Lunar New Year 2019 (Year of the Pig)

We were supposed to go to Chinatown in Dowtown Vancouver to watch the Chinese New Year Parade last Sunday (February 10, 2019) but I changed my mind. There was a prediction of snow fall and it's been really cold the past days (-2 to -6 during daytime). Mahirap mag-stay nang matagal sa kalsada para manood, baka magkasakit lang kami.

We're not Chinese and we're not really celebrating Chinese New Year (at least in its truest sense) naman but I just wanted Nathan to see and experience different cultures. Canadian siya kaya dapat well-exposed siya sa diversity. Oh well, next year na lang when the weather is better.

Buti na lang din napadpad kami sa Tsawwassen Mills last Saturday. Meron sila doong artificial cherry blossom tree where you can hang your wish/es. At least nakapagsabit kami at naka-experience kahit papano ng festivity.

Aside from the usual prosperity wish, ang talagang dinadasal namin ngayong taon (at sa mga susunod pa) ay good health for our family and loved ones.

Ang daming gimik ng mga malls at supermarkets dito about the lunar new year. May mga dragon and lion dance syempre kaso nga hindi namin napuntahan. Ang layo na nga kasi namin. Usually sa Richmond (kung saan concentrated ang mga chekwa) at Surrey ang mga yun. The new year fell pa on a weekday kaya talagang malabo.

Thank you sa ang pao, Tsawwassen Mills. Naaliw ako.

Ooops by the way, from now on, Lunar New Year na ang itatawag ko Chinese New Year. Nito ko lang din naliwanagan na hindi lang naman mga Intsik ang nagse-celebrate ng unang araw sa lunar calendar kaya mas politically correct na tawagin nga itong Lunar New Year. Nandyan ang Vietnamese, Koreans, Cambodians, Malaysians, Singaporeans, etc.

We Filipinos are not really following the lunar calendar. Pero dahil mahilig ang Pinoy maki-holiday sa ibang lahi, nausuhan na rin sila/kami ng "Chinese New Year." In fact, declared as special non-working holiday na nga rin ang February 5, 2019 sa Pinas. Napansin ko rin na maraming mga Pilipino na rin ang bumabati/nakikipagbatian ng Gong Hei Fat Choy sa FB, nakakaloka. Sabagay, mas maraming occasions at holidays, mas masaya nga naman hehe.

New Year's Resolutions 2018

Parang di pa rin nagsi-sink in sa akin na 2018 na. Ambilis talaga ng araw!

Anyway, I made a list of my new year's resolutions. I actually stopped making resolutions a long time ago, ngayon na lang uli. Wala lang, para may pang-reckon hehe.

1. Continue with weight loss. I lost 18lbs since August 16, 2017. Medyo napako na nga ang weight ko recently (lalo na this holiday season) kaya kailangang maging conscious uli sa pagkain at paggalaw-galaw. I am still overweight and I need to lose more pounds.

2. Take better care of self (especially skin). I am now on my late 30s (huhu) and sadly, my physical appearance has deteriorated na rin talaga. Obvious na obvious na na #TitaOfVancouver na ang peg hay. Hindi rin kasi ako maalaga, lalo na nung nagka-anak ako at naburo sa bahay. I used to have great skin pero dahil iba nga rin ang weather at water dito, grabe na sa pagka-dry (and I became dark huhu). I am hoping na mahabol ko pa na madelay ang inevitable aging ko.

3. Dress well again. I was never a fashionista but I can objectively say that I dressed well during my dalaga days. Gusto kong bumalik sa dati. I want my husband and son to be proud of me. I sort of lost my interest in dressing up din kasi when I gained a lot of weight, syempre wala nang bagay na damit. Pero ngayon nakakatuwa kasi nagkakasya na uli sa akin yung mga ibang damit na nakaliitan ko na.

4. Be more mindful in spending. I am naturally magastos. Sobrang hilig kong magshopping at bumili ng kung anu-ano. But this year, I'll try to be more careful sa paggasta, lalo na since we are planning to purchase a place already. Iwas muna sa unnecessary spending.

