is based according to the information I have provided and the ideal weight I wanted to accomplish.

Try it for yourself if you are planning or working about loosing, gaining or even just maintaining your current weight. Click here Calorie and Nutrition Guide to know your calculation. If you want detailed information about the number of calories you need, you can join for free in Calorie-Count Plus and you will have access to online tools to make the perfect diet.

Rice: A Basic Necessity

A meal without rice for Filipinos isn’t called a complete meal at all. When I arrived here in America, the first thing I bought in the store was a bag of rice. “Can’t live without it!” that’s what I told my husband.

Rice plays an essential part in the diet for Filipinos. We only not eat rice during regular mealtime but sometimes we also consider it during merienda (snack) in the mid-afternoon.

Rice is usually plain steamed. Families who don’t have electricity use gas burners or wood or charcoal fires to cook rice. Today, life became easier with rice cooker. Left over rice is usually made into fried rice and serve for breakfast. You can even mix it with different other ingredients like eggs, hotdog or ham. Oh how I miss all those old times when my dad used to make it for us! I also remember using stale rice and turn it into pop rice. We washed it in water and drain. Put it on a flat surface dish or thing so you can spread it out and sit under the sun to dry. Once totally dried up, deep-fry it and walaa! We have something to munch on for snacks.

Common type of rice used in the Philippines is usually white rice. Other kinds available like the brown rice and sticky rice, which is typically used for dessert when prepared with coconut milk and sugarcane syrup.

Hybrid-electric Vehicles

Last Sept. 2005, we bought a 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. It was my very first car to have and since I was a new driver with a new baby, my husband wanted me to have a safe and reliable car I can use around. I have no idea anything about cars. Well, majority of people in the Philippines don’t own one. How do we get to our destination? By riding a public jeepney. Anyway, we looked at different types of cars and we ended up buying the Hybrid-electric vehicle. This car is not only gas efficient but most of all it’s environmentally friendly.

The government also provides tax incentives for purchasing this kind of cars. From our 2006 tax, we got a credit of $2,000.00. For more information on state incentives, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center has the list of State & Federal Incentives & Laws for HEVs.

So how does hybrid works? Some of the advanced technologies typically used by hybrids include:
Regenerative Braking. The electric motor applies resistance to the drive train causing the wheels to slow down. In return, the energy from the wheels turns the motor, which functions as a generator, converting energy normally wasted during coasting and braking into electricity, which is stored in a battery until needed by the electric motor.

Electric Motor Drive/Assist. The electric motor provides additional power to assist the engine in accelerating, passing, or hill climbing. This allows a smaller, more efficient engine to be used. In some vehicles, the motor alone provides power for low-speed driving conditions where internal combustion engines are least efficient.

Automatic Start/Shutoff. Automatically shuts off the engine when the vehicle comes to a stop and restarts it when the accelerator is pressed. This prevents wasted energy from idling.

Just this April 2008, we traded in our highlander for a 2008 Toyota Prius. The reason why? It has more gas mileage (48mpg in city / 45mpg in hwy) compared to the SUV.

Poor hygiene or less immunity?

When my eldest turned 2, we started putting him in one of our churche's program for toddlers--the MOMandTOTS. It's quite difficult for him without anyone whom he can play with at his age and in our neighborhood that is a common problem since you hardly see any kids around. His brother is too young to have fun with so when we heard about the program, we decided to signed him in. He enjoyed it so much eventhough it was only an hour and a half every twice a week but he was always looking forward to it everyday. He met new friends, nice and good teachers. They had activities each time and I was able to met other moms too. But then, summer came. It was time for a break and I don't think Apollo could understand it yet. Everyday he kept on telling us that he wanted to go to school. I know he misses his friends and teachers. He used to have a routine and then one day it stopped.

So we searched around on what things he could do to keep him busy besides playing and learning inside the house with us. My husband thought about putting him in a day care which was our least choice but that's the only way he can regularly interact with others. The price is very affordable and is only 2 minutes drive away. The place was only a year old so the rooms look clean & neat so we both agreed to try it. He seemed happy about going to that new place and meeting new friends.

Then it was weekend. We went to Chinese to had dinner. When we got home, he started throwing up. We thought, maybe he just ate something that upset his tummy. Then after an hour, he was already running a fever. So maybe he had a stomach flu (also known as gastroentiritis). By monday he seemed fine already so I took him to school.

But then the next weekend, he started throwing up again and had fever!! And here's more, by monday he went back to school and by mid afrernoon, was sick again. My mind was raising up already why suddenly he get so sick and it's happening so often? Am I not giving him enough vitamins for strong resistance against sickness? And it began when he started going to day care. I heard so much about these places before that's why we did not want our kids to go there because they said it is where different illnesses a child can get. But I don't want to be subjective.

One time, I went to pick up Apollo and I was a little late and when I got there, they were about to eat lunch. Guess what? the kids sat down without washing their hands! When before that, they were all over the floor sitting and playing. Shouldn't they always wash hands preceding lunch? Shouldn't they know better about hygiene? I saw some kids with snots hanging out and one teacher was distributing foods from a container by her barehands. Who knows if she cleaned her hands too!

I can't believe what I saw with my own eyes. I told myself I can't keep my son in a bubble all the time and there's no way I can keep him away from being sick no matter what I do. When he goes to kindergarten, he's still gonna be around with sick kids. But right now, he doesn't have to get it. I can't stand my child being so sick all the time. The only reason we put him in day care is for him to socialize with children and not with illnesses. I know he needs to build his immunity but should I let him be exposed because of that? Not today. We'll deal with it later. All I can do right now is continue teaching him the good hygienes to prevent the possibility of contracting different diseases in our environment.

Weight Gain Searching

I have a 3 yrs. old and a 16 mons. old boys. After I had the second one, I did put some extra pounds 'though it wasn't a lot that would make me looked fat, but it was the belly that I was concernced the most. I can't wear fitting tops and if I would, the bulge or the fold would show off when I sit. That made me so conscious..just that part of my body the rest were fine. One incident that I came up with a decision to worked on loosing the belly was when I saw a picture of mine taken together with my friends. I was shocked to see my tummy!!! I was always been a skinny person and gaining weight is not so easy for me. From then on, I tried to cut my meals since I wasn't breastfeeding anymore. I used to eat plenty of rice (which filipinos are known to eat a lot of rice). I tried not to eat too much even if I wanted more. Excercising didn't work for me 'coz I couldn't find any time to do it. I've got so many things to take care around the house and plus the kids. So I concetrated on the amount of food intake. After two months, I lost most of the fat and that was when my second child became very active---crawling, walking, running, climbing. And here's my frist son too who wanted to play all the time. Guess what? that burned a lot of my energy. And my problem now is I lost extra weights beyond the ideal numbers I wanted to keep. Since I just can't sit down and enjoy my meals all the time and only get a chance to relax for a little bit, I need to seek and I guess rely on something that would help me gain at least 7 lbs. back...not so much huh! I searched over internet what are the products I can take and I ran into so many brands. But I decided to picked the Pro Performance Weight Gainer 1850 Gold from GNC. I read some reviews about it and they said it really worked for those who wanted to gain. Plus I don't have to go through internet hassles to get the product 'coz there's a store close enough to go to. So yesterday I drove by there and got it on sale which is a bonus. This morning I tried using it for only 1 cup to start with since the lady I asked at the store recommended me of doing such for the size of my body. Isn't it funny how I am trying to put some weight and a lot out there are struggling to loose it? Anyway, hope this thing works for me either. We'll see....