Kids say the darndest things

Whenever, we're in our maternal grandparents' house, I usually play with my cousin Chiara who's 3 years old. She's very smart for her age but is sometimes bratty. But I can handle bratty. Haha.

We visited a week ago. She wasn't asking me to play with her anymore, so I went to their room. We were talking and then this took place:

Me: Can I play with you?
Cousin: No. This is only for young people.

I haven't even had my birthday that time. :|

Ms. President

No. I'm not going to talk about GMA. But being an extremely proud sister, I just wanted to share. My sister Meryl is running for St. Paul College Pasig's Student Coordinating Team President. :D

I'm so proud because she stepped up to accept the challenge even if she has to run against the current vice president, who is a good friend of hers and one of my anaks in our grade school student council, and a former bestfriend. We are all so excited for her. And I guess our house misses having to prepare for a campaign. So if I don't go online as often, it's because I'm being supportive by allowing her to use the computer. Hahaha. But friends, since we're not eligible to vote, please do pray for her. :)

Travel Log

We went to Scandinavia for two weeks. I had so much fun.

We stayed with our parents' friends place at Malmo. Tita Jen, tito Bo, Kevin & Christian, thanks so much! They brought us around, made us eat so much :) and made us feel at home in their abode.

My mom works with singapore airlines so we only had to pay for my brother's ticket and taxes of course. Thanks daddy and mommy for making this trip possible.

And most importantly, thank you God!

Here's our travel log. Europe is so pretty. And so cold. We saw so many places. Even when we were just driving around, we were at awe with nature and their architecture (I even took pictures of random buildings and houses because they were so nice.)

Pictures to be posted at my multiply.

Apr 20
8:15 am- departure from Manila => Inannounce yung name namin sa naia... haha. hindi kami late. pero dahil chance kami kasi hindi yun yung totoo naming flight, sa gabi pa dapat, hinintay na near closing ng check-in. tas hinabol namin yung plane. siyempre tinulungan naman kami ng airport staff ng sia. :)
11: 15 am - arrival at singapore=> We got to go on the singapore airlines tour of singapore. The last time I've been to singapore was when I was 8 years old so it was great to actually see everything again. We were able to ride a ferry pa.
=> Pag balik sa airport, nakausap ko si joji for a few minutes sa phone. You can make free local calls sa airport. Nagulat ata siya. haha. Joji, we miss you.
=> Then we left again to go to Bugis. We ate dinner at a Hawker's Center. Sobrang sarap ng food. :) Then, we went around the shopping centers. Pero it's quite hard to shop pag naisip mo na you have to multiply all the prices by 30. haha. Masmura pa rin talaga sa Pilipinas esp since philippine peso ang pera natin.
=> We then went back to the airport. We had to wait some more for our flight. E kasi naman 1 am pa yung alis namin e. Good thing the changi airport is so pretty and nice. Umikot kami, nag free internet, nanood ng tv shows, etc.

Apr 2 1am-departure from singapore
7 am (denmark time) - arrival at copenhagen airport=> Tita Jen fetched us. 4 pm => birthday party ng tita ni Tita Jen

Apr 22 - Beach and harbour, skateboard area, Turning Torso, church
Apr 23 - (Denmark) palace, Little Mermaid, church where their royalty are burried, DFDS Office
Apr 24 - (Denmark) hospital, Viking ships (Sweden) Ikea, walking street
Apr 25 - 5pm(Denmark) rode the M.S. Crown of Scandinavia to Norway (loved it!!!)
Apr 26 - our dad's birthday, (Norway) arrived at Oslo<4>, walked to Akershus fortress, Armed Forces Museum, New Barricades Museum, walked to the cathedral, Oslo Cathedrel , chapel there, walking street nila, Central Station, ate at a Pizza place, went to 7 Eleven, McDonalds, walked back to ship port, rode the ship, left for Copenhagen
Apr 27 - 9am arrived at copenhagen, CFC Copenhagen and Family ministries' general assembly
Apr 28 - stayed home
Apr 29 - (Denmark) their walking street naman, (Sweden) church
Apr 30 - (Sweden) Mobilia, bonfire marking the end of spring and start of summer
May 1 - home
May 2 - dinner at Tita Rose's place
May 3 - supermarketing at Oobi's
May 4 - (Sweden) supermarketing everywhere. haha. (Denmark)household meeting at Dela Fuentes, YFC sleepover

May 5 - departure from Denmark
May 6 - arrival at Changi Airport, arrival at NAIA :D

Scandinavian Cruise... :D

We went on a mini cruise to and from Oslo last Wed to Fri. It was so much fun.

