Welcome, dear cousin!

I'm no longer the youngest one in the family: my baby cousin was just born. I haven't seen him yet, and I don't have any photos to share with you, but this is what I was told:
He has lots of long blondish hair and he's very tall, 53 centimeters. (As opposed to me, he also seems to actually be as tall as they say he is.) Furthermore, he has great potentials to become a heavy-weighter: the nose is a bit like a boxer's and he weighs 4.3 kilos already!
He also seems to be a very kind person, my new cousin. He could have chosen to get born tomorrow, thereby robbing his older sister Signe of her very own birthday. But he didn't.
Welcome! I look forward to getting to know you!

I still prefer my bears roasted whole

Some people like to cuddle their teddies. I like to cook mine, on the broach of the baby sitter (which is appropriately branded Babybjörn - baby bear). Now, for those of you who entertain prejudices regarding who should be in a baby sitter, I just have to say that you'd probably still be in one too, if it could just carry your weight. It's by far the most comfortable seat around!

Helping the grown-ups achieve their goals

This is a very special time of the year. The Starbucks 2008 diary is released and it's nice! Real leather! Mom, dad and Rosie's mom Sarah are all excited and collect stickers with true dedication. They seem to have different reasons, though. - Mom genuinely likes saving ticket stubs and cut-outs and what have you to redeem give-aways. Ok, she likes it somewhat less than she used to, but still enough to temporarily venture into new consumtion patterns. (She's the type of customer Starbucks wants to reach with their Christmas drive - the type that never buys anything there otherwise.)
- Dad genuinely likes his Starbucks coffee. Or rather, he genuinely likes the routine of purchasing it and feeling urban doing so. This time of the year, he doesn't get questioned for buying expensive lattes that he barely touches. That makes him very very happy and he doesn't leave the house without his Starbucks sticker-card.
- And Sarah genuinely likes her coffee. Neither more nor less now that there are leather diaries (one for every 24 cups) at stake. But she really likes getting them as well.

Joy rides at the Polo Club

Today, we have been checking out the Polo Club - Manila's own version of Central Park (with the little differing detail, of course, that the Polo Club is open to members only and very preventively priced indeed).
Now, the plan was that we were going to watch the horses and let ourselves be impressed with Sarah's horse-riding skills (apparently she's doing some sort of opening ride at a gala event next week, which is why we were there in the first place). However, we got a little preoccupied with my motoriezed four-wheeler, which is more appropriate for our size than the horses.Albeit, the co-riding got very old very soon. Rosie and I have both come to the conclusion that sharing is way overrated. And she's stronger, so I had to give in and leave the battle field. Instead, I enjoyed some of the most exclusive mud you can find in Metro Manila. It was definitely less oily than the one we have outside our house, and I also liked the texture better. I'm sure the members of the Polo Club find the membership worth while!

Cultural intake, fast-food style. Just the way I like it!

Manila Philharmonics were performing here in the village tonight. Concert was open to public. No prior registration required. We decided to pop by. Just like that.
I loved it! We stayed way past my normal bed time and when we left, it was at the initiative of the parents, not of me.

The stroller's just sooo dated!

When I'm going somewhere these days, I take the bike (provided that the destination is fairly close to the house and that it's overcast or night-time, of course). Although I've only had it for less than a week, a few lessons can already be drawn:
1. The new means of transportation may prove very expensive for the parents. I've already worn out one pair of shoes from not reaching the peddles, but well the ground.2. Reflectors DO in fact work. I will not challenge that until, well, until they become uncool somehow.And 3. As it's peak season for Christmas decorations here, I have to be cautious not to be mistaken for one. Halo and all, someone may just put me in one of the man-sized cribs in the nativity scenes that have been put up all around the village.

Little polo player

Tomorrow morning, we're aparently going to some sort of horse show. Mom showed me what that's all about, and I think I'll like it.

Don't think I don't get it!

Mom and dad have started some active child-rearing with me, I can tell it! It started with them insisting that I say "please" when I want to have something. They managed to get Pining on board, so I gave in. It was just easier that way.

But now they've definitely crossed the line. They think I should start help picking up the groceries and kichen utensils when I'm done cooking. They pretend it's part of the game. But I can see through them. They were the ones who brought in all these toys in the house, now they deal with it. I refuse!

