Before I unveil our fun adventure to the north, let me first share with you yet another fun bonding moment with my fam. :)

Last Friday, May 14, my baby brother Jaoey turned 8.

We had a simple yet super fun celebration...

an afternoon merienda...

and a pool party with cousins...

which was extended 'til midnight! :)

Happy birthday Jaoey!!!

It's been weeks since my last blog entry..whew! I wasn't able to blog for days because last Thursday, my family, together with Mark and my sister's boyfriend, headed to the north for our much needed R&R.

We just got back yesterday and I feel like I'm having a vacation hang over, my mind still refuses to work, my body still longs for the cold breeze up in the north, and I'm still not done uploading pictures up to now.

And since I can't really give you a decent story right now, I just might as well give you a sneak peek of our northbound trip. :)

Mo Williams started a third quarter rally to help the Cleveland Cavaliers win against the Boston Celtics 101-93 last Sunday.

The Cavs were trailing in the first three quarters but Mo gave spark to his team to make a 21-9 run to end the quarter. In the fourth quarter the Cavs' swarming defense took over and the Cavs didn’t look back as they defeated Boston in Game 1 at the Q.

Mo Williams scored 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting and did his first slam-dunk as a Cavalier. The rare dunk of Williams gave the sold out crowd more life and energy to cheer his team.

"(The dunk) gave us energy as a team, but then right after that, I hit a jumper and then three or four plays in a row after that, they called my number and I was productive", said Williams.

Lebron James, the back-to-back league MVP, tallied 35 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Lebron was 12-for-24 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Rajon Rondo on the other hand scored 27 points and dished out 12 assists, while Kevin Garnett added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics.

Photo taken from NBA.com

I have been pigging out for the past few weeks. Whenever I get to eat a lot, I just tell myself that I will just get back to my diet the next day. But oh well, this promise just kept on being pushed day after day especially when my dad cooks his specialties.

And after countless promises of getting back into a strict diet, today, I finally made it happen! Haha!

I really don't think I can do the itlog-kamote-diet that Mark does, so he suggested that I just cut off my intake of rice, sweets, and fatty food; and load up on food rich in fiber. He also told me to just munch on fruits instead of junk food for snacks; and just have fresh fruit juices or water instead of sodas and artificially flavored drinks.

So here's what I got for today. First was oatmeal for breakfast. I would always ask my mom to buy the no-cook oats so that I can just add in hot water because I like eating my oats while it's hot. I sometimes add in fruits like mangoes or bananas, but I usually have it plain, without even a pinch of sugar (ugh! oh, I mean, yum!)

Next were noodles, papaya, and ripe mangoes for lunch. My mom prepares the fruits every morning before I go to work. And for the noodles, I always have instant cup noodles, water drained, and without adding in the flavors/seasonings.

And for dinner, a cob of sweet corn was what I had. :)

My mom gave me ice cream for dessert, but I resisted. Thank God I survived woohoo! I just feel so healthy haha!

I just hope I can stick to a strict diet and resist all temptations in the coming days haha! Wish me luck! :)

Lebron James, the reigning MVP, once again made a remarkable performance in the playoffs. The King showed his dominance in the game by notching his fifth career post-season triple-double with 37 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.

In the game James had an astonishing stat sheet. Shooting 11-of-17 from the floor, 6-of-9 from beyond the arc, and had an almost perfect 9-of-10 shooting from the free throw line.

Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison helped James by adding a combined points of 43 points. Mo scored 19 points shooting 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc, while Jamison scored 24 points shooting 56 percent from the field and grabbed seven rebounds.

“Jamison was great, he was the X factor,” praised James. “It's hard to cover him. He goes around 3's and over 4's. I'm glad he’s on our side because I’ve been on the other side of him for years.”

On the other hand, Joakim Noah recorded the first 20-20 game in Bulls playoff history, finishing with 21 points and 20 boards. Derrick Rose scored 21 points on 9-of-20 shooting from the field.

The Cavs will have a home court advantage trying to finish the series in Game 5 at the Q.

Photo taken from NBA.com

It was a very hot Sunday afternoon and we still haven't had lunch so we just decided to eat out...outside the house! hahaha!

The family was all complete, Gia's boyfriend was also present, and my dad's friend also came over, so my dad again cooked a scrumptious lunch for us.

First on the menu was the pork barbecue. This one is actually my mom's recipe and I was the one who did the grilling. :) The green thing on the topmost portion of the picture is grilled tilapia rolled into banana leaf. :)

And here are the finished products..

We also had nilagang okra which is Gia's favorite!

My mom wanted chopseuy and pancit canton while I wanted beef broccoli. And my dad, being the generous dad that he is, wanted to give everything that we want, so he came up with chopseuy, pancit canton, and beef broccoli all in one dish. And it came out really delicious!

My dad also cooked Jaoey's all-time-favorite lechon kawali.

We all enjoyed our lunch out hehe..well nothing really compares to a scrumptious lunch shared with the whole family. And is there any better way to quench away the heat than to have a scoop of ice cream for dessert?

Well I guess I must have felt too much heat that I got not just one, but 3 scoops! *drools*