unicef auction for action! bid now!

it all started out as an idea of my fellow unicef special advocate for children daphne osena-paez, and now, it is all up and running and ready to go! putting together passion for pinoy art and unicef's work, daphne, and our entire unicef philippines team, with guidance of our country representative vanessa tobin, we give you the first-ever unicef auction for action!!!!

here's a sneak peek at what the auction gallery looks like before the actual launch takes place! just for today, all the beautiful items up for bids can be seen at the greenbelt five gallery!



so many amazing filipino artists whole-heartedly donated their works of art to help make a difference in children's lives! we are all just so thankful for the overwhelming response!

featured artists are:

kenneth cobonpue
manny baldemor
michael cacnio
celestina
seb chua
araceli limcaco dans
kristine dee
janina dizon
mich dulce
tom epperson
accessory lab
ito kish
billy mondoñedo
ramon orlina
debbie palao
ling quisumbing ramilo
benji reyes
popo san pascual
vito selma
victor sollorano
paul syjuco
ricky toledo
chito vijandre
reg yuson
daphne osena-paez
jovan benito
jomar delluba
hamzah marbella
dominic rubio
juvenal sanso
chef tonyboy escalante
the azkals

these pinoys are amazing examples of sharing the talent GoD has given you to do good things! bless you all even more! :)

i'm not really an art collector nor do i have the funds to be able to bid for a lot of these items, but here are a few of my personal favorites from the list!



i am a huge fan of he who has been dubbed the rockstar of philippine design, kenneth cobonpue! after hearing him speak at a seminar on art that i recently attended, i became an even bigger fan of this genius. this is his piece harry rocking stool.



i love the playful sculptures of michael cacnio.. it always takes me back to my childhood! this is a piece he created specially for this unicef auction, ang munting pangarap.



this is such a cool table by vito selma. he calls it geo table. if i had my own home, i would love to have this in it.



the one and only ramon orlina donated this piece called a mother's enduring love. it is so beautiful.



i really like this painting mag-ina by dominic rubio. i love how it is so traditionally filipino, and how it focuses on the value of family.



who girl wouldn't love to own a celestina?! this is the nena saguil minaudiere. maybe when i save up enough money i can afford an exquisite clutch like this!



i am so proud to be friends with mich dulce. this girl has gone a long way and is doing crazy well in the international scene! she donated a minuature version of a hat she made for adam ant!



and to all boys who love football or girls who love football players, this is your chance! i am a huge football fan too! up for bids is an experience package with the azkals! join them in the dugout and watch their world cup qualifier match on july 3 from your exclusive seat!

absolutely all proceeds will go to raising awareness and funds for all of unicef's goals.. education, providing children with health care, access to safe water and sanitation, and protection from violence and abuse.



BID NOW! :)

click on the link below to direct you to the ebay.ph page of the unicef auction for action. just register, and if your bid wins, you can pay either cash, check, bank transfer, or credit card! its so simple! :) thank you so much in advance!!!! :)

party time! the kiddie way.

ever since my little, personal help kids learn project started in 2005, i've been so blessed to have family, friends, and supporters with golden hearts that are always willing to help!

aside from the regular school supplies distribution, every year, i also get together a group of friends to be ates and kuyas for the day to less fortunate little kids through a kiddie party.. where else, but in my favorite place as a kid and until now, mcdonald's!!!! :p





this was after christmas back in 2008, my first time to mount the kiddie party! we had incredibly sweet kids from tuloy sa don bosco join me and my beloved supporters. :)



for my birthday in 2009, i got my college and high school barkada to join me for the hklp kiddie party. they played ate and kuya for the day to kids from a depressed area in paranaque. :)



christmas later that year, i wanted to celebrate the season of giving with my supporters by taking them again to give their time and love to kids also from paranaque!





i'd now like to share with you a few photos of our kiddie party for this year, to celebrate the anniversary of the forum that my all-too-sweet supporters have been running for me. they are really the sweetest!



so the day starts out with the big ates and kuyas choosing who they would like to be their little brother or sister for the day. you know how when you meet someone, you instantly feel a connection with him or her? that's the idea behind this. :)




ate monica with katrina and francis, ate kate with dominic and crystal, ate jingky with amelyn, ate zoo with nico.




ate klaw with kathlene and marvin, ate sol with mark james, ate jill with princess, ate guica with junnel and john lloyd. (yes, john lloyd talaga! :p)




ate verna with leomar and john rey, ate jacq with sharra mae, ate glai with chris ivan, ate mau with jenne rose.




