Seascape & Weather

One of those days that it's best to stay in the bedroom, relax and sleep again after breakfast. Why not? LOL. However, I already slept for 7 hours after watching the last movie and the 11 pm news on TV. My daughter and I had the usual, regular breakfast and my husband would rather like the panfried ham, shredded potatoes and sunshine eggs. He is the typical Canadian man who loves big breakfast.

Once again the island was walloped by storm after storm. It's not the kind of typhoon in the Philippines nor the hurricane in other countries. The wind blows of course as if it's Typhoon number 3. No devastation sort of falling debris from houses nor rooftops being carried by the wind. Houses here are built stronger than most.

 The waves at the beach are much higher and furious.

The mighty winds blurred a beautiful vision of the Discovery Passage. Who would like to surf through those wavy waves?

The seagulls and other creatures stopped their flights as I saw them resting on the ground waiting for the unruly weather to stop, but when? The force of nature started on Boxing Day and continued since yesterday. This morning, everything's calm although the ground is very wet and soggy, maybe muddy. Some form of drizzles and hasty hazy atmosphere will stay for the long duration of the day. At least nobody get hurt during the storm and nothing has been destroyed. Everything's fine and that we must be grateful. Thanks be to God in the Highest.

Boxing Day!

Happy or sad, whatever it is sad maybe for those whose gifts didn't match their "taste." Sad that they have to return or exchange their gift that doesn't fit them when it comes to clothes: dress, tops, pants and shoes. Or electronics and appliances that doesn't work or function properly.

The good thing about Boxing Day is that there are discounted items in electronics, appliances and of course most especially in TV, computers, cellphones, laptops, tablets and digital cameras. However, there are items or consumer products that are not on sale nor it has discounted price even if those clothes are on the rack for the past 5 months. Wow! I'm waiting for such items to go low on its regular price but sad to say,  they wont lower it to affordable price. LOL. It's okay, I'll have to wait. Patience is such a virtue.

I think my sons and daughter loved what they received for Christmas. My husband gifted me with shopping money and that made me happy too. I was able to keep the shopping for several days until it was time to spend it on gifts.

We had unwrapped gifts before Christmas and we used them even before Christmas. That brand new turbo/microwave/oven/toaster is very functional and the new turboflex vacuum for carpet and upholstery is quite helpful and powerful. Thanks husband for those household appliances, very convenient for my kind of housework.

 Boxing day is almost over.

Everybody's happy and that's most important. All boxes are unwrapped. Nothing to open anymore.

Tomorrow is another day. Ciao and have fun with your own family.

Always Checking On YOU!

As usual, have to close FB account for now. Bakit? It's getting EVIL. Pati telephone for LDC ipasara ko na EVIL 2. Kung gusto nyong magdagdag ng area code dahil nag adopt kayo ng mga _______! FO!

I might concentrate on Google. Why not? It's not Evil yet. Have you seen the last episode of EVIL? How about NOVOLAND: Eagle Flag? Please add English subtitles at OMNI. Darn those Chinese!!!

I tried not to follow news based on fake and hoard news. I always tried but sometimes curiosity gets in the way. You know... he he he. No, I wont watch CATS. I might watch AD STRATA next. I was able to watch JOHN WICK 3. OMG! What the hell! Hell on earth!

It's the Year 2020 next year. I mean few days from now. 2020 parang BOBO. I hope it's not a bobo year. I don't like a great year parang cheesy eh. You should stop using "great." use a different, incredible vocabulary and stop using those old, moldy, cheesy names. Enough of AC/DC. Luma na yang strategy na yan for games. Luma na laos na.

OMG! There's a genius in Phils. named C-----. Ay hindi pala genius yun. wala nga sa kalingkinan ni Sheldon Cooper.