We left Copenhagen at 5pm. Ngayon lang ako nakasakay ng ship tapos cruise ship pa. :D Inikot namin yung ship. Ang ganda ng view and ang lamig.

We arrived at Norway ng 9 am. Tapos sobrang lamig kasi 4 degrees celsius ang temp. (Buong kwento yan ng stay namin dito. Sobrang lamig. ang pinaka mainit na dito: 20. e yun nga ang malamig sa atin e.) Anyway, so we went down the ship.

Tapos we just walked around the city. We went to Arkhesus Fortress, sa mga museum doon. Then we walked some more, went to the walking street, passed by the Cathedral, which was being renovated, and then the Central Station. We decided to eat in that area. Tapos we walked back to the ship and arrived ng mga 2:30.

Sa sobrang pagod, we fell asleep after eating the muffins we bought as my dad's birthday cakes. haha. :)) Woke up again just as the ship was leaving. Ayun. Dinner. Tapos ikot uli.

My brother attended the treasure hunt for the 2nd time. Tapos the rest of us returned to the cabin. They decided to leave cause my brother wasn't back yet but I decided to stay.

Tapos turns out may 2 additional blessings kaming natanggap.
(1) Nameet uli nila yung isang Filipino man na kasama sa crew. Tapos binigyan niya kami ng 6 complimentary breakfast buffet passes. yay! Bait talaga ni God!!! :D
(2) Ang brother ko na matagal tagal na rin naliligaw pabalik sa cabin ay nakahanap ng 2 danish kids na tumulong sa kanya. at nagkita sila ng parents ko.

Ayun. And then we got back to Copenhagen at 9am the next day.

Thank you God for this experience! :D

The greatest gift

We all know that Jesus is the greatest gift we have all received this Christmas season. So this is about the second greatest gift we - the entire Ligunas family (my dad's & his brothers' families, my grandmother & a distant grandaunt) - received this Christmas.

We were already at our room at Discovery Suites last Dec. 24 when Tito Vonn, a cousin of my dad's from the States , whom they invited to join us arrived. Everybody was happy to see him since he hasn't come home for 6 years. But that's not the gift.

Around that time, my tito/ninong, who went out for a while, came back with a letter. It was a letter from Discovery Suites saying that Santa Claus was going to go to our room at 8 in the evening. It said that the Santa was deaf and mute so it was part of a fund-raising thing. My grandmother and younger cousins got excited.
At 8 in the evening, Santa arrived. He was wearing a mop as his beard and hair. We were all called out from our rooms to the sala so that we could take a picture with him. But instead of the kids getting excited, some of them got scared and didn't want to approach santa. :p

Since Santa was deaf and mute, he brought flash cards with him so that he could communicate with us. But first, he gave an envelope saying "Love Offering (Min: P50.00)" Ang kapal ni Santa. lol. Pero in fairness, ang baba ng minimum.

Then, these are what transpired (The contents of Santa's flash card are contained in quotation marks(" "). We read all of those aloud for fun and since some of my cousins don't know how to read yet):

"Ho! Ho! Ho!"
"Merry Christmas"
(conversation with 2 of my cousins)
Juno: baka si Tito Lloyd yan //my uncle who was out because he had a gig
Me: hindi! bingi yan e.
*gets the letter then shows it to them*
(end of conversation)
"Are you Happy..."
Us: Yes!!!
Tita Catchy: Kilala ko yang sulat na yan ha.
"With Your Face?" //Bingi nga siya db?!
(conversation with my mom)
Me: Mommy, bingi yan e.
Mommy: Hindi. si tito law na yata yan. // Tito law is my dad's brother who has been in the States for the past 3 years.
Me: Sure ka?
(end of conversation)
"Do you know WHO I AM? Hint: SANTA CL_ _ _"
Us: Santa Claus!
My Dad: Santa Clara. //corny. haha.
"My name is SANTA CLOWN."
*people laugh*
"I am a MOP HEAD Specialist. (by PROFESSION)"
*laughter again*
"I am the current commander of the North Pole MOP SQUAD"
"I can grant one very special wish for Christmas..."
"What do you wish for?"
Tita Catchy: I wish for my husband. //Tita Catchy is tito law's wife.
"But first do you want me to dance?"
Tito Vonn: Michael Jackson?
*Santa nods.* //I'm like: I thought that guy was deaf. Inuuto naman kami nito e. Baka nga tito ko talaga yan. *Santa dances*
"Ok, now here is my gift for you... Are you ready?"
"(1)Get one envelope each. (2)Do not open yet. (3)We'll open all at the same time. Ready???"
*envelopes are distributed* //I told my mom: Pano niya naman nalaman kung gano tayo kadami dito?
"Get Set... => GO!!!"
Luis (my brother): Pera ba to?

