Monday, January 30, 2006
Kung Hei Fat Choi

Year of the DOG!

January 29, 2006 is the first day of the Chinese new year.

Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.

The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.

The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.
There are three ways to name a Chinese year:

1. By an animal (like a mscot). This year is known as the Year of the Dog.There are 12 animal names; so by this system, year names are re-cycled every 12 years.
2. By its Formal Name (Stem-Branch). The new year is the year of bingxu.
In the 'Stem-Branch' system, the years are named in 60-year cycles, and the Name of the Year is repeated every 60 years.2006 is the 7th year in the current 60-year cycle.
3. It is Year 4703 by the Chinese calendar.
 
posted by Rainier & Katrina at 4:33 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Monday, January 23, 2006
Buffet!
Here are the buffet menu we opted to get @ Edsa Shangri-La. However, we might change some of the menu since some of them are not familiar to us *lol* :-P We still have to meet w/ Meann Antonio (Manager) for the details!

Appetizers
Oysters marinated with red wine shallots
Assorted garden salads and dressing
Artichokes with toasted almonds
Beetroot salad with cashew nuts
Celeriac stuffed with tarama caviar mousse
Marited ox tongue with exotic mustard pickles
Salad of baby potatoes with smoked duck breast

Soup
Cream of celery soup with deep fried crabmeat ravioli

Carving
Honey glazed bacon with dark beer and pineapple sauce

Main Course
Gnocchi parisiennes with pancetta in pesto sauce
Tiger prawns in green curry with bamboo shoots
Roulade of salmon and white snapper
Pralines of pork fillet and blue cheese braised beef tenderloin with a sweet and sour raisin sauce
Brussels sprouts with creamy radish
Sweet potato and banana stew
Mixed wild rice

Dessert
Cinnamon mousse
Sabayon frappe with fresh strawberries
Chocolate mousse with oranges
Nougat meringues with chestnut puree

Drinks
Iced Tea
Coffee
Softdrinks
 
posted by Rainier & Katrina at 8:23 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Training Week!
We had opur training for WCM (World Class Marketing) Inbound Campaign for a week. As usual pettiks. hehe =) Free from toxic! Parang hindi rin training e. Walang katapusan chickahan at kwentuhan! =p And since it was our last day, PIZZA as usual. I enjoyed...We enjoyed sobra!

w/Mhon, Rex, Jun & Joan (left to right)


w/ Joan, Mhon, Rex, Jun, Ana, Donna & Mavi (left to right)


Our Training w/ WCM Inbound Campaign

 
posted by Rainier & Katrina at 8:54 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Edsa Shang's Wedding Package

At last, we already receive the 2006 Wedding Package of Edsa Shangri-La. Whew?! Grabe ang mahal na nya. The last time we had our pre-computed package it's only around 250K++... but now...Oh my Gosh! 8-10% ang increase!
The package we tend to choose includes the following:


*Overnight stay for two prior to the wedding with in-room American or Filipino breakfast or Buffet breakfast at the Heat
*Overnight stay for the couple on the wedding day with in-room American or Filipino breakfast or buffet breakfast at the Heat
*Overnight stay accommodation for the couple on the 1st year anniversary * with in-room American or Filipino breakfast or buffet breakfast at the Heat
*Bridal Car with floral arrangements (three hours use only) or String Trio by Bernie Pasamba.
*A specially designed three-layered Wedding Cake in fondant icing by Dexter's Bakeshop
*Floral decorations for the cake stage
*A bottle of sparkling wine for the Couple’s Toast
*Wedding Butler for the Couple on the wedding day **
*One round of iced tea or lemonade for the guests
*A pair of Doves in a decorated cage
*Floral arrangement for the Presidential table
*Floral centerpieces for all tables
*Ice Carving at the entrance of the function room
*Placecards for the Presidential Table
*Menu Cards
*Guestbook
*Fruit Platter in the Room of the Couple
*20% discount at Head Zone

However, we decided not to get the 3-layered fondant cake & the 20% discount at Head Zone. We'll get another supplier for the Cake as well as for the HMU (Hair and Make-Up).
 
posted by Rainier & Katrina at 4:51 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Happy Birthday Rael!
Isn't he a cutie? :-P

