the world from behind her camera
Archive for December, 2007
mask
Dec 15th
Last night, my husband and I ventured the cold temperature to go to the city for this years Christmas Market. Unfortunately we were left disappointed as our night started out with a very bad dinner in a Mediterranean grill restaurant with a turtle pacing service. For our starter we had to wait 45 minutes and when it finally came, I almost wept because it was pure garbage (I’m sorry, but this is a rant entry, have I warned you already?)
It says in the menu that for Euro11,00 (E1 =$1,66 as of this writing) you’ll get big gambas (shrimps) grilled in olive oil and special sauce. After 45 minutes it finally arrived , and on my dish, I got around 6 tiny pieces (different sizes) of shrimps in tomato sauce and a dab of olive oil. And I’ve also tasted soap in the sauce. Not a tiny squeek from me and my husband. Then another 45 minutes passed by, finally my mix-meat-grill in a skewer arrived and lo and behold, everything was raw! the tiny beef piece was bad smelling and bloody, a piece of pork was bloody (about 2 pieces of each) and loads of red onion pieces in between. This was for Euro 21,00.
My husband and I paid Euro50,00 for a horrible dinner ..already from this amount, my skewer was deducted when the waitress saw I hardly touched it, fortunately she was ashamed of what has happened and offered to deduct the price…hah! if that happened in the US I think she’d lose her head from the client’s bite! But since my husband is the calm type, never will complain…simply paid the waitress and even wished her a pleasant evening.
So can you imagine how expensive to have a lousy dinner in this part of the world.
the restaurant was masked from the outside..it has a lovely window that entices people walking pass it…but inside…
oh by the way, the market was empty 
Christmas Tree Blog parade
Dec 13th
This is a Christmas Tree Blog parade initiated by my friend Bluepanjeet. All my blogs were tagged and this is the second time I am posting this. I only wish that putting up a Christmas tree in this country beginning of December was normal, helaas! it isn’t. Though we will enjoy this tree but for few weeks, still I hurriedly put it up .
Though I agree with the saying that Christmas isn’t about decoration and physical stuff, still… living in a foreign land that isn’t (really) celebrating the 25th of December, I just have to have a Christmas tree. Between 1991 up to present, I have only celebrated Christmas in the Philippines twice. .. so yes, I do miss our native celebration.
This tree (not a real one) was first decorated with silver and gold ornaments when we first bought it back in 1999. The silver balls slowly were replaced with red ones which I prefer because it gives more life to the tree. I still have a lot to learn decorating a tree, maybe next year it’ll be better.
So how about your Christmas tree? care to share it with us?
Here are the rules:
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This is a first annual 2007 Christmas Tree Blog Parade Meme created and conceptualized by OTWOMD of Bluepanjeet.Net The purpose of this meme is to enliven the Christmas spirit by showing to the world our very own Christmas trees. They say that it is on the Christmas tree that best describes how a person celebrates Christmas. So here are the rules:
- Copy the Logo of this meme (Download it on the sidebar and resize it that will best fit your blog or according to your desire) and post it on your entry.
- Take a photo of your Christmas tree inside your house. A whole shot is the most appropriate photo. And post it on your entry
- Tell something about your Christmas tree like who decorated it, what are the ornaments and accessories, or what is the theme and meaning of your Christmas tree this year.
- You can put any title on your meme but don’t forget to include this “2007 1st Christmas Tree Blog Parade”.
- Do the link train history. Put the link of your previous bloggers who tagged you and your own link, Example: Tag History: Bluepanjeet – “you” -
The link train will provide clue on “who tagged who” and at the same time a reference of data for the creator of this meme.
On The feast of Three Kings on January (The official ending of the Christmas Season), Bluepanjeet.Net will launch a mini site that will feature all of the participant’s Christmas trees for 2007 with a link back to their site. That is why it is very vital that you maintain the link history so that your Christmas tree will be included in the Christmas tree blog parade of 2007 and will be a part of history.
My Christmas Tag History: Bluepanjeet - Thess – Thesserie (Put your link here) -
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I wish to tag the following: GIRLIE, KC, MARIE, RHADA , AND RACH .. if you have already blogged about your trees, simply re post it for this blog parade and choose people you want to tag. Thank you!
Wordless Wednesday
Dec 12th
I have never seen anything like this before so when I saw it on the television (during ‘Dirty Jobs’ @ Discovery Channel) I quickly grabbed my camera and took some shots.
Later on, the program’s host tasted and ate some of this.
Probably some of you know what this is and also have tasted it? care to share with me how it taste because I am really curious. ` sorry, not so wordless there.
Wordless Wednesday…check it out and all participants here
maybe it's time to let go…
Dec 11th
Tomorrow I will be bringing our almost 8 years old ferret to the vet. Every night we hear him ‘ crying’ in his sleep, like he is in pain. My husband and I have already discussed about letting the vet put him to sleep as our main concern is that we don’t want him suffering from any pain , if there is any. It’s rather difficult to know what to do at this stage. Two years ago we had to take a painful decision of letting Danielle be put to sleep (a female ferret) because of cancer. I, and I know my husband too, do not want to go through that pain again. We love our pets.
Jacob is still eating, drinking, but acting confuse most of the time, no longer using the toilet properly, has weak hind legs and one eye is blind, due to cataract.
Just thinking about what would happen to Jacob makes me want to cry.
One Little Candle | Weekend Snapshot #9
Dec 10th
I was having dinner with some friends and I got focused on this candle standing in the middle of our dining table. Though this was taken during a weekday, the thought came to me just last night. I don’t need to explain much, but I have found the video that is appropriate for this. It was taught to us back in the middle school for a Christmas Cantata which we won. I would like to share it with you.