Bobo ba ang mga austistics? The answer is NO. Actually heto ang listahan ng mga AUTISTICS:
Nangunguna na si EINSTEIN, si Isaac Newton, halos lahat ng mga scientists, astronauts, archeologists, dentists, mathematicians, environmentalists, merong teachers, doctors and software engineers. Si George Bush autistic yan pati na si Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. Hindi sila bobo. Merong bobo dyan yung mga politicians na corrupt. Using taxpayers money for their fraudulent activities. Nagpapayaman hindi naman kanila yung perang ginagastos nila. Yung mga bakasyonista na politicians sinisibak yan dito sa Canada lalo na yung budget nila exceeds the limit dahil sa overspending. Meron ba nyan sa Philippines na panay ang gamit ng pondo ng gobyerno just to keep them wealthy? Marami di ba? Some politicians (not all. some nga eh) They are not smart nor intelligent they are just very greedy and without remorse, no conscience whatsoever. In all their spending there is that group of honest people whose doing their check and balance. Merong taga check sa government, merong mga secret insiders doing the checking. Akala yo makakaligtas kayo sa mga kabulastugan nyo? Yun na mismo, maraming autistics na they really keep on checking and doing their job by the book. Ultimo period and comma ng numbers, in between numbers and what's the balance and what have you done as a civil servant will be scrutinized. Ganyan din sa US. They have to check almost everything from minute details to microscopic details of almost everything they have to check. Hahalungkatin nya, nila lahat. Ganyan ang mga autistics. Lagot ka. LOL. Ha ha ha mga reporters at paparazzi ganyan sila ka-autistics. 24/7. Grabe!

Truth is, there are "spectrums" of autistics. Some have mild to severe autism. Everyone is definitely different from one another. *

Where That Perfect Home? Is There Any?

Always that nagging impolite question of why I never go on vacation. Why my family never go to another country and have a grand vacation? As if...

In all honesty, how many times did we move from one house to another in different locations? So many times! It's more like a very, grand vacation and it is very costly! Moving from different houses with all the personal belongings, furniture and appliances to bring in with us to the new home, the heavy lifting and carrying of those stuff that can put a strain on financial capabilities because if it happened every year or every two years changing new addresses, changing new cables, internet connections, hydro account and connections, the gas and mileages, the changing of vehicles, the many changes of relocating its more than expensive than having vacation in another country. If I have to calculate of all the expenditures of such relocating homes... we could probably own a house by now instead of just having a lease. But you know, maybe next time the scenery or view would be different and wont be the same. I don't know where is the perfect home.

Rental homes or renting a house in Canada is not cheap. Homeowners are paying low mortgages on their homes but renters or tenants pay higher rents. It is what it is.

We did had a vacation sometime in year 1994, 1996, 2005 out of Canada to another country. That time, airplane tickets were very expensive. One passenger ticket cost about $1,800 to $2,250 x 5. This time is much cheaper and we can't afford to go on vacation? Then we went on vacation sometime in year 2017, somewhere in Alberta. We rented two hotel suites for $260/night no continental breakfast nor brunch. Spent $3,000 for such vacation for 4 days. While at one of those motels with swimming pool, $130/night  with free breakfast. Am I satisfied at the service of those hotels? NO. My daughter would rather not go on vacation. She loves her bedroom at our home more than ever. Maybe I'm autistic too that I love my own bedroom and my own bathroom. I love using my own towels and face towels. I want to use my own bedsheet, pillows and pillowcases and plushy, soft, comforters. As a matter of fact, I brought my own towels and huggable comforter for the long duration of our stay in that hotel. Fact of the matter is...that's the reason why I don't like going on vacation and using other people's toilets. maarte? Look no further, I am autistic! Now you know. You wont understand us. You wont understand me. Love me or hate me. Better hate me. Who cares right?

If you want to go on vacation that's fine. Rest assured that I wont be paying for your expenses and lavish lifestyles. Go where your legs and feet could wander. Go where your money can afford. You don't have to ask somebody when and where just because you can go cruising around the world and flaunt how rich you are and how unhappy you are. It shows when you are unhappy. No matter how many places and countries you go, went  and see. It shows on your face! In your face!! I'm good in psychology so don't try to bluff. You could be my patient right now. LOL.

Truth is there is no perfect home, nor there is no perfect house! There's no perfect place and no perfect vacation place. Get over with it. Just be happy and be contented with who you are and what you can contribute as a human being. Be humble. Play with your rats again, desiderata.