5. Start purging. Since I shop a lot, I naturally have a lot of things. Ang problema is that I never let go of them. Would you believe na yung mga damit ko noong 20s ako ay nasa closet ko pa sa Marilao? Kung hindi kami na-Ondoy last 2009, kahit mga gamit ko mula pagkabata ay tiyak nandun pa. Dito sa Canada, ang dami-dami naming gamit sa storage na hindi na naman namin kailangan yet hindi ko malet-go. My husband is telling me na dahil sa mga "kalat" ko, nagbabayad kami ng mahal sa storage. I really need to do something about it. I'll dispose all those things na. For sure, we will be moving to a smaller place later on (smaller than our previous home) so wala na talagang space for them. I will declutter and purge.

6. Be a better wife and mother. With all honesty, I will admit that I wasn't able to give my best to my mag-ama the past year. Siguro dahil na rin nagkasakit ako at mas napagtuunan ko ang mga sarili kong concerns. Saka naging too complacent din ako because I know that they love still me even if I am not lovable at times. Ahh basta, babawi ako sa kanila.

7. Document more. I love documenting, orientation ko rin kasi yan as a Sociology graduate. This year, I'll try to "save more memories." I'll produce photo books and get back at journaling. I'll take more photos and videos (especially of my son who's growing up too fast) and share them with my family and friends in social media (what's the use of having all those kung hindi ishe-share lol).

8. Blog as often as possible. I love blogging because this is one form of documentation. Online diary ko ito eh. So I will try to blog as often as I can. Hahanapan ko talaga ng time at energy. I also promise (to myself) na hahabulin ko pati backlogs ko kasi andami-dami kong hindi pa napopost dito. Kumbaga, kulang-kulang ang istorya ng buhay ko kaya dapat buuin.

9. Be grateful always. Bukambibig ko ang salitang grateful pero kadalasan hindi ko rin naiinternalize talaga. More often than not, I dwell on the negative, nakakalimutan kong magpasalamat sa kung ano ang meron ako. I will aspire to develop a grateful heart from now on, yung mas nakakaappreciate ng kahit maliliit na bagay o pangyayari. For sure magiging mas masaya ako.

So there! I will look back at this list a year from now and see what happened.

Kayo, anong new year's resolution ninyo? =)

Hello, 2018!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 

May we all have a prosperous and blessed 2018!

More blog posts to follow, I promise!

Hello, 2017!

Happy New Year!!!

Sorry for my nanggigitata look. Init na init talaga ako lol!

 
I can't believe it's 2017 already! Geez, I am so happy that I got to celebrate the coming of a new year with my mother in Pinas! At kumpleto talaga kami. Ford was able to come here (albeit for only 11 days) to spend the holiday with us.

We've had a very tough 2016. Up to its last days, talagang chinallenge pa rin kami (read: Nathan was hospitalized tapos nagkasakit pa si Pod during media noche). Pero sige, keri lang. A new year signifies hope. Ahh basta, optimistic ako na magiging  ok ang 2017 namin. Nating lahat!

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At eto na naman ang promise ko na magiging active uli ako sa pagdo-document ng buhay namin through blogging. Haha, sana lang matupad!

It's a brand new year!

We woke at noon of January1st and immediately dressed up to pick Ate June in St. Albert. The weather was pleasant, a nice way to start the year.

As expected, all the roads were devoid of people. I wonder what Canadians do on the first day of the year. Just sleep?

I've been in Edmonton for almost two months now and I am still in awe of the beautiful surroundings. Very picturesque talaga!

We currently live in the downtown area so we don't see that much white snow. Palagi kasing nililinis at shino-shovel. That is why I love going to St. Albert. Very Canadianish ang palagid.

Ate June handed us a gift again. She's so sweet! Andami na naming utang sa kanya haha!

Thanks so muchie, Ate June!

I still can't believe I am now having a white new year!

And because it's a holiday, many establishments are closed. Only Chinese restaurants are expected to be open.

We had buffet lunch at Beijing House.

Ate June is our only family here. I am glad we got to celebrate this new year with her.

Everyday I am grateful na nagkatagpo silang dalawa dito sa Canada.

We went to West Edmonton Mall afterwards to do a bit of shopping. Naghabol kami ng sale. Then we dropped by Walmart to shop again lol! It was a tiring yet fun day.

