24 March 2015

Birthday Breakfast at Rowena's

For R's 30th birthday last month, we went out of town. It was a fun-filled day for this military family of three! Off we went to Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa, Laguna and enjoyed the perks EK gave the Armed Forces of the Philippines, dubbed as Enchanting Kawal (yup, kwento and photos on a separate post).


Since we planned to maximize the day, we left the house early in the morning and had breakfast in Tagaytay, 'cause EK opens at 12 noon. It was our first time to go to Tagaytay as a family so R and I really wanted to give our little girl a memorable experience. Okay, not really. We just wanted to eat right away. Our little boss gets grumpy as hell when starved. Who won't? In fact, Miss Minchin clouded my entirety for 10 good minutes. Anyway, failed to go to an underground (aka, not Josephine's, not Bag of Beans, not Sonya's Garden) cafĂ© and restaurant, we opted for a sikat and known and empty (at that time) resto and pasalubong house — Rowena's!

19 March 2015

It's Been 10 Days


I'm sure you noticed the long gap in between my posts lately. I have no excuse for that and I want to be honest with you, it was all intentional. I love my little virtual space here and really, it's like there's a missing piece in my daily existence when I don't do anything blog-related but I've been obsessed with my life outside my digital world since this year started. Yup, sharing bits and snippets of how I see my everyday is entertaining (for me and my followers, at least) but there's this wisp of satisfaction for the moments I kept to myself. Privately savoring the inside jokes, dreams, and conversations with the people close to me while being a blogger slash social-media-fanatic-who's-expected-to-post-on-a-regular-basis gives me that extraordinary feeling. 

BUT. Trust me when I say that I'll be sharing stories... eventually, gradually. I love storytelling! It can be as lengthy as a term paper or as short as photo captions (of course, with photos) or simply videos from my YouTube channel. In whatever way, I will do my best to entertain, inform or inspire you. Some of my topics may sound like I'm gossiping (or marketing when it's a sponsored post, hehe), perhaps because of the issues and events involved, but like any other blogger that I religiously read, that's how I am. 

Alright, since it's been 10 days, you just might want to catch up on my whatevers on Instagram and Facebook. Those are basically like teasers of what I'll be writing about. Forgive me, though if I won't or forget to post about some certain topics. I do great scheduling now that I have a corkboard in my blogging nook but you know, I still prioritize this self-proclaimed domestic queen's priorities. 

Just like that, after three paragraphs, I'm already saying goodbye. Let's see, hopefully, I'll be back again tomorrow for another post. For now, you may see my royal domesticity on Instagram: @deniserayala. Latest is a crazy soldier in a video! I love that guy. Ttyl, royalties. xx

09 March 2015

Postcards from Marikina


I love the internet (despite this country's intermittent signal); especially the invention of Yahoo, Google, Facebook and Instagram. My marriage with the Army guy is thriving lovingly because of unlimited texts and calls. The little girl knew a lot of her now favorite things because of the awesome technology that's already existing when she was born. She first saw My Little Pony on YouTube. She knows my online friends adore her antics that I post on social media.

But I have an argument to raise... indulge me. If you have a hundred friends on Facebook and it's your birthday tomorrow, most likely half of them will greet you. And half of the greeters do not even talk to you in person, haha. Thanks to notifications! You will instantly know if a person doesn't like you if she just "seenzones" you after greeting her a lengthy, heartfelt message on Facebook Messenger or Viber even if she's online 24/7. That's the digital world, you all! It has its ups and downs, we all know that. Let's admit it - it lost the simplicity and excitement of someone greeting you on your special day because of how it works. 

02 March 2015

Motherhood in the Time of Amoebiasis

It was in January, a day before my daughter's school's annual field trip, when I rushed her to the hospital. Her tummy ached so crazy, she said that it was as if there were little people sliding through her insides. The toilet were her saving grace and her face looked pallid after 7 sessions at the throne. It alarmed me and I knew it wasn't a simple diarrhea that porridge and banana can cure. After half a day of waiting for fecal and urine samples and a dramatic bloody scene for more laboratory tests, the doctor proclaimed she had Amoebiasis.


I'm sure you have already heard of it but allow me to Google it for you. According to KidsHealth.org, "Amoebiasis is an intestinal illness that's typically transmitted when someone eats or drinks something that's contaminated with a microscopic parasite, which is an amoeba, a single-celled organism. That's how the illness got its name — amoebiasis."

Why the hell would she have that and I didn't? We ate the same food, drank the same water! What went wrong that I did not notice?