Back in a Mo!

Photo Credit

Around about this time of year, I always drop this word, "hiatus". It's the holiday season, you see, and even bloggers need their holidays.

In the last 4 Decembers since I started this blog, I've always had to study for final exams or travel through Europe so my hiatus always came early, around mid-November onwards.

This year, I didn't have any more exams left since I finished my studies. And so I stayed a while longer blogging, but I would still like to take some time off.

I think a lot can be said about refreshing and re-energising one's soul. The holiday season with its festive mood does that for me.

Anyway, I hope to see you guys back in January. Have the very best of the holidays. After all, this moment...this interlude...now...is really the most wonderful time of the year.

What I Know For Sure...On Being an Accountant



I've always professed that being an accountant was never my idea in the first place. I've got a long love-hate relationship with accounting. And to tell the truth, it really would not have been my career choice. It was my mother's.

But somehow fate seems determined to prove me wrong. I had a real knack at mathematics and debits and credits...and my destiny seemed sealed.

Fast forward to a few years later, I finished my accounting degree and was working in the accounting field. And although it had been a profitable union between accounting and me, I still insisted that it wasn't my passion.

Another few years, when the subject of further studies came up, I decided to pursue management accounting. Not totally convinced that it was what I wanted, but acknowledged that if I do eventually get certified, it would impact a lot in terms of my career and salary.

Well, I am proud to announce that a few weeks ago, I am confirmed to have received my Canadian CPA accreditation.

I've reached the top. Or rather, my top, my mountain of mountains, my leap and bound. It really has been an extremely long road.

I dedicate this achievement to my mom, who always believed I could do it, who knew this was the best for me even if I couldn't see it then. I was really good at understanding accounting concepts. I used to say that it was because my mom was an accountant as if accounting was some kind of genetic disease that could be passed down to generations.  I never really thought that there was likely a better reason why I did so well at it. It might have been a secret passion that was so secret, even to me.

Maybe because I was such a rebellious daughter then that I always equated becoming an accountant by heart would truly turn me out to be my mother's daughter after all.

I don't now. I've realised that accounting had become one of a few real connections I had with my mother.

Somehow I don't quite believe myself nowadays when I say that accounting was just an alternative career for me, something I did for my mother. After all, I've worked so hard to get to the top. If I didn't really want it badly enough, what the hell am I doing here?

Accounting has become more than a profession and a passion. It's become a way of life. My life.

Summer Getaway - the Macarons

 After sampling some on the old streets of Quebec City, we made the resolve to bring back some macarons. With all the sights and scenes we tried to cram into the week-long summer getaway, we gave very little time to look for the right spot to get our macarons from.

Luckily for Google Maps, it pointed us to Point G. Point G is a little shop on a busy main street in Montreal. It is unassuming but once you see images of giant macarons on the shop's facade, it becomes increasingly hard to miss.

Point G from the outside

As we walked in, we were immediately overwhelmed by macarons. Macarons of all colours and taste were on display everywhere. Macarons, macarons....well, you get the idea. It's macaron heaven.

Although it was really hard to make choices, the box only held 10 macarons each, we managed to make away with 4 boxes.

Once we got home, we tried some right away. They looked great...and they tasted great! No regrets on buying them at a random shop suggested by a GPS and a lot of thanks to Google Map.

Imagine our recent delight to find out that Point G macarons are available in Mississauga. The hunt is definitely on!

Summer Getaway Day 7 - Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Looks so real, you can almost go through it

Today was the day. Well, actually....that day was THE day.

I had the city all to myself. In actual fact, I wanted to visit the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts but nobody wanted to come with me so it was meant to be a self-exploration day.

To prepare for my trip, I downloaded the bus routes for The city and got some tips from my sister-in-law, a local resident of Montreal.

I got to the museum on my own, with no hitch.

Instagram photo by jamie250196

The museum was inspiring to say the least. Getting surrounded by art masterpieces of great artists made me feel like creative juices were pumping into my heart.

Am I starting to look like Picasso more and more?

 

Some were odd, some were nice, some were weird, some were in symmetry....I really lost myself in that place. Of particular interest were paintings and busts of Napoleon and how the French Revolution came to be. I love depictions of the  past and I guess these art pieces were calling out to the history buff within me.

