Sikyu To D'Reskyu

We have a choice of our first stop in Manila for the holidays - either stay at a condo or at a house. So I asked Rama which she preferred:

Rama: The big apartment (Rama-speak for condo)
Me: Why?
Rama: Because there's a guard.
Me: So?
Rama: The manananggal won't get us.

Will Smith Is Hotness

Rama: Do you know Hancock? He's a superhero. He's hot.
Me: What does that mean, hot?
Rama: He's guwapo. Good-looking!

Where does she get these?! Had to ask:

Me: How did you know that hot means that?
Rama: News.

Beauty Sleep

Our morning routine has been pretty tight. As the days get colder, I have to plan for an extra 5 minutes in the morning - just to get all our layers on. Gone are the days when we can just put on sandals and we're out the door.

Then there is something that Rama added to her routine: applying concealer. For her eyebags. Just before we walk out, she notices her eyebags in the mirror in our foyer. And asks to borrow my concealer. It has become so habitual that I passed on my concealer to her and just got another tube for myself, just so she can have it whenever she wants. Which is on a daily basis.

At night, when I want her to pipe down and really shut her eyes and go to sleep after the story, I just remind her that if she doesn't get enough sleep, she'll get eyebags.

The Hills Are Alive...

And it was pretty amazing ("The mountains fly up!" was how Rama described the set changes). Rama woke up this morning singing the songs. The nuns are her favorite - she re-enacts them.

Bungi!!!

When Eating Solo

Rama sometimes gets glued to the TV and requests to eat while watching. Of course I object and try to teach her not to.

Me: When we're eating, it's nice to sit together, talk to each other, talk about your day, the food...
Rama: And when you're eating alone, you talk to yourself.

The Tooth

... finally came off last night. Her special request, "Can I keep it? I don't want to give it to the tooth fairy."

Chamba!

On Halloween eve, the kids who lived here at the condo were treated to a special halloween movie screening at the small movie theatre in the building. (It was Scoobie Doo at the Zombie Swamp). Popcorn and juice for all and after the movie, the committee brought out a bin of toys for all to enjoy. But soon it was time to go. So Rama and I decided to invite her new friend, a mexican girl, Gonul, and her mom up to our place.

By themselves, the girls were happy to play side by side. Gonul knew very little English, but at this age, it's not a huge deal. They played with Rama's dollies, toy castles and little pots and pans. Later in the evening, they took over the dining table and played with colors and paints.

As they were doing this, I was subjecting the mom to my horrible Spanish. She was very kind and polite and asked me how I learned. I just explained that FIlipino has a lot of Spanish words, which I started to rattle off: kubiertos, kutchara, tinidor, aparador, lunes, martes...

Rama loudly pipes in from across the room.

Rama: Baño!

So unexpected! It set the 4 of us giggling. I don't know how she knew that baño was indeed Spanish. Either she figured that ñ words were Spanish, or she just got lucky - chamba. Either way, we all had fun with that exchange.

Halloween Highlights 2008

By the first week of October, Halloween costumes were already on display in the stores. But Rama surprised me by saying, "I don't need a costume, I'll just wear the dress I wore for my birthday." And she stuck to that.

She really was dead set on wearing that red dress. But it was in her dad's house! The dress fortunately made it to us, and she managed a quick costume change when we took a short break mid-way through trick or treating. Her back-up dress was this pink princess gown from 2 years ago - which fits perfectly now.

As usual, the neighborhoods went all out in decorating for halloween. And the adults, with copious amounts of alcohol, seemed to have as much fun as the kids playing dress up.