A Tribute to my Amah, Carmen Bayona

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My grandmother, Carmen, or Mameng as she was affectionately called by her friends, was a lucky
woman. She had a nice house, nice things, always had a lot of friends around her, has 4 beautiful
children, and 9 grandchildren who adored her. She was lucky because of all these blessings but
most of all she was lucky because she had a man who loved her like no other.
 
        

My grandfather, Jorge, is a model husband. He treated amah like a queen. There was never a
birthday of hers or an anniversary where he wouldn’t give her flowers. On one of her birthdays,
when she was in a conference in Cebu and away from him, he secretly had flowers sent to her
hotel. Be it taking out food from Jollibee, or pushing her on her wheelchair around the mall, no
task was too small or big for our angkong to do for her beloved Carmen. She was his muse,
his best friend, constant movie date, his bowling companion and the light of his life.

       

Yesterday morning, on a clear and beautiful day, we buried her. I’ve only know her for the 31
years that I’ve been living on this earth, so I cannot even begin to imagine what my angkong is
going through losing his companion of 61 years. When I think about angkong sobbing on her
coffin saying to her “See you soon, darling” my heart always breaks.

For a time when I was young, she was like a second mother to me and my sister. My parents
used to work in the province so she and my angkong would bring us to school, to the mall, to
the doctor and patiently waited for us while we played at Paco Amusement Center in SM. And
when I became a mother, she loved my kids just as much. There would always toys or some
kind of gift waiting for my kids when we visited her at my mom’s house. Just yesterday, we
found a Christmas gift that she planned to give to my kids in her cabinet, not yet even wrapped.
A sad sight for me but a happy surprise for my kids who have yet to understand death.

 

It’s been only 6 days since she passed away and the pain is still fresh. I miss her. I miss the
sound of her happy voice and her laughter. I miss her jokes and constant teasing. I miss the
sound of her sewing machine. I miss how she would excitedly tell me that she’d bring my
kids to Megamall to play. I miss the way she’d cheerfully say hi to my friends who would come
over our house. But I know that she is now at rest and happy, freely walking without assistance
or wheelchair around the golden fields of heaven. At least this gives me a bit of comfort. And
I know in my heart that someday, just like angkong said, I will see her again.  

Carmen Midel Bayona
May 15, 1928 – Jan 21, 2011

Flipped

This is the sweetest and cutest movie about first love.
Thanks to Bernice for letting me watch with you and RJ for
lending us your room as usual :) hehehe

It’s originally a book by Wendelin Van Draanen that is set in contemporary times but director,
Rob Reiner changed it to a period film set in the 50’s and 60’s which I think is perfect :)

The book cover design is really cute too :) I must get this.

And it has the cutest actors :)

I wish Rob Reiner would make more films like this :)

1st Attempt at Baking

OK, I cheated a little. I had a little help from the Pillsbury doughboy and our cook Leni :) 

I shopped for the Brownies ingredients and materials back in November last year


I have never baked before so I was a bit scared to start. I kept putting it off tuloy. hehehe

But it’s something I can do with the kids so yesterday I finally tried to bake :)

First, I set up everything that I’ll be needing on the table

I read and reread the instructions several times just to make sure I get everything right :)

Adi kept brushing dust and little hairs on everything so I had to wash the bowl and
pan several times.

Then I put in all the ingredients. egg, oil, water, syrup and the brownie mix.

The kids had fun mixing :)

Transfer to pan

Then put in the oven! :) Yay! Ok, we’re not retarded that we need labels for our
appliances. This is for my kids so they learn how to spell :) hehehe


After 20 minutes the kids wanted their brownies na.

Then tada! Slightly burnt brownies :) I had some problem with the heat
(Fahrenheit / Celsius problem) so the sides were a bit tutong.

Kids loved it :) I must let them help out in the kitchen more.
I think they liked eating the brownies cause they helped make it.

Fun and yummy :) It was even yummier after it had been in the refrigerator overnight.

