MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan

Ready, Set, Jump

May 2, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 3 Comments

And so it is…

I always said that if I ever got pregnant again, I’d quit my job. I remember my first pregnancy, how lazy I was, how irritable, how all I wanted to do was eat, sleep and watch TV. I know how I can get, and I have absolutely no intention of making myself suffer through a 9-hour work day, cooped up in an office under those circumstances. It’s probably best for those around me too, as I’d be sensitive about smells, food, cleanliness, and I’d basically nitpick on everything. In an extra bratty way.

When I left Smart a little over a year ago, I didn’t expect I’d be going through the same emotional struggle of leaving for at least another two years. Guess I was wrong, as I now find myself facing my last 3 weeks at Filinvest. I am choosing to take the road less traveled, and will officially brand myself as a Work-At-Home-Mom and a Mompreneur by May 20. The choice to pursue this career path is largely my own, influenced by many different factors, the obvious being the need and desire for me to be more hands-on in raising the little guy. I’d also like to give my mom her freedom back. Super Lola has been the primary caregiver of my little bundle of joy for the past five years, and I think it’s time I took him off her hands. After all, she already gave up 29 years of her life for us, raising my siblings and I without yayas, managing our household, and feeding us well (as my waistline will prove). It’s time for her to have more time to play golf, play mahjong, play Farmville, have her hair done, hang out with my dad, travel. Plus, it’s time for me to take charge of molding my son into the kind of person I want him to be. Time for me to prepare baon for my husband, coffee in the morning, dinner at night. Time for me to focus on homework and school projects. Time for me to have a flexible schedule where I can allot more time for the people I care about.

It’s something I want. And I want it enough to give it a try. And I’m keeping my fingers, toes, arms, legs and eyes crossed that I will succeed, and that this will be the start of a better life for all of us.

I’ve been enviously following blogs of successful Filipina WAHMs since early this year, and I must say that they have played a big part in influencing my decision, without them even knowing it. Among the WAHM/Mompreneurs, my favorites are Dainty Mom and OC Mom In Manila. I keep telling myself that if they can do it, I can do it too, and I’ll never know until I try. So this is officially my first step towards “giving it a try”, my leap of faith, me reaching for the stars. Sabi nga nila, lakas loob lang naman ang kailangan sa simula. You just have to hope you have skills and/or talents to keep you afloat, and I’d like to think that I do have what it takes to make it.

Besides, like I told my husband, if it doesn’t work out, then we go into Plan B and I look for another job. But for now, this is, as they say, it. Ball’s in my court. Let’s do this, Universe.

Oh by the way, I’m not pregnant. I just wasn’t sure how to start this post.
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My Girly-Girl Take on The Avengers

May 1, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

First of all, let me make a few things clear.

1. This post does not contain any movie spoilers. I’m not about to ruin the experience for those who come across my blog and have yet to see the film. I threatened to hurt anyone who tried to tell me the details of the film before I got to see it, and now that I’ve experienced it myself, I have no plans of sharing anything about the movie unless the person I am talking to has seen it as well.

2. I may be a girl, but I do enjoy watching guy movies. I find them exciting.

3. While I enjoy guy movies, my comments about them are often of a girly-girl nature. The kind that make boys roll their eyes. The kind that sometimes make people think I’m a ditz. After all, I am a girly-girl, and this is proven by the fact that I call movies like The Avengers “Guy Movies”.

4. My opinions are my own and in no way reflect the opinions of the general female public.

5. This is not a movie review. I did my share of film reviews in college, and quite frankly I was never that good at it, which is why I rarely write about movies.

So my boys and I braved the opening weekend cinema chaos and caught the 1:45PM screening of The Avengers at Alabang Town Center on its first Sunday. I usually steer clear of cinemas on the first week of any blockbuster movie because I’m not a big fan of crowds. But since the boys and I were so drawn by the hype, especially after watching Thor and Captain America on video last week, we decided to give it a go.