Napoleon portrait

Spent a great part of the afternoon at the museum until I felt it was time to go home. Rode the bus and did not miss my stop...which was a good thing since I probably wouldn't have been able to extricate myself from the French city if I had gotten lost indeed.

For more information about a visit to the museum, check their website out.

MMFA from across the street

 

Writer's Workshop: The Bee and I

3. Write about your favorite place to eat when you were a child.

Instagram photo by jamie250196

Eons ago when I was just a young child of 8, growing up in the Philippines, I had a slight hamburger addiction with Jollibee. I remember hounding my mom almost every single day to pass by my favourite fast food joint just so I could get my fix of a Jollibee burger.

Of course, it did not hurt that Jollibee ran a weekly toy promotion as well. I recall that I had a complete collection of Jollibee pencil toppers, piggy banks, glasses, stationery, you name it. While others played and talked with their Barbie and Ken dolls, I played house with the Jollibee mascots.

Our family did not have a lot of money then for my frivolous obsession, but I managed to amass my collectibles because my mother catered my whim. My earliest recollection was that my mom and I would visit a Jollibee restaurant and buy my hamburger so she could get a toy with it. And since I couldn't really eat a whole lot of burgers after that, my mom would ask some other customers for their food receipts so that she could use it to buy another toy.

I used to feel ashamed that my mom did this. As if having little money or not having enough to buy a hamburger somehow diminished the real meaning behind gathering the toy collectibles. Little did I know how incredibly bratty I acted. Little did I understand how completely selfless my mom was for this sacrifice. Little did I realise that the collectibles were actually signs of the unconditional love of a mother for her child.

Not soon after, we left the Philippines and I got over my fixation. I didn't bring a single collectible with me when I left.

I've visited the Philippines 3 times in the last 20 years and on each visit, I never forget to pass by my favourite childhood fast food chain, Jollibee. I sit there and reminisce my childhood and of the motherly love I was showered with. I miss talking to them pencil toppers sometimes. :-)

But I'm probably just missing my mom too.

***Jollibee is a Philippine multinational chain of fast foods restaurant.

Summer Getaway Day 6 - La Citadelle du Quebec

Family photo

The tour of La Citadelle du Quebec turned out to be a much better experience than the one we did at the Plains of Abraham.

I don't know what it is with men in red uniform but I simply love looking at them as they stand guard and refuse to bat an eye or divulge a movement. I think this has something to do with my visit to the United Kingdom a few years back when I first laid eyes on a man in red uniform at Buckingham Palace....but I digress.

Hubby tries his hand at the red uniform



As I said, the visit to La Citadelle was quite enthralling. La Citadelle is perched atop the Gibraltar of America, housing Canada's Royal 22° Regiment, and is the largest British fortress built in North America (according to official website).

The tour took us to all the corners of the place. We got to see the barracks, the mess hall, the military prison, etcetera. There was so much to see and so much information to digest that it was all almost surreal.

As you enter, the gardens have various statues and a flowery reminder "Je me souviens", meaning "I Remember". It is the official motto of Quebec.

 

Right at the top we got a very good view of Quebec City.

Since it was a military attraction, it would not be complete if it didn't include cannons and tanks. We even got the chance to stay and witness the firing of the cannon.

 



The interactive museum at La Citadelle was good but I felt that the Plains of Abraham had a better one. Maybe it was because of the cool audio-visual clips that the Plains of Abraham had, clearly highlighting the battle between the French and the English. Nonetheless, La Citadelle, as a whole, was entertaining and full of military history tidbits, if you're into that kind of thing.
 

Visit La Citadelle du Quebec's official website.
 

Quebec City Accommodation - Hotel Manoir Victoria



Photo from the website

During our visit to Quebec City, we stayed at the Hotel Manoir Victoria.

Hotel Manoir Victoria can be found within the Fortificiation wall and is part and parcel of Old Quebec.

I wanted us to be able to take in the authenticity of Old Quebec and so decided that a stay within the wall would do it.

It did wonders. The hotel was close to everything. Every little shop was within walking distance that we did not really our car to explore.

The hotel is situated on a busy street. It also has valet parking, which is not visible from the street. It is included when you book reservations. As you enter the hotel, you are greeted by a few flights of stairs. The front desk can be found atop the stairs.

