Wednesday, March 23
Spring is here. Hurra!
The long wait is over, the birds are back, the flowers are blooming, trees are starting to have leaves again and the temperature is just warming up. We can even smell it.. yes spring is here. There is no denying it.
Sunday, March 13
Monday
Latest Picture with Baghira. I don't have any other new picture to put here but to make this post more colorful I added this one.
Happy Monday dear friends and visitors! The week has just started and of course before we know it, it will be over. Actually this week went faster than usual because Vlado had to worked till Saturday and stay in Cologne (Koeln in german). Our weekend (which was actually only Sunday) was spent with going to church, attending the church business meeting and a seminar for couples at guess again (church!!!). Vlado was on the verge of going crazy because according to him there wasn't any "business" at all in this business meeting, but only bbbzzzzzzzz (so as to show the congregation they are doing some kind of business there) aside from the fact that our stomachs were grumbling and rumbling because it started from lunch to coffee time (12-2:15) and that was after the church service (10:00-11:45). So we didn't really have time to grab something for our tummies. Some of the church goers really had it good, they opened their handbags and pulled out all sorts of stuff there like sandwiches, ham (to go with the bread), banana/apple and some kind of chocolate or muesli bar and gobbled it all down with some sort of fluid, while the poor, unprepared me, only had a small bottle of water (220 ml) to share with Vlado and 2 pieces of candy (even unsweetened because it's supposed to be for itchy throats). Vlado's realization after this incident: Next time we should have a church picnic rather than a church business meeting.
The seminar for couples was interesting though, this time we had brownies and coffee/tea for refreshments although it lasted only for 1 hour and 45 minutes. It's called the love languages. Men and women speak different love languages. We will let you know more about it later as we go on. The only thing Vlado is worried about is: if he will understand the two other participants with their sharing, the other guy speaks english with scottisch accent and the other guy speaks english like the english do but even faster. The only thing Toni is worried about: how to keep her hands off the brownies (or other pastries) because they placed it beside her.
Happy Monday dear friends and visitors! The week has just started and of course before we know it, it will be over. Actually this week went faster than usual because Vlado had to worked till Saturday and stay in Cologne (Koeln in german). Our weekend (which was actually only Sunday) was spent with going to church, attending the church business meeting and a seminar for couples at guess again (church!!!). Vlado was on the verge of going crazy because according to him there wasn't any "business" at all in this business meeting, but only bbbzzzzzzzz (so as to show the congregation they are doing some kind of business there) aside from the fact that our stomachs were grumbling and rumbling because it started from lunch to coffee time (12-2:15) and that was after the church service (10:00-11:45). So we didn't really have time to grab something for our tummies. Some of the church goers really had it good, they opened their handbags and pulled out all sorts of stuff there like sandwiches, ham (to go with the bread), banana/apple and some kind of chocolate or muesli bar and gobbled it all down with some sort of fluid, while the poor, unprepared me, only had a small bottle of water (220 ml) to share with Vlado and 2 pieces of candy (even unsweetened because it's supposed to be for itchy throats). Vlado's realization after this incident: Next time we should have a church picnic rather than a church business meeting.
The seminar for couples was interesting though, this time we had brownies and coffee/tea for refreshments although it lasted only for 1 hour and 45 minutes. It's called the love languages. Men and women speak different love languages. We will let you know more about it later as we go on. The only thing Vlado is worried about is: if he will understand the two other participants with their sharing, the other guy speaks english with scottisch accent and the other guy speaks english like the english do but even faster. The only thing Toni is worried about: how to keep her hands off the brownies (or other pastries) because they placed it beside her.
Monday, March 7
March
Hi Friends. Sorry for not updating you so regularly as I have promised. Things have not been really that exciting here. Let's just blame it on the March weather here in Germany. It's really chaotic. On some days it's so cold, minus temperature, with snow, rain and gray weather all together in one. And then all of a sudden, it's sunny, mild and dry and then all cold and gray or sunny and super cold...So what happens to poor little girls and boys like us? We get headache, flu, migraine, allergic reactions, asthma and so on. It seems we are really becoming unhealthy creatures here or simply --getting O-L-D-E-R. So for this week our resolution is to do more sports and stop doing or rather minimize (let's be realistic) our favorite hobby - that is watching TV/DVD/commerials and all other nonsense that goes on in that box.