All I can say is, I thank God for SureSeats.com, without whom watching a movie yesterday would not be made possible. I reserved our tickets online Saturday night, and even with the advanced booking, I still had to stand in line for about half an hour to pay for and claim the tickets. Imagine that. A friend of mine was actually planning to watch yesterday too, but wasn’t able to because all the screenings were sold out by noon. So there, thank goodness for SureSeats, and for my brother who pushed me to sign up for it!

We were thinking of watching in IMAX or 3D, but decided at the last minute to just catch a regular screening because we were trying to keep our expenses at a minimum. We often end up spending a ridiculous amount when we go on family movie dates, with our tickets, snacks and dinner or lunch afterwards. Snacks are usually standard – a bag of cheese popcorn for the little guy to share with his dad, a bag of the five-flavored popcorn from Tateers for me (which I also share with Mr C), and a large drink for each of us. Lately I’ve been having Serenitea with my movies, as I’ve found that it goes really well with popcorn.

Ok, so about the Avengers…

I just absolutely loved the movie. I have very limited knowledge about the comic books or cartoon series that came before the film, but that didn’t matter. Everything was so exciting and fast-paced, but with a concrete and detailed plot line. One thing I did notice was there was not a single ugly person in the film. Even the extras were good looking. Even the Hulk wasn’t an ugly Hulk. Seriously.

Ok, so he’s not exactly Hulking in this photo
I actually think he looks like Baron Geisler here LOL

My favorite Avenger would have to be Iron Man. I just think he is too cool for words, and his sarcasm and wit is beyond entertaining. It’s also nice how Stark has this connection to Captain America. For those who haven’t seen Captain America, Tony Stark’s dad plays an important part in the film. Yes, this is kind of a spoiler, but not for The Avengers, so it’s forgivable.

The Star-Spangled Man with a Plan

Robert Downey Jr has been doing a wonderful job bringing Iron Man to life, although I may just be biased because I’ve always loved him and his movies, from Chances Are to Heart and Souls, Only You, Tropic Thunder, Sherlock Holmes, and both Iron Man films. You get the picture. I just never really did like Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, I find her too stiff and uptight. Or is the character really supposed to be that way? Anyway, on a side note, you guys should really check out her website, GOOP. I love it, it’s one of my guilty pleasure reads.

Tony Stark / Iron Man

I think that the greatest thing that The Avengers has done for me was to introduce me to the existence of Chris Hemsworth. I mean seriously, this guy is the stuff that dreams are made of. I mean, if Thor, who just happened to look like that, came down to Earth and told you he was gonna take you to live with him in Asgard, wouldn’t you let him pick you up and carry you over his shoulders? Of course, I like the character too, as I’ve recently discovered this fascination I have with mythology. I actually even sat through Percy Jackson late one night after a very long and tiring event, and I really enjoyed it. So yeah, Thor, I really enjoyed the movie too. I was completely engrossed by both him and his brother Loki, and I like how they seem so other-worldy compared to the rest of the characters. I guess they’re supposed to be other-worldly, since they aren’t from here, right?

Thor, who just happens to have better hair than I do

Loki, who is not a bad-looking bad guy
Told you there aren’t any ugly people in this film

I’m a girl so I wasn’t excited much by Natasha Romanoff, and Hawkeye was, well, just there. I didn’t like the How I Met Your Mother girl, though. Not in the least. One thing I am happy about is that Natalie Portman only shows up once, and doesn’t say a single word.

So that’s my take on The Avengers. Definitely not substantial whatsoever as a film critique, and certainly deserving of a funny, confused stare from die-hard, male comic book fans (as in, “What is this girl saying???”). 100% girly-girl, and totally me. Am I glad I made an effort to catch the film in the middle of all the hype? Yes. 100%. Would I watch it again? For sure. But I’d probably wait for the crowd to die down this time.