Again, from us here in Edmonton, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Cheers!

New Year's Eve 2014

A non-traditional new year's eve celebration. That's exactly how I would describe what happened to us last December 31, 2013.

Except for our 13 fruits and one giant round coin-like chocolate,our night can hardly be called a 'celebration' at all (in my standards haha!).

I don't eat fruits (except bananas) so The Husband has no choice but to finish all these!

Bought last minute @ Dollarama 

I originally planned on having a bonggang bonggang media noche because it was our first new year together here in Canada but I changed my mind. Again, we are still living in a very small studio-type apartment with an equally minute kitchen so food preparation is kinda difficult. I've experienced it last Christmas eve. Also, because we lack dining stuff, I will only end up using the same table mat, plates, flatwares, etc. which I do not like. I am not fond of repetitions, especially when I'm posting pictures online haha!

At first I told Ford we'll just do take-out. I realized though that washing the dishes is more difficult when you're full so what the heck, we better just eat at the Chinese restaurant across our building. Ford learned that it will be open until 11pm of that night.

Oops, before I forget, Ford had to go to work that day (December 31 is not a holiday here) and he was only able to go home past 2pm. Then we left the house to meet with Modz, Ford's distant relative, who was stopping by here in Edmonton Red Arrow Bus Terminal (from Calgary) for 1 1/2 hours before proceeding to Fort McMurray. We took him to City Centre Mall to for snacks.

Going back, after Facetiming with my in-laws (Mama, Daddy, and Cil Cil) who live in California, we put on our coats again and walked toward Urban China. It was a very chilly night, -22 if I remember.

We've always wanted to try this restaurant kasi ito ang bumubungad na view sa window namin. Araw-araw naming nasisilayan. As compared to other Chinese restaurants around our area, medyo high end ito ng konti.

There were quite a few Chinese diners. Siguro nga wala lang sa kanila ang new year. Sabagay, may Chinese New Year naman silang sine-celebrate.

To give you an idea of how 'big' our toonie chocolate was, here it is..

We were both starving but then the drawback of having only a party of two is that you cannot order much. Chinese restaurants here are big on servings so be ready for left-overs.

So here's our new year eve's dinner...

Wonton soup 

Special fried rice

Sweet and Sour Pork

Chicken Hot Pot

The food were good albeit quite pricey. Pabayaan na nga, new year naman.

When eating in Chinese restaurants, I always look forward to these fortune cookies. It adds fun to one's dining experience, right?

My fortune was a blah. It read: "Getting away for the weekend will help clear your mind."

It's Ford's fortune that was interesting. I wish I had his! Haha!

He said this fortune was so appropriate. When I asked him why, he answered: "Haler, Ethan Allen!"

Oo nga noh! We'll be moving to our new home by the end of January and we've started buying house things (like an Ethan Allen bed) already. So yun pala ang luxury ni Pod haha!

selfie selfie!

We wanted to watch the fireworks display in the City Hall area but it was so freaking cold. I don't think I can take it.

When we reached our apartment, Pod immediately took a bath, said good night to be, and laid down on bed. It was only 11:15. I hysterically asked him: "What, matutulog ka na??? Hindi pa nga 12 noh!"

He reasoned that he's already tired and sleepy. Hay, I couldn't blame him. He woke up very early to go to work.

I stayed a bit longer in front of the laptop, enviously clicking the celebrations done by family and friends. I couldn't help but wish that I am in the Philippines that very moment. I missed my family, my Nanay's usual media noche handa, the fireworks (we're from Bulacan!), and all the noise and merriment in the Philippines.

My only consolation was that I am already with Ford. I finally gave in to bed at around 11:45pm. Di ko na rin inantay ang midnight. Haha, the irony is that I always sleep at 3-5am everyday but on new year's eve, I slept before 12am. Kakaiba talaga.

Oh well, it's a new year. I guess I should stop being sentimental and start living a real life here. I won't be living in the Philippines anymore and THAT'S A FACT. I have to go forward. I better get used to the "new normal."

I am aspiring to become more positive this new year. I know I can.

Happy new year, everyone! :)