Media Noche

We'll gonna have Roast Pork with Glaze, Menudo, Embutido, Roast Chicken, Sopas, Vegetable Salad and Egg Sandwich.. And for desert, we'll gonna have our favourite cheese, fruit cake and sticky rice bibingka plus 8 kinds of fruits to welcome the New Year!!!



We'll be in Meilin Hotel at 7:30 to 9:30 then head to Shekou before mignight. 2L3Bs shall celebrate the Media Noche in our home... :)

Happy New Year everyone... May love, peace, compassion and harmony linger in our hearts forever and may the coming year be filled with Godliness, hope, good health and prosperity...!

Cloudy

It's cloudy here in Shenzhen. The weather is 15C with occasional drizzle. Maybe because of the weather that's why I'm feeling blue somehow. I don't feel right. I just want to stay in bed and let this black spell expires on its own.

I'd been sitting in front of my office computer with nothing to do. Not so busy this time of the year. All of my overseas customers seems away or on vacation. I don't feel right at all. I'm not even excited about what we're going to prepare for tommorow's midnight feast. I hope this bad mood simply dissapear when the new year comes.. and pray never to come back forever..

Or maybe I'm having this so-called mid-life crisis? Hmm..

I guess I have to extend more prayer of thanks to the LORD and MAMA MARY for giving me a husband and children like mine who understand and cheer me up especially in times like this. 2L3Bs are not perfect at all. Actually, we're more of a dysfunctional bunch in a hippie kind of way... but God, I'm so glad I have this wonderful family to thank for. Maraming Salamat PO..

I love you papa, your text messages really made my day.. (tears of joy is flowing...)

FACTS ABOUT MID-LIFE CRISIS
(source: By Cathy Meyer, About.com)
A midlife crisis is experienced between the ages of 40 and 60. It was first identified by the psychologist Carl Jung and is a normal part of the maturing process. Most people will experience some form of emotional transition during that time of life. A transition that might cause you to take stock in where you are in life and make some needed adjustments to the way you live your life. Most seem to come through the process smoothly without making major life changes.

For some a midlife crisis is more complicated. It can be an uncomfortable time emotionally which can lead to depression and the need for psychotherapy. Those who have a hard time with this transitional stage might experience a wide range of feelings, such as:

-Unhappiness with life and the lifestyle that may have provided them with happiness for many years.

-Boredom with people and things that may have been of interest to them before.

-Feeling a need for adventure and change.

-Questioning the choices, they have made in their lives and the validity of decisions they made years before.

-Anger at their spouse or children and blame for feeling tied down.

-Unable to make decisions about where they want to go with their life.

-A desire for a renewed and passionate, intimate relationship with spouse.

According to Wikipedia, midlife crisis is a term used in Western societies to describe a period of dramatic self-doubt that is felt by some individuals in the "middle years" of life, as a result of sensing the passing of youth and the imminence of old age. Sometimes, transitions experienced in these years, such as aging in general, menopause, the death of parents, or children leaving home, can trigger such a crisis. The result may be a desire to make significant changes in core aspects of day to day life or situation, such as in career, marriage, or romantic relationships.

Many middle aged adults experience major life events that can cause a period of psychological stress or depression. Researchers have found that midlife is often a time for reflection and reassessment, but this is not always accompanied by the psychological upheaval popularly associated with "midlife crisis".

Christmas Vacation

We're back from our emotionally-filled yet joyful Christmas vacation.. We had spent wonderful time exploring the sights and sounds of Chanping; found ourselves somehow; enjoyed the company of friends and relaxed to our hearts content during our 5 days of fun.. Such a meaningful way to spend Christmas with the family.



We arrived in Chanping near midnight so we decided to go directly to the LA Bar to cheer the birth of Christ with friends at 12. Then gone to book ourselves to a local hotel later where I became too emotionally struck. After awhile, we refreshed ourselves then headed straight to the party for Kris Kringle. The exchange gift was really fun. Since 2L3Bs plan to minimize accumulating bulky stuff this year, we prepared our suitable gifts for each other and this time everyone received signature perfumes.

