About

Hi. Now that you’re here, let’s talk about (*ahem*) me. ;)

They call me Tita Buds (it rhymes with goods and moods) and this is me in a nutshell: middle child (with all the syndromes supposedly attendant to it), middle-aged (early 40s), and terribly middlebrow (my tastes make some of my friends — them intellectual snobs — roll their eyes).

I live in a tiny house that’s overran by books, mostly-unused kitchen gadgets, a sexy spouse (hehe!), two dogs, and a constant stream of 80s music. I am irritatingly perky, laugh a lot and like to surround myself with people who are similarly inclined. I am aunt to nine pamangkins, thus the Tita part (it means ‘aunt’ in Pilipino, but you are welcome to call me Tita anytime). I collect bookmarks, haven’t replaced my Nokia phone since 2006, love to travel, love futbol and pepper my sentences with swear words in the Bikol dialect. I also have the appetite of a well-muscled construction worker. That’s of, not for.  ;)

What This Blog Is About:  

I blog about the places I go to during my occasional travels as a wide-eyed tourist. If you like travel posts with lots of photos and enough detail to make you feel like you’re there yourself, I’m sure you’ll find those here. :)

In between the travel posts, I also blog about the ordinary and everyday stuff that make me smile.

I post twice a week on average, including weekends.

(Samples of what I usually blog about are in my Top Posts page, including the two (yey!) which were featured on WordPress’ Freshly Pressed.)

Finally…

I once read a book excerpt in O magazine (see? middlebrow!) in which the author wrote about her ‘House of Love and Bragging’. For her, it was a place where friends and family could talk about anything, including the silly and shallow, disappointment and regret, and happiness and pride, all without holding back.

Well, this is my Blog of Love and Bragging. Come in, pull up a seat, feel free to browse the shelves. And I hope you don’t mind the dogs. :)

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I’d love to hear from you. Just drop me a note in the comments section (so it’s easier for me to find you) or email me at: titabuds(at)gmail(dot)com.

Of course, you are sooo welcome to subscribe and get updated on new posts via email or RSS feed.

I’m also on Twitter and Facebook. Let’s follow each other or fall in Like. ;)

93 thoughts on “About”

  1. You are a bit funny indeed Hi my name is Colleen FR. Jamaica just started blogging maybe you can help me out check out my blog called memories and tell me what you think

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  2. Hi! Great blog! I think I know the literal meaning of Buday in Bicolano :-)
    Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!

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  3. Hi! I love your writing style and I’m thrilled to discover you’re Pinay! (I’m Pinay, too, in case that isn’t obvious [yet].)

    I found your blog on WordPress’s front page (I think) and the post was about three things you couldn’t do (or something like that). I’m so glad to have found someone I can read! (I mean this in its most literal sense. The blogosphere is littered with people who should not have taken to the Internet and it’s sad that they’re here because I just cannot read them. You know what I mean?)

    Did I tell you I love your writing style?

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  5. Congrats on being freshly picked. Kainggit. You are so funny and unselfcoscious. Inspiring! Great fabulous going!

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  6. Hi! I was about to leave a comment on your post “Three things I cannot do” (or something rather) but my computer had a slight problem, so yeah. I was going to say, your post was very entertaining, I really enjoyed reading it! Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed, that’s so cool!!

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  7. Tita buds! Kumusta naman? I am so happy for you! I didn’t see it until I opened wordpress here at work on my lunch break. yiheee!!!!!!!!!!

    Mabuhay ang mga Pinay!

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    • Thanks!
      I use a two-year-old Canon DSLR with a standard lens that came with the kit. When I don’t have it, there’s always my circa-2005 Nokia 6233 2MP cameraphone, hehe. (It’s what I used to shoot the pics in my ”It’s World Photography Day” post).

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    • Thanks very much, Maggie!
      One of my favorite bloggers, Aledys Ver of http://fromargentina2holland.blogspot.com/ keeps both English and Spanish blogs. I’ve also seen blogs where underneath the main post, they have a translation to English (or vice versa). Just something to consider. :)
      Meanwhile there’s google translate, which is not so good, but allows me to get a sense of what someone is writing about.
      I hope if I have other Spanish-speaking readers, they will find you. :)

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  11. Hi there! I found your blog through freshly pressed. I love to travel and I can truly relate to your recent post on ” not being able to drive, cook without a recipe and eat with chop sticks”. Haha I am getting much better at all three over time though.

    Love your posts. Keep up the great work.
    All the best in your writing and adventures.

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  12. I loved reading your About Me page! Do you really still have a 2006 Nokia mobile phone? ;)
    I also look forward to seeing your Spain and Italy travel pages once you have the photos posted. I thoroughly enjoyed your Shanghai photos and reinforced my desire to eat authentic xiao long baos in Shanghai as part of my bucket list. :) Just looking at the picture made me hungry.

    Keep up the great blogging!

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    • Haha, yes I wasn’t kidding about my Nokia 6233 (!) phone. Not only do I still have it, it’s also still my only phone. :)

      Thank you for looking around my blog. I hope to put the other travel photos up very soon.