Aside from that, I am telling you again of Vlado's hopes to have a new job. Unfortunately I need more of your positive thoughths, prayers and wishes because Vlado still hasn't hit the jackpot and still into this unending search for a new job. Please let us all help him. Send us your positive vibrations, include him in your prayers, and if by chance you find a genie in the bottle who will give you three wishes, think of your friend Vlado. OK? What are friends for?
With regards to me, nothing new under the sun, same teachers, same exams,same problems (how do I lose weight without dieting and exercising?), same old pestering cat who meows when I stay too long on the computer or on the telephone, same excuses when procrastinating especially by studying ( i'll just do it later, tomorrow, next day, next weekend, next month---aaaghhh too late!)
I haven't had the chance to take some new photographs to show you a bit of our little town here. I hope I can make some nice ones during the easter break. We plan to visit some friends too in Belgium and if I will get my visa on time, we might go to Edinborough, Scotland. That was really not wise of me, to book that flight without thinking of the formalities. The hungry for bargain Toni couldn't resist the cheap flight offered. Imagine from €400 to €118!Book...boookkkkkk ..bbboooooookkkkkk! There you go. I think I might just change my nationality because of all this visa thing. That's a very shallow reason right. But just imagine all the money and time you can save from having a nationality that allows you to travel around the world easier??? And cheaper not to mention all the visa fees plus the passport picture and postage (registered mail at that) .
Aside from that, I am telling you again of Vlado's hopes to have a new job. Unfortunately I need more of your positive thoughths, prayers and wishes because Vlado still hasn't hit the jackpot and still into this unending search for a new job. Please let us all help him. Send us your positive vibrations, include him in your prayers, and if by chance you find a genie in the bottle who will give you three wishes, think of your friend Vlado. OK? What are friends for?
With regards to me, nothing new under the sun, same teachers, same exams,same problems (how do I lose weight without dieting and exercising?), same old pestering cat who meows when I stay too long on the computer or on the telephone, same excuses when procrastinating especially by studying ( i'll just do it later, tomorrow, next day, next weekend, next month---aaaghhh too late!)
I haven't had the chance to take some new photographs to show you a bit of our little town here. I hope I can make some nice ones during the easter break. We plan to visit some friends too in Belgium and if I will get my visa on time, we might go to Edinborough, Scotland. That was really not wise of me, to book that flight without thinking of the formalities. The hungry for bargain Toni couldn't resist the cheap flight offered. Imagine from €400 to €118!Book...boookkkkkk ..bbboooooookkkkkk! There you go. I think I might just change my nationality because of all this visa thing. That's a very shallow reason right. But just imagine all the money and time you can save from having a nationality that allows you to travel around the world easier??? And cheaper not to mention all the visa fees plus the passport picture and postage (registered mail at that) .
Wednesday, March 2
Baghira the cat
Some people have been asking, what's with the name Baghira? Actually, when we adopted our cat, he already has this name and we decided not to change it. He has been using it for the last 11 years of his life and we are not so sure if he could easily adjust to a new name. We were not even sure if he responds to his old name. But what do you know?! Cats can be really smart. He now even has a new nickname, Peewee. And he amazingly responds to it. I tried speaking to him in Tagalog (filipino) but he doesn't undertand it. He is a 100% german speaking cat, despite his name coming from India. Baghira is from Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book. It is actually spelled there Bageera, what we have is the german version. Like life music instead of live music :) seriously, if you go to bars here, don't be surprised to see, if you read something like this "tonight life music" written on a board at the entrance. There's music and hey, there's life!!! (the germans pronouced in some words- f like v - that's why. A long vowel on the other hand , is pronouced with an h on it) Do I sound like a teacher? 
Monday, February 21
Traveler's Prayer
Hi Friends, just want to share with you an amusing prayer we saw in one of our travels. It's funny and witty but utterly true for us travelers and for those travelers to be.
Lead us dear Lord to good, inexpensive restaurants, where the food is superb, the waiters friendly and the wine included in the price. Give us the wisdom to tip correctly in currencies we do not understand, forgive us for under tipping out of ignorance and overtipping out of fear. Make the natives love us for what we are, and not for what we can contribute to their wordly goods.
