Happy Birthday 2013

A birthday party is an event to celebrate the aging process one year at a time up to the point when one ceases to live. 

One birthday party has been celebrated down the centuries for more than 2,000 years now. It is the most expensive and elaborate, and involves more than a billion people all over the world - a percentage of who just happen to be caught up in the festivities but not quite acquainted with the celebrant.

Christmas indeed is the biggest birthday party for a baby who was born for one single reason - to give eternal life to the human race. 

Ever since I became a Christian seven years ago, I have found a new and more profound meaning to the birthday of my King and Savior Jesus. 

There is no birth certificate available to prove that December 25 is the exact date that he was born, but that doesn't matter. It is the chance and honor to celebrate Jesus' coming for our salvation that drives me to spend hours of preparation, emptying out my pocket for gifts and food and making sure that the family is together.

The photos below documented how Jesus' birthday party was for us in the year 2013.

this is the mezzanine floor of our building which serves as our living/dining room. The building has 5 floors and is home for a newly wed couple, a young couple with a baby, and my wife and her loving husband and their daughter + granddaughter. My wife's son lives with his fiance in her parents' home a few minutes drive from here.

I'll leave out the description and names of the dishes that we served. all were home-cooked and baked by each family and western cuisine predominated the table.

the only Thai in the pinoy crowd and she belongs to my lucky son

our guests were friends who didn't have immediate families to connect with for the season and in a sense they were 
'adopted' for the noche buena.

a mysterious hand picking on the cherry tomatoes

dessert table

jp and nok

jj and kukie

gifts waiting to be torn open

that's the family

the most beautiful daughter in the whole world

Christmas was for a "Child" born in the manger and still is for a child in our family.

this precious kid had the fun of her life and didn't hold back her joy and pleasure in appreciating each gift that she received.

even to the point of being emotional and teary

... and how did her granddad take this moment? the cam caught him wiping away a tear - damn! hahaha. yeah, this is what Christmas is all about - sharing tears of joy and happiness. 

Happy birthday Jesus!

p.s. we had tequila, games, singing and a lot more activities which photos i intend to display in a different album.

Buko Pie - how it's done

Buko (coconut) has a way of identifying us islanders of the eastern pacific region. The best thing about it is when it is eaten young - straight from the tree or when it has undergone the delicate process of extracting, cooking and then baking.

This piece was done to document Gray's first attempt on pie baking. We can never tell at this point what the future holds for buko pies with Gray getting into the picture. He may change the way we hold this pastry in esteem forever.

the filling: young coconut, milk, sugar and corn starch

is done first in a sauce pan over the stove. due to the

clutter and concern in perfecting the measurements a photo

of this stage was forgotten. this actually is a chance to make

more room for your imagination to determine how the first-

timer handled the measuring and mixing.

 doing the pastry - pie crust, comes next and this is done

on a wooden table that needs some dusting.

 shortening, eggs, flour, salt, vinegar are prepared

for this stage. be sure that one foot is propped up on a nearby
chair or the pastry won't be perfect.

 then you "cut" the flour into the shortening using a knife.

 "drizzle" the beaten egg into the mixture

 roll out the dough and fit into the pie pan

 add the buko filling

 cover with another rolled out pastry dough and add the trade

mark "G" for Gray

 bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees celcius for 50 minutes

let the pie cool off, but be sure to eat the "G" monogram before

serving, because it is already brown from cooking and shockingly resembles a fine specimen of crap minus the smell.

 cut up the pie and serve. 

The best thing about this pie is in the eating. So if you please, you may call +6687-340-8078 for orders. delivery is free within 100 meters of the oven.

It RUNS in the family

I have been running all my life and in many instances it was for these reasons: when my dad blew his whistle I had to run home or get a whacking, running away from a charging bull at the ranch behind our house and running in games which was my forte. Serious running only commenced when marathons or fun runs came to our country and certain groups were organized. 

The only run where I made a significant finish - third, was when I was in medical school and for that feat I got a large roasted turkey from the medical society that organized the run.

Fast forward to the most recent decade of my life and I'm pleased and elated to see my family join me in this sport. The most recent addition to the sport are my son and his fiance - Nok, who just did the 10K run in the Bangkok Int'l Half Marathon. 

over the King Rama VIII bridge across the Chao Phraya river

 the wife running on the mean streets of Bangkok on Queen Sirikit's birthday run

the daughter doing the Standard Charter Marathon on the 

sky ramp of Boromarachachonani 

the daughter's bf - JJ, doing the Columbia Trail Masters'

now here are the photos that really tug at my heart. check out the kid with number 172 at the starting line.

 this was at the Columbia Trail Masters Run 

yeah that's my granddaughter putting her heart and soul

into her run

 to her frustration the asthma kicks in and

I have to carry her the rest of the way

running has a funny effect on the hair. it's either your hair lies flat on your head, stands erect or gets blown away.

"against the wind, I'm still running against the wind.

I'm older now, but I'm still running against the wind." 

(Bob Seger)