Guess what was inside the envelopes...

It was a piece of paper saying: "I'M HOME!!!"

We all started shouting. Santa removed his mop and hat. It was Tito Law. My cousins and tita rushed at him and hugged him. It was a really long hug. 6 out of his 7 children were crying. One of them was only 2 when tito Law left. He was more of shocked. Pano ba naan kasi puting puti yung mukha ni Santa? Then my dad, my lola and of course all of us na rin hugged him. My dad, my lola, my mom, my siblings and I - we were all crying as well.

We were all overwhelmed with joy. The feeling was incomparable. Seeing how happy tito Law was to be back with his family and seeing how glad my cousins and aunt were when they saw tito Law, their tears and all - these were all great. Seeing the family smile and become genuinely happy was just heartwarming. I couldn't even imagine how hard it was for all of them not to see their dad for such a long time and for tito law to miss 3 years of his children's lives. Almost every moment of our stay in Discovery, my uncle was hugging at least one of his children or his wife. I'm just so happy for them.

I have not received a gift greater than this this year. Actually, I haven't received a gift greater than this my entire life.

Turns out my uncle has been home since Friday and was staying at another room in Discovery. Ninong Larry and tito Vonn were the only ones who knew that he was back. They helped plan the surprise. Tita Catchy hasn't been able to sleep well for 3 nights. She felt like Tito Law was coming back. She was crying one night and her children saw her. She had to tell them what she felt. My mom, on the other hand, has told me quite a number of times this month, "Sana isurprise ni tito Law yung family niya this Christmas. Sana umuwi na siya." Galing ng women's intuition no?! When Tita Catchy said "kilala ko yang sulat na yan," my dad started staring at santa's eyes to see if it was tito law. Tito Vonn reminded tito law by signaling him, to avoid eye contact. Tito Vonn told us afterwards that he noticed daddy looking at tito law intently and that he had told tito law beforehand to avoid eye contact because his family knows him.

Tito Law... Welcome back. We are all so happy to see you again. You made all of us, your family, extra happy this year. We missed you. We will always be here praying for you. We know that wherever you are in the world and whatever you decide to do, God will be right beside you, guiding you, and never forsaking you and your family kasi sobrang malakas ka sa kanya. We love you. God bless!

Truly, the family is God's gift to us. They are the people who will never turn their backs away from us. Some might seem like they don't care but they truly do. Because the love that your family gives you doesn't only stem from commitment (something that often gets broken), it comes from your connection (in blood, in genes, in umbilical chord) which can't be taken away and in that bond that God has made in the very beginning among all of you. Let us all treasure our families. They're the people who will never leave your side.

busy weekend

Sunday

My cousins, uncles and aunts went to the house. We went swimming.

Tapos of course the highlight of the day: ADMU-DLSU game. Sobrang hindi ko pinanood. Mga a total of 2 ¼ quarters lng napanood ko. I can’t believe myself. E pano naman kasi, sobrang tambak ng Ateneo. Sorry! Pero siyempre mas exciting kung close fight diba?! Ang galling pa rin ng La Salle. They could still score even without Cardona. They still have their trademark defense. I really admire Coach Franz Pumaren. He picked up his 100th win that day in only 7 seasons and 1 game. I mean that’s an average of 14 wins per season. That’s big considering a team gets a maximum of 20 games per season. That would be extreme conditions like you were tied with a team after eliminations, you defeat a twice to beat team in the semis, you go through 3 finals games. So sobrang galling talaga ni Coach Franz! What a way to gain his 100th win. what a coach to win his 100th game against and what team to win his 100th game against.

ANIMO LA SALLE!!! Prove everyone wrong and win another UAAP men’s seniors bball title.

_____________________________________________________

Saturday

BBSC Team Building. This is one event I didn’t mind missing the opening of the 68th season of the UAAP for. We had activities in separate groups and some as a whole. My groupmates were Ed, Ivy, Karizz and Redg. I love my group! Go group 2!!! It was a group wherein everybody played a part. Walang pabigat or paspecial or tamad sa group namin. Lahat kami game. I love my group mates talaga!!!