ate mitchie with queene, kuya chigo with rose ann, kuya calc with donna ann, my mom with daisy and mark james, the real ate and kuya of the kids. :)



the little kids played for cool mcdonald's prizes! one of the games of course is the walang kamatayang bring me!



there was a game for both the big kids and little kids, that was all about body parts! elbow to knee! shoulder to chin! haha! laugh trip tong laro na to.



then another game for the little kids to see how alert they are. a hybrid of the paa, tuhod, balikat, ulo chant!



of course the kids went wild when ronald and grimace came out! both little and big kids ang nagkagulo! haha!



the kids were also thrilled when they got to dance with ronald and the gang! :)



and on their own, a group of little girls presented a dance number on the spot! i was surprised to find out na mahilig sila sa lady gaga! :p



at the end of the day, i thanked the mcdonald's crew for never failing to throw amazing kiddie parties! the kids always have so much fun!!!! i had to thank all the wonderful kids from clinicville paranaque for lending their time, their stories, and their zest for life! i also had to thank the awesome biancsters, angels, pudgies, and even new twitter friends for making the kiddie party possible. at the end of the day the big kuyas and ates gave simple gifts to their little brothers and sisters, and hopefully in return they take home with them some life lessons learned. :)



the day would also not be complete without my mom who helped me put everything together, and who also instilled in me since i was a kid, the importance of giving back and sharing your blessings. thank you also to my nanay virgie who always helps out at the kiddie party, and who is a major force in making things happen for help kids learn project! :)



thank you for the love and support by making this help kids learn project shirt. so sweet. :)



here's a parting shot from the whole group! i hope that during your next celebration, may it be a birthday, may it be christmas, an anniversary, or just a celebration of blessings, that you may also share what has been so generously given to you, to others. :)

God is good, all the time! :)

meet my mom. ♥

my mom's name is ma. ofelia malasmas gonzalez, ofel for short. and no, she wasn't a model. she was a banker, and for 31 long years. she may not have been a "model", but she was, and is, a role model. :) here are some photos of my mom when she was only 24 years old. :)







isn't she beautiful?

if its true that a woman will more or less look like her mom when she grows up, then i have absolutely nothing to worry about. when my friends see my mom, they can't hardly believe she's a senior citizen! my mom seriously only looks like she's only in her early 50s. :) here is my beautiful and youthful now 62-year old mom, and proud lola to our family's joy, roco. :)



i've said it before and i'll say it again. i am so proud of how my mom brought me, my brother jc, and my sister aissa up. her and my dad did such a good job, and for that, we will be forever thankful. my mom is an awesome mix of traditional and modern, strict and lenient, serious and fun. it was not easy for her, there were many heartaches and troubles along the way, but she was strong, and she was loving, and now, she has three grown little pigs (that's what she calls us siblings) that she can be proud of. ♥

sometimes, we grown ups think that we can do it all on our own. but when certain things happen in our lives, just like the kids we once were, we automatically "run to mommy". i remember before when i was heartbroken, i was so devastated and didn't really want to be alone.. for three months straight, every single night, i would sleep in my mom's room. she put up with my late night tv viewing, the clicking of the keyboard on my laptop, my occasional crying out of nowhere. she didn't pry, but just her presence comforted me. til the day came that i became okay. and being my mother, i knew she knew it. :)

i really pray to God that when the time comes for me to become a mom, that i can do as good a job as she did. :) i don't get to say it so often, but i love you mommy, and thank you for everything.

happy mother's day to all moms reading this, and happy mother's day to your mom, you reading this! ♥

food tripping from east to west!

spent a wonderful holy week traveling alone, visiting family and friends in the states. it was a whirlwind, jampacked, action-filled four days, and writing about my escapades plus sorting through hundreds of photos might take forever! so, for the time being, i decided to post about the second best thing about my trip.. the food!!!!

it is undeniable that new york and san francisco have some of the best places to eat, from fine dining to hole-in-the-wall finds, from family-friendly restos to snack bars! for this trip, i'd like to share with you where i pigged out! :)



new york!

the doughnut plant!
379 grand street
doughnutplant.com


a newly opened cafe in chelsea, one of my favorite areas in new york! my friend dante who lives in the city took me here, and he told me that this used to be a stall people line up half an hour to an hour for! now they've expanded from a stand-up-get-in-line affair to a cozy hang out! good call, i say.



fresh off a red eye flight, coffee and a perk-me-up breakfast was my priority. and since i love donuts, this place was heaven to me! with non-cheesy donut designs on the wall and on the seats, with an over all industrial mood, this place had pretty cool interiors!



their flavors range from the usual chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla, to peanut butter, creme brulee, and blackberry jelly!



