Reunited with snow

December 20, 2017. Before going to the mall, I let the little boy play with snow first.

He was so thrilled! Noon lang siya nakapaglaro sa snow eh.

Nathan was born in Edmonton, where there's snow for at least six months. But we left that place before he even turned two so he had no memories of snow. Last winter naman, nasa Pinas kami kaya hindi niya rin na-experience.

The last few weeks, he's been begging me to take him to 'snow." Nakikita niya kasi sa youtube at akala niya lugar iyon. I silently prayed na sana mag-snow dito sa Vancouver para maranasan niya naman before we leave again for Pinas this January 8. Kaya super happy talaga kami the other day kasi nag-unexpected snowfall nga. Unlike in Alberta, bihirang-bihira raw mag-snow dito eh (tapos mabilis din matunaw). Kaya nga many people prefer to live here kasi hindi ganun kalamig.

The snow's not that thick pero keri na rin haha.

___________________

We actually experienced the first snowfall of the season here in Vancouver last November 3, 2017. Nathan wasn't able to play nga lang that time because we were rushing to his cardio doctor's appointment. I just let him touch the snow sa isa sa mga kotse sa parking lot haha.

Paglabas namin ng clinic (mga 2 hours din kami inside), wala na kaming naabutan. Tunaw na lol!

Vancouver Santa Claus Parade 2017

December 3, 2017 (Sunday). This was one event that I really was looking forward to. I was able to watch a Santa Claus parade in Edmonton in December 2013 (indoor nga lang kasi sobrang lamig doon) and I super enjoyed it. Now that I have a child, mas may reason para ma-excite kasi alam kong matutuwa talaga siya.

The parade was held in downtown Vancouver. Our original plan was to just ride the sky train because parking fees in Vancouver are so expensive, but Ford changed his mind the last minute. Mas convenient nga naman kung magkotse kami. It was a Sunday so may mas murang parking naman daw.

We left the house at 10am (the parade's at 12noon) and stopped by McDonald's for a quick bite.

We reached downtown Vancouver a few minutes before 11am. They were closing some roads daw by 11 so we rushed into finding a parking space. My husband wouldn't hear of my suggestions (grrr!) so we ended up in a paid parking lot that charges $15. Hay kainis talaga.

I was afraid that we were "late" na. May mga kids' activities pa kasi prior to the parade (like face-painting, arts and crafts, etc.) that I wanted to go to. Sobrang daming tao nang dumating kami sa may activity area kaya imposible ng makasingit. Puno na rin halos yung mga gilid ng kalsada, nakapuwesto na ang mga manonood ng parade.

Akala ko wala na kaming mapupuwestuhan nang maayos, buti na lang naglakad pa si Ford somewhere farther. Ayun may bakante pa.

People were very ready -- may mga upuan, pagkain, at blankets pa talaga silang dala. I regretted not bringing chairs, tutal may kotse na rin lang kaming dala. Sabi ko pa naman the last time we watched a parade in downtown (for Canada Day) na magdadala na ako next time. Nakakangawit din kasing umupo sa kalsada lang eh.

I texted my friend Juris and asked where they were. Nakapuwesto na rin daw sila ng mga anak niya so we agreed to just see each other after the parade.

We were underdressed that day. We checked the weather and it wasn't supposed to be that cold. Kaya hindi makapal ang jacket namin ni hubby at walang hoodie. Pero grabe ang lamig lalo na kapag humahangin.

The boy patiently waited. He was in a very good mood, masaya kasi ang atmosphere.

I brought some snacks for the little boy. Ang cute ng ziplock ko noh? Nahawa nako sa mga taga-dito, mga mukhang ziplock.

Nagutom na rin ka kaka-antay.

A few minutes after 12noon, dumaan na sa harap namin ang parada.

There were many Food Bank volunteers who were asking for donations.

I enjoyed watching my son's face. Sobrang saya niya. My 39-year-old husband naman was bored (lol!). Mas mabuti pa raw na matulog sa bahay kaloka! Wala naman kasi sya talaga hilig sa mga ganyan, pero sobrang natuwa rin siya sa nakita naming kasiyahan ng bagets.

The parade participants were giving away candies, stickers, and other treats kaya lalong naaliw si Nathan.

The floats/costumes were actually very simple, nothing grand. Wala akong nakitang nakapagpa-wow talaga sa akin. Kaya di na rin ako gaanong nagpicture.

Ayokong isipin na kulang lang sila sa creativity at budget, siguro talagang simple and modest lang ang mga Canadians.

But look at my son's reaction! Priceless talaga.

Finally, Santa Claus! I am glad that Telus saved the event from cancellation. Rogers yata ang dating sponsor kaso nagback-out na kaya nagka-budget shortfall. Pang 14th year na ng parade na ito this 2017.

I was ctually quite disappointed that the parade only lasted for an hour. Ang unang naisip ko, "shaiks sayang ang $15 parking namin" haha!

But though the parade itself wasn't impressive, nang makita ko ang lahat ng nanood na ito, I felt a sense of community. So keri na rin. Sabi ko nga kay Ford, kung successful business owner lang ako dito sa Vancouver, I will participate. Magsasali talaga ako ng entry. It's a way of giving back eh. Around 300,000 daw ang spectators kaya masusulit naman.