I'm the Iron Man

We lead a very uncreased life here in Manila. When dad goes off to work in the morning, he's always embassy groomed - crispy somehow. Mom, who never knew that t-shirts could be ironed, now loves having them that way. And my outfits are, as you may have noticed, generally spick and span (don't get smart-ass on me, my diapers don't count!).

To help maintaining this lifestyle, I've taken on some ironing duties. When the big people bring out the big ironing board, I bring out the small one.I then iron it intensely, for as long as it takes to get it in perfect shape (depends on how long it's been standing unused in the cupboard).

When the board is completely flat, I take it out for some fun around the house. I call it, not skateboarding, not snowboarding, but ironboarding. And I'm quite sure it's just as fun!

A room with a view

I'm sure the outlook from the living room is even prettier daytime, but alas, this is all I can give you now.

A teaser

Interested in seeing all those toys? Be patient! The huge elephant slide has to be assembled first, and the parents have to make a decision regarding the octagon shaped pool that doesn't really fit on the lanai. Should it stay (and be squeezed into a somewhat less symetrical shape between the doors and the fence) or should it go?
Until those things have been taken care of, here's a photo of me on my new three-wheeler bike (the second best ride after the motorized (ok, rechargeable battery, but still) four-wheeler off-track vehicle) next to the well-supplied kitchen.

Where are we?

Right now, we're somewhere in the middle. Weekdays, dad's in the high-rising horizon. And weekends, we sometimes hang where the pic's taken.

How to spend a Sunday of good Manila toddler life

Different places offer different opportunities. We don't have forests to walk in, seas to go and watch, or playgrounds where we can play without the grown-ups getting all jittery about the polution and the sun and the heat and potentially not so healthy mosquito bites.
However, we do have great restaurants that don't mind us little people at all. That's where we go to pamper ourselves. They serve us good food and think we're cute when we get tired of sitting at the table and instead want to entertain the other guests and the kitchen staff.And we also have some pretty cool pools to swim in after the post-lunch nap. This requires knowing someone in one of the flash apartment buildnings, preferably Pacific Plaza or One Roxas, or being members of the Makati Shangri-La gym. Fortunately we do have friends in the right locations (or I'm afraid we'd have to give up lunch in the fancy restaurants, well eating at all, actually)!

Let's talk about toys!

My parents had many clear likes and dislikes (mostly dislikes) regarding child related gadgetry before I was born.

For exampel, they used to think that the little caterpillar on a string was the ultimate toy. Wooden, basic, yet colorful in a way that is developmentally favorable for the young child's eyes. They used to ethnicentrically favor European quality toys.And think that kids should use their imagination. Build a track for multiple head-over-heals.
Use the furniture and some blankets to build a bunk.That games of pretence were good for the child's development and ability to socially interact.
Ha! No more, my friends. No more.
Now they have affirmed their innate materialism and converted it to Manila style. When in Rome, do as the Romans. Fill your (huge) house with whatever toys you can find. The bigger the better. The more colorful the better. The more plastic the better. Two slides are better than one. A kiddie pool that can fit the whole playgroup is to prefer over one that is good for just the family. Believe me, what you have seen in previously posted photos is nothing - I say nothing - compared to what the house looks like these days!
The only thing the parents have yet to endorse is the battery-driven loud noice (ok, guess it's called children's songs), that somehow tends to come with the turf. They're working on that.
As for me, I kind of like my caterpillar on the string. And those prerecorded tunes.

In the future, I'll move east

While mom considers becoming a Japanese banker, I have already made up my mind about becoming a Japanese samurai. I think I've got what it takes:

I've got the posture and the clothes. Got the imposing chin and awe-inspiring glance. Got the super dangerous ready-to-fight-grin, that will easily scare off any invadors.Got the horse.Got the technique to flee dangerous situations (by doing an enemy-confusing head-over-heals).Finally, I've got the companion that will step in to save me if needed. Yup, I'm definitely set to be a samurai!

Keeping it clean

Certain things are managed professionally at our house. By me. No, I'm flattering myself. I'm really just the apprentice of Pining. But I pay attention and I'm a fast learner when it comes to the really fun things, like vacuuming. (Other things, like learning not to throw the unfavored food on the floor, is a bit more tricky.)A sign of me being at a fairly advanced vacuuming level is that I don't forget the difficult corners by the stairs.(In case you're wondering about the return to English, it has been brought to my attention that some of my followers don't master Swedish well enought to completely appreciate all that's being said. Ignorant bunch! Good thing I can trust you fellow countrymen to understand either language!)