i went for a hot cup of mocha, a vanilla donut, and their super specialties, the tres leches and the carrot cake. wow, wow, wow! sooo yummy! the carrot cake has crunchy sugar bits and a cinammon aftertaste, and the tres leches has a thin, rich filling when you bite into the donut. heaven!!!!



lombardi's pizza!
32 spring street
firstpizza.com


this traditional pizza place is located in yet another favorite area of mine in the city, soho! just a few blocks off broadway, don't go too late or else you might have to wait for a table!



the interiors are quite warm and cozy! they're mainly a pizza place but they do serve salads on the side. they don't serve pasta though! i personally prefer pizza over pasta so that wasn't a problem for me!



we ordered their famous margherita pizza, and added garlic, cheese, and half anchovies, half pepperoni. it was a winner! its a nicely-thin thin crust pizza, its not too thin or flaky, its just the right level of crispy and chewy.



the big winner for us though was the white pizza! ayayay, so delicious! we're guessing its made of a whole bunch of cheeses put together, a perfect mix of salty and sweet and rich and strong. a must try!



bread!
20 spring street
nymag.com~bread


after a super full lunch, decided to walk down the food and have a cup of hot something - coffee, tea, or chocolate - at this quaint cafe just down the street. i've always passed by this place before, and its always pretty full! that's usually a good gauge if a place is worth it or not. :)



weather was nice and cold at 8°C, but the sun was out, so the weather was really perfect! so perfect that we decided to sit outside and watch the world go by. sitting in coffee shops and people watching. one of my most favorite things to do. :)



i was with two fabulously creative gay friends, biboy and erick, and a photography enthusiast friend, dante, and the moment i spotted this super cool bike parked beside our table, an impromptu pictorial on the street took place. so much fun! :p



republic!
37 union square west
thinknoodles.com


a very laid back, canteen-type, asian fusion place that serves awesome thai and vietnamese food! its full with tourists and students, but i still think its a great place to dine in. on a side note, before coming to the restaurant, walking across union square, my friend mikko and i saw spike lee coming out of barnes and noble! in his knicks jersey! so cool.



we ordered the grilled chicken skewers, fried wontons, and green papaya mango salad. all delicious!



and of course.. the pad thai! i think they have excellent pad thai here. one of the best i've ever tasted. on the side and not in the photograph, i ordered one of my all time favorite drinks, the ca phe sua da, its vietnamese iced coffee with milk!



the dessert truck!
usually on 3rd ave and st. mark's, or astor place
dt-works.net


i feel like a kid all over again when i see the dessert truck! the truck is not always there, but when you catch it, you feel like you've struck gold! :p thanks to technology, you can now find out where they will be an when! follow them on twitter @desserttruck!



i loooove their warm chocolate bread pudding! its heaven in a cup for only $6! its a mix of warm and cold, of molten and crunchy, of sweet and a bit of salty! so, so, so, so good.



and, of course the new york part of my post will not be complete without a new addition to my tumbling shot collection! so here i am, tumbling in central park! :)







san francisco!

mama's on washington sqaure!
1701 stockton street
mamas-sf.com


famous with the locals for breakfast and lunch and open only from 8AM to 3PM, that people wait half an hour to an hour and a half in line for! come at 830AM and the line is already this long! and we were there on a tuesday morning, what more on weekends? is it worth that long a wait? oh, yes it is.



we waited a bit over 30 minutes to get a table, and so by the time we did, my godson roco was a bit rowdy and hungry that his mama had to bring out her secret weapon to distract roco. the sesame street placemat. it has elmo, big bird, zoe, and its an activity mat where you can point at characters and ask questions on them! very cool!



i ordered what seemed to be like a hybrid of eggs benedict and corned beef hash with potatoes on the side, and wow! it was cooked to perfection! not too done, just right. divine.



i absolutely love pancakes and this place is famous for their buttermilk pancakes and so i just had to order that as well! perfectly fluffy and not too heavy, buttery in just the right way, with really glorious maple syrup, and lean, crunchy bacon on the side. crazy delicious!



burma superstar!
309 clement street
burmasuperstar.com


i love trying different cuisines, and so when my brother asked me, "would you like to have burmese food?" i instantly jumped at the thought and said, "yes!" but yet again, this is another place that you have to fall in line for if you come late, so we made sure we were there as soon as it opened for dinner, at 530PM.



this is their famous tea salad. yes, tea, as in tea leaves! on the menu it says that they literally get the tea leaves from burma. i will take their word for that. sounds weird, and its weird to see tea leaves in the salad, but wow. wow, wow, wow. the bitter tea leaves, with the taste of garlic and peanuts, and all the other secret stuff in it. it tastes heavenly.



