Thunder Shirt

New Year's eve celebrations are always fun in the Philippines.  Last year - Midori, Char Siew and I walked over to the Fireworks party in Makati.  This year in Baguio - we will most probably just stay in our house and make noises out of our pots and pans.  

New Year's eve celebrations can be very stressful to my two girls: Midori and Brita.   They're afraid of loud noises.  Midori shivers from fear and Brita tries to hide in our cupboard.  One tool that we will definitely use this year is the Thundershirt that I got for the four legged babies.  It was very effective in calming Midori down during thunderstorms.  I'm hoping that it will have the same effect for fireworks.

Giant Santa

Is it just me or does this Giant Inflatable Santa at SM City Baguio look like a burglar?

Lago de Oro

The queens and some of my friends from high school went on a road trip to Calatagan Batangas for one  of my high school friend's wedding.  It was a lovely wedding - and the reception was fun.   We decided to book a room at Lago de Oro ( it was actually the only resort around the Calatagan area which was available ).   The resort mainly caters for Wakeboarding enthusiasts.  So the rooms have the bare necessities (bed, bathroom, TV).

If you are into wakeboarding, or sheep ( yes they have sheep on the resort grounds ), and fantastic sunrise and golden sunsets ( which is why it's called Lago de Oro ) then head out to Calatagan and check it out.

Star Rangers and Snow Leopard

Now that I have a tripod, a wireless shutter trigger, a flippable screen on my Canon 60D - I can easily take self-portraits.   These two pictures showcase items that I got this Christmas as gifts or items from the local flea market. 

The Star Rangers T-Shirt and Star Rangers mug are gifts I received from Christmas. 

A friend gave me this Star Ranger T-shirt and the Star Rangers mug.  I loved this series when I was young.  I'd watch them every afternoon - and looked forward to the characters kicking this football like thing to defeat their enemy.

The Snow Leopard Hat - I got from the Harrison Road Bazaar in Baguio

Was I cold when I bought this silly hat?  Nope - I just wanted it because it was fun to wear.  I actually saw a "pack" of teenage friends wearing these on Session Road.   There's actually an added bonus to wearing the hat - Brita goes crazy when I wear the hat.  It actually looks funny when she goes bonkers. I wonder if she thinks the hat is an actual animal?!?

Beaglehood of the Traveling Yodapants

There is a traveling Yoda costume that haunts Beagles around the world.  It all started in Amsterdam with a beagle named Hunter.  All the Beagles in Twitterworld ( along with their humans ) had a good laugh seeing Hunter's pictures.  Hunter decided that he can't be the only Beagle wearing the Yoda pants - so he decided to send the yoda pants to a journey around the world.   The gallery of Beagle Yodas is posted in a blog called "When We Was Yoda".

It was Midori's turn last Summer to be Yoda for  day.  We decided to have the pictorial in our garden.  The pictures turned out really well and Midori was every bit the professional model that we trained her to be.  These are her best shots form the Photo shoot.

Saint Louis University Annual Lantern Parade

A colleague alerted me to the annual Saint Louis University annual lantern parade.   The queens trekked to Session Road to grab some shots of the event.  There were too many people at lower session road - so we decided to stay at upper session road where the parade starts.  I'm happy we did ( we caught it where there's a bit of a zigzag on the road - which allowed us to capture s-shaped lights.

Next time you're in Baguio in the month of December --- try to catch the event.  It starts on Upper Session Road and ends at Burnham Park.

Merry Christmas from the House of Queens

Christmas 2012 is here.  We're celebrating this joyous occasion in our home in Baguio.  My family is driving up from Manila.   When we were young,  our parents have always intended to spend a Christmas or two in the city of pines -- to experience the chilly weather ( without flying overseas ).  So today - is a day that everyone in this household has been looking forward to.

To the readers of the House of Queens - we hope that you are enjoying this holiday with your family and friends.   Please continue to drop by our blog - as we intend to revive the regular posting schedule - so you can keep up with the stories of the queens and the household fur-babies.

An image of the Holy Family depicting the first Christmas more than 2000 years ago.

Brita is Her New Name

Back in September, we fostered a German Shorthaired Pointer named Sugar.  We offered to foster her  and bring her to Baguio - where the climate is cooler than her former home: Manila.  I already have a Shar Pei named Char Siew and a Beagle named Midori.  Having a third dog was not in my plan.  So the plan was to keep her until we find her forever home.  Two months into the adoption - we decided to give her a forever home.  We also gave her a German name: Brita.  She's a shy dog - and the other fur-babies in our house tend to mark their territory against her.  Overall - she has settled in and she seems to be really happy with her new home.

The sofa is no longer the sole territory of Beagle.  GSPs like getting on furniture.

Brita loves running around our garden.

This is the signature stance of the GSP - they use it to point to birds that they help humans hunt.

She's very curious.

The sunny weather in Baguio brings out her brilliant spots.

This is why we decided to adopt her.  Look at those eyes.  How can you say good bye to those eyes?