The hotel has 4 stars and did not disappoint. Very clean, very modern and very nice - can all describe the room that we got (as pictured above). It was big enough for 5 people.

All in all, our stay at Hotel Manoir Victoria was uneventful and satisfactory. It was nice and warm...which is what you would want for any hotel stay in an unfamiliar city anyways. I'm glad we stayed there.



Photo from the website

 

Sam Strucked!

Instagram photo by jamie250196

I so rarely see real life celebrities that I must post about it on the blog whenever I do.

Okay, I'm not talking about going to concerts and buying show tickets. Of course then that would mean that we would get to see the stars. What I mean is, chance occasions or in this case, a free live event.

Each year in Mississauga, this Fiesta Ng Kalayaan festival is held. Fiesta Ng Kalayaan means the festival of freedom in Tagalog. The festival normally features local Filipino talents and different showbiz guest stars.

This year's featured artist was Sam Milby. Now I'm not really much of a showbiz fan since I've been out of the Philippines for quite a while. But I've heard of Sam Milby and have seen him in some movies. I reckon he was quite the heartthrob and so decided that the festival warranted an attendance this year.

Instagram photo by jamie250196

Sam did not disappoint. He got on the stage, sang for, conversed with, charmed us. He did not have this air of being a celebrity about him. In fact, he was down-to-earth and truly likeable. Even hubby commented that Sam was "artista ng masa", which translates to "people's artist". Sam was very accommodating, gentle and he genuinely seemed fun to be with.

It has been several months now since Fiesta ng Kalayaan but I still get the chills as I write this post. I'm not fangirling....I think I'm a tad old for that. I am just easily impressed with celebrities who are endearing without trying too hard. And Sam was just that. He had an ounce of charisma, of wit, of good looks, of everything just right. Seeing Sam Milby that day was really some kind of special and I just wanted to share that.

Summer Getaway Day 5 - Fortification of Quebec

The Wall

Luckily I had booked our hotel within the Fortification wall.

Let me explain. Quebec City is a city that is divided with places that are outside the wall and places that are within the wall. The wall that divides the city is called the Fortification of Quebec.

When you pass through the wall, it feels as if you've been thrown back to medieval times and you are living, breathing Old Québécois life. Okay, so maybe the big M McDonalds sign at the bottom of the street is no help, but everything inside the wall feels so authentic that even the air tells you that you have left civilization.

McDonalds up ahead

 

After taking some photos with the Wall, we walked around the streets of Old Quebec. Well, there is really no better way to roam and experience Old Quebec than on foot. We found another Notre Dame Basilica but this time we chose not to go in. We visited the small shops and  ate dinner at a quaint Chinese restaurant just opposite the church.

Notre Dame in Quebec City

We walked some more and found a bakery that seemed to be bustling with people clamouring for macarons and gelato. We wanted both and so wasted no time in getting inside to taste the delicacies.

We could've walked a bit more but we decided to call it an early night. We were pooped from travelling so early and the hassles of the day really tired us. We vowed that tomorrow would be a better day.

Summer Getaway Day 5 - Plains of Abraham

Instagram photo by jamie250196

We tried to leave early that morning to make our way to Quebec City but still wound up leaving an hour late. Quebec City was at least two and a half hours away from Montreal and we had a full two days of frolicking planned for it. In the end though, it probably was not meant to be. Out of the whole Quebec City leg, we did not really get to see as much as we wanted.

Our first frustration occurred upon arrival. The city streets were fraught with road constructions. The GPS could not really tell us exactly where to go without hitting one of the construction sites that we wasted a whole hour just trying to find the Plains of Abraham.

At one point we were already actually at the Plains but I had wanted to go to the tourist centre to check out the interactive museum and book a bus ride, so we went around and around and woe was us.

It was really quite difficult to manoeuvre streets you've never seen before. No matter how prepared you are, armed with Google Map and the Tomtom, unknown territories can be quite overwhelming. After the hour, in my desperation, I decided to call it quits and head for the hotel.

The GPS urged us to take yet another turn and voila! The visitors centre for the Plains of Abraham stood right in front of us. How's that for dumb luck?

We signed up for the bus trip but had a whole hour to wait. So we went through the interactive museum. We went through a series of audio visual clips of how the French and the English were fighting, and how the Plains of Abraham came to be. The French-English battle for the City was all but 20 minutes, but it was a historic battle that would forever change a country.