Grant us the strength to visit the museums, the cathederals, the palaces and the castles listed in the guidebooks as "a must." And if by chance we skip a historic monument to take a nap after lunch, have mercy on us for our flesh is weak.
Amen.
A TRAVELER’S PRAYER
Heavenly father, look down on us your humble obedient tourist-servants, who are doomed to travel this earth taking photos, sending postcards, emailing, buying souvenirs and walking around in drip dry underwear. Give us this day divine guidance in the selection of our hostels, that we may find our reservations honoured, our rooms made up and hot water from the taps. We pray that the telephones work, there is internet and the lines not to slow.
Heavenly father, look down on us your humble obedient tourist-servants, who are doomed to travel this earth taking photos, sending postcards, emailing, buying souvenirs and walking around in drip dry underwear. Give us this day divine guidance in the selection of our hostels, that we may find our reservations honoured, our rooms made up and hot water from the taps. We pray that the telephones work, there is internet and the lines not to slow.
Lead us dear Lord to good, inexpensive restaurants, where the food is superb, the waiters friendly and the wine included in the price. Give us the wisdom to tip correctly in currencies we do not understand, forgive us for under tipping out of ignorance and overtipping out of fear. Make the natives love us for what we are, and not for what we can contribute to their wordly goods.
Grant us the strength to visit the museums, the cathederals, the palaces and the castles listed in the guidebooks as "a must." And if by chance we skip a historic monument to take a nap after lunch, have mercy on us for our flesh is weak.
Amen.
Source: A small coffe shop in Sagada, Mountain Province, Philippines
Sunday, February 20
Friday, February 18
Weekend Once Again And Updates
It's weekend once again. It's amazing how time just passes us by. I don't even notice what date it is and then all of a sudden, it's Friday, then Saturday and we have to refill our refrigerator and buy bread, ham, cheese, some sort of vegetables and fruits, so we can say we eat still healthy food, cat food, noodles, yoghurt, toilet paper and meat of some sort. Then it's Monday and Vlado has to leave early morning for his business trip in Muenster. Toni eats the bread, cheese, ham, meat and some sort of vegetable (so Vlado will not reprimand her of eating too much meat), forgets about the fruit and Baghira naturally eats his cat food every 6 pm or he goes berserk. Vlado comes home and finds ref empty and asks himself, where does the food all go? Why are the fruits rotten? Before you know it, it's Saturday and time to go grocery shopping again, buying the same stuff all over again and going through the same routine again. Without we knowing about it, we aged and grow older. I wanted to put a vase on top of the cupboards, somewhere up there and with hands stretched upwards, what did I hear? KKKRRunch.. those were my limbs or my bones, I don't know. But man, they did hurt!!! I'm ageing and getting crispier. So next week, we have to add Milk in our list, that way I can get my calcium intake (that is if I don't forget to drink it before it gets spoiled).
UPDATES:
Vlado has a new guitar and been really into it since last weekend. He doesn't have any experience with it but for the time being he has equipped himself with the necessary books and cds. Hopefully this will give him an orientation before he finally decides to go to a music teacher. I also learned how to play the guitar when I was about 14 or 15 yearls old, but I didn't like it and thought it was boring. I was more interested with drums but my mom thought that was a waste of money. So that was what I did, I wasted her money and didn't learn how to play the guitar. In the end, no drums, no guitars. Looking back after all these years, I really regret it that I didn't learn it. Let's just blame it on puberty.
But this weekend, Vlado has to rest and sleep and drink lots of liquid, he has some kind of flu, hopefully not one of those influenza virus sweeping the country. He still has no new job even after the two interviews he've had this week, so friends, do continue to include him in your prayers or wishes or whatever it is that you do that bring positive things in your life.
UPDATES:
Vlado has a new guitar and been really into it since last weekend. He doesn't have any experience with it but for the time being he has equipped himself with the necessary books and cds. Hopefully this will give him an orientation before he finally decides to go to a music teacher. I also learned how to play the guitar when I was about 14 or 15 yearls old, but I didn't like it and thought it was boring. I was more interested with drums but my mom thought that was a waste of money. So that was what I did, I wasted her money and didn't learn how to play the guitar. In the end, no drums, no guitars. Looking back after all these years, I really regret it that I didn't learn it. Let's just blame it on puberty.
