Nadine’s Christening

It’s been a week, I was supposed to post something about it last week, but last week was just a sooo busy week for me, because of the Alumni Homecoming last Saturday and with it is the launching of the Hymns, Yells and Cheers album, a project spearheaded by our Department Head.

So Nadine’s christening has gone by. It was a success I can say. People came complementing the food, until last week my officemate who attended was saying: “Sarap nang food nung binyag”. So here is a rundown of our suppliers and how would I rate each of them. I am doing this for the reason that someone planning a christening of her son/daughter chances upon this blog.

Here goes:

1. Church – Shrine of Jesus (The truth, The way, The Life)

The baptistery was well kept and spacious. Someone, a staff of the Parish is present to assist during the entire proceedings, candles are provided by the Parish office and it is not just simple candles but spiral ones, the one provided to us was in color pink, they also have this misallettes so you can really follow the baptism, and they also provide the baptismal dress (damit pambinyag) the one with the cross that is worn over the dress of the baby.

Fee is two thousand pesos (Php 2,000) with one pair of sponsors and additional one hundred (Php100) per pair for the additional sponsors. Oh I got to mention that they are quite strict, if you are late by 15 minutes then your reservation is canceled. And we also brought in our own priest, Fr. Orlando Aceron, OP is a priest assigned here at the Convent of St. John Lateran.

2. Invitation and souvenir tags – DIY (Design and Layout) Photoline – Printing

As I always do, I did the design/layout in Photoshop and had it printed at Photoline in SM Manila, I usually prefer/recommend photo invites printed at Photoline because they have the matte paper which has a texture and it adds to the overall look of the invitation.

3. Reception - Huey Ying Restaurant Bldg. 1 San Miguel by the Bay (Behind SMX)
Contact Person – Kleng Yu (klengyiu@yahoo.com)

Our good friend Kleng owns huey ying, they also have a branch along Macapagal. Everytime we have a gathering, we always go to Huey Ying, the food is good and affordable. For the Nadine’s christening the menu was:

Chopsuey
Steamed Lapu-lapu
Fried Chicken
Pansit Guisado
Crab Nido Soup
Tempura
Liempo
Yang Chow fried rice
Bottomless Ice Tea
Choco Fountain

There was some misunderstanding with the time, and when my sister arrived at the resto, the buffet table wasn’t filled up with food yet but they filled it up quite quickly and they served ice tea to the guests to cover the delay. The staff was courteous and answers every “whim” we request. And the food was good and everyone was happy with it, by the way, we reserved food for 50 persons but my sister has so many guests almost 70 persons was able to eat.

Highly recommended and the big plus here is it is very near the church.


4. Photo Coverage – Davy Chioa (http://www.flickr.com/davop/photos)

Davy is my officemate and friend, he is Anne’s Ninong and his and my hubby’s friendship goes way back during their college days. Actually it is really I who encouraged him to learn photography, he bought his Canon 350D because of my prodding, he took up seminar in photography thanks to me also and now, he takes better photos than me. He he. Just kidding, through time he has developed his “eye” on photography and I’ve been encouraging him to take his photography hobby into the next level that is why I often volunteer him to take photos of events such as this one.

I am happy with his photos during Nadine’s christening, he was able to capture the important moments of the ceremony and the best is that his service is for free.


5. Video Coverage – c/o Mang Jay

Same with Davy, Mang Jay is my officemate and he is the official video grapher of our department, he has been a cameraman of RJ TV before he was employed here in Letran and he also does part time job also as a Cameraman at GMA channel 7.


6. Cake – Goldilocks Mall of Asia

Because I don’t want to have problems with “who will get the cake” I advised my sister to just order a cake from Goldilocks at Mall of Asia, she placed her order 2 days ahead, she got a single layer chocolate cake with Minnie Mouse and Daisy baby decoration.

On the morning while the christening was on going my brother offered to drive me at the other side of the mall to pick-up the cake, there was no hassle in getting the cake, I even don’t have the receipt with me because my sister handed me the wrong receipt and they just asked me to sign their copy of the receipt.

The cake was yummy naman and cute too. Costs Php 1,350 not bad.


7. Souvenirs – Mini Bear key chain from Divisoria

My sister and her hubby scouted Divisoria for the souvenir and they were able cute mini bears wearing a pink shirt for Php 15 each, they just bought small lace bags for it and I printed the tags. Voila, guests say the souvenir is cute.