Last January 8, 2006, Sunday, we attended Rael's 1st Birthday here in the Philippines @ Jaymi's Grill, Fort. He's my nephew from my 1st cousin Kuya Vannie & her wife Ate Melinda (who'll have their church wedding on December 22 - 5 days after my wedding @ Shrine of Jesus / Manila Hotel).
Sad to say...they'll be back in California on January 12. :-( Sure we'll miss you! See you on December on my (our) wedding... *lol*
 
posted by Rainier & Katrina at 7:21 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
The Family Stone!
After attending Rael's 1st birthday party @ The Fort, we my mom, sister, and Rain wento to Glorietta 4 to watch a last full show. We watched "The Family Stone". It's all about love for your family. Different kinds of love!
Synopsis:
The Stones, a New England family, have their annual holiday gathering. The eldest son brings his girlfriend home to meet his parents, brothers and sisters. The bohemian Stones greet their visitor--a high-powered, controlling New Yorker--with a mix of awkwardness, confusion and hostility. Before the holiday is over, relationships will unravel while new ones are formed, secrets will be revealed, and the family Stone will come together through its extraordinary capacity for love.
Critic's Review:
Mike Clark of USA Today
The Family Stone is as stuffed with beguiling performances — some of them unexpectedly good — as its script is overstuffed. And though even the beguiled may feel manipulated the next morning (or when hitting the exits), the players put it over by a nose. Happy holidays.
Plunked from an intended earlier opening date into today's warm and fuzzy mid-December slot (a sign of studio confidence), this is the seasonal family comedy that emerges at the end of every year, the kind that's safe for Grandma. You sense this in the coming attractions when an uptight Sarah Jessica Parker falls in some kitchen-floor goop. Primitive chuckle, anyone?
Of course, you wouldn't know from the same ads that fatal illness is a key plot component, that one of the family's five siblings is deaf and gay and wants to adopt, or that a seemingly straight-arrow dad likes funny stuff in his brownies. You can argue over whether these issues add depth to, or distract from, the more conventionally comic romantic entanglements that are the source of some solid laughs. But this is one busy wannabe heart-tugger.

The scorecard, and you need one, goes like this. Dermot Mulroney (his best performance ever) is an overachieving elder son in a miscast courtship with neurotically edgy Parker (never better). Younger sisters are married and pregnant Elizabeth Reaser and snooty cutie Rachel McAdams. Brothers are hearing-impaired Ty Giordano and a frequently stoned, what-me-worry-ish Luke Wilson (never better).
Welcoming all to their New England home are their somewhat unconventional parents, Diane Keaton and Craig T. Nelson. But daughter McAdams (the one sibling who has already met Parker) is aggressively rude to Mulroney's not-quite fiancé. Whereupon Wilson rather inexplicably starts to see something beneath Parker's pitifully gauche facade. Whereupon Parker's more composed, silky-haired sis (Claire Danes) shows up, and Mulroney's eye starts to wander.

You could compose an entire movie (or maybe a poem) about being a young single guy and having Danes show up for Christmas unexpectedly.
This one shoots out in myriad but mostly entertaining directions, depending on that old movie standby that has an element of truth. If you want to unfreeze a Parker-like prig, pump her with booze and some Maxine Nightingale at a neighborhood bar.
 
posted by Rainier & Katrina at 9:41 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Meaning of the Start of your NAME!
Katrina

You are secretive, self-contained, and shy. You are very sexy, sensual, and passionate, but you do not let on to this. Only in intimate privacy will this part of your nature reveal itself. When it gets down to the nitty-gritty, you are an expert. You know all the little tricks of the trade, can play any role or any game, and take your love life very seriously. You don't fool around. You have the patience to wait for the right person to come along. You are very generous & giving, often selfless. You are kind-natured & sweet, which is found to be attractive by many. You are a good friend.


Rainier

You are a no-nonsense, action-oriented individual. You need someone who can keep pace with you and who is your intellectual equal-the smarter the better. You are turned on more quickly by a great mind than by a great body. However, physical attractiveness is not very important to you. You have to be proved to be worthy for a partner. You have a need to prove yourself the best. You want feedback on your performance. You are open, stimulating & romantic.
 
posted by Rainier & Katrina at 2:39 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Your Five Factor Personality Profile
Extroversion:
You have medium extroversion.You're not the life of the party, but you do show up for the party.Sometimes you are full of energy and open to new social experiences.But you also need to hibernate and enjoy your "down time."
Conscientiousness:
You have high conscientiousness.Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life.Most things in your life are organized and planned well.But you borderline on being a total perfectionist.
Agreeableness:
You have high agreeableness.You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly.Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone.You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance.
Neuroticism:
You have medium neuroticism.You're generally cool and collected, but sometimes you do panic.Little worries or problems can consume you, draining your energy.Your life is pretty smooth, but there's a few emotional bumps you'd like to get rid of.
Openness to experience:
Your openness to new experiences is medium.You are generally broad minded when it come to new things.But if something crosses a moral line, there's no way you'll approve of it.You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue.

What is your Five Factor Personality Profile

 
posted by Rainier & Katrina at 9:25 PM | Permalink | 0 comments
Monday, January 02, 2006
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to All... :-)
It's 2006... and in the next few months, (11 months to be exact)...We'll tie the KNOT! :-P
 
posted by Rainier & Katrina at 7:22 AM | Permalink | 0 comments