We learnt why Quebec stayed a French province although the English won the battle. We were shown why La Citadelle, the fort next door to the Plains, was a security key point in Canada.

The bus ride was equally entertaining. Madame Abraham, the wife of the famous Abraham who owned the Plains, drove us around and talked about areas on the Plains where specific events occurred.

Madame Abraham

After the ride was over, we checked out the neighbouring La Citadelle and promised to come back the next day for the full visit.

Because we lost so much time with directions, there was not much left to do but check in at the hotel and prepare for the night.

For the official website of the Plains of Abraham, click here.

Writer's Workshop: Perfecting the Art of Being Lazy

iRobot Roomba

2. November 3rd is National Housewife’s Day…how did you celebrate?

Okay, so I didn't really know that November 3 was National Housewife's Day but I had this post gathering dust on my blogging dashboard (pun intended) that it seemed to be a perfect fit when talking about celebrating being a housewife in this Rodriguez family.

You know me, being a housewife equates to being domesticated. And anything that helps me get a little bit domesticated is worth a celebration. Buying the Roomba is certainly not gonna win me any points when I argue that I am trying to learn to be domesticated. But it was really an excellent way to celebrate my housewifey-ness.

The Roomba I am referring to is a robotic vacuum cleaner famously sold by iRobot. I got myself one such cool gadget when it went on sale recently at the local Canadian Tire. Actually I encouraged hubby to queue at the store at opening time and grab a Roomba before they were all gone.

So we got the Roomba and started putting it to good use. It is really quite nifty. It goes around the house, sensing and avoiding stairs, bumping into walls and furniture but able to change direction, memorises room patterns, picking up dirt, hair, anything on the floor. It moves around until it just almost runs out of batteries, then it goes back to its docking station to charge. The higher models even have the ability to schedule when to start cleaning the house. It works best with wooden floors but can also do carpets.

After all the good things mentioned, you'd think that your maid is no longer needed. The only disclaimer that the Roomba has is that even with all its good qualities, it does not absolve the house owner of domestic duties. The Roomba is only there to help me maintain, but in the end, I will still need to give the house a good scrubbing once in a while.

Fast, efficient, and effective - the Roomba is definitely a cleaning equipment after my own heart. Which house gadget do you consider to be the greatest addition to your cleaning arsenal?
 

Summer Getaway Day 4 - Vieux Port of Montreal

Vieux Port of Montreal

 

We've been to this part of Montreal before.

When we first landed in Canada and visited Montreal the first time in the dead of winter, we celebrated the holidays in the Old Port of Montreal.

The Old Port was a winter wonderland with an ice skate rink and glistening white snow everywhere. It was bustling with entertainment for young and old.

Kinda strange to see the Old Port now in a different light. It's a totally opposite season and so the ice and chill have turned into water and green grasses.

We walked the Old Port but did not really go into the flea markets to look at things. We had already done our shopping round earlier on our visit to Old Montreal and the Notre Dame Basilica. We just wanted to relax.



Look at them go!

The kids decided to paddleboat around the lake. They rented the boat for an hour and paddled like furious ducks while hubby and I rested on the grass, waiting for their hour to be up.

After the kids came back to land, we decided to trek home. It was a short trip but we didn't really had anything in mind but take in the tranquil scenery, and the Old Port of Montreal did just that for us.

Have you been to the Old Port and what do you remember of your visit?



Instagram photo by jamie250196

Summer Getaway Day 4 - Basilica de Notre Dame, Montreal

Basilica de Notre Dame, Montreal

This was going to be our laid-back day in Montreal. We've been sightseeing non-stop the last couple of days that it was time to slow things down a bit. We were still Montreal tourists but we were looking and doing less things today.

I think my family was pleasantly surprised to find that aside from being a place of worship, churches were also sometimes part of a city's attractions. This was the case with the Notre Dame Basilica in  Montreal.

Inside the Basilica, main church

There was an entrance fee to get into the church, which my husband thought was quite strange. "You asking me to pay to pray?", he mumbled as he paid for the ticket at the entrance kiosk. It wasn't until we got inside that he fully understood why a fee was necessary. The church does not ask money to make profits, but rather to support its upkeep and care of the architecturally beautiful building.