Will be doing this again with the kids soon :) 

Eva Ziesel

Thanks Reg for introducing her to me! :) 

I want to watch this documentary called Throwing Curves!
It’s about this industrial designer/ceramist, Eva Ziesel.
.

She will be a 105 years old this year. You would never think that this frail old woman was once
imprisoned in the Soviet Union for 16 months, 12 months of which was was spent in solitary
confinement. Yikes! She was accused of participating in an assassination plot against Stalin.
After she was released, she was then deported to Vienna, Austria.

Eva was born in 1906 in Budapest, Hungary. She was the first woman who learned the craft
of making ceramics and she worked for German ceramic manufacturers until the Nazis took
over in Germany. Being Jewish, she was forced to migrate to the U.S. with her husband.

She released 2 designs in 2010, a lounge chair and a salt and pepper shaker.
Not bad for a 104 year old :)

Here are some of her works:

CERAMICS

Bird Salt and Pepper Shaker

vases from her modern classic Upright series

I’ve seen this before but I never knew it was by her :)

more Salt and Pepper shakers. Cute!

Wood / Brass

Candle Holders

Furniture

Folding Chair

Carpet Design

Here’s the trailer of Throwing Curves:

Learn more about Eva here: Eva Ziesel

HOOT

While waiting for my friends at National Bookstore yesterday, I saw this really cute
children’s book called Hoot. The cover is just the eyes and beak of an owl.

I love simple design :)

The story seems interesting and I was gonna buy it but I wanted to check
out the reviews for it online first.

I know I’m 31 already, but sometimes I still like reading children’s books.
Especially if I like the cover design :)

I remember buying the book Stargirl a couple of years ago cause I also liked
the cover. And I loooooved the story so I hope Hoot is as good too.

Anyway, reviews for Hoot seem good so it looks like I’ll be buying the book.

And, it turns out, a movie of it was made back in 2006 starring Luke Wilson.

I wonder why I’ve never heard of this movie before . . . .
I’ll have to remember to ask my brother to download this for me. hehehe.

Guess what I Made the Other Day?!?!?!

Ever since my other post (cute and creative) about the miniature objects
I’ve been obsessing on making miniatures of my own :) 

So I asked my cousin Berly to buy me some balsa wood from this arts
and crafts store I used to go in UST. (Yay Joli’s)

Last Friday I finally got the wood! Yay! You’re the best Berl’s ;)

So here’s the step by step procedure of how to make a tiny pencil:

1. Cut a small piece of board then half in two. Slice a thin space in the middle to hold a
mechanical pencil lead

2. Place the lead in the middle and glue the two pieces of wood together. I used white glue

3. Shave down with a cutter until it looks like a pencil :)

4. Copy the color of a big pencil

5. For the silver and eraser part I got some help from a Wrigley’s wrapper (Thanks Auntie Arlene :)

and my mom’s old eraser:

6. Put all together and voila!

I still need to paint it with a plastic coating to make it shiny but I’m happy with the result :)

Anyway, after this project, I suddenly became excited to make more miniatures!
So I chose another easy project . . .

A toilet paper roll!

Here are the steps:

1. Cut out a piece of brown thick paper into this shape:

2. Roll it into a tube and glue

3. Cut a long strip from a real tissue roll

4. Trim to the same length as the tube then roll onto the tube

5. Then trim some more and voila!

Isn’t it the cutest?


They’re now part of my sister’s collection :) 

Now what to make next? . . .

My Work Space Wishlist

If I had my own space for work and for arts and crafts I’d want the following:

A table as long as this. The lamp looks good too

Some of the color from this space:

Some nicknacks like these (yes, my taste is eclectic):

Because I love tables, I’d probably have another table like this,
but with a cutting board covering the whole table:

Glass windows and a view like this:

Little organizers like these:

An inspiration board like this but bigger:

A lounge area like this:

An indoor swing somewhere like this:

Something like this on the wall to put all my bird trinket collection:

Red drawers like this:

Some splash of color on the floor like this:

High ceiling and a wall of shelves like this:

A birdhouse display on part of a wall like this:

A little nook like this for when my kids join me in my space:

And a bench by my glass window like this (pang muni-muni):

And a cushy daybed in the corner like this:

I know this will probably be a really, really large space but hey, i can dream right? :)

Why We Cried in the Car the Other Day . . .