I am happy that everything turned out well, I am the one who took care of all the preparations here, now I can’t wait to plan for Nadine’s first birthday next year, it will be a double celebration since both she and her Mom (my sister) will be having their birthdays on the same day.

The Organized Story

I am renewed person now. My bag is organized and now I can easily find what I am looking for.

I am helping spread the “organized virus” by being a retailer of this bag organizer. As to date I already sold 43 pieces of bag organizers in assorted sizes and colors! All those who brought from me are very happy, one of them is my Ninang and when she saw the bag organizer and I even demonstrated to her how to use it she was exclaiming “Oh I so need this!” and she ordered 8 pieces in all to give out to friends, it’s one of a kind daw kasi.

The bag organizer in use:



Oh the bag organizer comes in two sizes: small and large and comes in a variety of colors and different linings too. But you have to check the availability since some of the colors are sold really fast like the purple one which is almost out of stock.

The red organizer:


the sample lining inside the bag organizer, shown here is the retro lining:


the orange organizer:

Digital Times

Part of my task as a graphic artist of our department is to take photos, of activities of people, places and things.

I remember way back in college when we still use film in our Photography class when we use to go to Quiapo to have our black and white films processed into contact prints, oh before it is printed on contact prints the film has to be developed then printed on contact prints, if you want to save some funds choose one to be enlarged and then pray hard that the photo you chose wouldn’t be out of focus or the subject centered, etc.

With the advent of digital cameras, these are now things of the past. Now you can immediately view the photos on the LCD of your camera right after taking it, better yet, you can connect your digicam to a TV monitor better maybe if you are using a LCD TV in your photo studio. By doing this you can immediately see if the photograph you took has some flaws and immediately do remedy on it. In our mini photo studio we have a TV monitor connected to our camera.

When shooting outdoors or on the go, we always take with us our laptop so we can immediately download and view the photographs we took, see the quality high definition photos we took. Because of this very reason that our department see to it that our laptop is readily available to us whenever we have a scheduled photo shoot.

For our Foundation Week celebration this December we are planning to have a mini photo session with the cute little kids from the Elementary Department and we will see to it that our LCD TV will be ready and our laptop too!

Pat on the back

I deserve a pat on the back. “big” people here are now recognizing some of the projects I made in the school. It inspires me to do more. Hope our other projects will be just as successful as well.

I don’t want yet to divulge these projects but soon, as soon as it’s all out. I will. For now I am just so happy that my efforts are being paid off. Ha ha.

Nadine’s Christening and other projects.

Well, I consider this one of my major project for this year. I put all my best into the preparation and all the things I wasn’t able to do during my daughter’s christening I did here, he he. Not really all I want of course it is still Nadine’s mommy (my sister) who had the final say.

Accomplished for the Nadine’s Baptism on Saturday, November 15 are the following:

o Church - Shrine of Jesus (The Truth, The Way, The Life)
o Priest - Fr. Orlando Aceron, OP
o Reception - Huey Ying Restaurant MOA Branch
o Cake - Ordered from Goldilocks, to be pick up Saturday
o Photo and Video –courtesy of officemates Davy and Mang Jay
o Giveaways - from Divi, Nadine’s mom and dad personally went there to buy.
o DIY – Invites, Tags for the giveaways, Tarpaulin

Can’t wait for Saturday! I coordinated almost everything for this event (the priest, the photo and video coverage, the reception) and I pray all turns out fine, now I have to prepare my daughter and my Mom, they have to look good too of course this also their day. The only thing I haven’t done is to buy the candles and drop the tarpaulin at the reception venue so my friend, Kleng who owns the restaurant will be the one to set it up on Saturday and that would be one less thing for me to worry about.

On a side note, our department is “cooking” up a major project for this year. And this is the launching of the school’s Hymns, Yells and Cheers album. The target date of launching is on the alumni homecoming, which will be on November 22. I did the design of the layout of the album’s cover and I am happy with I did. I can’t wait to see the final output.

Oh and by the way, the latest addition to the Lao clan is here, last November 4, Dzune’s cousin’s wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Austin. Such a cutie, Albert’s family is really beginning to grow. More of Austin’s photos here

Nadine's Invite

I am making up through my niece what I never did for Anne’s christening.

