Munchkin Mommy

Hi!  Believe it or not, I’ve been trying my darnedest best to update this site daily.  I haven’t even crossed out half of what’s on my California holiday list!  And here I am again, back from another Dallas weekend.  Yes, I’ve noticed…ang dalas namin sa Dallas.  Hee hee!  That’s why I missed posting an entry last Friday and yesterday.  We left Friday afternoon at 5pm, instead of the planned 3pm.  We were back by 7pm on Sunday.  Yesterday, I was just floating around like a zombie from lack of sleep, yet again. :D

It was in August last year when we first visited Dallas.  It was upon the invitation of a high school friend, Dominic, whose family is based in Oklahoma.  Most of Dominic’s siblings now live in Dallas.  It used to be only one brother.  So most family occasions are celebrated in Dallas.  August 8 happened to be the birthday of both Dominic and his dad.  Thus, another generous invitation to visit Dallas came our way. ;)  Accommodation is not a problem because Dominic’s wife works for the Hilton group of hotels.  That translates to ridiculously low room rates…which they refuse to let us pay.  Tsk tsk. :D  Last year, we spent two nights at the Embassy Suites.  This time around, we stayed at our favorite hotel, the Hampton Inn.  It’s nice to have connections in the right places.  ;)

Here are pics taken a year ago at Six Flags…

L-R: Eileen, Cameron, Cristina (Domini’s sister), Caitlin, Dominic, Me and Abby  

Same group of people plus Hubby, minus Abby and me

And here we are a year after…

The kids have definitely grown! It might look Hubby’s wearing the same shirt but he’s not.  He was wearing a “home-grown”  shirt last year, i.e., Bench, while in the pic above, he’s wearing A&F.  Magpakadefensive daw ba.  Hahaha! :D 

We got to the house of Dominic’s brother at 8pm and we were welcomed by a home-cooked meal that was unmistakably Pinoy: chicharong bulaklak, dinuguan, alimasag and pancit.  I conveniently forgot that I haven’t eaten pork since February.  But I’m back on track…at least where pork is concerned.  So no worries and no intervention needed! :P  I cracked open the perfect crab, one which uric acid and cholesterol conscious people will frown upon.  Hee hee!  It’s funny how  just the sight of aligue makes my heart beat faster.  And I haven’t even started eating it yet.  Haha! :D  It’s my Mom’s fault really.  My brother and I grew up on a Sunday diet of talangka, alimasag and talaba.  Those were the good old days. *sigh*

After dinner, I got to watch a Tagalog movie, the one which stars Aga and Anne Curtis.  It’s been a while since I saw a Tagalog movie.  After I got over the age gap between Aga and Anne, I can say that I somewhat enjoyed the movie…anything to stay connected to the Mother Land.  A night can’t get more Pinoy than that, that much I can tell you! :D

09 August 2008

Saturday, we spent 2-3 hours at at the Dallas World Aquarium (DWA).  And it was time well spent!  We didn’t realize that DWA was a favorite destination in Dallas.  We had to wait in line for 15 minutes to get in.  By the time we got out, the wait time has quadrupled!  I kid you not!

I thought at first that we’ll only be seeing “water animals”.  But I was wrong.  DWA is like an indoor safari, and besides the fishes, there are a few mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

From the DWA, we headed back to the house of Dominic’s brother, Mark,  for lunch.  It was another heavenly meal for us: pancit luglug, lumpiang shanghai and chicken caldereta.  What can I say?  Ang sarap kumain!  After a meal like that, one will have to be wheeled around to get anywhere.  So we decided to watch another Tagalog movie, this time, starring John Lloyd and Bea Alonzo.  I forgot the title.  It’s the one where John Lloyd is an engineer and Bea is an architect, kinda like Hubby and me in real life, only, Hubby is not a civil engineer.  Nyahaha!  I liked the Aga/Anne Curtis starrer better.  But Derek Ramsey helped me get through the John Lloyd/Bea movie.  He almost made me forget about Marc Nelson.  ;) Gosh, hubby and I need to work out.  Seriously!

In the middle of yet another movie (starring Aga, Maricel and Angelica Panganiban), we decided to take a quick peek at a newly opened ourdoor mall just a few minutes away from the house.  It’s called Uptown Village at Cedar Hill.  It’s a really nice place, which both shopaholics and “shopallergics” -i.e. hubbies of shopaholics. hahaha!- will appreciate.  One can just hang out with a good book in one of the benches or rocking chairs.  And there’s a play area for kids, too! 

Brothers Dominic (in brown) and Mark (in green) played a round of chess.  Giant chess makes for good mental and physical exercise.  The chess pieces aren’t exactly light, you know. Hee hee. :)

How’s this for a book cover? ;)

I wouldn’t mind killing time at Barnes and Noble or in the nice little park just outside of it.  There are plenty of benches and rocking chairs here. :D

Beautiful sculptures made practically every corner of this shopping haven more interesting.

That night, we again had a hearty dinner what with lechon de leche taking center stage at the dining table?!

How am I doing on entry length?  I know, it’s too long already.  Let me end this here.  Second part coming right up. Promise! :D