I thought we were going to get really dirty. As in magiging brown na yung buong shirt ko pero buti naman hindi. Natalsikan lang ng konting mud yung pants and of course nadumihan yung shoes pero that was it. Oh ya! By Sunday Morning, yung part ng body from my waist down sobrang sakit. Ngayon, masakit pa rin lower extremities ko. My gosh!

I don’t want to give the details coz others might experience it and not enjoy it as much because they wouldn’t be surprised. Say ko lang: BUHAY AKO!!!! Woohoo!!! Grabe! I’m not too heavy after all. Mwahaha!

I definitely learned a lot from the entire afternoon. We had fun and at the same time were able to pick up things that are crucial for us to become better people and people who can work with and for others. I can’t wait for the next BBSC activities.

_____________________________________________________

Friday

For only the second time in my life, I experienced a class gimik. I know second time. Ang labo noh?! E, wala naman kasing nagpaplano sa iba kong classes before e. But im not complaining. Madalas pa naman ako walang pera. We went to Promenade(greenhills) with Nico, Rob, Jeriq, Paul, Jao, Kimer, Lara, Joanne, Keisee, Kat., nico’s brother & Ma’am Jams. After buying our tickets, we(the girls) ate at Teriyaki Boy while the guys were left in the arcade. Sobrang minadali naming yung pagkain kasi magstastart na yung movie at tinatawagan na ni Nico si Kimer so halos linunok na lang ni Lara yung food niya kasi last dumating yung order niya. Tapos tumakbo kami papuntang theater. Kakakain lang naming nun. We watched Fantastic 4. It didn’t exactly have lots of content but it was ok and the fact that I was with classmates made it better. Tas the fun part(for me at least) was the picture taking. Para kaming mga baliw. They were imitating the poses of the characters in the movie posters. Sabi nga ni Ma’am Jams: Para kayong hindi taga-Maynila. Hehe. Ayun. I had to go home early because we were having a cluster meeting at SSJ. So yun. Umalis na ko. Sayang! Hindi ako nakastay for dinner. Maybe next time. I’m sure maraming next time kasi mahilig yata lumabas classmates ko. Hihi.

A whole bunch of stuf...

i went to school yesterday for the bbsc orientation. it was fun. puro kami 07. there were only 2 06's pero sabi ni sir ed mga 18 daw ang 06. looks like the incoming seniors are very busy with their UPCAT review. tapos yun. wala lang. it was just nice to see my batchmates again. boring na kasi ng summer e so im really looking forward to next school year. and im also excited for the fop. wala lang. kahit anong activity actually excited na ko e.

i miss my parents. they went to singapore & indonesia. they'll be back on saturday. 2 tulog na lng. lol.

regarding ai, anthony's out. i think tama naman yung top 3. but anthony's really nice & i think he's great too but i think vonzell, carrie & bo are better.

pbl... harbour centre takes solo 2nd. yipee!!! mac cardona had 2 cuts but he's alright. he always is. he's such a star that tj & boom were talking about his head band. i think bugia mentioned it to him too but who knows. i was just reading lips. he's so great a player that nothing can stop him. despite the many times i've seen eagles & archers working together, i still am amazed by what i see. well, weird ako e. ang galing kaya. naaamaze ako pag nakikita kong nag-aappear, naghuhug(short while lang kasi baka iba isipin ng ibang tao), nagbubump(whatever you call it) & nagkwekwentuhan & nagkukulitan sila. go harbour! hope they make it to the finals! malay mo sila pa mag-champion :)

ya... i guess that's it. i'm so bored that everything i'm writing is utterly senseless & uninteresting but ganun e...

Hail to the people with the most difficult job in the world!

They always have time for the family no matter how busy they are. They’re the perfect listeners and they have a way of knowing how we feel. They are considerate and always want to give us the best things in life. They make us feel loved. They also cooks great food. She’s mom!

So to all the moms in the world, you guys are the greatest and thank you for being there.

To my mom, I love you sooooo much! I can’t imagine not having you by my side. You are always there to inspire me. Despite your super exhausting job, you always have time for us. You’re one of the most generous people I know. You always give & you love with all your heart! Thanks for listening to me(that’s really very hard as I like talking a lot) and for everything else! May God bless you with all your heart’s desires! Mwah!

And since I think the people who would be reading this(that would be you) aren’t moms yet, just thank your mom and it doesn’t have to be mother’s day for you to remember how great she is & everything she’s done for you :) That’s why this entry is 1 day late. lol.