IHOP night

April 20:

It's been a while since we heard of IHOP, and one of the reason is that we've heard that there is still a line to get into this new place. The acronym stands for International House of Pancakes. It's basically a U.S. based franchise, and this happens to be the first time said franchise has opened here.

So... how was the experience? Honestly speaking? I found the concept okay... but the products - as attractive as they look, were less than spectacular. For their price, it simply does not reflect the expected quality I was looking forward to experience. Not that it was bad, mind you... but it was too expensive for pancakes.

Will I go back to it? Not really - I think that places like Maples serve better pancakes at less the price. Maybe IHOP has more variety in terns of the kind of pancakes they have, but numbers won't turn the tide if taste doesn't have any attraction. Oh yeah... and the price. I did mention it's high, right? In this particular lifetime, I can identify a lot of other things that I would rather spend on, and be more satisfied with. Still... I guess it was for the experience. Now I know what it's about - so much for the hype.

Bubbles!

Bubbles accepting a sleeping hug from Bea...

April 20:

Bubbles is the other half our pet tandem - or should I say the first half... after all, she came first. She is a mixed breed - half Spitz (from where she takes her color) and half Chow (where she takes her size).

Both dog breeds are known to be temperamental, so I guess both cancelled each other out as far su Bubbles is concerned. She has the best temperament -  always patient and kind to all of us, as can be gleaned from these pictures.

and enjoying an embrace from Bernice

Dogs are known to be uncomfortable when hugged, but in Bubble's case, she accepts it. She loves sleeping or lazing beside us - specially on the bed.

Buffy!

No, she isn't angry... that's just how Buffy looks

April 17:

Buffy may be a mixed-breed dog, so technically, she has no value from a purist's perspective. But Buffy is a very loving and protective pet. Here are a few pictures of Buffy with Bernice, just to show you how close she can be with us.

looking around - but still accepting the embrace

Point in fact, she can be quite possesive of us - and very protective. She really barks at strangers, and can be worrisome. She can have a mrecurial temper and this is, at times, even dished out at Bubbles, our other pet.

Barbie doesn't really like her (because she is closer to me than her, I guess), but I know that Buffy's heart is in protecting us all.

curious... wonder what got her
attention?

She can sometimes seem easy to trick, specially with her favorite toy - a laser pointer; but she doesn't think about stopping or giving up... even to the point of exhaustion.

But it's these kind of exercises that make her muscular, hence she can run real fast - but let's not consider maneuverability. She may not be able to corner on a dime, but she sure can handle the bumps.

Dave in town.

Dave

April 11:

Tony

One of the earlier undocumented daily happenings is the arrival of Dave and our meeting at Tony's place of work. It has been a while since he did arrive, and this time, we just had an evening of talk - not even drinking... well, maybe a bit, but not serious. It was mostly catch up time, talk about friends not around (no... not dead, just not around), and enjoying this opportunity ot play catch up with each other.

Dave is, after all, based in the U.S. - has been for decades now... and our shared experiences were during the time I was still in College.

Wow... that has been a long time. So we talk about family, kids and anything under the sun. He also usually brings a few 'pasalubongs' for my family, and those are basically icing to the cake that is his visit.

Boyet

This evening, it was just Tony, Boyet, Dave and me. When will this be repeated? Who knows?

Me with Dave at the background

 Which is why we try to enjoy what we can - more so since Dave has a lot of things lined up, and it isn't a certainty if we can get together again - more so, me with my work schedules.

Reviving and populating this.

Man, this is obviously a ball I dropped. But better late than never, as the saying goes... so I will slowly bridge the gap between year3 and my ongoing 365 blog for 2015. This will mean mining my pics in the external hard drive... but I will slowly, but surely do this.

What does this mean? Well... since the previous blog ended in April 9, 2013, all succeeding pics are fair game (until end of 2014), and that is a lot of ground to cover. But as I said, this is not officially a project 365, so it won't have a day-to-day feel.

Instead, I'll be looking at possible highlights / events worth sharing. As I mentioned, this is not a project 365 - but a blog to preserve some memories. So definitely not 365 entries - most likely less. But who knows? Will it have 365 pictures? Only time will tell.