My husband and I snatched me the chance of fussing over Anne’s christening. It was January 2007, I was still on maternity leave and Anne then was only a month old, January 12 Friday, husband came home from work with news: “Bibinyagan si Anne sa Sunday” and all I can answer was a yes and ask where? And the husband told me the details, the baptism will take place at the Binondo Chinese Parish wherein Anne’s Ninong, my office mate and Dzune’s friend Davy is an active member and it was he who took care of everything so Anne can be baptized even if I don’t have a copy of her birth certificate yet, reception will be at the nearby Presidents Restaurant and Davy also took the liberty of choosing the menu. Well I trust him so wala akong angal. He he.

So Anne doesn’t have a dress and no souvenirs and invitations and of course my main concern was who will take the photos! Hubby has all the answer to the question: Tomorrow is Saturday we have a day to take care of the dress and maybe buy some souvenir, for the invitation just text everyone you wanted to invite, for now I’ll go home to Nanay (our apartment then was just a stone’s throw away from my in-laws) to let them know.

When Dzune came back that afternoon he was carrying Therese’s (Anne’s cousin) dress when she was baptized three years ago complete with her shoes. The dress was really in a very good condition and the white shoes that go with it is from Italy, a gift from my brother in law’s bosses who works in Jeddah.

The next day, Saturday. Dzune and I left Anne with my Mom and went out to buy myself a thing to wear cause none of my dress fits me. I was able to buy myself a simple white blouse and another white dress for Anne. At the end of the day we were able to buy some cute angel figurines that we wrapped in pink tulle and wrapped in pink ribbons that we gave out as Anne’s souvenir.

Even without the preparation, Anne’s baptism was success. The food was good and the church was nice, the parish priest was accommodating and we personally know him, that is important to me since someday I can tell my daughter that someone we know christened him. The only glitch was that we didn’t prepare candles since we were told by Davy that it’s ready at the parish and there was none, we made do with the mga naiwan na candles got by one of the staff there. And all our closest friends and relatives came so we were really happy.

So now, what I never did for Anne’s christening I am making up now, for my niece’s christening. As a start, the invitations. My sister chose this:

Watch me grow.

The babies born the same month (November) last year are now celebrating their birthdays. It’s just funny that it’s as if yesterday I was doing the layout of the invitation for their christening and now here am I doing their first birthday invitation layout. After all these years, suki pa din ako sa kasal, binyag, first birthdays, and there was one, my inaanak, AJ, (daughter of I can say one of our closest friend, Kuya Bong and Mareng Nym,) seventh birthday invitation na ginawa ko for her.

Hay, I’m getting old and yet it’s really fun seeing, watching these children grow. Next time it will be my own daughter, Anne’s turn to turn seven. Naku, ngayon pa lang things are buzzing inside my head when I think of my princess turning seven. And I can’t wait. Kung pwede nga lang, I mean if I can only splurge maybe every year I will be throwing a themed birthday for her but that would be too much and her Tatay wouldn’t forgive me if I do that every year. For now I am happy to the highest level (ha ha) that Anne’s first birthday celebration with the theme RED riding hood was a huge success and those we invited still talks about it.

Carl Andrei, son of the head of our department, Carol and Amiel. His christening invite:

and his first birthday invitation:



Big boy na noh? And such a cutie! Parang girl in this photo taken by his dad, his Mom complaining that her in-laws wouldn't allow her to have that hair cut kasi wala pa daw one.

And here naman Jenareign's christening invite:

Jenareign was born premature. Her mom, Marichu is my best friend and former office mate, she was my officemate till she was transferred to the Dean’s office last 2006. I call Jenna her mom’s miracle baby. Chumar as we fondly call her was already married for ten years before her mom got pregnant. Chumar was on bed rest during her entire pregnancy. I guess all those sacrifice of being not able to work was worth the wait especially for a couple that waited ten years to have a child. Jenareign, her name from Jesus of Nazareth reigns, her mom told me that before she got pregnant she said a novena to Jesus of Nazareth, the after a month, she was pregnant. Prayers can really do wonders.

Now look how much she has grown up! The first time we saw her since she was premature nga, she was so small, sabi nga naming parang kuting but from a tiny baby medyo malaki na sya ngayon and we are so happy just seeing her, after all, kadamay kami ng mommy nya in waiting, Chumar and I was in the same department for nine years! I almost cried when she told me she is pregnant.

Now, she is one:

Oh and on a side note, my own niece will be christened on November 15, of course sino pa ba ang gagawa ng invite but her nanay. Here are the studies that I presented her Mommy (my sister) so far: