Breath in.  Breath out.  Hmmm, so good to be back. :)  I had very limited internet access last week, having been away from home for a few nights to attend to some family business, and I mean that literally. 

For 4 days last week, from April 18-21, our family owned company (established by my mom!), Topmark Interiors and Novelties, participated in an international trade fair, the Manila F.A.M.E. International.  The Manila F.A.M.E. showcases a lot of the best and the finest Philippine-made products: home decors, housewares, holiday decors, furniture and fashion accessories. 

Joining international trade fairs is an absolute must if you’re in the field of exports.  It is the best venue to showcase one’s products and meet potential buyers…buyers who are willing to take a risk on your wares and sell them in their respective countries at 5x the price you’re selling them.  :)  In our case, we join at least 4 international trade fairs a year, 2 in Manila and 2 in Frankfurt, Germany.  Then we “moonlight” and explore the potential of  trade fairs in a few more countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, the U.S., etc.  This year, plans are underway for us to join a fair in Brazil and in Macao.  It is in these trade fairs where exporters come across buyers from not too big companies to the better known ones like Target, Pottery Barn, Z Gallerie, Neiman Marcus, Harrod’s, TJ (US)/TK (UK) Maxx, Pier 1 Imports, etc.  Unfortunately for us, the US market has always been a bit elusive, save for Z Gallerie, which we’ve been serving since 1995 and Pier 1 Imports, which we’ve had a chance to work with in 2000.

Trade fairs can actually be very stressful for both  my mom and me.  They are an indication of how the next months will be for our company, if our workers will have something to do and continue to be employed. :)  Somehow, I consider myself greatly responsible for how the trade fair will turn out for us, simply because I’m the one who design our stuff…at least most of it.  For this fair, the collections were 90% mine.  And I’m proud to announce that our employees will continue to have work for the greater part of the year…until another fair comes along.  Thank you, God! :) 

Our products, which are all made of metal, are 100% handmade, which makes them a little pricier.  That explains why the US, big as it is, is hard for us to capture.  US buyers want quality products at China prices.  Eeeewwww.  You think the Filipinos are the best people when it comes to the art of making “tawad”?  Well think again!  The US actually bargain for discounts over 50%!  So never mind them. :)  We’re very happy with our European friends anyway, they who understand and appreciate art. Heehee.  True enough, a lot of our pieces will make their way to Europe as early as the autumn/winter season and as late as next year’s spring/summer…that would be Spain, Switzerland, Greece and the UK.  Oh, you’ll also find some of our stuff in Israel soon!

Now, it’s again time for some serious product development as we have to come out with new exciting collections for our next trade fair.  ;)  Here are some pics from the fair…

The concept for the booth design is by Mr. Rachy Z. Cuna, my Mom’s

very good friend.  He also was responsible for the booth arrangement.

One could never go wrong with ballerinas.  These are

our bestsellers…both the svelte ones and the chubbies.

(The chubbies are not “mine”.)

These ladies will be packing up their bags for some European

action some time soon.

That would be enough photo sharing.  Some designer from China may be lurking around.

I’ve always considered myself to be a night owl and staying up until the wee hours of the morning has become second nature.  It is at night, when everyone is asleep, that I get quality quiet time to collect my thoughts,  post new entries for my site and WS,  surf the net, lurk in other people’s blog sites, play Bejeweled 2 in the dark or watch the re-airings of my fave tv shows in case I didn’t catch their regular prime time airings.  And for the past two months, I’ve kinda been pushing my late nights to the limit, brought about by the fact that there’s a 13-hour difference between my and hubby’s time and it’s during my nights and his mornings that I am able to chat with him without too many distractions.  All these make me a “not so morning person”. ;)  Wake-up time for me is between 8:00 and 8:30 in the morning, when most people are already in the office.  Thank God for my unconventional work hours! ;)  Anything earlier than that, to me, is unholy. 

Wednesday last week, I was awakened by the received-message-tone of my cellphone.  With my eyes still shut, I groped for my cell, which was lying on the nightstand.  I willed myself to open my eyes when I finally found my phone and was a bit annoyed when the time on the cover lcd displayed 7:30am.  I thought that the texter was very inconsiderate.  Grrr!  By the time I got to the end of the message, I was already almost fully awake.  It was my and hubby’s very dear friend sharing with me, the good news that he and his wife are finally expecting their first baby.  Good news indeed!  Suddenly, I didn’t mind having to wake up so early!  It’s always nice to wake up to good news and babies ARE good news, right?!

oOo

My second dose of really good news came yesterday evening when hubby told me that my Mom’s flight has finally been confirmed.  You see, I was able to convince my Mom to accompany Abby and me when we leave for the US early next month instead of hubby flying back home to travel with us.  Anyone who has travelled with a toddler knows the importance of having another set of hands for whatever kind of assistance!  The problem was, Abby’s and my tickets will be coming from the US and have already been confirmed and issued.  We held off buying my Mom’s ticket in our desire to find out if the fare will come out cheaper if we book the ticket here in Manila.  But with the looooong Easter weekend, what turned out to be a reasonably priced ticket from the US easily flew off our hands.  The ticket available is alread double the price we were willing to pay for!  My Mom was put on waitlist since Monday and I was already bracing myself for the possibility of travelling alone with Abby and our 4 suitcases.  Finally, my Mom’s waitlist status was cleared yesterday evening.  Yipee!  Now, if only I can convince her to stay with us longer….like forever?!  ;)

oOo

Like most of the previous nights, I slept at 2am again last night (this morning technically) and was expecting at least 6 hours of shut-eye.  But this morning, like last week, I was awakened before the appointed wake-up time by a text message.  Grrr.  I silently thought to myself, “Sino na naman ‘to?!”   It turned out to be hubby.  He informed me that our application for lease for our would be home away from home has been approved.  That deserves another yipeee, so, YIPEEEE!  In spite of the distance between hubby and me, I still managed to actively participate in searching for a prospective home.  He went to visit as many prospective homes (mostly apartments) as possible, took pictures and based on these and whatever info is available on the web, I gave my opinions and reservations.  It was the last possibility that we truly fell in love with and we’re more than glad that it is what we will have albeit temporarily. :D  Thank you, thank you, God!

oOo

My Mom always reminds me to count my blessings and I am truly greatful to God for the blessings he has been showering us, even moreso since the start of this year!  We will never be worthy of such great blessings and we are even more greatly humbled by the fact that God chooses to look over our mistakes and shortcomings and gave us a chance at embarking on new adventures.  The least we could do is try to be and actually BE a blessing to others.

Here’s to good news and abundant blessings for everyone! :D 

Abby is on a roll these days.  She just says the darnedest things!  I guess this is to be expected at her age.  It wasn’t very long ago when I posted some of my favorite Abby dialogues.  And here I am again to post some more of the most recent ones…

oOo

Abbyism #1

Yaya Amor took her day off on (Holy) Monday last week.  While I was busy with my “things”, one of our two househelps looked after Abby, Lilet, whom Abby calls Ate Lilet.  We also brought Lilet along when we left the house that day.  I interviewed Abby before lunch….

Mommy:  Who do you like, Abby?  Yaya Amor or Ate Lilet?

Abby:  Yaya Amor! 

How loyal!  That’s her without-batting-an-eyelash reply. Later that day I asked her again….

Mommy:  Who do you like, Abby?  Yaya Amor or Ate Lilet?

Abby:  Ate Lilet!

Tsk tsk!  Changed her mind already!  The next day while we were in the car on the way to the factory and Yaya Amor was already with us, Abby surprised us with what she told her yaya…

Abby:  Yaya, day off again, ok?  I like Ate Lilet!

Nyiii!  How blunt can one get?! :D  We laughed so hard in the car.

oOo

Abbyism #2

We went grocery shopping at Shopwise Libis last Wednesday.  While we were on our way to the cashier to pay for our stuff Abby looked me intently in the eyes and said…

Abby:  Mommy, buy fries (Potato Corner).

Mommy:  You want fries?  Ok.

Abby:  Buy fries.  Give (me) money.  Hundred, ok?

At nagbigay pa ng presyo!  The fries isn’t even worth Php 50.00! :D

oOo

Abbyism #3:

Abby, I’m proud to say, is (was?) a breastfed baby.  The major ”con” is that I’ve been turned into a pacifier.  Upto this day!  In the car or at home when she wants to sleep, she wants to “dede”.  The irritating part is that she insists on alternating between my two God-given assets after just a few seconds of making dede.  We had this exchange one evening while I was putting her to sleep….

Abby:  Mommy, other one, please.

Mommy:  Ok, wait.

Abby:  Mommy!  Other one!  (Getting impatient and grappling for the other one). 

Mommy:   Wait!  It’s my dede!  (Getting impatient as well!)

Abby:  I borrow only, ok?

She said that ever so sweetly while looking up at me.  I couldn’t help but laugh!
oOo

Abbyism #4

While Abby and her older cousin Sophie were playing with a beach ball in our hotel room in Nasugbu, Batangas last Black Saturday, I told them to give it a halt lest they break something in the room.  Abby picked up the remote for the aircon, put it next to her ear like a mobile phone and said…

Abby:  Hello?  Guard?  Get Fofie (Sophie)!  Play ball room!

Naku!  Tumawag pa ng guwardiya!   She did that again early this evening when Yaya Amor was stopping her from doing something.  She picked up the phone, pressed some numbers and tried to turn in her yaya to the guard! :D  I hope she doesn’t dial 911 when we get to the US! 

At the rate Abby is going, it won’t be long ’til I post another list of Abbyisms.

For as long as I can remember, we have always observed Holy Week traditions.  While many are at wit’s end on where to spend the very long weekend (usually 4 days, but 5 this year including Araw ng Kagitingan which falls on the Monday after Easter, 09 April), we’ve always treated Maundy Thursday and Good Friday as sacred days.  I can vividly remember my late Nanay (maternal grandmother), who would always scold us when we made the slightest bit of noise, specially on Good Friday.  She would always say, “Shhhh! Patay ang Diyos.“ :D  To her, you really can’t rejoice ’til Easter Sunday!

Visita Iglesia and Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Maundy Thursday)

I was about 8 or 9 years old when we started doing the Visita Iglesia.  We would leave our Sampaloc home at around 7pm and visit at least 7 churches.  We have never missed doing it since, except for that one time when we were in the US during holy week.  I always look forward to this practice and I am always left in awe of the Altars of Repose that each church has painstakingly prepared for the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.  Some have their altar in the garden while majority have it at a side altar inside the church.  This year, it was most noticeable that a lot of churches have incorporated the use of fountains in their altar.  Very lovely indeed and one can’t help but pray ever so fervently.

In the past couple of years, we’ve also made it a point to attend the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, where the “Washing of the Feet” is held.  Notwithstanding the heat in spite of the airconditiong in Christ the King Church at Greenmeadows, it was nice to see the church overflowing with people.  We were standing all throughout the entire mass and it was such a blessing that Abby didn’t demand to be carried all the time.  She was fascinated with the number of priests present at the mass (4), the presence of the “12 Apostles” and the “Washing of the Feet”.

The Pabasa

Our Holy Week would never be complete without the “Pabasa” or “Pasyon“.  This has been a tradition started by the family of my late Mama Nene, my late maternal lolo’s sister.  This has been going on for so long that my Mom can’t even recall when it started exactly.  All she knows is that they’ve been doing it since her early years.

The Pabasa, which is always hosted by my Mom’s first cousins, starts at exactly 12mn on Good Friday and ends at 3pm.  We open and close the Pabasa with the recitation of the Holy Rosary .  I was already a college graduate when I started to actively participate in this tradition, believe it or not! :)  This is the only time I’ll ever be caught singing non-stop for two straight hours, take a break, then sing for two hours again, in a tune that is alien to most people my age!  All for the love of God. ;)  It used to be that the Pabasa is held in Sampaloc where most of my Mom’s side of the family grew up.  But for the past 10 years or so, it’s held in Alabang.  So after our Visita Iglesia, we head off straight to the Pabasa.  We left Alabansg at 4:30 this morning.
Easter Vigil & The Salubong

I was in 4th grade when I attended my first Easter Vigil mass.  I forgot the name of the church, but it’s the one on Kamagong Street, in Makati City.  One thing I recall is thinking that I don’t ever want to go to an Easter Vigil Mass again because it’s just so damned long!  But that was me as a girl. :D 

We’ve been attending the Easter Vigil Mass since I was in my last 2 years or so in college.  The Edsa Shrine was our favorite church then, and it was so for several years!  We always made sure to be in church a good 30-45 minutes before mass was scheduled to start, just so we could secure some seats for ourselves!  After the almost 2-hour long mass, we eagerly participate in a short procession followed immediately by the Salubong.  3 years ago, we started going to Christ the King in Greenmeadows for the Easter Vigil, but haven’t participated in the procession since Abby came along.