Think Positive!

It's more of a clear day today. Finally the storm is over! The island is now frequently been visited by storms every now and then coupled with heavy, strong winds. The ground is so soggy and wet, don't want walking on it. Tomorrow is officially WINTER season as its best and hope it wont snow. Yeah, let us all pray that it wont snow. Hey snowflakes wait until January 2020, okay?

Shoot another photograph of the lovely bougainvillea flowers. I never thought the floral will bloom at this time of the year despite of the indoor temperature.

Forget about bad news and look at the brighter side. Change channels of your TV when you see bad news. We all should concentrate on positive outlook in life. Be optimistic... maybe it would help.

What Ails You?

When I thought that everything seems so perfect and then suddenly my hubby is feeling kind of  sad because of toothaches. During the holidays, that's one thing or situation that you don't want to happen. It will spoil almost everything. No amount of good, delicious, flavourful feast of food is tantamount to dental problems. That's a pain hard to resist. It's monumental kind of pain and hurt.

You wont believe how much is the cost of dental works: tooth cleaning, tooth extraction, fillings or tooth removal in Canada. Staggering cost that your monthly wages gone in an instant.

Tooth removal is very, very costly! Without dental insurance, a basic, regular tooth removal has price range of $75 to $300 for non-surgical. $150 to $650 surgical for extraction utilizing anesthesia. ONLY FOR ONE TOOTH.

Impossible right? I think the cost of tooth removal is only P250 (pesos) in Philippines before year 2000. Or maybe 400 to 500 pesos only for one tooth removal this year of 2019. What could be the true, real price now? There are millions of dentists in Philippines. The competition for labor/service is staggering high so the demand is high, the price is low. Meaning? Not too many Canadians visit their dentists and their service is not in demand. Not really in demand or Canadians cannot afford the price of dental care.

Mostly seniors are the ones who should benefit for dental service and that's the reason why the NDP Leader had it in his plans. However, he didn't win as Prime Minister so the dental problems would be just as bad as medical care. Uhm, you wished there are Filipino-Canadian representatives in the Parliament and would bring some dentists from Philippines to practice their profession here. Why not? In the olden days when doctors and nurses are sent to do their public works in Asian countries as part of their "rural practice or training." This medical and dental training was once part of the duty of the International Red Cross and Philippine Red Cross.

Christmas Tree 2019

 It's that time of the year once again when the festive mood sets in for decorating Christmas tree and adorn it with special colorful ornaments, something simple, something traditional.

I'm finished with gift-wrapping and hope that the receivers of those gifts would be grateful enough.
My husband is very generous. I am very generous too in a very special way.

For the past 11 years of blogging, and every month of December blogger like me used to post photos of the happenings, events and memorable moments of such very awesome, amazing, wonderful celebration of the Holidays... yearly. Just click the archive per year and you'll find out.

Every December, some of us posted our Christmas trees on its new appearance and what color motif is used and displayed. For few of us, some memories are codified. I don't know why. It's somewhat a long, traditional blogging habit and attitude that resonates with the gift of giving. Secrets > only most code writers are fascinated at.

For sometime I was thinking that it is much better to just post pictures and let those readers ask themselves the true meaning of such things. Let them think harder.

Or they can ask their Google bot.

 Time to relax and watch the MATRIX.

 In between commercials... NEWS is the next best thing.

lol.

Something Old. Something New.

When it feels like your life is a movie...
You breathe to know you're alive.

Time to get out.

I've been away so much from my computer, not that I want to but because I have to finish shopping before the snowstorm. You'll never know if there will be a snowstorm but it's better to be prepared during Winter.

During the holiday shopping spree as if, have you noticed that people who never get out of their comfort zone managed to get out and be seen? So glad that there are people in my town. Whew! I first thought it's already a ghost town here at the island. lol.

I have so many stories, mostly funny anecdotes to tell you but that can wait.

My husband and I bought first thing first of course. The Black & Decker toaster/oven we had bought last year stop functioning so we bought a new one. This time, we bought Oster convection/oven toaster and it's a bit pricey than the previous one we had. It's convection. I could have waited for Boxing day and wait for Walmart to lower the price but my husband was in a hurry to get over with shopping.