We met Juris and and her kids afterwards. It was really cold. Akala ko ako lang ang nilalamig, pati pala ang asawa ko na sobrang lakas ng tolerance sa lamig. Hindi rin daw niya alam kung bakit ganun ang pakiramdam niya. Buti na lang medyo makapal ang jacket ni Nathan.

Juris's daughter Zoey cried daw after the parade. Sinumpong kasi tapos na.

After a few minutes, naghiwalay na rin kami. Nagbus at train lang sina Juris from Langley. Hindi naman namin sila maisasabay kasi bukod sa hindi kami kasya sa sasakyan namin, kailangan din ng car seat pag may sakay na bata.

Nagka-family picture rin nang hindi selfie. Thank you, Juris!

We decided to eat na lang sa Aling Ening's Restaurant in Fraser Street (malayo sa downtown) kasi wala na rin namang kaming magawa doon. It was too cold to stroll sa may Canada Place. In fact, naghanap pa nga kami ng Dollarama para bumili ng gloves.

Now the question is, will we watch the parade again next year?

Haha, kung kami lang siguro ni Ford, hindi na. But for as long as Nathan wants to, sige lang. Our Christmas is for him, after all.

Christmas gifts for Nathan

Christmas is 4 days away (or is it 3?) and I am done wrapping our gifts for Nathan. When the little boy saw this this morning, he disbelievingly uttered "Oh my gosh!" Haha, kids!

My son only asked for three 3 particular gifts this Christmas -- "animals," "hugas-hugas," and "toilet" (haha, I'll show these three toys to you later on). I just added a few more gifts so he has a lot to open on Christmas eve. Wala naman kasing ibang magbibigay sa kanya dito ng regalo maliban sa dalawang kaibigan ko.

This is the first Christmas na medyo may appreciation na ang bagets sa pasko so I am very excited. If the hubby would permit, I want to buy more gifts pa nga haha. Kaso gusto na yata akong kaltukan. Nung bata kasi ako wala akong gaanong natatanggap na regalo (mostly pera lang o aginaldo) kaya na-deprive ako. Now that I have a child, I will make sure that he'll have good Christmas memories. At importante dun ang gifts syempre.

Thankfully, my son has high EQ. He's very willing to wait until Christmas to open his presents. Sa ngayon, happy na siyang sumulyap-sulyap lang. =)

Totally unexpected snow

One of the first things I do the moment I wake up is to check the weather. It helps me plan my activities for the day kasi (haha, akala mo naman marami), like kung lalabas ba kami ni Nathan o hindi at kung ano ang isusuot namin.

This morning, I was so happy seeing the snow icon on next Thursday's weather prediction. I remembered that my husband mentioned yesterday that it will snow nga daw next week. Ang tagal na kasi naming naga-antay ng snow, my son is so excited to play with it. I was worried nga na baka hanggang sa umalis na kami sa January eh hindi pa rin nagi-snow uli.

I posted this on IG:

Two hours later, I was busy in the kitchen when my son excitedly called me. "Mommy, look!" I thought it was just another papansin thing that he always does whenever I am doing something.

But no. It ang bumungad sakin!

I was in awe! OMG, nagi-snow!!!

I was so happy (still am!). Snow really has this calming effect on me. For a moment, I felt some peace (may wino-worry kasi ako na mga "problema" sa Pinas ngayon).

I sat down ang quietly watched the snow falling. Even Nathan couldn't take his eyes off this beautiful sight. He's as mesmerized as I am.

Snow is truly magical. It's so beautiful! Thank you, Lord, for granting my wish so easily!

Project: Blog Back-Up

It just occurred to me yesterday that I have no back-up for my blog. Yes, I've taken this back-up thing for granted. Bakit nga ba?

I really do not know. But what I know for sure is that I have to do something now. This is my online journal and I've invested so much of my time and emotions here. I will go crazy if someday I find out that all my entries are gone. It happened to me in the past na eh. I used to have a hello kitty blog in (the now defunct) Multiply which was quite popular that time (circa 2007-2009). I woke up one day and all my pictures and blog entries were missing. I suspect that a kitty friend who I trusted so much (that I've given her my password) deleted them out of envy. Oh well, I should have learned my lesson.

Obviously for Mrs. CB in BC, I am using Blogger and not hosting my own weblog. Hence, I have no control of certain things. I really have to have some kind of a system for backing it up. [By the way, I love Blogger because it's easy to use and free. Unlike other bloggers, I don't earn anything from my blog kaya wala akong pambayad ng .com (dot com) haha!]

I did my research on how to back-up blogs but they were too complicated for me. I am not a techie gal, Tita of Vancouver na nga ang level ko, kaya lalo akong naguluhan. So I've decided that I'll do it manually na lang.

What I am doing now is that I am copying every entry to MS Word, edit the size of the font and pictures and spacing, then save. I also save it as PDF para kapag pinrint ay hindi magugulo.