Rude Awakenings and Early Morning Motherhood Learnings

April 30, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

My little boy is now able to unlock and open our front door, which means he can now exit the house whenever he wants to, on his own. This morning, he woke up early to go fishing with my dad at a nearby pond. I was startled awake by his little voice saying “Yes! I did it, I woke up early!”

He tells me that he’s going to go look for his Lolo, and sleepy little me reminded him to open their bedroom door slowly because his grandmother might still be sleeping. A few minutes later, he returns, noisy and excited, asking to change from his pajamas to pants and shoes. I figure I can sleep in peace after seeing them off, get up and ask him to turn on the lights.

The little boy then proceeds to tell me how he went in the room, saw his Lola sleeping, then went outside when he saw his Lolo’s car drive up. Of course, I freaked out before he could finish his last sentence. “What? You went out by yourself? Without anyone knowing? You went outside the house?”, or at least that’s what I remember saying it, in my most panicky, 6am squeaky voice.

Of course he becomes defensive and says he didn’t go outside the gate.

I respond by asking again if he exited the house on his own without anyone knowing. He says no.

I’m on to him by now, I know he’s covering up for what he did because I was getting angry. I ask him again, twice, and he gives me a “No”, both times. Eventually he tells me the truth, that yes he had gone out by himself, without telling anyone. So I go off on this long monologue about how it was wrong, and that’s how kids get lost, and did he want to end up lost, and all that. I ended with something like “You’re supposed to be smarter than that, kid.”

By then, he’s looking at me with wide eyes, obviously trying not to cry. He speaks defensively, but I know that he knows he was wrong.

He apologizes, and I tell him to save it for when I’m not angry anymore. I tell him that I’m upset that he lied.

My dad enters our room to pick him up, and I just had to share with him the story of what happened. I even say that I will tell everyone what he did. And the little boy says that he went out because he saw his Lolo’s car drive up. I answer with “What if it wasn’t his car?”

“He parked in the same space he always does.”

But I wouldn’t let it go. “Do you know that most cars are alike? What if it wasn’t his car?”

Looking back now, I think I may have overreacted. I’m thinking this because instead of happily going back to bed, I’m sitting here with both anger and guilt swimming in my system, and it’s not even 7 o’clock yet.

His reasons were so simple, and his reasoning so innocent. He was fueled by excitement. And I had to spoil it for him. But what if something bad happened? Sure, we live in a secure, gated community, but that never stopped loonies before from doing bad things to good people, bad things to good children. Still, I feel bad because it feels as if I stole a little bit of his innocence this morning. He’s growing up so fast and it’s like I’m pushing him towards being a big boy right away, when what I really want is to be able to enjoy my time with him as the innocent kid that he is for as long as I still can.

Now I’m the one who’s trying not to cry. I feel like I failed some test that I wasn’t prepared for.

I should have been up early. Should have gotten up when he got up. Should have packed him an extra snack to go with his thermos of ice water (thankfully, my dad was a step ahead of me, and packed a snack himself). I shouldn’t have freaked out on him. Shouldn’t have ruined his morning.

The thing is, his morning wasn’t actually ruined.

I walked him to the door, and his Lolo was already waiting by the gate. He opens the door on his own, and I say goodbye. He starts to go out, and I say “Excuse me?”

He leans up to give me a kiss, then throws his arms around me and hugs me the way he does when he knows he did something that upset me. I know that hug, I’ve felt it before. This time I think I owe him one too. But earlier today when I walked him out, I was too angry to realize that. I handed him his water and told him to have fun. And off he went, cheerfully chatting with his Lolo about getting worms as bait, leaving all the bad stuff behind, as if none of it had ever been there in the first place.

Funny how the tables turned on me, and now I’m the one feeling guilty about what happened. I don’t think our squabble will even matter to him anymore after his morning fishing trip, and I don’t think I should dwell on it anymore either. He’ll be excited to tell me all about it, and quite frankly, I’m already excited to hear the stories. I still have far to go, and much to learn about being Mom. Luckily, my son is patient with me, and he teaches me without even trying.