I could only hope this brand new Oster oven/toaster will last a lifetime...maybe! Fingers crossed.

Commercialism Is Also The Spirit of Economics

We are in B.C. as in British Columbia in Anno Domini, A.D. What happened Before Christ and After Death, Reborn and the Resurrection are always been repeated during the Calendar years.

It's the 14th day of December 2019. Saturday. Eleven days before Christmas.

I'm not in the shopping mode yet, however I have the list of what I have to buy for my children. Of all children, my own children never really ask for anything. Unlike me when I was their age when I have a list of what my parents should give me but cannot afford. lol. Actually, gift giving is not a part of our Christmas celebration in Philippines. My family was happy just to have a hearty abundance of delicious food to have on the table for midnight noche buena after coming home from the church's mass. A get-together disco-dancing sort of with the loud music from our stereo and discotheque with strobelights flashing neonlights at the front yard of our house was the norm. Then our neighbors joined in to have some fun with us. The next day, breakfast is at lunch time. Almost like brunch. If we have time, my siblings and I have to visit our ninongs and ninangs (godparents) for blessings, to show them we're still  alive. My ninong is a banker, a very famous man in his neighborhood that a long line (queue) up of kids from the road to his house gather almost stretching 150 ft. in measurement, well that was at the time when I arrived. It could be a queue of 500 yards long.
Many kids already left since then. lol.  I seldom visit him because of that. I think had that vertigo spells when standing up for a longer period of time is not good for me especially under the heat of the sun. My ninang is a nurse and she moved to the U.S. when I was 12 years old and never heard of her since then. I hope her well and hope that my Godfather is also still alive and kicking.

My children's godparents are too far away to even been bothered. We showered them with lots of gifts. I know for sure they also missed their grandparents and aunts and uncles. Gift giving is not necessary but it's the choice here in Canada. It's not Christmas without exchange of gifts and that's the spirit of giving and receiving, of being generous and it comes with a price.

It's the price tag, baby! Too commercialized gift-giving. Commercialism as its best!

I Say JUMP!

Jump! Oh, oh, jump)))))
I like that famous, popular song of Van Halen.
Almost everyone knew Van Halen. Everybody knows how to jump and everybody knows Van.

For those who cannot jump, doesn't mean you are White.
White men can jump too.

Then whoever are fanatic of Van Helsing...
That's another story.

Is Van Helsing's cathedral about to close for the Holidays
and dispatching so many of their staff out before it shuts down?

Whatever VAN you have as your motor runs...

VANCOUVER CANUCKS made it against the hurricanes.

What a miracle!
K got to go.
Let IT go.

What's for lunch? Goto or Mami?
Or chicken pot pie?
Zzz Zzz
Darn, the alphabet soup is gone.

You are right, better to watch Keanu Reeves instead
Better watch JOHN WICK.

So ciao for now and don't let Jason in to your nightmares.

HOME

It was really good to have a house that we can all come home to and feel welcome all the time. HOME is where the love is. A house is not a home without a family so that's something to be very thankful especially in times like these as Holidays are fast approaching like a hurricane.

Would you believe that the powerful storm just missed us? I'm glad it's over. The storm here at the island had that powerful wind speed of at least 100 km/hour or more. However, most houses here are built enough for those cruel tests of Mother Nature.

Our neighbor knocked at our door last night to inform us about the tarp cover on our boat that the wind was about to take away, so my husband checked on it and tied more ropes around the boat. Thanks neighbor. It's really feels good when neighbors are supportive and caring. How about your neighbors?

LOL. Not funny though it reminds me of Mr. Rogers. (((O, would you be, would you be, my neighbor!)))

How about a refreshing brew of hot Van Houtte coffee for a change?

GOD is GOOD. GOD is Great!

Thanks be to GOD!!!!!

F for Food

What you've got cooking today? I cook our  meals everyday for the past 28 years. Uhm, maybe more than 28 years. No day off since then. Well, except if my husband took us to dine in at the finest restaurants or fast food centre, or unless if we are invited for parties and dinner out, or perhaps if he will cook for us.