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  13. You’ve got such a great blog here! I love love love your humor and your eye for creativity. Keep doin’ it, girl! Following you…now. :)

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    • Thanks, teremags. I have a ‘sign up to be notified of new posts’ button below this (at the footer) and at the top of the sidebar. I hope you enjoy the stuff I come up with here. :)

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  20. Hello ..
    your blog is very interesting,, I am very interested to read and see the amazing photographs from various countries… :D :D

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    • Hahaha, how about groupie? Or is that just for long-haired rock stars? Ay, makikilala mo ako kasi madaldal ako, I swear. I just read your post about that one family picture. Maganda. :)

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  23. What a wonderful blog you have. Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed. Your postcards from Spain took me back to my trip 4 yrs ago. Sevilla is beautiful, I loved the Giralda and those Orange trees – I know very well. I can’t tell you how the Alhambra took my breath away. I also can’t wait to see Italy. My husband, children and I hope to go next year. I also love that your house has dogs and books… I don’t have dogs – my girls want one very badly :-) but I have books and I can’t imagine living life without them. I read all the time and absolutely love to travel. I can’t wait to read more posts from you.

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    • Thank you very much for this wonderful note, it really made me smile! Oh yes, the Alhambra is something else. When we were there, it was raining like crazy and I was soaked to the bone but I didn’t mind because I was in such awe of the place.

      I just checked out your blog and it seems we may have more than just our love of books in common. There’s also Colin Firth, haha.
      Thanks again and welcome. :)

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  24. I love your About page! Most of the time, if it’s long, I’ll get bored and stop reading but you managed to keep my attention the whole way through! And you made me chuckle a few times too :) so I’m off to click on the “follow” button. Hope you have a very happy Monday!

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    • Thanks very much, Sarah, for probably being one of the very few who actually read through the boring part, haha. I really appreciate this. And thanks for subscribing. I hope you keep enjoying the blog, I promise I won’t always go on and on about myself. :)

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    • Hahaha, I get that a lot from Bikolanos. :) Unfortunately my OTHER nickname (Bunay) doesn’t make things better, yaargs! Thanks for coming over from your lovely blog. :)

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      • Oh boy, “bunay” means egg, right? Anyway, having nicknames is a typical Pinoy thing. My childhood nickname too is far from my true name.

        Where are you from in Bicol? I hail from Camarines Sur.

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  29. Looks like a fun blog. I think I’ve subscribed to a bazillion blogs now but, hey, what’s one more especially from such a fun person :) P.S. I have a son with that same middle child illness lol.

    Becky

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  30. Hi Tita,

    I really enjoy your blog, and appreciate your following mine. As you have such a great sense of humor, and appreciate the lighter side of life, I am nominating you for the T.M.I. Award. Again, great blog!

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  32. And, wow! You’re blog is great! The photography is amazing! I’m going to have to see if you’ve written anything about the equipment you use. So, so good. I’m glad I found you!

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    • Thank you, Poe. :) I have no posts about my camera though. (It doesn’t have much razzle-dazzle to it and I’m still saving up for a tripod and additional lenses to replace the standard kit lens I have now, hehe.)
      Thanks very much for dropping by. :)

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  33. Tita buds, I got freshly pressed!!! I’m in your league now. Hehe. I remember you supporting my blog and giving me a boost to keep going and reaching for it. I finally did it!!!

    Question: How do you save a picture of the front page of wordpress? Bwahahaha … I’m still not computer savvy.

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    • YEYYY!!! :)

      Congratulations, Rommel! That’s so good! So it’s not a slump or a jinx anymore, huh? :D

      Ay, nakakatuwa!!! Hahaha.

      Ok, re your question, you need a screencap program for that. It’s usually already in Windows, the icon is a scissor. (I found mine in that bar at the bottom of the desktop view.) Go to the Freshly-Pressed (yey!) page then click the screencap tool. Parang ika-cut mo lang. Then save the file. That’s it. Hope that helps.

      Congrats again, Rommel! Go, go, go! :)

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  34. Oh, my!! Not only are your pictures a delight, but your adventures and travels are amazing!! You have such an impressive blog. Redoing my header is on my “to do” list and I was thinking of putting my puppies up on mine too. Only problem is that I have 4 ;-) Love your zest for life and hope new travels are on the horizons soon!

    Kearney

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    • Thank you very much! I don’t get to travel much but I try to savor every moment when I do.
      Your blog (and your home) is gorgeous and when I read your story, I was like, ‘WHAT? She practically did that by herself?’. Seriously, that’s wonderful. So glad to meet you, Kearney. :)

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  37. Yours is one of the best “about” posts I’ve read! I’m following and it isn’t just because I also have an old nokia 6230 that I love!

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  40. What a stunning blog Tita and those two beauties are gorgeous indeed! Great header you made for your blog too. Thanks for sharing. :)
    *hugs*

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  41. Great intro – linked to you from Madhu. I too have a Nokia phone that was purchased in late 2007. Despite all the pressure, I have not upgraded! Cheers-

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  47. Oh what a delightful About you posted on your blog! I love everyday blogs that simply share life’s experiences. As the old saying goes, “I’m a Jack of all trades, master at none”! The exception might be all things photography. I’ve been horribly addicted since 1970 when my first duty station was Misawa, Japan. I’m down to 3 cameras which is quite the accomplishment.

    I’m now following your blog and have it bookmarked in my favorites. I’ll try to visit daily as I do all my favorite sites. See you out in the blogosphere. :) – Bob

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    • Nice to meet you, Bob and thank you very much for the kind words and for following my blog. I have not been checking into the blog-scene regularly for some months and now I’m catching up on the reading. You’ve got some pro-level photos in your blog, btw. :)

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