There he is having fun with his Lolo at the pond.

*All photos included in this post belong to my dad.

Panizza 101 at C’ Italian Dining

April 29, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

Last February, when our family trooped out to Clark for the Hot Air Balloon Festival, our first stop was C’ Italian Dining for a very late lunch before checking in at Fontana. Like I always do before heading off to an unfamiliar place, I asked around about the best places to eat at Clark. C’ came highly recommended by a lot of my food-lover friends, and so I made sure that we stopped there to eat before our schedule got filled up.

C’ is located outside the Clark Freeport Zone, in Balibago Angeles, Pampanga. The facade is pretty simple, and if not for all the cars parked in front of the restaurant, and even across the street (and of course the big sign in front of the building), I probably would never have realized that we’d found the place. I use the word found because we had made a number of wrong turns in search of the restaurant, and ended up lost and with no idea where to go, more than once. I’d never have guessed that such a nice restaurant could be found in such a shady place. Then again, I forget that a good number of Angeles’ residents are foreigners.

The place has this rustic, old house, sorta cozy sorta creepy feel to it. I’m guessing this vibe is caused by a combintion of the stone walls, the big windows , the art pieces on display, and lighting of the place. The entire restaurant is laid out in various sections and rooms, and nooks and corners you could just disappear into, which kind of made me think of it as dungeon-like too. Then again, maybe all this was just hunger messing with my senses.

My sister and her boyfriend actually got to the restaurant before we did, so we were expecting to have something to munch on while we ordered. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any food or drinks on the table. Since the two ordered ahead, they made a follow up while we placed our orders. My hunger was making me cranky, so I distracted myself by taking photos.

Obviously, Lola was already tired and hungry

Like I said, it took us a while to find the place. Ironically three out of four people in the car had maps and GPS apps in our phones. It was close to 3pm when we arrived at C’, so you can just imagine how tired and hungry we were by then. My Mc Donald’s Big Breakfast was long gone, replaced by gurgles and other similar complaints by my stomach.

Good thing these two were still in high spirits

When the drinks and bread arrived, we attacked like wolves. Pretty, composed wolves. I ordered a Strawberry Italian Soda, which was really refreshing. Their bread was super yummy, and I had to restrain myself from eating too much so as not to spoil my appetite. No, let me re-phrase that, my appetite is never spoiled. I just didn’t want to get full too fast. Bread is my absolute weakness, and C’s pesto dip was just too good to resist. Carbs, this is why I’m fat.

Now here’s the problem. Because I’m blogging about this so late, I can’t remember what any of the dishes were called, and how much they cost. My bad. Lesson learned, write about things as soon as I can, or at least take notes for future reference. I’ll be sure to make a note of the names of these dishes if I ever get to pay a visit to C’ again. For now, photos and descriptions will just have to suffice.

We were informed by the waiter that the reason why my sister’s order hadn’t arrived yet was because they switched tables, and the servers got confused. Not a good enough reason, as far as I’m concerned, but lucky for them, I found myself to be extra forgiving that day. Maybe because I was on vacation mode and refused to be put in a bad mood. It could also be because the food was so good that it gave me an extra happy vibe. I kid you not, the food was that delicious.

Rolled up with arugula and alfalfa sprouts

We ordered two different kinds of Panizza, and two pasta dishes. Now let me tell you a secret. I never had Panizza before my visit to C’. Not even Yellow Cab’s Dear Darla. I think it’s a good thing, because I read somewhere that this is what inspired the Dear Darla, and I’m glad I got to taste the original first. Rocky and Koko chose one with the best tasting bacon ever, while mom picked a four (or was it five?) cheese panizza. Both were wonderful, but the cheesy one needed an extra sprinkling of spices for added umph.