Looking around the church, you can see that it is well-maintained, appreciated, cleaned, loved....

Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, inside the Basilica

I was touched by the many visitors and parishioners at church that day. It wasn't packed but when I look around, more than 20 people is already a good number for church on a Tuesday afternoon. Not to mention that there wasn't even a mass on.

I wondered how it would feel like to attend mass at the Basilica. Somehow I imagined it would really be quite special and wonderful.

Click here for its official website.

Writer's Workshop: Ahoy Me Halloween Hearties

5.) Write a post in just 12 lines.

Instagram photo by jamie250196

The preparation for this year's Halloween was certainly more thought-out than last year's. Missy decided to go as a pirate. Personally, I would've wanted to have given birth to a superhero this year. But I think there was a stigma of responsibility and behaving well attached to being a good guy that did not appeal to my young kid, that she decided being bad and carefree was a much better option.



My pirate

But who am I to speak? I, myself, wanted to don a ladybug costume but could not find one that was cheap enough for my liking. Not to mention, being tiny and being an insect at the same time had some serious repercussions it seemed. On a chance occasion, I happened on a vampire costume at Walmart for $20 and so a Morticia Addams I was meant to be. Another baddie at Halloween.

The pirate and the vampiress

Being the baddies that we were, the little pirate and her bodyguard vampire went around fleecing the neighbourhood for candies. We always seem to have great fun at being bad. Which begs the question, would we have as much fun if we had gone as Super Girl and Bumble Bee?

12 Lines. 1 Post. The magic of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop.

Summer Getaway Day 3 - Montreal Botanical Garden

Chinese garden inside Montreal's Botanical Garden

 

After going through the Biodome, Planetarium and the Insecatrium, we finally got into the visit of the Botanical Garden itself that late afternoon.

 

Unfortunately, we were pooped by this time. So I'm really sorry that this post will not contain a more comprehensive view of Montreal's Botanical Garden. We didn't really try and walk around the whole place. We went to the closest gardens and made our peace with that.

 

The Japanese and Chinese gardens were our last stops for that day. I'm not really much of a plant person but the Japanese garden had a few of the bonsais that I've always been fascinated about. There was even a zen garden enclosed within a Japanese make-believe house unit. It reminded me of these small, portable zen garden displays that are put in executive offices to somehow relieve stress. And I wondered if I needed to let off steam, how easy would it be to make circles on this big zen garden? Surely, raking sands on a big garden would be more added work to my already stressed body, hahaha.....

 

Zen garden

 

The Chinese garden gave us some wonderful views of a serene lake with colourful boats on them. Much like scenes from a Chinese movie (of course, when they are not involved in some kung fu chopping and fighting), they really brought about some tranquility and calm to me. Or maybe I was just tired.

 

I left the botanical garden that day, feeling that there was really more to see. There truly is. How I wished that I had planned better.

 

Oh well. I suppose another visit to the garden is in order for the future. Maybe when the International Mosaiculture of Montreal comes back into town, which happens once in a blue moon. That would really be something to look forward to.

 

Summer Getaway Day 3 - Planetarium, Biodome, Insectarium

the stars, the bugs, the animals, the gardens - all in one place!

A trip to Montreal's botanical garden warrants a full day. There's just so much to see, what with the planets and stars, the insects and bugs, the animals and the gardens all in one place, there's really no other choice. We could've split the trip into two days but who wants to come back and see the same thing? Since we had already pre-planned to plan nothing else that day, the botanical garden was the place to be indeed!

Right from the onset, it showed the telltale signs of a long day. We thought that we'd start with the Planetarium before anything else. The walk to the Planetarium, which we were told was about 15 minutes, felt much longer.

 

Once we were at the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, we were treated to some excellent audio-visual presentations about the planets and the stars and the galaxy while lying on bean bags. Outside the theatres, there were cool interactive entertainment media. Although I felt this area benefited the younger crowd more, there was no denying that some of the "toys" were cool. One of these cool toys was a projector that changed your body into an alien's when you step into its line of light.

My alien kids

Next up was the Biodome, since it was right next door to the Planetarium. The Biodome showcased ecosystems and animals and felt very much like a visit to the zoo or an aquarium. Yes, the animals were quite different, some were/might have been exotic, but their allure was lost on me. Despite my ignorance, it remained an interesting walk-through.