It would be nice to get out and dine outside of the house and taste what other chefs or cooks are cooking. However, it is much cheaper to have lunch and dinner at home. Cheapskate! lol. Truth is you start calculating all the ingredients for a great meal, the hydro water, the electricity and the energy to do the work of cooking... it is much cheaper to dine in outside.

F for Food. Let's have some fish tonight.

 Pompano and coho salmons would be awesome for dinner tonight.

We had roast chicken with gravy last night.

 Also, we had this shrimp/sausage/ corn/peas/ shredded cabbage for dinner last night.

 Chicken/pork macaroni soup this noon at lunch

We had this spicy beef rotini pasta with hunts tomato sauce... and wont be repeated to cook in 4 weeks from now so...
the best option is to go fish.

E for Elephant

Nobody likes the elephant in the room because it has long nose for news!
Really? Are you kidding me?

Why nobody likes an intelligent, crowd pleaser  and crowd-drawer elephant? That could be a sign of insecurity. For the most part, elephants are the most amazing animal in the world.

 Elephants are mammals so they have that particular sense for caring their offsprings. The elephants are magnanimous, voluptous, the giants amongst mammals and they are brave, strong, beautiful, and talented.

There are humans who are actually being referred to as "elephants." They are the reporters, the news media people and the Republicans. Elephants are the symbol of the Republican Party. Elephants are the crowd drawers in most circus and festivals. These animals carry heavy loads that no man cannot hold and carry for the long duration of time. It is also the ancient transportation as it acts as the vehicle to carry passengers and logs through its trunk, most of all they are part of the amazing race.

Yes, they are the animals, the elephants the symbol of carrying heavy loads.

Can you carry heavy loads? can you carry the white man's burden?

E for Elephant. E for Excellence. E for Education.
E for V
V for E
E for 5
FIVE for FIGHTING

D for Double Trouble

At least it's 4C temperature today instead of minus 1C or minus 5C and it's not foggy. No fog this time around.

D is for double trouble. Don't you like hockey?

By the way who won the baseball championship? I don't even know who are playing baseball since when the Blue Jays were out of the game. When Blue Jays is no longer in the championship game, I don't watch baseball games  anymore. Who cares right? It's winter time.

Yesterday, all of a sudden there are migration of semipalmated plovers right there on the fence and on the neighbor's lilac shrubs. At first, thought they were starlings but the prominent mask on the birds' faces and heads are evident of plover species. They are smaller species of bird.

I tried to capture them through the lens of my digital camera but they were fast-moving birds, flying everywhere on the fence, on the hanging plants, and on the different branches of the trees. I haven't spotted the presence of the mighty eagle. I don't know where it lands or what trees it occupies.

Done. done. done. dalandan.

Brought To You By Letter C

 For a while, I was curious about the growth of our palm tree since I had it moved from the outside backyard to our dining room. I first thought it wont be able to survive the indoor temperature of 15C but somehow it is adapting at a very slow pace movement which is great.

The main palm tree is very slow in growing its palm leaves as I noticed.

The unopened spear-like leaf
takes forever to open which is quite unnerving. Imagine 3 months of waiting for such leaf with its spine(midrib) pointing upwards without anything happening, no movement whatsoever. I wonder. Then I sprinkled water from the top down and suddenly see some interesting action over for few hours and the spear leaf starts to open up.

It should open up because another shoot of unopened leaf (spear) has shoots itself up.

With 3 other younger palm trees around the main frame there could be war with space on their small container inside the wide-mouth ceramic pot.

It would be perfect if palm trees could adapt to cold climate but they are not. Imagine if there will be hundreds to thousands of palm trees surrounding the island? OMG! It would be like
paradise.

Whatever! Let's have Calendar of Events.

December 21, 2019 - Winter begins
December 22, 2019 - Hanukkah
December 24, 2019 - Christmas Eve
December 25, 2019 - Christmas Day
December 26, 2019 - Boxing Day
December 31, 2019 - New Year's Eve