Tag Archives: demolition twins

Happy birthday to my twins!

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Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

All my sacrifices to bring you where you are now are all worth it. I’m sorry if I let other people hurt you. Never again.

May you always be happy, God-fearing, and understanding. I love you to the moon and back.

In the depths of my depression, you were the only reason that kept me going and made me want to get better. You two made me a better person. I didn’t know the kind of strength that I had been hiding until you came along.

And when you have flown out of my nest, I hope you always find ways to come back home.

Love, Mommy.

Since this sketch is in my sketchbook, I scanned it and printed it on Kodak photo paper so both of them can have copies.

Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

And I left it on their desks so that’s the first thing they see in the morning.

Growing

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My kids have appetites of grown-ups. They eat more than I do these days and that’s a good thing. Since they’re healthier these days, they were able to withstand Covid even without vaccines yet while I was knocked down despite being fully vaccinated. They were only sick for 48 hrs max (Twin A; Twin I was 24 hrs but she’s healthier) I make sure they have their veggies 3x a day and their daily dose of Vit C or multivitamins.

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka Greenhills. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

They had a full meal set for our late lunch this afternoon when we went to Greenhills. It had a bowl or ramen, rice, tonkatsu, cabbage salad, hot green tea, and fruit salad. I was afraid they won’t be able to finish it.

Demolished it. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I was completely wrong. They cleaned their bowls really well 👏👏👏👏. As a mother, I’m happy that they’re eating whatever they’re served with and are no longer that picky when it comes to food. They can already tolerate the Korean spicy chicken that we normally buy at Jjangke along Kalayaan Ave. It’s a far cry from what they were when J was still with us.

You know, they grow up. They don’t stay as whiny little brats forever. They mature if you just have the patience to train them well. And so far I have been successful. They’re cleaning up after themselves now and doing chores so they can earn pocket money. They know now the value of money and how to manage their resources that’s why they were featured in my TV friends’ talkshow about personal finances. They save up for whatever they want to have, like the second-hand folding bikes and other extras. If they want something, they need to do more chores and we tally by the end of the week how much they’ve earned. If they fall short, they just do more the following week.

Next school year, they said they want to prepare their own bento boxes for school. Let’s see. ❤️

Speaking of Covid protection, I’m still trying to book my schedule for the booster shot but no such luck yet. I also applied with my barangay for assistance. K told me his sister, who is a nurse in California, got the omicron variant and she said it’s highly transmissible vs delta. Even if she followed the protocols to the letter, she still got it and omicron is really a nasty one.

So until then, I am double masking and wearing my glasses instead of just contacts to protect my eyes from any bodily fluid that may accidentally hit my eyes (just in case some Neanderthal talks or coughs without a mask. To make sure I won’t be down again with Covid.

The girls said they rarely went out of their grandpa’s house when they were in their dad’s hometown because people outside were not wearing masks! It’s as if they feel the pandemic is just a hoax or an elaborate conspiracy. 🤦🏻‍♀️

A SORT OF REVIEW | PATIS TITO GARDEN CAFE

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(This is not a sponsored review)

The twins and I spent our Christmas week in Los Banos and the weekend before the New Year, Mel and I decided to try Patis Tito Garden Cafe in San Pablo City. Driving there is a cinch, about 30 minutes away from our place in UPLB via the Maahas-dating-sabungan road (in my 34-year existence, I still could not get the name of that road near IRRI).

This is the much-hyped restaurant of Patis Tesoro, formerly known as Kusina Salud, the fusion Filipino cuisine resto. Hyped in the sense I’ve been reading so much about it in the past that it piqued my curiosity.

If you’re coming straight from Manila, the resto is faaaaaaaaaaaaaar. It’s along the road going to Villa Escudero and everybody knows that is already spitting-distance away from Tiaong, Quezon. From the highway in Brgy. Sta. Cruz, you turn left at a corner near a gas station and a narrow road would lead you there. Just follow the signs.

Open-air dining area of Patis Tito Garden Cafe (Photo by Likha Cuevas-Miel)

Lovers of old Filipiniana would like the place. There’s an exhibit of some antiques, handicrafts and Patis’ creations–and I made sure the twins would not venture there unless I like hurting myself and am willing to pay several thousands of pesos for the damage caused by the Demolition Twins. The weather was cool and breezy, making our late lunch pleasant and laid back.

Simple table setting

Table setting is unpretentious and uncomplicated. Menu is simple enough, no tongue-twisters there. Don’t forget to order the Enseladang Pako (Fern Salad)! It’s made of fresh edible ferns, itlog na maalat, cheddar cheese, kesong puti, newly ripened tomatoes, lots of onions, nuts, vinaigrette and probably other ingredients that escaped my tongue. Too bad it’s for sharing. I would have loved to keep the entire serving to myself.

Enseladang Pako (Fern Salad)

We ordered Chicken Inasal for the kids, Bistek Tagalog (Isabella, one of the Demolition Twins, liked the sauce drizzled over her rice),  Garlic Rice, and lots of Ripe Mango Juice that the twins swiped from under their father and Nanay Gie’s noses. Bill is around P2,000 for 3 grown-ups and two pre-schoolers. The food is OK, pleasing to the palate but not as stupendous as I thought it would be. The way some people or newspaper(s) had been praising the place caused me to place my expectations that high. But the fern salad was exceptional.

There was some kind of aviary in the cafe’s garden and Isabella and Adriana were entertained by the squawking birds and I wonder if the birds weren’t traumatized by the kids’ louder squawking. The garden was wide enough for the twins to run around, slip and fall.

Overall, it was a nice lunch but if you’re coming straight from Manila, it would probably be not worth it. If you’re city-bred, you would be enthralled by the ambiance (the house adjacent to the dining area is cool) but for a promdi (who grew up at the foot of Mt. Makiling), it’s nothing special. Visit Patis Tito if you’re already in Laguna or in nearby Quezon towns of Tiaong, Candelaria or Dolores. Try to call for reservations; I got the feeling that you have to given the limited seating they have there.

Patis Tito Café is at 285 Barangay Sta. Cruz Putol, San Pablo, Laguna. Call 7244231 and 0906-4439092