Lovebirds

Walking back to the main botanical garden was equally long. They were renovating the area at the time which I think might have contributed to the walking distance seeming farther than it really was. Because of the renovation, we decided not to visit the Parc Olympique, which was in the same locality.

Our next stop was the Insectarium. And as the name would suggest, this place had loads and loads of butterflies and bugs of all shapes and sizes. Literally.

Butterflies

 

Wanna Budol Fight?

Our Budol Fight spread

So before you say "make love, not war", budol fight may not mean what you think it means. Budol fight (and its English translation, boodle fight) is a military style of eating where long tables are prepared and food are on top of banana leaves. (Urban Dictionary)

It's popular in Philippine circles and really a fun and unique way to enjoy a meal with friends. This is an eating affair where the more really is the merrier. I suppose there is something to be said about gulping down food, eating with your bare hands, and fighting for that last piece of fried chicken wing in the middle of the spread.

This is definitely one experience you must have, at least once, in your life. And I'm glad we got the chance. We were lucky we got invited to a friend's Budol Fight-themed birthday bash recently.

All you need are banana leaves (for authenticity), the food (for consumption), and your appetite (for satisfaction). If you had all these now, would you all be ready for the fight?

Photo Credit to the owner

Writer's Workshop: Better than Bitter (Repost)

The post, "What I Know For Sure: Better Than Bitter", first appeared on the blog three years ago on October 5, 2011. I just couldn't resist the temptation. After all, it was such a defining moment. I thought it fitting to repost when I saw that the writer's workshop prompts for this week had:

3.) Write a post inspired by the word: bitter

And so, here it goes...

Gawd! What a startling discovery I made recently when an old colleague contacted me. My reaction to her request can only be described, as Oprah would put it, an “A-ha!” moment for me.

Old colleagues became wary of me after I left the old workplace two years ago, thinking me the disgruntled employee who will avenge whatever. And I suppose, to some extent, I did not blame them for thinking such. Nor did I try and convince them otherwise. I was on the vestige of positivity. People and circumstances had let me down; In fact, I still remember the hurt and frustration each time I think about that time.

So it was quite astonishing to be contacted for some assistance with regards anything about my old job. My colleague wanted to find out if I knew the mechanics of a certain apparatus that I used to have in my old office.
 

I debated whether to assist or not. Somehow, the tempting thought did cross my mind that I could just keep quiet about it. After all, it’s their problem, not mine. After all they’ve put me through, a little inconvenience like this could really make the “bitter” me very happy (evil laugh filtering through the air BWAHAHAHAHA)!
 

But I chose to help. However much I can. Yep! I did just that.
 

In the end, what I know for sure was that….I was better than the embittered person these people painted me out to be. Way, way better.
 

Lately I mostly hear myself saying that I have moved on and I am soooo over my old job. But this time, my heart truly believes it.

I'm sure most of us have had bad work experiences in one way or another. Have you truly gotten over yours yet?
 

Summer Getaway Day 2 - Royal Canadian Mint

My child as a quarter

 This place surely could have been a numismatist's paradise. After all, the whole place was all about making coins, who wouldn't wanna know?

On a whim, as our last stop in Ottawa, I decided that we would pass by the Royal Canadian Mint.

We were ushered into the boutique whilst waiting for the tour of the plant to start. We perused the collection on display and were really amazed at the different sizes and values. I tried both my hands on lifting a very heavy, very solid gold bar at the boutique. The gold bar weighed 28 pounds and was valued at more than half a million dollars.

Instagrammed by jamie250196

Inside the tour, they showcased some samples of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic medals. All the hard work and dedication and how each medal was a part of a larger piece of the puzzle. The Olympian winners were even given a map to find where their medals fitted in the bigger picture.

We saw how King George VI's and Queen Elizabeth II's images on the coins changed through the years, how a simple crown (actually, the lack thereof) on their images could emphasize that they were the common people's King/Queen.

Although we weren't allowed to take photos inside the plant, it was great and informative. And for an occasional coin collector like me, it felt like a kid being in a candy store. I couldn't/wouldn't be able to afford most of the coins in that place but it was really special to see how valuable a small silver can get.