Me and my sister Reg, thankfully, have the same taste in music. So it’s
always fun when I ride in the car with her and she turns on her iPod

Anyway, the other day, we were listening to this K’s Choice song that
we loved called "If You’re Not Scared".

This is a great album, by the way.

We always sang along but we never really understood the lyrics.
So we started dissecting the lyrics and we concluded that it was about
her relationship with her father who’s dying. Now we don’t even really
know if her dad is still alive or not but we started crying.

Really good music does that to you sometimes.

K’s Choice

Anyway, here’s the lyrics and the song, see for yourself if we concluded right.

IF YOU"RE NOT SCARED
Outside it’s raining, still you shine
How I’ve missed your trembling hands inside of mine
I’ve been away for ages, still you care
Do you count the Sundays when I’m there

Teach me how to watch this game
The way you see it through your magical frame
Time is ticking, try to see
That I am you and you are me

Don’t deny that you’re afraid to go
Don’t deny that you want to cry
Look around and watch your children grow
I feel love in every sigh
If you’re not scared, then why am I

Tell me stories, tell me more
Make me feel guilty for being bored
Tell me how to pick up things I’ve dropped
Please keep talking, never stop

Don’t deny that you’re afraid to go
Don’t deny that you want to cry
Look around and watch your children grow
I feel love in every sigh
Pray for eternity to fly
Don’t understand but how I try
If you’re not scared, then why am I I feel love in every sigh
Pray for eternity to fly
Don’t understand but how I try
If you’re not scared, then why am I…

Sniff . . .

Letters to God

The minute kids start talking, they become the funniest little people.
And what’s even funnier is that they don’t even know it :)
You don’t have to be a mom to notice this.

Just read some of these children’s letters to God. So adorable :)

This is my favorite:

I have the same prayer as this kid:


Only, mine would be something like this:

"Dear God, please make me live until our civilization would be
like in Star Trek where we get to fly in space ships and meet
other civilizations from other planets. And please let there
really be some form of Vulcan race out there cause
that would be really cool. Thanks"

hehehe

Anyway, you can read all of the letters here: Dear God

The Dutch Sure Know How to Care for Their Sick :)

The first time I entered the Medical City Hospital in Ortigas, I remember thinking, wow, Hotel-ish.
hehehe. So that’s where I gave birth to all 3 of my kids :) So, yes, the lobby was the deciding factor
for me! hahaha

Well, this afternoon I saw this article in FRAME magazine about some hospitals that are
changing their architecture to make it more patient friendly. The article posed the question

"Can Good Design Help with Healing?"

Well, the Dutch seem to think so :) The’yre making their hospitals look less like hospitals
and more like luxury hotels :) Somewhere that a sick person would actually like to be confined in.

Here are some of the hotels hospitals from the article:

Orbis Medical Park (Sittard, Netherlands)
Love the lamps

Actually, this one looks more like an airport terminal ;) 
But isn’t it less claustrophobic? So cool and airy.

I remember seeing a room like this on the show HOUSE. The large door openings make
more sense, especially when you have to wheel in those big hospital beds.

Emma Children’s Hospital (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
I just love the illustrations on the glass. Cute

Groot Klimmendaal Rehabilation Center (Arnhem, Netherlands)
If I were a patient, I would love to see those trees outside my room

Isn’t the view super relaxing?

The text underneath says that the interior is designed to radiate wellness :)

Aren’t these the coolest environmental graphic icons?

All I can say is buti pa sila. hahahaha. I heard that St. Luke’s at the Global City looks hotel-ish too
but I have yet to visit it. Anyway, saka na when I’m sick again. But not anytime soon I hope :D