Just One Little Candle
It is better to light just one little candle,
Than to stumble in the dark!
Better far that you light just one little candle,
All you need’s a tiny spark!
If we’d all say a prayer that the world would be free,
The wonderful dawn of a new day we’ll see!
And, if everyone lit just one little candle,
What a bright world this would be!
Let’s all light one little candle,
Why stumble on in the dark?
When the day is dark an’ dreary,
And your way is hard to find,
Don’t let your heart be weary,
Just keep this thought in mind!
It is better to light just one little candle,
Than to stumble in the dark!
Better far that you light just one little candle,
All you need’s a tiny spark!
If we’d all say a prayer that the world would be free,
The wonderful dawn of a new day we’ll see!
And, if everyone lit just one little candle,
What a bright world this would be!
What a bright world
this would be!
Music by George Mysels
with Lyrics by Joseph Maloy Roach, Published 1952
and with Perry Como singing it (1955)
just click the button and join in the fun!
PS, my other WS entry is HERE..thanks!
Why winter isn't that nice
Dec 10th
Sure I love winter especially when it snows. I love that everything turns white when covered with it. I even would wish for a white Christmas, each year. I think snow during Christmas makes it a bit ‘magical’ and people are actually cheerful inspite of the biting cold. But there’s one thing that I don’t like about winter and low temperature.
It’s easy to fall sick. and I was, still is as of this writing . But it’s Monday and back to work so any sick feeling should be set aside and hope to get by the rest of the week.
I hope you guys are all doing ok.
This wont stop me!
Dec 8th
I’m talking about this flu, running nose, heavy head and nasty cough. All these I am experiencing right now but I wont let these stop me from finally putting up our CHRISTMAS TREE! Today. yes, t o d a y!
I find it a bit too late to put up a tree, because back in the Philippines, I was so used to seeing them beginning of November in our home. I always get excited when the tree was up, because in a child’s mind that would mean presents in a few weeks time.
But now I am older and living in The Netherlands, it has somehow ‘dampen’ the Christmas festivities. The dutch, most of them do not put up a tree and even do not celebrate the 25th of December but rather their Sinterklaas which is 5th of December. Though Christmas isn’t just about the decors and stuff, still it could help me, being alone in this country away from my Filipino family, feel ‘home’.
But a true blooded Filipina that I am, I am having that tree, by hook or by crook, sick or not today…by the evening, it should be lighting our living room.
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What or Who is Sinterklaas?
The Feast of Sinterklaas, or St. Nicholas, is an annual event which has been uniquely Dutch and Flemish for centuries. St. Nicholas’ Feast Day, December 6th, is observed in most Roman Catholic countries primarily as a feast for small children. But it is only in the Low Countries – especially in the Netherlands – that the eve of his feast day (December 5th) is celebrated nationwide by young and old, christian and non-christian, and without any religious overtones.
Although Sinterklaas is always portrayed in the vestments of the bishop he once was, his status as a canonized saint has had little to do with the way the Dutch think of him. Rather, he is a kind of benevolent old man, whose feast day is observed by exchanging gifts and making good-natured fun of each other. It so happens that the legend of St. Nicholas is based on historical fact. He did actually exist. He lived from 271 A.D. to December 6th, 342 or 343. His 4th century tomb in the town of Myra, near the city of Anatolia in present-day Turkey, has even been dug up by archaeologists.
This is his story:
Born of a wealthy family, Nicholas was brought up as a devout Christian. When his parents died of an epidemic, he distributed his wealth among the poor and became a priest.
Later he became Archbishop of Myra, and it is from here that the fame of his good deeds began to spread across the Mediterranean. Desperate sailors who called upon the Good Bishop to calm stormy seas were heard; prison walls crumbled when victims of persecution prayed to him. He saved young children from the butcher’s knife and dropped dowries into the shoes of penniless maidens. Over time, St. Nicholas became the patron saint of sailors and merchants, and especially of children. After his death, the cult of St. Nicholas spread rapidly via southern Italy throughout the rest of the Mediterranean and eventually to coastal towns along the Atlantic and the North Sea. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Holland built no fewer than 23 churches dedicated to St. Nicholas, many of which are still standing. Amsterdam adopted St. Nicholas as its patron saint, and Rome decreed that December 6th, the anniversary of his death, should be his official Feast Day.
St. Nicholas’ strong influence in the Low Countries – an area heavily engaged in trade and navigation – was primarily due to his role as patron of sailors and merchants.
However, his fame as protector of children soon took precedence.
In the 14th century, choir boys of St. Nicholas churches were given some money and the day off on December 6th.
Somewhat later, the pupils of convent schools would be rewarded or punished by a monk dressed up as the Good Bishop, with his long white beard, his red mantle and mitre (bishop’s hat) and his golden crosier (bishop’s staff) – just as he is still presented today.
Bags, bags, and more bags!
Dec 8th
If not shoes, then bags are women’s obsession. Pardon me for calling it so, but that’s how it is, right my dear ladies? And what would happen if these ladies sit in one room or one shopping online community? Ha ha ha! Can you imagine thousands of them talking and chatting about their favorite purchases, particularly handbags?
Stylehive is a website where fashionistas are hanging out these days. Fashionistas who love their handbags, thus making them the expert when it comes to the most hip and latest trend. Well just to inform you, Stylehive is the world’s largest social shopping community so ifyou like to learn more about what is hip and where to find it at a good price, sign up at this website.
I was surprised at the resource when I searched for handbag tag. It has brought me to a page where all top designer handbags are found and are offered for wonderful slashed prices. I almost wept, ha ha ha! Do hive, come to Stylehive.
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