Meanwhile, Mr C and the Kiddo chose to have Pasta Carbonara, which was also topped with the best bacon ever, and mom added an order of Spagetti Bolognese with Meatballs. The Carbonara was a hit. Their white sauce was exceptionally good, and that means a lot coming from someone who isn’t much of a fan of white sauce on pasta.

I expected more from the Bolognese, but it was still pretty good. After enjoying the bowl of bread so much, I hoped that the garlic bread that came with the pasta would be amazing as well. Guess I shouldn’t have expected much, since it turns out that all garlic breads are pretty much alike. Or maybe I feel that way because I don’t particularly like butter.

The food at C’ is really good. Too bad that it’s really far away, and in a place I don’t normally frequent. It’s also quite pricey. We ended up paying close to P3,000 for lunch for 5 adults and 1 kid. That’s more or less P500-P600 per person. Plus I got turned off with the slow service, although, I do realize it’s probably better on non-peak days. After all, we visited during Clark’s busiest season. This is exactly why I prefer not to travel when I know it’s going to be crowded where I’m headed. Yes, I can be antisocial like that.

For more photos from our visit, check out this post!

C’ Italian Dining
1210 Don Juico Ave. Clarkview, Balibago
Angeles City, Pampanga
(045) 892-4059

Sunday Snippets

April 23, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

My husband is grinding his teeth, and I can’t sleep.

It was insanely hot today and our entire family spent most of the day holed up in my mom’s air-conditioned room watching New Girl and snacking on chips and juice.

I’ve got a really important announcement that I’ll be making very soon. It’s something I am really excited about, and I’m just making sure I tell my family and close friends first before posting it online. I don’t want to put myself in a sticky situation where they find out first from my blog and not from me.

I’m really trying my best to make Sunday Mass a regular habit. We got to go today to the 7:30PM mass in the village parish. I have to be honest though, I had a tough time understanding what the priest was saying because he was sort of eating his words. His homily also did not make much of an impression, and the most striking portion in my opinion was when he said “Liars go to Hell!”

That statement was of course followed by a moment of silence.

The parish announcements portion had to be the highlight of my day. It went something like “All the household help in our village are invited to attend a mass in celebration of St Joseph The Worker. Please feel free to bring your cleaning tools for blessing.”

Mr C, the kiddo and I spent a good two minutes giggling, thinking about our maids going to mass with mop, broom and vacuum cleaner in hand, ready to be blessed. Kinda weird, if you ask me. Has anyone ever done that? Have their cleaning tools blessed I mean? I’d love to hear from anyone who’s done that before. How different has your cleaning experience become? Seriously. I’d like to know!

It’s past midnight and I’ve got work tomorrow, and I’m still up. Good luck to me trying to never be tardy again!

Run Mommy, Run!

April 5, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 1 Comment

I don’t know why, but all of a sudden I’m wondering if I can push myself enough to train for a marathon. And yes, I am aware that completing a marathon means running a whole 42 kilometers. The thought has never occurred to me before, and I honestly don’t know why I’m thinking about it now. I’ve never been a runner. Even during my more active days filled with tennis, soccer and dancing, I tried my best to keep running to a minimum. I’d even go as far as to cheat during running drills simply because I didn’t like it much. I’d get discouraged when my legs started hurting, and so I never really built the endurance for it. So you can just imagine how insane I must seem to myself now, thinking about the possibility of me running a full 42k.

In the interest of getting into shape, I took advantage of my Holy Thursday free time to go on a short walk (emphasis on walk) around the block this afternoon. It took me 26 minutes to walk 2 kilometers. I may be bad at math, but I know that this pace will not cut it if I want to get into this seriously. The question is, do i really, seriously, want to get into running? Maybe this is just the heat messing with my brain. Or maybe it’s just another item to add to my all-new list of life changing possibilities that seems to be constantly growing as my 30th birthday gets closer. Whatever it is, it involves exercise, and that’s always a good thing, as far as I’m concerned.

Stay tuned for progress then!