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Our 2008 Philippine Trip

Food we had the pleasure to enjoy: Philippine mangoes, coconut shake/juice and flesh, ma-chang, hopia, palabok, chicken inasal, Philippine seafood.

We were able to enjoy and catch-up with - friends and relatives, though we were not able to see all of them. Clarisse, being a young child, intuitively knows whom she could trust amongst the new people she met there. Her maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather are the two people who dote on her and were able to establish so she was happy to go along with them to wherever they would take her.

Our family went to Bacolod, the home town of my father in law, to attend Greg's cousin's wedding. The place we stayed in, their "family compound", was very homey and there is "warmth" in it. Though it was very modest by comparison to the other big mansions sprouting around their suburb, there is something in there that would make me want to go back for visits. I understand now what Greg meant when we talked about his childhood days in Bacolod and why my brother-in-laws prefer to spend their holidays in Bacolod than in Manila whenever they go back for a visit.

There might arise another opportunity for us to go back to Philippines in 2009. It would be nice if and when that happens.

Toilet Training
We are in this process now with Clarisse. Though I don't prefer to start it so soon mainly because we are in the middle of winter here and it is hard to take off her layers of pants, she prefers to wear her panty than her nappies. Layers of pants would mean nappies/panties, leggings, and outerpants (just imagine trying to get her out of those when she's about to go!!). We started right after she turned 2 in autumn but stopped after i noticed it's not working. My mom put her on panties again when we were in Manila and each time clarisse made a mess, there is a maid to clean up (wow, what a life people got there). Clarisse eventually caught on so there would be times she'd prefer panties than nappies. What am I supposed to do now but allow her to. I have not consistently let her wear panties throughout the day because there are days when we need to go out to the shops.

Toilet training requires a lot of time and attention from the trainer apparently - I watch out for signs if she's about to wee(grimacing) or poo (hiding), I try to preempt her and tell her to go to the potty, I sit down in the bathroom to entertain her until she does her thing. Sometimes she tells me she wants to go, but there are plenty of times I have I failed to catch her. When I failed, there would be a lot of cleaning up to do. Very frustrating when sometimes she insisted she does not need to go too then you realised you should have been more insistent and patient. Very trying indeed. Once they get it right there would be less need of "my services" though. I just have to get over there. Patiently.