Another video, but this time, it's no laughing matter.

This video is hilarious!



Wahahahaha!!!

Click here for full size.

About a month ago, Yuan handed me a letter from school. It was an invitation to attend a "special summer Math class for talented students." Yuan was chosen upon the recommendation of his teacher and because of his excellent grades in Math. It was signed by Dr. Queena Lee-Chua.

The Math class ran for a week, it was held at the Math Department's college classrooms. When we got there, we learned that the program was not limited to Ateneo students. There were, in fact, little girls in Yuan's class. We saw a piece of paper tacked on the bulletin board. It said: "Summer Seminar for the Gifted." We teased Yuan about being gifted. Hehe.


Today is the last day of the Math class, and Yuan got a certificate of participation. He also got lots of goodies from the teachers, and one prize for winning the logic game Cannibals and Missionaries.

Today is the last day of Yuan's finals and the last day of classes for the year. For their class' year-ender, one of his classmates' parents volunteered their pool. The boys had a blast! Parang pinakawalan sa koral.


We have attended some of Yuan's classmates' birthdays, and the parties would probably be one of the things that Yuan would remember about his first year at his new school. The first one we went to was held in Mandarin Oriental Suites in Gateway. The theme was Marvel Superheroes. Yuan was given a cape upon entry. The last party we went to for the year was a Pokemon-themed party at Albergus. The venue was near our place and it was raining the day of the party. We were the early birds. While waiting for the other guests to arrive, the celebrator and Yuan had a contest naming all the Pokemons on the tarpaulin banner. There was a magician for this party, too.

One of the reasons why Singapore is a great place to live in.


...is a very happy wifey.

Daddy arrived from Zamboanga while Tatay was still in Singapore. They missed each other by ten minutes on the 7th when Pen and Daddy drove to Pangasinan for a relative's birthday.

Yuan and I were supposed to go with them to Pangasinan but Yuan had just recovered from fever and flu, and it was the week of their final exams, so we opted to stay home. Cheng and Storme came over and spent the night.

The birthday turned out to be a reunion of sorts for the Cascolans. It was Lolo Camilo's birthday, Daddy's uncle. Lolo Camilo, from what I gathered, is the oldest living close relative of Daddy, the youngest among Daddy's father's siblings.

The event was held in Covelandia in Labrador, Pangasinan. Pen's conservative estimate of the number of guests who came from as far as Baguio: 200. The party favors were Parker pens engraved with Atty. Cascolan. Including Daddy and Pen, there were four in that party who would answer to that name.


When they arrived on the 8th, the four of us -- Daddy, Tatay, Pen and I -- had an Italian dinner. It was nice to have spent time with both of them together. The last time this happened was during our wedding three years ago.

Or the day I saw Journey in person.

I accompanied Yuan to school because he just had fever and flu, and because the accident in his school created paranoia in some of us.

After bringing Yuan to school, I went to The Block. It was Journey's meet-and-greet-the-press day. I wasn't a big fan of Journey, but since Arnel Pineda joined the band, I've been watching their videos on YouTube.

An hour before the band arrived, onlookers have gathered around the venue. There was a huge screen showing Journey's concert in Mexico. When the band arrived, the audience broke into thunderous applause. It was their way of showing the love for Arnel, a local boy who made good, and the rest of the band members, for embracing one of us, thereby becoming one with us.

Arnel and Journey have an interesting story, stuff modern fairy tales are made of. You need not mine their story further to get a good interview. It could have been a good opportunity to ask interesting questions, and the band members, I think, were prepared to be more than cordial.

Alas, what they got was a dud.

It was odd. The press people who were there were more than content with taking pictures. Only a handful asked questions, and not very good ones at that. Oddly, I felt cheated. These people were the ones given the chance to ask all the questions we wanted to ask. And they were awfully quiet. Those who did have the courage to ask questions babbled platitudes that sounded awfully rehearsed.

The audience was not allowed to ask questions, but when the host -- for the umpteenth time -- said "Any more questions" and was greeted with a deafening silence and uncomfortable pause from the press, my hand shot up in the air out of its own volition.

The rest made it to the pages of the Philippine Daily Inquirer the next day.

Read it here.

So we came back from Singapore. The day after our arrival was Yuan's birthday, and guess where he celebrated it? Manila Ocean Park with his classmates, it was their field trip. We've been there before, and a few days back we were at the Underwater World at Sentosa, but Yuan was still as excited as a first-timer. Side story: Underwater World doesn't hold a candle to Manila Ocean Park, well, except they have a dugong, but I'm sure we'll have one too, soon. But our Sentosa tour guide said that come 2010, there will be a bigger, better Underwater World, ten times bigger than the present one. It's being built even as I speak, along with the Universal Studios Singapore. Hmm...I wonder if that will be bigger than our oceanarium?

Anyway, Yuan didn't have a birthday party for his classmates, and I told him jokingly to announce inside the bus: "Thank you for coming to my birthday!"

When he arrived that afternoon we had a very simple celebration at home, thanks to Kuya Pen who left work early to surprise Yuan with a cake, a pizza and a Happy Birthday Yuan banner. So sweet.

This team is off to Singapore.

Meet Storme, my inaanak, a Huk (Hukbalakup, or Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Kupal) progeny, destined to kick ass someday.

She is Cheng's clone. And she has her own Multiply.

We had dinner at their house, and, as always, the food was great. Daddy -- in this case Cheng's dad -- is a great cook. I say great and I do not use the term lightly. He is the reason I learned how to cook. The first dish I have ever mastered was his fried chicken recipe, which I got to know once upon a Christmas I spent with their family. The chicken was so good I had to learn how to do it. And it was a big jump from my one culinary expertise then: boiling water.

For this dinner, Daddy prepared Sinanglaw, the one Pen and I were craving since forever. Sinanglaw is the Ilocano Papaitan, but Daddy's version is more vinegary than bitter. It's the best! This dish we only get to have once a year, because we don't know if anybody else serves it, and anyway we only like Daddy's recipe.

I already know how to make it. In theory. But I haven't turned it into practice yet, I'm too intimidated to try. Maybe someday. In the meantime, we get to lambing Cheng's dad once in a while, and when we're lucky we even bring some home.

We had pizza here as per Yuan's request...


because of these:

One day, we decided to dine out. Literally.






It was a candlelit dinner, no less.

Rochie and Sir Val came over for dinner. We had bulalo and tapa. They're now back in London.

Our typical night out.

This is TGIF, our way.

"Arroyo swims with dolphins," so says the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Guess what, Yuan did, too. And we were there before her.

*photo taken from the Inquirer website.