New Year's Eve Menu

Just like last Christmas, we had a little New Year's Eve celebration at home. The menu consists of JM's favorite foods. The usual New Year's cake was his choice, white chocolate cake with glazed cherries.

He requested me to prepare spaghetti with chicken and mushroom sauce. We had meatballs sauce last Christmas.

And due to lack of preparation time, I had to order KFC and mashed potato to complete the menu of our New Year's Eve party.

According to Asian belief, oranges are said to bring good luck to the family on new year, so we also had these on our dinner table.

Guess what's in the glass bowl ? My favorite frozen fruit salad with whipped cream !

Happy eating !

BEST WISHES FOR THE YEAR 2010 !

from our family,
Linda, Nick and JM

Feast of the Holy Family

Painting by Claudio Coello

Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

The Holy Family Prayer

JESUS, Son of God and Son of Mary, bless our family. Graciously inspire in us the unity, peace and mutual love that you found in your own family in the little town of Nazareth.

MARY, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, nourish our family with your faith and your love. Keep us close to your Son, Jesus, in all our sorrows and joys.

JOSEPH, Foster-father to Jesus, guardian and spouse of Mary, keep our family safe from harm. Help us in all times of discouragement or anxiety.

HOLY FAMILY OF NAZARETH, make our family one with you. Help us to be instruments of peace. Grant that love, strengthened by grace, may prove mightier than all the weaknesses and trials through which our families sometimes pass. May we always have God at the center of our hearts and homes until we are all one family, happy and at peace in our true home with you.

Amen.

Thai Arts and Crafts

JM has no cathechism classes today because of the Christmas break, so we decided to have a family outing in Bangsaen, Ayutthaya. We visited a place called Bangsai Arts and Crafts Center which is under the patronage of the Queen of Thailand. The train above took us around the center grounds

The building above houses the exhibits and Thai arts and crafts are on sale here. Several buildings ("factories") where the arts and crafts are made can be found in the center grounds. Visitors are most welcomed to see how these are made.

JM poses at the center landmark.

The structure above is a sala, a Thai word which means a place to rest.

An example of a glass sculpture we saw at on display at one of the center's "factories".

Local inspired dolls on sale at the center. I bought a couple of pouch bags made of Thai silk for my two sisters and a coin key holder for my father as souvenirs.

Christmas Day Photos

One early Christmas morning, I excitedly went downstairs to open my gifts.

And I found this note from the gift giver, reminding me to be good at all times.

I hurriedly opened my gifts one by one and I loved each one of them ! I knew I can receive this much gifts only at Christmastime.

And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

The sacristy of the church was lined with bouquets and Christmas wreaths made of tinsels.


MERRY CHRISTMAS !

Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Christmas Eve

We had a little Christmas Eve dinner party for a family of three. Our favorite foods were served and we had cancelled our plan of attendng Christmas Eve mass because of heavy traffic on the way to the city. Instead, we decided on attending a morning mass on Christmas Day.

Our Christmas cake shown above was made of almonds and strawberry. The person who decorated the cake wasn't so good in English spelling. Notice the missing "s" on the word Christmas.

The family nativity set given to me as a Christmas gift by my late mom.

JM posed beside our 7 feet Christmas tree after dinner.

Teddy bears and gifts lined the base of our Christmas tree.

This Christmas garland made of Capiz shells was also a gift from my late mom,

We had a peaceful and prayerful Christmas Eve this year. I hope you had too.


A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL !

Handicrafts

After attending to some business in the city, we decided to visit IMPACT Muang Thong Thani to view an exhibit of Thai handicrafts from all over Thailand. Some were on display but mostly they were on sale. Elaborately designed wood carvings (photo above) caught my attention .

The art of designing bouquets using banana leaves and tiny aromatic flowers such as Jasmin and Ylang-Ylang was one of the highlights of the exhibition.

The photo above shows two clay pots and a ladle made of coconut shell. People from the north of Thailand drink water stored in these pots using the coco ladle.

The native booth above was used to demonstrate the ancient way of making cotton fiber from cotton plant and dying it.

Teak Wood Temple

In the province of Nontaburi, just outside Bangkok, we visited the temple grounds of Wat Sang Katan famous for its teak wood structure. The temple grounds is surrounded by water where visitors can find boat houses, wooden houses constructed on boats. When we arrived, the prayer chant was going on and Buddhist nuns were all over the place assisting the newly arrived devotees.

JM managed to smile while this photo was taken inspite of the heat and the glare of the noontime Sun.

Another boat house we saw that day. I have no idea what these boat houses are for , but there's a few of these on water.

A golden Buddha structure in a prayer/mediation pose on a dried pond in the temple grounds.

The teak wood temple.

A front view of the elaborately designed roof top.

A view from the side of the teak wood temple.

One of the teakwood columns showing a carving of the preaching Buddha.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

Luke 1:41-45

Parol

A parol shines brightly on the second level of our family home in Manila. Go to this link for a step by step instruction on how to make a parol.

Credit goes to my sister Belle for her permission to have this photo posted on this site.

Photos From Wat Pho

Yesterday, we dropped by Wat Pho for an uplanned visit. JM has never been here and as for me, it's been ages since I visited this temple for the first and last time. Otherwise known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, Wat Pho is one favorite tourist attraction here in Bangkok. We explored the temple grounds before entering the temple which houses the reclining Buddha.

Artistically designed walls and huge windows line one of the corridors in the temple that houses the statue of the reclining Buddha.

The head of the reclining Buddha with it's eyes made of mother of pearl.

Full length view of the reclining Buddha with JM in the foreground.

The sole of it's feet is made of mother of pearl and displays scenes of Chinese and Indian styles.

One of the giant statues of ancient warriors stands in the temple grounds.

An ancient styled gate guarded by the statue of ancient warriors. On the right side is the tallest chedi in the compound.

The temple belfry.

A couple of chedis in the background.

A mini temple.