the coconut rice is perfect for countering the spicy food! burmese food is in my opinion a mix of indian and thai food. and i love both! burmese cuisine did not disappoint at all! they have all these great flavors that burst in your mouth!



we all love lamb and so it was a unanimous decision among my brother jc, sister-in-law tracy, and i to try out their chili lamb. i am not a big fan of chili but this dish i absolutely loved!



mitchell's
688 san jose avenue
mitchellsicecream.com


a san francisco institution for 50 years! considering it was a chilly night at around 10°C, and there were that many people, and that was already around 830PM, they must have really good ice cream! then again, who doesn't love ice cream? :)



this is yet another place where the lines get really long. you get in and take a number, and the wait is around half an hour. this was a cold spring evening! imagine this place on a hot summer afternoon!



there were so many enticing flacors to choose from! i was choosing between kahlua mocha cream, mexican chocolate (which tracy said tastes very cinnamon-y, and i love cinnamon), peanut butter indulgence (even just the name sounds indulgent), but the winner was espresso toffee crunch! i was already so full from dinner, but i never seem to be too full for ice cream! :p


mitchell's is also the place where my brother and tracy discovered that.. roco loves ice cream! :)



flying fish grill!
99 san mateo road, half moon bay
flyingfishgrill.net


on my last day, my best friend pepel who lives in san francisco with his lovely wife pat, decided to pick me up form the city and drive through the beautiful, scenic half moon bay, and then see where he and pat live in fremont. on the way he asked if i was in the mood for a hole-in-the-wall seafood place, and i love hole-in-the-wall places to eat, and so lunch was set!



this is their famous crabby cheesy bread. wow! like nothing i've ever tasted before! its like pizza, that's like bread with toppings, that's like bruschetta, i don't know! its a mix of all of those! but it is crabby, and the fresh, meaty crab okay, not the processed type, and a whole lotta chesse! this was super!


we had the cioppino, which is apparently the term for fishermen's stew. its a tomato based soup where there really is no recipe. what is in it depends on the catch of the day. put it all together and.. tadaaaa!



i'm a big fan of fish and chips. i know its such a boring order, but i can't help it, i love french fries and i love fish deep fried in batter! the best fish and chips i've tasted uses halibut, but they use cod and its delicious as well! no fail comfort food!



between pel and i, we must've ordered around five dishes! this place is so far from where we both stay, so we took the chance to just order lots to get to try as much as we can! he ordered crabby cheesy bread to go for his wife pat, which he said will score him extra pogi points. haha! they're expecting their first baby in september and i can't hardly wait to meet him or her! :)



starbelly!
3583 16th street
starbellysf.com


i've been to san francisco so many times and i've always wanted to go to the gay district castro! finally on this trip i got to go, and while in the area, we ate at this restaurant that my brother and tracy have been wanting to try for the longest time, starbelly!



for starters, we ordered this delicious cod dip with bread. the dip is a mix of salty cod and mashed potato, and i think there's a bit of cheese in there too. by the end of the night, this was the only thing roco ended up eating!



tracy said she usually doesn't order chicken but this time around, the chicken with mushroom risotto appealed to her, and so she took a chance, and was very, very happy with her order! one of the few times chicken was actually good, she says!


i ordered the short ribs and i'm not kidding, but it was the most delicious short ribs i've ever tasted! it came with a whole lot of broccoli, and i love broccoli, and it had lots of garlic, and this odd but interesting wasabi taste in it that gave it just the right bite!


for all of us to share, my brother ordered their home-made chorizo, sunny eggs, and cilantro pizza. sounds interesting, and tastes interesting! not typical for a pizza, but still really good! and we love cilantro! and chorizo! heck, we love pizza!



and to end my san francisco food post, i give you, my tumbling shot in union square! :)








roco seemed to enjoy food tripping with his mama, daddy, and ninang bianc. :) my godson has the oddest but coolest taste in food. he actually likes fruits and vegetables, and likes exotic tasting dishes as well! he takes after his parents. i just had to take a photo of him in this shirt that i really find so cuuuute! it says, "i'm not small, i'm fun size"!






after all the eating i did over holy week, which was around five really full meals in one day, plus snacks! its time to work out and burn all the junk! what better extra motivation for me than a whole bag of new outfits from lulu lemon?! yaay! plus.. i love how their shopping bag has inspiring quotes written all over it..

creativity is maximized when you are living in the moment.

your outlook on life is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself.

that which matters the most should never give way to that which matters the least.



hope you all had an awesome holy week as well. ♥