Tropical fruits from Pinas

Yup, these are authentic Filipino fruits, with all their authentic sweetness too. Imported here in Japan. And since they travel from island to island, prices naturally go up. What else is new with that in Tokyo eh? But I don't mind the price. (ows? really?) Philippine fruits have superior taste over other countries'. Take the case of the banana, ours is definitely more oishii than those coming from Taiwan. Also, I think Philippines is the only source of sweet pineapple that are sold here.

We have brands like Dole, Del Monte (not in the photo though), Uni Frutti, and some (ironically) not known in Pinas like the Heart of the Philippines (is this a brand name or a slogan?) and Edano (also not in photo).

So, here in Tokyo, Firippin, as Japanese call it, is not only known for japayukis and english teachers, but also of sweet tropical fruits. ;)

Goin' nuts with HD mac nut

Yep, the title says it all!

I've been crazy over this specially made ice cream for some time now. Soooo yummy!!! It's simply irresistible! Everytime I go to the grocery store, I'd sneak in the ice cream section, and try to scramble at the ice cream line trying to look for the macadamia nut flavor. Normally, this particular flavor is placed at the back line as if trying to hide from me. If I find one, I (silently) scream in delight.

Guess what Haagen Dazs has to say aboout this flavorful ice cream of theirs:

Macadamia nuts are one of the richest, most flavorful nuts in the world. Häagen-Dazs selects a sweet buttery brittle made with these precious, tropical nuts and combines it with the purest vanilla ice cream.

The first time I've tasted it, I knew that I would go for more. I was craving for it even at wintertime. Now that it's excruciatingly hot here in Japan, I crave for more. The thing is -- not only the taste is heavenly, but the price is, too! I'm on a tight budget so I can only afford to have it, say, twice or thrice a week? Hmm, not bad. ;)

Have pity on the child

Luke and I were strolling inside Ario one nothing-to-do-but-while-away-time afternoon. All things seemed to be in their usual course, except that I noticed a small domestic event while we were passing thru a jewelry shop.

A group of mothers were having their luxurious chit-chat time in one corner while their kids were having their own time too. Then, one mother suddenly grabbed her son shunning him away from the baby cart's Poohbear toy design he was trying to eat. This may seem normal -- I mean refraining your child to have a bite of something obviously not to be eaten. But what I couldn't really accept is the fact that the mother spanked her 3-year-old son and shouted at him furiously as she gave lectures on what not to eat (or something). The red-cheeked boy screamed loud enough to catch the attention of many.

Obviously, the boy did that thing simply out of curiousity. Yeah, it was really a wrong act to try to eat the toy, which is I think made of a hard plastic material. But this doesn't mean -- at least in my own opinion and thinking -- that the mother needed to do an award-winning act of punishing her child. The child doesn't deserve such painful reprimand. For me, it was partly the mother's fault of not fully attending to her child's activities and just enjoying her time chatting with her mother-friends.

I couldn't help but stare at the crying boy and have an unending pity on him. I still picture him in my mind even as I write this piece. My son, who is much younger than him, is like a rat trying to taste everything that he sees or grabs. And yeah, I sometimes get pissed off because of this let-me-have-a-taste-of-this attitude of young children. BUT I don't hurt him -- especially physically. I just can't.

I am not a perfect mother, and I get angry at my son too. But I couldn't do such thing for that such petty reason. I know that mothers, or parents in general, have their own way of disciplining their children. For others, what the mother did may seem right. But for me, it is the exact opposite.

I pity the child, and feel sorry for the mother. :/

Just wanna show you...

So, this is my li'l darling happily sitting in his cabinet while striking a pose for the camera. The mess is not seen in this picture, coz I have already cleaned it up before pressing the shutter. ;)

If you want to know more about my toddler, visit his blogsite. ;)

Thoughts of the future

Have you ever wondered how would you be like, say, 20 or 30 years from now? Apart from, of course, trying to achieve (if not yet) your goal in life.

Recently, my mind is going hizzy-dizzy about the incontestable fact that time flies sooooooooo fast, and that I'm not getting any younger. And so do you, I bet!

Whenever we talk of the future, we always talk about dreams or goals in life. Let's do away with that for a moment. Modesty aside, I have so far achieved whatever I wanted to have in life. Despite life's hardships and limited opportunities to gain material wealth, I somehow managed to feel satisfied with that I have right now. Of course, I could have wanted more, why not? But the good side of me tells me that what I have right now is just enough. Hence, my description of being "satisfied at life's abundances." While the term abundance is somewhat relative, I have always believed that whatever comes along the way, it is part of that so-called abundance in life.

Did I just say let's not talk about these things, at least for now? Anyway, so much so for those wallows of abstractions. Let's face reality, and go back to what I am trying to say here.

I am in my early 30s now and my son is still very young. By the time he gets into college, hubby and I are almost retirables. Should he pursue a medical career (which I have proudly envisioned for him to be), that would mean many more years before he could be officially called a doctor and start his bustling career. And what if he doesn't marry right away? If ever he does, by the time we'll have our first grandchild, we would be old (and hopefully not sickly) enough to take care of his little fellow. And who knows, I may not be able to make it that far. This is not being pessimistic and all that, but let's face it that it is a possibility.

This is, of course, fast-forwarding time. And as my mind goes back to the present time, I then ask myself, "What am I thinking? My son is not even able to confidently
walk by himself." I laughed at myself after a while. What an insane thought!

After this, I resolved not to think of those things anymore but try to fully enjoy the present time. Yeah, I guess that's the right attitude. My son won't be a baby forever, so I (must) treasure every moment with him while he is still as cute, lovable and huggable tiny fellow as he is now. ;) And worry not about the future, for the future can take care of itself.

Whew! Here goes another episode of my, ahh... thinking beyond? :D

Losing interest in blogging?

I've been asking myself for many times why I haven't blogged for quite some time now. I still don't have definite answers as of now.

Things are piling up in my mind -- things that I wanna share with you all. But sometimes, time escapes me and could not find a good time to sit and blog. Or this is just an excuse? Probably.

I have realised that blogging is not merely writing or wanting to write about something you like to write about. It goes with it a responsibility for the readers to somehow pour out good feelings or exude positive outlook in life, especially those that are close to the blogger. With this note, I tried to be very careful (and selective) in making my posts, which, most of the time, leaves me almost nothing to write about.

I am not making any sense, anyway, so I'd better stop from here.