But this weekend, Vlado has to rest and sleep and drink lots of liquid, he has some kind of flu, hopefully not one of those influenza virus sweeping the country. He still has no new job even after the two interviews he've had this week, so friends, do continue to include him in your prayers or wishes or whatever it is that you do that bring positive things in your life.
Wednesday, February 16
Christmas Market
Visit at the Christmas Market with Toni's classmates, December 2004. 
One nice thing about the Christmas season in Germany is visiting the Christmas market, also known as "Weihnachtsmarkt". Here you can find many traditional goodies and handmade decorations mostly available on December. Lebkuchen or gingerbreads, hmmm, yummy., "gluehwein" or red wine with spices in it like cinnamon, cloves, orange peel etc. For the non alcohlic, there's a warm orange juice variety with the same spices. It's supposed to make you warm while you go shopping, hopping from store to store. Of course a Christmas market is not complete without any Christmas tree .. and here they have real trees and big ones at that. Not made of plastic, which we usually use in Asia. Did you know that Christmas trees originated in Germany? Yes folks, that's a fact!
Okay, I know it's a bit late posting pictures about Christmas, but since we just started this blog, we want to share with you, some bits and pieces of our lives.
One nice thing about the Christmas season in Germany is visiting the Christmas market, also known as "Weihnachtsmarkt". Here you can find many traditional goodies and handmade decorations mostly available on December. Lebkuchen or gingerbreads, hmmm, yummy., "gluehwein" or red wine with spices in it like cinnamon, cloves, orange peel etc. For the non alcohlic, there's a warm orange juice variety with the same spices. It's supposed to make you warm while you go shopping, hopping from store to store. Of course a Christmas market is not complete without any Christmas tree .. and here they have real trees and big ones at that. Not made of plastic, which we usually use in Asia. Did you know that Christmas trees originated in Germany? Yes folks, that's a fact!
Okay, I know it's a bit late posting pictures about Christmas, but since we just started this blog, we want to share with you, some bits and pieces of our lives.
Tuesday, February 15
Bulgaria Pictures
Here's a glimpse of Bulgaria taken last September 2004. Please bear with the quality of the pictures because they were just taken from a normal camera and then digitalized. We weren't so high tech yet at that time. Notice the costumes of the folk dancers? The girls with the red skirts. It's almost similar to the Igorot costumes.
Sunday, February 13
Baghira
Baghira at his best!
This is Baghira our cat, he just turned 13 years old, so he's a real teenager now. We adopted him two years ago, and so far he has gained two kilos, covered the entire house with his tiny little hairs and conquered the entire couch as his territory. He weighs at the moment 6 kilos, quite heavy actually for a cat. His hobbies include, sleeping, eating, lazing around, taking long lazy walks, bird watching, meowwing and purring (that is, if he is being pet and stroked on his tummy). He is obsessed with plastic bags, he can't seem to keep off his tongue from licking them especially when he is nervous. He likes to have guests around the house especially women, that way he can try to snuggle into their bags. Yes folks, that's our Baghira.
Saturday, February 12
Atttempts at making a blog
Hi Friends, this is one of our first few attempts to set up a blog, so be patient. We will try to improve it as we go along. Meanwhile, enjoy the first few pictures we have set up or should I say, we will set up.
For those of you wondering why gluehwurm and what the heck is the meaning of it? It's the german word for fireflies or alitaptap for tagalog. We can't think of any crazy and catchy name, it was so hard, all our attempts were rejected. We thought of fireflies and the tagalog word for it but, it is already unavailable, so we tried the german word instead. In the end we ended up with it.
For our friends all over the world, we want to welcome you here. Feel free to say hello and write your comments and feedbacks. Maybe you also have a blog, so why not share it with us.
For those of you wondering why gluehwurm and what the heck is the meaning of it? It's the german word for fireflies or alitaptap for tagalog. We can't think of any crazy and catchy name, it was so hard, all our attempts were rejected. We thought of fireflies and the tagalog word for it but, it is already unavailable, so we tried the german word instead. In the end we ended up with it.
For our friends all over the world, we want to welcome you here. Feel free to say hello and write your comments and feedbacks. Maybe you also have a blog, so why not share it with us.
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