How to Remove Stains on Concrete and Wood

Every parent's nightmare starts with that very moment their toddler picks up a marker, a crayon, or a pencil, and starts scribbling all over the walls, furniture, TV--just everywhere! Worse part of it all, you can't take it off even if you scrub it with a brush and your trusty detergent. Or that you have removed the stain ALONG with the paint/varnish on your walls or furniture (GASP)!

Here's something I have learned 4 years and 2 daughter later, and I am sharing it to you all for the sake of your sanity. Best part of it all is that you don't have to drive too far to look for the materials--just in the bathroom or the garage. Yay!

How to remove stains on wooden surface:

What you'll need:

Damp cloth or baby wipes
White toothpaste; NOT gel toothpaste

Procedure:

Squeeze about a pea-sized amount of toothpaste on a damp cloth or baby wipes. Wipe wipe wipe! Et voila! Stain's gone.

The kids' door... After some toothpaste and baby wipes action,
Allie's "abstract" art using a pencil, a marker and black crayon are finally gone.

How to remove stains on concrete surface:

What you'll need:

Damp cloth or baby wipes
WD-40
Optional: face mask or anything to cover your nose (especially if you have asthma or allergies)

Procedure:

Spray a bit of WD-40 on the stain. Be careful not to spray it on toys, etc. or you have to clean it all up! Wipe away the stain and the remnants of the WD-40. Ta-da! It's as if nothing ever happened.

The room's wall...
About a spot of WD-40 and a good wipe on Allie's crayon graffiti,
it's as if the walls have been untouched!

So there you go. No more stains, no re-painting needed, and most of all, no expensive stain removers required. Happy mommy and daddy!

Good luck! :)

A Sigh of Relief

A few of days back, my family and I were frantic with worry due to the situation in the Visayas. Reason being, my Aunt, cousins, niece and nephew all live in Tacloban. All lines of power and communication went out as Haiyan (Typhoon Yolanda) ravaged the region, leaving a massive trail of devastation. Lives and homes were lost by this tragic catastrophe.

Photo credit: NBCNews.com

Yesterday, as most people in the area laid their deceased loved ones to rest in a mass grave in Tacloban, my family finally got a message from my cousin that they are safe. My mother, and the rest of her siblings, got a huge sigh of relief to have found out that my aunt and her family are okay.

If you may have noticed in my last post, I posted an SOS to you all in case someone might have seen them in Tacloban during the rescue efforts. I am happy to say that they are fine now. Although they have lost their things, they are all alive and safe now. Their house was a mess, but still liveable. Only problem is, there are no lines yet for power and communication, no water, no food, and no meds. They have been travelling back and forth to Samar to get food rations from the relief operations so they could survive for the moment.

Haiyan victims rescued by C-130 planes have finally landed
in Villamor Airbase, Manila
(Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/)

In this post, I also want to thank those who helped me and my family through links of lists, videos, etc. so I can identify if anyone in those videos were my relatives. Also, the nations who have sent help... THANK YOU. To the government institutions who aided the people--except for the politicos with other agenda than to help--the Armed Forces, police force, DOH, etc. I may be harsh in my words with some of those who sugarcoated the news about those people, hiding the real condition of the people to "avoid panic" for the victims' relatives, I still thank you for helping out those in need.

You can find relief facilities almost anywhere at the moment.
Please send your donations to Red Cross, nearby hospitals, schools,
fastfood establishments, banks, etc. to help out our
kababayans in the Visayas. :)

What I am asking you all right now is to please help the people in need. In cash, in kind or if you can volunteer. Doesn't matter how, but just please, help them in any way. We may have lost some of our stuff by giving them away, but it's the least we can do for those who have lost way more than just material things.

Happy Friday everyone. Our nation will get through this. Kapit lang.

The Haiyan Aftermath

Hello all.

I haven't been writing for a few days now as I am looking for my relatives who were victims of the past typhoon. As you all know, our country was hit by Monster Typhoon Haiyan (locally called Yolanda). If you haven't seen the news, thousands of homes were wrecked by this Category 5 Frankenstorm. Families perished, children orphaned, parents lost their children, spouses widowed, crops destroyed... everything in chaos.

Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), viewed from the International
Space Station (Source: AFP/Getty Images)

Aerial view of the massive destruction in the province of Samar, Philippines
(Source: Reuters)

Taclobanons (Tacloban City, Leyte residents) surveying the ruins
(Source: AP)

Though here in Manila and most parts of Luzon weren't hit by this freak of a storm, the central part of the country was badly devastated by it. Because of this, I appeal to you all. To those who could help our countrymen, please send your donations to Red Cross, or to charity groups helping out in this cause. It doesn't matter if you choose to donate in cash, in kind, or even yourselves as volunteers--as long as you can help.

Also, I wrote this to take the opportunity to find my relatives. She and her family are residents of Tacloban City, one of the most badly hit places here by that wretched typhoon. She, along with my cousins, Joyce and Patrick, as well as Patrick's wife, Mae, and their kids, Rhylenne and Russel, are living in Kassel Homes in Tacloban. Since the storm made landfall, we have no word yet about their current location. We don't know if they have evacuated or not. We have no idea as well on how they are doing at the moment--if they have food to eat, if they still have clothes to wear, if their home is still intact, and most important of all, if they are all safe.

I am posting their photos here, and ask you all if anyone (especially those who went to medical missions in Tacloban just recently) have seen them. I have tried Facebook, Google's Person Finder, etc., and am now trying my luck here too. Anyway, here are their names, ages and photos.

My aunt, Miraflor Cruz, 58 yo

My cousin, Joyce Carol Cruz, 24 yo

My cousin, Patrick Anthony Roca, 27 yo, his wife, Mae Richell Loyola-Roca, 27 yo,

daughter Rhylenne Keizhia, 5 yo, and son, Steven Russel, 4mos.

In case you have any information about them, please let me know through my email: shockingina<at>gmail<dot>com

Please, no spams, chain bullshit mails or whatever. I need help, not junk mail. If you are in my position, you will understand my point.

Anyhoos, thank you for your kind sympathies for my country, by the way. Til next time.

Back to the Old Drawing Board!

I started drawing again. It has been one of my oldest passions aside from music. I remember when I was in first grade, my father drew a picture of the Sto. Niño for my school project. I have always look up to him for being so artistic. He never draw portraits a lot, but when he do, it's always awesome.

Anyway, I stopped drawing back in college due to my crazy law subjects. I was a Public Administration student and I was pretty busy when I was in my third/fourth year. A couple months after graduating, I started working at a call center and had to press pause on music and art. Since then, I haven't done anything art-related... until recently.

One of my first pieces, years after I stopped drawing.

Here's a few that I made a few nights back.
Insomnia gets the best out of me, I guess. Haha!

So yea, I started practicing again--my family as my muse. I started out with mu husband, then the kids. I have never felt so great. For me, it's just like gardening and playing the guitar. This thing excites and calms me, both at the same time. And just like riding a bike, not drawing for far too long (about ten years, actually) does not make you un-learn these things. You just get rusty, BUT you will never forget how to do it.

Happy Allie. :)

Ate Renee and her shiny hair. Hihi!

How about you guys? Any passion you stopped doing that you wish to start pursuing again?