The most exciting part is trying out some of the gourmet and local foods around.We had our Christmas dinner at the Gordon King Steak and Grill, Christmas Lunch at the Bistro Palace, various food outlets during lunch and had a wonderful time in LA Bar every night. Yes, we don't find the time to eat our breakfasts during our entire stay because we always end up sleeping at 4am and usually start our day at 3pm..











Other than food trips, we also enjoyed the party and received some gifts plus some time spent at the game slots in the LA bar... We also had the chance to roam around in computer shops, starbucks and various malls where we enjoyed our shopping spree.














The vacation too became an eye opener to us as couple and parents to our children. Pa and myself had the chance to touch the very core of how much we felt for each other including the fundamental issues about our lives. Such a surge of emotions.. I guess we really deserved this out of town trips once in a while..



See more of our Christmas Vacation 2008 photos in our Friendster site: http://profiles.friendster.com/51347119

nativity and noche buena

Take time to be aware that in the very midst of our busy preparations for the celebration of Christ’s birth in ancient Bethlehem, Christ is reborn in the Bethlehems of our homes and daily lives. Take time, slow down, be still, be awake to the Divine Mystery that looks so common and so ordinary yet is wondrously present.


The 2L3Bs won't be having our noche buena in our china home this time of the year.. we shall celebrate the birth of Christ in Chanping instead.. We already packed all our belongings and gifts for our Kris Kringle..Whoa, we're kind of excited.. :)
but nothing can replace the Christmas celebration inside the comfort of our home.. we will highly miss pa's roasted chicken and the sumptous meals we used to prepare.. got no choice but to enjoy hotel meals instead.. Being together counts most anyway.. ;)

May you have a blessed Christmas everyone!!!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other (-Burton Hills)

family

Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future. ~Gail Lumet Buckley

To commemorate Christmas, we thought that it is only right to introduce some of the sources of our joy and why 2L3Bs lives became much more meaningful.. and because it is Christmas, let this be the time to reunify the faces of our love ones composed of our families and extended families all over the world through this blog site.. they are far away yet just a click away, thanks to this modern gadgets, everything became possible.. so folks, here comes the reason why 2L3Bs always beam with smile in every step of their ways..
here is the photo of our family in the Philippines, this photo was taken in our home in Wawa, Baras with our papa's side of the family. The Llagas clan composed of my beautiful sister-in-laws, handsome brother-in-law, nieces and nephews and grandchildren too. Much as we are missing our family back home, we are equally missing our home in baras too especially our dining room where we usually shared bountiful feasts every time we get together.. How lovely it would be if we'll be there this Christmas and share with them the joy that this season brings..
please meet my brother Jong and his lovely family in his home in Marikina, Philippines
meet my side of the family, the Bernardo clan.. taken in the bernardo vacation home in wawa baras.. miss you inang edy, ate sorcia, ate dory and the rest of the clan who are not in this photo..
our family in paris france

our family in london.. we miss you ate fil, darwin & family, dennis, cynthia and their beautiful children



our extended families here in china
with our sweet and very talented norman..
our dearest jerome..
our family in vacouver canada
our family in toronto canada
with our lovely family taken in the threshold leading to our family rooms upstairs
with our grand baby girl Izzy taken in our living room
our dear bhane, che and her family in the phils
we miss this shot of our family taken in our foyer
our baby girl with our dearest Dondon taken in our garage..
our dearest Joyce and her family in the U.S.
here's our extended family composed of my dearest high school teacher, mentor and principal; my high school classmates now became our best and closests friends throughout the years. This was taken in our informal dining room in our home in Baras.
my papa's famous recording artists friends and our extended family back home in the Philippines
please meet our beloved Tio Doming and Tia Isang from our pa's side of the family.. We love you both..

The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you. ~Kendall Hailey

Happy Christmas everyone..!
Let's enjoy the company of our loveones always...

What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories. ~George Eliot