Tomorrow, we’re heading off to Batangas, yet again, for a short break.  We’re doing it for the kids - my 4 pamangkins and Abby.  (Yeah, blame it on the kids!)  My Mom and I will try to attend the Vigil Mass in one of the Tagaytay churches, hopefully, at the Pink Sisters’ Convent.

It’s very easy to overlook the meaning of Holy Week with the lure of frolicking in Boracay proving to be so strong. :)  But wherever we are and whatever we do with the 4-5 days we have to spare, there is no excuse whatsoever, not to be able to spend some time with God, thank Him for the bountiful blessings we received and just be plain greatful for His sacrifice…the ultimate sacrifice.

Happy Easter to all!

As I was browsing through the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s entertainment page last Tuesday, I found out that a new kiddie flick will start it’s run in movie theaters the following day, Happily N’Ever After.  Interesting!  I never heard of such a movie.  It being produced by the Shrek and Shrek2 producers was enough of a come on for me, plus, it’s supposed to offer alternative endings to our favorite fairytales.  Doubly interesting!  The last movie we saw was Flushed Away, some time in Feb.  And since the only way I’ll ever find myself in a moviehouse is via a kiddie flick so I could take Abby with me (we’re buy one take one!), I seized the unexpected but most welcome opportunity.     

We went to see the movie last Sunday at Powerplant.  It was Abby’s first time to see a movie there.  Somehow, we always find ourselves at The Podium.  I’m glad we went to Powerplant this time and I made sure to get the four seats on the side at the upper level, the ones which included a “love seat”.  All the times we watched a movie, Abby always sat on my lap.  This time, she sat beside me.  She probably liked our new seating set-up better.  And I made a mental note to always watch movies with Abby at Powerplant from thereon.

I’ve been prepping Abby up for this activity since Saturday upto the few hours we had to kill before the 4:20pm screening time.  I told her stuff like: “We’ll see a movie, Happily N’Ever After.  It’s like Shrek”,  ”We’ll buy popcorn.”, etc.  This got her into the groove a little.  She managed to stay awake throughout the movie, falling asleep only a mere ten minutes after we got out.  She gulped down a cup of buco juice and munched on her favorite cheese popcorn.  I could tell she didn’t find the movie as interesting or appealing as Happy Feet, which she liked so much.  Anyway, I’m glad she managed to sit this one through…ok, she did get up every once in a while, without any major glitches.
We had a recap of our moviedate before we went to sleep…

Mommy:  Did you like the movie we watched earlier?

Abby:  Yah. (Yup, slang siya minsan. :D)

Mommy:  What’s the title of the movie?

Abby: Ahhh….

Mommy: Ha-….Ha-pi….

Abby:  Happy New Year!

Mommy:  Noooo, Happileeeee N’Everrrrrr Afterrrrr.

Abby:  Hapilly After!

Mommy: Who’s in the movie?

Abby:  Shrek! (Nyee.  Well, the trailer for the new Shrek movie was shown though!)

Mommy: Cindrella, Rick, Munk, Mambo…What’s the title of the movie again?

Abby:  Ahhh….

Mommy:  Haaaaa-….

Abby:  Happy New Year!

With that, I decided  to finally call it a night.

Next on our movie agenda…Mr. Bean’s Holiday!  What can I do, Abby loves Mr. Bean?!  I know,  he’s not exactly a role model, but hey, that’s why I’ll see the movie with her…for some parental guidance!
p.s.  I still prefer the conventional Cinderella ending, as well as those of the other fairytales.  But Ella (Cinderella) in Happily N’Ever After is such a beauty nevertheless.