It's not easy. I really should have done this from the very start. Not now that I almost have 400 entries. But I'll try very hard to finish this project before my Pinas vacay on January.

I am (still) old school so medyo skeptic pa rin ako sa computer back-up. What if masira ang laptop o ang external hard drive ko?

Kaya naisip ko na maganda kung may print-out pa rin. At first, I thought of having it printed and turned into a "book." May mga ganyang blog printing services eh. I registered in one company Blog2Print.com and tried kung ano magiging itsura ng blog ko kapag pina-print ko sa kanila. Ayun, labo-labo haha. Naiba ang arrangements ng text and pictures kaya magulong basahin. Also, because I have almost 400 entries nga, each with many many pictures, libo libong pages aabutin yun. Haha, that would cost me a fortune!

So sige, balik sa dating-gawi (UP style). I'll print na lang each entry sa printer namin (black ink nga lang) tapos ipapa-photocopy ko sa UP (for additional copies kasi nga praning) tapos ipapa-hard bound ko. Ayan, parang book na rin! Kaloka, our laser printer ran out of ink pa nga so my husband ordered a toner online that's just compatible. Ang mahal naman kasi ng original. Dagdag gastos pero keri lang.

I really need time and patience for this. Sana talaga mapangatawanan ko. My blog may not be extraordinary. Like what I said before, ni hindi ko na nga ma-check ang grammar at spelling dito kasi talagang sinisingit ko lang ito sa buhay ko. But I love it because it documents my experiences, feelings, and sentiments at a given time. Masarap balik-balikan later on ang alaala nakaraan, di ba? Kaya dapat ma-preserve ko talaga lahat ng naisulat ko. Para na rin mabasa ng anak at apo ko (that is, kung makakaintindi sila ng Tag-Lish haha!).

PS. Kung pano ako magsulat sa blog na ito, ganun din ako magsalita in person. =)

Lucky Supermarket in Surrey

I am so happy and couldn't contain my excitement. I literally screamed on top of my lungs after reading this ad that Ford showed me just a while ago (my son even said: "Mommy, are you ok?!).

Finally, we'll have LUCKY SUPERMARKET here in Surrey!

Lucky was my favorite Asian supermarket in Edmonton. It's actually the very first Asian grocery store that I have been to here in Canada and I became a suki throughout my 3-year stay in Edmonton.

I preferred Lucky over T&T (another giant Asian Supermarket that's originally from BC) because the former has more Filipino goods than the latter. They have better meat and fish section, too. And their prices I found relatively cheaper. Kaya doon kami talaga "namamalengke" noon eh.

When we moved here in Surrey last year, nahirapan talaga ako kung saan kami mamimili ng ulam. I was clueless because clearly, I am not a fan of T&T (nakokontian kasi ako sa Pinoy items nila). Sure, there is Henlong Market, but I find it too small and walang binatbat sa Lucky (hindi ako talaga makamove-on sa Lukcy haha). Until now, sabog-sabog pa rin ako mamili ng pang-ulam. Unlike sa Edmonton na talagang sa Lucky lang.

Kaya ngayon para akong nabigyan ng maagang pamasko talaga. At parang ayaw na rin kaming pabalikin talaga sa Edmonton ha (I listed Lucky as one of the reasons why I wanted to go back to Edmonton). I just wish na yung Lucky dito ay yung parang sa Edmonton din because I am sure Filipinos here will be thrilled. Sayang nga lang because Lucky will (probably) open when we're in Pinas na. Di bale, at least mae-excite ako pagbalik namin ng April. =)

Bigay-Bawi

We gifted Baby Marco with this one last Sunday. I know that he's only one-year old but I am sure he'll be receiving a lot of "baby toys" (the Vtech ones) already so I thought of getting something that he could enjoy when he's a bit older. Mabilis lang naman kasi ang panahon. I have a 3-year old so I know what the birthday boy will like in the near future.

Pic taken from the net (credits to the owner)

But I have a confession to make. I bought it the last minute na kasi hindi naman talaga yun ang plano kong iregalo.

Ito talaga:

So cute noh? I've been eyeing this trolley at the Disney Store since forever. Then one day, it went on sale. $19-off! Parang naging $35 na lang siya (plus tax). We were looking for a gift for Marco that time so I thought this would be perfect, especially since his party theme is Cars. Again, I wanted to give him something that he could use later on pa. As a mom, mas gusto ko kasi na pang-advanced age ang gifts eh, be it clothes or toys or any other things.

Pic taken from the net (credits to the owner)

But just a few days before the party, I had a change of heart. Parang mas gusto ko ito for Nathan haha! I mean, he's older and can use this na by next year. There were only three stocks left when we bought it so I am sure wala ng ganito. Kung meron mang bagong stock, hindi naman sale.

Naisip ko rin that Tess wouldn't mind kasi hindi naman niya alam haha! Ako ang nakakaalam so ako ang manghihinayang. Ang sabi ko rin kay Ford, Marco will have a lot of gifts so hindi na mapapansin na "ordinary" lang ang gift namin lol!

That's the thing pala when you have a son and you are buying for other boys, gusto mo meron din ang anak mo kaloka! Mahina talaga ang EQ ko.