Wedding Video: Pre-Processional
Just discovered these videos posted by Oneal’s brother, Ron. Here are Oneal and his parents waiting for the processional to start. This video and the ones I’ll post next were taken with a Flip camera. 
Terrible Thursday
You know how some days are bad, and other days are something else? Last week was something else.
I didn’t have a whole week of terrible things, but it was still annoying and stressful. I was waiting for some of my writing fees to be available, and accounting kept making mistakes with my kilometric name, or my checks kept getting delayed. That’s not funny when you have bills to pay.
Then the car broke down. Naturally Oneal was annoyed, and he didn’t have time to bring it to the shop. The weather made things more difficult for us, with three different wakes to visit, and Oneal having to go back and forth between Parañaque and Pasig. We were lucky that friends happened by and gave us a lift home, two nights in a row.
Oneal’s dad was able to pick up the car on Friday, and have it repaired in time for the busy weekend. All in all, it wasn’t that bad, but I did suffer a comical traumatic experience that must be shared. Continue Reading…
Awesome Ninang Ruby Bayan
Ruby Bayan, our ninang
Our principal sponsors at the wedding are awesome, wonderful people, who happen to be very good friends and close relatives of ours and our parents. But one truly awesome ninang is Ruby Bayan, mom of my best friend and our best man Dante Gagelonia.
Tita Ruby is based in Florida, and is a woman of many trades: she writes, does Web design, creates gorgeous jewelry, does her own carpentry and gardening, and is often sound engineer for her husband, Mike Llamas aka DJ Stoney Burke.
When we asked her to be ninang, Tita Ruby jumped onto the Star Wars bandwagon without hesitation. She scoured the Web for a costume she could wear to the wedding, and not only did she indeed wear a costume, but she made it herself too! And she modified a costume that was purchased for her husband. Check out her costume construction progress on Multiply.
Bridesmaid jewelry
In addition to the awesomeness of her costume, she also gave us a wonderful wedding gift: bridal jewelry for me, and jewelry sets for my bridesmaids and main and matron of honor! We gave these sets to the bridal entourage on the day of the wedding, and they all shrieked like teenage girls when they saw the beautiful, beautiful things. Check out the jewelry and the process of making them on Tita Ruby’s blog.
Tita Ruby, thank you for being an awesome ninang!
The Culinary Adventures of the New Mrs Rosero: Kalderetang Baka
When I was younger, I wasn’t very fond of Filipino food. Maybe it was because there were no places like Max’s and Red Ribbon, Goldilocks and Aristocrat, Kamay Kainan and other restaurants, where our parents could bring us. Mom and Dad are awesome cooks, but there was quite a limitation to the Filipino ingredients you could acquire when we were in Riyadh. So instead they learned to make do with whatever could be found in the local markets. Mom learned to bake, and she made wonderful things: pineapple upside-down cake, prune cake, apple pie, chicken pastel. Dad made excellent tempura, and everyone loved his tempura sauce. One year, for my birthday, they stayed up till the wee hours of the morning working on my birthday cake. It had a gingerbread house made of biscuits, Smarties, cookies, wafers, and I don’t know what anymore. Continue Reading…
The Culinary Misadventures of the New Mrs Rosero: On Sandwiches
Sandwiches are easy. Two halves of bread, some meat or fish, a toaster and you’re done. Unfortunately, many people fail to appreciate the potential of the sandwich to be a truly great meal. Most places will put tuna and mayo between two pieces of white bread and call it a tuna sandwich. Others will put Kraft or Eden cheese—thin slices at that!—or plain Cheez Whiz in the middle of boring white bread and call it a cheese sandwich. Blasphemy!
Simple sandwiches are not a bad thing. But simple need never be boring! A cheese sandwich, for instance, can have two kinds of cheese and a dash of something to liven it up: cayenne, chopped basil, a slice of tomato or cucumber. That isn’t so difficult. Continue Reading…
From our ninang, Ruby Bayan-Llamas: My undelivered toast to my new “Godchildren” Rej and Oneal Rosero
Tita Ruby, Dante's mom, was our ninang. She made the costumes that she and Mike are wearing.
May your helmets embolden you
to explore worlds beyond your wildest dreams
while your boots keep you firmly on the ground.
May your armors flaunt your battle scars
as the Force remains strong
within you and among your younglings.
Always.
The Rosero Reading List: currently on my bedside table
In response to Lorie’s status message on Facebook asking what people were reading right now, I started writing down the titles of the books currently parked in various parts of the house. I realized my comment would be ridiculously long, so I’m posting it as a blog entry instead.
Would you believe I’m reading about 4 books right now? Since I have more free time now that the Kapihans are over and I’m no longer working for Playboy, I’m reading more and more. Webcomics, RSS feeds, news, books, and even comics. The books are scattered all over the house, so wherever I am, if I feel like reading, I need not look far for a book. Continue Reading…
The Culinary Adventures of the New Mrs. Rosero
Ever since we got married, I have found renewed interest in cooking. I feel like all my old recipes are, well, old, and I have been pursuing new dishes with great enthusiasm.
It may have a lot to do with the markets. SM Hypermart is well-stocked. (Admittedly though some things are woefully lacking. Axion dishwashing detergent, I need you!) There are many options, a good fresh produce section, and points for the Advantage Card! There’s also a bakery, a deli and a roast chicken stall. For the days when I’m too lazy or tired to cook, there’s a food court and many other restaurants to choose from.
When I want to go all healthy, Tiendesitas is right next to Hypermart. There’s an organic market, and various stalls sell preserves, local delicacies, and other locally made products. And there are so many ihaw-ihaw places! We need never go hungry! Continue Reading…
Meralco = Money Pit?
MERALCO, why oh why?
Nearly two months of wedded bliss, and everything’s fine. New house, new life, and many other new things, most of which use power. We’re people of many gadgets–who isn’t nowadays? My work requires me to be online almost all day, and Oneal and I have many interests online. In fact, we rely on the Internet for so many things: news, photos, communication with friends and family, even much of our charity work and 501st activity happens online. So you can understand the need for the multiple laptops, the phones, and the requisite power consumption.
Still, that’s not unusual. Neither are the aircon units (only used at night, but if during the day, only when we’re both home), the washing machine (chosen because it’s energy and water efficient), the lightbulbs (all CFL, mind you), the electric fans, and the kitchen appliances. So when we got our first electric bill in March, it was P2,082.40, and that seemed reasonable. After all, there’s two of us, and a three-bedroom townhouse.
Then just a few days ago, we got our new bill: P7,062.70 Continue Reading…
